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Tuesday December 17, 7:30 am ET
Insurance Industry Executives Want IT Modernization Despite Budget Constraints According to Sapiens Survey
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 17, 2002--Sapiens International Corporation (Nasdaq:SPNS - News), a leading insurance business solutions provider, today announced results of its survey of U.S.-based senior insurance executives conducted during the annual ISOTECH 2002 conference last month in Orlando, Fla.
The survey uncovered concerns with current capacity and cost efficiency of existing information technology systems.
Asking respondents to identify their anticipated top IT challenges over the next three years, a quarter (26%) ranked "modernizing key business processes" as the most pressing concern facing the industry, 20 percent identified "IT budget constraints" as their greatest concern. The issues ranked as the "main concern" for the industry were:
| Modernization |
26% |
| IT Budget Constraints |
20% |
| Developing or Acquiring Core Applications |
11% |
| Architecture (Business and IT) |
12% |
| Integrating New and Legacy Systems |
13% |
The top technology-related issue facing the industry expressed in the survey was "legacy policy administration systems" with 29 percent of respondents ranking it as the top challenge. Other issues revealed include:
| Legacy Policy Administration Systems |
29% |
| Agent/Broker Internet Transactions |
13% |
| Regulatory Compliance |
13% |
| Agent/Broker Internet Information |
11% |
| Implementing Standards |
10% |
| Enhancing Claims |
5% |
The survey also identified that 30 percent of policy administration systems and one-quarter of claims and billing/commissions systems are more than 10 years old.
A significant increase is expected in the use of the Internet to communicate between carrier and agent, according to the survey. While less than a third (31%) of insurance executives currently use the Internet for over half of their communication, 77 percent anticipate to be at this level within two years.
"The results reflect a very real concern in the insurance industry about IT budgetary constraints in a rapidly changing technology landscape," said Judy Johnson, Vice President of Insurance Strategy, Sapiens Americas. "Interestingly, few respondents cited fast ROI or systems costs as a project concern, which underlines the continuing IT/business credibility disconnect and current focus on short-term, tactical initiatives as well as the disillusionment with current packaged offerings, seen as expensive, incomplete and inflexible."
About Sapiens International
Sapiens International Corporation (Nasdaq:SPNS - News) is a leading global provider of proven IT solutions that modernize business processes and enable insurance organizations and other leading companies to adapt quickly to change. Sapiens' modular solutions are widely recognized for their ability to cost-effectively align IT with the business demands for speed, flexibility and efficiency. Sapiens operates through wholly owned subsidiaries in North America, EMEA and Asia Pacific. The Company has partnerships with market leaders such as IBM and EDS and its clients include AXA, Liverpool Victoria, Norwich Union, OneBeacon, Principal Financial, Prudential, Abbey National, Honda, International Paper, Panasonic UK among others. For more information, please visit www.sapiens.com.
Except for historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this release are forward-looking statements that are dependent on certain risks and uncertainties, including such factors, among others, as market acceptance, market demand, pricing, changing regulatory environment, changing economic conditions, risks in new product and service development, the effect of the company's accounting policies and other risk factors detailed in the Company's SEC filings.
Contact:
Padilla Speer Beardsley
Rebecca Green, +1-212-752-8338
e-Mail: rgreen@psbpr.com
 
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