Nowadays, digital transformation is inevitable for many reasons. One of its elements is changing the way it works by introducing technology into everyday use. Currently, most companies, also in the insurance industry, wanting to improve their work, increase its efficiency and, above all, automate certain processes, face a difficult choice – a ready-made product available on the market or a dedicated solution created from scratch. Undoubtedly, one of the most important factors when making such a decision is the business need – whether a ready, in a sense, universal solution will be able to meet all the requirements, or the only option is to create a system dedicated to the needs of a given organization from scratch. Today’s market offers more and more ready-made solutions, and this article is devoted to the advantages of their implementation, based primarily on our experience in implementing the VSoft Insurance Platform and VSoft Insurance Broker for clients.
Less time-consuming and less complicated sales process
The ready-made product gives you the opportunity to test its potential from the very beginning. Most companies have a demo version that is prepared to be presented to the client at a meeting, or it can be made available for independent exploration. The customer does not buy a pig in a poke. Thanks to this, at an early stage of the talks, they can assess whether the product meets the business needs and other requirements, which significantly shortens and simplifies the decision-making process, and thus the purchasing process, too.
A product agreement
A product agreement, which is what? When talking a ready-made product, it will most often be a license agreement that specifies the terms of use of the product, i.e. The system, on the given terms. What does this mean in practice? Again, saving time. With a ready-made basis, there is no need to talk about the terms and conditions every time, from the beginning. At the same time, this does not mean excluding the possibility of further negotiations and the supplier’s imposing all terms of cooperation with a ready-made contract template. On the contrary, the arrangements are based on proven options, models that take into account the needs, capabilities and preferences of both parties.
Short time-to-market
Save time for the third time! What is time-to-market? In simple terms, it is the time that elapses from the inception of an idea to the creation of a solution. For us, it is a range from signing a contract to launching a production system, i.e. To implementing the product and starting to use it by the ordering party. Having a ready-made tool, we are able to provide the client’s organization with the opportunity to derive real value, i.e. Benefits, from its use in a relatively short time.
The product meets the business needs of customers and the market requirements, and the solutions are adapted to a wide range of recipients
The product is targeted at a specific industry, to its adequate activities – it corresponds with the specific business needs and market requirements and has a high level of specialization in a given field. It is created strictly for the actual business scenarios of users, with their participation and with the involvement of all the knowledge possessed by the supplier. Sounds good, doesn’t it? This is not a dream come true, and such products and such partners do exist. Therefore, it is extremely important to verify it companies in terms of experience in providing solutions to organizations in a given area and a thorough analysis of the system itself. It is worth remembering that the success of the digital transformation process depends largely on the selection of partners who accompany us on this path.
What if the product does not fully meet all the business needs of the organization? It is worth talking to the supplier about the possibilities of configuration and adaptation of the system to the specific requirements and business scenarios.
Supplier takes care of the product development
The development of the system takes place not only on the initiative of the client. Suppliers also take care of the development of products based on their roadmap, i.e. A general plan that describes the vision of the application development.
When creating and periodically verifying roadmaps of our products, we take the customer’s needs, legal requirements and market trends into account. We also try to anticipate the future challenges of the industry. Each promising product should have a dedicated roadmap based on the vision and strategy of its development. Taking care of the client’s business, from the supplier’s perspective, also means that the tool they provide grows along with this business and generates real benefits for both parties.
Cost synergy
Unlike a dedicated system, the ready-made product gives a certain advantage also in terms of expenditure on its development. It consists in the costs of development and maintenance being proportionally distributed among the entities using the system. So, the burden of all the costs of development and maintenance is not borne by one organization.
A ready-made product or a dedicated system from scratch?
Even after analysing a number of advantages of implementing a finished product, there is no universal answer to the above question. Of course, everything depends on the individual case, specific needs, possibilities, purpose, time and resources. Before making the final decision, it is worth considering each of the available options, also in the context of choosing the right partner. A partner, because the digital transformation of an organization is a process that is favoured by a partner-like cooperation of the parties, and not a non-reflexive and mechanical delivery of the ordered product.
Our insurance systems called VSoft Insurance Platform and VSoft Insurance Broker have so far been successfully implemented in several dozen organizations. We measure the success of our products primarily by the benefits our customers gain. The number of users of our systems on a daily basis shows that it is possible to create applications that meet the real business needs of so many organizations in the insurance industry. This task is real not only thanks to all the insurance knowledge that we have accumulated over 25 years of operation in the industry, but also thanks to the commitment of our clients to co-create these products.
