Guidewire Software, a provider of flexible core systems toproperty & casualty insurers, announces the availability ofenhancements for Guidewire Rating Management, an add-on module tothe Guidewire underwriting and policy management solution,Guidewire PolicyCenter.

The enhancements provide insurers with the visibility,flexibility, and rapid time-to-market to capitalize on marketopportunities faster than they could before. Rating Managementprovides control and responsiveness over rating and pricing throughall phases of the insurance product lifecycle to increase insurerbusiness agility.

The enhancements to Guidewire Rating Management include:

• Rating algorithm workbench—Enables businessand technology users to create, review, and modify the formulas andcalculation steps used to determine policy premiums.  Inaddition to expanding the user roles able to manage ratingalgorithms, changes can be made quickly and efficiently, enablingfaster speed-to-market to take advantage of marketopportunities.
• Rating impact testing—Enables new ratingmodels to be tested against a book of business to determine theinfluence they will have in actual scenarios.
• Rating worksheets—Designed to provide moreinsight into the results of the rating process, rating worksheetspresent authorized users with a detailed view of the premiumcalculations.  This visibility into the rating processempowers the underwriter with a clear understanding of the premiumfor a policy, enabling them to act effectively to manage rateadequacy for a risk and compete using underwriting precision.

"The release of Guidewire Rating Management is an importantenhancement to PolicyCenter.  It reflects Guidewire'scontinuing development of functions and features across its productsuite," says Donald Light, senior analyst in Celent's insurancegroup.

"Insurers need the ability to seize opportunities in theirmarkets while reducing their risk. We see rating flexibility as akey enabler for our customers to achieve business agility and todifferentiate themselves in delivering insurance their way," saysNeil Betteridge, vice president, strategy, Guidewire. "We continueto empower our customers by providing the option to employ aleading, seamlessly integrated rating solution from Guidewire orleverage an existing investment in a third-party ratingengine."

Consistent with Guidewire's commitment to ongoing R&Dinvestment, the company is delivering significant enhancements torating management capabilities to support the key businessobjectives of insurers: business agility to capitalize onopportunities faster and launch innovative products; operationalefficiency to drive down costs without compromising quality; andunderwriting excellence to improve profitability. Insurers have embraced this direction.

The enhancements provide insurers with the visibility,flexibility, and rapid time-to-market to capitalize on marketopportunities faster than they could before. Rating Managementprovides control and responsiveness over rating and pricing throughall phases of the insurance product lifecycle to increase insurerbusiness agility.

The enhancements to Guidewire Rating Management include:

• Rating algorithm workbench—Enables businessand technology users to create, review, and modify the formulas andcalculation steps used to determine policy premiums.  Inaddition to expanding the user roles able to manage ratingalgorithms, changes can be made quickly and efficiently, enablingfaster speed-to-market to take advantage of marketopportunities.
• Rating impact testing—Enables new ratingmodels to be tested against a book of business to determine theinfluence they will have in actual scenarios.
• Rating worksheets—Designed to provide moreinsight into the results of the rating process, rating worksheetspresent authorized users with a detailed view of the premiumcalculations.  This visibility into the rating processempowers the underwriter with a clear understanding of the premiumfor a policy, enabling them to act effectively to manage rateadequacy for a risk and compete using underwriting precision.

"The release of Guidewire Rating Management is an importantenhancement to PolicyCenter.  It reflects Guidewire'scontinuing development of functions and features across its productsuite," says Donald Light, senior analyst in Celent's insurancegroup.

"Insurers need the ability to seize opportunities in theirmarkets while reducing their risk. We see rating flexibility as akey enabler for our customers to achieve business agility and todifferentiate themselves in delivering insurance their way," saysNeil Betteridge, vice president, strategy, Guidewire. "We continueto empower our customers by providing the option to employ aleading, seamlessly integrated rating solution from Guidewire orleverage an existing investment in a third-party ratingengine."

Consistent with Guidewire's commitment to ongoing R&Dinvestment, the company is delivering significant enhancements torating management capabilities to support the key businessobjectives of insurers: business agility to capitalize onopportunities faster and launch innovative products; operationalefficiency to drive down costs without compromising quality; andunderwriting excellence to improve profitability. Insurers have embraced this direction.