Why Spindle

The traditional PAS can't keep pace. It was never designed to.

Traditional policy administration systems were designed for a monolithic world in which they controlled everything. Today's pace of integration, AI, delivery and market change has outrun them. Their surrounding in-built or add-on capabilities can't match the specialists, and they can no longer be everything the business needs. A PAS must now take its place within a platform, or it holds the business back.

Market forces

Market pressures, and what's holding the business back.

Regulation

Continuous regulatory change and stricter audit.

WHAT HOLDS YOU BACKRules sit in code, so each change becomes a project and compliance is checked by hand across fragmented audit trails.

Customers

Instant onboarding, real-time service and self-service on any channel.

WHAT HOLDS YOU BACKProcesses are locked inside the core, so straight-through processing stays low and channels stay disconnected.

Competition

Digital-first insurers launching products in weeks.

WHAT HOLDS YOU BACKNew products take months of build, test and release, with heavy dependence on IT and the vendor.

Ecosystems

Bancassurance, embedded and partner distribution.

WHAT HOLDS YOU BACKEach partner needs another point-to-point integration, so reuse is low and onboarding is slow.

Cost

Pressure to lower the cost to serve every policy.

WHAT HOLDS YOU BACKManual work and legacy maintenance consume the budget meant for modernisation.

Data and AI

Personalised, AI-enabled decisions at every step.

WHAT HOLDS YOU BACKData sits in silos, and AI pilots never reach day-to-day operations.

Transformation

Modernise without stopping the business.

WHAT HOLDS YOU BACKLock-in and big-bang replacement leave no safe, incremental path.

Technology

Cloud, APIs, security and scarce specialist skills.

WHAT HOLDS YOU BACKFragmented stacks and many vendors stretch thin specialist teams.

Spindle is designed to solve exactly these problems.

Each pressure maps to a deliberate choice in the platform's architecture.

RegulationRules in configuration: changed, versioned and audited without code.

CustomersProcess in Spindle BPM: straight-through journeys across every channel.

CompetitionNew products from a reusable product model, in weeks.

EcosystemsAPI-first integration: partners onboarded through governed APIs.

CostOne subscription, pre-built assets and an evergreen platform.

Data and AIOne data estate, and AI operating at every layer.

TransformationCo-existence and wave-by-wave migration.

TechnologyOne platform, one vendor, one operating model.

The traditional PAS

Policy administration systems are either enablers or obstacles.

To digitisation, automation, AI and modernisation. A monolithic core holds the business back in several ways.

Slow product innovationNew products and changes take months; product logic, rules and workflow are tightly coupled.

Code-driven architectureMost functionality is hard-coded, so even minor change needs specialist developers and a code deployment.

Processes constrained by the systemThe PAS dictates which processes can be digitised, stifling business and product innovation.

Limited client participationClient teams can't configure or build new capability without vendor engagement.

Constrained ecosystem enablementA monolith can't easily expose the APIs bancassurance, embedded and partner ecosystems need.

High change riskSmall modifications trigger extensive regression testing and release management.

The disruptive upgradeEvery two to three years a major upgrade project delivers little value, instead of routine maintenance.

Difficult integrationLegacy PAS struggle to join a growing community of specialist technology capabilities.

Restricted digital channelsCustomer, broker and partner experiences are bound to PAS-driven processes; AI and automation are very hard to operationalise.

Delivery bottleneckMultiple teams depend on one PAS change queue, an organisational bottleneck that slows innovation.

Rising cost of ownershipTechnical debt and maintenance consume the budget that should fund innovation.

Five shifts

How a policy administration system becomes an operating platform.

Insurance Operating Platform: one service, run by Spindle

Digital channels: customer, intermediary, service centre, admin

Process orchestration: BPM, rules and AI, as Process APIs

Integration orchestration: API, service and data orchestration

Headless PAS: transactional and data APIs over the engine

Build or subscribe

Assembling it yourself costs two years before the first product is generating revenue.

A self-build needs research, proofs of concept, integration and stabilisation across several suppliers, and then a major upgrade in year four. On Spindle the platform is already running, so the money goes into products from year one.

Build it yourself

Select and buy

Integrate and stabilise

Build products

Live

Spindle

Demo

First product

Live

Incremental releases

Month 0612182430

Around a third lower

Five-year cost of ownership compared with building and running the same platform yourself.

Live in year one

Value from the first year, where a self-build needs about 24 months before go-live.

Risk transferred

The platform, its integration and the year-four upgrade are carried by Spindle.

A platform like this used to be reserved for the largest insurers.

Assembling, integrating and running a platform of this kind takes budgets, specialist teams and years that only the biggest players can afford. Spindle makes the same platform available to insurers of every size, giving mid-sized and smaller insurers the tools to compete on product, speed and service.

Largest insurers

Mid-sized insurers

Start-up – new insurers

The pattern

Best of breed, delivered as one platform on day one.

Spindle assembles enterprise components selected for maturity, security certification and insurance heritage, and delivers them as one platform, one subscription and one service level.

Enterprise-grade components with insurance heritage at every layer
A governed middle layer of API, service and data orchestration
Low code across every layer
One relationship: Spindle owns upgrades and compatibility across every component

See it working on your products.

A working demonstration within weeks; a defined first product in production within three to six months.