Case Studies
Dominion Systems
The Challenge:
Dominion Systems’ CEO, Jud Highhill, explained to EC Group that the company faced challenges in recruiting and retaining the necessary development staff. The competitive job market made it difficult to find long-term employees, resulting in a high turnover rate. This, in turn, placed undue pressure on existing staff during the training phase, leading to frustration and decreased productivity. Consequently, Jud decided to explore the option of partnering with an offshore vendor like EC Group.
Initially, Jud revealed that Dominion Systems’ internal team harbored reservations about engaging offshore developers. Concerns included potential communication barriers, time zone differences, cultural gaps, and technical challenges. Nevertheless, the overwhelming workload and insufficient workforce prompted the team to give offshore collaboration a chance.
Goals:
- Alleviate staffing challenges: By providing access to a talented pool of offshore developers, EC Group aimed to help Dominion Systems overcome the difficulties they faced in recruiting and retaining skilled development staff.
- Increase productivity: By supplementing Dominion Systems’ workforce with dedicated offshore developers, EC Group intended to accelerate software development, allowing the company to handle the growing workload more efficiently.
- Minimize turnover: EC Group’s support aimed to reduce employee turnover rates by stabilizing the development team and providing long-term collaboration, thus easing the burden on existing staff and improving overall productivity.
- Address reservations: To help Dominion Systems overcome their initial apprehensions about offshore developers, EC Group strived to demonstrate a seamless collaboration process, emphasizing effective communication, cultural awareness, and technical expertise to mitigate potential challenges.
- Enhance competitiveness: By accelerating software output and improving development efficiency, EC Group aimed to position Dominion Systems as a more competitive player in their industry, enabling them to meet the evolving demands of their clients better.
Solution:
Summary:
Dominion Systems, a comprehensive payroll software service provider based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, faced challenges in recruiting and retaining skilled development staff in a competitive market. The high turnover rate and mounting workload put immense pressure on existing employees and resulted in decreased productivity. To address these challenges, Dominion Systems decided to explore the option of partnering with an offshore vendor, EC Group.
Despite initial reservations about communication barriers, time zone differences, cultural gaps, and technical challenges, Dominion Systems agreed to collaborate with EC Group to enhance their software output and improve their workforce situation. EC Group aimed to achieve several objectives, including alleviating staffing challenges, increasing productivity, minimizing turnover, addressing concerns about offshore developers, and enhancing Dominion’s competitiveness.
As the partnership with EC Group progressed, Dominion Systems grew their offshore team to five developers. EC Group effectively recruited and retained the required talent and ensured seamless integration with Dominion’s core team in the United States. Both organizations worked together to establish a team that adopted Dominion’s processes smoothly.
In conclusion, the collaboration between Dominion Systems and EC Group serves as a successful project demonstrating how an offshore partnership can overcome staffing challenges, enhance productivity, and ultimately strengthen an organization’s position in a competitive industry. By addressing concerns and demonstrating the benefits of offshore collaboration, EC Group helped Dominion Systems to thrive and meet the evolving demands of their clients more effectively.
Results:
- EC Group was able to source and implement 5 expert developers for Dominion Systems’ efforts.
- The 5 developers became an integral part of the Dominion Systems’ team feeling as if they were a true extension of their in-house staff.
- Helped Dominion Systems significantly overcome their initial concerns regarding the use of offshore developers.
- Existing team members no longer felt backlogged with projects leading to increased consistency and momentum.
- EC Group partnered with Dominion Systems for 6 years and played an integral part in Dominion Systems’ acquisition by major entity, ADP.
