Whitevision: The distinguishing power of software lies in adaptability

Whitevision’s solution – focused on the smart and digital processing of incoming documents – is used by approximately 1,500 organizations and 26,000 end-users across various sectors and industries. This adds complexity to the software, as Whitevision’s software must be able to handle diverse document standards from different industries. When it was time to start moving more functionality to a new cloud environment, Whitevision needed flexible and specialized developers.

Like many Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), Whitevision’s roots lie in the ‘on-premise’ era. “Whitevision originally started with scanning and recognizing incoming paper invoices,” explains Maaike Dircken, software development manager at Whitevision. “Our solution was developed in-house from 2005 using the waterfall method. During the first growth phase, it was common for a long time to customize the software per client—think of specific integrations with ERP or financial systems. This was done using the Kanban method, focused on continuous improvement.” This led to a very comprehensive solution over time.

Today, Whitevision’s software suite has advanced, with optimization of digital document processing taking center stage. “The applications that our document management solutions integrate with—mainly ERP systems like 4PS, Afas, or Exact—are all moving towards SaaS and cloud solutions. This has the advantage that all applications can be developed and improved in fast iterations. When something changes in a particular sector, your solution needs to respond quickly. Standardization and automation of processes in the software also make implementation and support easier.”

For Whitevision itself, the transition to SaaS is also a strategic one: the company has been working towards a subscription-based revenue model. Dircken: “We embarked on this path a few years ago: around the end of 2020, we established a vision for it. How can we create a robust product suite that is future-proof and allows us to adapt more quickly to our customers’ needs?

In some sectors, there has been a significant acceleration in recent years: for example, the use of smartphones and tablets have become common on construction sites; digital working is becoming increasingly relevant. This also applies to file exchange and the processing of digital documents. Previously, this was a process that changed relatively little; nowadays, the adaptability of solutions is also their distinguishing feature. Our customers come from all sectors, and they usually want to adhere to their own industry-specific standards. Security is a very important element in this.”

These changing circumstances – more variety, more emphasis on security – have gone hand in hand with strong growth for Whitevision. “We are also gradually taking steps towards internationalization. In other countries, there are different business rules, for example, concerning VAT.” And to make Whitevision’s product as a whole more robust, work is being done on integrating the various sub-solutions from the suite. As a result, some of the focus is shifting to technology dilemma’s, where it was previously mainly about functionality.

What makes the transformation extra challenging is that it involves an existing product with more than 1,500 satisfied customers, says Dircken. “Behind the current web interface of our solutions is a large collection of different software products. We want to modernize some of those and redevelop parts that were previously sourced from third parties within Whitevision and make them a part of the product suite.”

Whitevision deliberately chose to outsource part of the development of this new cloud-based product line to NetRom. The start of the collaboration with NetRom was mainly a learning phase for Whitevision. NetRom was used to delivering something in two weeks based on their own agile methodology. Whitevision tended to want to put too much into a sprint. This made it more complicated for NetRom to translate the requested functionality into a suitable technical solution.

“These kinds of topics were, of course, discussed in conversations with NetRom. Both sides learn from this. Properly preparing an assignment before handing it over is necessary to allow the team to make a good estimate of the development time required. This includes making agreements about specifying acceptance criteria and discussing the functional context. How do you work towards a minimum viable product without immediately diving too deep into the details? How do you ensure that you deliver on time and you deliver regularly? That forms a good basis for a dialogue: what can we do to speed things up?”

In addition, both sides had to learn to communicate with each other. “When we made changes to the work in the interim, it affected the teams directly, especially when they were dealing with competencies. Not only did we want to become more productive, but we also had to become more predictable. To improve these things, we went to visit Romania. This was incredibly beneficial for communication, and it’s good to get to know each other better on a personal level. A better relationship makes it much easier to move forward after a disagreement or obstacle. What we also learned: if you have fewer contact moments, it increases the chances of long discussions about specifications. So, we made clear agreements about the structure and preparation of the calls. NetRom also proactively communicates when there is a change in the team. Then we know that there might be a slight dip in productivity. This contributes to mutual predictability.”

Previously, Whitevision had two teams working at NetRom, Dircken recalls: “We had a team of three people for one product. And we had a team of five people on another product. That had to do with the structure of the company: there were two separate business entities. The separate product of the second team has now been fully integrated into the total product suite.

Both products, each with their own team, ended up in the next product lifecycle: from product development and launch to a maintenance mode with fewer required resources. When there were also changes in the team composition at NetRom, it was the perfect time to merge and downsize the two teams.”

“This had quite a few consequences for NetRom: the assignment changed, and we combined and expanded the development and testing capacity internally and at NetRom. We went from two teams to one team of five people and a team lead. A compliment to NetRom is that they were able to adapt quickly to this. Everything is done in consultation, and I have seen it done differently: with some IT service providers, you just get people assigned as if they were pawns. I don’t want that; I also want to build a relationship with the team we work with.”

Now that the products in Whitevision’s portfolio have been combined, NetRom has gradually taken on a larger role in the indirect support to end-users. Dircken: “If something isn’t working properly or needs to be adjusted, they can quickly adapt. In addition, the variety of products we have is a challenge, which NetRom is happy to advise on. The NetRom developers work on all kinds of platforms and always have an expert on hand. Most of the time, this provides us with helpful suggestions: have you thought about this? That is very valuable.”

“The biggest lessons for our organization? It’s mainly about achieving predictability and reliability. Over time, we have learned to better estimate what a development team can deliver. NetRom has increasingly understood what we mean over the course of the collaboration. My tip for companies considering an agile collaboration? Make sure you don’t make the collaboration and communication too complex. From creating a user story to asking questions and making agreements about communication: keep it simple.”

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