The switch from a legacy policy administration system to a new one is never a light undertaking, but with the end of their migration process in sight, TIB Insurance Brokers has proven itself to be the master.
With Growth Comes Transformation
TIB Insurance Brokers has seen phenomenal growth since its inception in the 1960s. What was once a classic family brokerage started by Dennis Tuttle, is now helmed by Rowan Jones and Mark Tuttle, and has recently repositioned itself from Tuttle Insurance Brokers to TIB, reflecting its core business values of “Trust, Inspire, and Believe”, as well as its broader service offering in both personal and corporate insurance solutions.
Yet with growth comes great change. More clients, more policies, and more product lines called for an upgraded policy administration system (PAS) that would not only protect its longstanding reputation but also support innovation, integration, and future-proof the business. With fewer and fewer insurers supporting TIB’s legacy PAS, the need for a system evolution was transparent and urgent.
Finding the Right Partner
Implementing a new PAS is notoriously challenging. In fact, it’s been said that upgrading to a new PAS is like replacing the engine of an airplane while it’s still flying. In TIB’s case, this fundamental shift would not only have to support its growth and operational resilience, but also its client satisfaction in line with its “rejuvenated business, same heart” ethos.
TIB Insurance Brokers CFO Neil Wolno says, “The benefit of a system evolution is that it touches every aspect of the business: the data, the processes, our people, and our clients. But it’s exactly because it touches every aspect of the business that makes it such a challenging, and quite honestly, daunting change. Our people were quite at home with the legacy system. Having worked with it for over 20 years, they could operate it with their eyes closed, and for them especially, we had to make the right decision, we had to find the right partner.”
From the very start, Cardinal Insurance Management Systems was a standout contender, with high praise for its exceptional products and services coming from every corner of the TIB business. A number of TIB staff were already familiar with Cardinal and well aware of its solid reputation in the industry. Craig Dingle, in particular, a TIB Broker who had an impressive depth of experience with Cardinal’s feature-rich C360 PAS, was a strong advocate for both the software company and its CEO, Graham Harvey. Added to this, Hollard Insurance, one of TIB’s biggest binders, was equally emphatic with its recommendations of Harvey and his team at Cardinal. Cardinal is also particularly well known for implementations that minimise disruption and maximise adoption. More than just tech experts, the entire Cardinal team is remarkably agile in adapting each phase of its change management strategy to the client’s unique environment and situation.
Leading the Charge
While TIB’s insurers were demanding the upgrade, there was also the expected resistance to change and the ‘why fix it if it’s not broken’ question. Wolno says, “Knowing that our legacy technology would not be supported forever, that an evolution of the system was inevitable, and that it would put our people under a lot of pressure, a key aspect of navigating this fundamental shift was the change management itself.”
Acknowledging that the technical migration is only part of the challenge, Cardinal’s team guides people, processes, and culture right from the very start, including assessing each organisation’s readiness for change and identifying potential resistance points early on. “The depth of the initial groundwork is essential for complete leadership alignment and the success of the implementation,” says Harvey.
For TIB, an integral element of this change management was bringing in someone who would lead the change from within. Megan Johnson, a naturally optimistic solutionist, took up the reins of Digital Transformation Manager with incredible diligence. Having already worked with Cardinal’s C360 PAS for over 10 years, Johnson was well versed with the wealth of benefits that the new system would provide, and for TIB’s staff who weren’t familiar with Cardinal, she became their “North Star”.
Says Lauren Wheeler, Cardinal Head of Client Success, “Megan, Neil, and Cardinal’s Client Experience Executive Annerie Somerville were integral to the success of the migration. TIB’s hands-on leadership throughout this process, Annerie’s almost constant presence in the TIB office and the solid relationship between the three of them not only made this possible, but also an overall positive experience.”
The Ongoing Support
Further reducing the generally expected resistance to change is Cardinal’s comprehensive training approach. Starting with onboarding and continuously hands-on with formal biweekly sessions as well as ad hoc one-on-one sessions with either Somerville or Wheeler, Cardinal’s training not only bridges the gap between the technology and people, it also brings the full value of the system to the fore, illuminating the “why” behind the migration, and not simply the “how”.
Wolno says the support from Somerville and Wheeler, as well as from Harvey himself, has been phenomenal. “Our business changes quickly. Our clients are demanding, our insurers are demanding, and with Cardinal, we know that we can always rely on getting the right access to the right people at the right time. We’ve never felt like a number; it’s always felt like a partnership.”
He adds that the decision to bring in data capturers to assist with the manual loading from the old system to the new was a valuable strategy in keeping the workloads more manageable and staff morale higher during the transition period.
Looking Ahead
Now 12 months down the line, Johnson commends her teams on their incredible progress. “As Neil says, the learning curve was steep, but they've all taken to Cardinal really well, and I’m already starting to see the impact it’s having on the business.”
Wolno agrees. “Now that the workload is normalising, we can really start unlocking the value of Cardinal’s C360. Apart from the fact that our insurers are happier, I can already see that our ability to scale will be better, that our reporting will be better, and I’m excited to see how we can improve the quality of our data and our workflow management, and to explore how we can leverage the capabilities across the Cardinal Group going forward.”
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