THE CLIENT
Optimatics
Optimatics is the world-leading provider of infrastructure planning software that enables water and wastewater utilities around the globe to avoid billions of dollars in costs while ensuring optimal performance.
THE CHALLENGE
Optimatics produces high quality software for a wide range of clients. The business uses an agile Scrum software development framework, where the team is required to support simultaneous development of both core IP and client-specific customisations. Following strong levels of business growth and a positive trajectory for future business, growing and expanding the business and the staff team was a priority.
The firm had to also address the perennial challenges which are typical in this industry: balancing software quality, timeliness and cost, whilst also managing fluid requirements and competing client demands to deliver products with minimal defects, to both meet and exceed customer expectations.
Optimatics needed to prepare the development team for expansion, and to ensure that core IP development was not neglected in the face of increased customer interactions and support.
THE ACTION
Adept conducted a comprehensive review of Optimatics’ software development processes and capability, with two main objectives:
- To establish the extent of alignment with Optimatics’ business targets
- To assess the team’s readiness for growing the business in the next 12-18 months
Following staff interviews across all levels of the business to determine pain-points as well as strengths of the current practices, we reviewed product and project artefacts from high-level strategic roadmaps down to fine-grained engineering tasks. We observed the team during key development events over the period of the audit. Based on a structure agreed before the project started, a report was developed that summarised the ways in which Optimatics’ development processes would help or hinder plans for expanding the development team.
THE OUTCOME
Clear and detailed independent recommendations and best practice proposals meant that Optimatics had strong engagement with their stakeholders and a blueprint for addressing the identified issues before they impacted on the business. Effective improvement opportunities were specified and these are now being addressed as a priority to support and facilitate growth.
Before the review we had a rough idea of what processes we should be improving. The Adept review gave us clear and actionable recommendations for how to prepare our team to scale that addressed processes we were concerned about, and other areas of risk we had not considered. Addressing the risks identified by Adept will definitely help the team continue to deliver quality software as we grow.
