| Function-rich solutions
In today's competitive market, you need a software solution that provides comprehensive functionality. The Software products of Apex Data Systems are the most flexible client-server insurance processing systems available today. Even so, we at Apex Data Systems realize that our software may not do everything you want - or do everything the way you want it to. Our philosophy is to work with our customers to customize the software where desired to provide that unique functionality. Then we pledge to support that extra functionality through ongoing upgrades.
Change management methodology
To accomplish this, Apex Data Systems employs a change management methodology to help ensure that the additional functionality we deliver is what your company desire. Steps we employ in this process include: Requirements analysis
We begin by discussing with you in depth your business needs. We seek to understand your current processes and desired outcomes. We educate you on our standard capabilities so that you might better understand how our base system functions "out of the box." We analyze your needs and our base system capabilities to determine what enhancements may need to be made, and how they can best be made, to accommodate your stated business requirements in a cost efficient manner.
Program analysis and design
Once we understand how you need the system to function, we begin the process of designing the new functionality. We analyze various approaches to providing the enhancement(s), and identify the one approach which is most cost-effective. We analyze the impact the requested enhancements would have on the rest of the system. We design the requested enhancements based with these factors in mind.
Detailed user requirements
The result of these two steps is a Detailed User Requirements document, or DUR. This is basically a written document that we deliver to you, in which we explain our understanding of your needs, and our program design for the requested functionality. We indicate areas of potential impact on the rest of the system, especially if we feel the impact may be adverse. We also provide you with our estimate of the effort required to deliver this enhancement, along with its associated cost estimate.
The DUR is delivered to you for your review and formal approval. No programming is begun until you have signed off on the DUR. Once approved, further changes to the DUR would not be allowed, unless formally documented as a change to the DUR, together with resulting changes in customization estimates, timeframes, costs, and your formal approval of the change. Priorities for checklist items are established with the customer once time estimates have been projected within the DUR.
Program development and testing
Once the DUR has been approved, we begin the actual programming. This effort is performed by a team of professional development staff assigned to the project. The project is managed by a Project Leader, who is given responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the project and project team members. The DUR and priority checklists are used during all phases of the project. Once the development is far enough along, experienced software testers begin to test the system, in an effort to "break" the code. If problems are encountered, they are documented for the developers, who diagnose and correct the problem. All functional changes go through our thorough quality control process.
Documentation
As the customized system nears final completion, we begin the process of creating user documentation for the system. This documentation is created by a Documentation Specialist who works closely with the developers and testers, as well as the DUR itself.
Delivery and support
When we have completed our testing and documentation, we deliver the system to you. We will continue to support your system with these enhancements as long as you are covered under our maintenance agreement. With each general standard system release, we "retrofit" your specific modifications and deliver to you a new release with your prior modifications already built in.
Industry expertise
For over 25 years, Apex Data Systems and its related companies have been in the business of providing insurance products and services to their customers. Apex Data Systems is eminently qualified to partner with your organization in the processing of your specific application needs. | |
