Boston, MA, USA
March 28, 2008

Insurance CIO/CTO Pressures, Priorities, Projects, and Plans 2008: The View Across the Atlantic

Report Published by Celent

Celent's annual US and European CIO/CTO surveys saw insurance executives on both sides of the Atlantic continuing to focus on improving the customer/broker experience by investing in new business solutions, upgrading core systems, and streamlining operations. However, US CIOs show greater concern about the impact of a softening market in the coming year.

In a new report, Insurance CIO/CTO Pressures, Priorities, Projects, and Plans 2008: The View Across the Atlantic, Celent provides a comparative analysis of behaviors, initiatives, challenges, and priorities for 2008 between insurers in the United States and Europe. Based on in-depth surveys of 43 CIOs and CTOs from the US and Europe at the end of 2007, its findings provide insights on general priorities and business pressures, budgets and staffing, platforms and technology choices, service-oriented architecture (SOA) and Web services, outsourcing, and web 2.0 technologies.

The 2008 surveys saw rising concerns about growth during a potential global recession, especially among US CIOs. Expense control has also become a frequently cited business pressure for this group. But until the full impact of the slowdown in the US economy becomes clear, both US and European insurers are continuing to pursue the IT investment trends Celent saw last year, with core systems replacement and e-business initiatives remaining paramount. Large insurers' IT budgets are projected to remain stable in 2008, while midsize insurers' budgets may be more volatile. Insurers in both regions are also continuing their gradual migration off the mainframe to more modern architectures.

"The greatest difference between regions continues to be Europe's heavier reliance on outsourcing and external contractors," says Ashley Evans, an analyst in Celent's insurance practice and one of the authors of the report. "This is reflected in the staffing mixes of both areas. European insurers are able to maintain lower IT headcounts relative to their company size." However, survey results suggest that IT staff headcounts in the US may fall this year, given insurers' renewed focus on expense control.

The 30-page report contains 22 figures and one table. A table of contents is available online.

Members of Celent's Life/Health Insurance and Property/Casualty Insurance research services can download the report electronically by clicking on the icon to the left.  Non-members should contact info@celent.com for more information.

 

About Celent

Celent is a research and advisory firm dedicated to helping financial institutions formulate comprehensive business and technology strategies. Celent publishes reports identifying trends and best practices in financial services technology and conducts consulting engagements for financial institutions looking to use technology to enhance existing business processes or launch new business strategies. With a team of internationally experienced analysts, Celent is uniquely positioned to offer strategic advice and market insights on a global basis. Celent is a member of the Oliver Wyman Group, which is part of Marsh & McLennan Companies [NYSE: MMC].

Media Contacts

New York - Dana Lautin
dlautin@celent.com
Tel.: +1 646 364 8254

Paris - Muriel de Munck
mdemunck@celent.com
Tel.: +33 1 42 61 06 88

Tokyo - KyongSun Kong
kkong@celent.com
Tel.: +81 3 3596 0020