Setting solid foundations for real change

The client faced persistent business challenges because their legacy platform was slow, fragile and outdated. Modernisation would make operations more efficient and reliable, enhancing their ability to provide fair compensation insurance to workers and helping their mission of protecting workers’ welfare. However, previous attempts to modernise had failed because the new technology still wasn’t serving the business’ needs. A transformative business solution would require change on the levels of business, technology and culture. A partner who could align all of these areas with a new methodology would deliver a result that would be of enduring value. 

The second arm to our engagement with the client was working with them to shift from a project to a product mindset, thereby putting in place the necessary capabilities for continued digital evolution.

The client partnered with us to reimagine their core system. Aware of the previous attempts, we recognised the complexity of such a huge undertaking, and felt a new way of working was needed to achieve real change. Our view was that, because modernisation was just the beginning of their transformation journey, prioritising business needs and aligning technology with them was essential for long-term success. By setting solid foundations at this stage with a “business-first” approach, it would give them the strategic agility they needed to become more customer-centric.

We used SWIFT, a proprietary, facilitated methodology developed by Nearform consultants, that gave us a holistic understanding of the entire business. We started with an Event Storming exercise by feeding the model key questions about business needs and behaviours, and mapped this onto an easy-to-understand visualisation. Central to the process was the involvement of major stakeholders from business and IT from the outset. Previous attempts at coordination between the two departments had failed, so while it was key that the client drove discussions, communication needed to be smooth. We bridged the gap, successfully facilitating the discussion, resulting in the client having agency over the technology's strategic direction.

Using the model over the course of six weeks, we were able to analyse the wider operational context. The model produced a series of business domains that intersected with each other, revealing a vision of the overarching operations, services, and data flows. This was the first step in producing a roadmap for bridging the old and new systems, where the old system was gradually phased out as the new one took over.

Our team enmeshed with the client’s to build out the much needed capability to continue delivering on the digital strategy. The result of our collaboration was a new architecture that represented how the system wanted to behave so it could support the needs of the business. We also used our model to create a resource plan, teaming structure, and key milestones.

This included a high-level backlog and a roadmap plan outlining the start point, prioritisation and sequencing. Through a combination of digital modernisation, capability building and culture shifting, the client has the foundation it needs to evolve its business with confidence.