How a Business Analyst in the Insurance Industry Can Help with Digital Transformation

Business analysts play a significant role in driving digital transformation within the insurance and risk management industry. The last few decades have highlighted the need for this role as carriers have modernized their systems and workflows.

A business analyst in the insurance industry can now expect to find roles at most major companies, contributing to digital transformation and modernization projects. The role has many responsibilities — but there are also many tools and techniques that help business analysts perform their roles.

How exactly do business analysts drive forward change and transformation? Read on to learn more about the impact business analysts have on digital transformation in their organizations.

How a Business Analyst in the Insurance Industry Drives Change

Insurance and risk management companies have been changing the way they do business. Many companies are investing in technology projects to innovate change and find savings. These tech projects have created the need for business analysts, or BAs, who perform critical work, such as:

Identifying processes and workflows ripe for change
Acting as a change agent to promote transformation
Defining strategy and goals along with senior leaders of the organization
Finding solutions to maximize value and efficiency
Collaborating across all levels of the organization to create change

Methods Business Analysts Use to Promote Digital Transformation

BAs stay busy every day with tasks aligned with digital transformation. Often working as consultants, project managers, or change agents, business analysts wear many hats. To help them in their roles, they use various methods to create momentum and drive progress:

Analytical Techniques

BAs use various analysis methods at work to identify processes and workflows to change. Some techniques include SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) or a value chain analysis. Whichever method is used, the business analyst must evaluate opportunities and determine if plans are aligned with the strategic goals of the company. The business analyst is there to enhance value at every step of the way, so using different analysis methods is an important part of the BA role.

Goal Setting Methods

One important part of any digital transformation is prioritizing projects. Every organization has more goals and outcomes than it can accomplish at any one time, so finding the right problems to solve in the right order is a critical step of any digital transformation. BAs strategize with leaders in the organization to formulate goals — then work to prioritize the strategies needed to achieve these goals.

Many businesses use SMART and SMARTER goals, although other organizations have shifted to focusing on Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) measured through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Whichever goal setting method is used, spending time to plan strategic goals is a valuable use of a BA’s time.

Strategic Design

Business analysts review the current state of business and identify problems and challenges to resolve. They have to design solutions that meet the needs of the business while also promoting the strategies and overall goals of the organization. Sometimes different teams and departments have conflicting needs, so the strategic design is important as the BA solves various challenges. Tools like low-code/no-code robotic process automation help the BA design and amend processes easily and quickly.

Risk Management

When considering making any type of change, the risks must be thoroughly reviewed. BAs have to understand how modifying one part of the organization causes ripple effects to the rest. An efficiency gain can create a bottleneck down the line, so BAs should perform a full risk management review to determine what risks are introduced with the proposed change — and if the risks are acceptable.

Change Management

The best Business analysts know change isn’t just a mechanical process. The people involved in a workflow or process that is undergoing transformation have to be considered, too. Change management models, like ADKAR or Kotter’s 8-step Change Model, are helpful guides. BAs can study change models to understand how they can support the impacted employees. When your staff is supportive of the transformation and they have buy-in, change is easier and faster to implement.

Audit Techniques

When any change is considered, it must be measured. BAs will use various audit methods to determine if the transformation is having the desired effect on the business outcomes. New KPIs will need to be developed to measure digital processes compared with human ones. The BA plays a key role in ensuring the business continues monitoring results through proper audit techniques well after the transformation has been deployed.

Training Programs

Any good transformation project needs a training program to accompany it. When processes and workflows change, it is up to management to ensure employees are fully trained on the new methods. And when the change involves a digital project, employees have to also understand the new technology they are expected to use. Business analysts often structure meetings and training sessions for employees to learn new workflows during and after the transformation process.

Continuous Improvement Focus

Many organizations work under lean or agile management systems where continuous improvement is a core value. This means everyone has to work efficiently to iterate, make changes, fail fast, and reiterate with innovative design ideas. Robotic Process Automation makes this simple — you can make changes without a developer by using low code or no code design. This means anyone on the team can perform split testing and remove changes that don’t test well.

Empower Your Business Analysts With Integratz

Give your BAs even more tools to drive digital transformation with Integratz. Our low code and no code robotic process automation tools can help reduce manual steps and streamline processes. Workflows that are more efficient save time and money.

Integratz helps your business analysts drive your digital transformation to success. Find out how with your free preview call today.

External Links: