Best-of-Breed Policy Administration Systems: Lessons from the Habitrail® by Terry Brown, Vice President of Implemenation Servi

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It’s an age old struggle in this business—deciding between implementing a full enterprise solution vs. implementing ‘best of breed’ solutions from various vendors within the insurance vertical. You can make an argument in favor or against either approach. Enterprise solutions are typically easier to implement and allow carriers to clearly define work effort and costs by working with just one vendor. However, enterprise solutions can also be a bit limiting. Maybe not all of the components of the system are as feature-rich or as robust as others or maybe the various business units within the carrier cannot agree on which solution best fits their needs. Best of breed solutions, on the other hand, allow carriers to choose from among 60+ vendors in the space for the best systems for them by component. It seems like this approach would make all the business units happy. However, best of breed solutions are inherently more complex and risky. In addition to evaluating the functionality offered by each solution, carriers must determine how each system will integrate with the others. Issues of data transparency, maintaining a consistent user experience, and dealing with various technology stacks complicate both the evaluation and the implementation processes. Ideally, what carriers want and need is the best of both worlds—the ability to implement solutions by component, as their business needs and budgets dictate, and to eventually wind up with an enterprise-wide solution that provides best of breed functionality for all core components.

This sort of ‘plug and go’ mentality reminds me of the Habitrail system I built and maintained for my favorite pet hamster, as a little girl. I was one of those kids that always wanted the newest, coolest stuff and Habitrail was my parents’ way of giving me at least some of what I wanted without breaking the bank. Remember the Habitrail? It could be as basic or as cool as you wanted to make it. What started out as a standard plastic box, big enough for one hamster, could quickly evolve into sections that included a bigger space for multiple hamsters as well as the now famous hamster wheel treadmill, a jungle gym and even climbing walls and a swimming pool! If my parents had limited me to a standard cage, not capable of expansion, I would soon have been asking for a replacement cage for my birthday and would have tossed the current cage out with the trash. Not a good investment! Similarly, if they purchased various add-ons from other manufacturers and relied on me to duct tape them together, that would have spelled serious trouble for both me and for my poor pet hamster, who would undoubtedly have found his way out of the cage and into harm’s way. With the Habitrail, my parents provided me with a starter cage for my first hamster and the ability to add on when needed or desired and at a more reasonable cost. Each new module was provided by the same manufacturer and easily plugged into place, expanding my hamster’s living space and feeding my need to keep up with the latest cool stuff I saw on TV.

The Habitrail concept might just be the solution for that age old struggle carriers face. “Best-of-breed” policy administration systems from a single vendor can provide carriers with the best of both worlds. The solution: A single vendor who offers a suite of modules for carriers seeking to control the pace of their implementations and deployment of core system functionalities. This approach helps keep carriers costs controlled while moving their organization toward having that full suite of PAS modules as their needs call for it based on growth, timing and budgets.

its flagship policy administration system—The Diamond System—into a “best-of-breed” single vendor-modular offering for P&C carriers. The Diamond System, which is built on the Microsoft .NET platform and has a services-oriented architecture that enables web-based access for agents, consumers and other insurance carrier partners, is a fully automated and integrated policy administration system for both personal and commercial lines insurance carriers. The Diamond System can now be implemented as either an enterprise solution or “best-of-breed” single vendor-modular offering for policy management, billing and claims processing.

The end result has been to provide carriers with more robust, user friendlypre-integrated technology in a modular format that allows them to easily add modules at their own pace, whenever they are ready for them. With the single vendor “best-of-breed” approach, carriers can now focus on improving internal operational efficiencies and system benefits compared to managing the product integrations.

It’s no coincidence that the Habitrail system is still available today. It’s still around because the concept is a good one. Find a vendor who knows their stuff and pick a starting point—one module or several. Expand over time to build the ultimate system.

Habitrail® is a registered trademark of Rolf C. Hagen Inc.

About Insuresoft, Inc.:

Insuresoft is a Microsoft Gold-Certified independent software vendor delivering insurance software to the property and casualty insurance industry. Insuresoft offers a suite of products and services that are configured to meet the unique needs of insurance companies and managing general agents in North America. Insuresoft is a privately-held company headquartered in University Park, Illinois, with offices in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Visitwww.insuresoft.com.

News Source : Best-of-Breed Policy Administration Systems: Lessons from the Habitrail® by Terry Brown, Vice President of Implemenation Services at Insuresoft