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<p><strong>By: Tony van Niekerk, Editor of COVER Publications</strong></p>

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<h4><b><figure><img class="alignleft wp-image-141295 size-medium" src="https://www.cover.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Tian-Horn-TIA-232x300.jpg" alt="" width="232" height="300"></figure>I had a chat with Tian Horn, MD, TIA Technologies Africa, to get some insight into his thinking around Insurance Technology and how insurers can leverage innovation to be successful. </b></h4>

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<p><span style="color: #003366;"><b>What do you see as a main driver of innovation in insurance technology?</b></span></p>

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<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The consumer of insurance products has developed their needs to the extent that they not only want more responsive interactions but they also want personalised products that fit their risk profiles and lifestyles even better. This means the one size fits all strategy is not good enough anymore and they expect the insurer to package a product for them on the fly, and offer it in a unique experience.</span></em></p>

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<p><span style="color: #003366;"><b>How are successful insurers meeting these demands?</b></span></p>

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<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">It is not uncommon now to see retailers offering insurance products to consumers who go online to buy a new appliance, for instance, right at the time that they are making that purchase. It is also likely that this insurance product is not their own but rather from a company that they have a relationship with. Through innovative technology the specifics of the products and the premiums are taken from another data source and positioned seamlessly into this online transaction.</span></em></p>

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<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Unless insurance companies can expose their products to other market places using technology such as webbooks and event-based action triggers, they lose out on the distribution of their services and products beyond their traditional realm. </span></em></p>

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<p><span style="color: #003366;"><b>What technology is needed to participate in this new competitive environment?</b></span></p>

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<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">In order to be a player in a larger ecosystem and to participate in a much larger digital marketplace, insurers need the correct knowledge in the back office, the technical architecture in the integration layer and the ability to expose and consume external data seamlessly, securely and efficiently.</span></em></p>

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<p><span style="color: #003366;"><b>What challenges can legacy systems present?</b></span></p>

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<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">It hampers their technology and innovation ambitions but also the fact that the more data they load on this legacy system, the more difficult it will become in time to migrate off there.</span></em></p>

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<p><b>Whist legacy has served its purpose in the past, the faster you can migrate off the legacy onto a modern open architecture, the faster the solution will deliver your digital dreams.  </b></p>

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