Lloyd’s Blueprint – Embracing Technology When it Matters Most

Plans to digitally transform the London re/insurance market have been dramatically thrown into a new context under the current pandemic crisis, but the pieces are in place to rise to the challenge, says Bart Patrick, Managing Director for Europe at Duck Creek Technologies.

Nobody involved in the Future at Lloyd’s planning could have anticipated the role Coronavirus would play in its rollout in 2020. Of course the market has engaged in business continuity planning and disaster drills, but nothing quite like this.

The involuntary shift to total remote working, social distancing and a partial socio-economic shutdown will doubtless present some problems for many of the big projects underway or still in the planning phases.

But as we adapt to this new normal, we also have an opportunity to think differently.

Hopefully some of the challenges faced through Coronavirus will convince the market that technology should not be a point upon which re/insurance firms compete with each other. Instead, technology represents an opportunity for consistent, efficient business transactions and processing across the market. 

Momentum for change

Of course until this crisis struck, progress had been positive on Blueprint One for the Future at Lloyd’s, with some highly encouraging discussions with the market. Most importantly there seems a genuine desire and momentum for change in the market, with the most recent implementation  progress update focusing attention with a phased approach, demonstrating  sensible prioritisation, and providing further detail on what is to happen next.

As cloud technology experts here at Duck Creek Technologies Europe, it’s our pleasure to report with satisfaction that the technology to empower a successful Future at Lloyd’s is ready and available for the designs to come to fruition.

If the plan stumbles, technology will not be the problem.

Blueprint One is now, more than ever, the right thing at the right time.

But, at the risk of stating the obvious, the crisis and ensuing remote working mandate is already compelling London market carriers, MGAs, brokers and all manner of service providers to shelve their traditional notions of what needs to be done face to face, and what can be achieved through judicious use of technology.

A matter for eternal debate in the run-up to the circumstances we now find ourselves in has been the issue of culture, traditionally a stumbling block for the relationship-focused London market. I firmly believe that questions around standardising data, for example, will require brokers’ enthusiastic cooperation throughout the market. 

If we’re to challenge the operating model and look where competitive advantage lies, technology is currently only a competitive factor in the sense that the company with the least worst system can operate more efficiently than those with even bigger legacy burdens. 

This should not be the case – if we all had good systems then we could compete on Rating, customer service and product innovation. In contrast, technology, and specifically the drag of legacy technology, remains a cost to be brought down.

Duck Creek is creating cloud-based ecosystems that work as market-level architecture. The Coronavirus crisis only confirms it in my eyes. Creating commonalities of processes in a multi-tenanted system allows for the true competitive edge between companies to shine through.

Crisis driving change

The current crisis highlights again the need for change. Rising to the challenges we now face will encourage free thinking and openness to innovation and change. 

Acknowledgement of options for more flexible working, and a cultural willingness to engage with and rely on new technologies, many of which rely on the cloud, will be positive outcomes to come from this unforeseen crisis. All of which should increase adoption rates for new ways of working.

It will be very difficult for many employers, for instance, to turn down reasonable flexible and remote working requests once we are back to normality, for instance – and rightly so. 

So we’re upbeat about the prospects of the blueprint project. The more we speak to people in the market and those involved with the project, the less the inhibitors of culture, politics and attitude seem like insurmountable barriers, and the more it looks like things are changing for the better.

If there is a silver lining for the re/insurance sector and the London market to these deeply challenging times, to my mind it will be the fact that technology is accepted as an enabler of efficient business across the market, and the resistance to adopting new ways of working and thinking will be consigned to the history books. 

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you would like any advice on remote working, or any aspects of adapting your technology in the current environment. My team and I would be happy to support in any way that keeps your business running as normal.