Information Technology: Enabler or Obstacle?

By Rod Travers
Senior Vice President

The dialogue and debate around collaboration between IT and business units could fill volumes, yet are we really any closer to achieving the level of effectiveness clearly desired by both IT and business units?

A survey entitled “IT as a Business Enabler” conducted in 2006 by the Insurance Accounting and Systems Association (IASA) and the Robert E. Nolan Company provided some room for optimism but also gave voice to some lingering concerns. Seventy-five mostly C-level officers in the insurance industry shared their opinions and insights by responding to the survey.

While 88% of respondents rated the importance of IT as a business enabler as “very important” or “critical,” 38% rated the actual performance of IT as a business enabler in their company as “fair” or “poor.”

In addition to web services for customers and agents, internal workflow improvements and processing efficiencies are top areas where the respondents see the greatest potential for future positive contributions from IT. Interestingly, 33% of respondents report this area as one of their greatest successes to date, while 25% are on the other end of the spectrum, reporting this area as one of their least successful to date.

As Business Process Management continues to grow both as a management discipline and as a technology offering, can we expect to see the gap narrow between IT’s importance and IT’s performance? We think so, but only when considered in the proper perspective. View BPM holistically as best business practices applied through technology, rather than too narrowly (and optimistically) as a software solution you can buy off the shelf for plug-and-play process and technology improvements.