Legacy core systems that have been utilized for over 15 to 20 years carry with them the weight of repetition, the result of having no ‘rule book’ for the creation of new products. The lack of standardisation meant teams across geographies not only duplicated offerings but also labelled them differently internally. For instance, Product A created in Country A would label product liability as a benefit, while a team in Country B would classify the identical offering as a coverage.
Over the years, the back-end duplication happened across product iterations as teams adjusted products to adapt to evolving market conditions. A common architecture was needed for reporting, to define the data being collected in a standardised format.
Why? What problems did this repetition create? For starters, teams took a long time to respond to a customer’s claims because they needed to trace the exact policy version that was purchased before they could read the fine print. Standardising digitization efforts also became difficult because which version would you build the API for? Under the current arrangement, it became difficult for both legacy and digital systems to co-exist.
How an API-first technology helps
But with PolicyDock’s proprietary technology, artificial intelligence and machine learning make it possible to simplify those product variations from thousands to just five or 10 data models covering all variances. After data has been standardised, APIs can be created for this reduced product cluster. That means connecting disparate systems and tools can now be achieved seamlessly. What would have been a massive legacy modernization or integration effort in the past can now be achieved with just several lines of code. Moreover, you will have a transparent data standard and model for your insurance product, making it easier for analysts to create accurate reports, improving data governance while allowing information to flow freely across the organization.
Release products faster, increase work efficiency
What are the implications of this evolution for an insurer? New digital tools and technologies can be digitally integrated at a much faster rate; business intelligence and reporting on different product lines can be made more uniform; data can be analysed and sent across the organisation in a uniform way; e.g. when someone files a claim, the insured’s coverages and claim history can be made available instantly. Furthermore, previous business processes and workflows that are still on legacy do not need to be changed. Staff do not need to be retrained as they transition to the new systems.
It is, quite simply, a liberating feeling to have clean, synthesised, and standardized data. Imagine the ease at which internal departments will be able to access and process data for their specific needs.
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