This publish is a part of a collection sponsored by AgentSync.
Nothing good comes simple, proper? Seems, overhauling your outdated expertise in favor of extra fashionable, cloud-native techniques isn’t any exception.
In in the present day’s digital age, shying away from cloud-native expertise places companies vulnerable to falling behind. Flexibility, scalability, diminished prices, and an enhanced buyer expertise are just a few of the advantages cloud-native software program can deliver to insurance coverage companies and their shoppers. However, irrespective of how much positive impact cloud-native insurtech can have on an insurance organization’s daily operations, switching from legacy techniques to fashionable options isn’t simple, and anybody attempting to make the transition may discover themselves working into a couple of bumps alongside the way in which.
3 boundaries to adopting cloud-native insurtech
As with every main technological overhaul (and particularly in an trade as longstanding as insurance coverage), lots of the challenges of adopting cloud-native insurance coverage expertise stem from the organizational and cultural modifications obligatory for such a big transition. Put merely, change is difficult, and a number of of the next areas may gradual you down.
Your present techniques
Changing legacy techniques which were in place for years is way simpler stated than achieved. Some insurance coverage organizations’ processes are so closely rooted of their present expertise that making the transition would trigger sufficient disruption to close down operations within the quick time period. When the workflow and productiveness affect required to overtake their complete tech stack looks like too excessive of a hurdle, companies will proceed to depend on outdated expertise, spreadsheets, and different guide processes for every day operations.
Selecting to maneuver solely some techniques to the cloud may appear to be a extra viable possibility. However, doing so can depart companies with much more challenges as they wrestle to combine the brand new software program into their present platforms, which possible weren’t constructed with clean integrations in thoughts.
Your folks
Switching to cloud-native software program is greater than only a technological change. It’s additionally a fairly vital cultural change, and one that may be troublesome for people working in an trade that, till just lately, has remained comparatively resistant to alter. For a lot of, the present techniques, irrespective of how inefficient, are so intricately tied to every day operations that they’ve formed the corporate’s tradition.
Getting customers to undertake a brand new approach of doing issues can require a company-wide shift in considering. And don’t neglect that, on prime of serving to your group perceive the worth of the transition, you’ll want to supply the assist and coaching obligatory for customers to reap the total advantages of the brand new cloud-native expertise.
Your finances
Regardless of how sure you’re that cloud-native software program will positively affect your backside line in the long term, getting previous the upfront prices of buy and implementation is usually a vital problem. The actual fact of the matter is, whereas the preliminary price may appear to be too excessive a barrier to beat, it’s sometimes nothing in comparison with the price of enterprise as normal.
Not solely does going into technical debt finally price you greater than what you’d spend modernizing your tech stack, it additionally wastes worker time, opens you as much as pointless compliance dangers, and stunts your group’s progress.
5 greatest practices for adopting cloud-native insurtech
Whereas the boundaries for adopting cloud-native expertise at your insurance coverage group could also be sturdy, they aren’t impenetrable. Right here are some things enterprise leaders can do to assist set themselves up for fulfillment.
1. Perceive the issue you’re attempting to resolve
There’s a cloud-native answer on the market for nearly each facet of an insurance coverage group’s every day operations, from claims administration, to buyer relationship administration, to e mail advertising and marketing and so forth. However simply because cloud-native software program exists for every of those areas doesn’t essentially imply a enterprise must undertake all of it.
It’s vital you perceive the issue you are attempting to resolve earlier than diving into a brand new answer. What may very well be worse than investing all of your time, cash, and assets into implementing a brand new answer just for the bottlenecks and inefficiencies to persist after the mud settles?
Are you attempting to chop down on producer onboarding time? To take away guide workflows out of your group’s plate? To enhance the general producer expertise? Nailing down the issue (or issues) you’d like to resolve with cloud-native expertise will provide help to lower by the noise and focus solely on evaluating expertise that may truly provide help to attain your objectives.
2. Examine what’s available on the market
Not each cloud-native utility is similar. The correct answer for your enterprise will depend upon a number of components, together with your particular wants, finances, and most popular degree of management. After you’ve established your fundamental ache factors and set future objectives, examine that information towards what every answer can supply.
Keep in mind, product functionalities are only one piece of the puzzle. You also needs to contemplate issues like the extent of partnership you’ll obtain with every vendor, their requirements round information safety, and the way they deal with software program updates and bug fixes after implementation.
Sidenote, should you simply so occur to be out there for a cloud-native producer administration software program, we’ve put collectively a helpful buyers guide to assist along with your evaluations.
3. Get references from present prospects of potential options
It’s one factor to listen to about the advantages of switching to cloud-native insurtech from the tech distributors themselves, however what do insurance coverage companies who’ve already made the change need to say? Search for references from present prospects of potential options who have been attempting to resolve related ache factors as you are actually. Their success, not solely with the product itself but additionally with implementation and buyer assist provides you with a good suggestion of what you possibly can truly anticipate from any given answer.
For those who’re curious in regards to the success AgentSync prospects have had after implementing our options, we invite you to take a gander by our case studies in addition to our customer reviews on G2.
4. Prioritize safety and compliance credentials
Safety and compliance could be both a profit or a downside of cloud-native software program. Whereas some options prioritize safety and compliance, others don’t fairly meet expectations. However within the data-driven world of insurance coverage, safeguarding delicate producer and client info is crucial.
A vendor’s response to trade requirements like SOC 2 and NIST may give you a clearer image of which softwares take information safety significantly and which of them may open your group as much as extra danger. As of late, it’s not even value contemplating distributors who display something lower than a dedication to cybersecurity excellence.
5. Make a plan for coaching, assist, and inside adoption
Whereas an enormous draw of switching to cloud-native options is taking tedious, guide work off your group’s plate, updating your tech stack with out providing the mandatory worker coaching and assist will possible have the other impact.
Worker coaching is an easy and efficient technique to allow your group to see the total benefits of a brand new answer. With out coaching, it’s possible you’ll discover folks hesitant to make use of the brand new software program, preferring as an alternative to simply revert again to the previous, acquainted approach of doing issues. Which might be a critical waste of time for everybody.
In order for you a excessive adoption fee, make a plan for making certain everybody has a high-level understanding of the worth the answer supplies and entry to coaching supplies and assist to fill in any information gaps that would maintain them again.
Cloud-native software program is paving the way in which for insurance coverage organizations
With a growing number of insurers planning to adopt cloud-native solutions over the next five years, it’s secure to say cloud-native expertise is quickly to be the brand new gold normal for the insurance coverage trade. The earlier a company migrates to a cloud-native tech stack, the earlier it reaps the advantages and the higher ready it’ll be for future innovation.
For those who’re able to make the swap and future-proof your producer licensing and compliance administration processes, AgentSync will help. Reach out today to learn the way our cloud-native answer makes managing all the producer lifecycle extra environment friendly and cost-effective.
