(Path in Somerset County, N.J., home of Outline Systems LLC. Photo credit: joiseyshowaa.)
Duck Creek Technologies (Boston) has acquired Outline Systems LLC, a Somerset, N.J.-based provider of property/casualty insurance distribution channel management software and longtime member of Duck Creek’s partner ecosystem. Outline’s flagship product, is now branded as Duck Creek Distribution Management, will be offered alongside Duck Creek’s insurance solutions available via Duck Creek OnDemand, the vendor’s SaaS solution for the property/casualty insurance industry. Duck Creek Distribution Management (previously ProducerOne) will continue to be sold to all carriers and MGA/MGUs as an add-on product, and will be immediately available to all Duck Creek customers and prospects with an additional license, according to a Duck Creek statement.
Karlyn Carnahan, Head, The Americas, Property Casualty, Celent.
Duck Creek says the addition of Outline’s software products and expertise in distribution management will enable Duck Creek customers to optimize their producer channels through leading software capabilities for onboarding, licensing, compliance, reporting, relationship management, and commission management. Integration of Duck Creek Distribution Management with Duck Creek’s Policy solution will also allow carriers to simplify lifecycle processes for agents and brokers—from onboarding to quoting, servicing, and maintaining compliance—giving insurers more freedom to focus on building stronger producer partnerships, according to the vendor.
The Advantages of Joining Distribution Management and Core
“Distribution management is keenly important to insurers as they expand channels, move into new territories, and add distributors, but the increasing complexity of managing these channels is placing pressure on IT organizations, and legacy technologies can make it difficult for insurers to implement changes,” comments Karlyn Carnahan, head of Celent’s (Boston) Property/Casualty practice for the Americas. “Coupling a distribution management solution with configurable core systems can offer insurers a distinct competitive advantage by assuring the consistent delivery of key processes while optimizing the ability to access and use data.”
Automating many of our producer management activities has had a significant impact on the efficiency of StarStone Insurance’s (London) distribution channel, according to Kardiner Cadet, SVP of Ecommerce at at the company, a longtime mutual customer of Duck Creek and Outline Systems. “ProducerOne has been a valuable tool for StarStone for many years, and we are excited to see its development continue with Duck Creek’s resources behind it.”
Duck Creek Distribution Management helps carriers stay compliant on distribution licensing and reporting, while also giving insurers’ business users the ability to quickly and effectively change producer commission plans using simple configurations, according to the vendor.
Mike Jackowski, CEO, Duck Creek Technologies.
“Outline’s distribution channel management software is a natural addition to Duck Creek’s platform and marks an important milestone in our growth strategy,” comments Michael Jackowski, CEO, Duck Creek Technologies. “We’re proud to welcome Outline’s employees to the Duck Creek family and to continue to work together to improve the many aspects of P&C distribution management together.”
“Duck Creek’s focus on helping carriers achieve their business objectives with modern, automated solutions to time-consuming challenges is perfectly in line with the philosophy Outline used in building our products,” comments Prasad Boppana, CEO, Outline Systems. “This is an exciting day for all of us, and we look forward to continuing our work as members of the Duck Creek team.”
Duck Creek notes that Distribution Management is now part of a solution set that includes other applications designed to support interaction between carriers and producers, as well as core systems for the baseline needs of insurers, including Duck Creek Policy, Duck Creek Rating, Duck Creek Claims, and Duck Creek Billing.