Case Studies in Staff Augmentation and Global Triangles

Case Studies for Staff Augmentation and Global Triangles

IT staff shortages in the USA are a growing – and serious – problem. A recent IDC report produced startling evidence that these shortages affect organizations across all industries. Their survey of US IT leaders revealed that nearly two-thirds said the lack of skills created critical issues. For example, they cited missed revenue targets, problems with quality, reduced competitiveness, and a drop in customer satisfaction.

This is dire news, and other studies have revealed a similar story. Regardless of other issues affecting your business, lacking IT staff with the right skills will impact your bottom line. What can you do?

Hiring is no longer a simple process or even possible in many locations. The staff simply aren't available.

A proven and reliable option is nearshore staff augmentation. (This is not offshoring, which is very different with its language and time difference issues. Please refer to the article: When to Choose Nearshore Staff Augmentation Over Offshore for an overview of the differences).

 Global Triangles has provided a nearshore staff augmentation service for over 7 years to satisfied clients across the US. To better understand staff augmentation, let's review four examples of how we have helped clients over the years with their staffing.

(Not all of the clients are named below. We are happy to provide all the names and contact details if you want to learn more – please get in touch with david@globaltriangles.com) 

Aguagente –Start-up / Software Development

Aguagente was a start-up created to provide unlimited purified water to homes. Their vision was to have the purifying equipment in each home, charging a monthly fee for services and maintenance.

The business required that the processes be paperless and that the servicing and maintenance be tracked remotely via tablet. Their problem was that very little software was available to do this. 

They were under time and budget constraints and needed a partner who could understand and solve their immediate needs and help them grow and expand their business.

Global Triangles worked closely with Aguagente to understand its needs.  We built a working custom ERP in weeks, which enabled the business to meet early deadlines. With that in place, we focused on developing new modules and additional functions, such as a Client App and a Technician App, to facilitate their dream of a remote tablet strategy. 

Aguagente now enjoys an outstanding reputation for the excellent service it provides. 

Summary

By working closely with Aguagente and its IT team, Global Triangles showed its ability to understand start-ups' unique challenges. Using a strict sprint methodology and focusing on the essential functions, the minimum viable product (MVP) was produced and in operation within a few weeks, supporting the tight timeframe the company had set. 

Through staff augmentation, Global Triangles enabled this innovative new company to meet its development targets, underpinning its drive to become the successful company it is today. 

US Start-up App developer/ Software Development

A US start-up company recently developed a video-centric App. Its growth and quick success in its competitive market brought unexpected challenges.

Although suitable for the initial market entry, the App struggled to cope with the company's rapidly expanding client base, creating several urgent problems. Scalability, better data analysis, stronger security, and a stronger payment system were also needed if the growth was to be maintained.

Recognizing the pressing need for solutions, one of the founders contacted Global Triangles.

Global Triangles held detailed discussions with one of the founders to review the priorities. They created a three-point plan to resolve the immediate issues, with a medium-term plan to guide future development efficiently and in a scalable manner.

In less than one month, Global Triangles had implemented the essential changes. There was an immediate improvement in the system's speed and response time to the users. Security and QA were enhanced, along with implementing a structured error management system.

Global Triangles continues to support the client with new developments, issue management, and quality control.

Summary

The unique challenges of this start-up required a flexible and dynamic approach. Nearshore staff augmentation was critical due to the tight time constraints and working closely with the existing IT team.

Using their experience working with other companies, the team at Global Triangles used their in-depth skills to identify gaps in the design and offer solid and scalable solutions. Working on a system with a fast-growing client base and a rapidly expanding database required skilled QA management.

The company continues to grow substantially and successfully without its previous concerns about scalability and security.

Real Estate – Exploring AI

Our long-standing real estate client is a tech-enabled company that offers residential appraisal services. This service supplies mortgage lenders with the valuations needed for residential real estate loans.

They asked us for a solution to their problems with virtual house inspections. For example, a human appraiser must identify various items from an image to differentiate between specific bathroom categories and create an accurate valuation. A full bathroom with a bathtub has a different value than a full bathroom with a shower. However, smaller objects can also affect the valuation.

One problem was the 45 minutes spent on each inspection. The second challenge was the accuracy, with 70% being rejected due to human error.

Working in conjunction with the client staff, we created an AI prototype. The results were astounding:

                           Human scanners                 Prototype AI                     

Time taken:         45 min.                                3 min 20 sec.                     

Cost:                    USD 11.25                            USD 0.34                          

Quality:                30%                                    80%                                     

Summary

This exercise is an excellent example of successful staff augmentation. We worked closely with the client's team and provided our in-depth skills with AI to create a prototype solution that far exceeded their expectations.

Our experience working with multiple clients with diverse technologies puts us in an ideal position to assist clients in exploring skills and technologies they don't currently possess but want to investigate for future investment.

Health Industry – E-commerce

MXR Imaging is a leading provider of diagnostic imaging equipment in the United States. They have an e-commerce site where clients can order products. 

When Adobe Magento Enterprise underwent a significant update, the version MXR Imaging was using would no longer be supported. This posed a significant security risk to the company and its clients. MXR needed urgent assistance to update their system and contacted Global Triangles to migrate and update their version of Magento.

Our team of accredited Magento experts quickly identified that they were not using many of the features in the Enterprise version. Inexpensive plugins in the cheaper Community Edition could replace the features they used. The company's SAP ERP integration was prone to errors, so we suggested we rewrite it in a more robust and error-free way.

The challenge facing us was that their Magento renewal contract was due in 60 days, which was a very tight deadline.

Global Triangles successfully migrated MXR Imaging to Adobe Magento Community 2.x, saving them over $50,000 a year in licensing costs. The SAP ERP was rewritten to fix the errors and work with the new version of Magento. All within 60 days!

Summary

Through their knowledge of Adobe Magento, Global Triangles enabled MXR Imaging to save over $50,000 per year. 

In addition, Global Triangles also worked closely with MXR Imaging to ensure that the new e-commerce shop met their business needs. User testing was undertaken by Global Triangles, who made recommendations that improved the user experience. 

This is a good example of staff augmentation helping clients reach their project deadlines, saving them money, and increasing their competitiveness.

This was possible because of the breadth of e-commerce skills found in Global Triangles and their ability to alternate different staff with different skill sets as the project required.

Global Triangles and Staff Augmentation

As can be seen from the four case studies shown above, Global Triangles has used staff augmentation to offer a broad range of skills to its clients. There are many others. Ask for details by contacting david@globaltriangles.com.

In many cases, the skills were alternated as required, meaning the client didn't have to pay for time and skills they weren't using. They had access to the right skills at the right time. 

In the case of the AI project, staff augmentation enabled a company to experiment with a new technology without the need to invest until it was sure of the benefit.

With the start-ups, Global Triangles was flexible in its approach, recognizing the unique challenges each client faced. Both benefited and have become successful companies.

Global Triangles offers another advantage that has helped its clients: nearshoring. What is it?

Global Triangles and Nearshoring 

Nearshoring provides staff augmentation resources within the same time zone and language base. 

Global Triangles is a US-registered company utilizing a highly skilled, English-speaking IT team based mainly in Merida, Mexico. This enables the Global Triangles' IT staff to work as part of the client's team in the same time zone. 

These projects would have faced overwhelming obstacles if they had been offshored. It is doubtful MXR Imaging could have hit their 60-day deadline if they were working with Indian staff on a 12-hour time difference, compounded by language issues.

Clients are assured of smooth administration with all invoicing and payments done through Florida in the US. 

Global Triangles takes care of all aspects of their staff costs. Simplicity is key. All you, as the client, will be charged for is their time. You will be amazed at the stunning, cost-effective results you will experience.

How can we help you?

Global Triangles has over 7 years of experience with nearshore staff augmentation. With a large team of specialist IT staff, we can help with software, app development, and software migrations. We also have excellent experience with AI and e-commerce. Whatever your IT staffing needs, contact us today – without obligation – to see how we can help you.