Question: inscom 2018 will be hosted under the motto “Beyond Insurance – How to Survive in a Digital World?”. What is the message behind this year’s motto?

Answer: Many of the topics and presentations at our previous inscom events already centered around the big issue of digitalization in the insurance industry, as did the last inscom event two years ago under the motto of “Digital Excellence – Empowering Insurance”. This year’s motto goes a step further. After all, yet another quantum leap was made in technology in recent years: topics such as IoT, machine learning and artificial intelligence are everywhere today. Digitalization is advancing so quickly and is making brand new business models possible for insurers, business models that go beyond the limits of the insurance industry – beyond insurance, just as the motto says. However, in order to truly take advantage of the opportunities the digital world holds, insurers must rethink how they do business.

Question: What exactly might these new business models look like?

Answer: These business models are strikingly different from the traditional models we are accustomed to, as industry boundaries have started to blur more and more. We are already seeing this with numerous providers of different products and services who are active in the market. They no longer act on their own, instead they network and they build ecosystems to create a more comprehensive customer experience. The transition from product dominance to service dominance can be clearly seen and the customer is always at the center of it. Furthermore, big players like Amazon and Google are joining the insurance market and are already benefiting from their existing ecosystems and in doing so, challenging the entire insurance industry.

Question: What can insurers do to address the challenges they face today?

Answer: What insurers need to do now is: take action. They need to have an open mindset and be willing to create and help shape ecosystems in order to integrate – besides their own services – services from partners and third-party providers. Strategic partnerships, networking and cooperation – those are the important key factors for success. That is why it is essential for insurers to acquire strong partners for their platforms, in order to create their own brand, one that people associate with their services. Because ultimately, the digital customer will not consider an ecosystem to be relevant and want to use it until they see how it benefits them.

Question: Keyword partnerships: You have inscom partners again this year. Can you share a few words about the significance of these partnerships?

Answer: At this year’s inscom – just as in years past – we have SAP as our premium partner, as well as IBM as our partner at inscom 2018. We drive digitalization with these partners – and not just for our insurance customers. We are connected by a long, close and trust-based partnership, which is why we are especially pleased to have acquired these companies as partners for the inscom again this year. Partnerships and networking are simply essential success factors, which is why we, as a software company, also follow collaborative approaches. We also have a new inscom partner on board in 2018: Insiders Technologies GmbH. Insiders specializes in artificial intelligence, which is definitely key technology for the insurance industry. We see a need for the reasonable and profitable use of technologies like AI among our insurance customers, especially when insurers need to put their own customers at the heart of things and offer them a comprehensive customer experience. This know-how from the people at Insiders optimally complements our end-to-end solution portfolio for digital transformation.

Question: What is msg’s end-to-end solution portfolio for insurance companies?

Answer: The core of our portfolio for insurers is the end-to-end msg.Insurance Suite solution, which fully maps the end-to-end process for insurers. In the field of Systems of Record, the msg.Insurance Suite includes solutions for health, life and P&C insurance, as well as cross-components for all lines of collections and disbursement, commissions, partner, business intelligence and work management business. A service-dominant architecture bridges the gap to the Systems of Engagement, thereby integrating end customers and insurance partners right into the end-to-end process.

On July 1, 2018, we founded msg nexinsure ag, a new unit dedicated to the further development, marketing and implementation of the msg.Insurance Suite. msg nexinsure is a 100% subsidiary of msg systems ag. Their product-based portfolio is primarily directed at all insurers across Germany, Austria and Switzerland.