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Improving operational efficiency through better
performance management

Insurers must see data value

[Johannesburg, 24 Mar 2010] - Smart businesses are taking advantage of the wealth of information available to make more intelligent decisions, says IBM's Tony Boobier.

Insurance businesses need to follow the example of other 'smart' industries, and learn how to leverage the wealth of information available to make more intelligent decisions. This emerged at the ITWeb/IBM Performance Management for Insurance event, last week.

According to Tony Boobier, insurance leader for IBM business analytics, it has become increasingly important to leverage information for greater business value in the insurance industry, especially in the current environment. Challenges are due to the recent financial meltdown, market dynamics, and continued business complexity in the industry, he said.

Boobier noted that smarter systems provide clarity, which helps insurance businesses to understand, measure, and probe the business world in new ways. He also pointed out that predictive analytics allow for complex data to be managed, processed and made actionable.

According to Boobier, insurance companies should use technology to effectively manage the explosive volume and variety of historical and real-time information. “They will also be able to identify and proactively address opportunities and threats with predictive analytics in real-time.”

With technology, pervasive information collected from a multitude of sources across the value chain can be made useful to all who need it, he explained. “Technology also helps in delivering trusted, accurate and timely information to the right decision-makers,” he added.
AGENDA
07:45 Registration and Finger Breakfast
08:30 Information-led Transformation for Insurance: Ocea Garriock, IOD Lead Architect / Manager of Technical Team for Software Solutions Laboratory - Sub Saharan Africa & Simon Jeggo, Sales and Marketing for Information Management Product set in South and Central Africa, IBM
09:15 Keynote address: Improving Operational Efficiency through better Performance Management`
Tony Boobier, Insurance Leader CEEMA , IBM Business Analytics
10:00 Refreshments and Snacks
10:15 Executive Insight - How to focus on the important metrics of your insurance business, operate with agility and be able to act decisively when the need arises
11:00 Client case studies: interview with two of IBM's customers and Q&A with the audience
11:30 Panel Discussion
12:00 Close

Businesses have to develop and exploit the capability to deliver trusted information to people, processes, and applications, when and where it's needed.

IBM calls this capability information-on-demand (IOD) and says it can deliver true competitive advantage. According to the company, its IOD strategy is intended to provide a range of data management needs, including content management, data cleansing, data integration, search, and business intelligence tools.

Simon Jeggo, IBM's sales and marketing manager for information management products in south and central Africa, said there are key requirements for unlocking the business value of information for competitive advantage. “This is what IOD is focused on,” he noted.

In order to unlock the business value of information, insurance organisations need the ability to manage information – both data and content – over its life cycle, to reduce info management costs, provide controlled accessibility, and address retention and compliance requirements, he told the forum.

“They must also be able to use this information as part of the individual business processes and applications across the enterprise, optimising the performance of applications and improving decision-making,” he suggested. According to Jeggo, these requirements are addressed by data and content management capabilities.

He added that insurance organisations need to establish an accurate and trusted view of information across these different processes and applications. “This is to drive more consistent information across the enterprise and support analytic and other requirements to use information coming from different sources.

Boobier pointed out that the insurance industry needs a 'flexible' architecture that can leverage all of its existing investments. “Accurate, trusted information is established through information integration, data warehousing and master data management,” he concluded.
 
Click here for the speaker presentations and audio

 
EVENT SPONSOR
Cognos (Cognos Incorporated) was an Ottawa, Ontario based company making business intelligence (BI) and performance management software. Founded in 1969, at its peak Cognos employed almost 3,500 people and served more than 23,000 customers in over 135 countries. Originally known as Quasar it adopted the Cognos name in 1982. On January 31, 2008, Cognos was officially acquired by IBM.[1] It continued to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary (Cognos, an IBM company) until January 1, 2009, when it was absorbed into IBM's Information Management brand within the company's Software Group. The Cognos name continues to be used, being applied to IBM's line of business intelligence (BI) and performance management products.

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[ Johannesburg, 5 March 2010 ] - Many businesses are looking at how business intelligence (BI) and performance management solutions can help them achieve a lower cost base through improved operational efficiency.
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