What's costing you dearly?

7/27/2019 What's costing you dearly?

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Copyright Quocirca 2013

Rob Bamforth

Quocirca Ltd

Tel : +44 7802 175796

Email: [email protected]

Clive Longbottom

Quocirca Ltd

Tel: +44 118 9483360

Email:[email protected]

Whatscostingyoudearly?

Time to replace badly automated insurance bus iness processes with more

fl ex ib lesys tems

October2013

Theinsurancesectorisoftenveryconservative,perceivedasslowmoving,

andoperateswithmanylongestablishedbusinesspracticesandprocesses.

However, times move on, new business models emerge, and legacy

processesbecomeinefficient.AlthoughIThasplayedanimportantrolein

supporting theindustryovermanyyears, ittooneedstoadvanceorwill

becomeinflexible.

Insurancecompaniesmightbewastingthousandsof saleshoursperyear

from poor processes and badly implemented IT, which increases costs,

stifles revenue growth and adds risk. However, IT advances need to go

hand-in-hand with business process improvements to ensure that

organisations gain themaximimum benefit of beingmore flexibile, agile

andefficient.


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Whats costing you dearly?

Quocirca 2013 - 2 -

Whatscostingyoudearly?TimetoreplacebadlyautomatedinsurancebusinessprocesseswithmoreflexiblesystemsTheinsurancesectorisoftenveryconservative,perceivedasslowmoving,andoperateswithmanylongestablishedbusiness

practices and processes. However, times move on, new business models emerge, and legacy processes become inefficie nt.Although IT has played an important role in supporting the industry over many years, it too needs to advance or will become

inflexible.

InsurancecompaniesmightbewastingthousandsofsaleshoursperyearfrompoorprocessesandbadlyimplementedIT,which

increases costs, stiflesrevenue growth andadds risk. However,IT advances need to go hand-in-hand withbusiness process

improvementstoensurethatorganisationsgainthemaximimumbenefitofbeingmoreflexibile,agileandefficient.

Customerchannels

arechanging

Whilebrokersare stillseenas themost important channel partners, thereare shifts inthe

importance of other channels in the mix. Smaller companies will go more face-to-face to

includeagents,andlargercompanieswillcontinuetogofurtherwithonlineandcallcentres(or

contact centres) forcustomerconnection.Traditionalstyles orperceivedlack of IT resource

mightbeholdingsmallercompaniesbackfromasimilarapproach,buttheymayhavemoreto

gaininthelongruniftheycanfindpartnerswhocouldhelpthemstreamlinetheirroutesto

market.

Well-codified

businessprocesses

engenderflexibility

Itmight seemodd, but having businessprocesses that are tightandwell defineddoes not

restrict flexibility but, rather, supports it. Lax or barely existent business processes lead to

people not really knowingwhat todo, and when it comes tomaking investments in IT to

supportthem,theendresultisautomatedchaosashasoftenbeenseeninhugegovernment

sponsoredprojects.

ITneedsbetter

integration

SimplybringingITintoautomatetasksdoesnotstreamlinebroaderbusinessprocesses.This

doesnotmeanthatasingleunifiedsystemistheonlysolution,butthatITinvestmentneedsto

bealignedtoandsupportedacrossthebusinessprocessesitismeanttoimprove.Thisprovides

amoreflexibleendresult,whichislikelytobejudgedasreasonablevaluefortheinvestment.

Gooddataiscritical Thebigdatatrendmightbemakingheadlines,butmanyintheinsurancesectorneedtobeensuringtheyaresimplygettingallthedatatheyreallyneed.Isitbigenoughdatatoday?For

manytheanswerisprobablyno,astheyarenotcapturingorextractingsufficientvaluefrom

external data sources. More importantly, too many are not able to generate the sort of

reportinginformationthatmanyotherindustrieswouldconsidercommonplaceanddesirable.

Simplechangescould

haveabigimpact

Tailoringforthespecificneedsofdifferentbrokersandmakingsimplechangestodatabeing

gatheredduringthesalesprocessseemtobeharderthanitshould.Thesearethethingsthat

caneatintoprecioustimeduringthesalescycleandreduceefficiency.Makingthemeasierto

accomplishwouldnotbeamajorchallengeyetwouldreapgoodresults.Manyintheindustry

arelookingtomaketheirsalesprocessmoreefficientandgeneratemorebusiness.Intough

economictimes,theseareunderstandableandworthwhilegoalsfortheirITsystemstodeliver.

Conclusions

Manyinsurancecompaniesareusing longestablished,but sometimesout-dated,processes.Unfortunately,at somepoint,many

willhaveappliedITsolutionstoareasoftheiroperationsintheexpectationthatthisalonewillmakethemmoreagilebusinesses.

Whileitmightimproveorautomatespecifictasks,overtimethelackofimprovementintheoverallbusinesswillbecomemore

apparent.ThekeyistomoveforwardwithbothupdatedbusinessprocessesandflexibleITsystemsthatarealigned,withgood

communicationandunderstandingbetweenITeitherinternaldepartmentsorexternalsuppliersandthosedrivingthebusiness.


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Quocirca 2013 - 3 -

Introduction

Inthe currently challengingeconomic climateand highly connected world, the goal ofmanyis tobe agileand

adaptable.However,many industries arebasedonbusinessprocesses that have beenreliedon fordecades, sowhenorganisationsintroducetechnology, they tendtoautomatethoselong-standingprocesses,whichhopefully

generatessomeimprovement.Overtime,theimpactdiminishesandwhatisthenrequiredisamorefundamental

change.

Alltoooftenthisendsupasnomorethananincrementalchange,basedongeneraladvancesinthetechnology,

whichmightprovidesomeshorttermimprovement;butwhatisreallyrequiredisamorefar-reachinglookatthe

possibilitiespresentedbytheintroductionofmoremoderntechnology,coupledwithanunderstandingofwhatthe

businessneedsinordertofunctionmoreeffectively.

Thisisparticularlytrueinconservativeindustrieswithalongpedigreeandoftenahistoricresistancetosudden

change,suchastheinsurancesectororfinancialservices.Giventhatthesectorrevolvesaroundrisk,thisshouldnot

beasurprise,buttakingabroaderviewofthepotentialvalueoftechnologytothebusinessmightbevaluable.Today,theriskshouldnotbeviewedfromtheriskthechangecouldintroduce,buttheriskthebusinesswilltakeof

failinginitsmarketshoulditnotintroducesuitabletechnologicalchange.

This report is aimed at thosewho work in this industry, and have to consider how to best match technology

implementationdecisionswiththeneedsofbusinessprocesses.Theresearchhasbeenderivedfrom137telephone

interviews of senior decision makers working in UK insurance businesses. The individuals are those either

responsiblefor,orinvolvedin,thecoverholderstatusoftheirorganisation.Thecompaniesrangeinsizeofturnover

andnumbersofemployees,butarethosewherethebusinessmostlyaddressesthecommercialinsurancesector.

Reachingcustomers

Itmightbeahyper-connectedworldwithapervasiveinternetandmassesofmobilegadgetslikesmartphonesand

tablets,butreachingcustomersisstillachallengeinanybusiness.

Different people have their ownpreferences forboth

personalaswellasbusinesscommunications,andthe

explosion of activities using social media over recent

yearshaspushedthisevenfurther.Consumerisationof

technology hasmeant that almost everyonenow has

access to more and simpler to use IT and

communicationstoolsthaneverbefore.

Many products have broken free of their previously

geeky and only available in beige image, which has

considerably widened their appeal and acceptance.

However,thereiscertainlyamarkeddisparitybetween

the ways people prefer to communicate with

businesses, especially across different age groups

(Figure1).


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Quocirca 2013 - 4 -

Theinterestingthingisthatface-to-facestillhasaprettyuniversalappeal,andwhiletherearedifferentfixedand

mobilepreferences,the phone also figuresvery highly.While theolder generationsuse of someof thenewer

modes of communicationmightbeabsent,as expected, itis also noticeable that theyoungergeneration isnot

reallyentirelydisposingoflegacymediaallmodesareinuse,whichhighlightsachallengethatorganisationswill

needtobeevenmoreflexibleinthewaystheycommunicateinfuture.Thisisalsonoticeableinthemassiveshiftin

theretailsectortowardsonlineservices,wherethesmarterretailerscombineonline,mobileandsocialexperiencestothenengagewiththeirlegacyphysicalpresencesorlogisticsprocesses.

As well as new modes of communication, many

organisations are broadening their external

relationshipsandrecognisingtheneedtoopenuptheir

ITbothtocustomersandbusinesspartners(Figure2).

Several factors are driving this, but getting closer to

customersandtyingcloser relationships inthe supply

chain figure highly. Both will accompany changes in

businessprocesses and IThasto be flexibleto adapt

andgrowwiththeseincreasingneeds.

There is a significant likelihood that insurance

companieswillneedtoevolveinsimilarwaysasthey

adapttothechangesinothermarketsaswellastheir

ownastohowtobestreachcurrentandnewcustomers.Thisalreadyappearstoberecognisedinmanyquarters

(Figure3althoughitshouldbenotedthatthisfigureonlypullsoutdatawhichhighlightsthedifferencesbetween

currentuseandfutureimportance).

Whilebrokersarestillthemostheavilyusedandexpectedtobeimportantchannelinfuture(notshown,butboth

around70%)anddirectsalesfollowcloselybehind,thereareotherroutesthatareclearlyundergoingsomedegree

ofre-assessmentandchange.

For smaller companies there would appear to be a

significantpushtowardstheuseofagents,withamore

mutedinterest inonlineandin-personsales.Whereas

larger companies are keener topush on furtherwith

online and call centres, but probably expecting to

reducetheiruseofbanksasachannel.

The lower appetite of smaller companies to online

mightseemstrangeasitcanbeagreatmarketleveller,

butitdoesrequiresignificantinvestmenttogetright,

andmostsmallerinsurancecompanieswillprobablybe

lackingthein-houseskillsorassignedbudget.Thisisa

mis-perceptionregardingthe scaleofbudgetrequired

butissomethingthat,withtherightexternalpartner,

couldoffersomesignificantandcosteffectivebenefit.


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Quocirca 2013 - 5 -

Streamliningthebusinessprocess

While ITinvestmentcanstreamlineandautomatebusinessprocesses,itis firstimportanttounderstandhowthe

functionalityandapplicationsavailablemapontothecurrentand,critically,futureneedsofthetasksundertakenbytheorganisation(Figure4).

A change in strategy from the top to focus on a

different businessimperativeraises theimportanceof

particular businessprocesses andmay cause themto

need to be re-engineered completely, rather than

adapted.Howwell this ismet by the ITfunction will

depend on the flexibility of software currently inuse

andhowwellstructuredandarchitectedtheoverallIT

solutionis.

Of course, making IT fit to support current businessprocesses isall verywell, but itdoesalsodepend on

howwellcodifiedthoseprocessesareinthefirstplace.

Mostorganisationsareprettylaxand,althoughtheyhavelongestablishedpractices,theyaregenerallyknownand

understood by individuals in the organisation. This was no problem when employees stayed with the same

organisation formuch, or significantportions,of their

workinglifeandknowledgecouldbepassedon,butthis

israrelythecasetoday.Manymayaskwhydowedo

things this way in this company? but few, if any,

remainingemployeeswillknowtheanswer.

Those in the insurance industry interviewed in theresearchweremuchmorepositiveabouttheirbusiness

processes than is often seen in other industries

perhapsagainthisisduetotheunderstandingofriskin

thissector,andperhapsalsothelevelsoflegislationand

compliance.What was also clear was the relationship

betweenthosewhoviewedtheirsystemsasflexibleand

theprevalenceofwell-codifiedprocesses(Figure5).

While it was apparent in further questioning that

businessprocessesplayed a significant part in overall

flexibility,thesoftwareproductorproductsthemselves

areseenasthemostimportant(Figure6).Thepotentialglueforholdingsoftwareandprocesstogether,either

from software vendors themselves or the IT

department,does notseem to figureashighly,which

might imply a level of acceptanceof an off-the-shelf

approach, rather than tailoring something more

preciselytotheneedsoftheorganisation.

Thismightmeanmanyorganisationsaremissingoutor,

attheveryleast,notgainingasmuchvaluefromITas

theymight.


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Quocirca 2013 - 6 -

GettingvaluefromITAllofthecompaniesinterviewedhadmorethanonewaytoreachtheircustomersandwhilebrokerswerevery

oftenthemainchannels,therewouldbeotherroutesincludingdirectsales,online,agentsandcallcentres.Each

channel has different requirements in the support it

needsfromIT systems,and although somewill have

from the outset adopted an integrated approach, it

should be no surprise that many organisations will

have deployedmultiple different IT applicationsover

theyears.

Thereisavariationinhowthesehavebeenintegrated

over time to provide a more cohesive approach or

indeed been replaced, especially for companies ofdiffering sizes and IT capabilities (Figure 7). Smaller

companiesinparticulararemorelikelytohavetodeal

withdisparatesystems.

Whiletheremightoftenbesomemeritandappealin

acquiringandusingseparatetools,eachbesthonedto

thetaskinhand,thisultimatelymakesthingsmorecomplexespeciallyintheuseofITapplications.Usershaveto

learndifferentwaysofdoingthingsforeachapplicationand,astheyswitchfromonetoanother,errorscanoccur.

Some organisations are sufficiently large so that

different teams work in the different channels and

thereforerarelyswitchapplicationusage,butstillthecompany surely needs to combine customer

informationatsomepoint?

Not only does the lack of integration cause

complexity, it also ultimately reduces the

organisationsabilitytoreactandadapttochange

not good at a timewhen greater flexibility is being

calledfor.

Despite the relative prevalence of disparate

applications and siloed processes, many of those

interviewed felt they were getting good value from

their IT (Figure 8). This is particularly worthwhile

praiseasthoseinterviewedwereprimarilyheadingupthebusinessfunction.

However, the views divergedmarkedly when taking intoaccount system flexibility. Given that more think that

flexibilitycomesfromapplicationsandbusinessprocesses ratherthan theIT department,thisismorea positive

messageaboutsoftware than perhapsthosewho sell,install,maintainorintegrateit.Clearly,moreneedstobe

donetoensurethebusinessisextractingthefullvaluefromitsITinvestments.


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Quocirca 2013 - 7 -

Bigdata,littleissues

Inrecenttimes,oneoftheITindustrybuzztermshasbeenbigdata.Unfortunately,manycommentatorsconfused

this with a lot ofdata, and lead people tobelieve that a bigger databaseon better hardware is the answer.However,bigdatacoversmuchmoreasthesourcesandtypesofdataanorganisationnowhastodealwitharefar

broaderandmorenumerous,comparedtothoseeven10yearsago.

Thebestwaytounderstandhowbigdatamightbeusedisviathe5Vsapproach:

- Volume The one that everyone tendsto focuson.Of course,highvolumesof datacan cause issues,particularlywhererealtimeanalyticsarerequired,butmanyorganisationsarenotcollectingallthedata

theycansimplybecausetheydonothaveacurrentuseforit.

- VarietyDatacomesinmanydifferenttypesandformats.Adatabasewithrowsandcolumnsofdata;anOfficedocumentmuchlessstructuredwithlargeblocksoftextinit;thedatareturnedfromawebsearch

willhaveevenlessstructure;whilebinarydatasuchasimage,voiceandvideocreatetheirownproblems.Ensuringthatanorganisationcandealwiththedifferenttypesofdataiscrucial.

- VelocityThespeedatwhichdataiscominginandthespeedinwhichitneedstobedealtwitharealsochallenges.Largevolumesofdataovershortperiodsoftimerequirehighlyscalablesystems,whilebusiness

requirementsfortheanalysisofdatainevershortertimescalesmeansthatold-stylebatchthinkingisno

longerapplicable.

- Veracityhowgoodarethedatainputs,andhowdoesthisimpactthequalityoftheanalyticaloutputs?Inmanysituations,itisacaseofgarbagein,garbageoutifthedatafeedsarenotproperlymanaged,then

thecleanlinessandveracityofthedatawillsuffer,aswillanydecisionsbeingmadefromtheanalysis.

-

ValueIsthedatastreamworthbotheringwith?Doesitcontainanythingofrealvaluetothebusinessorcanitbedisregardedor,evenbetter,deletedfromtheorganisationssystems?

Byensuringthatthese5Vsarekeptinmind,thevalueofcollectingdifferenttypesofdatacanbeassessed.Sotoo

canthepotentialvaluelostbynotcollectinginformation.Onesuchareaofinterestfortheinsurancesectormight

betheinformationaboutcustomers.

During the sales cycle, there will be a lot of well

formattedinformationcollectedbecauseof itsknown

value to the current process. However the value of

nuggetsofinsightinunstructuredorunformatteddata

might only be revealed in the future and yet the

systems used by almost half of the organisations

intervieweddoesnotcapturethispotentiallyvaluable

informationorstoresitinawaythatmakesitdifficult

touse(Figure9).

Thevalueofanyformofhistoricalinformationisthatit

can be analysed after the event, but, increasingly,

informationcanbeautomaticallyassessedliveasitis

beingcapturedtoimprovetheprocess.


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Quocirca 2013 - 8 -

Thismightbesomethingassimpleascapturingafurtherelementofdetailfromthecustomerthatmightprove

useful furtherdown thecustomer lifecycle, or themore complexabilityto glean insight from a combinationof

customerevents.Forexamplethesortofthingthat,inotherindustries,mightbeusedtospotanomalousbehaviour

orfraudulentactivityinreal-timeasithappens.

Theextension of interest indata tobothcurrent andhistoricalsignificanceseemedagaintobeanareathat

manyinsurancecompaniesseemtobelacking,ascan

beseenbyhowfarreportingcapabilitiesextend(Figure

10).Over aquarterare unable togetlive orcurrent

sales reporting and over half with no historical

customer satisfaction reporting paints a very sparse

informationpicture.

Given the low cost and high availability of storage

systems and increasingly smart search and business

intelligenceextractiontools,thiswouldappeartobea

missed opportunity for the industry to gain moreinsight.

Morecouldalsobedonein theareaofcapturingpotentiallyusefuldatafromexternalsourcesandintegratingit

withtheinformationcapturedduringstandardbusinessprocesses.This again isalreadyafeatureofmanyother

industries. In retail, information from weather sources and traffic flows is captured to determine productmix,

staffingandsupplyrequirements.

Geographic and mapping information is increasingly

being usedto determinewherebestto providemore

resources, and social media feeds are being used to

spot trends and potential opportunities not being

detectedthroughanyexistingofficialchannel.

However,manyinsurancecompaniesdo notintegrate

datafromexternalsources,butmostalsodonotregard

itasaproblem(Figure11).Whileitmightbepragmatic

tobecautiousandnotblunderintoareaswheregreat

investmentscanbemadeforverylittleactualreturn

assomehavefoundtotheircostinsocialmediathe

entire outsideworldof data should not bedismissed

toocasually.


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Quocirca 2013 - 9 -

Targetingimprovements

InadditiontothechangeshighlightedearlierthatmightbetteralignITwithbusinessprocessesandcapturemore

andrelevantdata,therearefurtherimprovementsthatmanycouldmakewithalittlemoreflexibilityintheirIT.

Givenhowheavilyusedthebrokerchanneliscurrently,

and the importance it is given for the future, it is

surprising how little tailoring of systems is in place,

with only around half having capabilities todo some

tailoring(Figure12).

It mightbe thatmany do not want to customise, or

perhaps they are not aware of the possibilities, but

most industries have found that this sort of

adaptabilityworkswellfor cementing relationships in

anychannelorecosystemofpartners.

Thismightbemorestrategicadjustmentortailoring,

buttherearerequirementsofamuchmoretacticalor

day-to-daynaturethatarealsobeingmissedtoanextent.

For around one ineight of those interviewed, making

changestobasicsettingssuchasdocumentwordingand

simple data such as limits and endorsements is

describedasdifficultorverydifficult(Figure13).

Evenif this just describes a need for more training, it

highlightsthechallengesfacedbymanyusingcomplexIT systems. If it is difficult to use, then more time is

spent on mundane activities and not on those that

might be bringing in more business (or making the

customerexperiencemorepleasantandrewarding).

Whereitisdeemedverydifficult,itismorelikelythat

userswilltryandavoiditorfindaworkaroundwhich

canthenintroduceerrorsordataentriesthatcannotbe

alignedwithotherdataenteredinthepreferredway.Indeed,inmanycases,attemptstoavoidareasthatareseen

asverydifficultcananddoleadtoaccusationsofmis-selling,whereinformationprovidedbytheagenthasnot

been properly entered and stored during the selling

process.

Theinsurancesectorisnotimmunetothechallengesof

needing to bring inmore business or process existing

opportunitiesfaster,andorganisationsshouldbelooking

to technology that will better support them in their

efforts in these areas. This is precisely what those

interviewedwanted to see from improvements help

them become more effective inmanaging and closing

deals(Figure14).


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Quocirca 2013 - 10 -

There isa clearandstronginterest inimproving theefficiency ofexisting deal processing,significantlyover and

aboveothergrowthdriverssuchasmakingiteasiertohavemoreproductsorincreasingsalesvolume.

Moreefficientdealprocessingisnotonlyaboutdoingmorebusinessandmorequickly,butalsoreducingcostsand

allowingpeople togetmoredonewiththeirtime this isaworthwhiletangiblegainwhich justifiesinvestment.

Indeed,makingdealprocessingmoreeffectiveandefficient freesup time forpeopleto focusmoreon theotherareas,soallowingforincreasingvolumesofsalesthatcanbeclosedmoreeasily.Withthesestepsinplace,people

willthenbemoreopentotheintroductionofnewproductsandthetargetingofawidergroupofprospects,inthe

knowledgethattheywillbeabletodealwiththeextraworkloadcausedthroughthis.

Conclusionsworththetime?BetteralignmentbetweenITandbusinessprocesses.Aworthygoal,yetoftensodifficulttoachieve.Itisalsooften

difficult to justify as, while most people individually have some gut feeling that streamlining processes and

improving systemflexibilitywill lead tomore efficient andeffectiveoutcomes,it isdifficultto predictthewiderimpactupfront.

Evenwithinthisresearch,wewereaskingpeoplefortheiropinions.However,therespondentswerethosewith

significantbusiness responsibility and, by analysing their combined thinking, we get some insight into how the

industryoverallmightviewitsefficiency,whatmightbedonetoimproveitandwhattheendvaluemightbe.

Most expected only relatively small incremental improvements of between 5% to 20%, with efficiency of deal

closingandtheabilitytocloseagreaterpercentageofdealsbeingofgreatestvalue.Greaterefficiencysavestime,

or,looked atanotherway, demonstrates the time that currentlymight bebeing wasted throughbadly defined

processesandpoorITimplementationsaswellasanymis-matchbetweenthetwo.

Thoseinterviewedconservativelyestimatedatimesavingofafewhoursperweekpersalesperson,butwhenthenumbersarescaledupbythenumberofpeopleworkinginsales,theybecomesignificantacrosstheindustryasa

wholeaswellasforeachcompany(Figure15).

When the potential savings were combinedwith the

numberofsalesfolkineachcompany,itaveragedout

ataroundbetween1500and3000workinghoursper

company per year equivalent to between one and

twopeoplepercompanyasignificantsaving.

Toachievethisthekeythingforanyorganisationisnot

tosmartenupbusinessprocessesor investinnovelIT

inisolation.BringthebusinessandITpeopletogether,

andfindflexiblesolutionsthatwilladapttochangesin

themarketandmovewiththebusinessasitevolves.

References

1OfcomCommunicationsReportJuly2012

2QuocircaDigitalidentitiesandtheopenbusinessresearchMarch2013


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AboutMercatoSolutions

Birmingham-basedMercatoSolutionsisamulti-millionpoundorganisationhelpingaglobalclientbasetransform

businessprocessesandisoneofEMEAsfastestgrowingsoftwarebusinesses.

Thisaward-winningbusinesspridesitselfondecadesofinnovation,offeringafamilyofready-to-deployKnowledge-basedplatformsandapplicationsaswellasbespokework.

KnowledgeKubeisaflexibleplatformthatenablesnon-programmerstocreateandstreamlinebusinessprocessesto

increase productivity. An Insurance Edition isdedicated to thedesign,developmentand publishing of insurance

productsonline,helpinginsurers,brokersandMGAsincreaseincomebyreducingtime,costandriskintheproduct-

to-marketprocessworldwide.www.knowledgekube.co.ukwww.knowledgekube-insurance.co.uk

KnowledgeBusis abusinessintelligence platform forprocurers.The ITEdition isCIPS accreditedandautomates

benchmarking of purchases against trade guide price and stock, giving IT buyers the knowledge they need to

negotiatebetterdealswithsuppliers,sounlockingmorefromtheirITprocurement.www.knowledgebus-it.co.uk

MercatoranksasoneofBritainsWorld-beatingmanufacturersontheGovernmentsMadebyBritainlistandthe

G-CloudframeworkandhashelpedcustomerProbrandsecureaQueensAwardforInnovation.

www.mercatosolutions.co.uk

T:44(0)1216052050

45-55CamdenStreet

Birmingham

B13BP

Follow:@Mercato_S@KnowledgeKube@KnowledgeBus


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AboutQuocirca

Quocircaisa primaryresearchandanalysis companyspecialisingin the

business impact of information technology and communications (ITC).

With world-wide, native language reach, Quocirca provides in-depth

insightsintotheviewsofbuyersandinfluencersin large,mid-sizedand

small organisations. Its analyst team is made up of real-world

practitionerswithfirst-handexperienceofITCdeliverywhocontinuously

researchandtracktheindustryanditsrealusageinthemarkets.

Throughresearchingperceptions,Quocircauncoverstherealhurdlesto

technology adoption the personal and political aspects of an

organisations environment and the pressures of the need for

demonstrablebusiness value in any implementation. This capability to

uncover and report back on the end-user perceptions in the market

enables Quocirca to provide advice on the realities of technology

adoption,notthepromises.

Quocirca research is always pragmatic, business orientated and

conducted in the context of the bigger picture. ITC has the ability to

transformbusinessesand theprocessesthatdrivethem,butoftenfails

to do so. Quocircas mission is to help organisations improve their

success rate in process enablement through better levels of

understanding and the adoption of the correct technologies at the

correcttime.

Quocircahasapro-activeprimaryresearchprogramme,regularlysurveyingusers,purchasersandresellersofITC

productsandservicesonemerging,evolvingandmaturingtechnologies.Overtime,Quocircahasbuiltapictureof

longterminvestmenttrends,providinginvaluableinformationforthewholeoftheITCcommunity.

QuocircaworkswithglobalandlocalprovidersofITCproductsandservicestohelpthemdeliveronthepromisethat

ITCholdsfor business.Quocircasclients includeOracle, IBM, CA,O2, T-Mobile,HP, Xerox,RicohandSymantec,

alongwithotherlargeandmediumsizedvendors,serviceprovidersandmorespecialistfirms.

DetailsofQuocircasworkandtheservicesitofferscanbefoundat http://www.quocirca.com

Disclaimer:

ThisreporthasbeenwrittenindependentlybyQuocircaLtd.Duringthepreparationof thisreport,Quocircamay

haveusedanumberofsourcesfortheinformationandviewsprovided.AlthoughQuocircahasattemptedwherever

possibletovalidatetheinformationreceivedfromeachvendor,Quocircacannotbeheldresponsibleforanyerrorsininformationreceivedinthismanner.

AlthoughQuocircahastakenwhatstepsitcantoensurethattheinformationprovidedinthisreportistrueand

reflects real marketconditions,Quocircacannottake anyresponsibility forthe ultimate reliabilityof thedetails

presented.Therefore,Quocircaexpresslydisclaimsallwarrantiesandclaimsastothevalidityofthedatapresented

here,includinganyandallconsequentiallossesincurredbyanyorganisationorindividualtakinganyactionbased

onsuchdataandadvice.

Allbrandandproductnamesarerecognisedandacknowledgedastrademarksorservicemarksoftheirrespective

holders.

REPORT NOTE:This report has been writtenindependently by Quocirca Ltdto provide an overview of theissues facing insuranceorganisations seeking tomaximise the effectiveness oftheir IT systems and businessprocesses.

The report is based on primaryresearch interviews of the UKinsurance sector conducted in

the summer of 2013 and alsodraws on Quocircas extensiveknowledge of the technologyand business arenas, andprovides advice on theapproach that organisationsshould take to create a moreeffective, efficient and flexibleenvironment.

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What's costing you dearly?