In the 1940s film Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland, Dorothy, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow and Toto are shocked to discover that behind the curtain, the wizard is just an ordinary man operating machinery to give the impression of being all-powerful.

Buying insurance nowadays can be a little like that. Behind a slick-looking web interface, insurers are often still reliant on prescriptive legacy IT systems and manual processes to make the magic happen.

Johan Nelis, Director — Solution Consulting, APAC at Duck Creek Technologies, says it doesn’t have to be that way.

‘Becoming digital first starts with a fundamental transformation in your thinking,’ he says. ‘The solutions are already built and waiting, you just need to have the confidence to take that first small step and begin that journey.’

Hanging on to the status quo

Part of the challenge is that many people in the insurance industry are too comfortable maintaining the status quo, and this may catch them out. Nelis gives the music recording industry as an example.

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