Last week, representatives from nine northeastern insurance carriers braved rush-hour traffic to attend Novarica’s Boston Regional Roundtable. Following coffee and breakfast, President and CEO Matthew Josefowicz presented on the latest industry technology trends. Then, Matt and I led the carriers in a discussion, along with VPs of Research and Consulting Deb Culliton, Martin Higgins, and Paul Vancheri.
Last week Novarica published our updated report on automotive telematics. Researching and writing for this report was particularly fascinating—not just for how much activity is happening around telematics right now, but also for how telematics offers greater insights into the intersection between insurance and technology.
The Internet has become a primary communication channel between insurers and their agents over the past decade and a half, and agent portals are now table stakes for many lines of business. Although insurers are moving towards a more omni-channel approach to agent engagement, this doesn’t mean the importance of the agent portal is devalued; rather, it is now a piece of a larger strategy.
Britta Schatz is the Chief Information Office for Penn National Insurance. Britta joined Penn National in 2002 as an IT Consultant, and was promoted to CIO in 2011. Britta has held various leadership positions in the IT departments of P/C insurance companies for over 30 years, nearly half of those in various positions at PHICO Insurance Company. Her expertise includes strategic planning, IT operations, project management, and application design/development. She also has experience in enterprise architecture, business process management, data management, and business. Britta was interviewed for the Novarica Update in 2018.
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Offshore outsourcing can create tremendous value for insurers, and many have already moved parts of their IT and operations to offshore captives or partners. But outsourcing is not a once-and-done process. Ensuring that continuous value is generated from these investments takes continuous focus. Without this, productivity is usually lost, costs go up, and turnover creeps higher. The reaction is often to pull back, and some insurers are reducing their use of offshoring due to poor performance.