The Breezes of Change - We try to keep up with the insurance technology market direction for two main reasons - to make sure we are recruiting for companies that have relevant solutions and to be able to pass the info along to you as we can. The title for this section is the Breezes of Change because, let's face it, "Winds" is too strong a word when it comes to the speed with which change occurs in the Insurance and FS verticals. Here are a couple trends we are hearing/reading about:

* Companies are still moving slowly and cautiously, but they ARE more interested in intelligent technology investing than leaving funds on the sidelines while needs are present.

* Insurance companies are looking at technology as a growth enabler. Yeah, we've heard this before, but it always pays to acknowledge something that someone else is seeing as a trend, then test it for yourself. That means you should not assume everything is about expense reduction - growth may be the hot button for some of your prospects. How does your solution position prospects for advances in marketing or new product development?

* As we've seen since the hay days of the 1990's, business is driving IT decisions. For many companies the connection was fairly loose - business wanted the solution and it fit within the IT group's parameters - good. Now it seems that loose connection is getting much tighter and more structured. There is likely to be a formal enterprise operating plan that aligns revenue growth, expense management, and technology plans under one roof. Ask if your prospect has such a plan in place. If they do, it could have a significant affect on your deal.

* With an increasing focus on preparing for a market turnaround and the need for nimble product development capabilities, analytics tools that can help carriers identify hidden risks and opportunities will carry lots of weight. We've suggested this before - take some time to determine how your solution either facilitates, contributes to, or directly delivers analytics capabilities.

Separating Yourself from the Pack: This came to us from North American Technographics. They have conducted surveys of how U.S. adults use social technologies. The surveys were conducted most recently in 2007 and 2008 and show the change in social media use. Something interesting I noted. They categorize users as Inactive (minimal or no use), Spectators, Joiners, Collectors, Critics, and Creators. I won't go into the specifics other than to point out this: The Creators were the ones actually publishing a blog or web page, or uploading videos. In 2007 Creators accounted for 18% of online adults and in 2008 21%. Spectators currently make up 69%. So, if the numbers hold true, if you were to develop a blog or web page that your market found valuable, it would automatically separate you from 80% of your competition. Something to think about.