The good news for IT departments in the middle of troubling economic times is technology's enhanced position within the insurance industry. Matt Josefowicz, director of insurance for Novarica, believes in most cases, IT has been part of the strategic conversations at the top executive level among insurance carriers as leadership tries to determine how it is going to get through the crisis and emerge successfully on the other side.

Novarica recently published a report on the subject: "U.S. Insurers 2009 IT Budgeting and Planning During Crisis." One of the most telling points in the report, in Josefowicz's view, addresses the top drivers of IT strategy and why it is important for insurers to reduce expenses organizationwide.

"The pressure to cut IT expenses specifically was relatively low," says Josefowicz, pointing out this is a major difference from the last economic crisis the industry underwent in 2001 and 2002.

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