Case Studies
ForemostCo
Client Testimonial:
The Client
ForemostCo is a U.S. wholesale supplier of tropical and ornamental plant starter material, specializing in high quality young plants for commercial growers and retailers. Founded in 1987 in Miami, Florida, ForemostCo built its reputation on consistent quality, reliable delivery, exceptional service, and a broad catalog of plant varieties.
The company supports growers through proprietary genetics designed to create profitable and predictable growing cycles. Combined with a strong global sourcing network, the team at ForemostCo helps customers maintain diverse, year round plant inventories in an industry where timing, logistics, and plant health are critical.
EC Group began partnering with ForemostCo in February 2022, working closely with their technology leadership to strengthen and modernize the systems that power daily operations.
The Challenge
ForemostCo’s technology environment has evolved over many years. Core systems were deeply customized and essential to daily production, making change both necessary and sensitive.
Leadership faced a multi-layered challenge.
- Complex legacy ecosystem. Long running WinForms and .NET applications required modernization while the business continued operating without interruption.
- Broad technical scope. Critical needs stretched across routing and logistics, phytosanitary workflows, and pricing automation.
- Resource and hiring pressure. Recruiting and retaining in-house specialists across this range of platforms proved time consuming.
- Transformation without disruption. ForemostCo needed innovation while preserving stability for day to day users.
- New offshore model. Parts of the organization were still gaining comfort with distributed collaboration, so trust and communication across time zones had to be built intentionally.
ForemostCo required a software partner who could integrate smoothly into existing workflows, respect operational practices, and still push progress forward.
The Solution
EC Group provided experienced and in-house hired engineers who embedded directly into ForemostCo’s operating rhythm. Rather than acting as an outside vendor, our model with vetted and hired engineers allowed the team to become a working extension of ForemostCo’s internal staff.
Developers joined planning sessions, daily standups, sprint ceremonies, and demos. Shared visibility created alignment, reduced misunderstandings, and allowed priorities to evolve without friction.
The partnership emphasized structure and transparency. Agile methodology guided the execution, while being supported by a Kanban and Jira workflow as well as a consistent meeting cadence that kept progress measurable and predictable.
Tools & Technology Environment
EC Group delivered within the systems and tools ForemostCo relied on every day:
Core Technology Stack
- WinForms and .NET 4.6
- .NET Web APIs
- C#
- SQL Server
- Angular
- Microsoft Azure
Development & Collaboration Tools
- GitHub
- Jira
- Postman
- Microsoft Teams
- CI/CD pipelines for automated builds, testing, and deployments
One of the core strengths of EC Group is the ability to work with a multitude of platforms and technologies unique to a specific company and industry. This allows our engineers to integrate quickly, reduce ramp up time, and begin contributing value almost immediately.
Result
The partnership delivered meaningful operational outcomes and set a foundation for future success. EC Group completed important integration initiatives that reduced friction in logistics and compliance workflows. With daily collaboration and regular demonstrations, releases became more predictable and aligned with business priorities. Teams could iterate faster and avoid unwanted surprises in production.
ForemostCo also benefited from added technical depth. EC Group contributed developers as well as architectural perspective, allowing the organization to bridge skill gaps and scale without lengthy internal hiring cycles. Most importantly, trust grew across the partnership. What began as staff augmentation matured into true collaboration.
Summary
ForemostCo’s goal was clear. Modernize a complex technology foundation while keeping logistics and compliance operations dependable.
Through staff augmentation, EC Group expanded ForemostCo’s execution capacity without forcing disruptive organizational change. The embedded team model helped leaders gain confidence that modernization could occur in parallel with daily production support.
Hands-on collaboration played a major role in success. Regular interaction, shared sprint ceremonies, and in-person engagement helped teams that were newer to outsourcing adapt quickly and build strong working relationships.
