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Insurers are drawing upon a widening range of new data sources for everything from customer acquisition to underwriting and claims thanks to the proliferation of sensors, digitization of physical records, and the growing inventory available from external information brokers. Yet many still appear to be struggling to maximize the full value of data, despite advanced technologies and analytical tools being put in place to make sense of it all.

Interviews with a dozen data and analytics executives at a wide variety of carriers (including two InsurTechs) as well as a survey of 50 additional data leaders from around the world revealed several significant challenges keeping insurers from fully capitalizing on their data to expand capabilities, spur innovation, and enhance growth (see figure 1 above). Deloitte's research found data often siloed by function, system and platform, and its utilization relegated to basic efficiency and cost control initiatives. As a result, many are stuck in the early stages of analytics maturity — still striving to make data more accessible, shareable and actionable.