Is your digital transformation plan dashed or doable?

The pandemic is forcing insurance pros to reevaluate their digital initiatives to figure out what to start, continue, or stop.

Digital transformation plans could be the key for insurance businesses to survive and thrive during crises. (Photo: Shutterstock)

For years, business leaders in insurance and other industries have understood that digital transformation must be a top priority to stay productive, innovative, and competitive. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, companies are facing an unprecedented level of uncertainty regarding their operations. And while they initially focused on revamping their services around their customers to ensure they could maintain business as usual, it’s clear now that the virus crisis will be a much longer-term affair.

With real ongoing concerns about rapidly evolving customer behavior, insurance professionals now have to completely reevaluate their digital transformation initiatives to figure out what to start, continue, or stop.

Proactive steps for real resilience

Because COVID-19 has placed virtually all business and social systems under scrutiny and pushed people to experiment with new options, the odds are good that we might never return to the way things were prior to the pandemic. And while we might not know yet exactly what the new post-COVID-19 normal might look like, companies that take proactive steps to ready themselves as much as possible may prove to be significantly more resilient. 

What you should do right now

What you should do next

Once you’ve worked through the challenges outlined above and have some stability, identify the transformation opportunities the pandemic presents to you. For example, you might be able to: 

Initially, focus on high priority capabilities. Shorten your development cycle to introduce value-added functionality, as well.

What you should do in parallel

You can take some actions both now and in the future to support your digital transformation. One essential activity is taking a look at your enterprise infrastructure. Most companies simply were not designed with systems that supported a 100% remote workforce. Now that so many employees must work from home, we can no longer ignore the many shortcomings these legacy setups have. Enhance your digital infrastructure to support the new reality COVID-19 has brought on. Some functional areas to consider include application resiliency, cloud adoption, reliable data/voice network operation, security, and BCP.

As you try to improve your digital infrastructure, keep in mind that you don’t just want to create improved systems that survive the “normal” life. You want to create systems that also enable you to thrive through future crises, too, whether those are pandemics, natural disasters, hacking, or other problems. This type of digital infrastructure might be more expensive or complicated, and it’s important to be realistic about which risks are valid. Still, the added effort and investment can separate you from competitors that don’t make it.

A tough but worthwhile adaptation

COVID-19 is unlike anything most modern businesses have ever had to deal with. And with many companies struggling or even shutting their doors, it’s easy to become scared that it’s no longer possible to move forward with the digital transformation you need and hoped for. Rest assured, you can still push ahead.

In fact, digital transformation might be the adaptation necessary to keep your business alive. You have to let go of preconceived concepts about the way we “must” work and acknowledge that the future, although different from what we once expected and planned for, still holds perfectly viable solutions. It might be a tough work-in-progress right now, but with perseverance, collaboration, and real vision, we’ll move forward in a way that truly benefits everyone.

Priya Merchant (priya.merchant.writing@gmail.com) is a digital transformation and innovation expert with nearly two decades of experience in financial services and insurance. The views expressed here are the author’s own. 

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