During the 1980’s, each piece of software was an independent product. Spreadsheet, email and word processing were self-contained. Later, a few vendors attempted to combine all sorts of functionality into a single product, but the whole became less than the sum of its parts. Basically, buying a single software product that was the “be all end all” was doomed. Today, we have a few suites of related products from single vendors. We enjoy the integration and accept the limitations and lack of innovation that can result. So we end up with “add-on” products from other vendors.
The insurance industry is very complex and keeping a single source of truth across all systems is extremely difficult. It seems unreasonable to me that anyone can expect a single vendor to provide every single solution or innovation to brokers and insurers. All vendors (who are honest with you) will admit that the name of the game is to integrate with other software products. They cannot be experts in every facet of the insurance business.
When you buy a stereo system for your home or any technology product for that matter, one of your main concerns is that it will work with whatever else you have installed. This is where industry standards come into play. When vendors agree to become ACORD Standards compliant, they look to a future where they can provide great products but are also open to integration with other vendor products.
We are on the cusp of a plug and play insurance world, as we broaden the base of insurance data standards, but we are not there yet. The 1980’s notion that a single vendor is all that a broker or insurer will ever need is not a forward thinking view. It’s all about open industry standards for integrating disparate insurance systems. If the broker has the “Truth”, the broker system needs to be able to spread it to other systems, platforms, portals and mobile devices across the value chain. Open industry standards that cross boundaries allow information to flow when and where it’s needed without ever having to be re-keyed into a system.
