One advantage of being a startup is the leadership group has the opportunity to participate in high-level meetings to determine what the company hopes to accomplish in the long run, rather than figuring things out on the fly. In the case of Darwin Professional Underwriters, technology discussions centered on developing flexible solutions to support the specialty lines carrier's business needs, according to Bob Asensio, senior vice president and CIO for Darwin.

One of Darwin's strategies was to find a way for smaller business to be conducted over the Internet and do more than policy issuance, preparation of documents, and rating, explains Asensio. "We wanted to do things such as automate some of the underwriting activity and risk selection for lines of business where this has never happened before," he says. "Our goals were broad."

Asensio knew there were new vendors doing policy administration with features some traditional solutions couldn't offer, he recalls. So, he sought a solution that would provide what he describes as the "basic plumbing" while offering Darwin the ability to do a lot of its own configuration. With the premise that what Darwin wanted was possible, Asensio started contacting vendors. OneShield and about a dozen other vendors were sent an RFP Asensio felt was specific regarding the carrier's desire to be dynamic.