As hundreds of insurance IT professionals prepare for atrip to Washington, D.C. on Sunday, June 2, to take part in theIASA Educational Conference and Business Show, we asked severalleading insurance consultants to offer some advice to those whomight be considering some new software for their business.Specifically, we asked them: What research should insurancecarriers conduct ahead of the conference on their potential vendorpartners?

Chad Hersh, partner, Novarica

The trade shows are a great opportunity to get in front of alarge number of vendors. However, for a carrier that's shopping forsomething specific, it's a good opportunity to do something a bitdifferent.

Rather than just quickly sampling, say, 20 policy administrationvendors on a noisy trade-show floor, do some homework ahead of timeand figure out perhaps five or six you'd really like to see in moredetail and that will be at the show. Communicate with themahead of time to schedule a demo in a demo room, a hospitalitysuite, or wherever.

You'll get a much better look at the system, and have a muchbetter conversation about how their system might be able to meetyour specific needs rather than a general sales pitch. You mightnot come home with quite as many flashlights or stuffed animals,but you may come home with better information.

Mike Fitzgerald, senior analyst, Celent

In vendor selection, there are typically very sophisticatedapproaches used for proof of concepts, request for proposals,business cases, etc. However, one area that is typically“underdeveloped” involves customer references. In many respects,this can be the most critical of all of the areas. However, we haveseen cases where it is not approached early enough or performed toa sufficient level of depth and breadth. Some practicalsteps:

Start early: During the project initiation phase, the projectteam should spend time developing specific actions to identify andaccess references.

Cast a wide net: Engage as many company employees as possible inthe search. In one vendor selection, a reference that ended upbeing critical in the decision was uncovered only through anemployee's network.

Validate your list of vendor/insurer combinations with vendorsunder consideration: This signals to the vendor that you willdiscover their strengths and weaknesses through methods other thantheir reference list and encourages them to address any issuesearly in the selection process.

Bill Jenkins, consultant, Agile InsuranceAnalytics

Arrival at a conference exhibit hall possessing a large numberof vendor/solution offerings can be a daunting, complicated, andconfusing sight if one does not possess a plan as to what one wantsto achieve. In effect, know what a vendor/solution provider doesand seek out information. In this vein, the following steps aresuggested in putting together the “exhibit hall plan.”

1. Determine your organization's current and near-termsystem/service needs. In addition, list the requirements yourorganization expects the product and/or service to provide. Thisexercise can be done several weeks in advance of theconference.
2. Research what vendors/solution providers offer theproducts/services your organization needs against the listingdeveloped in the first step above. Based on this research, compilea list of these vendors/solution providers and do a preliminaryranking of the vendors/solution providers. This initial researchcan include: discussions with research groups, review of researchreports, visitation to vendor/solution provider websites,discussions with your peer group in other companies as to theirexperiences, etc. Using vendor/solution provider indexes andoverviews published in magazines like Tech Decisions is agood way to start to identify which vendors/solution providersoffer the products and services you are seeking.
3. Arriving at the conference or even before the conferencestarts, contact the vendor/solution provider and arrange anappointment to get the necessary time with them during theconference. This can be an important step given the number ofattendees and the amount of interest a certain vendor/solutionprovider may be getting at the conference, otherwise, you may notget the amount of time you may want with a particularvendor/solution provider. This will also allow you the opportunityto manage your time more efficiently.

If you can, use the time in the exhibit hall to gain educationand knowledge on new offerings and identification of othervendors/solution providers you were either unable to visit or youwere unaware of. Finally, use the time to network, exchangeinformation, and meet new contacts.

Karen Furtado, partner, Strategy Meets Action

The IASA show offers a one-of-a-kind opportunity forinsurers—many vendors, solutions, and approaches—and lots of ideas,all in one convenient location. SMA recommends starting your searchfor potential partners with an inward look at your strategicneeds.

Understand how your company's culture and appetite for changeinfluence solution decisions. Is it OK to remain status quo? Justneed to improve effectiveness? Or, do you want to excel and set thepace?

Think about how a new system could assist in improving yourmarket position. Is your company satisfied with waiting andwatching? Do you want to keep pace with the pack or would yourather be a step ahead? Is being a market leader important?

Determine what you expect from a new system. Would it replacethe existing system and add a few new features, or does yourcompany want to completely modernize capabilities? Or eveninnovate?

Review the conference materials ahead of time, and map out aplan to meet with specific vendors to investigate thepossibilities. Discussions always provide new ideas and learningpoints. Enjoy IASA.

Karen Pauli, research director, insurance, CEBTowerGroup

Before buying any technology and establishing apartnership with a vendor, insurers should research who the vendoris partnering with. Insurers need to understand whatresources a technology partner brings to the engagement.

Insurers do not have time to seek out related vendors andtechnology—partnerships are critical. Additionally, partners willhave worked out technology kinks and the risk of failure orsub-optimal outcomes are minimized.

Another important partnership driver is that IT executives arestruggling to find technology skills and to the degree that avendor has alliances for specific and unique skills, an insurer isahead of the game.

A critical area to understand is what emerging technologyvendors the primary provider is aligned with. This will help aninsurer map out a robust execution map, particularly around thingssuch as analytics, mobile, social media, and big data. Partnership alliances are all about getting greater businesscapabilities with reduced risk.

Jeffrey Scott Haner, principal research analyst,insurance, Gartner

Insurers need to focus on the role that core systems will playin their future as they look to transform the customer experiencethrough emerging technologies such as next-generation portals andtelematics. Core systems are an essential foundation, but they arebecoming a means to an end.

When assessing vendors, focus on whether their offerings can bedeployed quickly and whether they can serve as the central hub forincreasingly intelligent operations. Can the vendor point toprebuilt content and past success in your lines of business? Havethey demonstrated scalability in production? Have they positionedtheir offering (through add-on components or prebuilt integrations)to support emerging technologies?

Core system functionality is becoming a commodity, but thecombination of past success and a firm grasp of future trends israre. As insurers evaluate their core system options, they would dowell to seek out vendors that exhibit these characteristics.