(Editor's note: Occasionally, we ask an insurance technology leader a single question to elicit a response that will enlighten and inform the technology channel readership. If you would like to participate, contact the editor at rhyle@sbmedia.com)

Denise Garth is senior vice president, strategic marketing and industry relations at Innovation Group.

Question: How can insurers work to make their enterprise “future-ready?”

Garth: Within the insurance industry, intensified consumer demands, increased competition, distribution channel evolution, product and service differentiation, as well as technology disruption, all contribute to a business environment of continual change. And, in the face of great change, insurers must be able to make decisions quickly, and adapt “on the fly.”

As insurers work to evolve, technology must be utilized as one of the top factors in determining success or failure. In fact, the effective implementation and utilization of technology can have a major impact on the business of insurance.

Today, insurers must be agile in response to market and consumer demands, and technology is the tool of choice. It is critical that insurers be ever-ready, or future-ready, with new insights, new business models, new products, and accessibility options, based on a flexible, resilient, and integrated platform of software and services.

While the future of insurance may be hard to predict, it is imperative that any insurer's forward-looking roadmap embrace innovation, transformation and process optimization, even if that means disrupting long-held industry traditions.

Here are some ways forward to consider:

Know, analyze and understand your customers' preferences in terms of access to and delivery of products and services.
Define, create, enhance and monitor the customer experience as a powerful differentiator.
Embed technology in every channel to provide consistent, transparent and collaborative interactions, in order to empower customer choice and access anytime, anywhere or anyhow.
Embrace data mastery principles and analytics to deliver immediate and significant value to the bottom line.
Engage customers in product strategy and design phases to make certain your company is meeting customer expectations, not only in terms of product features but delivery options as well.
Reshape your risk environment to focus on claims prevention.
Rethink business models, access and use of capital, partnerships and solutions to compete in a fast-changing business and competitive environment.

Leaders in this market are breaking from the traditional, legacy paradigm to build “future-ready” insurance organizations, inclusive of a modern business strategy, operating model, and business solutions. By embracing innovation, disruption, and new solutions to manage and leverage fluctuating risk factors, insurance market leaders can create a new paradigm for competitive advantage and become truly “future-ready.”

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