North American Insurance IT Spending In 2009

The North American insurance industry is still plowing forward in an economy that fell completely off the rails during the third quarter of 2008. This year, insurers are tackling the impacts of a long global recession, hefty declines in rates and written premiums, looming regulatory changes, and the biggest investment losses in the industry's history. In the second quarter of 2009, Forrester surveyed 67 North American insurance IT decision-makers about their technology investment budget and spending plans, and we uncovered a few bright spots. Most North American insurers plan on maintaining last year's spending levels and, along with the perennial themes of efficiency and cost savings, are prioritizing IT spending on something completely different: business innovation. What does this mean? Tech vendors will need new sales strategies to help their insurance clients balance these conflicting objectives.