Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE: GWRE), a leading provider of flexible core systems to General Insurers, today announced that its customer base across Europe has increased 20% in 2012*.

Over the course of the past year Guidewire has added four new customers (representing six product selections) in Europe. Guidewire now has 19 customers in seven countries across Europe. Ten insurers across the region are in production with a Guidewire system, including: Beazley, Direct Line UK, LV=, NFU Mutual, Towergate, Rosgosstrakh, QBE Europe and a top three French insurer among others.

Catherine Stagg-Macey, senior vice president, Insurance, Celent said that “Guidewire has demonstrated strong product adoption of its InsuranceSuite systems and has achieved an admirable string of implementation successes across Europe, the Americas, and Asia Pacific. They are most definitely a company to watch.”

Other Guidewire Europe highlights include:

• Signed first customers in Germany and Poland – as well as the first PolicyCenter customers in the U.K. (Aviva UK) and Poland (PZU). Two of the four new customers signed in 2012 purchased more than one Guidewire product;
• Hiring across the European region has increased significantly. Guidewire continues to actively recruit in seven European countries, across virtually all functions;
• One-year anniversary of Guidewire Software, Ireland. Today the Dublin staff numbers more than 50 with active recruiting underway. Dublin has also been designated a Guidewire Regional Development Centre, joining Tokyo and Toronto as centres with that role.
• New office opened in Warsaw to better serve customers in Central and Eastern Europe;
• Welcomed new Guidewire PartnerConnect Alliance member Sollers Consulting, who have joined the PolicyCenter and BillingCenter implementations at PZU; and
• Global PartnerConnect Alliance ecosystem increased its focus on Guidewire in their in-region Insurance Practices as well as initiated recruitment of additional members to augment Guidewire’s focus in specific countries.

“We have continued to grow our team across Europe to meet the needs of our growing customer base,” said Aaron Howell, vice president, Professional Services, Europe, Guidewire Software. “We celebrated a number of implementation success stories this year and look forward to even more next year.”

Jeff Proudfoot, general manager, Europe, Guidewire Software, added, “We are grateful to the insurers who have put their faith and the future of their core systems in our hands. We look forward to an exciting year in 2013.”

Guidewire InsuranceSuite™ provides the flexible core systems essential for the mission-critical operations of general insurers competing in today’s market: underwriting, policy administration, billing and claims. InsuranceSuite was designed using a modular approach, enabling carriers to select individual applications -- Guidewire PolicyCenter®, Guidewire BillingCenter®, and Guidewire ClaimCenter® -- or a pre-integrated set, driven by their requirements and priorities. InsuranceSuite provides the flexibility insurers need to deliver insurance the way they want to by rapidly delivering better products and service to their policyholders and agents, while improving underwriting discipline and lowering operational costs. Insurers’ personnel (including underwriters, customer service representatives, adjusters, supervisors, and executives) gain intuitive, productive role-specific user interfaces. Insurer IT organizations gain flexibility in addressing evolving business requirements through consistent tools for configuring and enhancing operational data stores, user interfaces, workflows and business logic across their underwriting, policy administration, billing and claims systems.

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, Toronto and Warsaw. For more information, please visit www.guidewire.com.

*for the period December 1, 2011 through November 30, 2012.

© 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.