Here at Tandem, the two primary things that clients hire us for are product design/development and developer training. What they don’t realize is that they can also look to us for an objective opinion on their team and its strengths and weaknesses.
Product Development
Software development is what the vast majority of our clients are looking for. You have an idea for a product you want to build, but you can’t do it on your own. You need a team of developers to guide you through the process. We can come in and quickly learn about your business: your goals, how you make money, and how the product fits into your overall plans. Then we apply that knowledge to building the product you need.
Developer Training
Sometimes you already have an internal team working on your product, but things aren’t progressing the way you planned. We offer custom training sessions for your team to get them up to speed in the latest technologies. Oftentimes we end up doing informal developer training as a byproduct of our love of pair programming. We have complete confidence in our own ability to create a maintainable product, but your team is going to be responsible for maintaining it. Part of our job is to make
sure they’re ready to do so.
But that’s not all
There’s actually a third area where we can help. While we’re learning your business and working closely with your developers, we’re forming our own opinions. We see your ideas, we see your process, we see the people executing your plan, and we have no problem sharing those observations. That’s why any project you hire us for can always include one other thing, free of charge: an
objective opinion about your product and team.
Now this is the point at which most people immediately start thinking of Office Space. But, the most important thing to remember is that it doesn’t have to be like that. My name’s not Bob, and we’re not in the business of getting other developers fired. We do want to leave our clients in better position than we found them though, and you can’t improve without knowing your strengths and weaknesses.
Not everybody can handle asking us what we see. Every now and then it requires swallowing some very bitter medicine about your business. Maybe your assumptions are a little off, or someone you’ve trusted isn’t doing as good of a job as they promised. But the clients that can take that constructive criticism and use the information to improve and grow are the ones that have a better chance to survive over the long term. So set aside some time to ask us out for coffee and go ahead and ask us, it’s the best way to get your money’s worth.
