What Is It
Configurability plays a crucial role in policy software solutions: Your team needs to be able to tailor the software to your specific needs and processes. Over the life of your solution, you'll need to adjust various aspects of the system: business rules, workflows, products, regions, rates & forms, user interfaces, integrations, role & permissions… essentially everything you do with the software.
Buying
When considering a policy software solution from a vendor, it's important to evaluate the level of configurability offered. Here are some key points to consider:
- Extent of self-configuration: Assess how much of the product can be configured by your team without vendor intervention. The more flexibility you have in making configurations yourself, the quicker you can adapt to changing requirements. There may be certain aspects that can only be configured by the vendor, which will require additional time and coordination.
- User interface (UI) intuitiveness: Look for a self-serve interface, whether it's text-based or graphical, that is intuitive and clear. A user-friendly interface facilitates efficient configuration and reduces the likelihood of errors. An overly complex or confusing interface can lead to delays, mistakes, and increased dependence on the vendor. It's bad enough to need the vendor to make changes. It may be worse to sink hundreds of hours of your team's time into learning a confusing product.
- Vendor assistance with initial configuration: Determine whether the vendor or a systems integrator offers support in setting up the initial configuration. Having expert guidance can expedite the configuration process and ensure a smoother implementation.
- Graphical UI design: Consider whether the policy software provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for configuration. If available, evaluate its design and intuitiveness, as a well-designed UI can significantly enhance the user experience and streamline configuration tasks.
- Vendor-provided training: Assess whether the vendor offers training resources to help your team learn how to configure the system effectively. Ideally, the software should be intuitive enough to require minimal training. However, if training is necessary, many vendors include it as part of their onboarding package.
- Configuration as text files: Check if any configurations made through a GUI are also accessible as text files. Having configuration files allows for clear visibility of settings in a single location, and utilizing text-based version control systems like git can help track and manage changes effectively.
- Visibility of changes: If configuration changes are not stored in text files, consider whether the system provides an easily accessible and comprehensive overview of all configuration changes. If not you may fall prey to what we call too-many-pockets syndrome: "I know I made a change around here somewhere, but I can't remember where!" This can slow down troubleshooting and debugging significantly.
Building
When developing a custom policy software solution, ensuring configurability requires careful planning and iterative development. It's hard to know what your team will want to be able to configure (and for that matter what they won't even want to think about) before you actually have your product. But here are some suggestions to guide you:
- Engage product managers, user researchers, and designers: Collaborate with skilled professionals who understand the intricacies of configurability and can contribute valuable insights. Their expertise will help you design a system that meets the needs of your team and end-users effectively.
- Leverage experience and expertise: If you lack prior experience in configuring policy administration systems, seek guidance from individuals or consult with experts who have successfully implemented similar solutions. Conduct interviews with experienced individuals to gather insights and best practices specific to your industry.
- Thoroughly plan system components: Take the time to plan out the different parts of your system, their interactions, and the potential configuration requirements. Studying publicly available documentation from existing platforms can provide valuable inspiration and guidance.
- Prioritize critical aspects: Identify the aspects of your policy software that are critical to get right from the start. These may include core business processes, compliance requirements, and integrations with external systems. Focusing on these areas will ensure a solid foundation for configurability.
- Design a robust data model: Devote sufficient attention to designing a sensible and well-structured data model. A carefully thought-out data model will simplify configuration processes and support the scalability and flexibility of your system.
- Embrace iterative development: Recognize that achieving the optimal level of configurability may will require iteration and refinement over time. Build your tech stack based on your current knowledge and expectations, with the understanding that future enhancements and adjustments will be necessary.
By carefully considering configurability, whether through purchasing a system or building one, you can ensure that your policy software platform aligns with your unique needs and is able to adapt to evolving business requirements effectively.