The shadows on the track have grown long as the sun fades to the horizon. Though the smell of burnt rubber lingers in the air, the checkered flag has been waved. The grand prix is over. So is the season.
In the pits, cooling engines pop and snap, as if to voice their dissent. The drivers’ helmets are off, but sweat still clings to their matted foreheads after an exhilarating session. There’s a pang of longing to get back on the track.
As 2017 fades into history, the metaphor describes how we, at Devbridge, feel. Even as we’re letting off the throttle, our hands don’t want to loosen their grip on the wheel just yet. It’s a comparison we’ve been drawn to throughout the year: We make cutting-edge custom digital products fast, but we’re always shaving milliseconds off our lap time.
It’s with some melancholy that we say goodbye to 2017—it was a banner year and that’s something to celebrate—but we’re restless to get back on the track for an even better 2018. What follows is a summary of 2017 at Devbridge, filled with growth, compelling projects, and great people.
Helping partners grow with custom software
We began the year working more closely with financial services companies. We onboarded multiple tier one banks, asset management companies, and produced an award-winning mobile banking application for CIBC’s FirstCaribbean International Bank, now on its fifth release cycle since launch—a testament to agile adoption.
“We’re reaching an exciting level of maturity in our ability to facilitate digital transformation at tier one financial institutions,” Aurimas Adomavicius, Devbridge president said. “We’ve gotten really good at removing obstacles for Agile and DevOps and the payoff is incredible. With the FCIB application, we’ve seen how financial institutions can leverage Agile methodologies to iteratively release a better product for their customers.”
In October, we set up shop at Sibos, the world’s premiere financial services conference. There, we met with thought leader CIOs and presented how banks can rapidly turn ideas into extraordinary customer experiences—on one of the world’s largest stages.
We worked with Grainger, one of the world’s largest industrial supply companies, to build and launch Gamut, a robust e-commerce platform that aims to transform a $130 billion maintenance, repair, and operations industry.
These successes, among many others, allowed us to grow our revenue by 63 percent in 2017, while adding new strategic partners to a robust portfolio of financial services, manufacturing, agriculture technology, and software companies.
Shipping new tools for the enterprise CIO
When working on large-scale projects, transparency is essential. That’s why we built the new PowerUp app, which released in the fall. We see incredible value in preemptively identifying and communicating challenges early, so we can avoid them. PowerUp does this by showcasing agile metrics such as velocity reports, burndown charts and live project health monitoring.
PowerUp offers our partners transparency that’s unrivaled in software development and enables them to facilitate agile adoption at scale, keeping software initiatives on track and on budget.
Invested in the best people
We were named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies in America for the fifth consecutive year as our team surpassed 300 people globally (currently at 325); We opened new offices in Toronto and London to serve a growing list of clients in both regions.
We grew our practice leadership team with key hires in the areas of product design, product management, and software engineering. Due to in-depth expertise necessary in each of the verticals we serve, we hired and promoted managing directors to take ownership of our thought leadership and delivery in those fields.
“We hire the top talent in technology, and to attract those people to Devbridge, we make sure it’s the best possible place to work,” Isabel Casey, Devbridge’s talent acquisition partner, said. “We do that not only by investing in culture and team-building, but by ensuring that employees are challenged and have unlimited growth and career opportunities.”
In 2018: Avoid buzzwords, focus on your core
So what chicanes will we have to master in 2018?
“The industry is buzzing with the potential of blockchain and other emerging technologies,” Adomavicius said. “However, we see massive return on investment from CIOs taking on refactoring efforts of dated, core platforms, introduction of microservices into the enterprise, and a pragmatic transition to cloud-native applications. All of these initiatives will drastically speed up product-to-market 'readiness,' as well as lower operational IT costs.”
Thanks for being a part of our 2017. Whatever your traditions may be, we wish you a restful, healthy, and happy holiday. See you on the track next year.
Best of 2017
Below, we’ve hand-picked some of our best articles from the year.
