The crucial link between operations, software systems, and the product lifecycle

In the ever-changing insurance industry, the operations team is critical, ensuring smooth daily operations and seamless coordination across the company. Their role is central to maintaining operational efficiency and driving the development of new insurance products.  Their input is crucial for adapting to new technologies and regulatory updates, enabling insurance companies to remain competitive and effectively respond to market needs.

The operations function and team are key to any organization within any organization because of its role in ensuring the continuous flow of daily activities and aligning various parts of the business. The complexity of the job stems from the need to balance and integrate various business functions—such as finance, IT, customer service, and logistics—while adapting to constantly changing business scenarios and technologies.

For an insurance company, the operations team need to be strategic thinkers, with effective problem-solving abilities. They form the support structure for every stage of the insurance lifecycle, from ensuring that insurance software systems are operational and well-integrated to maintaining accurate records on policies, claims, and customer interactions, as well as handling client billing and payments.

Insurance companies are increasingly relying on advanced operational systems to modernize the traditional insurance model, and firstEquity Insurance Group is leading this shift. We continuously develop our own bespoke digital technology and utilize robust insurance software that manages the entire insurance process from premium collection to claims processing. This system remains current with the latest technological and regulatory developments, ensuring our operations are efficient and meet customer demands effectively.

To stay competitive and adapt to evolving insurance trends, we constantly explore ways to enhance our offerings. More importantly, we create products or services tailored to current conditions—whether they be environmental changes or pandemics. While these adjustments may seem straightforward, they require careful integration into our systems to avoid operational disruptions.

It is crucial for the success of new insurance products that the product/service development life cycle (PSDLC) is diligently followed, particularly when integrating them into our software systems. This allows for early detection and resolution of any discrepancies. If a product feature is incompatible with the existing system, it can be redesigned or modified before it leads to significant operational challenges or costly modifications.

The operations team is essential and should be involved in every phase of insurance product development, from conception through to the final stages of data entry and fund collection. From the onset, it is crucial for the operations team to have a clear understanding of expected outcomes and to prepare for potential uncertainties to prevent projects from missing deadlines or being abandoned mid-way.

Article by Dolores Rossouw

Executive Head, Operations, The firstEquity Insurance Group