Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE: GWRE) a provider of flexible core system software to Property/Casualty (P/C) insurers, recently hosted its eighth annual user conference, Connections 2012 in San Francisco, California. Five hundred and seventy-five people attended from Guidewire’s customer and partner community. Centering on the theme of “Customer Success”, Connections 2012 provided opportunities for attendees to connect with industry colleagues, exchange experiences, and engage with the Guidewire team.

Connections 2012 was kicked off with Guidewire’s chief executive officer, Marcus Ryu, providing highlights of successful customer implementations, the contributions of Guidewire’s integration partners, and Guidewire’s global expansion over the past year. Ryu then noted that “core systems are not enough” and introduced Guidewire Live^SM to the captivated audience. Guidewire Live is the P/C industry’s first network that connects peer insurers, external content, and expert tools, and is accessed through apps designed to bring context to insurance decisions. Concluding the presentation, Ryu provided an iPad demonstration of Guidewire Live and shared a few future app ideas.

Day two’s keynote speaker, Guidewire co-founder and director of Product Strategy, Ken Branson explained how Guidewire is providing solutions that complement and extend the value of Guidewire’s core systems. He presented an update on the new functionality that has been developed over the past year focusing on add-on modules, accelerators, Guidewire Labs, and Guidewire Live. Branson closed his presentation by showcasing some of the exciting ways in which Guidewire customers are using Guidewire products to transform their businesses.

The Connections program was designed to address a variety of attendee business and technical interests, foster discussion on a wide range of topics, and provide a forum for Guidewire customers to share their experiences, lessons learned, and best practices. A series of more than 60 hands-on workshops, roundtable discussions, expert panels, customer and Guidewire-led educational sessions held throughout the days of the conference also proved popular.

Customer sessions included:

• Customer Case Study: Upgrading PolicyCenter (with Sentry);
• Customer Case Study: How The Hanover Implemented an iPad Mobile Adjuster Application (with The Hanover Insurance Group);
• Introduction to Guidewire Live (with The Co-operators);
• Customer Case Study: A New Core Systems Suite in Under a Year (with Jewelers Mutual);
• Customer Case Study: Multi-brand, Multi-line, Multi-product Business Model Implementation on a Single ClaimCenter Instance (with Suncorp);
• Customer Case Study: How The Co-operators Upgraded from ClaimCenter 5 to 7 (with The Co-operators);
• Panel: Implementing BillingCenter – Real-world Experiences (with CAA Insurance and Great American Insurance Group);
• Compare Yourself on Guidewire Live (with The Hanover Insurance Group);
• Panel: Enhancing the Customer Experience with PolicyCenter (with CAA Insurance and Mercury Insurance);
• Customer Case Study: Delivering Performance in a Large-scale Enterprise (with Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Company);
• The Guidewire Wedge Business Case™: A Lifecycle of Business Value (with MiddleOak and Aviva Canada); and
• Customer Case Study: Opportunities to Improve Workers’ Compensation Case Management (with QBE Australia).

Connections 2012 was sponsored by Guidewire PartnerConnect™ and technology alliance partners: Ernst & Young, Capgemini, PricewaterhouseCoopers, CastleBay Consulting, Cognizant, Deloitte, HCL, IBM, HP Exstream, and Thunderhead.com – who were on hand to discuss their services/solutions with attendees and to give presentations and/or moderate roundtable discussions.

“Connections 2012 gave us a forum to celebrate our customers’ achievements which Guidewire is very proud to have been a part of,” said Marcus Ryu, chief executive officer, Guidewire Software. “We thank all of our sponsoring partners and most importantly, we thank our customers for helping to make Connections 2012 a successful and inspiring event.”

About Guidewire Software

Guidewire Software is a provider of core system software to the global Property/Casualty (general) insurance industry. Designed to be flexible and scalable, Guidewire solutions give insurers the capability to deliver excellent service, increase market share and lower operating costs. Guidewire InsuranceSuite™, consisting of Guidewire PolicyCenter®, Guidewire ClaimCenter® and Guidewire BillingCenter® spans the key functional areas in insurance – underwriting and policy administration, claims management, and billing. Guidewire is headquartered in Foster City, California, with offices in Beijing, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Munich, Paris, Sydney, Tokyo, and Toronto. For more information, please visit www.guidewire.com.

© 2012 Guidewire Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Guidewire, Guidewire Software, Guidewire ClaimCenter, Guidewire PolicyCenter, Guidewire BillingCenter, Guidewire InsuranceSuite, Guidewire Live, Before & After, Guidewire PartnerConnect, Deliver Insurance Your Way, and the Guidewire logo are trademarks, service marks, or registered trademarks of Guidewire Software, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.