I read your article "It's a mess, thanks to our cyber friends"(16 January, Insurance Times) and I would like to throw in my own views on this subject.
Over the years, my company has looked seriously at developing a package for high-street brokers and has, on each occasion, come to the conclusion that:
a) Most brokers struggle to earn a living and don't have the spare cash to update their systems
b) Misys is so dominant in the market that the investment needed to gain a foothold would make it almost impossible.
Let's face it, is there another industry where a system based on 25-year-old technology would still dominate the market?
A few years ago, our parent company asked us to report on the offerings from the various broker software houses.
At the time, NMT was starting to roll out its product and I can remember coming away from the demo with the feeling that its efforts were concentrated on raising funding from the industry rather than actually developing a solid product.
I was not surprised to see it go under.
But, I have to say that Misys was then the only company that came across as totally professional.
Sirius currently looks to me like the company most able to challenge Misys, although I believe that it is moving out of the small broker market.
Name and address withheld.
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