Three things that a captive should know about its strategic technology partner!

Insurance managers and captive owners will recognise that building strategic partnerships is an essential part of their business, none more so than with chosen technology provider.

In this blog, we will focus specifically on technology partnerships and how you can mitigate operational risk by getting to know your potential partner, including the suitability of its solution, before engaging in a long-term relationship.

We have identified three key areas that a captive or insurance manager should focus on when choosing its technology partner:

1- Domain Expertise

2- Investment and Roadmap

3- Credibility and Credentials

Domain Expertise

Whilst it is great for a strategic partner to be able to provide you with an ‘out of the box’ or ‘off the shelf’ solution, it is also a significant benefit for them to have the breadth and depth in their offering and experience to provide you with a configurable and customisable solution. The partner should be able to prove the capability to deal with your exact requirements as they change over time and in-line with the development of the business itself. Key to this is asking if they really understand the business of a captive and how it operates. The internal processes that a captive or insurance manager will follow will likely be similar to other captives and insurance managers in the initial stages of business; however, there will be differences along the way and your partner should be able to easily identify with these.

It is also important that you are secure in the knowledge that they understand your business needs:- Asset Management, Policy Administration, Premium Allocation, Claims Collection and their associated operational workflows. Captives can be very individual in their business set up, protecting their parent organisation, reducing risk and being as operationally efficient as possible. A partner that truly understands this will serve you well.

Product suitability and committed ongoing investment

Does your potential partner have the right solution to satisfy all of your requirements across data capture, operational workflows and management information?

Can they prove their investment in a long-term product roadmap aligned to market changes?

As a captive or insurance manger in a tough and ever changing regulatory and economic landscape, the longevity of your investment is paramount. With the necessity for digitalisation, coupled with the excitement of AI and Block chain, you should take comfort in knowing that your chosen partner offers an open architecture IT platform that allows easy integration and ongoing development. Certain aspects of business will develop over time and this timeline will differ for each captive.

You need a technology partner who has the domain expertise to understand your business requirements coupled with a collaborative and consultative approach to support you through this engagement and ultimately the security of delivering a solution to meet your immediate and future needs.

Credibility and Credentials

The background of a technology partner, its previous engagements and their similarity to you and your needs will be imperative. You need to know whether the organisation has been successful in delivering comparable solutions and is able to provide access to its customers in order for you to verify this. This will back up any claims made and give you peace of mind about the solution and partnership you will be

choosing. As captives are often set up away from their parent organisations and IT resource, often off-shore, its partner needs to be able to provide flexible and global support for the solution they are providing.

It comes down to thorough research and building a relationship right from your initial engagement and thereafter.

In our whitepaper, we delve further into the benefits to you of having a strategic technology partner.

How (re)insurance start-ups can address operational risk and challenge incumbents through a strategic technology partnership

Download White Paper