This Financial Insights study reports the results of a Financial Insights/IDC survey carried out among European insurance executives in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom on industry-specific applications. This document outlines investment priorities and future investment plans for insurance-specific solutions.

On the one hand, 2005 was a year of natural disasters, which had a negative impact on insurance companies' business. On the other hand, according to Angela Vacca, senior research analyst for Financial Insights' European IT Opportunity: Financial Services research, "Opportunities are flowing in the market in areas such as online insurance and risk management in which Western European insurance companies are ready to invest in industry-specific applications."

• Financial Insights Opinion
• In This Report
  • Methodology
    • Conceptual Framework
    • Sample Design
      • Sampling Unit: IDC's Economic Entity
      • Sample Quotas
      • Table: Vertical Market Quotas
      • Table: Company Size Quotas
      • Sample Frame and Sampling Method
      • Table: Number of Completes by Country
    • Respondents
    • Interviews
    • Questionnaires
    • Interview Schedule
    • Confidence Intervals
    • Weighting
    • Analysis of the Data
• Situation Overview
  • Business Need
    • Insurance-Specific Applications are Crucial
    • Figure: Level of Adoption of Industry-Specific Applications in Western European Insurance Companies
  • Management Challenges
  • Figure: Importance to Western European Insurance Companies of Investing in IT Solution Areas
• The Approach
  • Best-of-Breed Strategies
  • Figure: Industry-Specific Applications in Western European Insurance Companies: Packaged vs Custom Developed Solutions
  • Figure: Western European Insurance Companies' Use of Build or Buy Strategy
  • Differentiating the Adopters
  • Figure: Western European Insurance Companies' Status of Industry-Specific Solutions
  • Figure: Western European Insurance Companies' Plans to Invest in SaaS for Industry-Specific Applications
• Future Outlook
• Figure: Western European Insurance Companies' Plans to Invest
• Figure: Western European Insurance Companies' Plans to Invest in Industry-Specific Applications
  • Industry-Specific Applications: Where Real Opportunities Lie
  • Figure: IT Solution Areas: A Perspective on Future Developments
  • Figure: Industry-Specific Applications: A Perspective on Future Developments
• Essential Guidance
  • Actions for Financial Institutions
  • Actions for Vendors
• Learn More
  • Related Research
  • Synopsis