We’ve talked at length about the importance of partnerships at MassPrinting. They’re part of our insurtech business model:
People + Processes + Technology + Partnerships = Insurtech
Many companies are now realizing, like we did a few years ago, that partnerships can produce great value for carriers. This approach allows each vendor to contribute what they’re best at, eliminating the dilemma that carriers have faced in the past of settling for one vendor (or a few) doing everything - even if they’re performing functions they’re not best suited to perform.
One aspect of the value of partnerships that we haven’t talked about in great detail is choice. It’s been tacitly implied when we’ve talked about building a best of breed insurance infrastructure - using the best vendors for each specific function. But our discussions on that front have largely centered on performance and compatibility between technology vendors.
Choice is related to that, but also goes beyond product benefits, with implications on a carrier’s flexibility and adaptability.
Carriers are now explicitly saying that they want the freedom of choice. They don’t want to be forced into vendor relationships. They want to choose all of their solutions, rather than having that decision made for them because of compatibility issues. Choice isn’t just a budget issue, it’s also an operational one.
The partnership approach is a new model in the insurance industry. For years, carriers weren’t given this type of power. They were locked into a small number of options, usually due to compatibility issues with policy admin systems and other tangential technologies. We’ve now reached a point where many vendors have solved these issues, opening up opportunities for choice. At MassPrinting, we work with a broad range of policy admin systems, enabling us to work with any carrier, regardless of the PAS they use.
Recently we attended a virtual conference where one PAS company spoke at length about this new model. They designed their PAS to allow integrations with a wide range of technologies, giving carriers the ability to pick and choose who they work with. They’re embracing choice and enabling carriers to opt into technology partnerships they like rather than forcing a limited set of options onto them.
During the current COVID pandemic, choice has become an even bigger priority. No company, whether they’re a carrier, a PAS vendor, or another insurtech vendor, can afford to put all their eggs in one basket. Adaptability and pivoting are how successful companies are navigating the challenges of COVID. Without choice, adaptability is severely limited, which in turn can impact expenses.
We’re happy that more and more companies are seeing the full value of partnerships. We’ve built our business on this approach because we know it’s the future of where the industry is headed. Hearing other insurtech companies echo what we’ve been saying is further proof that this is the right path to go down.