We continue to think about the ongoing impact of COVID-19 across industries.  There hasn’t been a moment over the last decade where one event has impacted insurance in such a way.  As an industry, we’ve now had almost 6 months to thoroughly evaluate the good, the bad and the really bad. It’s the time to take up the challenge of the new normal. Or rather, just the “normal”,  a new outlook for insurance and particularly for our core system expectations .

Do I need a core system?

The answer is unequivocally YES.  A policy administration system, or core system is the backbone of any insurer’s operations.  It’s used to execute core policy management and processing including rating, quoting, issuance, endorsements, and renewals.  It is the system of record for all policies that an insurance company has written.

Insurance management is complex, particularly across the various lines of business.   You can’t manage  the sophistication of your business with a  provider that doesn’t understand that the intricacies of the business. A provider who lives and breathes insurance PAS systems.

Insurers need to be flexible and their systems must be as well.

Learn More about Next-Gen Policy Administration Systems

Novarica research shows that insurers operating in legacy environments dedicate more than 75% of their IT budget to simply “keeping the lights on”.  Inflexible legacy systems prevent insurers from meeting their customer expectations.

What a Modern PAS needs:

  1. Insurance expertise – Let’s face it, it might not be rocket science, but sometimes it feels like it.  Insurance is inherently complex.  Invest in working with technologies and partners who understand that and have been there and done that.  In the long run, this will pay off.  You won’t have to explain your business and needs to experts in the industry.  Knowledge is power.
  2. Smaller parts that make up the whole – The name of the game is nimbleness. The ability to make quick changes, with the flexibility to react is critical and brings  scalability and reliability.  Monolithic cores don’t provide you with smaller, individual building blocks that have only one job.  Think of a small series of independently deployable, modular applications that make up a full-scale enterprise core.
  3. To be successful, you must be flexible – Nothing is more flexible than a Cloud SaaS solution.  With the cloud, you will be able to choose your delivery model, experiment in a less risky environment with zero worrying about infrastructure.  SaaS applications scale easily and can handle enormous amounts of data from various sources.
  4. Upgrading shouldn’t be a risk – You can’t invest in a core system that isn’t providing you with frequent upgrades that are EASY. This exists, I know that it may seem like an anomaly.  Keeping software up to date is a critical component for any software product.  It should be as easy as upgrading your iPhone  and as cost efficient.  Providers who achieve this have modern, innovative technology.  Insurers should never need to plan a project around a minor or major upgrade.  Put simply, that is the dinosaur age.

Read my next blog to learn 3 more must haves and how today’s new normal is not that different from the past

 

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  • core system
  • Core Technology
  • digitilization
  • insurance
  • insurers
  • property and casualty
  • SaaS
Colleen Wells

Colleen Wells Colleen Wells is responsible for Product Strategy for Sapiens North America P&C, as well as Sapiens’ Digital Product Suite globally. She possesses expertise in professional services, customer success, running product teams and her true passion — understanding market trends and providing valuable solutions to carriers and customers.