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January 14, 2011 – The top three business drivers of insurers’ CCM and ECM investment are improving customer service, better understanding customers and increasing retention, according to two new reports that shed some light on insurer IT spending plans.

The reports, issued Thursday by research and advisory firm Strategy Meets Action (SMA), focus on customer communications management (CCM) and enterprise content management (ECM).

"CCM & ECM: Insurer Priorities and Plans," addresses investment business drivers, IT spending plans, and IT solution approaches. The second report, "CCM & ECM: Insurer Buying Behavior," takes a detailed look at insurer plans by major line of business and company size, or tier.

"Insurers in North America spend $7 billion annually on the inter-related areas of CCM and ECM," said Deb Smallwood, SMA founder and co-author of the reports. "This report clearly shows that the focus for IT investment has shifted to business growth and away from cost control. Our research finds that 60% of insurers are increasing spending and shopping for next-generation technologies that will enable e-delivery, facilitate EBPP, and better manage and improve the effectiveness of customer correspondence."

"The top three business drivers of CCM and ECM investment, cited by over 50% of insurer survey respondents, are improving customer service, better understanding customers, and increasing retention," said Mark Breading, SMA partner and co-author of the reports. "The shift in spending patterns is being driven by an explosion of new distribution channels, self-service options, and mobile devices. It is remarkable that over 90% of the insurer participants in our survey were from the executive suite and business management. It means CCM and ECM are not just IT issues — they are important to marketers, actuaries, underwriters, adjusters and senior business executives.”

SMA's two reports measure and analyze insurers’ use of CCM and ECM, and include an integrated view of the topics. The methodology, which included more than 200 insurers completing surveys and interviews, comprises the following:

• Introduces a new model identifying the key CCM and ECM capabilities needed by insurers
• Compares and contrasts the priorities, plans, and spending for the four tiers of insurers
• Identifies how the plans of property and casualty, life and annuity, and multi-line companies differ
• Explores insurers' 2011 plans and compares them to plans for the next three years

This story originally appeared on Insurance Networking News.

Pat Speer is editor-in-chief of Insurance Networking News.