IT Case Study (2ergo)

While many organisations view outsourcing the requirement as a solution, if not handled correctly this can cause a whole new set of problems. From cultural differences through to the need to understand sometimes complex business processes the potential for mistakes to be made is high if not handled correctly. That is why the GodelTech approach of provided dedicated teams who operate as an integral part of an organisation works as Neil Turvin, director at GodelTech explained.

“It is a flexible and cost-effective solution that enables an organisation to deal with peaks and troughs of demand without the usual costs of recruiting staff when a project starts and keeping them busy between projects. Additionally, it means that the understanding they gain when working on a project is not lost to the company and ensures that this experience is available for future projects.”

2ergo

2ergo is a leading global provider of mobile enabling technology with a focus on mobile marketing, business, entertainment and media. Its product portfolio includes an innovative suite of interactive messaging, mobile publishing, content management, Smartphone applications, mobile ticketing and coupons, mobile security and advanced messaging solutions to deliver a multi-dimensional approach to mobile marketing and mobile customer communications.

2ergo is used by organisations such as O2, Yahoo!, FOX News, National Geographic Channel to take advantage of integrated mobile communications to increase sales, enhance customer experiences, mobilise business processes and reduce costs.

Early in 2010 the company won a major contract to provide a leading European city with a comprehensive mobile services platform to support and enhance its journey planning services. Richard Fumarola, Director of Operations at 2ergo said, “We will develop, monitor, support and content manage a services platform which will break new ground in the timeliness, accessibility and level of detail available for customers’ mobile travel services.

“The solution will give commuters access to personalised content, such as travel alerts, quickest routes, timetables and maps, all delivered via the medium of their choice, through mobile, e-mail, Web and mobile Web. It will also provide the City with enhanced reporting, analytics and measurement across previously disparate services.

“We believe that this solution will be able to offer commuters a truly world class journey planning service that will set the standard for other capital cities to follow.”

EXPERTISE AND EXPERIENCE

Key to the success of the project would be the speed with which 2ergo could find the necessary expertise to deliver the applications required. During a previous supplier review the company had already identified GodelTech as a potential partner and so asked them, along with a number of other outsource companies, to demonstrate their capabilities.

“We eventually chose Gödel for a number of compelling reasons”, said Richard. Firstly, they had an excellent track record of dealing with complex projects. This was backed up by speaking to their reference sites who gave them an excellent report. We could see from this that they could help us manage the client as they would not over commit to unrealistic timescales.

“Secondly, they were able to provide the right skill sets at a competitive price. This coupled with their flexibility and agility to adapt to changing resource requirements was vital. Finally, we were impressed with their communication. Being local helped, but also the high speed connectivity we were offered, to their team in Minsk that enabled the daily meetings and made overall project management easier, was an important factor.”

DEDICATED TEAM

GodelTech initially assembled of team of 6 people to work on the project. This comprised of a project manager, developers and QA staff. Utilising Java, Spring, iBATIS, Oracle RDBMS, Apache CXF, JSMPP, Apache Tomcat 6, Maven 2, ESB and Plone technologies, the team is working on a number of modules, as Neil explained.

“We are working on providing a mobile service that will deliver information through SMS on the taxi operators closest to a person’s location. Also, we are carrying out research on which is the best platform to use to integrate all the mobile Web services to deliver them to the end user.”

Richard has been delighted with the work that the GodelTech team has carried out. “Although they have only been working with us for a few months it feels as if they have part of the team much longer. They have embraced our culture and working practices and I have had no hesitation in placing more work with them as it arisen since the project started.

“I feel confident that with Gödel’s dedicated team we have made the right choice that will help us ensure success for such an important project.”