PLUSINFOSYS

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of PM People, experts in project management standards and tools in Spain. We help project managers use tools and techniques to get things done effectively through training, consulting, and coaching.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with PLUSINFOSYS?

We needed to hire external software developers to help us create a new project management tool. While there are many project management tools on the market, we recognized an opportunity to manage projects around the world.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

PLUSINFOSYS is developing a tool that understands the needs of our colleagues, and gives them the capability of using their mobile phone to manage a project. This is a very complex system because we have a lot of business cases. It is a collaborative environment for managing tasks and reviews. It will be very useful for project managers, portfolio managers, and program managers.

What is the team composition?

Our main contact is the owner, but we talk often with 4–5 team members.

How did you come to work with PLUSINFOSYS?

I worked with them previously when I was with another company.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2017 and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They are doing very well in web development and mobile development. I wasn’t happy with my experience with other software development companies here in Spain. The good thing about PLUSINFOSYS is that they understand functionality better than me. They don’t only focus on the technical side, they think about business analysis and users. That’s important for me when we’re talking about complex software. Sometimes I propose something and they tell me it’s not feasible, which I appreciate.

How did PLUSINFOSYS perform from a project management standpoint?

PLUSINFOSYS uses scrum methodology for our daily meeting even though we’re not in the same room. The difference in time zones is a challenge for us because our morning is their evening. They make it work to meet with us for 15 minutes every day. We also interact on Slack and Asana.

Software projects regularly face challenges relating to quality and schedules. PLUSINFOSYS are good at committing to a deadline and then meeting that commitment. In terms of quality management, they do a lot of testing. When we change something, I’m confident that they are going to test everything and make sure that it will be good quality.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m very happy with them, otherwise I wouldn't work with them for more than two years. Our resources are limited. We’re not big company. We need to put our money in people that we trust. They deliver excellent quality. If I have an idea for an evolution of my system, I know it won’t take them long to put that idea into operation. That’s not very common here in this business. I feel like they’re part of my company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really. The main thing is the time zone difference. It would be nice if they put some people in Spain. Everything else is good.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

In our case, we didn't initially commit to a long contract. We started little by little. I think starting with a small pilot project is a good approach.