Case Study: Taking Over Maintenance and Operations of the Egg Freezing and Storage Service "GraceBank" and Enabling Weekly Feature Improvements

Overview

"GraceBank," operated by Grace Group Co., Ltd., is a service that provides everything in one package: egg retrieval and freezing at partner clinics, long-term storage at specialized facilities, and use in future treatment. It has also been adopted by major companies as an employee benefit. While the business was expanding, it was hard for the company to judge for itself what additional development should cost, and for a while the necessary features were not getting implemented.

We took over maintenance and operations. All we received was the source code and the cloud administration details; there were no design documents. Starting from that state, we have been running a weekly improvement cycle, keeping records every time we investigate something.

Challenges

• It was hard to judge whether the cost of additional development was reasonable, so necessary features were not getting implemented
• Work that should have been done in the system was being done by hand, and data was scattered across multiple places
• Because the service handles personal medical information and payment information, a high level of security was required

What We Did

• Read through the source code and built up specifications and procedures as documents with every investigation and modification
• Set priorities in weekly meetings and released items one after another as they were completed
• Designed permissions that separate the information visible to each party: users, clinics, storage facilities and operations staff
• Shared the status at all times in a chat that every development team member takes part in

Results

• Feature improvements and additions now happen continuously
• Work that had been done outside the system is being consolidated step by step onto the platform
• Improvements can now move forward at a realistic cost

A Handover You Can Trust, Even Midway Through

When switching development companies, the common worries are "there are no design documents" and "we don't know the history so far." In this case there were no documents either, but instead of trying to grasp the whole system at once, we took the approach of investigating the relevant part in depth and leaving records each time we made a modification or investigation. Even if there are no documents at the time of handover, understanding of the system accumulates with every modification.

The handover came about through collaboration on a separate project. After comparing us with other companies, the client chose us for how quickly we understood the situation, our proposal and team setup, and the fact that the existing technology stack overlapped with our areas of strength.

Our Scope of Work

• Maintenance and operations
• Development of feature additions and improvements
• Infrastructure operations
• Documentation of specifications and procedures

Client Information

Company Name

Grace Group Co., Ltd.

Business Overview

• Operation of "GraceBank," an egg freezing and storage service

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you take over a system without design documents or other documentation? Yes. This case also started with only the source code and cloud administration details, and we have been building up documentation with every investigation.

Can we consult you while still under contract with our current development company? Yes. You can consult us starting from sorting out the scope and timing of the handover and the information you should receive in advance.

Can we entrust you with a system that handles highly confidential data such as medical information? We hold ISMS certification. In this case, we separated the information each type of user can access, so the design lets each party handle only the information they need.

Related Information

• Taking over maintenance and operations of existing systems, and additional development → System Development
• Consolidating work that happens outside your systems → DX Promotion Support

Related news

• Maintenance and operations of the GraceBank platform begin

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