The package out, paid back in one year

Strive, a gym, paid every year for a membership management package it only partly used. We built Strive its own software alongside the package, with only what Strive needs, and the subscription was switched off only when everything matched.

Plan a start sprint

year payback period: 1

The question

The package costs a lot every year and does not fit how we work. Can it be done differently?

What we built

Custom software with only the features Strive uses
Integrations the old package lacked
The data moved over, with a check after every step
The team trained on the new system before the old one was switched off

Software that follows the work

The subscription had to be paid every year, for features that mostly went unused, and the package dictated how Strive had to work. The new software does only what the gym needs, connected to what was already there.

Because the new system was built alongside the package, work at the gym simply carried on. The replacement paid for itself in one year.

How it went

Step 1
Inventory of the package

What the package did, what was used and what it was connected to.
Step 2
Business case

On one page: what the package cost, what its own software would cost and when the replacement pays for itself.
Step 3
Building alongside the package

The new system was built while the package kept running.
Step 4
Running side by side

Both systems ran until the figures matched.
Step 5
Subscription cancelled

Only then was the package switched off.