SOLUCOM : Big data: a gold mine for the insurance sector - Solucom's latest Insight

information fournie par Actusnews •09/11/2015 à 11:00

Players in the insurance sector are constantly being required to innovate so that they can develop their business, and having to rethink their business models in the digital era where Big data is the key driver behind transformation. Big data is a veritable gold mine capable of creating new services, optimising operational models and finding new positions on the value chain. What kind of data can be exploited? How can we rethink insurance activities in the Big data era? Is this process so simple and free of risk? How does one go about launching and successfully carrying out a transformation project? To provide some concrete answers to these questions, Solucom put together a think-tank comprising a group of start-up founders and insurance professionals in charge of innovation, marketing, actuary activities and IS architecture. This summary review is the result of their brainstorming sessions and discussions.

Insurance sector prospects in the Big data era?

Insurance companies are currently being faced with several challenges, of a regulatory nature (Hamon and Eckert laws, and the Solvency II directive), as well as at the societal level (ageing population and imbalanced protection systems), and those related to technology (new services and collaborative usages). To meet these challenges, new usages can be envisaged by exploiting the potential offered by data with exponential growth possibilities. In addition, insurers will be able to design new products, as well as offer customised and interactive tariffs; gain a better knowledge of their clients and market so that they can better target their market research efforts and adapt their client offering accordingly; combat fraud, by identifying abnormal behaviour patterns and fraudulent declarations; optimise claims management and propose innovative, preventive and warning services, etc.

Demystify Big data and choosing the correct technical solution

To extract the significant contents and reveal the predictive power of raw data, these volumes of information must be treated by way of a Big data exploitation process that has nothing mysterious about it. Indeed, this process comprises a series of rational steps and is based on a continuous-improvement approach which makes it possible to read and interpret a wide variety of data elements and weak signals. On the premise that the same circumstances produce the same effects, it is possible to predict the outcome, and even propose the prevention measures to be taken.

A novelty in 2012, this concept has since developed into the type of comprehensive offerings being proposed by publishers on the market, and which have created “technological jungle” players must become acquainted with if they do not want to lose their bearings. Because there is no general Big data solution on the market, it is essential to choose the correct solution for any Big data project.

Big data: a revolution underpinned by trust

Big data projects involve the harvesting and storage of data for their subsequent treatment and transformation to create new usages. At every stage of this process, manipulated data and compliance to personal-data protection legislation are exposed to increased risk. Given the constantly changing judicial framework, citizens and regulatory authorities alike are now expressing their concerns. Mastering the risks attached to Big data involves anticipating these fears by communicating on the usages envisaged and their related advantages, as well as on the skills of the technological teams and security measures taken to guarantee data protection. This requires implementing a veritable "win-win" contract founded upon trust which places the clients at the centre and ensures that they are kept fully informed and always have a voice when it comes to the question of sharing their data.

Adopting a start-up spirit to initiate and successfully complete a Big data project

Big data raises the challenge of giving meaning to the volumes of data for the purposes of revealing their value-generating usages. To launch such a project, it is best to adopt the start-up spirit as a new way of working. Initially, this involves brainstorming ideas and testing them out in an agile way. Mobilising a core team of members with a highly diversified range of profiles and key skills is also a success driver. Putting data at the centre of corporate development requires creating new job positions, such as that of the Data-scientist.

Overall, this process involves taking the project through all of the stages from the experimental phase through to industrialisation, namely; ramping up skills, implementing data management and adapting IT systems to meet Big data requirements.

"Solucom Factory": the firm's workshop

Solucom has always sought to share its vision and thoughts concerning its main fields of competence with the market. To this end, the Group launched "Solucom Factory", a club, headed up by a team of the firm's partner/managers, that meets every two months and to which clients are invited to reflect upon, share their views on, a and prepare for the challenges of tomorrow.

About Solucom

Founded in 1990, Solucom is a consulting firm whose mission is to guide and champion major enterprise transformations. Solucom's approach is founded upon the belief that the key to successful corporate transformation lies in the ability to simultaneously master business, organisational and technological challenges.

Solucom's clients rank among the top 200 companies and local authorities in France. To serve its clients' needs, Solucom has access to a network with the collective skills of more than 1,500 employees in France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Switzerland, and Morocco.

Solucom is listed on Euronext Paris and integrated in the Tech40 index. In addition, the group is eligible to benefit from the PEA-PME share-savings plan, was awarded the “Innovative Company” status by the French public investment bank, BPIFrance, and the “Great Place To Work®” status for 2015.