3 Ways to an Easier Digital Transformation

Across industries, digital transformation and cloud migration are forces to be reckoned with. Insurance is no exception. As an industry accustomed to operating on legacy technology, insurers should approach the cloud migration process judiciously. But they should also know that moving all workloads to the cloud – even if incrementally – is necessary to keep up with evolving customer expectations. The industry at large is receiving this message. Nearly 70% of insurers report they are somewhere along the journey to digitally transform their infrastructure, according to a report from Ensono and Forrester. But the jump from mainframe to cloud shouldn’t take place overnight. By taking a methodical approach and prioritizing the right workloads, insurance technology teams can achieve a hybrid IT infrastructure that allows for improved operations at manageable costs. Here are three guidelines to follow as your insurance organization adopts a hybrid cloud strategy: Prioritize which applications to move first 46% of insurers surveyed in the Ensono/Forrester study cited improving application performance as the most important IT change their company could make to augment customer engagement. But according to IBM, nine out of 10 of the world’s largest insurance companies still run on mainframes. Leaning on legacy technology alone makes it challenging to keep pace with application upgrades and customer expectations for speed and experience. Organizations that remain within a stand-alone legacy environment will have to rely on workarounds to keep upgrading their app performance, and these workarounds will only become more frequent and costly. See also: Digital Transformation: How the CEO Thinks However, moving all operations to the cloud and scaling up overnight isn’t a realistic ask of traditional insurers, either. The transition is expensive and takes months of planning and testing. Instead, insurance organizations should take things slower by prioritizing the applications that require the highest levels of performance as well as most external and third-party connectivity. The basic rule of thumb: Apps that are customer-facing should be at the top of your list. Set yourself up with premium analytics Quality data is central to understanding the needs of agents and customers, but legacy technology doesn’t allow for the best insights. Turning to a cloud or hybrid strategy increases an insurer’s ability to access top-notch, real-time data and analytics, as well as expand into emerging cloud offerings. According to Ensono and Forrester, almost half of insurance decision makers use cloud platforms for advanced data analytics, and about 40% believe it’s important to expand their use of emerging cloud technologies like mobile or internet of things (IoT) and increase reliance on public cloud platforms for systems of engagement. Those systems of engagement need to connect seamless to systems of record. Find the right partners Data analytics clearly play a huge role in the benefits insurers can reap from a hybrid cloud strategy. But a full 100% of insurers admitted to facing data-related security issues, according to Ensono’s study. Whether this is due to outdated IT infrastructure or a lack of expertise, it’s unacceptable to put any data at risk, especially customer data. The right partners can help keep your organization’s data secure while optimizing the right applications for cloud. Mainframes – a true foundation of the insurance business – aren't going away in this process, but they won’t bear the whole burden any more, either. Legacy systems do have their perks, such as security and expense, but ultimately insurers need to ensure they have access to the expertise needed to help their businesses thrive in the cloud. See also: 4 Rules for Digital Transformation The transition to a hybrid IT environment requires re-engineered IT infrastructure, the use of real-time data and insights and the right talent – the kind that can create a flexible and competent IT strategy with a custom balance of legacy platforms and cloud environment. Partners like managed service providers (MSPs), migration services and consultants can make the process much smoother. Accessing third-party support also allows your organization to skip the stressful experience of hiring for internal tech experts in a talent economy suffering from an IT skills gap. The push from customers for faster, better service in insurance continues. But dated infrastructure and an IT talent shortage is holding the insurance industry back. Digital transformation is the only way to achieve growing expectations, cloud migration being the core driver behind the progress. Insurers must thoughtfully design an infrastructure migration plan associated with their application strategy and seek the needed resources to help carry it out, thus ensuring a stabler as well as growing customer-backed future.