Once upon a time, the toughest technology decision an insurance carrier had to make was build vs. buy. As software matured—and IT resources dwindled—that decision became much easier. Today, though, the decision isn't just which new software solution to buy, but whether your strategy should be to purchase a best-of-breed solution or the increasingly popular software suite.

In observing the software market over a decade or so, Ram Sundaram, principal of X by 2, doesn't see suite solutions being a trend just yet—at least not one "with a capital T"—but he detects solid movement in that direction.

"If you think about core systems 15 years ago, packaged solutions were not necessarily a trend," he says. 'Building solutions was the trend. In the last 10 years, certainly I would say [the market] is favoring package solutions, which definitely became a trend. Today, you hardly see anyone having the appetite to build."