Editor’s Note: As modern businesses strive to modernize operations for enhanced efficiency and productivity, many discover how challenging integrating new technology can be. New York Life, the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States, recently began a modernization initiative to expand data insights companywide and migrate core infrastructure to the cloud while attempting to integrate new technology with legacy systems. The company adopted a cloud-based CRM solution and looks to support agents with AI-powered technology and use targeted digital marketing in corporate lead generation. Today, successfully integrating new technology proves difficult for many insurance companies struggling with data silos, restrictive security imperatives and visibility complications caused by partial cloud investment combined with a continuing reliance on legacy IT systems for core business functions.
For insurance companies like New York Life, moving from legacy systems to the cloud isn’t easy, and modern teams can be left holding many disconnected parts. Choosing a cloud-based Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) architecture complete with high-capacity SD-WAN connectivity and a Secure Service Edge (SSE) solution—all managed via a single pane of glass portal—can make your team’s cloud transition far simpler.
Summary:
The largest mutual life insurance company in the U.S. has undertaken modernization efforts including a cloud-based CRM that delivers AI-powered insights to agents, and continues to look toward ways to expand its vision for data use and integration.
Dive brief:
- New York Life, the largest mutual life insurance company in the U.S., is in the midst of ongoing modernization efforts that have included successfully implementing a cloud-based Salesforce CRM that delivers AI-powered insights to its agents, according to Alex Cook, senior VP and head of strategic capabilities for the company.
- The company’s core policy administration platforms remain mainframe-based, “many of them across different product lines that date back to the 1970s and 1980s,” Cook said in an interview with CIO Dive.
- New York Life is looking for ways to connect the data insights it shares with agents to other parts of the company and aims to migrate much of its core infrastructure to cloud.
Dive insight:
After adopting a cloud-based CRM, New York Life’s tech leadership started looking for ways to expand its vision for data use and integration.
“That is the last big nut to crack,” Cook said. “A lot of focus over the last few years is on building out our API and management capabilities, and making sure that we’ve got a stronger basis to enable the interaction and integration of applications through data, particularly in the cloud.”
New York Life looked at how it could support its agents with AI and use targeted digital marketing in corporate lead generation. “Now we’re looking for ways to enable connection with other parts of the company, like our group benefits solutions business,” said Cook.
An IDC report on unified observability shows a majority of business technology leaders recognize that optimizing IT spend depends on providing better access to data and insights.
Insurance has its own unique challenges, but making the most of data and integrating new technologies with legacy systems are issues faced by any company committed to modernization. A majority of business technology leaders recognize that optimizing IT spend depends on providing better access to data and insights, according to an IDC report on unified observability.
Siloed data and overly specialized tools and applications constrain collaboration, hamper efficiency and cut into returns on modernization efforts. Over half the organizations surveyed employ six or more IT monitoring and management tools.
Three in five respondents said specialized tools and siloed data views hampered productivity.
Data-driven insights are great for business, but only if people use them. In most companies, the practical fix for observability issues is a combination of cloud-based SaaS subscriptions and on-prem software upgrades.
According to 3 in 5 respondents surveyed, specialized tools and siloed data views hamper productivity.
Half of survey respondents plan to invest in hybrid observability solutions in the next two years, integrating cloud and site-based software that facilitates more efficient data sharing and systems monitoring.
As companies push modernization in the hopes of seeing efficiency and productivity gains, difficulty in integrating new technologies can be a stumbling block. Security imperatives coupled with a tendency to silo data by department or function inhibits access, which can impede progress and cut into the ROI of IT investments.
Two in five respondents said their companies were investing in cloud while continuing to rely on legacy IT systems for core business functions, a strategy that promises future efficiency gains but that complicates visibility in the short term. Only 29% reported recent deployment of cloud-based SaaS observability solutions.
This article was written by Matt Ashare from CIO Dive and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive Content Marketplace. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.
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Key takeaway
Maximizing data and integrating new technologies with legacy systems are issues in any industry committed to modernization—and while insurance is no exception, it comes with its own unique challenges.
