Interview

What’s the goal and purpose of this consulting firm?

Shawn Livermore:

Our mission statement is to “Awaken the potential of well-designed software”. And we really mean that. It’s our why. We truly believe that a well-design and well-formed software solution for clients can transform their company. So much so, that we’ve organized our team and our process around it as a core belief. And what are the potential benefits of well-designed software? We believe that it’s got to include first off - cost savings. This is the most glaring one and low-hanging fruit. You’re going to save a ton of money if you invest in the quality of the software that you’re building. And design does not just mean the user experience or user interface. Design includes everything around the architecture and development practices. Developers perform the design in their development effort. It just manifests itself as code. The designers and architects get all the credit, but developers are the ones invoking the design itself. So that execution aspect is critical. But our goal allows us to stay really focused on what we believe is the most important and absolutely achievable outcome for our clients, which is that they walk away with a perfectly design and perfectly calibrated piece of software, and they receive the highest possible value for their investments. Beyond that, we strive to make our firm a place where tech professionals can grow and thrive, and really develop their network among industry friends. We’ve looked at a great set of models to follow after and have spent time developing those models with our internal teams. 

How is this firm truly different?

Shawn Livermore:

So our focus has been 2 areas: one - aesthetics. And two - modernization. The aesthetics piece of it lends itself easily toward software product design, and is easy to follow. We care about the look and feel of of the product, and we try to only hire consultants who also care about this. If you stop caring about the look and feel and also - the function of the software, then you’ve lost your value to the client. The client needs you to really care about that. Often times, the client is not as aware of either how to get the aesthetics just right, or simply doesn’t have the manpower or time to do it themselves. So we step in to partner with them on the aesthetics and it works well.

What are some of the ways you approach working with clients and why has that really shaped the culture of the company? 

Shawn Livermore:

We look at it as partnership. Truly. The client partners up with the service provider. There’s a sort of melding of the minds, and a dotted line exists, but the incentives are aligned and so the team seems to all blend together. That’s the ideal scenario. That situation where your team’s manifested talent and skill and experience is converging with the client’s teams and their manifested talent and experience and skill and all the amazing products the client has built and invested into for decades. Literally decades of brilliant work and we are allowed to partner up with them as they refine their products even further. It’s really great. 

The partnership then gets even better because the client begins to depend on us and rely on us to meet their very critical needs, which of course is a wonderful thing. So this is where we want to be. 

Obviously it’s not always perfect or utopian, but we strive for it and I think that helps - to see the glass half full and be ever-optimistic on the engagement and it’s potential impact. The reality is that some engagements can be truly transformative. They can recalibrate and reconstitute the organization and the client never looks back. It’s amazing when it happens. 

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