At heart, I am and always will be a software developer. But I have always enjoyed the dynamics of a well-oiled team, all doing what they do best to achieve a common goal. Together.
In the early 2000’s I had my first experience with offshore software development teams, working for a company that was eager to deliver more, faster, at much lower rates for a large financial institute. Functional requirements were written out in great detail and a software release came back every couple of months. Communication with the offshore teams was infrequent and nearly impossible because of a language barrier and significant cultural differences. There was also a large discrepancy in the expected and actual level of education of the people in these teams.
Unsurprisingly, the quality of the deliverables was terrible, resulting in a much longer time-to-market than foreseen and a high maintenance cost.
The IT industry learned and adapted: it recognized that communication was a major hurdle and needed to be better. The introduction of agile methodologies helped to strengthen this belief. Many companies would try to attract development capacity in nearshore countries, where cultural and timezone differences were less of an issue and where communication was less of a hurdle. Still, the motivation was more often than not: “how can we get bigger margins”. Not “where can we find good people”. I wanted to make a difference.
The hunt for talent has been a challenge for the entire IT industry for the past decades. Organizations often have ambitions that outweigh the capacity of their current work force. Recruiting new talent can be a long process. In those cases it’s important to have a partner you can rely on. A partner who can deliver the team you need and can grow with you as your needs evolve.
I have had the privilege of working with people of many different nationalities, each bringing their unique culture and each broadening my vision of the world. I am a happy camper as long as I am able to efficiently work with qualified people who have the right attitude, who are assertive, proactive and passionate in what they do. That is why I’ve called Delta Source “home” for the past 10 years.
More than once clients have told me, after the first weeks of collaboration, that they do feel a difference immediately. When collaboration becomes constructive instead of frustrating, that’s when clients get rejuvenated as well. And that makes me feel proud of what we do.
As I am writing this blog I am 11 km up in the sky, en route to our colleagues in Delta Source Bulgaria. I look forward to a week of working together, catching up, meeting our newest colleagues for the first time in person and for sure having some fun together outside of the office as well!
Joeri Leemans, managing partner Delta Source