VAIRIX Software Development

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of engineering for Union Stream Media, a company that does digital marketing and websites in the real estate industry. We provide omnichannel digital marketing and content for real estate brokers, agents, and teams in the US and throughout North America. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with VAIRIX Software Development?

We saw the need to improve our operations and marketing. To do that, we needed to take the data we’d amassed over the years in our warehouses. We aimed to build a dashboard for our operations team that provided analytics and insights into our digital marketing performance segmented by region and customer type. One challenge was to implement that through our 500–600 real estate customers. 

The biggest problem we had was the lack of sufficient senior-level React developers or frontend expertise. We had a budget and a timeline in which we needed to finish the project. Rather than hiring internal developers, we decided to partner with a company that could offer senior-level frontend engineers with React expertise to help us move quickly. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had data and built a web-based app, so we wanted to have some separation of responsibilities. A couple of our core team members handled the API development. Then, VAIRIX’s resource came in and worked on the UX mock-ups that our product designer used to build the experiences we needed.  

Given that we wanted our core team members to be focused, the resource shouldn't need too much hand-holding — we were upfront about that. We needed someone with senior-level expertise because our team needed that person to pull us along; we shouldn't be pushing someone along and checking up on them all the time. In other words, that resource needed to work independently within a cross-functional team to deliver us value. 

At present, we’re still working on the project. 

What is the team composition?

We've worked with a variety of people from VAIRIX. We’ve sourced one engineer from them, and they’ve provided additional staffing at no extra cost to us. To help that person come up to speed, their most senior-level architect has spent time each day with us. After about a month, that person has rolled off, and we’ve held regular account relationship calls with their CEO, CTO, and delivery manager. 

How did you come to work with VAIRIX Software Development?

We’d worked with offshore companies for about ten years, and we had partners in Ukraine, India, Romania, and central American firms. As a result, we were no stranger to nearshore companies when we had this project. In the beginning, we went to our partners in Europe, but they didn’t have the senior-level expertise we wanted, though we liked their price point. 

Eventually, we saw that as an opportunity to work with South American companies that offered logistical benefits. To accomplish this, we worked with a third party that served as an advisor to our business. He specialized in partnering companies with near- or offshore firms based on their needs. In other words, we found VAIRIX through the advisor who vetted several companies. They were one of the few companies that made it through the vetting process, and we ended up choosing them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project in February 2021, and it’s ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project has gone so well that we’ve gotten their engineer up to speed quickly and built the dashboard. They’ve helped us pick up the development pace and gather momentum. Our team has also enjoyed their senior-level expertise, which their engineer has used to recommend architectural decisions and design changes that made the product better. 

This has allowed us to focus on the things we’re good at, filling the gap we’ve identified when we decided to work on the project. Overall, the quality of VAIRIX’s engineering work is superb, so we won’t hesitate to work with them again in the future. They understand how to source and train talent. 

How did VAIRIX Software Development perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been outstanding in this project. We give them high marks from a relationship perspective. In fact, the first engineer that we worked with has moved on to another opportunity, which happens in these types of projects. To resolve that, VAIRIX has quickly assigned another engineer and reinvested their time to help the transition period. I’ve expressed my concern on a call with their CTO, who said we would never walk alone — they’ve lived up to it and worked with us every step of the way.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re looking for small, tech-oriented companies, and we don’t want to pay for a lot of administrative overhead. Luckily, VAIRIX meets that, and they’re an engineering-driven company. Not every company is like that, so that’s a standout quality of theirs. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The closest thing to an area of improvement for them is that we’ve had a temporary loss of continuity because they’ve lost an engineer. However, that happens in this business. What matters is that they do the right thing when something like that happens. Overall, they’re growth-oriented, and I’m excited to see what happens to them in the future. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re looking for a tech-driven firm that understands engineering excellence, then you’re going to be happy with VAIRIX.