Where Is the Teddy Bear Picnic?

If we take a stroll in the woods today, there are unlikely to be the fabled Teddy Bear picnics waiting for us on a pleasant spring day in the bluebell-filled woodlands. In all probability, as we take some well-deserved time out from the high pressure, cut and thrust of daily business, we’ll start to contemplate what the future holds. It’s likely that we will swiftly move from thinking about our home and family life, to the current issues that we would rather have left at the office. Such is life. The insurance industry is no spring chicken; it’s been around for hundreds of years.  Smoky coffee houses have been replaced with sterile air-conditioned offices where computer systems dictate to a large extent the modus operandi for the company as a whole. The goal, however, is to use technology to recapture some of the simplicity of the Teddy Bear picnic. Can we bring some of that relaxed peace of mind to the insurance process? Infrastructure Impacts Customers Everyone acknowledges that modern software and technology are required to support a 21^stcentury commercial enterprise; the difficulties arise when they no longer keep pace with the realities of the “modern world”. According to Majesco’s research, insurance operations are affected by three primary factors; people, technology and shifting market boundaries.  The cold reality is that existing infrastructures are not up to coping with the new challenges presented. This really shouldn’t come as a surprise given that the standard IT project runs into the tens of millions of pounds over multi-year implementations. See also: Infrastructure: Risks and Opportunities   Consumers, including business owners, use technology every day. It is, for the most part, highly responsive and accessible to their needs.   We all carry mobile phones, portable offices in their own right, providing a gateway to the wonderful world of digital commerce. Sadly in contrast, most insurance interactions are woefully short of providing an intuitive, functionally-rich customer experience.  As a consumer, all I want is an easy-to-use application that feels friendly and delivers options that fit my need. Infrastructure Impacts Insurer Opportunities Emerging technology coming to market, like the Internet of things (IOT), is a logical extension of the Internet.  Data is now all around us. The Internet provides a conduit to create and collect data and, in theory, allows the consumer and organisations to make better commercial decisions. However, many traditional insurers are struggling to capture this new data, let alone know how to use and interpret the data to improve their products and services.  Historical rating processes were not designed to use the raft of data now available. We’re surrounded by a sea of data that should improve our lot. But traditional insurers are slow in the use of this data, compared to new market entrants that are exploiting data’s opportunities. Living in a connected, data-rich world is opening up tremendous opportunities for new greenfields or start-ups that are deft in their thinking and brave enough to take on the established market.  Some will succeed and some will fail.  Those that fail will likely lack the commercial muscle to rise above the market noise and bring new business models and products to market.  Ultimately it’s the customer who will make the choice and drive the change, regardless of incumbent players who may overtly offer support to new initiatives, but have little imperative to change. Times are a changing…. gradually. Infrastructure Transformation is Now More Accessible The days of multimillion-pound, multi-year programs to create a modern business platform for today’s modern insurance needs is no longer viable. Majesco is highly engaged in these market changes, working with both new startups and greenfields, as well as existing traditional insurers to provide a path to this new future.  Our cloud business platform, Majesco CloudInsurer, provides an “out of the box” pay-as-you-grow option that delivers speed to value – speed to implementation, speed to market and speed to revenue.  The requisite connections to new data sources like IOT, reporting bureaus and more are all ready to use.  This allows new or existing businesses to concentrate on creating differentiation through the diversity and uniqueness of their products, services, and channels to their existing or new customer segments, helping to drive growth. Does it matter? Will it make a difference?  In a recent Majesco survey, consumers overwhelmingly agreed that it is important for insurers to provide an easier customer journey. This was also the case in our SMB research, The Rise of the New Small Medium Business Insurance Customer. See also: New Approach to Risk and Infrastructure? A combination of highly tailored, personalized products, dynamically priced based on new data sources, delivered via the channel of choice is what the market demands and is clearly the order of the day.  Majesco provides the modern business platform to help our customers meet these new demands with a speed to value proposition that is highly responsive to changing conditions. Can you find the Teddy Bear picnic among the stresses of infrastructure need? It might be tough. Can you give your customers a Teddy Bear picnic experience when they are purchasing insurance? Perhaps modernizing your insurance infrastructure will help you come fairly close. This article originally appeared on Majesco and was written by Mike Smart.