Software professionalism needed now more than ever in uncertain, highly competitive, tough economic climate

IUA case study: Integrated point of sale, sales application solution. Interviewed: Matt Salmon. By Jacqueline Raw (YCagel)

Johannesburg, 05 May 2021

The Problem

IUA has a client that due to economic factors at play in 2020, a resulting restructure and closure of business units meant that critical business systems for the sale and administration of insurance policies were being shut down.

The client tasked IUA with migrating over 4 million policies to the IUA system as well as building a web-enabled sales application solution which would allow them to continue selling policies in store.

While IUA would handle the migration process in-house, due to the time-sensitive nature and the uncertainty around the project requirements, they needed to outsource the build of the sales solution to a 3rd party development team. That team was Chillisoft Software Solutions.

Why did you choose Chillisoft as your partner on this project?

We have a long relationship with Chillisoft.

Their track record of delivery, their understanding of our business and the way our teams work together meant that they were the natural choice for this project. We trusted that they would perform within the time constraints and that they could meet the technical demands.

We needed a team to run the project without supervision and just get the job done. As usual, Chillisoft mobilised to support us immediately and allocated two developers to the project.

What did Chillisoft bring to the table and how do they work with your team?

This was a completely greenfield project, that had to integrate into an existing platform, requiring substantial business knowledge. The biggest requirement here was that I needed a leader to run with this project who would need minimal management from my side as we were focused on the policy migration side of the project.

Chillisoft brought a competent team to the table, who could run this project from start to finish and run it themselves, which is exactly what they did. And they brought a uniquely different approach to the project.

What I liked about their process was the way that they adapted to change. One thing that we struggle with in terms of speed to market is that we operate in the financial services space which is highly regulated, and all development changes are audited from a controls perspective. Every single change that goes live needs to go through a firm process which is incredibly restrictive and cumbersome when you’re trying to go live with changes.

Chillisoft had the dynamic of finding a way to work within the parameters of our restrictive processes and doing so quickly. They brought a wonderfully agile approach to getting through change.

What was Chillisoft’s process and how did they adapt to yours?

A key element that I loved about their process, (and have subsequently implemented in my team) is their true Team Lead/Delivery Manager led, hands-on approach and hand-holding through the development process.

Their approach of pair-programming and staying plugged in with the team brought design flaws and errors to the forefront a lot sooner in the development process and prevented the junior developers from going too far down the wrong path. I noticed that because of this, the Chillisoft junior developers were extremely productive. It has been such a huge takeaway for me. My team leads have agreed to adopt this process which will hopefully show similar results.

How did they deliver and what were the results?

The results speak for themselves. Despite all the uncertainty and the intense time restraints, we went live on time AND the solution is extremely successful. When I checked in to see how we were doing, we had sold over 11 thousand policies (and counting) which is a massive result!

The teams have done a brilliant job and I couldn’t be happier with the engagement and the result.

What was different about building a software product amidst a large amount of uncertainty?

This was out first major engagement in the retail market, complicated by fairly vague high-level requirements. Once the project requirements had been fleshed out, we where concerned about the level of uncertainty and time constraints applied to the project.

The Chillisoft team had a massive learning curve ahead and we needed to work smart and work fast. Committing to deadlines without having all the requirements mapped out was a very uncomfortable space to operate in but the team pulled it off!

What are the realities of competing for market share in a tough economic climate?

Businesses have GOT to step into areas where we don't feel comfortable.

Clients are not looking to use 15 different suppliers, they want to have a one-stop solution that deals with all of the elements that they don't have the capacity or inclination to deal with themselves.

Our big vulnerability is that the motor insurance industry is declining. Motor sales have been hit hard by economic decline in the last few years, which means that to compete we need to diversify and expand the solutions we’re able to offer our clients.

Adding to the impact of this declining economic climate is the fact that we need to achieve all of this within tighter budgets and without increasing cost.

In essence, we need to increase automation to decrease costs, step into new markets with intelligent solutions and so increase margins in a meaningful way.

The Chillisofters wear a T-shirt that says ‘Showing Up Delivering Value’. Do they live by this?

100%!!! They bring passion, energy and a can-do attitude to the team.

They take our problems seriously, they lose sleep over them! When Chillisofters bring solutions to the table, they are the right solutions. If they feel we are heading down the wrong path (even when the results will only manifest after the conclusion of their part of the project), they will NOT STOP raising their concerns.

Their vision extends beyond their scope within the project and that is so valuable.

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Chillisoft

Chillisoft is a values-driven, professional software development house. They pride themselves on the impact they make in business, on individuals and on furthering software professionalism. They are a living example of a successful, human-centred company delivering real-world, sustainable technical solutions, internationally and locally.

IUA

‘Since 1981, IUA has been delivering efficient cost-effective business solutions, adaptable within various industries. We offer outsourced business process solutions specific to meet the operational requirements of our partners’ companies. Many of our partners are insurance companies, banks, financial services companies and retailers. We provide secure and dependable outsourced administration business solutions which include data administration, debit order collections, customer queries, complaints management, third party management information, financial accounting, and claims administration.’

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