Celent's sixth annual survey of U.S. insurance chief information officers has revealed "an industry far from panicked and cautiously maintaining its course," despite a weakened economy, the Boston-based researcher said.
The survey took place in October and November 2008, just as the global financial crisis reached the insurance industry, said Celent. The survey report, "2009 U.S. Insurance CIO Survey: Pressures, Priorities, and Practices," highlights business issues and IT priorities reported by property-casualty and life-health CIOs.
Findings include allocation of resources for new initiatives, year-to-year changes in information technology budgets and the anticipated evolution of technology platforms over the next three years, said Celent.
"Despite the drama and uncertainty present when the surveys were completed, the overall results show a group of CIOs who are maintaining a steady and thoughtful course," said Craig Weber, senior vice president of Celent's Insurance Group and coauthor of the report.
"The 2009 survey is perhaps most remarkable for the things it does not show," added senior analyst Donald Light, who co-wrote the report. "There was no indication of dramatic reductions in IT spending, changes in priorities, disruptions of project pipelines, or dramatic shifts in platforms. The continuities with prior surveys are greater than the disruptions."
Among the key findings of the report, Celent noted that three business issues dominate the concerns insurance CIOs will address in 2009–growth, lower costs and distribution. CIOs' top initiatives include new business, operational efficiency, core system replacement, pricing and product development, and data mastery.
The report also noted that, on average, 2009 IT budgets are increasing by 3-to-3.5 percent, although a number of insurers (especially large ones) reported no increases. In addition, insurers' increases in 2009 spending tend to be in core processes, not in infrastructure. Very few CIOs project decreases in either area, said Celent.
In terms of their architecture frameworks, large insurers show a strong preference for J2EE, while small and midsize insurers prefer Microsoft's .NET. About two-thirds of all insurers report that SOA and Web services are live in mission-critical production systems, the researcher noted.
This 38-page report contains 27 figures and one table. A table of contents is available online at www.celent.com.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.