Duck Creek Technologies and GEICO on Tuesday publicly announced their new partnership, a move the insurer said will improve its online customer experience while streamlining policy administration, and that Duck Creek acknowledged as a major business achievement.
GEICO will utilize new functionality available through Duck Creek Technologies' policy and billing software. The carrier is transitioning its personal lines of business to the modern platform and infrastructure, which will include both Duck Creek Policy and Duck Creek Billing.
The software is being deployed in stages, beginning with the policy software that supports GEICO's umbrella product now in production. The carrier's personal auto and motorcycle lines are expected to transition to the new policy and billing system later this year.
"Customer satisfaction continues to be a key driver of our business," Steve Smith, vice president of GEICO's Information Technology department, said in a statement. "Duck Creek's industry expertise and advanced technology will help us deliver the exceptional service our customers expect."
Smith also characterized the strategic nature of GEICO's partnership with Duck Creek.
"Every company knows that the future will continue to present more technology risks," he said. "Through this recent modernization, we're better prepared to take advantage of the latest innovations and digital disrupters."
Duck Creek supplies software solutions to several major insurance firms, providers and organizations. Its client list includes Progressive, Penn National Insurance, American National and many others. With products that incorporate cloud computing, data analytics and software solutions, Duck Creek's client strategy is to capitalize on speed and capability to simultaneously stimulate business and customer satisfaction.
The partnership "is massive" for Duck Creek, said Shon Bose (pictured at right), chief customer and delivery officer.
"GEICO is very selective and stringent in who they allow to use them as a reference," Bose told PC360. "We really had to demonstrate every step of the way that we are a superior vendor."
GEICO came to Duck Creek with a mandate to consolidate products, build and improve upon an already rich online customer experience, stay focused on operational efficiency, and be mindful about the timeline in which new products go to the market. Duck Creek also will update customer and agent digital spaces and tools with the goal of making systems more simple and efficient.
"We have a very open, scalable architecture," Bose said of Duck Creek's software. "It allowed GEICO to really configure as they needed."
Matt Foster (pictured here), Duck Creek's chief operating officer, wrote in a blog post earlier this week that the deal reflects "the urgency of speed to market for insurers engaged in core systems replacement."
For insurers, Foster added, ongoing efforts to modernize the customer experience and transform legacy systems are like "a race with no end. … The GEICO roll-out represents a broad phenomenon facing the P&C insurance industry: Features and experience are only as good as your speed to market, not only for small and mid-size carriers, but also for the largest and most high-profile."
Duck Creek Technologies formed in 2000, and is named after the stream that runs through the Missouri farm operated by the co-founders' grandfather.
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