When Zywave was named a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Insurance Agency Management Systems, Q4 2025, it raised a question that should be considered by any agency in the middle of a platform evaluation: What does a designation like that actually mean for us, and how should it inform the way buyers make technology decisions?
Every insurance agency management system vendor will tell you they’re the best option for your agency. This is just the nature of the sales process. Vendors know their product better than anyone, and they’re understandably motivated to present it in the best possible light. Which is exactly why independent, third-party research exists, and why knowing how to read it is one of the most valuable skills an agency leader or insurance technology buyer can develop.
What Third-Party Research Actually Does for Insurance Agency Buyers
Independent research firms like Forrester evaluate insurance technology platforms using a structured methodology that no vendor controls. The research firm defines the criteria, weights the categories, gathers data from real customers, and publishes findings that reflect their analysts’ judgment. The report itself provides a comprehensive evaluation of insurance agency management systems, analyzing current offering as well as strategy and customer feedback.
For insurance agency buyers, that independence is the point. A vendor demo shows you what a platform wants you to see. Third-party research shows you how it performs against a consistent standard, how it compares to competitors evaluated on the same terms, and whether its strategy holds up to scrutiny from analysts who spend their careers studying the insurance technology market.
Our Take on How Insurance Agency Leaders Should Read a Research Report
Not all sections of a research report carry equal weight for every buyer. Here’s where we believe it is wise to focus:
- Focus on strategy, too, not just current offering. An insurance agency management system decision typically shapes an agency’s operations for years. We believe a platform that scores well on current functionality but poorly on vision or roadmap is one you may outgrow before you’ve gotten full value from the investment. Look for platforms where the forward-looking criteria are as strong as the present-day ones.
- Customer feedback sections are the most unfiltered data in the report. Analysts gather input directly from real users. How customers describe their day-to-day experience, the quality of support, and whether the platform delivers on its promises tells you things a demo never will.
- Understand what each category is measuring. Forrester’s Wave evaluations, for example, assess current offering, strategy, and customer feedback. Each category reflects something different about what it’s like to buy, implement, and grow with an insurance platform.
As the Forrester Wave™ report noted, “(Zywave’s) impressive roadmap and innovation aim to bolster quoting and carrier connectivity as well as use AI-powered agents to automate workflows.”
What Insurance Technology Buyers Should Do With the Research
The most effective insurance technology buyers use research to sharpen the questions they bring into vendor conversations. If a vendor scores highly in the innovation criterion but you’re a smaller agency that needs simplicity and fast implementation, the innovation score might matter less than whether that innovation translates to a manageable experience for your team. If a vendor’s strategy section describes a vision that doesn’t match what your agency needs in the next five years, that’s worth exploring directly.
The goal is to walk into an AMS evaluation with a framework based on independent criteria rather than one shaped entirely by vendor messaging. Research gives you that framework.
A Note on the Forrester Wave™ for Insurance AMS
Independent research tells you a lot about a platform — how it compares, where it’s headed, and whether its strategy holds up to outside scrutiny. But the most important question for your agency is how a tool performs for your producers, your clients, and your book of business.. Ready to see what Zywave’s AMS looks like in practice? Request a demo today.
Forrester does not endorse any company, product, brand, or service included in its research publications and does not advise any person to select the products or services of any company or brand based on the ratings included in such publications. Information is based on the best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. This report is part of a broader collection of Forrester resources, including interactive models, frameworks, tools, data, and access to analyst guidance. For more information, read about Forrester’s objectivity here.
