Michael Graham
Lloyd’s marine insurance broker SSL steps up service as major software project goes live
By James Brewer
Independent marine, energy and war risks specialist SSL Insurance Brokers has gone live on a new software service which will step up its already noted efficiency.
The system is managed by the Eclipse brand of City technology firm Sequel Business Solutions. Eclipse now handles all broking business of SSL, replacing a legacy platform.
As part of its business modernisation programme, SSL chose Sequel to help it with data migration, training, providing a managed application service, and on-going support. The implementation project started at the beginning of December 2012 and went live in late March.
Roger Spicer, chief executive of SSL, said: “We now have an extremely powerful, fast and flexible system which improves our productivity, allows us to quickly and easily create reports and helps us to serve our clients and partners better. Now we have immediate access to information giving us a greatly improved picture of our business.
“What marked Sequel out was their understanding of our market place and their quality people and systems. Sequel took full responsibility for the data migration including all of the data mapping, the automated conversion and reconciliation assistance. Their support and services are just what we need to move us forward.”
SSL has been a pioneering business. Accredited as a Lloyd’s broker in April 2003, it was the first permitted by Lime Street to start as an independent broker without having to work through an existing Lloyd’s broker. Its founders Andrew Sturdy, Roger Spicer, Edward Leigh, Luca Garbarino and Sian Watson are shareholders.
SSL is the seventh managed software service customer Sequel have signed up since 2011.
Michael Graham, sales and marketing director at Sequel, said: “SSL is an excellent example of a forward thinking broker modernising and improving the quality of their business in this market place.”
He added:“When replacing a legacy system, the sensible option is to consider the power and control that a modern managed software service offers.” Such an arrangement was an ideal way forward to brokers who had previously felt constrained by their legacy systems. While maintaining full control and security of its processes and data, a firm outsources the day to day maintenance and servicing of its systems to its specialist software business partner.
Sequel, founded in 1993, has built a strong client base among underwriters, brokers and managing general agents in the Lloyd’s, companies and international insurance and reinsurance sector.
