Insurers have more modest goals to replace legacy systems: Celent

Insurance companies have become more modest in their goals to replace their legacy systems over the past two years, according to a survey by Celent, a Boston-based research and consulting firm.
A 2010 survey asked 115 property and casualty insurers from North America (66% of respondents), Europe (23%) and Asia (12%) to characterize their goals for replacing their legacy systems. These results were compared to the results of a 2008 survey that asked the same questions.
In the 2010 survey, 47% of insurers said they planned “to replace only those legacy systems that have a strong business case for replacement.” This was the Number 1 answer in the survey. Two years ago, 32% of respondents characterized this as their strategy.
Only 35% of respondents in 2010 said they “intend to replace all legacy systems at the earliest possible opportunity,” which was the Number 1 answer (38%) two years ago. In 2010, the answer slipped to second rank overall.
“This shift in goals suggests some hard lessons have been learned in the last two years, and that the economic climate has made the business case a key requirement for CEO support,” Celent said in its study.