Getting a Return on Automation Efforts in Insurance

I Love watching football this time of the year: playoff football, the game's intensity, and the anticipation of what could happen next. As I watched this weekend's game unfold, it occurred to me: What would happen if we didn't keep score? Anyone who has watched a football game knows that keeping score is essential for everyone to understand what's happening. After all, without knowing the score, how would you ever know who had won or lost?

The same is true for automating IT and business operations in the insurance industry: without clear visibility into key performance indicators (KPIs), organizations cannot determine how their automation initiatives are progressing.

Talking to Leaders, I've identified a shared challenge: discovering the right KPIs to measure their automation journey. Keeping score is crucial to comprehending the development of automation projects in this sector - just like knowing the score in football. Without transparency into essential performance indicators (KPIs), insurers can't assess whether their efforts have been successful. Tracking the correct metrics will give these organizations the trust they need to excel in their automation endeavor and increase their accuracy and proficiency.

Start With Knowing Areas to Automate

There are several areas in an Operations & IT Insurance organization that can be improved through automation:

Operations Area Possible KPIs to Measure:

Time to process a claim:

• This measures the time it takes for a claim to be processed, from the time it is received until it is resolved. Automation can reduce the time to process a claim, indicating an improvement in speed and efficiency.
• On average, manual claims processing takes around 14-21 days. Automation can reduce the time to process a claim by 60-80%.

Error rate:

• This measures the number of errors that occur during the claims processing process. Automation can reduce the risk of errors and improve accuracy, resulting in a lower error rate.
• The error rate for manual claims processing can be as high as 10%. Automation can reduce the error rate by up to 50%.

First notice of loss (FNOL) processing time:

• This measures the time it takes for the organization to process the first notice of loss. Automation can speed up this process, resulting in a faster FNOL processing time.
• The average FNOL processing time for manual claims is around 24-48 hours. Automation can reduce the FNOL processing time by up to 50%.

Information Technology :

Configuration management

• Automating the process of configuring and maintaining systems and infrastructure.

KPIs to Measure:

·        Number of automated configuration changes per month

·        Number of configuration errors per month

·        Time to resolve configuration issues

·        Number of manual configuration changes per month

·        Percentage of systems that are in compliance with configuration standards

Business Impact :

• Automated configuration management can reduce configuration errors by up to 90% and increase compliance with standards by up to 95%.
• Automated configuration management can reduce the time required to resolve configuration issues by up to 80%.

Deployment automation :

• Automating the process of deploying code and updates to systems and applications.

 KPIs to Measure:

·        Deployment success rate

·        Time to deploy updates or new releases

·        Number of rollbacks or failed deployments

·        Number of manual deployments

Business Impact :

• Automated deployment can increase the success rate of deployments by up to 99%.
• Automated deployment can reduce the time required to deploy updates or new releases by up to 90%.

Network automation:

• Automating the provisioning, management, and monitoring of network devices and infrastructure.

KPIs to Measure:

·        Mean time to provision new network devices

·        Mean time to resolve network issues

·        Number of network outages per month

·        Number of manual network changes per month

Business Impact :

• Automated network provisioning can reduce the time required to provision new devices by up to 80%.
• Automated network management can reduce the number of network outages by up to 85%.

Monitoring and logging

• Automating the collection and analysis of system and application logs to identify and troubleshoot issues.

KPIs to Measure:

• Mean time to detect and resolve system issues
• Number of false alarms
• Number of incidents that are detected and resolved automatically
• Number of incidents that require manual intervention

Business Impact:

• Automated monitoring and logging can reduce the time required to detect and resolve system issues by up to 70%.
• Automated monitoring and logging can reduce the number of false alarms by up to 90%.

IT service management -

• Automating IT service management tasks such as incident management, problem management, and change management.

KPIs to Measure:

• Mean time to resolve incidents
• Mean time to resolve problems
• Mean time to implement changes
• Number of incidents, problems, and changes that are automated

Business Impact:

• Automated IT service management can reduce the time required to resolve incidents, and problems, and implement changes by up to 80%.
• Automated IT service management can increase the number of incidents, problems, and changes that are automated by up to 90%.

Automation isn't an end-all be-all for leaders, but it does offer Operational & IT Leaders the potential to increase efficiency and productivity while reducing costs and errors. By carefully selecting key performance indicators that are tailored to specific automation projects, organizations can ensure that they make informed decisions when approaching automation and accurately measure the success of their initiatives. By unlocking the power of automation, businesses can gain a competitive edge to stay ahead in today's fast-moving world and always know the score.