Managed Services

Australian Financial Institution

Case Study

Digital

Service Name

Challenge

Our client was confronted with a pressing issue regarding the management of their website. Originally developed by an external company, their website struggled to accommodate essential updates and technical improvements in a timely manner. This situation presented a significant impediment to meeting evolving business and member needs swiftly and efficiently.
The primary challenges faced by the institution included the need for more regular, timely updates and feature enhancements, as well as a technical debt within their development team as they migrated to newer platforms.

Solution

The focus of development for the Financial Institution was across three key areas: Its website portal, member app, and legacy system integration. All three areas were to be developed concurrently due to the project timelines and to ensure that member needs were met regardless of channel. Requirements were determined based on employee and customer feedback, and the new features were broken down into stories to be developed by one of three development teams. 9X5 Consulting assembled the two development teams in consultation with the client, with internal staff comprising the integration team.

Both streams were scoped by our Solution Architect and then broken into tasks by our Business Analyst/Scrum Master. Both project streams were run utilising SAFe Agile, which suited the project due to the flexibility required. Development was broken into fortnightly sprints, with 9X5’s Business Analyst also acting as the scrum master/ sprint planner.
The Member Portal Team is comprised of .NET developers, along with an Analyst and Functional Tester. The mobile team comprised a Xamerin developer, an analyst, and quality assurance professionals. Over the course of 12 months, enhancements were made to both streams which included: Monthly Investment Snapshot and Portfolio Metrics, Investor Statements and Income Taxation Statements.

Impact

The enhancements made to both the member portal and the member app have led to a greatly reduced customer churn rate, and a much improved customer experience. Prior to this development, many new member tasks still required PDF forms to complete (signing up to the portal for example) where now these tasks are handled within the app or website itself, reducing wait times.
Customer and member feedback scores are greatly improved and these feed-back mechanisms will continue to drive feature enhancements moving forward with the new digital platforms.

Client Overview

Our client is one of Australia’s best- known and most trusted alternative asset managers.

With over $19 billion in assets under management across almost 100,000 investors, including some of the world’s largest financial institutions, they are a market leading financial management institution.

by Michael Williamson

Multinational Fast Food Corporation: Analytics Technical Architecture

Case Study

Digital

Service Name

Challenge

To meet the reporting needs of restaurant management and franchisees, our client has invested heavily in data and analytics platforms. In 2023 they made the decision to shift their main analytics platform from MicroStrategy to Domo, to improve response times, reduce development costs and improve user experience.
As Domo’s premier integrations partner in Australia, 9X5 Consulting was approached to support this uplift.

Solution

The Fast Food Corporation’s existing reporting dashboards had grown from an original number of 250 cards, to well over 2000. Many of these reports had been created to solve ad-hoc issues, and were not known or shared outside of departmental teams.

9X5 Consulting initially conducted an audit of these reports, which looked at metrics used, data sources required, ETL requirements, report usage, sharing and privacy, and business requirements, creating a matrix of reports with an estimated effort to recreate per dashboard. This formed the basis of our scope of works, which was then presented to the client.

With a strong understanding of the business requirements and the capabilities of Domo, 9X5’s Architect started with an assessment of the current solution including data sources, ETL processes, data warehouses, BI tools, and reporting mechanisms.

9X5 identified technical debts and performance issues around the utilisation of Snowflake as a data store, so upgrading this was also included in scope.
Once this was completed, 9X5 then defined the target data architecture, data pipelines and ingestion methods as well as user access controls.

Impact

With the initial approach agreed upon, 9X5 have assmebled a large team of Domo and Snowflake Developers to undertake the large task of moving reporting Dashboards across to the Domo platform. Work is being conducted in sprints with dashboards and cards being validated before redeveloped, ensuring that we only redevelop cards being used, and ensure that only the right users have access.

Concurrently 9X5 is involved in establishing and conducting Domo training for staff across both head office, regional offices and stores and will continue these activities throughout 2024/25.

Client Overview

Our client has become one of the leading multinational companies in the restaurant industry, managing a vast network of franchisees worldwide.

They have achieved success through a mix of well-established brand identities, coupled with the implementation of unified global systems and support services.

by Michael Williamson

Australian Financial Group - Building a Digital Workforce

Case Study

Digital

Service Name

Challenge

As part of a strategic review In 2021, our client realised that to meet the growing expectations of their members, they needed to undertake a large-scale. multi-year digital transformation journey, with the aim of uplifting core systems, and delivering a user experience to members that was industry leading.
With a small in-house ICT function, they faced the challenge of rapidly scaling the size of their ICT team, to meet a set of objectives which were still being devised, all during a period of significant hiring challenges, with both the COVID pandemic and record low unemployment making the ICT labour market challenging.

Solution

The Financial Institution faced the challenge of rapidly expanding the size and capabilities of its ICT team while still defining and prioritising the workload of its transformation program. They partnered with 9X5 Consulting to achieve their ambitious goals due to our expertise in project delivery, analytics and digital development.
9X5 and the Institution set up twice-weekly requirements meetings, where program updates leading to changes in hiring requirements or timetables were discussed. These sessions were critical when platform selections were made, as this would dramatically impact the role requirements.
After each resourcing meeting, 9X5 would assess the impact, assemble a recommended resourcing package, and then start our regular recruitment process, albeit with new or modified roles.
9X5’s recruitment process is focused on both fast turnaround and organisational fit, reducing the sourcing life cycle from months to weeks.
The collaboration between the Financial Group and 9×5 Consulting was characterised by a strategic approach and a deep commitment to delivering tangible results. 9×5 Consulting’s team of consultants.

Impact

Over 12 months, 9X5 deployed a team of 37 highly skilled consultants to support the group’s ICT function, driving their digital transformation journey forward.
We provided consultants across Architecture, UX Design, Development, Project Management, Quality Assurance and Business Analysis.
Through a combination of expertise, dedication, and collaborative spirit, the client was able to navigate the complexities of modernisation and emerge as a stronger, more agile organisation poised for future growth.

Client Overview

Our client is one of Australia’s best- known and most trusted alternative asset managers, with over $19 billion in assets under management across almost 100,000 investors, including some of the world’s largest financial institutions.

With over $19 billion in assets under management across almost 100,000 investors, including some of the world’s largest financial institutions, they are a market leading financial management institution.

by Michael Williamson

5 Ways to Develop an Effective Digital Strategy for Your Business

In today’s digital age, having a strong digital strategy is essential for any business that wants to stay competitive and relevant. A digital strategy is a plan that outlines how a company can use digital technologies to achieve its goals and objectives.

Five Ways That Businesses Can Develop an Effective Digital Strategy

  1. Define your target audience:
    The first step in developing an effective digital strategy is to define your target audience. Who are you trying to reach with your digital initiatives? What are their needs and pain points? By understanding your target audience, you can create digital experiences that resonate with them and drive engagement. Conducting market research, surveys, and social media listening can help you gain insights into your audience.
  2. Assess your digital capabilities:
    Before you start implementing your digital strategy, it’s important to assess your current digital capabilities. What technologies do you already have in place? What are your strengths and weaknesses? By conducting a thorough assessment, you can identify any gaps and opportunities for improvement. This can help you prioritise your digital initiatives and allocate resources more effectively.
  3. Set clear business goals:
    Your digital strategy should align with your overall business goals and objectives. Set clear, measurable goals that you want to achieve through your digital initiatives. These goals could include increasing website traffic, generating more leads, improving customer engagement, or increasing revenue. By setting clear goals, you can track your progress and make data-driven decisions.
  4. Select the right technologies:
    There are a wide variety of digital technologies available, from social media platforms to marketing automation tools. It’s important to select the technologies that are best suited to your business needs and goals. Consider factors like cost, scalability, ease of use, and integration with existing systems. You may need to seek input from IT experts or digital agencies to make informed decisions.
  5. Develop a roadmap and implement your strategy:
    Once you’ve defined your target audience, assessed your capabilities, set clear goals, and selected the right technologies, it’s time to develop a roadmap for implementing your strategy. Your roadmap should include timelines, milestones, and metrics for tracking progress. It’s important to involve key stakeholders in the planning process and ensure that everyone understands their role in executing the strategy.

Conclusion

Developing an effective digital strategy is essential for businesses that want to stay competitive and meet the evolving needs of their customers. By defining your target audience, assessing your capabilities, setting clear goals, selecting the right technologies, and developing a roadmap, you can create a digital strategy that aligns with your overall business objectives. Remember, your digital strategy should be an ongoing process that evolves as your business grows and changes.

by Michael Williamson

Australian Pearling Company - MyBuy Program

Case Study

Digital

Service Name

Challenge

The pearling company faced significant challenges in managing its technology infrastructure. Their existing manual approach to hardware procurement and management led to inefficiencies, longer lead times for IT hardware, and the risk of hardware obsolescence.

Solution

To address these challenges, they turned to 9X5, a trusted Technology Partner, for a comprehensive solution. 9X5 provided the client with a customised MyBuy ordering portal, an experienced client manager and offered multiple warehousing options in Melbourne, Sydney, and Darwin, significantly reducing lead times for IT hardware procurement.

By prepositioning hardware in key locations and reducing the supported SKUs to standardised environments, 9X5 reduced lead times and dramatically improved SLAs between IT and the business.
9X5 also leveraged its strong relationships with key vendors like Lenovo, Microsoft, and Apple to gain favourable pricing and availability for essential hardware.

A crucial part of the solution was hardware forecasting. The client and 9X5 closely collaborated to forecast their hardware requirements, reducing delays in procurement.

Impact

Automating hardware procurement and management resulted in increased efficiency and significantly reduced errors, saving time and enhancing the reliability of the client’s technology infrastructure.

The MyBuy portal’s reporting and visualisation capabilities empowered the company to deliver insights more effectively to their team and stakeholders, improving decision-making. By adopting this comprehensive technology management solution, they gained a competitive advantage over competitors still relying on manual processes.

Completing the initial 7-day Proof of Value project demonstrated the value of the partnership with 9X5 Consulting. This success quickly transitioned into a full-scale project, making them a long- term client. In a short period, the pearling company experienced a positive impact on its technology infrastructure, resilience, and operational efficiency, paving the way for continued success across its diverse business operations.

Client Overview

An Australian company with a rich heritage spanning over 80 years is celebrated as a trailblazer in the Australian South Sea pearling sector. Presently, the company boasts a varied portfolio encompassing pearling, retail, aviation, and agriculture. With a workforce exceeding 1,200 individuals, a significant portion is dedicated to pearling operations.

by Michael Williamson