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Sustainability has been a pivotal issue for years, but the recent conditions induced by the storm of the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic effects and the escalating climate change impacts across the world have increased pressure on industries across the globe to be aware of their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) footprint. The financial services sector has not been behind in the race to drive the global sustainability agenda, largely driven by the BFS industry in the past. However, over the past few years, the insurance industry, being a key player in this sector, has also recognized the importance and urgency of embracing various practices in its operations to contribute to a sustainable planet. By integrating sustainability into various aspects of their operations, insurers are not only mitigating risks associated with climate change and environmental degradation but also fostering long-term resilience and contributing to a more sustainable future. This blog will explore how the insurance industry is driving the sustainable change through technological investments, product innovation, business processes, and disclosures.

With the increasing pressure from regulatory authorities, customers, employees, shareholders, and other market participants, insurance enterprises are striving to incorporate various aspects of sustainability into their business. Insurance firms are embracing sustainable change in a variety of ways, including through their investments, underwriting choices, and the structure of their insurance products, as well as using their own office buildings and making the vehicle fleet available to executives and staff. By integrating ESG considerations into their risk management, product design, internal operations, long-term strategies, and workforce management, many insurance firms have already started their journey toward becoming purpose-driven organizations and have begun to integrate sustainability with their core businesses.

Incorporating sustainability in workforce management and internal processes has been the first step in creating sustainable change for most insurance enterprises. However, with the high awareness and responsibility in the play, insurers are now also increasingly moving toward adding sustainable insurance products in their catalog that address environmental and social challenges to become champions in the maturity continuum [Exhibit 2]. For instance, insurers offer green insurance policies at lower premium rates to incentivize environmentally friendly practices and offer coverage for renewable energy installations, energy-efficient buildings, and sustainable agriculture. Similarly, parametric insurance products provide rapid and efficient payouts in the event of natural disasters, helping communities recover faster and build resilience against climate change impacts. These innovative products not only protect clients against risks but also encourage sustainable change behaviors and contribute to a greener future.

Another impactful way in which insurers can increase their top line while promoting sustainability is by incorporating sustainability criteria into their investment policies, divesting from environmentally harmful industries, and investing in renewable energy projects. These actions not only align with the insurers’ values but also offer potential financial returns while mitigating climate-related risks.

Insurers need to prepare for sustainable change with the right technology and data architecture to achieve their sustainability goals, maintain transparency, and stay ahead of the regulatory disclosures requirements.

Insurers have been leveraging consulting partners to help them define their roadmap and strategies to achieve their sustainable agenda. But one of the biggest challenge  insurers face in this pursuit is the lack of robust data architecture to provide an understanding of the current ESG footprint, such as carbon emissions, energy consumption, energy mix, and employee well-being. As more insurer enterprises move toward becoming sustainability champions and provide transparency and disclosures to the regulatory bodies and other stakeholders, there will be increased opportunity for data and analytics providers to partner with the insurers to help them align their insurance portfolios with sustainability goals and manage ESG-related risks.

Additionally, collaboration with technology and IT service providers can help insurers build new products and solutions by leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as data analytics, AI, cloud computing, AR/VR, and blockchain that can boost the sustainability agenda along with unlocking fresh opportunities for generating revenue. Moreover, using technologies such as green/sustainable cloud to minimize operating expenses and carbon footprint while optimizing energy demand, predictive/prescriptive maintenance of equipment using IoT to limit energy and materials waste, and processing claims efficiently and sustainably by uploading photos and videos of damage through an AR/VR interface are some of the ways insurers can leverage technology to achieving their internal sustainability initiatives as well.

The insurance industry has recognized the urgent need to embrace sustainability and is taking significant steps to drive positive change. By integrating sustainability into investments, leveraging technological innovation, offering sustainable products, adopting environmentally responsible business processes, and promoting transparency through disclosures, insurers are playing a crucial role in addressing global sustainability challenges. As the industry continues to evolve, the integration of sustainability practices will become even more critical, enabling insurers to manage risks effectively, foster resilience, and contribute to a more sustainable future for all.

For more details on how the insurance industry is moving toward driving sustainable change and insuring a sustainable tomorrow, please refer to our report Insuring a Sustainable Tomorrow: How the Insurance Industry is Driving Positive Change.

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The retail and CPG industry supply chain is a complex web of suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. Daily fluctuations in consumer demand patterns and the rapid growth of e-commerce and newer business models have further increased the intricacy.

Yet, half of the industry has not moved past using spreadsheets and custom-built discrete solutions to manage their operations. Based on an Everest Group study, almost 48% of retailers and consumer goods companies still track their supply chains using spreadsheets. While these solutions are powerful tools, they often lead to siloed data and disjointed processes, resulting in delays and poor supply chain visibility. Let’s explore these limitations and a better solution.

Fragmented supply chain software solutions

The supply chain is a core function not only in retail and CPG but a building block of the economic infrastructure for many other industries. However, no multi-billion-dollar end-to-end supply chain platform company exists like Salesforce in customer relationship management (CRM), Workday in Human Resources (HR), ServiceNow in IT service management (ITSM), and Oracle and SAP in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).

The application landscape is fragmented across different departments, such as transportation, warehousing, procurement, planning, and inventory management, with each having its own goals and limited alignment, leading to distinct silos.

Software providers also target these separate buying centers, resulting in various supply chain software categories having great diversity. Due to this heterogeneity and the lack of unified ownership, no comprehensive solution that covers the entire end-to-end supply chain is available.

Data silos across the value chain

The fragmented nature of the application landscape also creates data silos that pose significant challenges within the retail supply chain, hindering efficiency and inhibiting strategic decision-making.

According to our recent study, almost 83% of retailers struggle with data silos across various functions such as inventory management, procurement, logistics, and point of sale (POS) systems. This disconnected data landscape not only impedes supply chain visibility but also results in missed opportunities for cost savings and improved customer experience.

Need for customization

Customizing supply chain is a top demand for retail and CPG enterprises. Many companies have spent decades building software that uniquely fits their purposes.

Enterprises transforming their supply chain are either migrating or replicating these solutions to the cloud. However, they are finding out-of-the-box solutions such as Blue Yonder, SAP, Manhattan, and others do not fit the purpose in most cases. Roughly 30-50% of enterprises, even digitally mature ones, still need customization.

Moreover, the RCPG industry also requires workflow applications and other low-code applications to augment the day-to-day decision-making of different system stakeholders. For these reasons, a unified platform that supports customization while maintaining agility is crucial.

Target state of supply chain platformization

By integrating suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers on a unified platform, organizations can achieve end-to-end visibility, optimize inventory levels, reduce stockouts, and improve customer satisfaction. Real-time data analytics empower stakeholders to anticipate demand, optimize production schedules, and minimize waste.

This unified supply chain management platform should have the following five components:

1. Orchestration – The platform should have end-to-end capabilities that not only orchestrate core business applications such as inventory management and supply chain planning but also value-add applications such as sustainability monitoring and supplier risk management, among others
2. Composability – The platform architecture should be a composite structure of granular components interconnected by business logic and extensible as required. Components in composable platforms promote interoperability, allowing different components developed using various technologies or programming languages to work together seamlessly. This interoperability is typically achieved through standardized protocols, data formats, or communication mechanisms
3. Scalability – The platform should be built on the cloud to provide scalability as the supply chain process scales up in volume and complexity. The platform should also have integration capabilities that support seamless data exchange and communication between on-premise systems and cloud services. This includes connectors, application programming interfaces (APIs), or middleware solutions that enable smooth data flow and interoperability between the different environments
4. Unified data fabric – The traditional linear data value chain should be replaced by a collapsed one with structured and unstructured internal and external data all in one location. The platform should act as a single repository of all the supply chain data that is standardized and can be accessed in real-time
5. Extendibility – The platform should provide the ability to extend existing applications as the business scales. It should have developer portals to build supply chain services/products and a marketplace for technology partners to integrate their solutions on the platform

Consolidating the current fragmented supply chain platform landscape is no easy feat and requires collaboration by hyperscalers, data cloud vendors, and enterprise application providers. Some of the players to roll out collaborative initiatives include:

• Blue Yonder, in partnership with Snowflake and Azure, is consolidating the majority of its solutions offerings on the Luminate platform
• Microsoft launched its supply chain platform late last year, which aims to provide platformization building blocks across Azure, Dynamics 365, Microsoft Teams, and Power Platform

Technical debt prevents many large enterprises from undergoing supply chain platformization. Our analysis of supply chain investments by retail leaders indicates the end-to-end platformization journey needs to be iterative and not a big-bang transition. It also requires a balanced approach of adopting out-of-the-box applications and building composable applications from the ground up to fit the organizational context.

Everest Group will continue to follow the evolution in this space. To discuss composable platforms and other supply chain management trends in the retail and CPG industry, please reach out to Yugal.joshi@everestgrp.com and Abhishek.mundra@everestgrp.com.

Learn the key technology investment priorities for retail and CPG in our LinkedIn Live session, The Future of Retail and CPG: Balancing Economics, Efficiency & Experience.

There has been a lot written about the rising sentiment in management circles for the need to return to the office, with numerous examples of CEOs proclaiming that said move is essential. However, we can also observe from vacancy rates that this movement has stalled and is being actively resisted by a wide swath of employees. Short of a major realignment in the relative power of employees vs their management, it appears that firms will have to come to an accommodation forging a partnership with their employees which accommodates the needs of both sides into a better working situation. What is clear is that firms that attempt a one-size-fits-all receive the greatest pushback, and those that craft solutions that fit departments and functions achieve the best results.

Read more in my blog on Forbes

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