Natural disasters, economic brinkmanship, political upheaval—now often
interrelated—are increasing the scale and complexity of risk management.
As a result, insurers such as Zurich Global understand the need to rethink
strategies and organizational structures, placing the right people in the
right risk management roles, and employing ERM processes across the
organization. To do so, insurers can avail themselves of specialized tech-
nologies such as business intelligence, cloud computing and predictive
analytics to augment these personnel and organizational enhancements
and ultimately help mitigate big risks.
Better Ways to Manage Risk
page 18
Insurers with legacy systems are playing catch up as they respond to a
channel facing increased business demands, including cost reductions
and the need for technolo�y efficiencies that create faster quote/bind
capabilities. But even as insurers modernize and employ emerging tech-
nologies that affect agency management systems and carrier portals alike,
agents are still trying to streamline data entry in order to place business.
And, with the ever-louder call for organic growth, insurers and agents are
in a scramble. Both agree on the need for improvement, yet disagree on
what’s required to get there.
The Clash Effect
page 24
OU TSOURCING
Is There a Pre-Built
App for That?
Tablets and smart phones are
everywhere, yet some insurers have
been slow to offer customers mobile
applications. In attempt to catch
up, some carriers, including
Progressive, are turning
to outsourcers that
offer pre-built mobile
applications that can be quickly and
cheaply deployed. However, experts
warn, these pre-fab apps might not
always be the right solution.
page 28
March/April 2012 • Volume 15, Issue 2
A Day on the Job
Readying a mainframe upgrade, planning staff reassignments, checking data centers, setting priorities …
it’s all in a day’s work for Aflac’s Pat Rayl. Here’s how
she manages to do it all—and still smile. page 12
