What areas of mobile technology for insurance can bring the quickest return on investment and why should insurers adopt them?

Achieving the desired return on investment (ROI) requires insurers to first consider the business issues that are driving them to even consider mobile technologies. After all, the ROI is always going to be tied to the business value.

I might also argue that the best approach to mobile won't necessarily deliver the quickest ROI, but it should deliver the greatest ROI. And, those insurers who work from a reactive mode by responding to each functionality request or each new mobile device may find themselves with a wide variety of front end silos similar to those that most every insurer has experienced and struggled with on the back end.

As the industry has learned, silos typically result in operational inefficiencies, a management nightmare, and wasted investments.

Before they jump in with both feet, insurers might also consider what 'going mobile' really means and design functionality accordingly to not just take advantage of mobile delivery, but also to accommodate the limitations of mobile technology. After all, the 'viewing real estate' of a mobile device is much smaller than a desktop and only critical data should be delivered. Again, this planning should be a natural result of a well thought out mobile strategy.

Unfortunately, I have seen many insurers rush to deliver mobile capabilities to either respond to the current and growing demand from distribution channels and customers, or as a reaction to a competitor. Once an insurer is in this react mode, the problems will follow and the downsides of a lack of a well thought out strategy will become apparent.

Building one-off applications for each mobile device is probably not the answer. What if a new device comes out? What if the browser version should change? How does an insurer create a mobile environment that is agile in delivering changes over the long term?

The industry should have learned its lessons when it comes to “if you build it, they will come.” I would suggest to insurers that they focus on building it right rather than quickly, getting the user to come, and more importantly, getting them to stay. Insurers should strive to understand each distribution channel's needs and work with them on delivering the right functionality, regardless of the device.

What user channel is the insurer trying to reach via mobile delivery and what functionality do they want to provide to that channel? The destination device shouldn't be an issue since today's technologies have the sophistication to detect and deliver to both the Web and mobile. The insurer should focus on the who and the what relative to functionality rather than to location or device.

Again, being the fastest to the insurance market with mobile technology is not nearly as important as taking the time, building a long-term strategy, and doing it right in order to maximize both the ROI and competitive advantages of delivering mobile functionality.

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