Blog | Finys - Part 15

If we were given the choice of eliminating one word from the language, it might be proprietary. Aside from the fact that it could mean as many things as there are people who want to consider whatever it is they want to consider proprietary, the term is particularly problematic when it’s applied to data.

In the insurance industry, to cite just one example, system replacements are nightmares in part because of the data they contain. First that data has to be converted; that is, the data from System A has to be changed into a format that plays nice with System B. Then the data has to be normalized; that is, it has to be organized into columns (attributes) and tables (relations) to reduce redundancy and improve integrity. After that, it has to be standardized; that is, similar data in dissimilar formats has to be changed to a common format that enhances the comparison process. So, North might change to a value of N or n, without overwriting the original format: North.

Are We Nuts?

Albert Einstein once said, “In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they’re different.” Given that, it might be safest to consider the possibility of one common data language for all insurance systems, companies, and transactions to be more theory than practice … at least for now. And it would almost certainly require the elimination of proprietary as it pertains to insurance data. (Proprietary should not be confused with private. Proprietary is a bugaboo and a detriment. Privacy is a necessity and an asset.)

Speaking of theory, what if someone developed an English-like, WYSIWYG language for creating and deploying business rules in your software? What if that language minimized data-entry and service-staff requirements? And what if that language enabled your data to say what it means and mean what it says?

The very suggestion might be nuts. But it can’t be any nuttier than the proprietary means by which the insurance industry has historically treated, converted, normalized, and standardized data.

One last question: What if that language were more practice than theory right now?

What do you expect when you work with a software vendor?

That’s not a rhetorical question.

When you decide to work with — to enter into a mutually binding contractual obligation with — a software vendor, you have a set of expectations. Regardless of whether you state or document all of those expectations, you have them. You’re human. Expecting is what we humans do.

Contrary to the prevailing wisdom, relationships between companies and software vendors don’t always fail because of technical issues. They don’t always fail because the implementation went south or because the software didn’t do what it was supposed to do. They do sometimes fail because both parties neglected to fully and clearly express their expectations.

Here’s the Middle Ground

Strangely enough, every company and every software vendor should share at least one expectation: Both parties should expect the company to be as independent of the vendor as the company wants to be. Whether the company wants the software to count beans, to book appointments, to monitor inventory, to track orders in restaurants, to monitor mileage and maintenance for fleet cars, or to administer policies, claims, and billing, the company and the vendor should want the company to be dependent on and beholden to the vendor — only as long as and only to the degree the company wants to be.

Software licenses and SaaS subscriptions don’t come with handcuffs … at least they shouldn’t. At the very least they should come with a key to unlock any such handcuffs. They should come with a clear roadmap showing you how to get to that key when you want it. And they should come with a clear indication of the vendor’s commitment to being with you at every step of your way to that key.

Travel Confidently

Is that a pipe dream? You won’t know till you talk to the vendor. And you shouldn’t stop talking to the vendor until you do know.

The day you contract your new software might not be Independence Day. But it should be the first day of your journey to the independence you expect.