Connect for Health Colorado transforms customer experience using agile methodologies

Connect for Health Colorado transformed into an agile multi-value stream organization with a cost-efficient cloud-native technology platform to serve customers in a dynamic market.

In 2017, Connect for Health Colorado saw an opportunity to give its customers greater control over their user experience by delivering a more expedient application process and new in-demand product features, simplifying the customer-facing processes, and enhancing customer care to provide greater clarity and continuity - especially in complex situations involving eligibility for multiple benefit programs. 

Connect for Health Colorado wanted to boost its ability to stay compliant with marketplace regulations, to respond to changes in government policy and programs, and to pursue new opportunities to serve Coloradans.

The challenge

These strategic initiatives demanded a transformed organization - one with a strong culture of change acceptance, an ability to adjust business operations quickly and reliably, and the skills and capacity to manage complex products simultaneously. Its marketplace platform had to capitalize on modern technologies and tools for rapid product development, continuous delivery, along with secure, transparent, and cost-efficient operations. 

This opportunity to transform came with an ambitious, phased timeline of 8-12 month increments, concurrent with the continued operation of the marketplace, bounded by the annual high-demand enrollment periods.

The solution

In partnership with CGI, Connect for Health Colorado transformed into a mature agile organization that uses a robust Development, Security and Operations (DevSecOPS) end-to-end IT delivery methodology. Based on Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) methodologies, the organization reduced cultural and organizational silos between key stakeholders and restructured the product development into integrated value streams with new product and project management processes.

The shortened time-to-market for new product features, enhancements, and fixes increased the business flexibility and operational reliability resulting in a 77% reduction in maintenance and operations costs.