8th Light

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m VP of product of a large online ticket agency, specifically our consumer-facing software products. That includes our iOS and Android app as well as the sites that we operate.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 8th Light?

We needed to get tickets to high-demand shows in the hands of fans. Fans usually have trouble getting tickets because of limited supply or high demand compared to the supply. There are also scalpers that purchase tickets before fans and then resell them to make a significant profit. The product would let us know who are the real fans as opposed to someone who’s likely to resell the ticket. Once the real fans let us know who they are via the product, we can then provide them early access to tickets for high-demand events. The product sits on our backend and the fans would get access via our apps and websites.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our in-house development team on this project was six or seven people. 8th Light contributed on the backend system as well as the front-end. Most of the front-end work was around Android development and there was a smaller amount of iOS work. 8th Light contributed to both platforms. The majority of their contribution was both in the leadership of the team, the architecture decisions around the backend, and the Android side of the app. They provided two resources, namely a dev lead and a developer. The dev lead performed multiple functions including leading our daily scrums and architectural decisions with other teams. We had an existing app but the screens were all built from scratch. They would tie into pre-existing functionalities like logins and account functionality. But for the most part, the user facing app was from scratch.

How did you come to work with 8th Light?

The relationship with 8th Light existed before I joined the company.

How much have you invested with 8th Light?

I don’t know what we spent but I do know 8th Light was more expensive than other contracting companies we work with. That factored into our decision to discontinue working with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in early 2016 and the relationship with 8th Light ended in December 2016. Because of the nature of the product, it would continue to be an ongoing project. We ended the relationship with 8th Light because of budget decisions, engineering headcount, and overall strategy with regards to whether we want full-time employees versus contracted employees.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The website and app are launched but it’s only used for specific tours. We haven’t shared any data with our partners so I don’t want to share that information. I can tell you that it’s successful based on the objective measures that we have.

How did 8th Light perform from a project management standpoint?

They did a great job. Sometimes, their project management even drove our project management philosophy. They also adapted to and adopted our project management style. They were great with collaborating on the right way for the project to be managed. I learned a lot from working with them.

Are there any areas 8th Light could improve?

In any project, there’s going to be things you wish you’d done differently. There are cases where we could’ve moved faster if we hadn’t taken recommendations from 8th Light, but it’s tough to see those things ahead of time. We probably could have also been more forceful around decisions about the resources that were on the project.