For decades, MYOB’s accounting software has helped businesses in Australia and New Zealand save time and money while providing them with the information they need to make better-informed decisions. Today, MYOB has transitioned into a full-service business management platform, evolving to provide a robust portfolio of solutions to support businesses in areas that will help them be successful and grow, such as cash flow, people management and inventory.
With internal development and integrated partnerships contributing to the growth of the business, balancing innovation while maintaining and integrating existing systems and digital assets can be challenging. The delivery teams were keen to unlock further capacity to explore new product development, while continuing to successfully manage the full breadth of its technology applications.
Understanding and prioritizing the tech landscape
MYOB engaged Thoughtworks, a trusted partner, for an application management assessment of their systems to better understand operations across their growing portfolio. The assessment evaluated the product life cycle, health and risk levels, custodianship of systems, team capacity, processes and SLAs, and the priority areas to address. It also identified the components poised to transition into a managed service phase.
During the pilot phase, we used the assessment model to prioritize the systems for initial action, identifying opportunities for quick wins. After the pilot phase, we expanded the initiative by integrating additional applications. This expansion increased efficiency and reduced the total cost of ownership through streamlined processes, automation and resource consolidation.
Due to the size of MYOB’s tech estate, we broke the assessment into two phases.
Phase 1: Systems operations readiness assessment
In the initial phase, we collaborated with MYOB to define the scope for DAMO™ Managed Services. We assessed systems for quick wins by combining dimensions from Thoughtworks' resilience and stability analysis (life cycle stage, incident quality and security vulnerability) with MYOB's business considerations. Using these dimensions, we assigned scores to systems and provided recommendations for prioritization.
Phase 2: System-level deep dive
In the second phase, we assessed the systems’ health, examining code quality, architectural infrastructure, documentation and the current operational workflow.
The information from both phases was used to rate each system and generate a report on the right focus areas.
Gaining operational efficiency and delivering value
A centralized Thoughtworks team was set up to manage operations, and drive cost savings and automation opportunities. We brought a future-ready digital operations approach, applying DevOps best practices and intelligence-driven measures to ensure that business operations maintained resilience throughout vulnerabilities and unexpected events.
This included:
Automation of tasks to further align the platform with goals.
Visualization of outcome-driven DevOps metrics along with insights for optimal operations.
Adaptation to make the software future-ready and cloud-ready.
The Thoughtworks DAMO™ Managed Services team has assured service level agreement (SLA) fulfillment and improved availability while reducing infrastructure costs with FinOps (financial operations). They are also applying AI analytics tools to enhance efficiency across MYOB operations.
SLA fulfillment to guarantee seamless business operations.
system availability through continuous optimization.
cost savings achieved in the first year, with 20% to 40% savings estimated over the next two to three years.
infrastructure cost savings realized through FinOps.
By consolidating multiple teams that partially supported systems within MYOB into a single managed services team run by Thoughtworks, we achieved a 10% cost savings in the first year, and anticipate even greater accumulated savings of 20% to 40% over the next two to three years. As additional applications are rolled into the program, we project further cost reductions over time. Moreover, MYOB has successfully redirected development resources to focus on new strategic initiatives and innovation.
Simon Noonan, Chief Technology Officer for MYOB, said the work unlocked great value for MYOB’s technology teams.
“MYOB operates a significant and multi-dimensional technology portfolio, supporting products that serve the unique needs of customers ranging from small businesses right through to mid-market enterprises. So, it is vital our teams can provide these services as efficiently as possible, while having the space to innovate and focus on new ways to add value.
Thoughtworks’ DAMO™ Managed Services meant our teams could share the load of maintaining our full suite of systems with Thoughtworks, creating more time for MYOB developers to concentrate on future-facing features, products and technology. Ensuring we took the time to identify and apply these efficiencies through this process was important, because it will have a cumulative effect for our teams into the future. We are collectively excited about the ways this work can be invested and built upon as MYOB continues to evolve.”
Ready to unlock the true power of your technology investments? Learn how we can help you continuously enhance and transform your applications with DAMO™ managed services.
