February 2019 – An area of significant growth in insurance technology is the use of cloud computing platforms. Often referred to as cloud PaaS (Platform as a Service), cloud computing platforms are integrated development and deployment platforms that allow users to create custom applications to the cloud without the need to specify, manage, or control the underlying infrastructure (network, servers, virtual machines, and storage).

While most carriers still start their cloud journey with a “lift and shift” migration to traditional IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) cloud, many larger carriers are aggressively moving to cloud platforms for new development because of the advantages that these platforms can provide including increased productivity, better scalability, and lower cost.

Although still mostly encountered at larger carriers, the low barrier to entry of these platforms makes them an especially good fit for the midsize carriers looking to move their custom development to the cloud.