ORLANDO, FL – 08 June 2009 – Novarica, a research and advisory firm, has found that only 59% of insurer executives who have ranked the software products that they use would definitely buy their solution again. And for the 9% who would be unlikely to make the same decision again, the vendors’ failures to keep products current, align business goals, and ensure productive use by business users were largely to blame.
The new report, Insurance Technology Vendors Report Card 2009: Understanding Insurers’ Experience with Technology Vendors, which was announced today at the IASA Conference in Orlando, analyzes the aggregate responses of 285 insurer executives who completed surveys for Novarica ACE Rankings�, which quantify the Average Customer Experience of insurers with specific technology products, ranging from policy administration systems to document management solutions and everything in between. The report, and individual rankings on more than 30 different products are available online at www.novarica.com/acerankings.shtml.
“In aggregate, insurance software gets good, but not great, grades from its customers,” notes Matthew Josefowicz, director of the insurance practice at Novarica and originator of the Novarica ACE Rankings. “While 59% insurers ranking their software products would definitely buy them again, 41% range from muted enthusiasm to outright regret. Clearly there is room for improvement, both in insurer’s abilities to select partners that will deliver strong business results, and in vendor’s products and capabilities.”
“We recommend that insurers be careful to look beyond feature/function mixes and technology stacks and careful consider their potential vendors’ track records in getting clients live, delivering measurable business results, and enhancing their products to keep them current,” he adds.
The Novarica ACE Ranking survey asks the reference to rank his or her experience with the vendor and solution against various positive statements about customer experience. These 35 statements are grouped into Novarica’s four SOFT areas (Staff, Organization, Functionality, and Technology) as well as an additional area for Overall Customer Satisfaction, which is double-weighted in the average that creates the top-line score.
About Novarica
Novarica provides information, insights, and perspective on markets, operations, and technology to financial services and insurance executives and project teams. 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 software vendors including the Novarica Market Navigators™ and Novarica ACE (Average Customer Experience) Rankings. Novarica is a division of Novantas, LLC, the leading management consultancy and information services provider for the financial services industries. www.novarica.com.
