Generally, companies in the insurance industry have a ‘LOB’ rather than a customer-centric approach. There is often a disconnect between the product design and the desire customer experience. Additionally, in the industry information systems are often outdated , making information availability a challenge. The industry has not kept up with the ever increased customer requirement of a faster cycle time for policy issuance and claims. The vendor payment process is both inefficient and slow, directly affecting vendors and indirectly affecting customers. Insurance is one of the most regulated industries, requiring constant changes and modifications to both processes and systems. Theses changes are required to be implemented in a timely manner, creating additional challenges to other competing priorities.

It is important that the product design process incorporates customer requirements from the beginning, and that the customer experience is fully considered in all design steps. It is critical for an insurance company’s success to implement integrated systems that encompass underwriting, policy issuance, collections, claims and customer service. In order to achieve this level of performance, it is necessary to map current processes (POD) to understand root causes and ultimately propose solutions and new processes (POA) that will streamline activities while reducing cycle time. To quickly absorb regulatory changes, insurance companies need to have a robust Program Management Office coordinating the multiple changes and complexities inherent in cross-functional regulatory requirements.