Participants in StoneRiver's fifth annual P&C Insurance Technology survey report the top business need that drives IT initiatives is overall administrative efficiency. Accurate risk pricing was the second need mentioned, with a tie for third place between access for distribution channels and optimizing IT operations.

The StoneRiver survey asked chief information officers at U.S. property/casualty insurance carriers about their companies' priorities, IT direction, and status of services and architecture.

In the latest survey, prioritization of large-scale projects revealed that the top three projects included agency interface (48 percent), analytics/business intelligence (42 percent), and policy administration projects (39 percent).

Other notable findings included:

A sizable increase in reported importance of service-oriented architecture, up from 65 percent last year to 82 percent this year.
The significance of system interoperability, which achieved top ranking in the highest category by 42 percent of participants. In the second highest category, data accessibility received top ranking (61 percent).
A strong increase in the number of carriers considering use of Web services. While 9 percent reported Web services were under consideration last year, 21 percent reported that status this year.
A rise in the projected percentage of vendor-supplied and outsourced applications and services in the next five years. Last year 26 percent anticipated 50 percent or more of their technology infrastructure would be based on vendor-supplied applications. This year that number rose to 38 percent. For outsourcing, the number rose from 4 percent last year to 12 percent.

"The results reflect the interests of the participants and are not specifically related to our products. However, we do compare these survey results--as well as those from other industry surveys--to our development strategy to see if any adjustments are required," says Gary Sherne, president, StoneRiver - Insurance Solutions. "The rising demand for vendor-supplied solutions, the increased desire for service-oriented solutions, and the desire for system interoperability tie directly to our Stream development. Delivering flexible, function-rich solutions that meet carriers' needs and help them adapt to business requirements is core to our development."

StoneRiver has found that core automation that includes business rules, workflow and process management improves administrative efficiency significantly. The rise in efficiency pays for the new solutions with improved service, retention and business acquisition. The complete survey overview is available for download at http://www.stoneriver.com.

Special Reports /

Survey: Administrative Efficiency Leads IT Initiatives

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