Case Study: Software as a Service
Global SaaS Company
Sustaining and improving an in-market video editing, review, and collaboration solution for a global software-as-a-service company known for its creative tools
Idea
Engage Revelry to oversee daily operations of an in-market solution, freeing internal teams to focus on new product development
Challenge
In-house PO on extended leave, requiring Revelry to expand initial team and contribute in a more significant, cross-functional way
Services
Product management, front-end development, back-end engineering, strategic planning support, product privacy and security support
the SITUATION
Support for an In-Market Product
A leading American software company, known for its multimedia and creativity tools, wanted a significant majority of its product team members working on new product development. To allow for this focus on innovation, while simultaneously ensuring customers using existing software remained highly satisfied, the company engaged with Revelry.
A Revelry product delivery team – initially comprised of one product manager (PM) and three engineers, but expanded to two PMs and eight engineers once the company saw the value provided – was deployed to work alongside the company’s product owner (PO) to oversee daily operations of an existing video editing, review, and collaboration solution. The team’s responsibilities included product support, improvement, and enhancement with the goal of ensuring it continued to function at its best, delivering ongoing value for customers.
the Challenge
Unexpected Needs, An Expanded Role
The company’s PO needed to be out on extended leave, requiring Revelry’s PM to contribute in a more significant and cross-functional way – collaborating across Customer Support, Customer Success, and Sales to understand needs, prioritize work, and communicate / coordinate next steps with the in-house product “squads,” which were building a new product on top of the existing product being managed by Revelry.
“There were 7-10 squads working on new stuff… different parts of the new product, like identity, engagement, workflow, enterprise, and monetization,” says the Revelry PM on the project. “We had to be super aware of who was doing what and when, so as not to create issues for one another. Clear and timely communication was also helpful in guiding decision making. We knew we couldn’t make decisions in isolation.”
In addition, the Revelry team worked closely with the company’s privacy and security teams to not only assure regulatory compliance, but also help with high-risk security vulnerabilities.
The DELIVERY
A Transparent Process, A Strategic Partner
Process: Revelry’s team began by adapting processes for identifying issues, evaluating the impact of those issues, and then prioritizing and working accordingly. The goal: Keep existing customers happy by delivering ongoing value, while also remembering that the new product was being built to replace the existing product; if something new is built for the in-market version, it will also have to be built for the new version.
Issues / Bugs: To surface issues, the Revelry team regularly meets with Customer Support, Customer Success (aka enterprise account management), User Insights, and specific customers, so that user concerns can be shared. Issues are then triaged – sometimes requiring leadership approval – and either committed to or not. Regardless, all issues are added to an Airtable, where their status can be easily monitored.
New Features: As with issues, new features are handled on an individual basis. Among the questions asked when assessing potential new features and functionality: Is this something that the v4 teams feel comfortable adding as well? Does it align with the company’s goals (stability, shipping value to existing customers awaiting the new version, retention and expansion targets, etc.)? What is the risk of not delivering the feature / functionality? Who requested or is being affected? If we don’t ship this, what will happen? Will that customer churn?
All issues / bug fixes and new feature deployments are accompanied by artifacts (support materials). The Revelry team also works with Customer Success, Customer Support, and Marketing to ensure smooth rollouts and subsequently monitors to ensure success.
Security: The Revelry team created a dashboard for issues with agreed upon response times. Bi-weekly meetings with the company’s security lead ensures everyone is on the same page and issues are addressed as planned.
Support in Strategy: The Revelry team participates in strategic planning sessions on a regular basis, helping define requirements by researching and presenting recommendations. Much of this is done in biweekly sessions with leadership and as a part of the stakeholder review process.
This is an ongoing project. To learn more about what we’re up to, connect with us.