After 25 years of experience in various segments of the software development world, I realized that the existing model of providing custom software for companies has some inherent challenges. I've done everything from individual contribution where I built systems from the ground up by myself to managing teams of dozens of developers working on complex projects in parallel. Recently, I had occasion to stop and think about how I would do things differently if I were running my own company. I discussed with those that I trusted most, and we conceived of PrimeStage. Our core values center around trust, predictability, and dedication to providing the client with exactly what they want and need. By providing a place where developers feel ownership over their process, tools, and teams, we are able to achieve a level of consistency unseen in unseasoned teams. Through clear communication, we ensure that clients are comfortable with the development of their software at every stage. We take great pride in our work and in our dedication to making sure our clients get the experience possible.
Founder's Statement
Problem Statement
Building and maintaining a software team is hard. Developer recruitment, interviews, hiring, and training takes time and money. There's no guarantee that developers will work well together. Getting them to finish projects on time is like herding cats. Payroll expenses can quickly add up with no tangible price-to-value metric. When companies get to the end of a big project, they are often faced with an uncomfortable choice of laying them off and losing the institutional knowledge or keeping them on without clear direction for what they should do.
Proposed Solutions
Onshore Development Team (our recommendation)
At PrimeStage, we have an elite cadre of Senior Developers that have already worked together for many years. We come to the project with processes and tools already in place. Our engineers listen to your goals and requirements, asking questions to clarify until they fully understand the nuance of your business. We iterate on designs to set a Minimal Viable Product that will satisfy you. We deliver on a predictable timeline with milestone demos. We deliver the work for a contracted price on time. When the project is delivered, you decide whether to continue to a next iteration, pause and come back, or finish entirely.
Offshore
The offshore outsourcing approach is currently becoming an industry standard. This solution is initially less expensive and it can work for simple tasks. However, with the time offset and occasional language barriers, it's difficult to acheive sustainable R&D, especially in the long term. In our experience, for any development projects if reasonable size, we require a team that can be engaged, responsive, and predictable. At PrimeStage, we dedicate time and resources so stakeholders come away from planning meetings feeling understood and emerge from product demos feeling satisfied.
Boom and Bust
Hiring and then laying off developers is the worst of both worlds. We're not a software-focused business. We don't need a standing army of developers to make new features. Hiring, managing, and eventually firing a software development team is a distraction from our core goals. Additionally, we're in a hurry to get our software done, and we want an experienced team that will do a good job.
Boot Camp/Incubator/Contractors
Recruiting a group of newly minted developers is relatively quick and cheap. They are often times flexible on pay, hours, and location. However, on average, the code that junior developers produce doesn't scale well. It rarely meets the quality and testing standards that digitally expanding companies require. The planning & release processes can be vague and frustrating, often lacking structure and predictability. Stakeholders want to know when their projects will be delivered.
Our Strategy: Align and Conquer
Choose a working strategy where the priorities of the client and those of the development contractors are perfectly aligned to encourage optimal performance with high quality.
Tactics
Project Plan
We'll sit down with you to get a deep understanding of the software you need. We'll ask questions and listen to your answers. We have standard tools that can be customized to fit your needs. Considerations of User Experience, budget, timeline, scale, security, and training will all be considered and documented in the plan.
Product Design
We'll work with Designers that have have years of experience understanding complex web applications. We'll stay focused on the core product requirements that will deliver value to you most quickly. We can iterate from there, but we'll avoid feature bloat that makes many projects expand past their budget and deadlines. You'll end up with a high level roadmap and a near term concrete plan and schedule. The next iteration will have clear acceptance criteria.
Development Iterations
We'll establish a schedule that fits your timeline and budget to deliver the first iteration of work. Each week we'll have a short demo that shows progress against the agreed upon milestones. If there are any material changes to the acceptance criteria that we discover along the way, we'll communicate it in a timely manner to give you an opportunity to weigh in.
Demo/Deploy
Demo will not come as a surprise to you. We'll demo all of the acceptance criteria to make sure that you're satisfied with what we've delivered. If there were any changes along the way, you'll have signed off of them. We'll demo in a staging environment and the code will be tested and working. When you approve the acceptance criteria, we'll deploy it to production on your timeline.
Bugs & New Features
We stand behind our products. We'll have two queues of feedback. Bugs (obvious breakage or regressions against the documented acceptance criteria) are fixed as part of the original contract cost. This aligns us because we are encouraged to use automated testing to defend against regressions. New features, enhancements, or changes to acceptance criteria are bid out as future iterations, so your cost remains predictable.
Pricing
Sprint Work
When we make a plan, the cost will be expressed in sprints. Sprints cover the complexity of supporting and managing senior developers. We charge a flat rate of $10K/sprint which includes the cost of:
- Developer Salary/benefits
- Product Management
- Meetings
- Tools and Office Space
- Training/Onboarding/Insurance etc.
Working with our clients, we will determine the number of Sprints (cost) and calendar timing (deadline). PrimeStage will deliver the project to the acceptance criteria on time. If the project (as designed) ends up requiring more time than estimated, we will absorb the cost of that without expanding your expense.
Support cost is negotiated based on the Service Level Agreement, the size and complexity of the system, and the the duration of the contract.