Helping Australian Finance Group achieve architecture success through data discovery
Reviewing AFG’s end-to-end data architecture
AFG needed a technology partner to review its complex legacy analytics and insights platform. Further support to this existing platform or a move to its newest version would likely result in additional operational costs and disruption to the business.
AFG engaged Telstra Purple, Australia’s largest technology services company, to review its architecture, identify opportunities, improve efficiency and reduce costs. The engagement began with a series of internal one-on-one interviews to gain a rapid understanding of its data landscape. This was built upon several user workshops across a broad audience to learn about the business pain points and uncover unique insights.
Throughout the discovery engagement, the Telstra Purple team worked with the AFG team to create an architecture and migration strategy which could be implemented in parallel to its existing data architecture. This approach helped to ease the transition from proprietary tooling to modular, scalable and reversible components that would form the new end-to-end data architecture.
A design-led approach to discovery
Telstra Purple executed a comprehensive discovery that identified key themes that shaped a new proposed data architecture. This architecture was designed to improve key areas like performance, demand on specific skillsets and vendor lock-in - all identified through the design-led approach.
Telstra Purple’s modular, scalable, and reversible ways of working provided total flexibility for AFG and made them future-ready should further changes be required for tooling and demand. AFG now have greater control of their A&I data processing capabilities to address their budgets, and both internal and customer requirements. Telstra Purple reviewed leading data tools, provided key recommendations and comparisons with functionality and price estimates specific to AFG’s business demands.
As part of the process, the Telstra Purple team also reviewed AFG’s IT systems, analysed processes and documentation, conducted internal SME and user workshops and worked closely with external vendors to identify and improve the business-critical functions.
“Telstra Purple have done a great job throughout the engagement, providing detailed and considered recommendations for our future state A&I architecture. The attention to detail has been pivotal in the success of the engagement,” said Vanessa Robinson, Head of Analytics & Insights, AFG.
Future-ready and data driven architecture
One of the outcomes of this engagement included a complete end-to-end data architecture report that was presented to the IT team’s Architecture Review Committee. This report documented the entire engagement to showcase methodologies, key insights and pain points discovered, and how these insights drove the decisions in the proposed new data architecture.
Telstra Purple’s collaborative work with AFG ensured that the proposed data architecture could be implemented within their existing environment to help save operational costs. By analysing and understanding AFG’s requirements and recommending solutions that focused on known key internal processing pain points and internal user feedback from a broad audience across AFG, Telstra Purple framed the looming deadline into an exciting impetus for change.
Telstra Purple recommended an end-to-end architecture solution that will empower AFG to utilise the full extent of its A&I data, increase its internal operating efficiencies and opens the door for innovative, strategic and data-driven decisions.
The team were supportive, responsive and went above and beyond to answer any queries or concerns. I have really enjoyed working with them and hope we can work together again in the future,” added Vanessa.
AFG is at the beginning of their new data architecture journey and Telstra Purple is delighted to help guide them in a successful direction with its team of experts.
About Australian Finance Group
Australian Finance Group (AFG) is one of Australia’s most secure and prosperous mortgage aggregators. Established in 1994 to help create a fairer financial future for Australians, AFG is one of the country’s largest mortgage broking groups and leaders in financial solutions. With over 3,700 brokers nationally, offering more than 7000 products across 70+ lenders, AFG managed $59 billion in residential finance last year.
To continuously support its ever-evolving business demands, offer exceptional customer experience and reduce operational costs, AFG identified the need to improve their legacy analytics and insights (A&I) system. As an organisation with critical dependency on data, their first step was to review the data landscape of the existing A&I system.
My Role
As the lead on this project, my responsibilities included:
Scoping and Requirements: Defining project goals and establishing detailed requirements.
Team Assembly: Pulling the team together and ensuring the right mix of skills and expertise.
Team Briefing and Mentoring: Guiding and supporting the team throughout the project.
Product Management: Ensuring the project stayed on track with scope, budget, and time constraints.
Methodology Implementation: Applying my practices and methodologies to ensure project success.
“Telstra Purple have done a great job throughout the engagement, providing detailed and considered recommendations for our future state A&I architecture. The attention to detail has been pivotal in the success of the engagement, ”
Approach for Gathering Broad Feedback and Removing Internal Assumptions and Biases in Proposed Data Architecture
To ensure we captured broad feedback and removed any known internal assumptions and biases in our proposed new data architecture, we embarked on a comprehensive journey of discovery and analysis. Our first step involved organising several retrospective workshops that brought together a diverse range of internal end-users, including teams from Sales, Finance, Securities, and CABs. These workshops also included the Analytics and Insights team, cross-business unit analysts, and key members from the wider IT and Architecture team. The goal was to create a space where everyone could openly share their experiences, insights, and concerns regarding the current data architecture.
During these workshops, we facilitated discussions that delved deep into the existing architecture and workflows. Participants were encouraged to voice their pain points and areas where they felt improvements were necessary. This collaborative environment helped us gather a wealth of feedback, revealing both common themes and unique challenges faced by different departments. It also allowed us to identify and challenge any internal assumptions or biases that might have influenced our initial proposal.
In parallel with the workshops, we conducted a series of one-on-one interviews with subject matter experts (SMEs) from across the organisation. These interviews were crucial for gaining a deeper understanding of the current tooling and internal workflows. By speaking directly with those who interact with the data architecture daily, we were able to uncover specific pain points and bottlenecks that might not have been apparent in group settings. These conversations provided valuable insights into the effectiveness of the current tools and processes, highlighting areas that needed urgent attention.
Throughout this process, we meticulously documented all feedback, pain points, and suggestions for improvement. We then analysed this data to identify recurring themes and patterns. This analysis was instrumental in highlighting any internal assumptions and biases that had previously gone unnoticed. By bringing these to light, we could address them head-on and ensure they did not cloud our judgment or influence our decisions moving forward.
The next step was to compile a comprehensive report that summarised our findings from the workshops and interviews. This report included detailed recommendations for addressing the identified pain points and improving the data architecture. We presented these findings and recommendations to the relevant stakeholders for their review and approval, ensuring that everyone was aligned on the proposed changes.
Finally, we began implementing the feedback and recommendations into our new data architecture. We developed an action plan to guide the implementation process and conducted follow-up sessions to ensure that the changes were effective and that any new issues were promptly addressed. This iterative process allowed us to continuously refine the architecture, making it more robust and better suited to meet the needs of all stakeholders.
By taking this thorough and collaborative approach, we ensured that our proposed new data architecture was well-informed, comprehensive, and free from internal biases. The result is a more effective and efficient system that better supports the organisation’s goals and enhances the overall user experience.
Personas
Methodology
3 x Retrospective break-out sessions via teams
Goal: To uncover what is working,
what isn't and where your broader team
would like to be in the analytics and data space.
5 x internal SME deep dive sessions
Goal: Deep dive into HOW your data
pipeline and internal business processes
are setup and working
Follow up survey
Goal: Quantify feedback from participants
whom may have missed out and reach
broader audience