Dodging 3 major product innovation barriers

• Data fluidity: Data from all relevant sources (customer records, claims processing, policy administration, and third-party sources, etc.) must flow freely through your tech stack. This is critical for many reasons, including customer confidence. For example, when insureds access their portals to check if they’ve met their deductibles, they want to be certain the info is real-time and accurate.
• Modularity: Customers expect insurers to deliver one integrated experience for products that span multiple business lines, and a modular design approach is key to achieving this goal. (It’s ideal for offering coverage bundles, which many customers have come to expect as table stakes.)
• Scalability: Insurers are making a long-term investment in any core platform they choose, and can’t afford to adopt any solution that doesn’t scale and can’t adapt to meet future needs.

The integration shortcomings of modern legacy systems make it all but impossible for carriers to deploy innovative, competitive products without development costs going through the roof. Launching a new offering with a digital front end on top of outdated core technology will appear sophisticated, but may offer a clunky experience and lack real-time information on policy changes, claims status, and other critical information. The resulting failure to meet customer expectations could be disastrous.