Full article with thanks to: https://www.insiderengage.com/article/2c5n3jrrv7rdm98v0ptz4/events/monte-carlo-2023/the-importance-of-being-well-informed-when-choosing-a-risk-placing-platform
Making a well-informed choice on which electronic risk placement platform you adopt when PPL forces you off its current v3 system in October sounds like a sensible thing to do. It’s a strategic decision, after all, and one that will seriously affect your working practice either in a positive or negative way.
Since the inception of electronic trading in 2016 and its almost universal adoption across the market during the pandemic, a number of competing placing platforms have emerged. And they are all very different.
So PPL is no longer the only game in town and making an informed decision on which strategic route to take is a pressing priority or you could get saddled with something that doesn’t do the job for you.
But are you really going to do a 250-question procurement process with each of your platform options that’ll take months and cost a fortune? Probably not before 1st October, so to help quickly weigh up their pros and cons, we’ve put together below a simple thumbnail guide.
And it really boils down to just ten key points.
Expertise
Building a placing platform requires more than just technical skills; it necessitates a deep understanding of the industry and its technology. Is the platform you’re looking at built by a company with a long and successful history in insurance technology with a team of experts who have honed their craft over many years of electronic risk placement? If so, you can trust that your risk placing needs are in the best hands. If not, you’ll be taking a risk every time you try to place one.
Support and training
No risk placing platform is simple – insurance is a complex business and platforms have to accommodate that, so you’ll almost certainly be needing support and training. Is the platform supported by a team of motivated experts who understand as much about your business practice as they do of their own technology? And how rapidly can they respond to your issues? Without high-quality support, delivered the minute you need it, a placing platform is as good as useless as you’ll not be able to operate it properly, if at all.
Streamlined functionality
Modern placing platforms must be streamlined and slick, and not put unnecessary obstacles, clicks and screens between you and a bound risk. Does the platform provide you with the fastest possible means of placing and binding business? Does it streamline your day or make it more complicated? A clunky user experience is not what you want with every risk you touch.
Performance
There’s nothing worse than watching a spinning hourglass and there’s no excuse for it either. Does the platform feel laggy, even with only a few companies on it? Has it been developed by people who value your time as much as they value theirs? A well-designed placing platform should have sub-second response times regardless of how many users are giving it a good thrashing in the renewals season. So you’ll not be kept waiting while it makes its mind up whether to give you the next screen, or crash. A slow platform on New Year’s Eve is going to do more than just frustrate you.
Data, data and more data
The market’s drive towards data-first, CDR, MRC v3 and Blueprint 2 is all about the seamless flow of data between the broker, underwriter and bureau processes. Are APIs available on the platform to connect it to your in-house systems? And can the platform turn a document into data at the touch of a button? If not, you’re going to be stuck yet again with re-keying data.
Stats
And what about BI and MI? You can’t be working in the dark or downloading extracts for your spreadsheet warriors to interpret every day. Does the platform have inbuilt reports and graphs so you can see what’s going on with your business on-demand? Any platform for the modern age should provide this today, straight out of the tin.
Responsive development
Today’s market leader will be tomorrow’s laggard unless addressing its customers’ needs is a priority. Does the platform have a user group, advisory board or a market committee to determine the product roadmap? If it’s a market committee, how much of a voice will you have on that, if any? And how quickly can they react? Will your requirements be watered down or back-burnered by competing stakeholders with different agendas? If you want a placing platform that does what you want it to do, your vendor must be listening. And acting.
Innovation
Innovation is talent, a state of mind and not a learned skill. Does the platform vendor have a justified reputation for innovation, or is it a follower? Do they show you functionality that you never thought you wanted but now wonder how you ever lived without? If you want a placing platform that gets you ahead of the game and keeps you there, your vendor needs to be innovative and, above all, an experienced competitor.
Data migration
When you get to log on to your new platform for the first time, what do you want to find in there waiting for you? All of your trading history, users and trading partner profiles? Or nothing? Perhaps you want a blank canvas on which to paint the future, or maybe having all of your risks and facilities already set up will make endorsements and declarations easy instead of horribly slow and painful. Make the wrong choice here and your users may never forgive you for the pain of rekeying risks.
Dependability
And finally, it need hardly be said that having a dependable platform is quite important. So how reliable is it? Does its vendor have a proven track record in providing high-availability systems? Will the platform make mistakes and corrupt your data? Will it fall over when it’s stressed? Guessing the wrong answer could be bad for you, bad for your users and bad for your trading partner relationships.
So, there you have it. Ten key points, many of which might be important to you and some not so much. But, in the end, it all boils down to one big question – are you going to choose your new risk placing platform, or have it forced on you?
Full article with thanks to: https://www.insiderengage.com/article/2c5n3jrrv7rdm98v0ptz4/events/monte-carlo-2023/the-importance-of-being-well-informed-when-choosing-a-risk-placing-platform
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