Software consultant turned to Company-X to help solve a problem.

When Linda Wright wanted to pick the right tools for some future software development projects, she turned to the Company-X team for advice.

The Auckland based software consultant wanted the low-down on the latest rapid prototyping technologies so that she could quickly turn some ideas into visual concepts that her clients could understand.

It’s a technology Linda has been using for decades, but she wanted to be sure that her next investment in rapid prototyping tools was a wise one.

“To get into these new, more ‘reactive’ web technologies, you need to consider the whole application development experience, for both the technical team and the client.

“Choosing that tool involves making a big bet for the company. You really don’t want to make a mistake.”

Linda has been involved in systems analysis, design, software development, business consulting and complex problem solving for more than 30 years. Existing commitments meant she did not have enough time to invest in staying current. That’s when she turned to Company-X.

“I went to Company-X directors David Hallett and Jeremy Hughes because I knew that they were working at the leading edge,” Wright said. She wanted to evaluate Vaadin, an up and coming software development suite.

“She was asking whether it was a good software stack to use. She wanted us to test drive it by developing some software using it,” Wright explained.

Why did Wright call Hallett in particular? “I’ve known David for a long time,” Wright said. “If I pose David a problem, he ordinarily responds with a solution.”

“I asked David if he had any resources to evaluate Vaadin, produce a test application and get a report to me.”

Wright really wanted to know whether it was worth spending hundreds of thousands of dollars gearing up to use the Vaadin Framework for rapid prototyping.

“Some customers can’t work with just specifications or wireframes,” Wright said.

“However, if you use rapid prototyping to show them what you propose to do, they very quickly see what’s going on, and the ideas start flowing. Rapid Prototyping allows users to see things actually working, if only partially. But speed is the key, you need tools that enable you to create software almost as fast as you can come up with ideas. That’s a big ask.”

Company-X put one of their top developers on it, using the Vaadin Framework for a couple of weeks.

“It was quick and painless. I got the answer I was looking for, and more. Because of David’s team’s responsiveness, it enabled me to knock out an entire line of investigation very quickly. It turned out that Vaadin was not the right tool for what I was trying to do.

“But engaging Company-X helped me start a conversation, and as a result, a whole new world of reactive web technologies opened up.”

In the end, Wright chose to use the NodeJS and Angular frameworks for her client’s projects.

“It was great,” Wright said of her experience with Company-X. “That investigation helped bring a lot of things into focus.

“I got exactly what I wanted, for the price I was expecting to pay. There was no gilding and they didn’t try to upsell me.

“The value equation really worked out, for me this new technology space probably represents about a million dollars in potential opportunities in the coming years.”