The Strategic Equation: How Smart Talent & Optimized Costs Drive IT Project Success (A Shift Ahead Case Study)

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The corporate houses that exist today are continuously trying to keep their clients happy by executing perfect IT projects within the stipulated budget. Most of them believe that cutting the budget is equal to losing top talent, which becomes an endless cycle of postponing, correcting, and then failing the projects.

In Shift Ahead, we know very well that joining low cost with low quality isn't the real path to a successful venture; it's actually intelligently infusing the top-notch talent with the right cost management. This approach, no doubt, is the most efficient way, and our recent working together with "IT Tech Marketing Company" is living proof of that.

The Hidden Costs of Compromising on Talent

The promise of cheaper options can often act as a smoke screen for the consequences that may follow in the long term. The recently published studies have painted quite a gloomy picture: most large IT projects that go over $15 million are generally 45% off-budget and 7% off the schedule by average, making them 56% less valuable at the end than it was previously thought. The poor management of people forms the biggest part of such inefficiency.

Here is the Impactful Statistics with the Shocking Numbers:

·Corrections are significantly 30-50% of the process and might cost up to 50% more than the initial estimates due to errors, wrong messages, or skill gaps.

·New research from McKinsey shows, that technical debt can cut a software development team’s capacity by 20% if there are too many underperformed developers.

·However, this is only one cost as technical debt also takes $0.4-1.2 per every new dollar of new software spent. At best, just 16.2% of software projects are completed on schedule and under the planned budget.

·Insufficient requirements gathering, poor planning, and the absence of communication are the main causes of team incompetence.

·In the event that you decide to keep a software engineer, the matter becomes even more difficult as replacing them may imply spending 250% of their annual base wage. The turnover caused by a lousily managed project or an uncomfortable working environment is a major cost that has occurred.

·The amount of emerging IT vacancies is in fast increase, form 40% in 2014 to 70% in 2024, thus, it becomes much more difficult to get the right employees and the employees that fit the company’s profile. Therefore, intelligent hiring is becoming more and more obligatory.

Shift Ahead's Strategic Synergy: The IT Tech Marketing Company Blockchain Idea

Shift Ahead got a IT Tech Marketing, which is growing rapidly, as their customer with a very challenging issue. Their new ambitious blockchain-based payment system was taken back by time-consuming development, higher and higher costs, and a significant increase in technical debt.

In spite of a big initial investment, the project was two quarters behind its schedule and also its performance was subpar. They found themselves in a situation where the decision of giving priority to low hourly rates over true expertise caused the team to be broken and code quality inconsistent.

After an initial inspection, we noticed a pattern:  the company seemed to lack senior architects and specialized blockchain developers and ineffective communication being the main ingrediente. ShiftaHead.tech offered a strategic solution in a form of a "talent-first, cost-optimized" concept.

Our Approach Included:

·Targeted Talent Infusion: Different from completely changing the whole team, we have wisely chosen a senior blockchain architect and two experienced full-stack developers, we thus gave them a strategic place in the existing team of IT Tech Marketing Company. They were not only the heads in coding, but they were also mentors, thus increasing the capacities of the whole team.

·Agile Methodology & Lean Processes: We drastically changed their project management to a highly agile, iterative sprint-based approach. During this period, "analysis paralysis" has been shortened and our continuous integration and feedback made it possible to keep rework less frequent and less expensive.

·Knowledge Transfer & Upskilling: Professionals we moved the knowledge over to directly, by having very focused workshops, code reviews, and various other ways, IT Tech Marketing Company's internal team has been greatly empowered. As a result, it is now virtually independent of all outside resources for future needs.

·Transparent Cost Management: Openly, we laid out the project cost step by step with the help of clear milestones and the use of deliverables and measurable outcomes rather than just the hours logged. It was, thus, easier for every team to grab the incentives of productivity and the goal of the project.

Tangible Results: Numbers That Speak Volumes

Within 3 months of Shift Ahead's involvement, IT Tech Marketing Company experienced a tremendous change:

·Project Acceleration: The core payment system module that was initially scheduled to take another six months was successfully put into operation in just four months, thus a reduction in the overall project timeline by 33%.

·Cost Efficiency: By avoiding more rework and making processes lean, we were able to assist IT Tech Marketing Company in dodging approximately $250,000 as the future cost overruns of around that figure would have been introduced by delays and climbing technical debt.

·Performance Improvement: The system post-deployment phase was found out to be 40% more efficient in processing transactions and the number of bug reports was down by 25% when compared to previous modules.

·Enhanced Team Morale & Capability: IT Tech Marketing Company's internal development team reported a 70% increase in productivity and significantly improved morale, now equipped with new skills and clearer direction. The long-term benefit of robust onboarding and continuous learning, as shown by industry trends, is a retention jump of 82%, which IT Tech Marketing Company is now poised to achieve.

Beyond the Numbers: A Foundation for Future Growth

The IT Tech Marketing Company initiative was a major step in digital transformation.  It involved fundamentally revamping your IT development.

Shift Ahead established a solid, scalable system and improved the internal team's skills and confidence by investing in the correct projects and improving the delivery process.

This case study shows that cost and skill can coexist and even provide an excess of advantages to our customers when handled wisely.

 Should your IT project have an IT partner that prioritizes balance?  If yes, are you ready to collaborate? Contact Shift Ahead to explore how our expertise may help your organization to succeed.