Incorporating a digital solution in any enterprise can only be successful when there is adequate support post-implementation. The time between the implementation and enterprise-wide user adoption is critical and must include a strategic process for ensuring the sustainability of the software solution. Enterprises may falter by either choosing an inexpert team or losing time trying to manage it themselves. The same is true of post-implementation support for Guidewire.  

The guidewire post-implementation team is one of the most critical elements of a successful guidewire deployment. The team is responsible for ensuring that the Guidewire users have a firm grasp of the software tool for optimum results. 

What is expected from a post-implementation team?

Support during post-implementation requires a prompt response to issues that arise from the users. It requires specially skilled team members who use a disciplined approach and the right tools to communicate effectively. It starts with: 

Selecting a qualified team 

The team’s familiarity with Guidewire is imperative. They must also be familiar with workflows and technical skills pertaining to the application and have clear responsibilities to respond to users across different units and multiple focus areas.  They should be skilled in simulating, debugging and tracing the root cause of the issue raised.  

Categorizing issues 

The post-implementation team should be able to assess and categorize issues by their type and define customized workflows based on the type of request. They should also be able to recognize the operational impact and prioritize the anomalies to decide on the response speed. 

Follow-up with stakeholders 

Taking user feedback and determining corrective steps are essential to a successful implementation. It also helps uniform user adoption and removes resistance to new software.  

Essentially, the post-implementation team will ensure that Guidewire implementations are appropriately integrated into the existing business processes and pipelines.  

Who should form the post-implementation team?

A post-implementation team comprises of multiple level of support personals including the L1 team who are the first point of contact to the customers, L2 team who can fix documented issues or configuration related changes and the L3 team who can do application fix.  It is imperative that all the three levels of support personals are skilled, trained and certified in Guidewire suite of products.  The ability to perform triage is a critical skill in a post-implementation team to keep up with the agreed SLA with the customer. 

Immediately after Guidewire’s implementation, the support team is likely to have a large number of tickets as they step in to help business users navigate through the software. The duration of their presence varies as the number of users may vary among differently-sized enterprises.  

While the enterprises stipulate weeks or months in their agreement, the support team may scale up or down as needed. The floating team may also decrease as more users become adept at using the software, the initial hiccups are resolved, and Guidewire stabilization is achieved. There are several benefits to having a post-implementation strategy and team in place at the start of the project to ensure project success. 

Benefits of a Guidewire post-implementation team

In the fast-paced world of the P&C insurance service, digital transformation has allowed insurance providers to empower their agents to be more efficient and productive while providing a better customer experience to policy-holders. Having a qualified post-implementation team in place is a great way to ensure that you can identify and address issues as they arise. 

The advantages of accessing post-implementation support include: 

  • Quick identification of issues and concerns. 
  • Get feedback from all business users. 
  • Provide solutions for any problems that arise. 
  • Increase user adoption seamlessly. 
  • Meet the SLAs with the customers and improve customer satisfaction 
Questions you should ask when building a post-implementation team

Choosing the right people for your Guidewire post-implementation team can be key to their successful transition into a new tool. Your selection process would be more effective if you identify what you need from them by asking these questions: 

  • Is the team certified in Guidewire Product suites? 
  • Is there a Leader who can guide and direct the post-implementation team? 
  • How many members do you need? 
  • Are they SMEs? 
  • Does the team have expert testers? 
  • Are they strong communicators? 
  • Can the team work collaboratively with the business users in your enterprise? 

These are a few questions that will help define a robust post-implementation team. Your enterprise will rely on their expertise to make Guidewire implementation a success.  

To conclude

Technology adoption is a continuous process. In addition to onboarding your employees onto the Guidewire platform, you want to ensure enough support to keep them productive and efficient for the long run. The post-implementation team will provide a smoother adoption of the platform.  

Guidewire can be a complex P&C software application for a novice who needs the expertise to leverage it to its fullest potential with a skilled post-implementation team, in-house or outsourced. Post-implementation teams for any platform or application can make a big difference to its success, which is equally true of Guidewire implementations.  

Please reach out to us at [email protected] or sign up for a free consultation!
Visit our – Guidewire Transformation Services


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