Editor's Note: The following article has been provided by Adrian Guttridge, the executive director of global insurance services at Xchanging.

The ways in which technology can both transform and destroy traditional mechanisms for providing services to customers are far-reaching. Disruptive technologies specifically need to reshape the insurance industry. Failure to adapt to these technologies can leave a major insurer looking as obsolete as brands such as Kodak or EMI do today.

Disruptive technology is rapidly advancing, its impact has a broad scope and it has a significant and profoundly changing effect on the global economy. These disruptive technologies that supplant older processes, rendering old skills and organizational approaches irrelevant, need to be encouraged to advance the insurance industry as they will result in significant economic value. Indeed, disruptive technologies, such as the increasingly established telematics, must be welcomed and have a definite place in the insurance market. Examples of disruptive technology include mobile Internet, cloud technology and 3D printing. For example, Rolls-Royce recently announced that it was preparing to use 3D printers for producing parts for its jet engines. High-value, low-volume industries will be the earliest adopters and they are the ones that will ultimately benefit. Indeed, it is counter-intuitive that today the biggest provider of cloud technology IT services is a book and CD retailer and that the largest seller of music is a computer company.