BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - January 13, 2011) - Strategy Meets Action (SMA), a leading insurance strategic advisory firm, is pleased to announce the immediate availability of the first two reports in a new SMA research series focusing on customer communications management (CCM) and enterprise content management (ECM). "CCM & ECM: Insurer Priorities and Plans," addresses investment business drivers, IT spending plans, and IT solution approaches, while "CCM & ECM: Insurer Buying Behavior," takes a detailed look at insurer plans by major line of business and company size (tier).
"Insurers in North America spend $7 billion annually on the inter-related areas of CCM and ECM," said Deb Smallwood, SMA founder and co-author of the reports. "This report clearly shows that the focus for IT investment has shifted to business growth and away from cost control. Our research finds that 60 percent of insurers are increasing spending and shopping for next-generation technologies that will enable e-delivery, facilitate EBPP, and better manage and improve the effectiveness of customer correspondence."
SMA's two just-released reports present an innovative approach to analyzing CCM and ECM using a new, more integrated view. The methodology behind this new SMA research:
- Introduces a new model identifying the key CCM and ECM capabilities needed by insurers;
- Compares and contrasts the priorities, plans, and spending for the four tiers of insurers;
- Identifies how the plans of property and casualty, life and annuity, and multi-line companies differ; and
- Explores insurers' 2011 plans and compares them to plans for the next three years.
"The top three business drivers of CCM and ECM investment, cited by over 50 percent of insurer survey respondents, are improving customer service, better understanding customers, and increasing retention," said Mark Breading, SMA partner and co-author of the reports. "The shift in spending patterns is being driven by an explosion of new distribution channels, self-service options, and mobile devices. It is remarkable that over 90 percent of the insurer participants in our survey were from the executive suite and business management. It means CCM and ECM are not just IT issues -- they are important to marketers, actuaries, underwriters, adjusters, and senior business executives."
More information about CCM and ECM in Insurance is available via the following options:
- Purchase report for CCM & ECM: Insurer Priorities and Plans
- Purchase report for CCM & ECM: Insurer Buying Behavior
- Read bio for study co-author Mark Breading
- Read bio for study co-author Deb Smallwood
- Contact Co-author Mark Breading at 614.562.8310 or mbreading@strategymeetsaction.com
- Contact Co-author Deb Smallwood at 603.770.9090 or dsmallwood@strategymeetsaction.com
In the coming weeks, SMA will release additional reports in the CCM and ECM research series. In the meantime, these reports and other SMA research are available for purchase on the SMA website at www.strategymeetsaction.com/our-research.
About SMA Strategy Meets Action
Exclusively serving the insurance industry, Strategy Meets Action (SMA) blends unbiased research findings with expertise and experience to deliver business and technology insights, research, and advice to insurers and IT solution providers. By leveraging best practices from both the management consulting and research advisory disciplines, SMA's services are actionable, business-driven, and research-based -- where strategy meets action -- enabling companies to achieve business success.
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