Caspar Herzberg |
This article first appeared in the Winter issue of The Record.
Digital transformation is front of mind for all insurers as they recognise the need to build more agile and relevant business models for the future.
But achieving this can be a daunting prospect when organic expansion and acquisitions have left companies with their IT infrastructure representing something of a Frankenstein’s monster that promotes inefficiencies through a lack of connectivity, automation and insight.
The natural inclination, therefore, is for companies to think that they have to replace systems to compete in the digital world. But this is potentially cost-prohibitive and insurers don’t exactly have a sparkling record in achieving the objectives of policy system replacement projects.
New options for retaining and optimising existing systems via an integration platform are emerging – a recent project undertaken for a large international insurer using our BrovadaOne product demonstrates this.
In this example, the company’s commercial underwriters were using hundreds of rating tools to quote policy prices. In addition to the obvious inefficiencies inherent in this approach, a lack of transparency in the systems left underwriters unable to interrogate and flex how a price was generated. Moreover, it made it impossible to view multiple policies at a customer or portfolio level that could in turn support strategic decisions about risk acceptance and pricing. The goal was to address these issues while improving pricing sophistication and speed-to-market, and to introduce new technology and operating models into the existing IT and business ecosystem.
BrovadaOne was offered to create a modern front-end web interface to support more efficient underwriting, and to manage the data flows and rating integration necessary to provide accurate, real-time rating and reporting. Deployed in combination with Willis Towers Watson’s Radar Live pricing software, the solution leveraged the Microsoft Azure platform to provide flexibility and scale in a centrally managed environment.
The project eliminated some redundant underwriting tools and enabled our client to recharge existing systems into a more cohesive whole, moving the company towards a digital future without the culture shock and level of investment involved in starting afresh.
With around half of insurers reportedly admitting to not having a comprehensive digital plan, those that can find similar ways to break through actual and perceived IT barriers put themselves at an advantage.
Charlie Samolczyk is global head of sales for BrovadaOne at Willis Towers Watson