In the insurance business–as in any business–if you're not growing, you're dying. Growth requires "new"–new products, new markets, and new customers.

In the current market, according to Kimberly Harris-Ferrante, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner, carriers have done some retrenching, but new-product development still remains a priority at growth-focused insurers. Additionally, many carriers are concerned with their ability to better manage the product portfolio.

"It's not just about getting products to market faster or finding the next innovative product to sell to the market," she says. "There are a lot of objectives carriers have in terms of a going after new distribution channels, finding new products that fill in gaps with existing customers, or tweaking existing products to improve product-customer fit and profitability."