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.
