The Business Leader's Toolkit: Should You Build or Buy Your Surety Platform?

As the Surety industry continues to digitize, carriers face growing pressure to modernize operations to compete. The rising expectations of customers and employees accustomed to using sophisticated, intuitive technology at home and work, and the demand for greater operational speed and efficiency require a fresh look at what Surety platform will best support long-term success. 

Some carriers rely on homegrown platforms that have served them well for years, but must now be modernized or replaced to remain fit for purpose: they are weighing whether to continue investing in their existing systems or transitioning to third-party solutions. Others are entering the Surety market for the first time and must assess whether to build proprietary, homegrown technology from scratch or use an existing third-party system from a company with many years of experience.

Whichever situation you find yourself in, the question is fundamentally: buy or build?

Whether your focus is improving underwriting workflows, scaling for growth, decreasing redundant manual entry, minimizing technology spend, or all of the above, this guide will help you make an informed Surety platform decision.

6 Steps to an Informed Surety Platform Decision

• Define Your Business Objectives

• Understand User and System Needs

• Evaluate Scalability and IT Capabilities

• Analyze Costs and Value

• Consider Your Core Competencies

• Choose the Right Path Forward

Step 1: Define Your Business Objectives

What are your strategic goals? 

Are you aiming to improve operational efficiency, reduce IT costs and burden, grow your book, develop contract or commercial bonds, improve customer satisfaction, remain competitive or enter the Surety market for the first time? 

Defining objectives ensures that technology investments address immediate priorities, align with longer-term business goals and deliver measurable results. 

Key Questions

• What specific challenges or inefficiencies are you trying to address with your Surety platform? 
• What are your top strategic goals for the next 5-10 years? 
• What measurable outcomes would signify success? (such as: faster claims processing, reduced manual work, reduced errors, faster adoption of regulatory changes, faster growth, ROI within a certain period of time).

Success Measures 

• Align platform capabilities with defined business objectives and, to the extent possible, the ability to address future unknowns.
• Make a measurable improvement in key operational metrics like underwriting speed or claims processing time.
• Achieve strategic milestones, such as launching in the Surety market or meeting growth targets.

Watch-Out Areas 

1. Short-Term Focus: To avoid wasting resources, create a roadmap that balances immediate priorities with future growth.
2. Unclear Goals: Avoid vague objectives by using SMART criteria (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound).

Supporting Tools and Deliverables

• Vision Mapping Document: Outline strategic goals and platform alignment.
• Success Metrics Framework: Detail measurable KPIs and benchmarks.
• Project Charter: Formalize scope, objectives, and timelines.

Step 2: Understand User and System Needs

Your Surety platform’s effectiveness depends on how well it meets the needs of its users (both employees and customers) and supports operational goals. A good user experience goes beyond convenience: It directly impacts business outcomes. When underwriters and other end users are confident navigating an intuitive, reliable and feature-complete Surety platform, they can focus on core tasks like assessing risk and writing policies, ultimately driving more business and improving overall productivity. 

When you implement a new system, your users have to change the way they work, but not everybody wants to do that. Listen carefully to your users—underwriters, agents, and claims professionals. They will interact with the platform daily and know what they want. Consider putting a change management system  in place to further ease the transition for users. Also be sure that your new system means you are adopting industry best practices: if you are, that will likely increase user enthusiasm and uptake. 

Customer Care and Training teams can also provide insights about recurring pain points and potential opportunities for enhancements. Combining user feedback with a thorough evaluation of the capabilities of the systems you are considering will give you a clear roadmap for optimization.

When assessing a potential platform, also check it has essential features like automation tools, WIP and financial analysis engines, and advanced reporting. Can it integrate with the existing billing, credit and claims systems that your team uses? 

Key Questions

• What are the most common complaints from users about your existing platform’s functionality?
• Which limitations of your existing platform impact operational efficiency? (e.g., missing automation, reporting tools).
• What features would increase productivity for your team?
• Does the platform integrate effectively with other tools or systems?
• Are you adopting industry best practices?

Success Measures

• Reduce volume of user-reported issues or complaints.
• Improve user satisfaction ratings gathered from surveys or direct feedback.
• Increase time savings through automation of manual tasks.
• Eliminate workflow bottlenecks identified in operational reviews.
• Stakeholder consensus on priorities and goals.

Watch-Out Areas

1. Incomplete Assessments: Avoid overlooking system limitations by conducting a thorough gap analysis to identify missing features and inefficiencies.
2. Stakeholder Exclusion: Prevent misalignment by involving underwriting, claims, IT, and finance leaders early.
3. Outdated Integrations: Avoid compatibility issues by evaluating the platform's ability to integrate with modern tools and scale with business demands and broader technological change.

Supporting Tools and Deliverables

1. Gap Analysis Template: Highlight limitations and inefficiencies in the current system.
2. User Feedback Summary: Collect input from underwriters, agents, and claims professionals.
3. System Capability Report: Document functionality gaps, scalability issues, and integration challenges.
4. Stakeholder Map: Define roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders. 
5. Compliance Checklist: Ensure the platform meets regulatory requirements.

Step 3: Evaluate Scalability and IT Capabilities

Whether you buy or build, your Surety platform should be future-proof—and include a plan to remain that way. Your platform of choice should be built on a robust infrastructure that can grow alongside your business. If you are not using a cloud-based system, can you be certain that in-house infrastructure will always be able to grow at the required pace? Can your system handle seasonal surges or the demands of a larger user base? 

Equally important is evaluating your technology team’s capacity to manage, maintain, and enhance the system. This is not just a question of their skill level: it’s ensuring they have the necessary time and resources to dedicate to it, both now and in the future. A platform that aligns with your organization’s IT capabilities as well as its scalability goals ensures smooth operations and prepares you for future growth. One that does not may cause more problems than it solves. 

If you are wondering if your technology team can handle your Surety platform needs, remember that the Tinubu Surety platform offers a purpose-built solution that eliminates the heavy lifting of custom development and ongoing maintenance. With a focus on continuous improvement, end-to-end lifecycle automation, robust security, and turnkey integration approaches (or custom if that’s what your business needs), Tinubu allows you to scale your Surety business while focusing on your core business competencies.

Key Questions

• Can your platform handle increased data volumes, users, and complexity as your business grows?
• Does it provide the flexibility needed to support new product lines, markets, or integrations?
• If you go homegrown, does your IT team have the knowledge and expertise needed to build a Surety platform with the right capabilities and features? Have they built other large systems and had successful similar implementations in the past?
• Do you have key talent you need to implement a large software build? Specifically, do you have a software product management function at your company? (Separate from an insurance product management organization) What about cloud experts for ongoing management?
• How effective and fast is your internal team at responding to business requests and needs for improvement of systems? Are they integrating future-focused improvements? Do they have competing priorities?
• Will those who build and maintain your platform (either in-house or external) be able to provide the required training for staff when changes are made to the platform?

Success Measures

• Scalability Assessment: Evaluate the platform’s ability to handle future growth and seasonal surges.
• IT Capacity Report: Review your team or a third-party provider’s readiness to manage and provide ongoing support of the system.
• Infrastructure Analysis: Assess whether the platform’s architecture aligns with scalability and performance needs.

Watch-Out Areas

1. Outdated Architecture: Avoid growth constraints by ensuring the platform is built on a scalable infrastructure.
2. Integration Challenges: Avoid disruptions by verifying the platform’s ability to integrate with third-party tools and systems as your needs and the industry evolve.
3. Neglecting SaaS Platform Advantages: Avoid missed opportunities by fully understanding how a SaaS platform can provide scalability, reduced maintenance burdens, and continuous updates compared to in-house systems.

Supporting Tools and Deliverables

1. Cloud vs. On-Premises Comparison: Evaluate cost, performance, maintenance, outage concerns, growth potential and trade-offs.
2. Reliability Metrics Report: Compare uptime, performance, and capacity limits of systems.
3. Vendor Support Comparison: Assess differences in vendor offerings for training and ongoing maintenance.

Step 4: Analyze the Total Cost of Ownership and Opportunity Costs

The cost of technology decisions goes beyond upfront spending. You need to consider the total cost of ownership of your Surety platform over time, including ongoing maintenance, development, hardware and software upgrades, and IT resources needed for this. 

Many companies underestimate how much time and money it takes to maintain and update their own platform. Delays in modernization can lead to missed market opportunities and lost efficiency gains. SaaS platforms offer significant advantages by reducing the burden on internal teams and providing continuous updates, helping you stay competitive without the extra hassle. 

A platform like Tinubu Surety also makes long-term budgeting easier. If you build a homegrown system, you know there will be more costs down the line, but it’s difficult to predict them accurately. If you use a SaaS system, you know what you will pay going forward—you can even budget for different long- and medium-term growth scenarios.

Weigh all financial factors to choose a solution that delivers a measurable impact on your overall profitability.

Key Questions

• What are the current costs of maintaining your in-house Surety platform (e.g., development, upgrades) and what are those costs likely to be going forward?
• What is the cost of building a system and what will be the ongoing costs of maintaining it?
• How do these costs compare to the licensing, support, and maintenance fees of a third-party solution?
• Are there hidden costs associated with the current system/planned in-house system, such as downtime, delays in enhancements, or IT team bandwidth?
• How quickly can you expect to see ROI from a transition to a new platform versus the building of a homegrown system or the upgrading of an existing system?
• Big internal software projects often disappoint. If you were able to achieve substantially fewer of your objectives at a substantially estimated price, how would this impact your decision?

Success Measures

• Reduce total cost of ownership, operation, maintenance and upgrading over a specified period.
• Achieve measurable savings from operational efficiencies and automated workflows.
• Have faster time to market for new products or system features.
• Reduce reliance on internal resources for platform updates and maintenance.
• Improve profitability or competitiveness as a result of modernization.

Watch-Out Areas

1. Underestimating Build, Maintenance, and Enhancement Costs: Avoid surprises by accurately evaluating the long-term costs of development, maintenance, and IT resources.
2. Overlooking the Value of SaaS Iteration: Avoid cost overruns by evaluating the potential benefits of a vendor's constant focus on platform innovation and updates.

Supporting Tools and Deliverables

1. Opportunity Cost Report: Quantify revenue lost due to inefficiencies or delays.
2. Budget Forecast: Project total ownership costs over 3–5 years for each option.
3. Feature Comparison Matrix: Compare your platform’s capabilities to third-party solutions.

Step 5: Analyze Your Core Competencies 

Building and maintaining a Surety system is a full-time job in and of itself, and requires a dedicated team to do it. If you have an IT department that has an appropriate amount of experience with Surety systems and can fully commit itself to quickly addressing your technological needs now and in the future then consider building or modernizing a homegrown system (assuming the long-term cost is less than a SaaS system). 

However, if you might find yourself having to dedicate valuable time to software issues instead of focusing on the complex yet profitable business of Surety, you might be better off with an external system that is built, maintained and regularly upgraded by an experienced team whose only jobs are software and your satisfaction.

Simply put: Is your organization equipped to support both a Surety business and a software business?

Key Questions

• Does your organization have the bandwidth to build and manage a homegrown system without it drawing resources from your key business?
• Is software building and maintenance a core strength of your organization?
• Is your organization trying to differentiate from others based on its technology platform? Or ensure that it is keeping up with industry trends?
• Does your organization have enough Surety software knowledge and experience to build a system that can compete with a third-party SaaS system from an established company?

Success Measures

• Acquire a system which can be set up in partnership with a vendor experienced in Surety that does not require as much internal IT resources that would be better deployed elsewhere.

Watch-Out Areas

• Mission Creep: Avoid inadvertently becoming a software company that is consumed by the build and maintenance of a system which was initially meant to save time and resources, but now requires both.

Step 6: Choose the Right Path Forward

After evaluating your business objectives, user and system needs, scalability requirements, IT capacities, costs and core competencies, you can determine the best path forward. For many carriers, the choice between building or upgrading a custom solution and adopting a SaaS platform from a company like Tinubu that has over 20 years of experience hinges on weighing long-term costs, the value and feasibility of ongoing innovation, scalability, and operational efficiency, as well as initial costs. 

SaaS solutions provide modern, cloud-based architectures, teams of seasoned professionals and systems that can grow with you and adapt to changes in markets and regulations before you even know that adaptations are needed. This can translate into less complexity, faster time-to-market, less use of HR and IT resources, the option to focus on your core business and an ability to keep pace with evolving market demands and conditions with less effort.

The Tinubu Surety platform offers a purpose-built solution that eliminates the heavy lifting of custom development and ongoing maintenance. With a focus on continuous improvement, end-to-end lifecycle automation, robust security, and turnkey integration approaches (or custom if that’s what your business needs), Tinubu allows you to scale your Surety business while focusing on your core business competencies.

Key Questions

• What are the pros and cons of building or upgrading a custom solution versus adopting a SaaS platform? Are there reasons to ‘reinvent the wheel’?
• Is there a competitive advantage to building in-house?
• Which choice will provide the greatest operational efficiencies and improve productivity?
• How do the costs of building, maintaining, and iterating a custom platform compare to investing in a SaaS solution?
• What level of vendor support and ongoing improvements can you expect from a SaaS platform like Tinubu Surety versus a homegrown system?

Success Measures

• Get clear alignment of the chosen solution with strategic goals and operational needs.
• Reduce time-to-market for new products or services.
• Improve efficiency and productivity metrics across underwriting and claims processes.
• Reduce ongoing maintenance and IT resource allocation for platform support.
• Increase user satisfaction, reflected in adoption rates and positive feedback.

Watch-Out Areas

1. Underestimating SaaS Advantages: Ensure that the long-term benefits of SaaS solutions, including continuous updates and support, are fully considered.
2. Ignoring Total Cost of Ownership: Avoid focusing solely on initial costs; consider maintenance, upgrades, and the opportunity cost of using internal IT resources now and in the future.
3. Overlooking Scalability Needs: Choose a solution that can grow with your business and adapt to future demands.

Supporting Tools and Deliverables

1. Vendor Evaluation Scorecard: Assess SaaS providers based on criteria such as features, scalability, experience, integrations, and support.

Further Tips for Success

To make your Surety platform build vs. buy evaluation as efficient as possible:

1. Appoint a Project Leader: Designate someone to oversee the entire process, maintain alignment with strategic goals, and coordinate cross-functional teams.
2. Engage Stakeholders Early: Involve all relevant teams—underwriting, IT, claims, and finance—at the beginning to gather diverse input and ensure buy-in.
3. Set a Realistic Timeline: Break the process into clear milestones to keep the evaluation moving forward without delays.
4. Measure and Adapt: Define success metrics, track progress, and adjust your approach as new information arises.

Conclusion

An effective build vs. buy evaluation will lead to the alignment of technology choices with business goals, while addressing immediate challenges and positioning your company for long-term success.

Whether you enhance your in-house platform, build one from scratch or adopt a third-party solution, you should make an informed decision that delivers value, drives efficiency, differentiates your organization in the marketplace and ensures that your technology can grow with your business. With the above checklist, you should be well-equipped to make the right choice for your organization.

Ready to take the next step? Contact Tinubu for expert guidance and configurable solutions to help you achieve your goals.