Background:

Rikor, an advanced insurance technology company, provides an insurance compliance platform to franchisors and franchisees, sought to pursue more ambitious projects around expanding its insurance provider network. To focus on this development, Rikor chose to partner with Fraction for its technical leadership, product oversight and developer expertise.  

“Fraction’s advantage breaks down into 3 core pillars: a fractional CTO, a fractional PMO, and a verified developer."

- Jonathan Frazier, COO of Rikor 

The Challenge: 

Expand Capabilities + Rapidly Build Out Partner Integrations  

Initially, the Rikor platform fully relied on offshore developers to handle software development for its system. The offshore team successfully built capabilities around insurance policy management and compliance protocols. But Rikor needed to prioritize more ambitious projects that required developers to interact with insurance partners' technical representatives (this was more challenging for the offshore team given time zone and communication differences).  

With those challenges in mind, hiring an on-shore developer became a key resource need. In a highly competitive tech-talent market, how could Rikor advance the capabilities of the development team? Rikor needed an alternative option that would minimize the risk and contain the cost of on-shore development resources. 

The Solution: 

Fraction’s Technical leadership, Product Oversight, and Developer Expertise 

When Jonathan Frazier, COO of Rikor, met Fraction’s CEO Praveen Ghanta and learned of his industry experience as a CEO, CTO, and COO, Frazier recognized Ghanta’s technical leadership and ability to identify qualified technical talent. As a developer turned founder with a successful exit, Ghanta exited his last start up by leveraging high-quality technical screening to identify top talent to deliver architectural and engineering needs. With a technical interview by Ghanta included in Fraction’s offer, Rikor was assured that the chosen engineer for the project would be able to address the technical complexities in integrating their solution with various insurance providers.  Fraction handled the recruitment and onboarding of a highly skilled part-time developer based in the US. 

With Fractions’ development experience in consulting and high-velocity engagements, he was able to jump in and understand Rikor from a technical and business use case perspective.  “An onshore developer is more likely to read a room, know how to ask, and know who to ask and for what and when,” noted Frazier. Because the Fraction developer was able to ask questions and quickly grasp the platform's needs, significant improvement in development velocity was achieved. Superior business requirements, project planning and organization, and final deployed software.  

As part of Fraction’s offering, Fraction’s PMO joined the Rikor team and enhanced project planning and organizational proficiencies, allowing for significant improvements in organization and delivery.  On an ongoing basis, Rikor saw immediate value in the PMO’s role in managing developer priorities, as well as maintaining clear communication and alignment between business and dev team. This resulted in greater team focus and a resistance to confusion and miscommunication.  

The Result: 

Relationship Expansion with Insurance Providers  

With increased efficiency and improved development capabilities, Rikor expanded relationships with insurance providers. Rikor leveraged Fraction's talent to roll out the ability to provide real-time quotes across a wider range of insurance carriers and policy types.

With Fraction’s triple threat of technical leadership, product oversight and developer expertise, Fraction was able to help Rikor significantly:

• Deliver on schedule

• Predictable expansion of software capabilities

• Expand insurance provider access to grow real-time value for customers

• Engineer novel technologies beyond the scope of leadership sourced innovations

This expanded capability has a direct impact on Rikor's ability to close business, driving long-term revenue growth. Rikor continues to work with Fraction in this capacity, with the goal of using its enhanced software platform to scale its customer base into 2024 and beyond.