The power of consultant advice backed by A-Level software development

We used to have a checklist of what you need in an consultative software development outsourcing partner. We did not get rid of that checklist. You can still find it on our web site. 

But at this point, a lot of companies we work with -- and talk to about working together -- know what they want.

Usually, those factors are:

• Domain Expertise
• Business Knowledge (more than just coders; understand the story behind the business and the model)
• A true partner and extension of their own team
• Enough knowledge to both consult and execute on the projects
• Previous history with their industry
• A way to control costs -- they don’t want cheap, no, but they don’t want to overpay

Those are the big factors that companies look for when selecting a consultative software development outsourcing partner. We can do all these things for you. Let’s dive a little bit into how and what exactly we’ve done for other clients.

Maintain competitive advantage

Software development is the key way to maintain competitive advantage in modern business. Unless you have the most amazing legacy product in the world, it is honestly the only way to maintain competitive advantage in business right now. 

We worked with a company of 4,500 employees. 

They had started, then stopped, on a project multiple times because of internal capacity.

The project was an application allowing professional welders to set up various types of configuration signals for welding -- and allows communication with various types of welding equipment by using an intuitive Drag & Drop interface.

This was a technically-demanding project, but we delivered a set of XML files with specific configurations whereby manual configuration was avoided, thereby reducing the possibility of errors. We clarified Sprint responsibilities daily with this client, as well as constantly checking in on business needs and any changes in priority.

The end result was both a maintaining of competitive advantage and the development of new revenue streams.

Modular and extendable WMS

That was one logistics leader we worked with.

Across 12 to 18 months, a whole warehouse management system (WMS) needed to be developed. WMS system covers the complete flow of goods, from receipt of goods and entry into the warehouse to goods exiting the warehouse and delivery to a client.

Ultimately, we developed a modular and extendable system backend powered by Java EE, EJB and Oracle database. The system keeps track of the stock lifecycle from entering the warehouse to dispatching stock to the customer. It communicates with several other subsystems (operators, hardware components, etc.)

The end result was increased revenue, as well as increases for this team in domain knowledge, scalability, flexibility, and stability.

The backbone of Industry 4.0

That would be the Internet of Things or IoT. We have been doing more and more IoT projects in the past three years as companies realize the strategic advantage they can get from more, and better, data coming in.

One client had begun the development of a Device Connection Platform (DCP). That is a cloud service that enables operators to offer connection management for business users: address new revenues while simplifying the process and reducing the connecting costs. This platform supports the operators in building M2M business from three perspectives, such as managing connectivity through the life cycle, sales preparation and business expansion.

Other projects internally had shifted, and this client needed help with the building of the DCP. This meant the aggregation and processing of large amounts of data from multiple sources. The data would serve as a massive competitive advantage and the backbone of revenue, business development, and expansion efforts.

We delivered a system based on Open-Source technologies from Java platform ecosystem. The System Core was implemented according to OSGi principles, running on Apache Karaf platform. Data, depending on its nature, was stored into two database types: Relational database PostgreSQL and NoSQL Cassandra database. Data analytics and the rest of asynchronous tasks were executed on the Apache Spark platform. The whole system was built upon Linux operating systems using Dockers and Kubernetes.

This project helped drive business development and expansion.

Expertise matters greatly right now

Business is moving incredibly fast and everyone is looking for the next big advantage they can have over rivals. That might cost. It might be better software. It might be talent. It might be processes. Advantages can come from a lot of places, but without expertise, you will not be able to maximize that advantage.

Serengeti has this expertise. We have a consultant approach supported by A-Level software developers.

We have done massive projects for clients in many different industries.

If you would like to talk more about your specific business needs and software development needs right now, contact us. But keep in mind that you can use our checklist of what you need to look for when you are searching for a partner: