Q&A with our client BetaNXT: How our partnership led to key enterprise outcomes

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Q&A with our client BetaNXT: How our partnership led to key enterprise outcomes

Melissa Hales

20 October 2024

1 min read

Melissa Hales

20 October 2024

1 min read

BetaNXT partnered with Adaptavist to modernise their technology environment, streamline operations, and enhance client experiences, resulting in significant efficiencies and a strong foundation for future growth and innovation.

To remain competitive in today's fast-changing world of wealth management, it's not enough to simply keep up with market trends; you have to stay one step ahead. Clients are setting the agenda and expecting seamless, real-time experiences, and technology is the key to making that happen.

With this in mind, BetaNXT, a leading player in the wealth management technology and data space, partnered with Adaptavist to build a robust technology foundation for the future and deliver new value to clients.

To delver deeper into the company's transformation journey, we spoke with Paul Simonetti, IT Executive Management, and Frank Merla, Enterprise Solutions Architect at BetaNXT. We discussed their experience working with Adaptavist, what the partnership has helped them achieve so far, and what plans they have for the future.

1. Why did you decide to transform BetaNXT's technology environment?

[BetaNXT: Paul] There's been no shortage of innovation in wealth management over the last few decades, but the proliferation of new products and companies has resulted in a fragmented landscape and disjointed client experience. Our goal is to change that and to offer our clients a more connected wealth management experience of the future.

From the start, we knew the only way to achieve that was to modernise and standardise our technology architecture to ensure we had the best foundation for future innovation and growth.

[BetaNXT: Frank] In the process of integrating different businesses into BetaNXT, it became clear that each had its own set of development tools, processes, and working methods. To transform our client experience, we knew we had to standardise our technology environment and establish governance throughout the organisation.

2. What was your ultimate goal?

[BetaNXT: Paul] Our ultimate goal was to achieve consistency in development delivery, velocity, and metrics. Getting everyone on the same page with the same tooling and product delivery lifecycle mechanism would make it easier for teams to deliver code consistently with the same processes, tools, and APIs. It was clear this would be a game changer for us and our clients.

[BetaNXT: Frank] Consistency was our overriding goal. We wanted to provide clients with the same great experience across all of our services, so standardising our tools, approach, and architecture was crucial to achieving this.

3. Why did you choose Adaptavist as your transformation partner?

[BetaNXT: Paul] We knew Adaptavist was the right partner to work with us on this project for a number of reasons. First, they have a proven track record of delivering complex and timebound digital transformations, as seen in their work with our sister company, InvestCloud. Secondly, they are experts in key areas vital to our transformation, such as ITSM, work management, and DevOps. Finally, as an Atlassian Platinum Partner, they also have extensive experience working with leading ecosystems such as Atlassian and AWS, which was, again, crucial to us.

[BetaNXT: Frank] Adaptavist stood out to us as they have the most experienced subject matter experts in Atlassian coupled with extensive DevOps experience, both of which were essential to our project. Rodney Young, in particular, has vast knowledge of scalable tooling, which was invaluable to us. But above all else, having previously worked with them, I knew they were great people and one of the few teams you can really collaborate and strategise with on an intellectual level.

4. In partnership with Adaptavist, what solution did you come up with?

[BetaNXT: Paul] BetaNXT was formed as a result of the acquisition of the BETA+ wealthtech platform from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) by Clearlake Capital and Motive Partners. Our first priority was to leave the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) platform and terminate our transitional service agreements (TSAs).

As part of the migration work, Adaptavist assessed our current tooling with the goal of consolidating and optimising it for the future. As a result, we could streamline our portfolio, reducing our tooling by 67% (going from 21 to 7 tools). Also, by leveraging GitLab Ultimate, we could consolidate over seven development tools, resulting in immediate cost savings and a marked reduction in complexity.

[BetaNXT: Frank] In parallel to the wider technology consolidation work, Adaptavist assisted my team in building a centre of excellence to drive governance, efficiency, and quality across our product development lifecycle (PDLC). Their experience was crucial to this phase of the project as it provided us with a comprehensive understanding of best practices and appropriate options at every stage to ensure we put the right tooling and processes in place to meet our needs.

5. Did you experience any challenges along the way?

[BetaNXT: Paul] When it comes to changing tools, it's always a tough sell to convince people to do it. When teams have used the same tools for decades, the prospect of change is never easy. Adaptavist helped us demonstrate the value of one tool in doing the job of several, which would actually make their work a whole lot easier. It sometimes took some convincing, but they were all in once people understood the potential. The result was that we could overcome any resistance to change and get everyone genuinely excited about our work.

[BetaNXT: Frank] As Paul said, Adaptavist really helped us navigate those waters when we experienced resistance to change. For example, they helped us break down all the different scenarios and articulate why a particular tool or approach wasn't right for us. They provided that neutral, objective view based on facts and experience, which enabled us to go back and defend our approach.

6. What was your highlight of working with Adaptavist on the project?

[BetaNXT: Paul] Adaptavist has been very accessible, especially when we encountered any issues and differences. The team was always ready to collaborate, help us find the right answers, and work to solve any challenge, always putting our priorities first.

[BetaNXT: Frank] Adaptavist has been a great partner throughout the entire engagement, leading BetaNXT towards the optimal solution with sound advice and expertise at every turn.

7. Since implementing the solution, what benefits have you seen so far?

[BetaNXT: Paul] Our work with Adaptavist has yielded positive results. At the start, we had several different development teams moving and migrating; now, we have standard tools and processes in place, so we can create many new synergies and efficiencies around how we operate. As well as providing far superior client experiences than before, we have now set the foundation for future growth and innovation, which is really exciting for us.

[BetaNXT: Frank] We've transformed how we operate. We are now considered a valuable and successful company division because of all the transformational work we have done together.

8. What's next for BetaNXT?

[BetaNXT: Paul] We are now focusing on how our new architecture creates value for both us and our clients. It's given us a solid playbook with which to move forward. By leveraging the most common tools in the industry, we can grow organically and act quickly and decisively to bring in new acquisitions as needed. In many ways, it feels like our transformation journey is just getting started.

9. What did our team think?

We turned the mic over to Adaptavist's Nelson Jordan and Rodney Young who worked in partnership with BetaNXT throughout the project:

[Adaptavist: Nelson] Any transformation of this scale involves a huge change to how you do business, which can sometimes be daunting. But when challenges arose, we always came together and worked as one team to overcome them, which is a testament to our strong partnership on this journey.

[Adaptavist: Rodney] Working with a client with clear goals from the outset was amazing. They were also highly collaborative and decisive, constantly motivating us to raise the bar and exceed our expectations. Sure, it was stressful at times, but ultimately, working with such a great client and on such a valuable project was extremely rewarding.

Interested to learn more about our collaboration with BetaNXT?

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Written by

Melissa Hales

Principal Strategic Solutions Marketing Manager - DevOps