Insurance industry leaders have little doubt that investingin digital improvements is absolutely critical tobusiness growth, but legacy systems and processes often preventthem from fully implementing new technology, a new surveysuggests. 

The survey of 113 insurers, brokers,wholesalers and other insurance industry employees by Genpact and ACORD found that most respondents believe that theirorganization has not fully reaped the benefits ofdigitalization.

More than three-quarters say that they can't deliver the fullvalue of digital solutions to their customers because they cannot"optimize end-to-end customer experiences" between the website andback office support structures. 

Replacing legacy systems

One of the most common barriers to truly transforming the business via digitalsolutions is the persistence of legacy systems that employeescontinue to rely on instead of newer approaches. In fact, 80percent say that while the organization is currently undergoingupgrades to their system, the implementation is hampered byfragmented leadership that is conflicted about replacing legacysystems for policy administration and agencymanagement.  

In addition, many respondents say that there simply isn't enoughtalent on hand to get the organization to fully embrace digitalstrategies. 

Similarly, many of those polled say that there isn't enoughmoney to make the necessary investments in digitalinfrastructure. 

The great majority of those polled say that digitalization hashad at least some positive effects on business. The most commonimprovement, cited by 82 percent of respondents, is theeffect digital solutions have had on the cost ofserving customers. 

Far fewer, however, believe that going digital has improvedcustomer loyalty (56 percent) or that it has boosted the company'ssingle view of the customer (44 percent).

Set up company for growth 

"The insurance industry needs to move beyond just 'fixing'legacy systems," says Scott McDonell, senior vice president ofinsurance at Genpact. "This remains a critical concern; however,process transformation through the front, middle, and back officeis what drives a superior customer experience and sets up a companyfor growth." 

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