SBI Insurance Becomes the First Japanese Company to Deploy Guidewire InsuranceSuite for Underwriting, Policy Administration, Billing and Claims Management

Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE: GWRE), a provider of flexible core system software to Property/Casualty (general) insurers, and SBI Insurance Company Ltd. (SBI Insurance) today announced that SBI Insurance has implemented the full-scale use of Guidewire InsuranceSuite™ for its “Cancer Insurance” (for medical treatments not covered by health insurance), which SBI Insurance started offering in August 2012. This marks the first implementation of InsuranceSuite by a Japanese Property/Casualty insurer.

SBI Insurance decided to build an entirely new core system for its new Cancer Insurance offering, as the company’s current platform lacked flexibility and agility. The new system needed to cover the complete range of functionality necessary to conduct general insurance business and have a system architecture that would enable high levels of flexibility and scalability, in line with SBI Insurance’s information systems policy of “compact systems” and “compact operations.” After careful comparison and evaluation of several commercially available systems, SBI Insurance decided to select and implement InsuranceSuite.

“SBI Insurance has focused on delivering customer-centric services since the company was founded. We have endeavored to provide our customers with high-quality services that leverage the benefits of web-based services at the lowest insurance rates in the industry,” said Kazunosuke Fujioka, Director, SBI Insurance. “Guidewire’s product vision is very close to our own. Guidewire provides well thought-out solutions and consulting services that will allow us to reach self-sufficiency in operating the system. As a result, we will be able to implement a system that meets our demands in terms of superior quality, agility and cost-effectiveness.”

Guidewire InsuranceSuite will enable SBI Insurance to:

• Leverage a system architecture that provides high levels of flexibility and scalability;

• Utilize an industry-specialized solution that features enhanced functionality and superior cost-effectiveness; and

• Ensure agility by providing the ability to make changes and upgrades to the systems in-house.

InsuranceSuite will potentially be used for other product lines in addition to Cancer Insurance.

The implementation of SBI Insurance’s new system began in February 2012, and involved SBI Insurance, a team of Guidewire specialists, and B-Prost as the System Integrator. In the first phase of the project, PolicyCenter (underwriting and policy administration system) and BillingCenter (billing and receivables management system), two of the three systems that make up Guidewire InsuranceSuite, were implemented in six months—the shortest dual-product implementation by a Guidewire customer worldwide. SBI Insurance recently went live with ClaimCenter, the third system of the suite, completing the entire project in only nine months. Mr. Fujioka had the following to say about the project:

"This was our company's first experience with Agile development methodology. As such, there was a bit of initial confusion, but both teams worked closely together and were able to solve problems and questions through close communication. Not only did the Guidewire team have a high level of technical skill, they also had a very good understanding of the Property and Casualty insurance business that is specific to Japan and were able to work through the project without any major difficulties. The project had to be completed in a short time-frame, and they managed to pull it off within schedule and under budget."

"We congratulate SBI Insurance on becoming the first company in Japan to implement Guidewire InsuranceSuite,” said Ian Tavener, Vice President, Asia Pacific, Guidewire Software. “SBI Insurance proactively implemented an advanced system to help the company deliver the best service to its customers. We are pleased that SBI Insurance can rely on Guidewire InsuranceSuite - a high-quality, cost-effective system - to achieve further business expansion.”

Guidewire InsuranceSuite powers the mission-critical operations of property/casualty insurers competing in today’s market. The suite was designed using a modular approach, enabling insurers 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.

About SBI Insurance Co., Ltd.

Based on its corporate philosophy of "Delivering greater peace of mind in the lives of more customers," SBI Insurance is using the Internet to the greatest extent possible, to deliver easier-to-understand, easier-to-use general insurance services to its customers. The company is also aiming to become a general insurance company that its customers feel familiar with and trust. For more information, please visit http://www.sbisonpo.co.jp/.