What do the terms on this site mean?

This glossary explains the insurance and platform terms used on this site.

Administrator

An organisation that administers insurance, investment or retirement products, often on behalf of another party.

Adoption journey

One of four entry points onto Spindle: Launch, Scale, Transform and Digitise. See Spindle journeys.

AI-augmented engineering

Spindle's delivery approach, in which AI supports engineering work under practitioner design authority, with human review and sign-off.

API (application programming interface)

A defined way for one system to ask another for a service or for data.

API-first

Designing every capability to be reached through an API from the start.

Atomic transaction

A transaction that completes in full or not at all.

Business orchestration

Coordinating the steps, decisions and people in a business process. In Spindle this is done in Spindle BPM.

Canonical model

One agreed structure for a business concept, such as a policy, that other systems map to.

Case management

Handling a piece of work, such as a claim, as a case whose steps, tasks and documents can vary.

Co-existence

Running a new platform alongside existing systems. Spindle works alongside existing policy systems.

Composable

Made of separate components that can be adopted and changed individually.

Core, Core+, Core Flow, Core Flow+ and Engagement+

The five Spindle subscription configurations. See how Spindle is delivered.

Distributor

A business that sells insurance or investment products to customers, such as an adviser, broker or bank.

Event

A notification that something has happened, such as a change to a policy, that other systems can act on.

General ledger

The main accounting record of an organisation. Spindle PAS produces policy-level financial postings for transfer to the customer's general ledger.

Governed AI activity

An AI step that forms part of a business process in Spindle BPM and operates under governance.

Headless

A system with no fixed user interface of its own, reached through APIs.

Human task

A step in a process that a person must complete.

Insurance operating platform

A platform that covers policy administration and also engagement, process, integration, data, reporting and content, already connected. See why an operating platform.

L1 support

First-line support. The customer's own team provides it.

L2 to L4 support

Second-, third- and fourth-line support. Spindle provides it.

Low-code

Building and changing applications mainly with configuration and visual tools rather than hand-written code.

Migration

Moving policies and data from one system to another.

Operational data store (ODS)

A store of current operational data prepared for reporting. See Spindle ODS.

Orchestration (integration)

Coordinating calls and data movement between systems.

Policy administration system (PAS)

A system that holds products and policies, runs calculations and records policy and financial transactions. See Spindle PAS.

Policy-level financial posting

An accounting entry produced for an individual policy transaction, ready for transfer to a general ledger.

Professional services

Separately scoped work to configure, integrate, migrate or change a customer's implementation.

Records management

Controlling documents and records through their life, from creation to disposal.

SaaS (software as a service)

Software that the supplier runs and the customer subscribes to, rather than installs and runs itself.

Spindle APAC

Shorthand for Spindle APAC Pte. Ltd., the Singapore entity that covers Asia-Pacific.

Spindle Entity Master

An internal matrix that links a person's identifiers across systems. It is not a Customer 360. See Spindle Entity Master.

Spindle MEA

Shorthand for Spindle Ltd, the Mauritius entity that covers Africa and the Middle East.

Subscription

The recurring arrangement under which a customer receives the licensed platform, agreed cloud operations, security, upgrades and support. See how Spindle is delivered.

Work queue

A list of work items that staff pick up, manage and complete.

WorkCentre

The Spindle component where staff manage work queues, cases, approvals, escalations and audit visibility. See Spindle BPM and WorkCentre.

Workflow

A defined sequence of steps that moves work from start to finish.