OEE Consulting bolsters rapid prototyping services with MATS partnership
OEE Consulting has struck a partnership with MatsSoft, a UK-based provider of a low-code application development platform. As part of the partnership, consulting teams of OEE have been trained to use MatsSoft's MATS platform, enabling them to help clients to turn process designs into working digital prototypes in just a few hours.
With over 100 consultants and trainers, OEE Consulting is one of UK’s larger consultancies specialised in business improvement and operational excellence. The Oxford-based consulting firm, founded in 1997, works for a range of clients, including FTSE listed businesses, leading academic institutions and the public sector.
In a bid to bolster its suite of digital transformation services, the consultancy has partnered with MatsSoft, a company that provides Business Process Management (BPM) software and tools. The Bedford headquartered firm was established in 2007, and, after focusing on the financial services industry in its early years, MatsSoft today serves organisations in several industries, including the likes of Vodafone, Nationwide and AstraZeneca. Its software platform (‘MATS’) differentiates itself from other solutions in the market through its low-code backbone – the software requires relatively little IT knowledge and, through its drag-and-drop interface to configure (rather than code), is easy to use for professionals.
The alliance between OEE Consulting and MatsSoft sees the consultancy firm integrate the MATS platform into its suite of digital propositions. One of the key offerings that will leverage the platform is rapid prototyping, an approach which is becoming increasingly more important as organisations face growing pressure to quickly deliver digital transformation projects. With the use of MATS the firm’s consultants, according to Chris Hallmark, director at OEE Consulting, can build working digital prototypes in the space of just a few hours. “The ability to create quick digital prototypes is extremely powerful. We can be having a conversation with a client about how a process should be automated, then mock it up in just a few hours using MATS. When the client can see and play with the prototype straightaway, they see the benefits very quickly.”
The approach provides significant benefits over the traditional way of working, says Hallmark, which commonly either focuses on a rigid decision-making process (“organisations often come up with one idea and rigidly stick to it, whether it’s a good one or not”) or on an iterative process which down the line may be more time consuming and costly.
Under the umbrella of the agreement, consulting teams of OEE Consulting have in recent weeks been trained to use the MATS platform. In addition, a number of OEE consultants have been certified – Gowtham Narayan, a Senior Consultant at OEE Consulting, has, for instance, been accredited by MatsSoft to be a Builder Essentials Level user of the MATS platform.
Hallmark: “Now, when consultants work with clients to redesign customer journeys through apps or websites, they can go one step further and actually build a prototype application to demonstrate how that journey will work in the real world. The prototype can be tested with customers to understand whether it meets their needs. If it does, it can be carried forward into development. And if it doesn’t, the OEE Consulting and client project team can develop and test different iterations with very little time or money lost.”
Nigel Warren, marketing director at MatsSoft, comments, “OEE Consulting can now solve a problem that’s endemic in digital transformation. Usually, it takes so long for an application or digital service to be built, that by the end of the process it’s gone through a series of compromises and no longer delivers what anyone wants. With MATS, a new digital service can be designed, built, tested, tweaked and put into production extremely fast – making it much more likely to meet customer needs.”
Earlier this year MATS also agreed to enter into a strategic alliance with engineering and consulting firm Mott MacDonald.