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Insurance Mobility — m-Enabling Your Insurance Solutions
Rakesh Sharma has more than nineteen years of Program Management, Product Management and Solutions experience for the Insurance industry. In his current role, he is responsible for the Insurance Practice for Infogain and drives the business and technology strategy in the Insurance space. Prior to joining Infogain, Rakesh worked with various Insurance and IT companies managing Programs, Products, Engineering and Solutions. He joined Infogain in 2009. |
As competition intensifies, insurance companies face the growing challenge of attracting and retaining a new generation of customers and agents. Operating in the most efficient and most cost-effective way is a key to success in this highly competitive market.
Insurers are not always known for being on the cutting-edge when it comes to technology due to adequacy of old systems to manage lower cost and basic conservative instincts. However, the business value and convenience generated by the latest technologies is compelling insurers to modify their operational models and adopt low cost but high-payback technology solutions to respond to the emerging challenges of real-time information and cost efficiencies.
Of late, the industry is keeping a close eye on innovations which are taking place in similar domains like BFSI and responding by adopting cost-effective and high ROI technology enablers like mobile and wireless technologies.
This has been a fundamental shift resulting in the improved value proposition of mobile solutions for insurers. The shift is aimed at accelerating business velocity and convenience by m-enabling its constituents like producers, consumers, employees and suppliers through informational and transactional capabilities. This is in direct contrast to the early days of e-mail communications alone. Mobile computing has acquired the necessary relevance in the IT landscape of Insurers and they are earmarking dollars to m-enable their stakeholders for SFA and client management.
Due to the ubiquitous nature of mobile computing, there has been a growing need to offer more services to agents and consumers through mobile devices and demand seems to intensify as the time passes by. Through mobile phones, insurers will have great tools to equip their agents with real-time information and contacts. Launching mobile applications is becoming popular, especially in the U.S., for insurers that want to generate a new brand image.
Some of the big insurers in advanced markets have proactively rolled out mobile apps for their customers for submitting claims, photos, accidental info and field services like calling and locating workshops, hospitals, adjustors etc. The insurers are also expediting the claim process by m-enabling their adjustors in the field—reducing considerably the overall policy claim cycle and operational cost. The days are not far when mobile solutions will allow geo-targeting through personalized and localized interaction and servicing to the existing and prospective customers.
Trends going forward
It is quite evident that mobile adoption is emerging in the Insurance technology landscape as the latest trend. The business value yielded by early entrants into this area is compelling other insurers also to make this part of their overall technology strategy. Besides the significant rise in the number of mobile users, the reducing cost of handheld devices and better connectivity is making it more remunerative for the insurers to have a mobility solution at the enterprise level.
Mobile devices may not be able to replace the conventional desktop, but a large amount of traffic would be diverted and handled through mobiles in the coming days. The pervasive connectivity and portability make them strong candidates for doing quick business operations which not only are faster and efficient but eliminate the need for visiting the Insurer's office.
"Insurers across the globe are being confronted with the growing need to offer more services to agents and consumers through mobile devices and demand will intensify during the next five years," says leading analyst firm Gartner Research in a recent report on industry trends. Mobile phones can work as mini-computers and are flexible and familiar for the end user which is in contrast to other devices like desktops, laptops etc where adoption had been not so smooth.
While some critics might debate the future of the mobile phone within our industry, consumers and producers around the world are already using mobile technologies to access informational and transactional services which were hitherto restricted to the back end systems.
Looking at the trends and business value of mobile technology in the insurance industry, I have no doubt that all big or small insurers across Geos would consider mobile technology as part of their overall technology strategy and mobile phones are the candidates for the single most transformative technology for development going forward.
Infogain has expertise in delivering mobility solutions for the Insurance industry. Please review our solutions page for more information.
Posted by Rakesh Sharma on 20 May, 2010
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