Conditioned to Respond
Don Honeycutt | December 04, 2017
The expression “feast or famine” obviously started as a personal reference to how much one may, or may not, have to eat at any given point in time. Today, the expression is still used to cover overabundance or shortage of personal experiences like food availability and potential dating prospects, but today it is also commonly extended to things like qualified leads, sales of products or services, and various other aspects of modern business.
Cautious by nature, insurers go to extreme lengths to ensure partnerships, integrations, and technology purchases, in particular, are not only prudent, but productive as well. The mechanism most often utilized by insurers attempting to find the perfect vendor partner or solution silver bullet is a request for proposal (RFP). While insurers have amassed considerable expertise when it comes to mitigating and homogenizing risk, and developing products to protect policyholders against risk, there is no baseline level of internal expertise when it comes to crafting an effective RFP.
Unfortunately, incumbent insurance technology (MatureTech) and startup InsurTech vendors alike have been conditioned to respond to every RFP which comes across, even if it lacks specificity or sufficiently detailed business requirements. This creates is a bad situation for everyone involved. Wondering who is at fault here and how an unwanted end-result can be avoided?
The RFP Development Process
In a perfect world, each RFP sent out to potential solution provider partners would be customized to the situation of the insurer driving the project. The reality is that with no experience writing requirements documents, or knowledge of options available in terms of the partner or solution landscape, insurers often wind up with generic RFPs which are unlikely to yield the needed positive and situation-specific results.
The solution here is not Googling “how to write an RFP for a software solution,” downloading generic forms from the Internet, or taking what was used by another insurer friend and removing names to protect the innocent. Instead insurers should invest some time in working with an experienced industry analyst or consulting firm with a successful track record in vendor and software selection for insurance companies of like size and lines of business.
While engaging a knowledgeable consultant to help in the RFP and solution selection process will cost some money upfront, this cost can and should be included in the overall project budget and not looked upon as a separate expense. Additionally, this is the perfect time to start forming an internal project support team or project management office (PMO) who can develop some synergy and momentum as the process of gathering requirements and prioritizing needs gets underway.
Plan the Work, and Work the Plan
As in the feast or famine analogy, RFPs come in at a rapid-fire pace at times, and at a bare trickle at others. Such an uneven pace makes it extremely difficult to plan and distribute workload, especially since accurate completion of RFPs necessarily involves personnel otherwise committed to actual customer deliverables which, of course, must come first.
Without sacrificing customer deliverables and existing project timelines, there are ways to plan the work and work the plan even when RFPs are due at busy or inconvenient times. The best way to do this, in our experience, is for MatureTech and InsurTech firms to hire or designate an existing full-time employee (FTE) to be a first responder. This person can review and evaluate the RFP for resources and information needed to complete, for relevance to the company’s solution functionality, and for due dates. Any misfires or misfits during this initial evaluation could mean the final project would not be a good fit, that the culture of the company for which the RFP is being conducted is not a match, or that the opportunity is not worth the existing service levels which might be sacrificed in order to complete the RFP.
In a perfect world, every MatureTech and InsurTech vendor would be easily capable of completing every RFP that comes in the door. The reality is that being conditioned to respond to try to respond to every RFP is not necessarily a good thing. Not every project is a good fit for every vendor. Deciding which opportunities are right to take advantage of, and declining all others can help maintain a consistent workflow and project timelines which will keep internal and external customers happy.
Mutual Respect
There is a lot of talk in the insurance industry about the most successful relationships between insurers and MatureTech/InsurTech vendors being those which function as partnerships. Taking this at face value, that means there must be a lot of vendor-insurer relationships built on mutual respect.
Such respect typically comes via considerable concessions which help achieve a working relationship and end-result with benefits for both sides. This may mean an insurer must commit more internal resources to a project implementation or pilot. It may mean a vendor working overtime to deliver in a set timeframe in spite of moving-target business requirements. Most of all, it likely means transparency from both sides.
Conclusion
With the industry talking far and wide about modernization and innovation, today there is a cost to missed opportunities in so much as insurers choosing not to update systems, engage with new solutions and partners, or explore practical applications for emerging technologies may be significantly less able to compete. That said, it’s a calculated risk that you could be missing an opportunity, but you don’t have to respond to every RFP that comes along.
Don Honeycutt is the chief data officer for Maple Technologies. He can be reached for more information or comment via email at don.honeycutt@maple-tech.com.
Featured articles
- Martha Notaras Will Join ITA LIVE 2019 as a Keynote Speaker
- Five Things to Consider When Evaluating Your Cyber Risk
- ITA Pro Magazine, January/February 2019
- Major Ransomware Attack Could Hit U.S. with $89B In Economic Damages
- ITA Announces 1st of Three Keynote Speakers at ITA LIVE 2019
- Electronic Chat with Jeroen Morrenhof
- Legacy Systems Are Dead. Really? Don't Count On It.
- Now Accepting Nominations for the 2019 ITA Bridge Awards
- It's time to register for ITA LIVE!
- Registration is Now Open for ITA LIVE 2019!
- What to Expect from a Digital Experience Platform Implementation
- ITA Pro Magazine September Edition is Now Available
- It's National IT Professionals Day
- Save the Date for ITA-LIVE 2019
- OneShield Software and UrbanStat Work Together to Improve Real-Time Analytics and Risk Decision-Making
- ITA LIVE 2019 - SAVE THE DATE!
- Insurance Technology Association Announces New Editor-in-Chief
- August 2018 Edition ITA Pro Magazine is Now Available
- Enterprise Architecture in an Agile World
- Top 10 Tips for Securing Your Mobile Devices and Sensitive Client Data
- Industry Insight: 4 Global Insurance Trends in Digital, Data, Content Services and Security
- Diving Deeper into Prioritizing Your Strategic Digital investments
- Why Content Rules
- How Mass Personalization Will Open the Small Business Benefits Market
- At Year End 2017, Will Your Organization Be Protected from Cyber Risks?
- Do Insurance Bots Dream of Mitigating Risk?
- Conditioned to Respond
- Managing & Mobilizing Insurance Data in a Connected World
- Race to the Finish Line
- New Tools, New Opportunities in Claims
- ITA LIVE: Reaching Insurance Industry Crossroads
- Advice to Insurance IT Leaders: Keep Your Eye on the Ball
- New Date, Venue for ITA LIVE 2017
- Guidewire Makes Major Push to Small and Midtier Market by Acquiring ISCS
- Insurance Disruption is Happening Right Now
- Insurity Adds Strategic Investment Partner, General Atlantic
- Beyond Transformation: The Convergence of Finance, Risk, and Actuarial Functions
- The Rapid Evolution of Consumer Protection Regulation
- Talent Hunt: Finding, Attracting, Retaining Top People
- Insurers Flexing Their Distribution Models
- Technology Driving Disruption in Insurance
- Fear of ‘Next Bubble’ Challenges Life, Annuity Carriers
- Technology Allows Commercial Lines Insurers to Stand Out
- Single Sign-on Viewed as Biggest Tech Challenge for Agencies
- ISCS Observes 20th Anniversary; Scurto Predicts Major Changes Ahead
- Policyholders and Their First Impressions
- Progressive Making Progress on the UBI Front
- High and Dry: Insurers Search for Disaster Recovery Plans
- Insurers Sign The (Un)Dotted Line
- Reflections of a Retired Insurance CIO
- Mobile Device Management Just One Answer to BYOD Issue
- Lessons from GEICO and Progressive on Winning the Critical Buying Stage
- You Are a Target for a Cyber Attack
- Web-based Systems are the Next Evolution in Claims Technology
- Gaining a “Wow” Experience from Web Users
- Time to Shift from Business/IT Alignment to Business/IT Alliance
- Healthcare Insurers Changing to Consumer Model
- Organization is the Key for Selecting Software Vendors
- Analysts Expound on the Needs of the Mid-tier Insurance Market
- Finding the Cure for Obamacare’s Website
- New Software Solutions Benefit Insurers on the Inside and Outside
- Products, Market Impede Investment in Systems for Life Insurers
- Combatting Cyber Threats: Predict, Prevent, Persist
- The Future of Telematics Heads Beyond Insurance
- The Shame in Cyber Security Lapses
- Building Policy Administration Systems for the Future
- Insurers Look Into The Eyes of Their Policyholders
- It’s a New Dawn for the ITA
INSURANCE IT NEWS
- RLI Selects DataCubes to Optimize Certain Underwriting Processes
- Reinsurance Software WebXL Version 4.3 Released by Prima Solutions-Effisoft Group
- Direct Online Could Grow to 12% of Small Commercial Insurance Market by 2023, Says Novarica
- David Fisher joins FRISS board as non-executive member
- Gulfstream Property and Casualty Insurance Company Selects Roost®Home Telematics Solutions
- Promutuel Insurance Extends Guidewire PolicyCenter to Support Personal Lines Including Data Management and Policyholder Digital Engagement
- Global Insurance Accelerator Announces Nicole Cook as Next Managing Director
- 60% of Carriers Planning to Increase Quality Assurance Activities in 2019, Says Novarica
ELECTRONIC CHAT
The Email Chat is a regular feature of the ITA Pro magazine and website. We send a series of questions to an insurance IT leader in search of thought-provoking responses on important issues facing the insurance industry.
-
Electronic Chat with Jeroen Morrenhof
Bill Sinn
ITA interviews Jeroen Morrenhof, CEO of FRISS, one of the leading fraud and risk mitigation companies serving the P&C insurance marketplace... READ MORE
ITA LIVE 2019
The tide is up! It's time to register for ITA LIVE 2019, our annual educational and networking conference! Our theme is "The InsurTech Revolution: Cutting Through the Hype." and we'll be bringing in a torrent of industry thought leaders, amazing insight and wonderful perspectives on the world of insurtech and its impact on the insurance landscape.
ITA LIVE 2019 will present real-life examples of true startup technologies that are helping insurers gain real advantage -- and a competitive edge -- in the marketplace. We’ll highlight the more successful InsurTech partnerships, while offering case studies that demonstrate exciting innovation and cutting-edge techniques impacting all aspects of the insurance ecosystem.
Ride the wave to LIVE 2019. Sign up today! We look forward to seeing you in May, 2019!
BLOGS AND COLUMNS
-
This month, the ITA celebrates Insurance Careers Month and encourages carriers, brokers, agents and our industry associations to plan their own... READ MORE
-
The Hidden Costs of Custom Software Systems
David Pittman
Customization in the general sense has a very positive connotation. However, in the world of software systems, customization quite often falls short... READ MORE
only online
-
Down Market Opportunities Beckon Benefits Insurers
You have surely heard it said that small businesses are the growth engine for America. Today, the phrase has a special ring to it for benefits... READ MORE
-
Technology at the Heart of Change in Insurance
With stagnant growth and lingering low interest rates, the life insurance industry faces a challenging future... READ MORE
-
Got Policies? IVANS Service Helps Feed Commercial Lines Producers
Finding insurance carriers willing to write commercial lines risks has always been a challenge for producers... READ MORE
-
Technology Changes Coming Faster than Ever for Insurers
As Guidewire Software prepares for the start of Connections, its 11th annual user conference that begins on Nov. 2, Brian Desmond, chief marketing... READ MORE
Vendor Views
-
The Hidden Costs of Custom Software Systems
Customization in the general sense has a very positive connotation. However, in the world of software systems, customization quite often falls short... READ MORE
- Vendor Views
Partner News
-
Distracted Living: What It Means for Insurance
One important trend in society over the past decade is our increasing ability to create and consume a seemingly unlimited amount of digital content... READ MORE
- Partner News