Indian insurers to spend Rs 101 bn on IT In 2013: Gartner

MUMBAI, INDIA: Indian insurance companies will spend Rs 101 billion on IT products and services in 2013, an increase of more than 9 percent over 2012 revenue of Rs 92.5 billion rupees, according to Gartner, Inc. This forecast includes spending by insurers on internal IT (including personnel), hardware, software, external IT services and telecommunications.

IT services has overtaken telecommunications to become the biggest spending segment, and is forecast to reach Rs 30.6 billion in 2013, up from Rs 27 billion in 2012. IT services is achieving the highest growth rate amongst the top level IT spending segments - forecast to exceed 13 percent in 2013, with growth of 23.4 percent forecast for business process outsourcing services. Consulting is also a high growth segment at over 18.2 percent in 2013.

"We are continuing to see Indian insurers lead the charge to outsourcing and business process outsourcing," said Derry Finkeldey, principal analyst at Gartner. "The Indian insurance industry is experiencing huge growth in transaction volumes, and Indian consumers are quite progressive in terms of seeking online and mobile services. Insurers are turning to experienced IT vendors to help them navigate the inevitable complexity this is producing."

"The Indian domestic market for IT services is dynamic and highly competitive - with many of the leading names focused on the insurance sector and offering their own proprietary solutions for the industry. This competitiveness is ultimately great for insurance buyers."