Our part-time CTO was brought in to help in executing a SaaS product revitalisation in a B2B company.
Company Profile
This B2B SaaS company, offering two products for telecom giants and merchant acquiring banks, embarked on a journey to invest in next-gen SaaS products. The first product analyses petabytes of billing data for sales teams, while the second helps field agents demonstrate savings to business owners using historical card payment data.
CEO’s Mission
The company faced the risk of collapse following a poorly executed transformational journey. With significant investments yielding little progress, the company’s flagship SaaS products stagnated, leading to customer dissatisfaction and substantial operating losses. The CEO set a 12-month deadline for improvement to avoid going into administration.
CTO’s Objectives
- Transition technology products and operations from existing teams and suppliers to a new department.
- Stabilise the two flagship products and operations.
- Define and deliver a credible roadmap to regain customer confidence.
What the CTO Did
Create a New Technology Department and Transition Assets
The initial step for the CTO involved creating a shadow technology department and transferring a few engaged employees from the old team via TUPE. Concerned about potential sabotage, the company cut off access to existing teams and suppliers within 12 hours of the decision, ensuring a swift transition of platforms and operations.
Assessment and Roadmap (Technology, People, and Processes)
The assessment showed that the flagship SaaS products were outdated and carried significant security and operational risks. The company wrote off the next-gen SaaS product, heavily invested in, due to its outdated concepts and poor execution by the incumbent teams. The focus shifted to stabilising the flagship products with minimal updates and developing revenue-generating features.
Walking the Walk: Delivering on Objectives
The hard exit of the incumbent team required immediate action. The first month saw the technology leadership team in a war room mode, adapting the operating model until it was efficient. Within three months, the team achieved minimal stabilization, and within six months, they were delivering new revenue-generating features. This turnaround led the company from significant losses to profitability within that financial year.
Since then, the company has expanded its customer base, designed, and delivered new adjacent SaaS products for telecoms. They are now eyeing acquisitions in related areas. This SaaS product revitalisation has not only saved the company from administration but also positioned it for future growth and expansion.