Software House Without an Office: Our clients do not have to be afraid of coronavirus!

IT projects are more often taking place almost entirely online. Cooperation with freelancers seems to be quite obvious to, as do other forms of outsourcing certain aspects of our business, when your company is already short in terms of staff.

So are you still reluctant to cooperate with an IT company that operates entirely remotely?

Which, in fact, does not have its own physical office? Does the fact that the entire software house works virtually, paralyse you? Today, we will answer the question why you do not have to be afraid of a remote programming agency.

How do they not have their own office? What is this company without an office?

This attitude is rooted in settled stereotypes and atavistic fear of fly-by-night companies.

The sense of security and trust increased if the company you were considering had their headquarters, a beautifully furnished office with all the infrastructure and business environment.

However, is a company able to accommodate its current and future clients in office showrooms better prepared for the project and more competent than an agency whose employees perform their tasks remotely and are scattered around the world?

Is the software house, whose developers are not crowded in open spaces, but work from home (each from their own, of course), is less trustworthy than the one that has its command centre in the office?

Clients around the world

IT projects have naturally moved to the internet. The growing number of applications making remove cooperation easier and the business mentality changing for the better, means that each stage of the project can be carried out online instead of in a specific office.

At GMI Group Software House, we run projects for clients from various countries. Does it matter to them, if we have a physical headquarters in Warsaw, Krakow or Gdansk?

It absolutely doesn’t!

Something else is important here: whether communication during the project functions smoothly and all cooperation is at the highest professional level.

Our client wants to feel that they are in constant contact with us and that the project is not out of control.

If at the end of the road we provide a nice application that is not only a high-quality product, but also meets the client’s expectations, then the lack of an office is an insignificant detail.

How do you coordinate projects without being in one place?

How can you keep projects in check without being in one office? What does your internal cooperation look like? How do you manage your sprints? How do you make sure programmers write the code instead of vacuuming their home while they are working?

From the client’s point of view, these are very legitimate questions and concerns. How do we put it all together at GMI Software House?

First of all, we base our work on verified tools:

– Slack – the absolute world leader when it comes to business messengers. It allows for agile communication and file transfer between individual users as well as in freely selected groups and channels dedicated to a specific project.

The popularity of this application was confirmed even at a time of an apparent crisis for this brand – namely, one day Slack stopped working for a few hours, the network was swarming with mocking gifs, which actually showed respect and sympathy for this application.

– Trello – a sensational project management solution that enables the client to participate in the process of product development.

This system works so that all changes are displayed in real time to everyone connected to the project.

What’s more, Trello is perfectly integrated with mobile devices, thanks to which every person from anywhere has an insight into the design process.

– G Suite – business application package served by uncle Google. Here, you can find everything you need for fast, effective communication (Gmail, Hangouts, Meet), for planning (Calendar), creating files (Word, Excel, Power Point, etc.).

All these tools open the door to efficient cooperation within the development team, as well as between the software house and client.

Dear Client, welcome aboard!

At GMI, a positive client relationship is one of the foundations of our business philosophy. We do not build an artificial wall. Instead, from the first conversation we are open about our principles and create a partnership.

This may seem surprising, but we act so that the client becomes a part of the team that implements the project.

Regardless of the fact that the client’s role will be shaped as an investor or will take the form of a Product Owner, their involvement in the project is equally necessary.

How does it work in practice? Our client has full access to Trello and all design materials, so they can always stay in control.

What is particularly worth emphasizing – thanks to Daily, the Daily Scrum Meeting is a video conference that gathers all developers every day to discuss the progress of design work.

The advantage of a remote IT company over a traditional one

Is there anything to fear when it comes to employing an IT company that does not have its own office?

Certainly not!

On the contrary, choosing a remote programming agency makes more sense than opting for a traditional contractor who has headquarters.

Why?

Because the client can participate in the project all the time, without losing valuable time to travel to an IT agency and without drowning in the endless travel costs of weekly meetings to discuss the progress of work.

The applications we discussed above strengthen the client’s participation in the project – in real time, with a few clicks, the client has access to all materials and can discuss them with the development team on an on-going basis.

There is another advantage of a remote IT company over a traditional one – while the “prestigious business” location of such a company can raise the price of the project by half, a software house without an office will not apply such measures.

Emergencies are not terrible for us!

In February 2020, an epidemic related to the coronavirus broke out. For most companies as well as clients it is a huge problem. The situation in China shows that most companies are not adapted to remote working. The situation in Western Europe is similar.

What does that mean for clients? Of course, problems with the delivery of products. Which of course everyone wants to avoid. Nobody wants to lose money. Let us also remember that timing is also important in the market.

If you decide to create a product that takes several weeks, months or even years to create, this situation threatens your interest.

Preparing a company to work remotely is a time from several weeks to several months. For most clients, this is not acceptable! We know that most IT companies are not adapted to this type of situation because they did not work remotely.

In our case, there is no such threat. Our employees perform their duties remotely, so the probability of getting sick is lower. In addition, we are able to easily relocate to provide you with the best possible project within the time frame.

This gives us an advantage that we have developed over the years. And our clients’ mental and financial comfort.