Accelerated Delivery of Leading-Edge Technology Capabilities Key Theme at Guidewire Europe Conference

2019 MAY 31 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE: GWRE), provider of the industry platform general insurers rely upon, recently held its annual European customer Insurance Forum, this year in Paris. The conference attendees heard how insurers are achieving heightened efficiency and reduced long-term cost of ownership (TCO), as well as how they are reimagining the future of insurance, and positioning themselves to realise its benefits through their innovation programmes; against a background of accelerated speed of change as the new normal.

Marcus Ryu, chief executive officer, Guidewire Software, started the day by reiterating Guidewire’s customer commitment to maximise the value of their technology investment, and to keep third party support as simple as possible. He confirmed that Guidewire’s industry platform, InsurancePlatform, with cloud being a key enabler, provides the standard on which insurers can optimize their operations, become more digital, use data in new ways, embrace insurtech, and simplify IT. Ryu confirmed that all Guidewire products are available via Guidewire Cloud™. For European customers, he described the shift in Guidewire’s development approach to a blend of traditional, country-specific content packages with Guidewire DevConnect™ supported integrations.

The following customer speakers presented: Aviva Italy: Vittorio Giusti, Chief Operating Officer, described how their Guidewire InsuranceSuite™ project took only four months to deploy. Its focus on simplicity, modularity, service ecosystem, digital, and omni-channel allows customers to determine the scope of insurance they have, and when they want to access Aviva service. As well as choosing their preferred touch-points, customers are free to move across channels at any time; Natixis Assurances, Non-life Business: Nathalie Broutele, Chief Executive, and Francoise Terry, Claims Programme Manager, described the approach to their successful claims transformation programme, Purple#Care, and the benefits from their ClaimCenter deployment. Several factors have been key: no deviation from an OOTB approach, clear governance, budget, and timeframe, a team dedicated 100% to the project, and everyone agreed on the same end goal. Operational results include better customer service and value, enhanced risk and cost management, and the ability to drive innovation; VHV Germany: Dr. Adam Melski, Project Manager, talked about the practical challenges and advantages experienced in the deployment of their first Guidewire ClaimCenter™ release. Dr. Melski stressed the strength of Agile over Waterfall, the importance of preparing staff by appropriate training, and the need to complete each element before moving onto the next. Staff morale and happiness are key. The result: VHV has better functionality, increased automation, enhanced claims tracking capability, and back-end system integration with their new digital portal; and Hiscox UK: Dan Bishop, Head of Pricing, spoke of his practical experience as an analyst, data modelling approaches at the time of the 2008 financial crisis, and more importantly, the impact of Solvency II. He shared his perspective on what works and what will not add value and offered examples of proven models that target specific business problems and deliver actionable insight for key decision makers.

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