Breakups can be hard, no doubt. But sometimes it’s time to flip the switch and make a change, especially when it comes to insurance legacy systems that are outdated, impede workflow efficiencies, stymie responsive product development and speed to market, and frustrate users – both your employees and customers.
How do you know when it’s time to leave your legacy system? Following are five questions to ask yourself that will help you head in the right decision.
According to an article on digital platform CIO, companies utilizing older systems will spend more money on maintenance than the original software cost. Older systems only grow more expensive to maintain as the timeline from their inception increases. Insurers and MGAs should look at the cost of upgrading to a scalable system versus the expense to remain on the current legacy system.
Legacy systems are often no longer supported by their suppliers, which means the original vendor isn’t going to step in to solve an issue or provide patches. Also, the older the software is and the longer it has been in place, the more unlikely it is that your newer employees will know anything about it.
In addition, today’s uber cyber risk environment leaves legacy systems particularly vulnerable to data breaches and other forms of cyberattacks. Often with legacy systems, there isn’t an easy fix to compromised data due to their large and inflexible nature. When legacy systems were created, they may have been built based on current cybersecurity practices. However, even in a short period of time, the threat landscape evolves, leaving many legacy systems behind. For example, legacy systems may be incompatible with access security features such as multi-factor authentication, single-sign on, and role-based access, or they may lack adequate audit trails or encryption methods.
Due to a legacy system’s inflexibility and rigid architecture, businesses frequently struggle with siloed data which makes it difficult and cumbersome to connect to and integrate with other platforms and technologies. The result is a waste of resources as IT teams must devote a lot of extra time and trouble to extract data from disparate systems and make them work together. Users will have to rekey data into multiple applications or platforms if a connection is not possible.
Many legacy systems are difficult to work in because of their age and limited new releases. Getting employees to use legacy software is time-consuming and tedious, and it has a negative impact on the employee experience, because they end up spending much of their time just trying to figure out how to navigate in these antiquated (in IT terms) systems. Look at and quantify the time your employees waste in getting what they need from the legacy system versus getting on a new system that will immediately give them what they need to work efficiently and effectively.
Ask yourself, how useful is this system to your business? What do you need the legacy system to do? Is it still serving its original purpose? Is it helping you grow your business today? If you’re not getting what you need, it’s time to modernize your system.
VRC Insurance Systems offers a policy administration system for MGAs and carriers, built by insurance professionals for insurance professionals. We can get your staff trained and up and running on our Verity software as soon as possible. For more information about VRC’s Verity software and to book a demo, click here or contact us at (818) 707-4295.
