Perceptions and Misconceptions of Big Data in Insurance
Abstract
Celent has defined five tiers of data capability: Spectator, Experimenter, Practitioner, Innovator, and Scientist. Celent now follows up this model with a survey of over 200 insurance professionals regarding attitudes and activities related to data from the insurance industry.
Celent sought to understand what level of capability insurers are operating at today and where they should be operating. This report presents the importance of data in the insurance industry and examines where insurers are in terms of investment in data-related technologies and in Big Data in particular. To do so, Celent launched a survey in February 2013.
Celent found an industry not faced with volume challenges, as the big in Big Data would suggest. Rather, insurers faced challenges with velocity and variety of data. Insurers think that their industry struggles to find value in Big Data offerings and is behind in investment, but Celent found evidence of pragmatic investment.
“Insurers should not believe that competitors are laggards,“ says Nicolas Michellod, Senior Analyst at Celent and coauthor of the report, “They must treat data as a critical raw material.”
“We think the insurance industry is set for a step change in customer engagement,“ says Craig Beattie, Senior Analyst at Celent and coauthor of the report, “Insurers often have teams with strong data analysis capability, a position many data startups would envy. “
This 28-page report contains 16 figures and 2 tables.