In the post pandemic world, with the trend towards digitalization, there is significant pressure on organizations to adapt this digital trend. This is certainly not an exception when it comes to the insurance industry. Digital innovation offers numerous competitive advantages. Advancements in AI, analytics, process improvement, rating system and reporting can enable efficient allocation of staff resources to tasks that generate value.
While there are advantages to incorporating digitalization, insurers and agents have a choice to make: build or buy digital innovation. As with many things in life, there are pros and cons to both which will be identified here.
Build Pros:
The software could be developed and fine-tuned to meet specific niches of the entity
Have a sense of control since the development team directly reports to the organization
Build Cons:
Significant cost imperatives; especially considering software developers demand premium salary
Resources to develop a schedule and coordinate the efforts to develop a working system
Need staff to maintain, upgrade and optimize the system after the build phase
Potentially need technical support outside of working hours in case system goes down
Buy Pros:
Costs will typically be lower than developing it in-house
Software will be standardized, therefore, compliance issues will be minimized
Software is already developed resulting in shorter implementation period (1-2 weeks)
Dedicated team to maintain, upgrade and optimize the system on a regular basis
Buy Cons:
System might not be easily configurable to suit the specific needs of a business
Communication with an external team to make adjustments to the system
A contract is necessary to establish expectations and obligations
These are important consideration and EnsurTek offers solutions to remediate some of the disadvantages. For instance, EnsurTek is a fully configurable and a no-code solution; meaning, specific niches can be programmed into the solution and features deemed unnecessary can be removed from the software package. Communication is also seamless with dedicated knowledgeable staff to support the system.
EnsurTek partnered with industry leaders to develop a product that addresses many issues experienced by insurers, underwriting agencies, MGAs, brokers and agents. While addressing the issues on a broader sense, the solution is also tailored to meet the specific needs of each organization. The right mix of standardization and flexibility is a standout sure to bring value to any organization.