Imperial College London embarked on a complex CRM migration project, transitioning from the on-premise Raiser's Edge 7 system to a cloud-based Blackbaud CRM. This transformation aimed to modernize Imperial's donor management, fundraising, and engagement processes while ensuring a seamless integration with existing systems. Recognizing the technical and operational challenges of this transition, Imperial engaged Anante to design a scalable integration framework that would facilitate a smooth migration and future-proof their CRM ecosystem.
Anante's primary role was to define a robust integration architecture that would support both the initial migration and the long-term operational needs of Imperial's CRM system. This included designing an MVP integration solution that covered six native integrations and 19 ancillary systems, ensuring that key data flows remained intact throughout the transition. As part of the full product rollout, Anante architected a comprehensive integration blueprint, enabling real-time REST API connectivity for 14 additional systems while strategically decommissioning three integrations in favour of native CRM functionalities. This approach optimized system performance, reduced redundancy, and improved data consistency.
One of the significant technical challenges in the migration was data duplication, which led to excessive storage costs and inefficiencies. To address this, Anante developed a proof-of-concept (PoC) for data de-duplication, utilizing hashing and near-duplicate detection algorithms. This solution achieved a remarkable 90% reduction in data storage requirements while ensuring data integrity.
Additionally, the migration process provided an opportunity to enhance user experience by automating and streamlining manual processes. By introducing workflow automation and data validation mechanisms, Anante significantly improved operational efficiency, data accuracy, and reduced administrative overhead for end-users.
A local pickleball club sought to establish a strong online presence, making it easier for members and potential players to access key information about the club, events, and membership. Without an existing website, they needed a solution that was modern, accessible, and easy to manage, while also respecting user privacy and security (hallmarks of all that we do at Anante).
Anante partnered with the club to procure a domain name, set up secure website hosting, and design a dynamic single-page website from a minimal brief. Our team crafted a sleek, responsive design that performed seamlessly across both desktop and mobile devices, ensuring a smooth user experience for all visitors. The result was a visually engaging yet highly functional site that exceeded the club's expectations - not only in quality but also in turnaround time.
The website was met with enthusiasm by the club and the wider pickleball community. Other clubs have expressed interest in replicating the design, highlighting its success as an intuitive and effective platform. As a result, Anante has now added several additional designs described here.
By delivering a robust and scalable solution, Anante helped the club enhance its visibility and community engagement, setting the stage for future growth in one of the world's fastest-growing sports.
CrossFit Green sought to streamline their operations, increase their membership, and improve gym capacity usage. As a fitness facility in a competitive market, they were focused on optimising staff management, enhancing member retention, and growing their membership base to fully utilise their gym's potential.
Anante Ltd. partnered with Dublin-based CrossFit Green to develop a tailored strategy aimed at automating key operational processes, improving resource allocation, and introducing solutions to better engage with both current and potential members. By analysing their membership management system and class schedules, we identified opportunities to optimise staff utilisation and enhance membership offerings, allowing for a more personalised and efficient experience.
Through this collaboration, CrossFit Green not only improved its operational efficiency but also set the stage for sustainable membership growth, helping them move closer to their goal of maximising gym capacity while maintaining the personal touch that defines their community.
Over the past year, NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) undertook several high-priority projects simultaneously, which created a fast-paced environment where shortcuts were often taken. These shortcuts resulted in incomplete documentation, project inconsistencies, and accumulated technical debt. NHSBT engaged Anante to systematically address these challenges by refining their project documentation and assessing the technical debt that had accumulated due to previous project decisions.
Anante began by conducting a thorough audit of NHSBT's project documentation. This involved working closely with project leads, key stakeholders, and technical teams to gather information, update outdated materials, and fill in any missing details. Our team ensured that all documentation adhered to the latest standards and provided a clear, consistent understanding of each project's scope, architecture, and progress. This improved documentation not only brought clarity to ongoing projects but also established a solid foundation for future efforts.
In parallel, we carried out an in-depth assessment of NHSBT's technical debt. This included reviewing the project lifecycle, analysing lessons learned, and identifying key areas where project shortcuts had compromised long-term scalability, security, and efficiency. We evaluated how NHSBT had utilised leading technologies, including Oracle APEX, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), and Microsoft Azure, in their projects. Anante's analysis highlighted areas where these technologies could be better leveraged to improve security, robustness, and flexibility, offering NHSBT a roadmap for addressing their technical debt and enhancing their digital infrastructure.
Our recommendations provided NHSBT with actionable steps to resolve their technical debt, improve their overall project delivery process, and ensure that future projects could proceed with a greater degree of confidence and precision. NHST have published their 5-year strategy map that commenced in 2022 which led to the technical debt. An excerpt from Anante's report that focuses on the technical debt accrued by one of these projects is available here.
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) embarked on an ambitious initiative to modernise its donor management and session planning platform, with the goal of migrating over 40% of its functionality from a legacy monolithic system to a more flexible, modern solution. As part of the pre-tender process, NHSBT engaged 18 vendors to explore their offerings. Anante was brought in to assess these responses and perform a deep examination of previously abandoned codebases to recommend a strategic direction for future platform development.
Anante's role in this initiative was to critically evaluate each vendor's proposal, analysing their capabilities, technology stacks, and alignment with NHSBT's long-term vision. Our team also undertook a detailed review of existing “shelfware” code from earlier projects, assessing its potential for salvage and reuse. This holistic approach ensured that NHSBT had a clear understanding of both the value of their existing assets and the technological merits of each vendor's offering.
We produced a comprehensive report that was instrumental in shaping NHSBT's future strategy. The report provided an in-depth evaluation of the abandoned code, offering a salvage pathway where appropriate, while also scoring vendor proposals based on their technical merits and compatibility with NHSBT's goals. The technologies we evaluated - ranging from MS Dynamics 365, MS Power Apps, and Salesforce to Savant Pulse, Appian, and Oracle APEX - formed the basis for our recommendations, which will serve as the foundation for the new platform's development.
By identifying the best combination of vendor solutions and salvaged code, Anante provided NHSBT with a roadmap for creating a modern, scalable platform that will streamline donor management and improve overall operational efficiency. Read more about the project in their 2023/4 Annual Report.
Vodafone, as part of its partnership with Smart DCC to provide communication services via its 4G-based IoT platform, sought to enhance its cybersecurity infrastructure. After identifying gaps in Vodafone's Cyber Security Baseline, particularly in Privileged Access Management, Anante was engaged to address these challenges and design a robust Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solution that aligned with Vodafone's overall security strategy.
Anante's role was to conduct a comprehensive impact assessment, reviewing Vodafone's existing cybersecurity tools and overall strategy. We explored various market options and security enhancements to identify a SIEM or SIEM-like solution that would provide comprehensive monitoring and threat detection capabilities. Our team evaluated technologies across multiple platforms, ensuring the solution could scale with Vodafone's IoT services and meet rigorous security requirements.
Our contributions included the delivery of detailed options papers, which helped secure stakeholder alignment on the best course of action. We designed a High-Level Design (HLD) for the chosen solution and provided ongoing support through the implementation phase. By leveraging technologies such as Elasticsearch, Kibana, and Auditbeat, alongside tools like Grafana, Fluentbit, and ArcSight, we ensured Vodafone's monitoring and security needs were fully addressed. Terraform, GCP, and AWS were also used to integrate the solution within Vodafone's cloud infrastructure, providing seamless scalability and reliability.
Anante's AI expertise was key in extending the Machine-Learning capabilities of Elasticsearch, enhancing threat detection and enabling adaptive, intelligent monitoring.
This comprehensive SIEM solution, designed and implemented by Anante, not only fortified Vodafone's IoT platform but also provided enhanced visibility into privileged access and real-time security threats, ensuring Vodafone's cybersecurity posture remained resilient and forward-looking.
Mobilise, a software consultancy specialising in bespoke solutions for mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), sought Anante's expertise to evaluate the readiness of their HERO platform for Productization. As a solution integral to Mobilise's consultancy services, HERO required a thorough assessment to determine its capabilities, gaps, and overall viability as a commercial product.
Anante was tasked with conducting an extensive evaluation of the platform, which included a comprehensive review of existing project documentation and collateral accumulated over a decade. By synthesising these materials, we produced a High-Level Design (HLD) that would shape the HERO product suite, ensuring it was fully aligned with Mobilise's strategic goals and market needs.
In addition to documentation analysis, we performed an in-depth examination of the HERO codebase. This process involved evaluating the software from numerous previous projects, some of which spanned several years. The assessment identified existing capabilities, uncovered technical gaps, and provided recommendations for enhancing the platform's scalability, maintainability, and market readiness.
Anante leveraged a range of modern technologies, including Mulesoft Anypoint Studio for API integrations, Google Firebase for backend services, and Jetpack Compose and Spring Boot for development. Mobilise used multiple programming languages and frameworks such as Axios, Kotlin, Swift, and RAML that needed to be reviewed by Anante for suitability. By conducting a thorough evaluation and providing actionable insights, Anante ensured that Mobilise's HERO platform was better positioned for Productization, equipping the company with a clear roadmap for future development and enhancing the platform's readiness to support MVNO requirements.
As part of Three's ambitious initiative to combine their technology estates from Ireland and the UK, Anante, together with strategic partner Mosaic Island, was engaged to lead the end-to-end design and implementation of several critical projects. These projects spanned resource management, network integrations, technical migrations, customer communications assurance, and retail user journeys. With complex systems and a vast customer base at stake, Anante's expertise in telecommunications architecture and solution design was pivotal.
One of Anante's key contributions was rationalising the Interface Catalogue, aligning it with the TM Forum Application Framework (TAM) to streamline integrations and ensure consistency across systems. This provided Three with a clear blueprint for managing interfaces and applications across their evolving technology landscape.
To address the technical migration of millions of customers with minimal downtime, Anante defined a robust migration strategy using Oracle GoldenGate and custom scripts. This ensured a seamless transition, maintaining business continuity and customer satisfaction during a highly complex and sensitive process.
By leveraging a range of technologies, including TM Forum SID/TAM, Amdocs CRM/OMS, Oracle SOA, Tibco BusinessWorks, and more, Anante ensured that Three's integration and migration were both secure and scalable, laying a solid foundation for their unified technology estate.
Virgin Media sought to replace aging legacy processes for managing infrastructure assets and performing network planning with modern, standardised tools. Anante partnered with Virgin Media to design and implement an advanced internal Digital Experience Platform (DXP) that seamlessly integrated their existing front-end content management systems with Appian for back-office workflow automation.
The project delivered significant enhancements to Virgin Media's operational efficiency through automation of complex business workflows, including network planning and customer operations. Leveraging Appian's low-code platform, Anante ensured that these workflows were not only faster but also more accurate, reducing manual intervention and streamlining processes.
In addition to workflow automation, Anante defined the data model and key integrations necessary for Appian's operation. This included robust API integrations and file-based ETL processes that connected Appian with Virgin Media's broader legacy technology stack. By creating a seamless flow of data across the organisation, Anante laid the foundation for improved collaboration and operational visibility.
Virgin Media faced challenges in managing architectural complexities across its extensive range of services, often utilising decades-old legacy solutions. Anante was engaged to deliver multiple solutions, ensuring strategic alignment and operational efficiency. The collaboration included the development of Architecture Steers, White Papers, High-Level Solution Architectures, and End-to-End Solution Designs, all tailored to address the needs of Virgin Media's diverse service landscape.
A standout achievement of the engagement was the design of an innovative migration strategy that significantly reduced expected operational costs. By reimagining the migration process, Anante enabled Virgin Media to achieve cost savings of over 90%, bringing the estimated expenditure down from £5M to under £0.5M. This cost-efficient approach not only optimised resource allocation, without jeopardising any jobs, but also set a benchmark for operational excellence.
During the engagement, Anante worked with a multitude of technologies, from cutting-edge to legacy to in-house developed unique solutions, including Hansen SMP, Oracle Fusion, Netcracker ICOMS, Remedy, Adobe Experience Manager, Azure Bot Services, Bomgar, and Netezza. These tools and platforms were strategically integrated to enhance Virgin Media's digital and operational capabilities, providing a robust foundation for scalability and future growth.
This engagement highlighted the value of Anante's expertise in delivering architectural solutions that drive efficiency, innovation, and substantial cost savings.
The Security Industry Authority (SIA), an NDPB responsible for regulating the Private Security Industry, embarked on a large-scale strategic change programme to modernise its operations in line with legislative changes introduced by the Private Security Industry Act 2001. The transformation initiative involved a complete overhaul of their business and technology processes, aimed at digitalising all operations. Anante played a key role in shaping the Target Operating Model (TOM), a significant departure from the existing framework, and supported the ITT process, helping to select vendors who aligned with SIA's vision for the future.
Anante contributed by defining the enterprise architecture framework and establishing key architectural guidelines and principles that would underpin the transformation. These frameworks ensured a cohesive and scalable approach to digital transformation while aligning with the regulatory demands and strategic goals of the SIA. Our team also produced the Architecture Reference Model, leveraging UKRA, to cover all aspects of Enterprise Architecture, from technology stack to operational processes.
Our expertise was pivotal in contributing to multiple areas of the TOM, with a special focus on the CRM system, which was critical for streamlining the SIA's regulatory functions. By offering architectural insights and solution designs, we helped ensure that the new business processes were seamlessly integrated with the digital platforms under consideration.
Through our deep understanding of industry frameworks like TOGAF and ITIL, combined with tools such as BPMN for process modelling, Anante provided a structured approach to both the business and technology transformation. Our support in the vendor selection process and involvement in defining the architecture ensured that the SIA was positioned to fully embrace a digital future, with scalable and secure systems.
KPN, the premier telecom provider of Netherlands, engaged Anante to ensure the success of its billing and CRM transformation. Anante played a dual role, providing Solution Architecture for KPN's internal teams, while also bridging the gap between KPN and IBM's India-based delivery and maintenance teams. In this capacity, Anante provided impact analyses and high-level functional designs spanning multiple systems, while ensuring that the deliverables were cohesive, robust, and aligned with project and business objectives. Additionally, Anante provided hands-on support for issue resolution within the application maintenance team.
One of Anante's key achievements was diagnosing and correcting a misconfiguration in VoIP and IPTV subscriber discounts that had gone unnoticed since inception. This correction saved KPN over €1 million annually in lost revenue. By performing proactive analyses of KPN's systems and processes, Anante was able to secure additional project work for IBM, including initiatives to archive and clean up billing databases, reduce manual order processing, and provide comprehensive statistics on customer service representative (CSR) calls.
In addition to identifying these strategic initiatives, Anante was responsible for overseeing the quality of all third-party deliverables from IBM's remote teams, including technical designs, test plans, specifications, and code reviews. This ensured a consistent level of quality and helped drive improvements across KPN's operations.
Anante leveraged a wide range of technologies throughout this project, including UML design, Rational Unified Process, C#/.NET, Portal/Oracle BRM, SQL, Python, and UNIX scripting. The comprehensive and hands-on support provided by Anante contributed to a more efficient and cost-effective billing and CRM ecosystem for KPN.
Deutsche Bank engaged Anante to work on a series of critical projects within its Cash & Investment Banking division. Anante's role involved designing and implementing data mediation programs to convert legacy data into modern financial systems such as SWIFT, Kondor+, and Crest, among others. By transforming outdated processes and systems, Anante helped Deutsche Bank modernise its data infrastructure and align with industry standards.
One of Anante's key contributions was the proactive identification of additional manual interfaces and legacy databases that could be replaced with automated systems and newer data standards. These improvements significantly reduced the reliance on manual processes and saved thousands of man-hours annually.
Anante also designed a robust in-house message queue system based on a publish-subscribe paradigm, enabling efficient data exchange between systems and reducing bottlenecks within Deutsche Bank's financial operations. The solution contributed to improved data handling, better alignment with financial protocols, and a streamlined communication infrastructure.
Leveraging a comprehensive suite of technologies, including C++, C, UNIX (Solaris, AIX), and SQL Server, along with industry-standard financial systems and protocols like SWIFT, Kondor+, and Crest, Anante ensured that Deutsche Bank's data mediation processes were scalable, secure, and future-proof.