And the spectrum of the data rainbow just keeps lengthening. In the past we dealt with numbers and documents. Now we have to deal with e-mail, instant messaging, Tweets and quickly emerging, rich media (pictures, video, and sound).

The picture below attempts to capture the lengthening spectrum of the data rainbow.

Rainbow of Data

 What’s at issue are these challenges centered around which of these data types your insurance company:

• Thinks of as important – and for what business processes?
• Manges effectively?
• Understands and has the tools to combine into a coherent, unified whole to make better decisions?
• Either builds capabilities internally or looks to external technology providers to help manage for compliance, for decision-making, for operational support, for product development, and for collaboration with employees and producers regardless of where they are located geographically?

Data are not just numbers: data runs the spectrum of numbers to documents to electronic communication to rich media. What part of the data rainbow spectrum does your insurer actually see? Use?