Nils Labusch

The insurance industry is a rather traditional industry. Major transformation was not an important issue for decades. However, this is going to change now. Among the transformation drivers are a changing regulation, the financial crisis, changing customer perceptions and digitalization just to name a few. In this article we present results from explorative studies with industry experts and consultants. We discuss major challenges for insurance companies which are dealing with two very different markets, with a very special product and with IT innovation as a constant challenge. We outline types of transformation that we have encountered, like e.g. industrialization and standardization, outsourcing and acquisition. Finally, we sketch some fields where insurance companies need to engage in order to achieve transformation readiness, including reduction of complexity, governance, and incorporating appropriate human transformation resources.

Due to their holistic approach and some common terminology, Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM) and Business Transformation Management (BTM) are two disciplines that need to be investigated in order to better understand their synergies, and to understand where each is best applied. This article aims at clarifying the relationship of EAM and BTM, as well as their respective methods. The article is based not only on the authors' discussion of the Enterprise Architecture and Business Transformation question, but on ten interviews with experts from science, consulting and industry practice, and on feedback provided by a sounding board of several SAP experts and managers. It was discussed with the experts who key users and stakeholders are, which problems need to be addressed, which goals are pursued, and the benefits and value added. The authors further investigated capabilities and competencies needed and how EAM and BTM are evolving.