The document discusses lessons learned from migrating customers to a new technology system. It emphasizes that better technology alone is not enough, and that customers care more about how changes will impact their business and address their needs. The migration was initially focused only on delivering the new system, but lessons showed it's important to involve customers, understand their perspective, and demonstrate how the new system provides value for their specific business and use cases. Customers should be viewed as partners in change rather than just recipients of it.

1. Better technology isn’t everything
WSO2 Summit

2. 2
Our vision is to be the
leading provider of the
trusted information that
drives global connections.
Our mission is to
empower more trusted
connections between
brands, consumers
and communities.

3. We provide trusted data
so organizations can
innovate and grow with
confidence
• Neutral Stewardship
• Security and Reliability
• Customer Empowerment

4. Our Products
and Services

5. At Somos we are
Customer Obsessed

6. We gave clear communication
2018 2019 2020 2021
3270 Decom.
(31 Oct 2018)
APIs V1 Decom.
(Mid-Year 2019)
WBA/MGI Decom.
(TBD)
Ongoing TFN Registry Enhancements
API V2 Release Beta
(1H 2019)
TFN Registry API V2 Release
New Tableau Reporting Tool
(Mid-Year 2019)
System Switchover
(Mid-Year 2019)
Migration Roadmap

7. We provided high touch customer support

8. The future was here, and it was fast!

9. This is really simple, right?
✔ New features
(that our customers had
been eagerly awaiting)
✔ SPA based UI
✔ Highly capable IAM
✔ 10x improved speed
✔ Powerful database
✔ Enhanced analytics &
reporting
Mainframe Modern System
Wicked fast
APIs

10. Hey customer, we are
changing for the better!
• Whose ”better”? I like what I have
• Great, something else I have to do
• Probably requires rework on my side
• It will be chaotic for me and I will have
problems
• I already have too many objectives for
this year/quarter
• You are not helping

11. The migration was successful!
In the first
three
months after
cutover we
saw our new
API usage
grow rapidly
Cutove
r

12. Hindsight – How did we do?
✔ Long runway, solid information
for customers
✔ Facilitated heavy involvement
✔ Phased approach vs big bang
✔ Never stopped innovating, and
never will
△ Timing is everything
△ Continuity vs Risk
△ Did you say Version 2?
△ How does agile development
fit?
△ Humans, setbacks and
Murphy’s Law
12
Plusses Deltas

13. The mission wasn’t changing:
the cutover must happen.
The tech was better...
what happened?

14. Technologists are good at WHAT, often not so good at WHY
(outside the obvious technical advancement and internal improvements):
“It’s a new hyper scaled mediation layer that utilizes cutting edge identity management
and RESTful APIs ...” “So?”
Adopting
too early
Giving up
too soon
Adopting
too late
Hanging on
too long
Where the
customer thinks
you want to take
them
Where you
think the
customer is
PSA #1: Your Mileage will vary on the Hype Cycle

15. Old Engineering Goal: Deliver the
new API-First system; retire Mainframe
by
June 2019
Value and Quality are
measurements your customer
takes when dealing with you and
your technology.
PSA #2: It’s not about your awesome tech
MERRIAM-WEBSTER:
Quality: degree of
excellence
Value: relative worth,
utility, or importance
New Engineering Goal: Deliver an
experience wherein the promises of the
new API-First Product - such as New
Business Models and New Revenue
Streams - can be realized seamlessly
and painlessly by the customer

16. Marketing 101:
Change the dialogue
FROM:
Something I have to do – change my
systems, learn a new API language,
retool, learn a new UI
TO:
Something I get – faster
performance, new features,
opportunities for revenue on my own
products
Sounds easy,
right?

17. • Its not enough to say its better, you
must know enough about your
customers to say why its better for
them.
• Business flow and value to them on
their terms.
Good tech is not enough.
• That likely means process
improvements, perhaps a deeper
partnership or some skin in the game
from your side.
• Recognition that your world is not
necessarily their world. What is obvious
to you may be a mystery to them - and
vice versa.
Neither is great tech.

18. Recognize your situation
We thought it all out
• Cheaper, leaner, faster
• Eliminate legacy components
• Optimize operational efficiency
• Reduce downtimes
• Increase your productivity
Does my customer care
about these things?
This upgrade will
simplify operations
Remove legacy
interfaces
I can rapidly
deploy
Better
cost profile

19. Recognize your key customers’ situation
What will it take for my customers to change?
• Hear them out without the urge to tell them why what you have is
better
• Feel their pain with your plan
(PSA #3: Their pain probably isn’t what you think it is)
• Ideate with them – whether or not you end up getting what you
want. Your customers will appreciate your partnership and
remember it
• My example: APIs are faster and I’m willing to prove it with you
What is going
on in their
world?
How is their
business?
How do they
use our
products?

20. Expanding the scope of the Technologist
Evangeli
ze
Not for tech, but
for the business
and customer
needs fulfilled
through your
technology
expertise
Right time for
market and
customer
Agile
Principles,
Lean
Development
Surgical
Delivery
Highly
anticipated
by our
customers
New found
view of quality
Superfan
Feedback
We architect, design
and build amazing
products using
first-rate technology
And we judge our
work from our
customer’s
perspective

21. Hey customer, we are
changing for the better!
• How can I use the new capability to
further my business?
• Will it be faster? I care about speed.
• Can I do more things? Perhaps I could
innovate my services.
• How can I get involved and get started?

22. We were very
fortunate to have many.
Ali is one.
Ali Bijanfar
CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER,
ATL COMMUNICATIONS
ATL Communications, an innovative and
forward-thinking business providing
toll-free and local number management
solutions within the US and Canada. As
CTO, Ali is passionate about infusing
the latest technologies and cost saving
automation info ATL Communications.
PSA #4: Never take early adopters for granted

23. Legacy
Interface
New APIs
Rapid Experimentation Abandon Legacy Interface
ATL Interface Usage
Cutove
r

24. ATL Transactions by Type
Cutove
r

25. Year Prior to Cutover
Year After Cutover
ATL Transactions
Cutove
r

26. Here is what ATL said:
“Our customers have already noticed a significant increase in
speed for nearly all of the [ATLAS] portal functionality," Mark
Bilton-Smith, President of ATL Communications,
commented when approached about the benefits of making
the switch for ATL. He continued to say,
"Real-time querying is 14 times faster than it was previously
on the MGI connection and switching to backup routing
templates, in the event of a carrier outage, takes less than two
minutes now. On average, the transition to the new APIs has
bolstered a 500% reduction in the time it takes to complete
SMS/800 database updates.
Chief Technology Officer of ATL,
Ali Bijanfar, said, "Since switching to
the APIs we have experienced zero
timeouts," alluding to the fact that on the
MGI connection ATL was experiencing
upwards of 10 timeouts per day. "The
added complexity of VPNs on the MGI
were another potential point of failure.
By switching to the new APIs, we have
removed this risk entirely," Ali adamantly
expressed.

27. What I learned…

28. PSA #5: You may not fully understand your impact
“Our civilization
depends on
software.”
Uncle Bob
Your
craftsmanship
can literally
affect life
You must
take the utmost
pride in what
you create
“Toll-Free
Caller ID
Information Helps
HHS Get Critical
Phone Calls
Answered”
Don’t let your
product or your
service be
mediocre
At Somos,
our products empower
vital, complex, and
powerful connections.
We build like they do.

29. About Customers…
• Never take the customer’s experience for granted –
if your improvements weren’t driven by the customer,
they may not be helping you or your customer
• If you must change, you must also create customer
investment in that change
• Don’t wait until your better experience causes wrinkles
for customers to have your feet on their ground
• Optimize for the fullest experience possible – it takes 2
hands to shake and 2 endpoints to monetize your APIs
• The best technology eases the transition for both sides

30. About my commitment to them…
• Find new ways to invest customers in adoption –
Hackathons, Bootcamps, Participation based
Roadshows
• Least Documentation Required & Dynamic
Documentation is essential
• SDKs and UI Kits help
• Hands on experiential learning
• Hand them a shovel – Sandboxes are where it all
comes together
• Version only if you must
• Secure the experience for both of you

31. About the new product’s effect
on our Business…
• Business Metrics are not an afterthought: (PSA #6: These
metrics may not be the ones you expect)
• Developer Adoption: How long does it take a developer to
get up and running with my APIs?
• How has their on-application productivity changed?
• Who is struggling? (yes, you can usually see this, and you
should look)
• Direct value of customer-facing APIs & Reuse/reduction of
technical debt for back end APIs
• Direct contribution to Corporate KPIs
• Value Valve: The tonnage you carry that has direct fiscal
value – you may need to make adjustments

32. Impact recognition and
solving the right problem
Solid adoption runway for
the customer – value, ease,
benefit
Business readiness
(Yours and your Customers)
Sound Technical Approach
What Really Matters
PSA #1: Your Mileage will vary on
the Hype Cycle
PSA #2: It’s not about your awesome tech
PSA #3: Their pain probably isn’t
what you think it is
PSA #5: You may not fully
understand your impact
PSA #6: These metrics may
not be the ones you expect
PSA #4: Never take early
adopters for granted
BUILD
EMBRACE
PRIME
GROUND

33. Thank you!
& Any Questions?