IT Staff Augmentation Case Study (Java)

Summary

Background

In 2019, we received a request from a renowned American multinational corporation. The company aimed to significantly reduce its global costs and reallocate Java programming tasks and related IT support functions, such as testing and operations, which were under the responsibility of the company's German IT team.

Our client wanted to involve professionals with a high level of English language proficiency who had previously worked for multinational companies.

The client

It was an honor to receive the request from this company, which has been on the prestigious Fortune 500 list for many years. The company is known for:

The process

Step 1: Introduction, alignment of needs

We first met with the company's Hungarian representative, who was responsible for the relocation of the IT team and the provision of the service level.

Two important aspects were raised during the negotiation: cost savings without compromising quality and ensuring business continuity.

Cost savings without compromising quality

In this case, cost savings without compromising quality meant involving Hungarian Java developers who were capable of performing programming tasks at the professional level of their previous German colleagues.

To assess what the existing knowledge and skill levels meant, we had to create a joint job description that detailed the IT requirements (technology stack, programming language knowledge levels, applicable software tools, frameworks, etc.) and the highly important soft skills (empathy, problem-solving skills, etc.). In addition, our client stated that they were only willing to work with professionals who had a high level of active English language proficiency.

Regarding cost savings, we were able to provide an approximate cost estimate based on the requirements we learned, stating that our offer would include daily rates for each position.

Ensuring business continuity

It was of paramount importance for our client to ensure that there would be no disruptions in the company's services and the IT field's internal or external customers in terms of business continuity.

To ensure this, we assessed the scheduling desired by our client and planned the order and timing of involving Bluebird professionals in the various positions to ensure business continuity would not be compromised at all.

Step 2: Preparing The Offer

As a result of the consultations with the client, we had all the information needed to make an offer that perfectly understood and matched the client's requirements.

The aspects we considered when preparing the offer:

Step 3: Reviewing And Accepting The Offer

The proposal was developed by our Sales and IT Staff Augmentation team, with multiple internal iterations. Upon receiving the proposal, the client thoroughly reviewed it and, after several rounds of discussions, approved our offer. They were satisfied with the proposed cost savings and the guaranteed quality of the IT professionals we would involve in the project.

Our offer included the following points:

Step 4: Offer negotiation, contract conclusion

Negotiations between the client and Bluebird were conducted to a high standard, resulting in an agreement between the parties on all points.
Bluebird has completed the contract preparation and the contracting process has started.

Step 5: Project start

With the start of the contracting process, the project team has also been established. Senior account managers from Bluebird, with IT sourcing support, started to identify suitable Java developers, testers and operators, and then had a first round of discussions with them about the project and the project tasks.
In accordance with the selection process, our client only interviewed professionals who perfectly matched the position description.
We are proud to have exceeded both the quantity and quality requirements and were able to ensure that the project team was assembled on time and to the expected quality level to start work on the project as scheduled.

Step 6: Monthly billing and project management

The Bluebird project team's performance is accounted for on a monthly accounting cycle. Our clients are only charged for the services provided (Java development, testing, operations) in proportion to the number of engineering hours spent on them.

Our senior account managers consult with our client on a monthly basis about the project, ask for feedback on the professionalism of the tasks performed by our professionals, the success of the collaboration. This monthly meeting also ensures that any client needs that arise can be met quickly and efficiently by Bluebird.

Outcome

The project was a success. The newly formed Hungarian Java development team was able to take over the tasks previously performed by their German colleagues, providing cost savings for the client without compromising on quality. The project also demonstrated Bluebird's capability to manage complex IT contracting projects, involving professionals with high levels of technical knowledge and soft skills, ensuring business continuity and customer satisfaction.