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Novarica: Most Insurance CIOs See Supporting Strategic Initiatives and Improving Efficiency as Primary Values to the Enterprise

January 12, 2012 (NEW YORK) A new report by research and advisory firm Novarica, Creating Enterprise Value as CIO (http://www.novarica.com/creating_value_as_cio/) presents a look at how more than 100 insurer CIOs see their role in creating value and the factors that support or inhibit them in their mission.

“Insurance is an information business, and the CIO has a critical role in creating value for the insurer enterprise. But the nature of how different CIOs embrace that role, the different types of value they can create, and the tools they use to create that value varies widely,” said Matthew Josefowicz, partner and managing director at Novarica.

Among the key findings of the report:

• Most CIOs see their most important contribution in terms of supporting strategic initiatives or improving operational efficiency. Only about 20% see driving innovation as their primary area of value creation.
• Business/IT relationship and business/IT alignment are cited by more than 1/3 of CIOs as the most important factor in enabling them to create value. But those who see themselves primarily as innovators are twice as likely to credit their technical knowledge or management skills than their relationship with the business.
• While CIOs are most likely to look to their own IT staffs and other insurer’s IT staffs for future leaders, the innovators are much more likely than others to consider cross-pollinating with the business organization.
• On average, more than half of insurers’ IT budgets are devoted to building new capabilities and transformative or innovative initiatives, rather than maintenance.
• More than 40% of insurer CIOs think their business leaders have a poor understanding of enterprise IT issues, but only 24% see that as a problem.

About Novarica

Novarica provides information, insights, and perspective on markets, operations, and technology to financial services and insurance executives. The company delivers its service through published research, retained advisory services, and project-based consulting. Novarica’s research includes market and trend analyses, best practices research, case studies, and independent analyses of insurance software vendors. Novarica draws its knowledge from the personal experience of its principals, the ongoing information gathering initiatives of dedicated research staff, and regular communication with insurer executives through informal networks and through the Novarica Insurance Technology Research Council, a moderated knowledge-sharing community of more than 300 senior IT executives representing more than 260 North American insurers. More information at www.novarica.com.

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