The Insurance industry – along with everyone else – is wrestling with how to take advantage of the latest developments in technology. Not only must insurance industry IT professionals become experts in rapidly developing areas like social media and Big Data, but existing technology must be kept running.

Viewed as a cost center, the struggle to find budget for new projects can be challenging. IT managers may face a mixed response from the management team as the cost/benefit equation of the department’s annual plan is scrutinized.

The end result: Management’s constant focus on the future results in misunderstanding or ignoring legacy data. IT’s focus on getting the job done with limited resources means there isn’t capacity to look backwards for the possibility of uncovering hidden value. But in many cases, buried deep in a company’s legacy data are opportunities to bring in revenue – dollars waiting to be collected – that go straight to the bottom line.