OutSystems - A RAD Journey - NextStep Americas 2015

A RAD JourneyChief Technology Officer

Izak Joubert

Agenda

• Introduction to NES Financial

• Life before Outsystems

• RADically Agile

• Lessons Learned

• Course Adjustments

In a nutshell…

About Us

Technology-enabled services for efficient back office administration of highly specialized financial transactions

Leading provider of industry-specific, custom solutions for EB-5 administration, 1031 exchanges, and escrow and fund administration

Service Evolution

20051031

Exchanges

20081031

Programs

2010 Escrow Admin

2012EB-5

Admin

2013Client Trust Accounting

2014Fund

Admin

2015Loan Admin

Products & Services Related

• Back Office (3)

• Treasury

• Customer Portals (3)

• Partner Portals

Internal Applications

• Billing

• Sales Operations

• Data Warehouse & Reporting

• Planning & Forecasting

Application Landscape

Life before Outsystems

Original Technology Stack

Life Before Outsystems

MS SQL Server Database(SP’s, Views, Triggers)

Business Layer(C# & CSLA Framework)

User Interface(ASP.NET, jQuery, 3rd Party)

DEV Tools

MS Visual StudioTeam Foundation ServerTest Automation Tools

First Platform Attempt

• Java – MySQL based

• Carved out of an existing CRM solution

• Primarily a PaaS solution

• First application took 1 year to roll-out

• Disappointing results (functionality & performance)

• Completely disrupted the development organization


Technology stack

Align with our competencies

Support our development

strategy

Easily accepted by customer

base

ImproveDEVOPS

capability

Lessons learned


VendorMaturity

Long-termViability Competencies

Best Practices

Lessons learned


• Small core team with domain & business expertise

• Supplemented with external development teams

• Minimize customizations & add-ons

Development Strategy


• Consolidate data models into a single, cohesive structure• Reorganize business logic into highly reusable, shared

functional modules• Continue to maintain separate external facing & internal

applications built on the new business layer• Use workflow automation to promote consistency &

reduce errors

Architecture Strategy


Technology Foundation

Supported our technology goals

Understood & accepted by our customer base

Reduced the “lock-in” problem


Platform Selection





Vendor Qualification

Size & diversity of customer base

Professional services capability

Respected our evaluation process & pace


Platform Selection





Vendor Qualification

Size & diversity of customer base

Professional services capability

Respected our evaluation process & pace

EvaluationProcess

Used available online training material

Built a working application

Tested usability, integration & performance


Platform Selection

• Round 1 Re-implemented original BackOffice specification Incorporated POC application Added 50% more functionality 4 months to deliver

• Round 2 New Immigration Workflow application New EB5 Funds Administration application Customer Portal (OS Team) Mobile Portal (OS Team) New Sales, Billing & Planning modules

RAD & Agile

• Developers lost momentum by jumping between projects

• Learning in one project leads to refactoring in other projects

• User support & feedback can become a fire hose

Lessons Learned

RAD & Agile

Do not take on too many projects at the same time

• Design specs not ready when initiating projects

• Not properly able to manage the development team

• Did not maximize the value of the engagements

Lessons Learned

RAD & Agile

Understand the internal impact of outsourcing

• On-site consulting is NOT a substitute for training

• Developing with the platform is NOT by itself RAD or Agile

Lessons Learned

RAD & Agile

Don’t underestimate the importance of proper training

• Took on the BA role because we wanted to maintain momentum

• Created new or expanded functionality because it was easy and fast

• Did not clearly understand the transition from POC to MVP

Lessons Learned

RAD & Agile

Do not get ahead of businessDo not create solutions where there are no problems to solve

• Enterprise agility…• Increased in-house BA resources• Improved requirements definition process• Re-designed DEV->QA->UAT process• Reworking architecture to improve scalability

Course Adjustments

RAD & Agile

• Allow business time to embrace Agile & RAD

• Improve definition & testing processes

• Leverage OS expertise better

• Find and maintain the RIGHT speed

Conclusion

RAD & Agile

OutSystems - A RAD Journey - NextStep Americas 2015

Business

Transcript of OutSystems - A RAD Journey - NextStep Americas 2015