Introduction 

A client's cost-optimisation software faced significant challenges: it was riddled with issues, including poor code quality, lack of process, and high levels of client dissatisfaction, all left behind by the previous vendor. At this critical juncture, Vertex Agility was brought in to provide top-tier development and operational expertise, leading the transfer of ownership and setting up new processes to facilitate the operation. This case study outlines the transformative journey from an unstable, bug-ridden, failing tool to a leading platform with satisfied clients, streamlined processes, and exceptional performance.

The Problem 

1. Platform Instability: 

• Over 1,000 active bugs in 2018, rendering the platform unreliable and causing customers and leadership to lose faith in the platform. 
• Different lines of legacy code written by different engineers. 
• Simple core functionalities (calculator, data management, report generation) were severely impaired. 
• Discussions were underway to shut down the project and invest in competitor solutions.

2. Process Gaps: 

• No scrum master or incident management system was in place.  
• The product owner, burdened with incident resolution, did not have enough time to focus on value creation. 

3. Client Dissatisfaction:

• Low client net promoter score (NPS) of –13 in 2023. (We did not have this data for 2021–2022). 
• Time-consuming onboarding process (23 hours per client in 2022).

4. Slow Time-to-Market

• Only nine releases in 2021, indicating minimal innovation, change, and responsiveness. 

Vertex Agility’s Approach 

Vertex Agility’s team, comprising of highly skilled developers, designers, testers, product managers, and incident managers, initiated a comprehensive overhaul: 

1. Building a High-Quality Team: 

• Introduced top developers across different streams to begin knowledge transfer. 
• Established processes for knowledge transfer, taking over the project from previous vendor

2. Enhancing Development Processes

• Introduced a dedicated UI/UX process to revamp the interface. 
• Implemented test automation strategy 
• Transitioned legacy code to modern 
• Appointed a new product owner and scrum master to streamline operations 

 3. Driving Innovation and Client Satisfaction:

• Enhanced the core platform with a new calculation engine and streamlined data display. 

Outcomes 

1. Platform Stability: 

• Active bugs reduced from 1,000 in 2018 to 208 in 2022, down to just 50 minor bugs in 2024. 
• Achieved a record 121-day streak without critical incidents in 2024. 

2. Improved Client Satisfaction 

• Customer platform NPS improved from –13 in 2023 to +27 in 2024. 

3. Operational Efficiency

• Accelerated time-tomarket for new features and bug fixes. 
• Delivered more complex updates than in the 4 years prior to our involvement 
• Achieved a 10x performance boost on the platform 

4. Client Customer Growth

• Client customer base expanded from 26 customers using the product in 2020 to 166 in 2024 – more than tripling in demand. 
• This has been aided by significant marketing in the form of: 
  • Demoing the product to thousands of people 
  • Recording a movie in the style of The Office telling a story of how they use the software, which product owners were able to spend time creating as they’re no longer spending time firefighting incidents and bugs 

5. Incident Management Implementation:

• Introduced an incident management framework in 2023. 
• Reduced critical incidents from 11 in February 2023 to zero in a four-month streak in 2024. 
• Lowered resource allocation for incidents from 3 FTEs to 0.5 FTEs, also allowing recovered budget to be spent in other areas. 

6. Improved Time-to-Market

• Delivered 25 releases in 2024, compared to 9 in 2021, achieving an average of one release every two weeks. 
• Reduced client onboarding time from 23 hours in 2022 to just 8 hours in 2024.  

Conclusion 

The transformation of our client’s platform between 2021 and 2024 is a clear example of how the right mindset, processes, and technology can turn around even the most challenged product. Vertex Agility did more than stabilise the platform – we created a strong product development culture built on Agile principles, structured delivery processes, and continuous improvement. 

• Reliability and trust were restored, with a >95% reduction in active bugs and months-long streaks without critical incidents. 

• Customer satisfaction surged, with NPS rising from negative to strongly positive. 

• Delivery speed improved dramatically, enabling bi-weekly releases and faster delivery of innovation. 

• Commercial results were significant, with a more than 3× increase in the client’s customer base and major efficiency gains reinvested into growth. 

During 2025 and looking ahead, Vertex Agility will continue focusing on product enhancement, deeper UX improvements, and the introduction of OpenAI-powered capabilities to bring intelligent automation and next-level analytics to the platform. This next phase – and its outcomes – will be the subject of a future case study, as the product continues to grow into a market-leading solution. 

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