The Next Leap: Where could technology take the industry?

THE NEXT LEAP: WHERE COULD TECHNOLOGY TAKE THE INDUSTRY? “WE’VE SEEN TWO YEARS’ WORTH OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN Technology and the future TWO MONTHS.” “Quite of lot of brokers hadn’t even thought about having their operators working with laptops,” noted Carl. Richard agreed that it was a wake-up call for a number of brokers, “Remote VPN set up was a first for a lot of Members. They were so office-centric it wasn’t even a consideration. COVID-19 has moved the conversation on very quickly in terms of IT. People have realised they need to invest and if they’ve not been investing it comes as a bit of a shock.” OFFSHORE RELIANCE “The impact of lockdown in countries, such as India, where a huge amount of outsourcing was taking place, resulted in the need to bring that work back onshore – it is very likely that this will not go back to anywhere near the scale it was previously and there will be an accelerated drive to even more automation,” Jaime commented. Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft “THE THINGS THAT PEOPLE of insurance WERE GOING TO BE DOING While the tools and software adopted in the IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS ARE past few months may be new to some, these are BEING ACCELERATED BECAUSE technologies which have been around for some EVERYTHING ELSE IS REALLY UNCERTAIN.” time. And, having taken the plunge and formed new digital habits, it’s clear that the technological capabilities we’ve now become accustomed to are Jaime Swindle, MD of Networks and Products just the tip of the iceberg.

THAT WAS THEN: THE GAPS

We caught up with MD of Networks and Products, Jaime Swindle, Head of Group IT, Richard King, and Systems Consultancy Manager, Carl Chapman, to talk about the challenges, changes and

REMOTE WORKING CAPABILITIES

possibilities of working “smarter”.

BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLANNING VOIDS

Pre-COVID-19 remote working didn’t feature in many business continuity plans. This proved a big hurdle for some insurers, as Jaime explained, “You never imagine there will be anywhere you can’t go. This proved a challenge in enabling live chat or getting some of the technology-driven centres up and running, because most people’s plans assume you have a back-up site that you can go to. Having people sitting in their homes and being able to maintain business as usual is really difficult.”

THIS IS NOW: HOW THE INDUSTRY HAS ADAPTED

MULTI-FACTOR VERIFICATION AND ONLINE SECURITY

“There’s been a bigger update on multiTechnology and the future factor identity verification. This is not a new technology but it’s something that a lot of of insurance businesses are looking to implement and much quicker,” Richard said. But cyber phishing was another matter altogether. “It’s making sure that people are educated enough to know the difference between a genuine email and a phishing email,” he added.

WORKING EFFICIENCIES

Is it time for brokers to re-think what they print? Carl and Richard believe so. “If they’ve got a franking machine in their office, how much are they paying for that and how much are the postage costs for all those letters going out?” Carl asked. “If it’s not coming through on a format where you can e-sign and you haven’t got a printer at home – they’re not going to want to go out and buy a printer. It’s a backwards step,” Richard added.

SERVICING BROKERS WITH VIDEO CONFERENCE “CALL CENTRES”

“There’s a definite change in the servicing of brokers. We’ve got one insurer that’s launching a specific service around video conferencing to be a bit smarter, a bit more proactive and a bit more digital in their interactions.” - Jaime SYSTEMS SUPPORT

Richard reflected on the proactive response of systems provider Open GI who came to the aid of an Ethos Broker with no remote connectivity.

“Open GI did a virtual survey to look at the configuration of the existing router before transferring this to a device that was capable of having a VPN remote connection. They then shipped that out to the office and with the help of someone on site, got everything connected up, got the software installed and they were up and away. “So, within the space of a week they went from having no remote connectivity to having remote connectivity. It was a really good offering and really helped us out,” he said.

WHAT’S NEXT? NEW POSSIBILITIES

ONBOARDING: DAY TRAINING TO MODULES

“It’s not possible to do a remote training session that lasts all day. You’re not going to keep people engaged by doing that. We’re looking at what those training modules look like and whether we can get them into oneand-a-half hour slots and how we can get that out and the technology we can use.” - Carl

PRODUCT LINE SHIFT

“You will find product lines changing and either getting switched-off while having more focus on some of the ones which weren’t going to get development where there’s now a business case thanks to an increase in automation.” - Jaime

2020: THE YEAR THAT WAS CANCELLED...

CANCELLING...

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