Once is a chance, twice is a coincidence, and three times is a pattern. It seems like Redwerk has developed quite an interesting pattern: projects we work on from the ground up tend to be acquired by market giants, regardless of the industry. First it was Mass Movement acquired by J.B.Hunt, then Recruit Media acquired by HireQuest, and now it is C!A who joined assets with Vimo.

In this article, we’ll cover:

C!A Acquired by Vimo

Redwerk helped C!A develop an ADA-compliant public service delivery SaaS, successfully integrated by government agencies across several US states and counties. In November 2021, C!A was acquired by Vimo, and we finally can reveal more details behind the acquisition and our cooperation with C!A.

“As the leading technology provider of state-based marketplaces, Vimo shares our passion for doing more good. By joining Vimo, our heart is getting bigger. And, our bench of talented and skilled SaaS technology experts is getting deeper, allowing us to strengthen and expand Current, our service delivery platform for health and human services, and help agencies achieve even greater impact and outcomes,”

What is C!A?

C!A, aka Change & Innovation Agency, is a US-based company catering to the needs of public servants and government agencies delivering a range of welfare programs – from Medicaid, TANF, and SNAP to child welfare, child support, and unemployment insurance.

C!A is founded by former public servants and people of government willing to make a difference and transform convoluted and inefficient systems of government into powerful change agents. The C!A team achieves this by consulting agencies on redesigning their delivery models, modernizing policies, and replacing cumbersome processes with innovative tech solutions, such as Current.

What is Vimo?

Vimo, doing business as GetInsured, is a leading provider of state-based marketplaces for the public sector and healthcare in the USA. Since 2005, Vimo has been helping individual consumers find the right insurance plans for themselves and their families. After the Affordable Care Act passage, Vimo extended its services to states by provisioning intuitive and user-friendly health insurance shopping and enrollment platforms.

Vimo’s SaaS is leveraged across the country: Idaho, California, Washington, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania have successfully transitioned to its state-based marketplace technology.

Why Vimo Acquired C!A?

The reasons behind the acquisition are plentiful, yet we’ll focus on the most prominent ones:

  • Great Timing. The pandemic has accelerated the need to speed up digitalization, prompting sectors behind the curve, such as government, healthcare, and insurance, to invest in transformation and upgrading or rebuilding their outdated systems. The US president Joe Biden proposes spending $58.4 bln on modernizing IT infrastructures of civilian agencies in the fiscal year 2022. According to the 2021 State CIO Survey, upgrading legacy systems is among the top 5 priorities that will stay relevant post-pandemic.
  • Aligned Missions. C!A’s mission lies in helping government agencies across the USA do more good by redesigning their service delivery models and increasing their capacity with pioneering tech. Vimo, on the other hand, strives to simplify finding and enrolling in affordable health care for all Americans through its state-based marketplaces. With the joint effort, the companies will be able to promote the adoption of modern e-government SaaS platforms to boost the delivery and efficiency of public health and safety net programs nationwide.
  • Robust Software. C!A’s Current is an excellent addition to the Vimo family of SaaS solutions. Current is a custom-built service delivery SaaS that translates C!A’s decades-long public service expertise into intuitive interfaces. It is designed to increase agency capacity and alleviate the pressure on caseworkers by simplifying workflows, task distribution, demand monitoring, and reporting. Current provides a bird’s-eye view of an agency’s workload and empowers leaders to make the right decisions and proactively handle increasing demand.
“When C!A was first described to us our initial impression was, “That seems like a good business.” It was critical to us that C!A is leading the change from traditional service-oriented products to SaaS software. This delivers a far better, more flexible and less expensive product. We were also attracted to the mission-driven nature of the company; we want to be a part of making the world a better place,”
Ted Tobiason

says Ted Tobiason, Chief Financial Officer at Vimo

We are thrilled at the thought of how much more good C!A and Vimo can do together and continue sharing our tech expertise with C!A to support them along the way.

Redwerk’s Role in C!A Success

Current is an e-government solution developed from the ground up. Our Redwerk team was engaged in product development at the very early stages. While the foundation for the software architecture and infrastructure was laid by 10th Magnitude, now part of Cognizant, Redwerk took over from there and contributed to developing and implementing the app’s business logic, making sure the product features fully reflect C!A’s vision.

As a Microsoft Partner, we capitalized on the Microsoft Azure ecosystem by integrating an array of popular and handy Azure services: Azure Active Directory (for conditional access), Azure Application Insights (for monitoring app health), Azure Blob Storage (for case import), among others.

The result of our fruitful partnership with C!A is Current, a pioneering service delivery SaaS already adopted by welfare divisions in Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Nevada, Missouri, Mecklenburg, Hawaii, and Alaska. Let’s have a closer look at its features and explore further what made Current such a compelling choice for Vimo.

Trailblazing

Current was not modeled on another app; it is indeed an innovative platform specifically designed to solve numerous pain points human service agencies face daily. Outdated IT systems, cumbersome processes, ever-increasing backlog, lack of monitoring – eradicating all these nightmares is just one decision away – making Current part of your agency life.

Current has soaked up C!A team’s decades-long experience in redesigning service delivery models, implementing large-scale change initiatives, and conducting workshops & training for government employees. Having combined their process expertise with the efficiency of a modern, customizable, and scalable SaaS such as Current, C!A has helped welfare divisions in nearly half the states serve at least 40% more customers 70% faster.

Multifunctional

User expectations regarding contemporary software hit all-time highs, and it is no longer enough to deliver a well-performing product:

  1. It must be designed for humans, in other words, be intuitive and have no frustration points.
  2. It must address all of the user’s needs simultaneously, simply put, be an all-in-one solution.
  3. It must be inclusive and prioritize user security.

Current has got all of the above, but let’s discuss its nifty functionality first. The platform is highly customizable, factoring in the difference in organizations’ hierarchy and programs they handle. The list of programs, activities within those programs, queues, missions, performance thresholds, report settings – all these, among plenty of other features, can be adjusted to suit the needs of a specific gov agency.

Current’s interfaces, dashboards, and built-in analytics are built to boost efficiency and bring order and visibility into an agency’s status quo. The app’s features cover essential routines human agencies perform day-to-day, be it registering cases, processing and updating them, distributing work as per caseworkers’ qualifications and experience, monitoring progress, prioritizing burning issues, and the list goes on. Current has got something for any human service professional to make their workflows streamlined, transparent, and manageable.

ADA Compliant

Another prerequisite to nationwide adoption and recognition by market leaders like Vimo is compliance with the industry standards and regulations. ADA stands for Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design. It is meant to make technology in the workplace and other areas of public life accessible to people with disabilities.

Because Current is an e-government solution, making it 100% ADA-compliant was a must-have milestone on its development roadmap. To achieve that, our Redwerk delivery team carefully studied Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG) and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and made respective changes in the codebase.

We ensured that form inputs, frames, and iframes are properly titled; all images have equivalent alternative text, and content remains readable without CSS. We also checked if all data table rows and columns have relevant headers, if the contrast is acceptable, and implemented an on-screen indication of the current focus, among other adjustments.

To ensure Current is fully accessible to the assistive technology, we tested every interface with the help of JAWS, one of the most commonly used screen readers.

Security First

E-government solutions like Current do not have the right to make a single mistake. Implementing effective mechanisms to protect sensitive user data is one of the biggest challenges present-day apps need to overcome. One way to achieve the desired level of security is adhering to the zero trust framework when developing software architecture.

Governing access to resources is one of the foundational principles of the zero trust model. Current is meant to be used by public servants in various roles – case triagers, caseworkers, supervisors, agency leadership, API developers. Not every user requires access to reports or the ability to upload files, leave alone access to the app’s settings.

Current relies on Azure Active Directory to provide conditional access, meaning organizations have super granular security controls. Conditional access is not limited to user role permissions and covers other aspects, such as blocking traffic from select regions and countries, denying access to users of specific devices and platforms, and identifying risky sign-in behaviors, among other features.

Continuously Updated

An absolute privilege of long-term partnerships with an IT services agency is receiving a full-package experience. In other words, Redwerk takes care of product development, quality assurance, and of course, software maintenance. This approach gives our clients the confidence and peace of mind that they will receive development support promptly, whenever such a need arises.

While Current is a fully-functioning product, we continue optimizing its performance, fine-tuning the existing features based on customer feedback, and developing new features at the request of public service agencies in other states.

“I can’t help but mention the amazing work experience with the C!A team. I found it really productive to work in such close contact, be aware of all the business processes, and help people resolve their issues. At C!A, they are very supportive and responsible and genuinely passionate about what they do. In such a committed collaboration, we managed to solve numerous challenges,”
Olga, software developer at Redwerk

says Olga, software developer at Redwerk

With a trusted technology partner like Redwerk, the C!A team can guarantee timely software releases and thus satisfy the unique needs of government agencies across the States, helping them smoothly transition to new, capacity-boosting processes.

Wrapping Up

Living in the twenty-first century, we are still surprised by how many industries rely on outdated, insecure, and inefficient systems that steal tons of time and energy from essential workers. SaaS platforms like Current offer a feasible and non-disrupting way for public service agencies and welfare divisions across the US to stop stagnation and welcome digital transformation.

We are immensely proud to have contributed to the project impacting thousands, if not millions, of human lives, accelerating the provision of safety net services to those in dire need of care.

Time and time again, the e-government solutions we deliver – from a decision-making platform for Dutch city councils to an electronic voting system for the EU Parliament – get the recognition they richly deserve.

See how we helped C!A develop ADA compliant service delivery SaaS adopted across USA

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