Insurers are rethinking ways to prioritize the customer experience as consumers insist on simple, real-time access to services across all industries and InsureTechs up the pressure by exploiting the “experience gap” in insurance industry design. This demand has traditionally been met through portals for both agents and customers, but many insurers have evolved these systems via siloed, custom-built applications that add to the problem of a disjoined customer experience.
Portals will likely continue to be a primary channel for online consumer interactions, but the reality is insurers can no longer limit themselves to a “portal strategy” that is distinct from other channels. Instead, insurers must follow technology best practices that grow a portal strategy into a digital strategy.
1. Multi-Tier Is About Multi-Channel
Take a multi-channel, multi-tier approach to portals, whether using a vertical portal platform, a CMS, a horizontal framework, or custom Web development as the presentation layer. This means keeping business logic out of the front end; instead, architect the experience so the work being done for a direct online presence can be reused for other channels like mobile Web or mobile apps.
Many insurers even have (or are working toward having) internal portals, such as a CSR interface, built on the same platform as the agent and consumer portals—these portals just have expanded capabilities. This simplifies the overall infrastructure while enabling a better user experience. For example, this might mean a CSR screen-sharing with a consumer, or it might mean an easy transition for a customer who started on the direct portal and then called in to complete the process.
2. Wrap and Abstract Around Legacy Infrastructure’s Limits
Determine which infrastructure components will need to be real-time API- and service-accessible for an online rate/quote/bind process. Will legacy systems need to be wrapped in an API layer? Are there some systems that can’t be accessed in real time even if service accessible? If so, you may need to consider a temporary component that is maintained in parallel to a non-Web-enabled core system.
Some insurers have had to build a separate rating engine just for Web quotes, for example. As you wrap legacy components or bring in Web-only components, build in a layer of abstraction with the expectation that these components will be replaced and modernized in the future. You don’t want to have to rewrite your entire front end when a piece of the back end changes.
3. Map Out How Modern Channels Integrate with a Configurable Core System
Modern, configurable core systems have enabled insurers to make more rapid changes to lines of business without requiring code changes. But changes to the product in the core system also need to be reflected in the external channels, which may not have been built with the same configurability in mind. It may be possible to build a tight integration between the configurable core system’s metadata and your presentation layer. Such an integration would mean that if (for example) you update a product question in the policy system, the portal would pick up the updated metadata and automatically display the question in that channel as well. Without that tight integration, you will need to update in three places every time a product question changes: the core system, the front end, and the integration layer between them.
The tradeoff depends on an insurer’s profile. An insurer with a limited number of standard products that rarely change will care less about a tight integration and will be happier keeping those three layers separate. But an insurer with lots of custom lines with frequent product adjustments or new products will want the tighter integration to reduce overhead. Whichever approach is taken, IT should have checklists for all the different touchpoints that need to be updated every time configurations in the core system change. This is another reason insurers should be wary when vendors of modern core systems claim that business users can make product changes without IT involvement.
Most insurers have embraced portals as a critical channel, even if only to provide agent portals and even if not providing full binding transactions online. As insurers prepare to leverage new channels and build broader consumer experience improvements, they will need to follow the above best practices to evolve a portal strategy into a digital strategy.
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