Existing technology and the one that is being used by insurance companies in the Iberian Peninsula: A Gap Analysis

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Information Management, specialization in Information Systems and Technologies Management

This Master’s Thesis dissertation focuses on the insurance sector, more precisely on the insurance companies present in the Iberian Peninsula and how new technologies are being used. New technology trends, digital transformation, and technology disruption are widely used terms nowadays; however, while it is quite common to use these terms, their practices and theories are not always applied by businesses. Several factors can be the cause of the failure to implement technological trends in insurance companies, either due to lack of expertise, high costs, or simply because the technologies are not mature enough and there is some fear of creating a bad reputation with customers. In order to investigate this gap between the existing technology and the technology that is being used by the insurance companies, a case study analysis was performed. Based on the technologies identified in the literature review, in-depth interviews were conducted with CIO’s, CTO’s, IT Directors, and Heads of IT of some insurance companies (from small insurance companies to market-leading insurance companies) and the results were analyzed in order to reach a valid conclusion about this gap and why it exists. After carrying out the case analysis and analyzing the answers given by the respondents, it is possible to identify that the technological gap exists and what the main reasons are for the lack of usage of the new technological trends in most insurance companies.