Insurers often speak glowingly of the amount of data they possess and how it is their industry's single greatest asset, but going from owning all that data to figuring out what to do with it has created a disconnect for some carriers. Many large insurance carriers have turned to the development of dashboard technology to bring information to the people who need it the most. Dashboards now are commonplace among the top 50 insurers, estimates Richard Romano, insurance practice director with Ascend Consulting.

There are two areas of development insurers are focusing on when examining dashboard capabilities, according to Gail McGiffin, a partner in the consultancy practice for Accenture. The first aims at improved knowledge management–trying to ensure there is a continual learning environment and a push/pull of information as it is needed during business processes. "We're seeing investments in enterprise content management and improved knowledge management capabilities integrated into the workflow to bring the best brains at the right point in time into the decision processes," she says.

The second area involves business intelligence and having access to real-time, accurate insights, whether relating to performance management, portfolio results, or information used in real-time decision-making in the underwriting process, McGiffin explains. "The ability to have accurate, timely data there is [based on] an underlying set of capabilities that need to be in place," she says.