There are many age-old sayings about the constant nature of change in the world, and it seems that they all apply to the current property and casualty (P&C) insurance universe. All this change is pushing many insurers to enter new markets, or bring new products to existing ones. This happens for a number of reasons, often to increase market share, diversify a book of business, or to enhance an insurer’s reputation as an innovator by covering a new risk or an old one in a new way. One commonality between all these worthy pursuits is the need to get new products or lines of business to market quickly.
The Guidewire team surveyed our customers during our Connections Reimagined event in November 2020, and 10% of them told us that accelerating product launch is their top priority for 2021. Karlyn Carnahan, Celent’s head of Property/Casualty for North America, tells us that the two biggest obstacles to launching insurance products rapidly are (1.) ideation and analysis and (2.) standing up products in core systems.
While this is not surprising, it is a critical challenge to solve. Spending long cycles clarifying coverage intricacies for a new product, having to translate needs between IT and business teams, or building dozens of complex integrations or other custom system configurations may mean the difference between getting to market first or not. When time is of the essence, things like reliable processes, business user-friendly tools, and visual interfaces can make a measurable difference.
Many Guidewire customers have experience with using technology as a foundation to support new products and even entire lines of business. This group includes Aviva Italy, where the Advanced Product Designer in PolicyCenter was critical to developing a modular, third-party liability product in just three weeks! Similarly, CAA launched Canada’s very first pay-as-you-drive insurance offering, and made it a success by relying on analytics and other technology elements within InsuranceSuite. A key piece for both of these forward-thinking, innovative insurers was the ability to offer a first-class digital experience to their policyholders, and to have that experience tied into their core systems.
When it comes to product launch, technology matters. It’s not the only piece of the puzzle, but it is certainly a foundational one, and getting it right can have a massive impact on a project’s success or failure.
Getting to market quickly and adapting to changing needs is critical for today’s insurers, but it’s not the only critical area for improvement that the industry is facing. For more details, check out our full report, “Top Five Imperatives of 2021: Insurer Priorities, Challenges, and Successes,” and watch the recent Connections Reimagined session, “Insurers’ Top Five Imperatives for 2021.”