The methods in which core systems are implemented are broken. Insurance companies and vendors alike have made the following assumptions about the industry:
- Implementation Timelines – The industry standard for implementations is 18 months (usually more). By the time the keys are handed over, the original date has been buried by scope creep and poor requirements gathering. So, whose timeline is it really?
- Cost Structure – Scope of work documents are loose, and buyers should be ready for change orders. The cost at signature is rarely the cost at go-live. Nothing is fixed bid, and the burden of responsibility shifts from vendor to buyer.
- The Status Quo Can’t be Challenged – Somewhere along the way, both parties accepted the situation for what it is. Although broken, there isn’t an alternative solution because someone must have tried it by now, right?
Wrapped up in these assumptions is the antiquated approach to software that has served the industry for the last two decades. Custom, on-premise solutions have set the expectation and designed the organizational requirements for what the next wave of solutions should provide. Over the last decade, all the major vendors have shuffled their book of business from a true on-premise solution to a pseudo cloud-based version of their software, creating a false understanding of what a true cloud-based SaaS provider can deliver.
Modern technology development has revolutionized the ways that vendors can deliver solutions to their customers. While many implications stem from these innovations, two should really stand out – ease of system updates and efficiency of implementation. New solutions have been built with the perfect mix of scalability and configurability, meaning faster implementations at lower costs. This results in greater certainty of a project’s timeline and the ability to self-service changes to the solution.
Instead of 18-to-24-month project timelines, deliverability in 6 to 9 months is possible, offering agility and reducing the risk of change. In addition, these will be fix-bid implementations, putting the financial responsibility of delivery back on the vendor. This can put an end to endless change orders, and “nickel and diming” for functionality. Instead, insurers have a partner that is equally invested in their success and providing a continuous stream of value.
