2007 Dynamic Dozen Honoree: Duck Creek Technologies

Duck Creek Technologies Inc. eclipsed $20 million in annual revenue in 2006, earning the insurance software developer a spot among the region’s 12 fastest-growing companies for the second year in a row.

Duck Creek was No. 229 on Inc. Magazine’s list of 500 fastest-growing private American companies last year after peaking at the No. 63 spot in 2005. The company employs about 255 people in Bolivar; Farmington, Conn.; and Columbia, S.C.

‘Watershed event’

Opened in October, the South Carolina office tapped into a group of software professionals displaced when Policy Management Systems Corp. merged with Computer Sciences Corp. in 2000. The company’s founder, G. Larry Wilson, is now Duck Creek’s board chairman.

“We have been working the talent pool there to build a core team that’s very strong in insurance software application development,” said Duck Creek CEO Doug Roller, describing the recruitment of Wilson as a “watershed event” for the Bolivar-based company.

Wilson, who was CEO of Policy Management Systems for 25 years, joined Duck Creek’s board last summer after binding noncompete agreements expired. The decision was an easy one, he said.

“I thought the technology was very well-designed and engineered,” Wilson said. “The culture of the company I think is superb. And I think they have very innovative technology that is very easy to maintain and change.”

Hatching Duck Creek

Duck Creek’s origins date back to 1981, when Roller founded a company called Micro-Magic Systems that provided rating services to independent insurance agents. He based the business on insurance rating software he had written for his own agency in 1979.

Agency Management Services acquired Micro-Magic in 1986, and Roller became CEO of the AMS rating division.

Roller was with AMS for 10 years and then left for a stint as a high school teacher. He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English.

In 1999, Marsh Capital acquired AMS and began to restructure the business. Roller and members of the AMS management team concerned about the company’s future formed Duck Creek the following year. The business model: Market to large insurance carriers.

By May 2001, Duck Creek was selling its xml-based Example platform, an enhanced version of which was released late last year.

After emerging from a post-9/11 business slump, Duck Creek’s revenue began to rise steadily.

In 2003, the company brought in $2.9 million in revenue. The next year, annual revenue more than doubled, and in 2005, revenue neared $11 million.

Last year, annual revenue surpassed the $20 million mark.

“We have continually gained momentum in the workplace,” Roller said.

Flagship product

Duck Creek did not expand its product line in 2006, but the company did increase its prices and sold more units last year than in 2005, Roller added.

Duck Creek’s flagship product, Example, is a software platform that enables insurance carriers to quickly transform their products into Web-enabled insurance services, such as rating, underwriting and policy processing.

The platform consists of components, which buyers purchase based on their individual needs. Humana, Balboa Life & Casualty and Esurance are among Duck Creek’s customers using the Example platform to generate rates and rate comparisons, according to the company’s Web site.

New revenue sources

Duck Creek also is developing an outsourced version of its software that Roller expects to generate another $2 million to $3 million toward the company’s 2007 revenue goal of $40 million.

Duck Creek fell short of its projected $25 million revenue goal last year, but Roller remains unfazed.

“This year, our revenue … is probably going to climb steeply,” he said.

“I think this year’s revenue goal is a bit similar to last year’s,” he added. “It will depend not so much on our effort in sales but in our delivery of a couple key components. … The risk lies mostly in your new revenue sources.”

Roller said he’s confident Duck Creek employees, who he credits with the company’s success, are up to the challenge.

“There’s hardly an employee at Duck Creek that isn’t playing a critical role somewhere,” he said.