Life in the Cloud – vendor activity is high

Few technologies are talked about as much as cloud computing. Cloud services may top the list of technology buzzwords used in corporate board rooms, by Wall Street analysts, in the trade media and within insurance IT organizations, but it often is talked about as an emerging technology – one that is potentially transformative but still little used. The level of general interest in cloud computing is understandable. It promises tremendous flexibility, tempting economic advantages, and unending operational efficiencies. To that end, insurance carriers are dependent on the cloud offerings available. Only if vendors are offering products on the cloud can carriers take advantage of them. So where are the vendors? Do all vendors have cloud applications? What options are available for insurance carriers and are they aligned with carriers on the importance of cloud apps? What challenges do vendors face, and what are their plans for the future? I surveyed 41 vendors to provide answers to these questions as well as to understand pricing models, platform investments, and their expectations of where the market is going. Cloud has grown from an emerging trend to the way of doing business for most vendors in a remarkably short time. While vendors may believe they are leading the competition by offering a cloud solution, the reality is that cloud options are now the norm. Vendors have moved swiftly to create cloud offerings and those that don't have some type of offering are rare. Although these offerings are common, that doesn't change the very real and significant concerns that carriers have, particularly around privacy issues and performance. Yet carriers interest in cloud computing continues to gain traction as a way of managing costs, improving efficiencies, and offering opportunities to transform the business. Despite the high interest, vendors who wish to be successful in selling cloud options to carriers will have to address concerns in three key areas: privacy and data integrity, reliability and performance, and may want to provide tools to help carriers learn to manage and govern their cloud offerings. This rapid evolution is not without its challenges for vendors. Customer-facing challenges are of high concern for vendors include issues such as managing the release cycle across multiple clients balancing front end, customer facing features reliability and performance enhancing features, and the impact of a changing target market customer base. Vendors are also concerned about identifying the right pricing model. Managing the shifting business model from license and professional service fees to subscriptions is formidable for many vendors. In addition, cloud creates notable organizational challenges, especially competing for scarce engineering resources. Cloud is expected to generate significant levels of revenue, and vendors that have not put their cloud plans together may want to begin to build a roadmap for the future. Check out the report – Life in the Cloud: Vendor Plans and Priorities