Insurers Flock to Guidewire Cloud for Core Modernization — ISG - May 15, 2025

By Staff Reports - May 15th, 2025

Providers help companies carry out complex migrations from on-premises to cloud-based Guidewire core platform, ISG Provider Lens™ report says.

A growing number of insurers are deploying the Guidewire Cloud core platform as existing users migrate from on-premises implementations and new customers adopt the platform, according to a new research report published today by Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm.

Dennis Winkler, Senior Director, ISG

The 2025 ISG Provider Lens™ global Guidewire Services Ecosystem report finds that insurance companies are replacing legacy systems with modular core platforms such as Guidewire for greater scalability, agility and cost efficiency. As new types of insurance providers enter the market and customers expect more personalized experiences, companies are adopting modern platforms to cut costs, enhance customer experience and seize new market opportunities.

“Insurance companies are moving from legacy systems to modular, cloud-based platforms like Guidewire as the core of their ecosystem to compete in a rapidly changing industry,” said Dennis Winkler, leader, insurance industry vertical, for ISG in the Americas. “Guidewire system implementation providers accelerate speed to market for new products and allow insurers to transform their technology and business models.”

As Guidewire prepares to end support for its on-premises versions, existing customers face complex migrations to the SaaS-based model, the report says. These transitions involve careful planning, change management and addressing of technical debt, the report says. To succeed, insurers are seeking experienced service providers that understand their business objectives.

Large, progressive insurance companies now expect core platform providers to support their overall digital transformations with a wide range of additional tools, ISG says. Guidewire is responding to this demand with digital portals, process automation tools and a data and analytics platform. However, most service providers are still building the capability to implement these tools.

As part of its transition to the cloud platform, Guidewire is reshaping its provider ecosystem in ways that give customers a greater choice of partners, ISG says. On-premises implementations of Guidewire typically were highly customized, often resulting in project delays and failures, so most insurers needed to engage separate, deeply experienced providers for implementation and support.

For Guidewire Cloud, the company has introduced implementation kits that simplify deployments, reduce customizations and lower project risk, ISG says. These enable smaller, more nimble providers to confidently take on Guidewire implementations. This may allow some insurers to partner with forward-looking providers to carry out holistic innovation projects that go beyond core platform replacement.

“Moving from legacy core systems to platforms like Guidewire Cloud gives insurance companies an opportunity to transform their entire business,” said Jan Erik Aase, partner and global leader, ISG Provider Lens Research. “Choosing the right partner is essential to that transition, from readiness assessment all the way through ongoing support.”

The report also explores other trends in the Guidewire ecosystem, including the growing importance of automated testing and the emergence of AI features for underwriting, claims and fraud detection.

For more insights into insurance industry challenges that are relevant to the Guidewire ecosystem, plus ISG’s advice for overcoming them, see the ISG Provider Lens™ Focal Points briefing here.