Case study: Software Development for a US Real Estate Company
The Client
The client is a real estate company focused on the development of self storage facilities in the United States. At present, it has over 1000 employees.
The in-house development team was used to complete new software project and maintenance work on the enterprise wide business systems as required from time to time, and a dozen IT staff supported internal client requests.
Client's situation
The development requirement focuses on driving efficiences into the business through automation to ensure that their specific services best serve their customers. The development needs are frequent but the resource numbers required, fluctuated in accordance with numbers of live projects and scope of requirements. In order to achieve cost efficiency, the client reviewed outsourcing options and found that Shinetech could best meet their needs.
Shinetech solution
We immediately understood that it was impractical for the client to foster a large dedicated ODC team. However it was also considered to be inefficient to build up a new team at the start of each specific project knowing that on completion the team would be disbanded and all accumulated business and systems knowledge and experience lost. This would give rise to increased risk of lowered efficiency and inaccurate project effort estimation.
Shinetech designed the ODC + Fixed Price blended service delivery model to best serve the client’s requirement.
We assigned an Agile competent ODC lead developer to full time work for the client, charging competitively on a monthly basis. He was responsible for understanding the client’s development environment, mastering the skills and techniques they deployed, establishing good communication disciplines and practices, and assuming responsibility for understanding all business requirements. The lead developer became capable of delivering to the client’s expectations for each project.
During quieter periods the lead developer works on projects and tasks assigned to his ODC hours. When the client initiates another new project, whilst the lead developer keeps working on his own tasks, he will also use a few hours per day from the ODC time (1 - 2 hours) to act as the project manager for each additional project in order to facilitate smooth and quick initiation and completion. He will complete requirements analysis and estimating tasks, handpick the necessary additional resources, build up the best performing team, provide training and knowledge transfer, assign tasks, track and control the progress and quality and ensure real time project status availability for the client.
Based on the lead developer estimates, all supplementary team members are charged on a Fixed Price basis, and will be disbanded when their specific project is completed.
Another excellent advantage of this model is that even when the team is disbanded, the lead developer is always available for bug fixing and knowledge accumulation / transfer to future new resources joining to work on subsequent projects.
Shinetech solution
- Online business systems – training system, scheduling system, electronic voucher system, online monitoring system
- Desktop support website built for in-house IT department
- Desktop applications built for stores utilization and management
Benefits
- Significant risk reduction strategy facilitating advantages of Fixed Time & Fixed Price for project work and lower cost ODC rate for day to day activities.
- Elimination of the risks of low efficiency and inaccurate estimating caused by repeated knowledge transferring at the start of each newly assembled team.
- By retaining the core team resource and offering flexible access to team equipment, the ODC + Fixed Price model satisfies the floating outsourcing needs of Shinetech clients, thus ensuring that the client achieves outstanding cost reductions.
