Celent, Novarica, SMA Earn High Marks in i3 Survey

In March, Innovation in Insurance (i3) surveyed subscribers on the information and advice of analyst groups Celent, Forrester, Gartner, Novarica, Strategy Meets Action, and Tower Group. The survey found Celent, Novarica, and Strategy Meets Action were recognized by insurance carriers as the well-known leaders in the industry. The three analyst firms had consistent high scores throughout the survey, according to i3.

This survey was created to track the usage and value of information gained from insurance technology analysts. The goals of the study were to establish trends of how the information is used within a carrier and who uses the information.

The survey consisted of ten multiple choice and rating-scale questions, according to i3. The questions were designed to ask carriers, consultants, and technicians information about their relationships and insights into analyst traits, but also searched to determine carrier business plan needs, the sources in which they use business strategies, the value of vendor solutions, and sources used in conjunction with analysts advice.

“We are excited to release the results of our second annual industry analyst survey,” says Frank Heaps, managing director of i3. “The results show the value and importance of the published reports as insurance carriers make critical, strategic business decisions. In the competitive market that carriers are facing, it is clear that they value the information provided by firms that tracks important industry business trends and how vendor solutions are enabling better business processes.” Upon execution of the analyst survey, i3 looked to find trends on what carriers find useful to their decisions and what analyst information is used to develop business plans. According to the survey, participants' prioritization of useful information revealed the top three analysts to include Celent, Novarica, and Strategy Meets Action. Other notable trends include:

• Technology trends and business trends are highly regarded when looking at analyst research;
• Vendor analysis and original research found most useful to make decisions;
• Vendor profiles, original thought research, and consulting are the most significant sources from analysts' advice;
• Recommendations and research papers have most influence on business strategy;
• Analyst opinions are weighed against other research when evaluating options in vendor or technology decisions;
• Analyst information is highly preferred in reports.

Responses came mostly from those who looked for advice concerning technology trends (88 percent) and business trends (75 percent) from their analysts. Also noted is the high percentages of the other options: competitor information (69 percent) and from their strategic advisor (56 percent).

According to the results, vendors want information organized in longer reports (40 percent) rather than in shorter whitepapers (27 percent). In addition, research papers (69 percent) are found to be most influential within carrier strategy with recommendations from outside sources as a second option.

When making decisions for their business, the report determined carriers find the most useful information sources from analysts to be original research (79 percent), vendor analysis (58 percent), and technology recommendations (42 percent). In general, when seeking advice from analysts sources used most include research original thought (80 percent), vendor profiles (53 percent), and consulting (40 percent).

The survey examined the usefulness of the analyst information and sources in relation to technology trends and information, solution and software selection, business trends, and recommendations for technology enabling business needs. The results established a trend involving Celent, Novarica, and Strategy Meets Action as the most useful information producers. When information is used for technology trends, Celent (57 percent) and Novarica (54 percent) were found to be most useful, according to the survey. Celent (77 percent) and Novarica (60 percent) are considered most useful when it comes to information for solution and software selection. Business trend information is found to be most useful when developed by Novarica (72 percent) and Celent (59 percent), followed by Strategy Meets Action (54 percent), according to the survey.

The survey listed Novarica (69 percent), Strategy Meets Action (58 percent), and Celent (46 percent) as leading for recommendations of technology-enabling business needs.

Participants were asked to pair each analyst with an attribute that they found most associated with the firm. These attribute options consisted of quality, independence, accountability, ethics, experience, and research. For the analysts that took precedence throughout the survey, Celent and Novarica were matched in the category of Quality.

Experience was selected as the feature possessed by Strategy Meets Action.

Forrester and Gartner both were categorized under Research.

Analysts' opinions are weighed against other research (75 percent) when evaluating options in vendor or technology decisions. Sixty percent of respondents say they use information other than analysts for background. This includes industry documentation like journals, publications, associations, and trends.

The media is also utilized with tools such as magazines, blogs, websites, and annual reports. Within a business's internal environment, vendors also use their personal network, their internal knowledge team, case studies, and even colleagues or peers to uncover information. 

As the survey reports, strategy and support initiatives are the areas of concern when using analyst sources. Relationships established with most analysts involve strategy or planning groups (57 percent).

Chief Information Officer (45 percent) and Chief Executive Officer (34 percent) are also closely associated in the business-analyst relationship. In addition, many noted that sales and marketing divisions as well as product management groups develop a significant connection with analysts (36 percent). These relationships can generate rapport and respect between vendors and analysts.