It should come as no surprise insurers on both the life/health and property/casualty sides of the aisle believe growing the business is the top business issue for 2010.

Insurance company policy administration systems are overburdened and not meeting carrier demands for growth, adaptability and standardization, a survey by Accenture has revealed.

Social networking. Social networking is an outstanding distribution channel and marketing tool, but its value in an IT operation stops at Web 2.0 functionality.

It seems hard to believe there is an area of the insurance business that has escaped the scrutiny of technologists, but premium payment solutions might fall into that short list.

The last year didn't exactly deliver a rebound for insurers, but there are plenty of reasons for hope in 2010. Carriers are continuing to invest in technology that will allow them to begin a new chapter of growth.

One of the challenges insurance technology leaders dealt with over the past year was to create better transparency as IT helped its business partners deal with the economic realities of 2009.

The rock band The Who is known for asking the musical question: "Who Are You?" But it is the insurance industry (and fans of the TV show CSI) that often echoes lead singer Roger Daltrey's next line, "I really want to know."

If the results of a survey of North American property and casualty insurers hold true, 2010 should be a year of growth for information technology.