Insurtech is as varied as the business models and services policymakers offer. That doesn’t mean, however, that it ought to be a structureless free for all: When it comes to creating novel insurance solutions and technology implementations, companies must build something that lasts.
So how can you imbue your Insurtech strategy with the longevity it needs to generate worthwhile ROI? These tips offer a good place to start.
Stay Away From Monoliths
A software monolith is a large, integrated software system that is inherently difficult to maintain and reuse – think of a custom business management system that ties all of its features together in a single codebase or design architecture. The typical alternative involves building microservice-oriented software where each app is comprised of smaller, independent services.
Sticking to the microservice approach has many advantages for insurers:
- Deploying new features and capabilities is faster and more targeted. Insurers can deploy changes on a case-by-case basis rather than having to deploy changes across the entire system, making it easier to rapidly respond to customer needs or market conditions.
- Insurers can easily scale different parts of the system independently, taking operational requirements in stride. For example, the customer-facing portion of the system may need to handle large spikes in traffic, but the back-end portions of the system might get by with minimal on-the-fly adjustments.
- Replacing or upgrading individual components of the system doesn’t affect the other parts, making it easy to keep the whole system up-to-date and manage regulatory compliance effectively without necessitating a complete rebuild each time.
- Insurers can break larger business systems down into manageable pieces for independent monitoring, management, and troubleshooting – not to mention damage control in the event of breaches.
Use Open Standards
It may seem obvious to protect your business and its intellectual property by keeping your mission-critical software under wraps. The reality, however, is that doing so can limit your perspective to the point that you miss out on vital intelligence.
Open insurance standards let you build software that can interact with and learn from its counterparts – without revealing the secret sauce. By making it easy to communicate with other insurers and leverage the data they’ve already collected, these APIs and programming tools help you create something that outlasts challenges. Knowing more about the industry is never a bad thing, so why deprive yourself of vital insight?
Focus on the Customer Experience
Insurance policyholders no longer have to settle for getting the run around when they try to file claims. Instead, they enjoy a huge variety of choices and options, thanks to the internet and the many companies that offer services online.
What this means for you is that the old standard won’t cut it. As soon as you fall short by neglecting the customer experience, your clients will seek greener pastures. No matter how innovative your Insurtech solutions might be, the only way for them to succeed is to satisfy the demand for public-facing services and features that are more fluid, convenient, and transparent.
While using open standards and avoiding software monoliths can make this easier to achieve, you may also need to adjust your leadership culture. It’s imperative that your tech decisions account not only for your organizational needs but the needs of those you serve.
Focusing on user experience from the start is a critical step in building software cost-effectively. Always consider how the public – and internal users like your developers and agents – will interact with what you’re creating.
User experiences should never be an afterthought. The better you are at planning around these concerns, the easier it will be to ensure your systems deliver lasting returns grounded in usability and efficiency.
Work With a Dependable Partner
One of the hardest things to do is to try to build revolutionary tech solutions while you’re limited by a narrow perspective. It’s not always easy to step outside your shoes and take an honest look at the real factors that ought to drive your project development: performance at scale, usability, customer impact, and development lifecycles.
Partnering with the right ally can make it easier to bring legacy platforms up to speed and deliver truly transformational results. By augmenting your staff and letting you leverage proven strategies, outsourcing can give your Insurtech solutions the power to rise to novel challenges and keep on ticking – even when such hurdles catch you completely off guard.
Want to learn more about adopting a more sustainable approach to Insurtech? Schedule a call with a CPQI specialist today.
