IT Staff Augmentation Case Study – (SW-DEV and more)

Software development, business analysis, testing, operations

Summary

Client:

Member of a German group; employees > 2.500; revenue > USD 90 million

Service:

IT Staff Augmentation

Volume:

> 250,000 engineering hours

Tasks:

Software development, business analysis, testing, operations

Billing method:

Daily rate, monthly billing

Other Expenses:

None

Process:

1. Review of open IT positions (technology, project timeline, staffing)

2. Identification of suitable IT specialists by Bluebird

3. Presenting candidate CVs to the client

4. Client-side interviews, selection of IT professionals

5. Background check

6. Project start

7. Monthly billing based on completed engineer hours


Background

We got to know one of the Hungarian companies of a German telecommunications group when the company had 20-25 employees. The company's task was to carry out IT development work for the group's companies in Germany under a German-Hungarian intergovernmental agreement worth around €300 million. As the agreement was public, it was clear to Bluebird from the start that we were at the gateway to a major business opportunity.


The client

The client was an initially very small company (20-25 employees), a Hungarian company and a member of the German telecommunications group. The company already had the following characteristics:

  1. 1
    Annual turnover of over USD 90 million
  2. 2
    More than 2.500 employees

The First Project

Bluebird was first approached to find a senior Java developer for a project of the then 20-25 person company, who could start Java software development in Frankfurt within 4 days, on a per diem basis, for a 3-6 month project.
We did it! Interviews with the senior Java developer took place the next day, and 2 days later our IT specialist was on a plane. This rapid delivery was the basis for Bluebird to become a reliable and stable partner for the company and to subsequently help the company grow as a valued supplier for a total of 351 project contracts.


Spectrum of projects

Although the first project was a Java project, we were quickly approached by our client's account managers with different projects. We felt we had made our mark on the first project we completed. And our calling card said: we meet customer needs quickly and efficiently, and we know IT, we provide IT.

We have received enquiries from customers in the following areas:

  1. 1
    Software development tasks: Java, JavaScript, C/C++, ABAP
  2. 2
    Consulting: Business Analysis, System Analysis, SAP Consultancy, ERP consultancy
  3. 3
    Testing tasks: manual testing, automated testing
  4. 4
    Support tasks: 3rd level support
  5. 5
    Operational tasks: system operation

Quality of cooperation

The cooperation has seen the company grow rapidly, both in terms of staff and turnover. As Bluebird, our role was to use our employees and contractors to assist our client in software development, design, testing and operations as much as possible.

Our projects were located in Germany and Hungary. For projects in Germany we had to arrange travel and accommodation for Bluebird staff.

Our maximum number of simultaneous staff on our client's projects exceeded 50 people. 

To ensure successful growth, we also undertook to support our client in their organisational development by consulting with our specialist IT specialists for the key IT professionals they identified. In these meetings, we assured our own specialists that we would support their transition as Bluebird if they were keen to join our client's company. As a result, there are now Hungarian IT professionals (at middle management level) in various companies of the telecoms group in Hungary, Austria and Germany who have been part of the Bluebird team for a long time.

  • Provide IT professionals that perfectly match the brief

  • Recruiting new colleagues from the labour market within 7 working days

  • Fast and effective communication

  • Conducting background checks

  • Monthly accounting for the number of engineering hours completed


Outcome

Our client's parent company in Germany decided to carry out a complete internalisation process involving all subcontractors, including all Bluebird specialists.

Following consultation with our client, Bluebird agreed to internalise the specialists for the development, testing and operations contributors on the client's projects, further strengthening our client's IT team.