Little Gems - how to get the best from your niche systems

By Tracy Shadbolt

Summer 2005

Over the past five years there has been a proliferation of systems that support niche processing functions. These cover a wide range of processes such as pricing, medical underwriting, claims management – the list goes on.

These systems all do very different things and are often purchased to gain a tactical advantage or to address a key issue. But one thing they do have in common is the underlying approach that needs to be adopted if you are to maximise their potential. Often these are ‘little gems’ waiting to be used in earnest to provide significant business benefit.

The approach starts with how you select such applications and this differs from other IT purchases. These systems usually support, or form part of, a larger process and thus it is key to analyse the context in which they are to be used and to assess the impact of their introduction. For example, a company looking to introduce an expert underwriting system has three new business processes, two are changing to accommodate the underwriting system and the costs are assessed. They fail to spot that the third process also needs to change as it relied on some data that will no longer be collected due to the new process flow.

Once you fully understand the context, identify all the methods by which the system will be accessed and deployed, such as remote access etc. Do these deployment methods have different requirements such as display standards, security configurations etc? Involving wider business and technical divisions enables you to understand the underlying integration requirements for your system, and for a niche system integration this is key.

Integration has two facets: technology and approach. It is important that your niche application can accept and provide data in a number of ways that will be acceptable to existing applications. However it is also important that the vendor understands that integration is not just about data exchange. They are now part of a team where ultimately delivery is not just about the activities under their control; both they and their systems have to be flexible enough to cope with this.

Once context, deployment and integration aspects are fully understood then costs can be accurately identified. The cost of acquisition must include the changes required to existing systems and processes, which can far outweigh the cost of the niche application. Thus comparing the licence cost of individual solutions is not appropriate for this type of selection.

As usual, successful implementation depends on clear roles and responsibilities being assigned to the development teams.

However, there should be a cross project responsibility to ensure that the final process is smooth and seamless and achieves the initial business objectives. To enable this to happen, these responsibilities need to be designed and agreed as a group at the start of implementation and then cascaded into the teams’ responsibilities. They should also be included within the contract agreed with the supplier. A range of systems that have quite different technology profiles often support complex processes that have evolved over a period of time.

The time and cost involved with integrating such systems can be minimised by including a central design role that has skills across the platforms. Such a role can also ensure the completeness of the design.

The final consideration is with regard to phasing. When niche systems are deployed, they are often rolled out in phases to minimise the impact on the wider business or to meet a tactical need. It is important that the initial phase uncovers the major integration issues involved with the application’s use, but also sufficiently demonstrates the capabilities of the system.

These systems are by their very nature some of the most flexible on the market. As a result they can often be used for purposes other than that for which they were originally purchased. As always, it is essential to have a clear business case and short term goals for the selection, but include as wide an audience as possible in the process and you will be rewarded with a smooth implementation and unexpected benefits.

For further information please contact Tracy Shadbolt, Principal Consultant