Duck Creek Technologies Acquires Data Management Software Firm Yodil

Duck Creek Technologies, a Boston-based provider of core system cloud services and software to the global property/casualty insurance industry, said it has acquired Yodil, an insurance data management software firm based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Yodil’s platform offers enterprise data management software with business intelligence, data warehousing, data quality, and data governance features for property/casualty, workers’ compensation and specialty lines of insurance.

According to the announcement, Yodil’s software and the Duck Creek Insights data and analytics platform will position carriers to harness all of their data, analyze their operations, and optimize market opportunities. This combination will also provide Duck Creek customers with a full suite of structured insurance data stores, from core system to warehouse to data mart.

Jeff Goldberg, vice president and analyst with technology research firm Novarica, sees this deal as in keeping with the trend toward consolidation in the P/C insurance technology core systems space and a “direct response to insurer preferences for suite providers as opposed to best-of-breed.” Writing in the Novarica blog, Goldberg said insurers are showing “a strong inclination” towards vendors that can provide additional components at a later date.

Goldberg also said the deal is likely also a response to Guidewire’s multiple acquisitions, which have included ICSC, a smaller carrier vendor; First Best, a commercial lines software firm. Last March, Guidewire acquired EagleEye Analytics, a provider of SaaS-based predictive analytics products.

“It’s safe to say that BI and data warehousing can now be considered a core part of the insurance suite just like any other business process focused system,” Novarica’s Goldberg writes.

Sources: Duck Creek Technologies, Novarica