MGAs have different experiences with implementing insurance software, which can be overwhelming without prior knowledge. If you are faced with the challenging task of implementing new software for your insurance business and don’t know what to expect, this is normal. We’ve put together a short overview describing all the steps that should happen, to go from plan to live insurance system.
The steps are based on implementing the Insly underwriting platform, but apply to most other solutions available in the insurance space.
1. Preparation Before Onboarding
Before starting to implement Insly (or any other MGA software for that matter), you should have your product details in place (submission forms, document templates, rating and underwriting rules, etc.). It’s worthwhile having product definitions and processes like underwriting responsibilities, sales process, and premium flows agreed with the carrier as much as possible. This will ensure a quick start and avoid repetition further down the line of the project, which could cost precious time and money.
If your operating model relies on a large number of integrations, make sure:
- you know who the integration partners are for any particular function;
- that there is good documentation available.
Be especially wary of integrating to legacy systems with little or no documentation, e.g. to a policy admin system built in 1998 that only one person knows how to manage. Insly or any other good IT partner will help you vet your integrations partners to make sure all the assumptions are there to stay within your intended timeline.
Appoint a Project Lead with a good understanding of the business. That person shouldn’t necessarily have a technical background, but they should know your product and processes inside out.
Finally, plan some time to read the software contract and make sure that the terms and the level of service is in line with your business goals.
2. Analysis: Project Scope Definition
In this stage, hands-on work to get the project scope defined begins. This usually means a more detailed analysis of your requirements, further defining your insurance product details, setting the project timeline, budget, and important milestones.
This can be done in a workshop format or remotely over multiple working sessions. At Insly, we are used to completing complex implementations 100% remotely, but sometimes nothing beats face-to-face discussions. So, if you have the opportunity and international travel rules allow you to, you are welcome to visit our team at Insly’s Tallinn office, conveniently right next to the airport.
The analysis stage is a must, so if an IT service provider declines to define the project scope before the implementation, it should be a red flag for MGAs.
3. Agile Set-Up: Iterating on the Product on Insly’s Platform
Early on in the process, the MGA gets access to their own test site where the MVP or draft product is configured.
The set-up process is agile and requires active participation from both sides with regular meetings and calls to get things up and running. With Insly’s low/no-code platform, you can build things quickly. It’s less about drawing on paper and more about seeing the product and processes come to life on the actual platform, where you can test everything yourself.
This collaborative approach helps to identify improvements that neither of us may have thought of at the planning stage, as well as discover and iron out any bugs way before the more formal testing towards the end of the implementation (see the acceptance stage below).
4. Integrations: Development of Third Party or Custom Connections
This step of the onboarding process covers the development of integrations to external systems, e.g. payment provider integrations for online sales. Although, the stage can be skipped if there’s no need for external integrations.
5. Data Load: Import of Existing Data
The onboarding process also includes importing existing portfolio data to Insly’s insurance platform. That may include, but is not limited to policies, quotes, claims, invoices, payments, brokers, and users.
This step ensures that when the system is provided to the MGA, all necessary data is already there and it also makes it easier for the MGA to go through the user test cases (see next point).
When setting up the system for a completely new business this stage might be limited to uploading users and distribution partners.
6. Acceptance: User Acceptance Testing
Testing is an essential step in the onboarding process, where the MGA checks business workflows and scenarios based on test cases provided by Insly. This helps to discover and remove any bugs identified during testing and adjust processes or insurance product details.
7. Training
Extensive training and tutorials from Insly’s side are usually not needed, because the insurance platform itself is very intuitive and the “user instructions” vary according to each MGA’s underwriting processes and products. Since testing access is given early on, the MGA’s key stakeholders become expert users already during the set-up period.
Where training is conducted it’s usually a collaborative process where Insly introduces the platform basics and MGA explains the business processes to its employees.
8. Go-Live
After everything is ready, the acceptance testing has been passed and users are familiar with the system, the insurance platform is ready to go live. At this stage of onboarding, the MGA can start writing real business.
Usually we suggest a soft launch during the first weeks or months, especially when running the old and new insurance platforms in parallel. To ensure a smooth launch, heightened attention is drawn to the new platform in case any unexpected errors occur, which can’t always be found before the product is live and trading.
9. Post-Live
The journey doesn’t end here. Discovering new business opportunities might require adding new products or making changes to existing products. The MGA can make changes by itself, but Insly’s professional team is always happy to advise and help.
This was a quick run-down of the onboarding process for Insly’s insurance platform. We hope these steps and suggestions will help you in taking up the journey of implementing new insurance software. If you would like to discuss how Insly can help your business, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
