"I see a wide range of skills. There are a number of vendors in the [core solutions] market that have education programs and bring system integrator (SI) partners to [the programs]. Some solution providers take the stance of using a system integrator to take on the implementation. Other [vendors] feel it is core to what they do.

Overall, whether you are looking at an SI, the software company or you the insurer implementing the product, the most valuable assets you can have on your team are strong project managers that have a disciplined approach to going about the implementation, excellent business analysts, and an architect. Typically, if you see challenges with implementation it's because one of those three have been compromised.

There are excellent questions to bring up through the evaluation process. Do an honest assessment of what your skills are as an insurer to know who you are going to be leaning on—the vendor or an SI partner. It's always going to be a combination of those three groups that yields the best project team.