Partnering for Success: How Shared Goals Drive Insurance Innovation

In the current insurance landscape, the ambition for greater interconnected digital ecosystems is driving opportunities for increased collaboration between technology providers, industry consultants and systems integrators. At INSTANDA, our partnership strategy focuses on seamlessly connecting our clients with new innovations so that they can meet their customers where they’re at with digital products and services that they want and need.

To find out more, we catch up with Andy Watts, INSTANDA's Business Development Director, who is responsible for developing strategic partnerships in the EMEA region.

Andy, could you tell us about INSTANDA’s partnership approach?

Absolutely. INSTANDA's partnership strategy focuses on empowering our clients through collaboration with Consulting and Systems Integrators (SIs). This approach allows not just clients (MGAs, Brokers and Insurers) but also consultants and system integrators to rapidly build insurance products in a no-code environment, ensuring flexibility and delivering innovation.

The insurance industry is seeing a shift from large-scale, rip-and-replace core platform transformations to more agile, flexible engagements with faster benefit realisation. As we explore in our whitepaper Navigating Legacy in a Legacy Landscape, INSTANDA is at the forefront of this movement, providing clients with the following options:

• Digital Product Deployment: INSTANDA enables the swift launch of digital insurance products and business scalability without replacing existing systems.

• Digital Transformation: INSTANDA co-exists with a client’s existing core platform, engaging with systems integrators and consulting delivery partners on a broader programme of change.

Clients choose how to construct their change programmes, and partners play an important part through the provision of complementary services. These services range from programme advisory (identifying the best ecosystem components to serve customers with digital products and experiences), to product factory delivery, whether that be one-off product engagements or multi-product, multi-line transformations with INSTANDA at the core.

What makes a successful partnership?

Successful partnerships are built on common goals and shared values. INSTANDA and its partners align their objectives with the client's goals to ensure a holistic approach to digital change and transformation.

Cultural alignment, integrity, and transparency are crucial for joint problem-solving and client success. In some engagements, especially where new types of propositions are involved, such as embedded insurance, there can be multiple parties with different flavours of integrations required to bring it altogether. So having this alignment of objectives with overall goal congruence is key.

When everyone is aligned on outcomes attached to a Benefits Realisation Approach, the impact on the insurer can be truly transformative. It's not just about launching a project on time, but about achieving a shared envisioned impact. This impact could include rapid market entry with new products, digital enablement of existing products, targeted GWP growth, operational efficiency, or a combination of these elements. Ultimately, the impact should be clearly defined so success is clear and measurable, and so INSTANDA works closely with partners and clients to achieve this outcome.

How does INSTANDA maintain long-term partnerships?

It really comes down to some simple yet important operating principles:

• Creating a training and accreditation programme so that all partner teams associated with INSTANDA become super-users of the platform.

• Setting the partnership up for success, to enable partners to articulate a value proposition associated with INSTANDA, and to design, build and deploy products themselves. That’s why our Delivery and SI partners typically have their own INSTANDA environment, specific to them.

• Setting targets for partnership success and ensuring regular dialogue, engagement and collaboration on transformational programmes.

• Creating a partnership ecosystem to address industry challenges and foster meaningful collaboration about the future of insurance.

Our partners also join us in discussing the big industry topics. Our global thought leadership report, which explores how the insurance industry might evolve over the next decade, features insights from many of our partners. Additionally, several of our partners participated in an exclusive InsTech fireside chat in January 2024, to discuss the most significant challenges and opportunities insurers face in the realm of innovation.

Talking about networking events, how important are industry memberships?

Industry memberships are highly important for INSTANDA. These organisations actively listen to industry needs, and being a member is invaluable in this process. Networking at membership events fosters opportunities for innovative thinking, problem-solving, and sharing insights into the future of insurance.

The Camelot Network is a prime example of an active insurance network, particularly in the UK's Property and Casualty sector. It connects various stakeholders to tackle industry challenges and explore new opportunities. INSTANDA, as a Corporate Partner, is fully engaged in this dynamic space. They recently hosted a Camelot Executive Breakfast (with an INSTANDA client) focusing on strategic innovation and accelerating product launches. The event was attended by a number of strategic decision makers, and the session took a deep dive into the topics impacting insurers. Attendees explored the importance of taking a customer-centric approach, the user experience, tech-enabled digital ecosystem, the need to remain agile and have flexibility and choice, despite significant challenges. It was a very powerful roundtable discussion.

INSTANDA is also an active supporter of Target Markets Program Administrators Association (TMPAA) in North America and the Managing General Agents Association (MGAA) in the UK. This year, we were proud to serve as a headline sponsor for the MGAA conference. Additionally, we have also hosted educational webinars for members, focusing on digital innovation and demonstrating how MGAs can leverage no-code technology to accelerate business growth.

Are there any last thoughts you’d like to share?

Just one, really. There are some incredible insurers across the world who are transforming the industry for the better. As enablers of change, it’s a privilege and a responsibility to contribute to this wave of progress, and we remain committed to collaborations that push the boundaries of what's possible.

Curious about how INSTANDA can transform your business? Contact us and we’ll connect you with one of our experts to explore what we could achieve together.