AdminiQuest is one of the fastest growing service bureaus in the insurance industry.
The company provides third party administrative services covering the spectrum of insurance offerings through the Advantage System. The Advantage System is a revolutionary new product that provides greatly enhanced TPA functionality while reducing operational costs. Key among the Advantage System's features are graphical user interfaces, precision data collection and Internet connectivity designed for insurance plan administration.

AdminiQuest had the business and market knowledge necessary to bring a much needed service to the insurance industry, but was having difficulty leveraging this knowledge into an effective business system.

Because of continual delays, software bugs, and a great deal of rework caused by previous development efforts, AdminiQuest was unable to meet the delivery schedule their clients depended upon. Frustrated, and with the success of the entire company hanging in the balance, Chief Technology Officer, Mic Welling, needed a new alternative to their original vendor and strategy for the development of the Advantage system.

"The original software contractor for the Advantage System was over a year behind schedule and 1 million dollars over budget. The software produced did not meet our needs and there was no end in sight to the development schedule." - Mic Welling

The answer for AdminiQuest was Access Data. By introducing Access Data project management and applying the Access Data Lifecycle methodology, project milestones were met, system functionality was enhanced, and software quality increased.

Access Data instituted project leadership, project planning, business requirements definition, and a formal development and test methodology. The introduction of the Access Data team and the application of the Access Data Lifecycle methodology provided the foundation necessary to ensure successful product delivery. Access Data initiated the development process for the Advantage System through the introduction of project planning. The project plan ensured development team accountability to corporate management and provided visibility into development milestones and resource allocation. By structuring the development effort to utilize a project plan and to conform to a known development model, the Access Data/AdminiQuest team was able to be predictable in their management of unforeseen requirements and events.

The introduction of the Access Data Lifecycle JAD (Joint Application Definition) process was critical in the Advantage System development effort. The JAD process provided complete and accurate requirements definition and allowed the users to visualize and prioritize desired functionality earlier in the development process. By introducing effective requirements analysis and documentation, Access Data was able to provide a solid requirements based foundation for continued development and to eliminate delays caused by rework of deliverables.

With the application of the Access Data Lifecycle Methodology, development time was reduced by more than half when compared to the previous traditional development approach. The Access Data Lifecycle Methodology utilizes an iterative development technique to produce software quickly, with fewer requirements discrepancies, higher end-user satisfaction, and no integration problems. An integrated team of testers and developers work together to identify and correct software discrepancies. By repeatedly exercising the written test plan, the test team is able to identify discrepancies early in the construction process thereby reducing the cost and frequency of errors.

"The initial Advantage System release produced by Access Data was accomplished on time with zero defects. Their methodology allowed us to deploy application enhancements in a phased manner, without adverse effect to our production environment." - Mic Welling