Implementing and expanding a cloud solution for a major national bank.
SITUATION
Apex was approached by our client to replace and expand a cloud solution provided by a strategy consulting firm. The client had moved past the strategy phase of their lifecycle and needed a reliable partner to continue enhancing their capabilities and deliver against strategy. The incumbent firm was facing 100% attrition within 18 months, impacting the client’s delivery capabilities, knowledge retention, and scalability. In addition to attrition, cost reduction was a top client priority. Apex already had a long-standing history of supporting cloud migrations and had strong partnerships within the client’s cloud program. Apex had an enterprise view of the cloud, including a cloud community of practice (CoP). The CoP is led by Apex’s Engagement Manager and consists of cross-functional teams, enabling us to share insights across the team rapidly, apply best practices across the program, and accelerate strategy. This set the foundation to strategically scale a cross-discipline solution for the client's end customers at reduced cost. This unique solution enables the cloud foundation leadership to offer multiple service options to their internal clients including full-service, self-service, or hybrid.
"This team is overwhelmed with how well the Apex team is doing once we brought them in, it is getting up to leadership. These Apex people are hitting the ground running and better than [client] resources. Nobody is concerned about them, they are doing amazing, and everyone is speaking about it. This is the greatest group of consultants that I've ever worked with." - Client Cloud Chapter Lead
The client had a targeted timeline of four months for Apex to perform the work. We quickly deployed 17 consultants with the right skills and experience across multiple product squads. Our team worked with chapter leads, product owners, current Apex consultants, and existing incumbent firm consultants within the space for knowledge transfer, utilizing a staggered entry approach to scaling to support the business needs. In addition, our consultants joined the cloud community of practice, breaking down silos and creating connections across enterprise cloud initiatives which expedited onboarding and knowledge transfer. The Apex team maintained all oversight of deliverables, training, financials, and consultant performance, allowing the client to maintain oversight at the program level.
RESULT
Our team reduced client costs by $2,400,000 over 18 months. Apex maintained high consultant retention, supporting our client’s goal to reduce attrition and gain stability to accelerate their cloud program. Our engagement manager expedited ramp up time for new consultants, provided consistent touchpoints for client feedback, and provided swifter resolution for issues and risks. In addition, our team developed and deployed customized training programs. We were also responsible for partnering with our customer to align consultant skillsets to roles and teams as they client transitioned to a chapter model.
