Cover Genius doubles API collaboration efficiencies with Partner Workspaces

Cover Genius works closely with partners' product and engineering teams to architect an API that incorporates their required insurance quoting and binding functionality. However, manually testing insurance product iterations was cumbersome.

The API payload structure varied based on the data sent by each partner, but the documentation didn't always capture these nuances. For example, while the documentation might state that only three fields were required, in practice, seven were necessary. Clearer, more precise documentation was needed to ensure specific API endpoints aligned with insurance product requirements.

Collaboration became increasingly complex, especially as a multi-team management approach became necessary. Sharing collections required five to six steps, depending on the partner's communication preferences. In some cases, this involved handling Zip files and manually importing environment variables. Any changes made by Cover Genius then had to be exported and shared again.

Slack was often used for sharing comments, but it became an informal repository for different collection versions. Naming collections by date sometimes led to confusion and version control issues.

Development tools like Visual Studio and Atom were used to write code, but JSON payloads had to be manually copied, pasted or saved as files before being sent to partners—sometimes through desktop services. There was no built-in utility or connectivity to streamline code use across production, staging, or UAT.

Additionally, when partners used a static version of Postman, sharing API keys and credentials required third-party services such as a secret platform or secure note-sharing tools. A more secure solution was needed.

The Postman API Platform has been part of the Cover Genius application ecosystem since the beginning. As Cover Genius scaled its API-first business model, upgrading to the Postman Enterprise plan became imperative, especially with the addition of a Customer Success support team.

“Our dedicated Customer Success team has been incredible for sharing feedback, learning best practices, and organizing our Postman Academy training.”

Artem Kolesnikova, Director of Software Engineering, Cover Genius

The developer experience has been elevated with Postman servicing as the single source of truth for data, enabling easier collaboration, management, testing, and validation for QA, development and partnership teams. With various teams working on policy configuration, transparent sharing has become critical in eliminating inconsistencies and repetition of work.

Postman Collections provides clear examples of API requests and error messages. Access to live API examples has streamlined onboarding, reducing time-to-value. The comprehensive nature of Postman's executable API documentation has led to Cover Genius moving its API documentation from GitBook to Postman. This aligns with partners' positive response to the continually evolving use of Postman at Cover Genius.

For QA testing, Postman runs scripts to ensure expressions are accurately applied, and variables can be quickly validated or changed. This automation has accelerated QA for new policies. Additionally, using the Postman command-line tool, Newman has increased developer confidence in API reliability by enabling rapid testing of multiple scenarios.

“When demonstrating to partners, Postman lets me request a display and run a test in real-time, enhancing collaboration. It's like test-driving a car instead of just looking at one.”

Ben Harberts, Associate Director of Solutions Engineering, APAC, Cover Genius

For example, a leading online travel booking platform sells travel insurance worldwide. While it only needs to offer a cancellation product for domestic products, medical insurance is essential for international trips. By changing the country code and flights with Newman, different scenarios can be tested, and a results file can be provided to identify and correct discrepancies.

“Partner Workspaces are like Google Docs, albeit more secure, for real-time collaboration. Partners can easily map out our APIs, accelerating understanding and enabling experimentation.”

Darin Sikanic, Global Director Solutions Engineering, Cover Genius

Cover Genius prioritizes seamless partner collaboration, and Postman plays a critical role in both this effort and broader standardization initiatives while ensuring the correct use of the Cover Genius API.

“Postman enables collaboration workflows across the entire business, even for those who are not directly involved in software development.”

Artem Kolesnikov, Director of Software Engineering, Cover Genius

Partner Workspaces provide real-time updates to collections and environments, keeping partners informed of relevant integration changes. Partners can now leave comments and questions directly on documentation or collections, enabling faster issue resolutions. As a result, QA processes for optimizing integration workflows are now completed in half the time.

“Using Postman has doubled our efficiency in delivering key integration requirements to partners, simplifying internal problem-solving and improving product delivery, especially in QA.”

Ben Harberts, Associate Director of Solutions Engineering, APAC, Cover Genius

Cover Genius is preparing to launch a developer portal that will host Postman API documentation. This portal will list all API endpoints and functionality as a template, which will then be made bespoke to each partner and shared in a Partner Workspace.

Developing new products has become more efficient, as tests can be run against the specific partner's environment or requests. The internal configuration team now has the autonomy to test and implement policies immediately. Monitors help detect errors in payload structures or validation rules early in the process.

“It's easy to communicate API changes for new initiatives and to debug problematic requests using Partner Workspaces.”

Ben Harberts, Associate Director of Solutions Engineering, APAC, Cover Genius

The Postman API Platform has also strengthened security standards at Cover Genius, ensuring compliance with insurance industry regulations and data security requirements. The sharing of sensitive data in the form of API keys and credentials is all contained and controlled within Postman. Now, an audit trail can provide tracking and scrutiny of data access.

Cover Genius has doubled its efficiency in delivering key integration requirements to partners. The time spent optimizing API configurations has been reduced by 50%, significantly accelerating the process. Partner Workspaces have streamlined onboarding by improving communication, while improved oversight of data success has strengthened security and compliance.

Developer productivity and experience have improved immensely, leading to faster service delivery. Streamlined processes and extensive testing have increased confidence in API reliability, allowing teams to spend more time engaging with partners and solving higher-value issues. By using the Postman API Platform, Cover Genius sets itself apart from competitors - partners consistently note how much easier it is to get started and collaborate compared to industry norms.