Are No Code insurance platforms hype or game-changing? That was the subject of our Live Chat with Unqork, 360Globalnet and Oliver Wyman, which you can watch again in our Events section.
The discussion proved to be so popular that we didn’t have time to get through all of the questions sent in by the audience.
Robin promised that we would get round to answering all of them and you can read the full list below. Thank you to Unqork and 360Globalnet for the updated answers.
No Code insurance platforms – Your questions answered
What are the challenges of using No Code software with ledgers (an area you mentioned no code is not suitable for)?
Unqork: No Code can create functional ledgers – its not a capability limitation. However, it’s not cost-effective to create a ledger in Unqork and build the mostly standardized business rules given package systems with pre-built rules are already in the market.
Do you have use cases for Healthcare Providers?
Unqork: We work extensively with healthcare providers including completing patient data intake, clinical notes and telehealth use cases with multiple providers. Sample use cases include patient care and engagement, digital health connectivity and claims management. Additional info available here.
360Globalnet: No Code implementations are well suited to healthcare and any use cases where data is ingested, evidence gathered, and rule sets applied to direct workflow. Practitioners within businesses can build 1000s of rules to ensure that telehealth applications are precise and relevant to the end-user.
What is the minimum budget for No Code external spend?
Unqork: Pricing varies on dimensions including platform requirements, use case complexity, and level of support. No Code tends to be very cost-effective relative to custom build or packaged solutions.
360Globalnet: Our model is a PAYG or Subscription price on a multi-year contract with all services, hosting and support included. The minimum cost for a small system is £50,000 but for large carriers the price is going to be 1/10th of their overall cost of buying, maintaining and developing legacy technology.
How easy is it to teach clients to configure in No Code?
Unqork: Anybody with an analytical/problem-solving mindset can become proficient in No Code, even if they lack a technical background. We offer clients (including business resources) a robust training process. Clients participate in the same training as our employees, which takes place over two weeks.
360Globalnet: For the most part, the system is very intuitive. That is key to no code’s accessibility, the interactions are in plain English and configured by the selection of available options. In 360Globalnet, there are many standard insurance functions available ‘out of the box’.
How are platform vendors opening up to these sorts of solutions? If you want to touch or feed serious data, are there non-technical barriers to be tackled?
Unqork: In our experience, clients have been able to connect to their first-choice service providers without restrictions. To date, our clients have integrated to over 50 major third party providers. Technology partners with native integrations can be found here.
Can you talk about embedded AI components in No Code platforms? E.g. automated adjudication, fraud, document decoding
360Globalnet: Most if not all No Code technology is built to enable easy integration with third-party tools in bi-directional API’s. Our strategy is to give clients as much digital capability out of the box as possible, so they don’t need multiple point solutions. In the case of fraud detection, automated adjudication etc most components are not strictly AI.
Can you talk a bit more about the six-week travel insurance claims and Covid-19 builds mentioned by Adrian Webb?
360Globalnet: The COVID testing build took less than two days and the travel insurance build less than a week. Usually, the time is not in the build but the overtures and UAT either side. Our platform at 360Globalnet is built on a high degree of integration between evidence gathering (via input fields, images, videos, documents, even live streaming), evidence pinpointing (via geolocation, time stamping, device recognition etc). evidence processing (via rulesets, workflow and automation), supply chain automation (by bringing suppliers into the same ecosystem via pushed links and permission-based access) and decisions at each step.
Is No Code a replacement for what carriers term system of record or core systems?
Unqork: Yes, Unqork has replaced systems of record and core systems at multiple top-10 insurers.
360Globalnet: No Code is a description of how a business interfaces with the many building blocks of functionality. There are often 100s of building blocks but no testing is needed to fit them together or chain them. As a result, it is perfectly possible to have a No Code core system.
Where does the data rest? In the current environment where several governments are insisting on client data sitting within their respective country, does this affect your business model?
Unqork: Unqork integrates with the client’s choice of cloud provider like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud. Data is stored in the client’s preferred region to provide compliance with any government regulations.
Which No Code training firms would you recommend for insurance business staff?
Unqork: Unqork regularly trains clients’ business staff, who take part in our “training bootcamp” as well as self-paced training and capstone project exercises.
360Globalnet: No Code companies are usually their own training firm. The aim of No Code is for systems to be intuitive in how to configure them but at 360Globalnet we have a large team always on standby to help anyone running into problems. We also provide full documentation and video libraries of how-to’s.
Is No Code likely to stimulate the MGA business model?
360Globalnet: It can empower MGAs to create the systems that they dream of but are often prohibited financially from building themselves. In one case at 360Globalnet, we have a central brand with nearly 2,000 sub-orgs (ie brokers/suppliers etc) each with its own rules for workflow and automation. That sort of firepower at low cost will be very interesting to MGAs.
How would you make sure No Code platforms doesn’t leave insurers/clients with legacy?
Unqork: No Code does not create legacy. The platform tech stack is updated as needed. For example, we have transitioned our clients from an Angular front end to React front end as the standards have upgraded.
360Globalnet: Legacy is almost by definition the hardwiring of business implementation into particular systems that require specialist knowledge and development to update and alter them. No Code involves no hardwiring. It is a building block system that business practitioners can configure as they wish when they wish to meet business needs.
How does No Code work with core system technology?
Unqork: Every legacy system is unique but Unqork has a documented processes for setting up any legacy connection using SFTP. Depending on customer availability and security procedures, the onboarding process can be accomplished within a sprint or concentrated level of effort.
360Globalnet: Using very open, simple bi-directional APIs supported with full documentation and based on integrations that any competent IT department can set up quickly and easily. We can work with green screen right up to and including Guidewire, Duck Creek, Majesco, etc.
It sounds like No Code solutions are great for rapidly building brand new applications. However, the initial build is usually a small part of the life of a software solution. How is on-going change and maintenance managed in No Code solutions without impacting the production environment?
Unqork: Clients typically incorporate Unqork as part of their normal SDLC framework. Clients have access to three standard environments along a promotion path ranging from staging to UAT to production.
Do you think large “set-piece” industry solutions like Duck Creek, Guidewire are dead in the water?
360Globalnet: Nothing that currently exists and is used by very large companies across the world is ‘dead in the water’. Many such systems do a good job and will continue to do so. However, we are looking at a world where you can now design, build and implement process and workflow at the desktop in plain English/any language. It is the most transformational technology Insurers could be adopting, but initially, it will work with legacy IT.
What are the most appropriate areas in Insurance to implement?
Unqork: Many of our insurance clients choose to begin by enabling digital portals/interactions, but use cases are wide and varied.
360Globalnet: Typically, the best results and savings tend to come from high volume claims environments involving evidence gathering, automation, supply chain orchestration and the need to keep customers updated. So motor, home, travel and pet are all in the centre of the No Code target. However, there is growing evidence that exceptionally complex claims where huge rule sets make IT implementation expensive and slow are also ideal for no-code environments.
What sort of Public-Private Sector interface do you see in the No Code space? We hear that for tech solutions (like AI, etc) there is a need for more data. Will access to data and help accelerate these type of solutions?
Unqork: Unqork is currently supporting several large-scale public sector applications including COVID-19 hubs for some of the largest cities in the US.
360Globalnet: Large scale government systems that interface with the public are ideal for No Code. It is not the functionality that is the issue but the politics and the sunk-cost bias.
What is a use case where No Code is ‘not’ appropriate?
Unqork: There may be rare cases where pre-existing components cannot be configured to satisfy a client’s use case; in those cases, we evaluate the feature as an addition to our product roadmap.
360Globalnet: Use cases that involve high degrees of mathematical or logical processing are unlikely to find that No Code systems will replicate what they need. However, if such systems can black box those elements, then No Code is perfect for the user interfaces at either end.
Does No Code insurtech mean “open source” code?
360Globalnet: No. No Code providers invest everything in the development of a code base that allows every user the freedom from relying on coding. Those code bases are rarely open in commercial situations (apart from a CMS like Drupal) because they cost so much to get right.
No Code is surely restricted to what changes are allowed by the underlying developed application and so on the top 20% of things you change within a business it gives you an advantage but after that development over configuration is often more efficient. What is the panel’s verdict on this?
360Globalnet: It is the direct opposite. In a no-code environment, you can design, build and implement virtually anything you can imagine, with the right technology. It can inform legacy thereafter or take over completely. If you can’t change 100% to what you want on-demand then you have a sub-optimal solution. No Code is the core architecture of the future which also works in the present.
What opportunities do you see for No Code Platforms in emerging/frontier markets? Is there current interest in expanding to these markets?
Unqork: Unqork has the capability to support a broad range of use cases and can handle the complexity, scale and security required for enterprise applications. We anticipate expanding into many more markets including emerging/frontier.
360Globalnet: It can allow those in emerging and frontier markets to develop complex systems cheapy and quickly. No Code frees those who need solutions but don’t have the funding for legacy infrastructure.