Rapid product development is moving from being a competitive advantage to a competitive necessity. As the availability of more agile technology enables more carriers to adopt revised processes, evidence is mounting that product freshness drives greater portfolio profitability. The possibility of regulatory reform is simultaneously driving changes that eventually will narrow the window of time regulators take to approve products, thereby depriving carriers of an excuse for slow development.
There are many factors, strategies and tools to help carriers improve speed to market, including streamlined regulatory processes, the ability to build a flexible chassis of common capabilities to reduce redundancies, adopting product configuration systems, and arranging organizational structures to improve interdepartmental communications. However, even with all these advances, many insurers continued to be stymied in their efforts to improve the product development process. Are the obstacles primarily about technology, or do they have more to do with culture, management, workforce skills and IT budgets? This is an urgent matter that every insurance company must address. As the market becomes more crowded and customer and producer demands become more pronounced, rapid product development will become an increasingly important area for insurers that seek competitive differentiation and growth.
Discussion Topics:
- Understanding the concepts of product development / product agility
- Defining a state-of-the-art product development process.
- Business/IT alignment: Why it’s key to successful product development.
- Creating common frameworks and rule sets.
- Streamlining the regulatory filing process.
- Improving speed without sacrificing quality.
- Transforming actuarial technology.
- Empowering underwriters.
- Enabling product development technology.
Join your industry peers at this Insurance & Technology Executive Breakfast for an open dialogue on some of the latest issues, trends and newest technologies in insurance product manufacturing.
Kathy Burger Editorial Director
Insurance & Technology
