Discover how transformative outcomes were achieved through a blend of strategic application development, in-depth cloud expertise, and extensive Atlassian knowledge; all implemented by a specialized squad.
The client
Tempo Software is a global leader in integrated applications, renowned for building some of the most popular tools for project, product, and portfolio management. Headquartered in Boston, the company is a key player in the Atlassian ecosystem, serving a diverse customer base of over 30,000 clients across more than 100 countries.
The challenge
In 2021, Tempo Software’s IT team encountered a major challenge: managing Server, Data Center, and Cloud products simultaneously. This strategy proved ineffective due to the frequent need for context-switching, leading to issues such as low employee morale, limited documentation, difficulties in knowledge retention, and the need for faster problem resolution across platforms.
At this critical juncture, Director of Engineering Jakob Jónasson made the strategic decision to adopt a split-teams approach. By creating a new dedicated unit for Server and Data Center solutions, he aimed to empower each team to focus on their respective solutions, thereby enhancing overall efficiency. This decision required rapid staff expansion, culminating in a strategic partnership with e-Core. A compact, five-person squad was formed to test a targeted process for bug resolution, marking the beginning of a transformative collaboration.
By adopting a strategic approach to application development, e-Core’s squad at Tempo was able to deliver more than development activities. They took the time to understand Tempo’s culture and goals to propose new solutions and implement methodologies that added value to the business. The success hinged on combining application development experience, in-depth cloud expertise, and extensive Atlassian knowledge to address the challenges adeptly.
As a result, the partnership has furthered Tempo’s position as a top-tier Atlassian marketplace vendor and trusted Platinum partner. Through enhancements to processes and tools, Tempo successfully reduced time spent on routine development tasks by 10%, redirecting this saved time toward the refinement of product features. This strategic shift has contributed to a 30% increase in product performance.
“Previously, I had never trusted contractors because they lacked commitment and attempted to use shortcuts to solve a problem. My feelings changed with e-Core”, says Jónasson. Over time, Tempo increased the number of e-Core team members to 16 and their responsibilities expanded to cover Cloud, Server and Data Center solutions.
Our Work
- Establish a development squad for Server and Data Center products, followed by a quick expansion from 5 to 16 squad members
- Develop documentation for effective communication, troubleshooting support and project scalability
- Enhance knowledge retention, minimizing errors and fostering efficient collaboration
- Address and resolve bugs, and implement improvements in products.
- Ensure swift onboarding and integration of new team members, enabling them to actively contribute to tasks by the second week
Results
- Achieved a 30% increase in product performance
- 10% decrease in time spent on routine development tasks
- Implementation of a two-week onboarding process for new hires
- Enhanced code security and efficiency
- Compliance with global data residency requirements
“They impressed us by fixing bugs to a point we could not enhance further. In fact, they made things even better than the team before.”
Jakob Jónasson
Director of Engineering at Tempo
The results
Due to the ability to understand and adapt to the company’s culture while providing strategic solutions, the squad from e-Core is now part of strategic conversations at Tempo and has worked on multiple high-impact projects:
Performance improvement projects
e-Core tackled a series of performance improvement projects for different tools, including Planner, Budgets, Timesheets, and Timesheet Reports & Gadgets. These initiatives involved enhancements to UX/UI, information architecture, development, frontend, and backend, utilizing technologies such as React, Java, and Typescript, among others. “The team fixed minor issues that customers had requested. When we thought further performance improvements were impossible, they continued to work on it and achieved a breakthrough, improving performance by 30% in some scenarios,” says Jónasson.
Enhancing code security and efficiency for Tempo
Tempo needed to implement a process for addressing vulnerabilities to deliver security patches quickly to customers, reduce the occurrence of human errors and minimize manual interventions in their development workflows. e-Core swiftly identified a solution by integrating Dependabot alerts on GitHub with Jira, Tempo’s project management tool. This integration automated vulnerability and resolution assessments within their development pipeline. Dependabot and JIRA in sync virtually eliminated security vulnerabilities, significantly reducing manual intervention. This automated process decreased the time spent on routine development tasks by 10%, ensuring prompt vulnerability resolution, bolstering code security, and reducing potential threats.
e-Core helped Tempo with data residency feature for Tempo's global clients
With clients worldwide, it was imperative for Tempo to offer data control solutions that aligned with evolving regional data sovereignty requirements across various regions. e-Core helped Tempo find a path to address global data residency complexities, ensuring operational efficiency. Key elements included data mapping and classification, cloud-native architecture, microservices development, and continuous integration and deployment. Beyond offering enhanced data control, the solution strategically positioned Tempo to attract a broader clientele, amplifying revenue potential while enhancing security, improving operational efficiency, and ensuring data residence compliance.
Reduced time and effort with onboarding
e-Core manages the end-to-end onboarding process for the Server and Data Center team, from the hiring phase to seamless integration within the squad. Historically, critical knowledge was concentrated in a few professionals, but with e-Core’s approach to documenting and sharing insights, the entire team is better equipped to identify strategic opportunities beyond bug fixes. “They are team members who collaborate closely with Tempo, follow best practices, and are happy in their roles,” says Jónasson.
Next steps: e-Core and Tempo's continued journey towards excellence
As the partnership continues, the e-Core team collaborates with Tempo on creating new features for existing projects and initiatives. We are also the company’s choice for two critical Cloud projects in their roadmap: a revolutionary automation tool simplifying work logging on timesheet products and a project to improve performance on reports, necessitating a technology stack update before the required fixes are implemented. “e-Core is instrumental in almost all roadmap items because, without them, we could not achieve our objectives,” says Roman Gagarskiy.
“Previously, I had never trusted contractors because they lacked commitment and attempted shortcuts. My feelings changed with e-Core. They are team members who collaborate closely with Tempo, follow best practices, and are happy in their roles.”
Jakob Jónasson
Director of Engineering at Tempo
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