The new platform allows the consultants to bill for an extra day and increases productivity by 20%. We also considered the scalability of the platform and built the capacity for it to extend and create different types of reports. The governance and reporting process implemented by Codurance is now used as an example to other software suppliers of industry best practice. Read Peninsula full case study here.
Why do we often fail to deliver on budget and on time?
Delivering software on time and on budget is a persistent challenge in the software development industry. Despite advances in project management methodologies, tools and technologies, many software projects continue to experience delays and cost overruns.
In this section we will delve into the factors that contribute to these failures so that you can identify what may be going wrong with your projects and how to improve.
Common obstacles that cause delays and budget overruns
Good software delivery requires a proactive approach, including thorough planning, realistic estimation, effective communication and robust project management practices. Monitoring, risk management and stakeholder engagement are also crucial to keep projects on track and on budget.
Here is a list of the obstacles that often cause delays and budget overruns in software delivery:
- Inadequate planning: Insufficient upfront planning and unclear requirements can lead to a lack of clarity in project scope, objectives and requirements, causing delays and unexpected costs.
- Poor estimation: Underestimating the time, effort and resources required for a project can lead to budget overruns and missed deadlines.
- Communication issues: Lack of effective communication among team members, stakeholders, and clients can cause misunderstandings, misaligned expectations, and delays.
- Scope creep: Continually adding new features or changes to the scope of the project without proper assessment and control leads to increased costs and delays.
- Inadequate risk management: Failure to identify, assess, and mitigate risks proactively can result in unforeseen problems that disrupt the project timeline and budget.
- Lack of qualified staff: Not having qualified developers or without the necessary knowledge that your project needs can slow down your progress and affect quality.
- Inadequate project management: Ineffective project management practices, such as poor scheduling, lack of follow-up and insufficient stakeholder involvement.
- Cultural and organisational factors: Organisational culture, resistance to change and bureaucratic hurdles can impede project progress and lead to inefficiencies.
- Technical debt: Accumulating technical debt to meet short-term goals can lead to long-term problems, which will require additional time and resources to solve. The alignment of the architecture with the organisation plays a key role in mitigating technical debt by ensuring that the design and structure of the system reflects the communication and workflow patterns within the organisation. This alignment facilitates smoother collaboration, reduces misunderstandings and makes it easier to maintain and extend the system. As the Conways's law states:
Organisations, who design systems, are constrained to produce designs which are copies of the communication structures of these organisations.
- Melvin Conway, Computer Scientist
How to measure Delivery Success
Measuring the success of software delivery involves assessing several KPIs that, taken together, provide an overall view of a project's performance.
It is not only about the quality of deliverables and processes, but also about the productivity and satisfaction of the team as a whole. For example, SPACE Metrics is a framework for understanding developer productivity that can help you take a more holistic view of productivity, which in turn has a direct bearing on software delivery.
Setting metrics at the beginning of the project and tracking them regularly will help you to better understand your software delivery processes, identify areas for improvement and ensure that your projects are in line with business objectives and customer expectations.
Here are 6 metrics that can help you measure Software Delivery
Lead Time: Total time taken from the initial request or idea to the delivery of the software to the end user. It measures the efficiency of the development process and helps to identify bottlenecks.
Deployment Frequency: The rate at which new versions or upgrades are deployed into production. A higher deployment frequency suggests a mature and stable development process.
Change failure Rate: The percentage of deployments that result in a failure in production, requiring a rollback or hotfix. A lower change failure rate may indicate higher quality releases and more reliable delivery.
Defect Density: This metric measures the number of defects found in the software per unit of code (e.g., per thousand lines of code). Lower defect density could indicates higher code quality and effective testing processes.
Mean Time To Recovery (MTTR): The average time it takes to recover from a production failure. A lower MTTR reflects the team's ability to quickly address and resolve problems, minimising downtime and the impact on users.
Queues Management: Queues represent the accumulation of tasks waiting to be addressed. To analyse queues, we can measure cycle time (the time spent actively working on a task) and throughput (the number of tasks completed during a period). By examining these metrics, teams can identify bottlenecks and take action to streamline workflows. Effective queue management involves techniques such as limiting work in progress, prioritising based on customer value and using pull systems to start work only when necessary.
Measuring Output vs. Outcome?
It is essential to track both outputs and outcomes, and it is also crucial to know the difference.
Outputs are the more tangible and quantifiable results, so they are easier to measure and help us understand and optimise our development processes. In other words, outputs are the direct products or deliverables created by the team. For example, the number of features developed, the number of bugs fixed or the number of releases distributed.
Whereas outcomes encompass the broader impact of a project and ensure that our work delivers significant value to our users and aligns with our strategic business objectives. Outcomes can be described as the changes or benefits derived from the outputs. For example: Better user satisfaction and engagement, increased user retention rates, or increased revenue and cost savings.
Outcomes reflect the true value of your work. They indicate whether the features and improvements delivered actually meet user needs, solve problems and contribute to business goals. Focusing on outcomes ensures that you don't just build software, you build the right software.
So, should you focus on outputs or outcomes? Both help to monitor the health of the project, but if you focus on outcomes, you will be able to make more informed decisions, prioritise the right actions and ultimately deliver software that makes a difference.
Statistics on Project Failures and Business Impact
A number of factors are critical to the success of a project, from good communication and clarity of objectives to proper planning and having the right tools in place.
Statistics on IT project failure rates reveal a high level of challenges and significant impacts on businesses. The Standish Group's CHAOS report states that only 16.2% of software development projects are completed on time and within budget, and that 31.1% of software projects are cancelled before completion.
Only 16.2% of software development projects are completed on time and within budget.
- Standish Group's CHAOS Report
Similarly, a McKinsey article reports that large IT projects run 45% over budget and 7% over time, while delivering 56% less value than predicted. Additionally, Gartner’s 2022 Emerging SPM Trends Report highlights that effective resource management is still a challenge, with over 80% of organisations reporting their processes as ineffective.
The impact of these failures on businesses is substantial. PMI's Pulse of the Profession states that in the US for every $1 billion invested in projects, $97 million is wasted due to poor project performance. Furthermore, McKinsey notes that 17% of IT projects go so badly that they can threaten the very existence of the company.
Effective project management and robust quality assurance practices are critical to mitigating these issues. Organisations that employ standardised project management practices have significantly better outcomes. PMI's Pulse of the Profession indicates that 48% of respondents identified project governance as effective or highly effective in organisations with an established Project Management Office (PMO), compared with 39% where a PMO did not exist.
PMI's Pulse of the Profession also reports that project professionals rated communication, problem-solving, collaborative leadership, and strategic thinking as the most critical power skills in helping them fulfil organisational objectives.
Ineffective communications is the primary contributor to project failure one third of the time, and had a negative impact on project success more than half the time.
- Project Management Institute (PMI) Pulse of the Profession Report
Therefore, it appears evident that technical skills alone are insufficient for a development project to thrive and achieve its goals. A strong team culture is crucial to success, characterised by transparent communication and collaborative principles that enable all members to actively engage, share ideas, and learn. According to the State of Business Communication Study by Harris Poll, 72% of business leaders believe that effective communication has increased their team’s productivity.
By improving requirement gathering, planning, communication, and involving senior management, businesses can enhance the success rates of their IT projects, thereby reducing financial losses and increasing project reliability and stakeholder satisfaction.
How do we improve our software delivery?
Software delivery is more than just getting code from development to production. It encompasses the entire lifecycle of software development, from initial planning and design to deployment and maintenance.
In today's fast-paced digital landscape, the efficiency and effectiveness of software delivery can make or break a business. Whether you're a startup looking to scale quickly or an established company seeking to maintain a competitive edge, refining your software delivery processes is crucial.
This section aims to help you navigate the complexities of software delivery by providing information on best practices, methodologies and tools that can improve your team's productivity.
The Power of a Great Discovery Phase for Project Success
The discovery phase is a critical component in ensuring the success of any project. It involves thorough research to understand the problem at hand and align on the most effective solutions. This initial phase sets the foundation for the entire project, significantly impacting its outcome.
Embracing the power of the discovery phase can transform the way projects are executed, leading to greater satisfaction for both the team and the end users. At Codurance, understanding users needs and validating user hypotheses before creating products is an ongoing practice that we embed with all our clients.
"The Discovery involves all the activities and deliverables that allow us to understand and align on a problem, and the most appropriate solutions with the available means".
- Lesmes López, Agile Delivery Manager at Codurance
The discovery phase is adaptable to various project contexts, such as exploring new products, developing new functionalities, or implementing a modernisation of an existing system. By ensuring alignment, enabling informed decisions, mitigating risks, and enhancing collaboration, this phase can lead to more efficient development processes and a higher quality outcome.
So you may be wondering what you need to make a successful discovery, there are plenty of tools that, depending on your context, can help you align your problem, define your pain points and design a solution to address them. Always remember that the nature of the problem to be solved defines the activities and outcomes.
Here are some tools for the Discovery phase:
- Business model canvas: Helps shape a value proposition by formulating realistic assumptions and understanding customer needs. It is especially useful for new product development.
- Service Blueprints: Maps the entire service delivery process to provide a visual representation of the different touch points between the service and the user in order to identify potential bottlenecks, inefficiencies and opportunities for improvement.
- Value Stream Mapping: Visualises the value generation process, identifying bottlenecks and areas for optimisation to enhance efficiency.
- Wardley Maps: A strategic analysis tool that visualises the project's evolution, helping to prioritise actions and identify opportunities in the competitive landscape.
- Stakeholder Interviews: Engaging with key stakeholders through structured interviews gathers insights into their needs and expectations.
- Customer Journeys. Detailing the user journey to establish the pain points that can be resolved in order to improve the experience.
Common Project Management Methodologies
Different methodologies offer various approaches to managing projects, each with its strengths and weaknesses. Here, we will explore 3 common project management methodologies: Waterfall, Agile, and Lean, and their involvement in software delivery.
Waterfall Methodology
Waterfall is a traditional, linear approach to project management where each phase must be completed before the next one begins. The structured nature of Waterfall helps maintain a straightforward project trajectory and extensive documentation, which can be beneficial for maintaining a clear project framework and recording knowledge comprehensively.
The predictability and simplicity of Waterfall are some of its notable advantages. Clear stages and milestones make it easier to track progress and manage timelines, and the linear approach is easy to understand and manage.
However, Waterfall also has significant drawbacks that can hinder software delivery. Its inflexibility makes it difficult to incorporate changes after a phase has been completed, which can cause problems if requirements evolve. Problems are often only discovered during the final testing phase, which can cause delays and require costly rework. In addition, limited interaction with the customer until the final phases can result in a product that does not fully meet the user's needs and lead to team fatigue due to having to start from scratch to adapt feedback.
Agile in Software Development
Agile is a project management methodology that focuses on iterative and incremental development. It emphasises flexibility, allowing teams to quickly adapt to changes and accommodate new requirements or changes in scope. Agile fosters collaboration and continuous feedback from customers and stakeholders, ensuring that the final product aligns with user needs. Regular retrospectives are conducted to evaluate and improve processes and performance continuously.
One of the key strengths of Agile is its adaptability. The iterative cycles facilitate adjustments based on stakeholder feedback, which enhances collaboration among team members and stakeholders. This approach often leads to higher customer satisfaction due to the regular delivery of functional software that meets evolving user needs. Agile's emphasis on teamwork and communication helps in creating a cohesive work environment that supports continuous improvement.
However, Agile also has its challenges. The flexibility it offers can sometimes lead to uncontrolled changes and scope creep if not managed properly. Additionally, successful implementation of Agile requires teams to be skilled in Agile practices to avoid potential pitfalls and ensure successful implementation. Despite these challenges, Agile remains a popular and effective approach for managing projects in dynamic and fast-paced environments.
Agile projects average a success rate of 88.2% across all four criteria (how well project teams select, align integrate and implement processes) whereas Waterfall projects are on average only 47% successful.
- Khoza, L. and Marnewick, C.: Waterfall and Agile information System Project Success Rates Research Article
Extreme Programming Practices
Extreme Programming (XP) is closely related to Agile in software development. XP is a framework that emphasises practices, values and principles aimed at delivering high quality software that provides genuine value to users. It fosters a collaborative working environment for developers, promoting efficient and effective solutions.
Agile, a broader methodology that encompasses several frameworks, including XP and Scrum, is based on the principles and values described in the Agile Manifesto. Collectively, agile methodologies aim to improve software development processes by emphasising flexibility, collaboration and customer-centric approaches.
XP values are:
- Simplicity: To develop the simplest solution that works, avoiding unnecessary complexity and focusing on delivering value quickly.
- Communication: Open and constant communication among team members to ensure clarity and alignment on project goals and progress.
- Feedback: Implementing rapid and continuous feedback from stakeholders and end-users to guide development and improve the product iteratively
- Respect: Mutual respect among team members, valuing each person's contributions and fostering a collaborative and supportive work environment.
- Courage: Focuses on ownership and being honest about progress and estimates of developments. As well as a willingness to adapt to change and address issues quickly.
Key XP practices and principles include:
- Pair Programming: Increases code quality and facilitates knowledge sharing, reducing long-term maintenance costs and boosting team efficiency.
- Test-Driven Development (TDD): Ensures reliability and reduces time spent debugging, allowing more time for feature development.
- Refactoring: Regularly improving code quality without altering functionality keeps the codebase clean and manageable, making future changes easier and faster.
- Simple Design: Focusing on simplicity and avoiding unnecessary complexity can lead to faster development times and easier maintenance.
- Incremental Changes: Advocates for making small, manageable changes which can be integrated frequently. This reduces risk and makes it easier to adapt to new requirements or feedback.
- Rapid feedback: Encourages rapid and continuous feedback from users and stakeholders to guide development and ensure that the product meets their needs.
Lean Thinking
Lean Thinking, initially developed by Toyota for manufacturing, has been successfully adapted to software development to reduce waste and create flow. Lean focuses on eliminating defects by doing things right the first time and aligning processes to minimise waiting time. The methodology emphasises activities that add direct value to the customer, ensuring efficient use of resources and increased satisfaction.
Lean principles complement Agile practices by streamlining workflows and focusing on features that offer value to the end-user. This synergy reduces unnecessary work and enhances the overall efficiency of the development process, leading to better outcomes.
Implementing Lean requires a cultural shift within the organisation, promoting respect for people, creating a collaborative environment, and optimising the entire value stream. Teams need to embrace autonomy and decentralised decision-making. By fostering a culture of trust and continuous improvement, organisations can achieve faster delivery times, higher quality products, and better alignment with customer needs.
The Role of Delivery Management in Successful Projects
Delivery management is a key pillar in ensuring that projects are completed smoothly, on time and on budget. Delivery managers orchestrate the various components of a project, acting as the glue that binds all efforts together towards a unified goal. Areas such as risk management, dependency management and continuous project monitoring are key to project success.
Risk management. A proactive approach to identifying, assessing and mitigating potential obstacles that could jeopardise the success of a project. A sound risk management strategy can prevent minor issues from becoming major problems that derail the project. 
Emerging issues, often unforeseen, require a proactive and responsive approach. Delivery managers should establish a robust process for issue tracking and resolution, ensuring that emerging problems are swiftly identified and addressed. Effective communication with stakeholders and team members is crucial to ensure that everyone is aligned on the resolution approach.
Best practices for managing risk include:
- Conducting thorough risk assessments during the discovery phase
- Develop contingency plans for high-risk scenarios
- Continuously monitor and reassess risks throughout the project lifecycle
Managing Dependencies. Software projects often involve multiple teams, systems and technologies, creating a complex web of dependencies. Effective management of dependencies is crucial to avoid delays and ensure that all parts of the project move forward in sync.
This involves identifying interdependencies at the start of the project, coordinating schedules and deliverables across teams and stakeholders, and regularly updating and communicating any changes to avoid bottlenecks. By meticulously managing dependencies, projects can maintain a smooth progression and effectively meet their objectives.
Project Monitoring and Control. Continuous project monitoring is vital to track project progress and ensure that the project remains aligned with its objectives. Effective monitoring includes establishing key performance indicators (KPIs) and milestones, conducting regular progress reviews, reporting project status to stakeholders and adjusting plans based on performance data.
Constant feedback is essential for ensuring that the final result aligns with the real needs of the client and users. Embracing a culture of continuous feedback is in line with agile methodologies, enabling you to meet both customer expectations and business objectives effectively.
The Good and Evil of Estimates
Estimating time and budget accurately in a software delivery project is both an art and a science. Striking the right balance can make the difference between a successful project and one that spirals out of control.
Accurate backlog management is fundamental to effective estimation. The backlog should be continuously refined and prioritised, ensuring that the most valuable features are developed first. This process involves close collaboration with stakeholders to understand their needs and expectations.
By breaking down tasks into manageable pieces and estimating their complexity, teams can allocate the right amount of time and resources, minimising surprises as the project progresses.
Releasing early and often is another critical strategy. By delivering incremental updates, teams can gather feedback sooner and make adjustments as needed. This approach not only ensures that the project remains aligned with client expectations but also allows for the identification and resolution of issues before they escalate.
Frequent releases also help manage changing requirements, making it easier to adapt to new information and feedback while adjusting estimates as necessary.
Effective change management involves maintaining a balance between accommodating necessary changes and protecting the project's scope and timeline. This balance can be achieved through regular communication with stakeholders, transparent decision-making processes, and maintaining a clear record of changes and their impact on the project.
If you want to go deeper into the topic, we recommend our Fireside Chat#23, in which our MDs discuss the controversial topic of estimating and how to do it effectively.
Governance and Stakeholder Management
Software delivery governance refers to the framework that gives structure to development projects through defined policies and processes that help keep technology aligned with business objectives, adhere to best practices and meet regulatory requirements.
Software governance includes:
- Defining clear roles and responsibilities
- Establishing risk management strategies
- Using detailed planning tools that help teams to align
- Maintaining regular communication with stakeholders
- Ongoing monitoring and reporting involving time and budget tracking
Managing time and budget is crucial in project governance, and requires planning and project management tools to track progress against milestones and deadlines. Regular status meetings and progress reviews help identify delays early for timely interventions. Effective budget management involves setting realistic estimates, continuously tracking expenses, and adjusting forecasts to account for scope changes or unforeseen costs.
Stakeholder management is also a component of a governance, encompassing all individuals affected by the project, from the finance department responsible for budgeting to the development team and end users. Effective stakeholder management begins with identifying all key stakeholders and understanding their expectations, aligning their diverse interests to achieve project objectives and securing their approval and active involvement.
Regular communication is essential, involving structured updates, feedback sessions, and transparent reporting mechanisms. Maintaining an open dialogue allows project managers to anticipate potential issues, align priorities, and continuously address stakeholder needs throughout the project lifecycle.
Metrics and KPIs for Monitoring Project Health
Project health refers to the overall status of all activities that bring a project closer to its intended objectives. This includes not only the completion of specific tasks or milestones but also team productivity and satisfaction, the quality of deliverables, adherence to budget, and management of stakeholder expectations.
Using metrics and KPIs to measure project health helps gain valuable insights into progress, quality, and overall status, enabling proactive management and timely interventions.
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Schedule Variance (SV) and Schedule Performance Index (SPI): SV is the difference between planned and actual progress, while SPI is the ratio of earned value to planned value. An SPI greater than one indicates the project is ahead of schedule.
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Cost Variance (CV) and Cost Performance Index (CPI): CV measures the difference between budgeted and actual costs, whereas CPI is the ratio of earned value to actual costs. A CPI greater than one suggests the project is under budget.
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Defect Density: Number of defects per unit size of the software, such as per thousand lines of code. It helps assess the quality of the code and the effectiveness of the testing processes.
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Team Velocity: The amount of work a team completes in a sprint, usually quantified in story points or hours. Consistent velocity indicates a stable and predictable team performance.
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Requirements Stability Index (RSI): Tracks changes in project requirements over time. High stability indicates well-defined requirements, whereas frequent changes can signal issues in project scope or stakeholder alignment.
- Stakeholder Surveys: Help to measure stakeholder satisfaction with project expectations and current progress.
Effective monitoring and reporting of these metrics ensure projects stay on track and build stakeholder trust and engagement.
How does Culture impact on Project Delivery?
Imagine culture as the ground on which a house is built. That is how important culture is to the success of a project. It encompasses the collective behaviour, unwritten practices and intrinsic values of an organisation. Effective cultural practices lead to higher productivity, greater employee satisfaction and better project results.
"Organisational culture is the beliefs, basic assumptions and learned behaviours shared by members of a stable group, which the group develops by dealing with internal and external factors and which are then taught to others".
- Edgar Schein, Psychologist and Business Theorist
A positive culture aligns team members towards a shared goal of producing high-quality software. It fosters an environment where developers continuously improve and enjoy their work. By promoting autonomy, continuous learning, and a sense of purpose, teams can maintain high levels of morale and commitment, leading to more efficient and high-quality project outcomes.
A strong engineering culture helps attract and retain top talent, which is crucial for maintaining continuity and project expertise. Practical tools such as coaching, mentoring and communities of practice not only enhance individual growth, but also introduce new ideas and best practices to the team. Providing modern and effective tools further increases morale and efficiency, which has a direct impact on project delivery times and quality.
Effective team collaboration depends on establishing clear and consistent channels of communication. Fostering an inclusive environment where different points of view are valued and constant feedback is encouraged helps to break down silos and promote knowledge sharing. These practices improve transparency, decision-making and innovation, resulting in more holistic and successful project outcomes.
DeveOps and Continuous Integration
DevOps and continuous integration (CI) are collaborative approaches to software development that emphasise automation, rapid feedback and continuous improvement. DevOps brings development and operations teams together to create a unified workflow for faster, more reliable software delivery. Continuous integration automates the integration of code changes, ensuring that new code is continually tested and integrated into the main branch.
In this context, reducing lead times, shortening cycle times and increasing the frequency of releases are critical. They enable teams to deliver value to users faster, respond to feedback promptly and reduce the risk of large-scale failures by deploying smaller incremental changes. This approach increases agility, improves product quality and aligns development efforts with business goals.
Why Work with an External Delivery Partner? Key Benefits
Partnering with an external organisation to drive your software development projects offers access to a diverse set of specialised knowledge and expertise, ensuring that your project benefits from cutting-edge solutions and innovative approaches that might be beyond the reach of your in-house team.
A specialised partner brings a wealth of experience and proven methodologies, which can significantly accelerate the development process, resulting in faster time to market to remain competitive and responsive to consumers demands.
Outsourcing can also help establish best practices in your team so that they can optimise their productivity and focus on strategic initiatives and produce added value. Another advantage is the flexibility to adjust resources according to project needs, ensuring efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
Also a partner with robust risk management processes and ability to deal with unexpected challenges help keep the project on track and on budget, mitigating potential risks and ensuring a successful outcome.
This all sounds great, but to take advantage of these benefits it is essential to choose the right strategic partner for your project. This involves a careful assessment to ensure that it matches the specific goals, values and needs of your organisation.
Key aspects to consider when choosing partner consultancy software:
- Experience and expertise in your sector
- Alignment with your culture or the one you aspire to establish
- Security and compliance processes
- Knowledge of modern technologies
- Use of industry best practices
- Types of contracts tailored to your needs
Check our checklist to assess the requirements your software development partner must meet to make the collaboration a success.
Tailored contracts: Fixed price, T&M, Share Risk & Reward
If you want to work with a software consultancy partner to take your projects forward, it is essential that you choose the right contract model. The requirements of each project vary, so choosing the type of contract that suits your needs can influence both the process and the outcome and, of course, whether you will meet your time and budget estimates.
Fixed-Price Contracts. Fixed-price contracts provide a clear and predetermined cost for a project, which facilitates budgeting and minimises financial uncertainty. This model works best when project requirements are unlikely to change. The main advantage is the predictability of costs, but it can be inflexible if there is a desire to scale or change project specifications. Unforeseen requirements may result in scope creep and the project may not stay on time and on budget.
Time and Materials (T&M) Contracts. Time and materials (T&M) contracts provide flexibility by billing based on the actual time spent and materials used on the project. This model is ideal for projects that, while having a clear objective, are open to explore and implement options that can help improve the outcome and scale the solution. Its main advantage is its adaptability, allowing adjustments to be made as the project progresses. It requires diligent monitoring to effectively manage costs and timelines.
Share Risk and Reward Contracts. These contracts imply that both parties share the risks and benefits of the project. This model aligns the interests of the client and the consultancy, encouraging collaboration and innovation. It is particularly suited to high-risk projects where the potential for significant gains justifies the shared risk. The main benefit is mutual commitment to the success of the project, but it requires a strong partnership and clear agreements on risk sharing and reward distribution to ensure that both parties are aligned and motivated.
Keep in mind that each of these options can certainly be customised to take into account your particular needs. By considering your project requirements, risk tolerance and desired outcomes, you can select a contract model that lays the groundwork for a successful partnership and project delivery.
Codurance delivers 96% of its projects on time and on budget
We are a software consultancy composed of expert software crafters, agile delivery managers, and platform engineers who approach their work as artisans. By producing the highest quality code, we design the best possible product to meet client needs and contribute to overall business success.
We help our clients grow, improve business agility, and accelerate innovation through well-crafted, reliable, secure, and easily modifiable software. Our culture of continuous improvement and learning, combined with technical excellence, minimises waste, reduces costs, and shortens delivery times.
Guided by the Software Craftsmanship philosophy, we foster a culture of excellence within our clients' technical teams, enhancing their ability to innovate. This philosophy drives us to develop software that is not only functional but also robust and scalable, complementing the Agile approach with technical skills and best programming practices, thereby elevating industry standards through professionalism and technical excellence.
We achieve great things for our customers
Building a Modern Platform with Peninsula 25% under budget
Since 1983 Peninsula Group has been providing HR and Health & Safety professional services to businesses of all sizes, from multinationals to microbusinesses. Codurance collaborated with Peninsula to modernise its Health & Safety platform by transforming its paper-based system into an efficient digital application.
Codurance's approach included detailed discovery, architecture changes, and the implementation of agile practices. Over 9 months, Codurance modernised the Health & Safety application into a reliable platform allowing Peninsula to scale and service its clients effectively.
We focused our efforts to develop working prototypes of the initial build to increase stakeholder confidence. This led to us delivering to schedule, with the initial phase being delivered four weeks earlier than projected and 25% under budget.
WebBeds Platform Upgrade and Best Practices Training
WebBeds is a global online marketplace, or bedback, for B2B travel commerce with a worldwide network of 265,000 hotels in more than 14,000 destinations.
With more than 6 billion web searches per day, WebBeds needed to keep pace with demand and ensure accurate inventory availability. It was looking for a modernisation solution to gain flexibility and reliability in its systems to scale effectively. WebBeds partnered with Codurance to modernise its platform and enhance system performance.
Using cloud-native technologies, Codurance delivered a solution that increased WebBeds' platform performance by 150%, now ranked as the number one B2B bedbank in Europe. We also worked closely with its development teams to implement world-class engineering practices, fostering a new culture of excellence and innovation.
WebBeds now has a platform that can effectively handle peak demand and accurately manage its inventory. It also reduced its database load by 50% and has no downtime when performing system upgrades. These changes led to increased customer satisfaction, better team communication and a culture of innovation and collaboration within WebBeds. Read WebBeds full case study here.
Lessons learned from helping clients get their projects on time and on budget
1. Software craftsmanship is and will remain our core methodology: Professionalism, pragmatism and pride. Thanks to the best practices derived from this philosophy, we are not only able to deliver on time and on budget, but we introduce a mindset of continuous pursuit of excellence that contributes to raising the professional standard of software development.
2. "Setting clear objectives from the outset is critical to the success of any project. The benefits include aligning expectations, providing clear focus and direction, measuring progress, and informing decision-making. To set clear objectives, it is important to involve all stakeholders, use the SMART methodology, and document them. Regularly reviewing and validating objectives is advisable to ensure they remain relevant".
- Helder de Oliveira, Engagement Manager at Codurance.
3. Adaptability and flexibility are necessary skills to deliver products that have real value for customers. A thorough understanding of customer needs in each specific context enables the design of sustainable and scalable solutions.
4. "Continuous alignment between the core team, partners and stakeholders is crucial for on-time and on-budget delivery. By identifying and connecting with all parties, we can establish needs first and then make informed decisions. This approach allows us to slice and prioritise tasks on an ongoing basis, ensuring we are always moving in the right direction and on time. The feedback received from each delivered slice confirms and iterates our progress, keeping the project on track and within budget constraints".
- Lesmes López, Agile Delivery Manager at Codurance.
5. We are curious and strive for excellence. That's why we never stop looking for new ways of learning that enrich our craft and allow us, as a community, to raise the standard of the software industry.
We know that the road to better software delivery is not an easy one, and that guidance is needed on where to start. We are a trusted partner with whom you can design a solution that allows you to not only improve your delivery, but transform your team culture to embed best practices that will help you achieve the goals you envision.