Category: Custom Software

Reshoring and Nearshoring Software Development to the Silicon Bayou

Posted on by Calvin Fabre

Reshoring vs. Nearshoring vs. Offshoring

In the ever-evolving world of software development, choosing the right team to bring your project to life is crucial. Many companies have turned to offshoring, attracted by the promise of cost savings. However, the reality often falls short, with numerous risks and past failures highlighting the pitfalls. At Envoc, based in Baton Rouge and Hammond, Louisiana, we advocate for “reshoring,” bringing it back from overseas, and “nearshoring” within the United States as the superior choice for any software project. Here’s why nearshoring with Envoc is your best bet for success.

Understanding the Risks of Offshoring

Offshoring might seem like a cost-effective solution initially, but it often comes with hidden costs and significant risks. Time zone differences can lead to communication delays, making project management challenging. Cultural and language barriers can result in misunderstandings and misalignment of expectations. For instance, idioms, figures of speech, and cultural nuances can be easily lost, leading to confusion and miscommunication. Moreover, varying quality standards and lack of direct oversight can lead to subpar deliverables and increased project timelines. Due to these offshoring challenges, many companies have faced project failures, extended timelines, and inflated budgets.

Nearshoring: A Better Alternative

Nearshoring, on the other hand, mitigates these risks by keeping your project within the same or similar time zones and cultural contexts. Working with a team in the United States ensures more accessible and more effective communication, aligned work hours, and a better understanding of business practices and legal standards. This results in a more collaborative and agile development process, ensuring your project stays on track and meets your quality expectations. Nearshored firms are more likely to be familiar with and comply with HIPAA, PCI, SOC2, and GAAP. Further, a local firm is more accountable to non-disclosure agreements, copyrights, and intellectual property expectations.

Louisiana: The Silicon Bayou

Choosing Envoc as your nearshoring partner brings additional benefits. Our Baton Rouge and Hammond-based team is composed of highly skilled professionals with expertise in various technologies, including .NET, SQL Server, Node.js, and more. We pride ourselves on our disciplined approach to software development, ensuring that each project is executed precisely and excellently. Our local talent alleviates the confusion in communication by understanding local idioms, figures of speech, and cultural elements absent in offshoring engagements. Our proximity allows regular in-person meetings, fostering a closer working relationship and better project outcomes.

Evening Scrum Meeting with Offshore Team

The Human Factor: Work-Rest Balance at Dinner Time

Another critical advantage of nearshoring is the alignment of work schedules. Offshore engagements often require managing teams across varied time zones, which can interrupt personal and family time. Imagine dreading a 7pm stand-up meeting with a remote team before a family dinner. Such scheduling conflicts can impede relaxation and upset family dynamics. Nearshoring with Envoc eliminates these disruptions, as our team works within the same or similar time zones, allowing for a healthier work-life balance and more productive collaboration.

Conclusion

Offshoring may promise savings, but the risks often outweigh the benefits. Nearshoring with Envoc ensures effective communication, cultural alignment, and high-quality deliverables. Our Baton Rouge and Hammond teams are ready to bring your software projects to life with the expertise, reliability, and dedication you deserve. Choose Envoc for a partnership that goes beyond just development—choose a team committed to your success and well-being.

Get the Conversation Started

Modernizing your internal technology stack is vital for driving innovation, staying competitive, and enhancing operational efficiency. By understanding software modernization approaches and carefully considering strategic alignment, technology stack evaluation, organizational preparedness, and security, you can make informed decisions that enable your organization to thrive in the digital era.

Tell our chatbot you have an idea to get started or contact me directly to get started with your project or modernization. 

 

Unleashing the Potential of Custom Software, Quality Assurance, and Call Center Services

Posted on by Michael Lipe

In an era where customer experience holds the power to make or break a business, organizations must rise above the competition to remain relevant and successful. Envoc’s dedication to our clients’ triumphs manifests through our unified approach, skillfully blending custom software development, quality assurance, and integrated call center services. By uniting these key elements, we empower businesses to craft extraordinary customer experiences while achieving tangible, lasting results.

As Calvin Fabre, Founder and CEO of Envoc, articulates, “Our passion lies in revolutionizing reality for our clients and communities, fueled by an unwavering pursuit of innovation and creativity.” This relentless dedication to challenging the status quo and devising innovative solutions lies at the core of Envoc’s unified approach.

Maximizing Actionable Customer Feedback
The seamless integration of a customer-facing call center team into the software development process offers businesses invaluable insights into customer needs, concerns, and preferences. Echoing the findings of Deloitte’s research on customer-centricity, this strategy enables organizations to capitalize on actionable feedback from their call centers. By tailoring software solutions to meet customer demands, businesses can cultivate an environment of continuous learning and improvement, ensuring they stay ahead of the curve.

Call center teams can serve as the bridge between customers and developers, relaying critical information that shapes product design and functionality. By taking a customer-centric approach, businesses can create solutions that not only address current needs but also anticipate future demands. This proactive stance fosters customer loyalty and positions businesses as forward-thinking industry leaders.

Elevating Software Quality to New Heights
Envoc’s unified approach emphasizes the importance of continuous testing and feedback throughout the development process. This close collaboration leads to fewer defects and superior software products, meticulously tailored to customer needs. Research by the Systems Sciences Institute at IBM supports the significance of early software defect detection and correction, demonstrating substantial cost savings and efficiencies.

A strong quality assurance focus from the outset empowers businesses to reduce support costs, minimize churn rates, and ultimately bolster their bottom line. Additionally, high-quality software products instill confidence in customers, inspiring trust and fostering long-lasting relationships. By prioritizing quality assurance in the development process, businesses can set themselves apart from their competitors, offering exceptional solutions that consistently exceed customer expectations.

Revolutionizing the Customer Experience
Seamlessly integrating DevOps, QA, and call center services leads to the creation of top-tier software products that meet and exceed customer expectations. In a business landscape where customer satisfaction reigns supreme, delivering an outstanding experience is vital for nurturing loyalty and driving growth. A study conducted by McKinsey & Company highlights the impact of customer treatment on buying experiences, reinforcing the notion that how customers feel matters.

By addressing customer feedback and delivering tailored solutions, businesses can enhance the customer experience, leading to higher satisfaction and retention rates. A commitment to excellence in customer service not only attracts new customers but also solidifies relationships with existing ones, fostering a sense of brand loyalty that sets the stage for long-term success.

Conclusion
Envoc’s unified approach to software development, quality assurance, and call center services is a testament to our unwavering dedication to our clients’ success. By enabling businesses to harness actionable customer feedback, elevate software quality, and revolutionize the customer experience, our groundbreaking methodology empowers organizations to flourish in a constantly shifting market.

As we forge ahead, our relentless pursuit of innovation and collaboration remains steadfast, ensuring that we continue to create a brighter reality for our clients and communities. Together, we can navigate the complexities of the business world, transforming challenges into opportunities and shaping a future defined by success and growth.

Optimizing Business Outcomes with Proof of Concept (POC) and Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

Posted on by Michael Lipe

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, it’s crucial for business leaders to make strategic decisions that drive innovation, growth, and long-term success. Two essential concepts in the world of software development – Proof of Concept (POC) and Minimum Viable Product (MVP) – can play a pivotal role in achieving these goals. By understanding the relationship between POC and MVP, you can optimize your product development process, minimize risks, and maximize return on investment (ROI).

The Essence of Proof of Concept (POC)

A Proof of Concept is a small-scale, experimental project designed to validate the technical feasibility of a new idea or concept. Its primary goal is to demonstrate whether a particular solution can be successfully implemented using specific technologies and methodologies. POCs are critical for verifying assumptions, evaluating potential risks, and determining the ROI of a proposed project (Intellectsoft, 2023).

The Value of Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

A Minimum Viable Product is an early version of a product containing just enough features to meet the needs of early adopters and validate the product idea. An MVP serves as a testing ground for gathering customer feedback, refining the product, and confirming the viability of the business model (Method, n.d.).

The Connection Between POC and MVP

Although POC and MVP serve different purposes, they are interconnected in the product development lifecycle. A POC establishes the foundation for an MVP by confirming the technical feasibility and potential value of a proposed solution. Once the POC proves that a concept is viable, your development team can proceed with creating an MVP to test the product in the market.

The insights gathered from MVP testing can be used to further refine the product or modify the product strategy if needed. As such, the POC and MVP are interdependent and play complementary roles in the software development process.

Distinctions Between POC and MVP

To further clarify the relationship between POC and MVP, let’s highlight some key differences between these concepts:

Objective

Proof of Concept (POC): The main objective of a POC is to evaluate the technical feasibility of a proposed solution. It involves identifying potential challenges, testing the viability of the selected technologies and methodologies, and assessing the potential risks associated with the project.

Minimum Viable Product (MVP): An MVP focuses on testing the product-market fit by introducing a basic version of the product to early adopters. Its primary goal is to gather valuable feedback from potential customers, refine the product based on their input, and validate the underlying business model.

Scale

Proof of Concept (POC): A POC typically has a narrow scope, as it concentrates on a specific aspect or feature of the proposed solution. This targeted approach enables the development team to conduct in-depth analysis and testing without allocating resources to a full-scale product development effort.

Minimum Viable Product (MVP): An MVP encompasses a broader scope, including a minimal set of features required to address the core problem and deliver value to early adopters. It serves as a foundation for iterative development, with additional features and improvements being added based on user feedback and market insights.

Target Audience

Proof of Concept (POC): A POC is generally developed for internal stakeholders, such as decision-makers, project teams, and other employees within the organization. Its primary purpose is to help these stakeholders make informed decisions about the project’s direction, resource allocation, and overall viability.

Minimum Viable Product (MVP): An MVP is intended for external stakeholders, particularly early adopters and potential customers. By introducing the MVP to the market, businesses can gauge user reactions, gather feedback, and better understand the product’s potential for success.

Recognizing these distinctions between POC and MVP allows business leaders to effectively leverage both concepts throughout the software development lifecycle, ultimately maximizing the chances of delivering a successful and valuable product to the market. By embracing the synergy between POC and MVP, your organization can optimize its product development efforts, enhance customer satisfaction, and seize opportunities for growth and innovation.

Conclusion

Proof of Concept and Minimum Viable Product are vital components of the software development process, each contributing unique value and insights. By grasping the connection between POC and MVP, you can make more informed decisions, enhance your product development strategies, and improve the chances of delivering successful software solutions. As you embark on your next software project, harness the power of POCs and MVPs to drive innovation, mitigate risk, and optimize business outcomes.

Define: Sketches, Sitemaps, Style Tiles, Wireframes, and Mockups

Posted on by admin

A rundown of common creative processes.

If you are ever involved in a creative project, you may have heard the terms “Sketches,” “Sitemap,” “Style Tile,” “Wireframes” and “Mockups.” But what do these mean and how are they different? In this blog we’ll go over the role of each and what you can expect to receive from your designer.

Whether you’re involved in a branding project, a website redesign, or an app and software development project, there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes—even for the creative side. The final outcome of your project happens only after the initial discovery, research and planning, ideation and development, and final refinements have been completed. But how did we get there?

Just because much of the creative process happens inside the mind of a creative professional doesn’t mean we don’t have visual pieces to reference. We have sketches, wireframes, style tiles, and mockups to chronicle each step in the creative evolution. Let’s take a look.

What is a Sitemap?

You may have heard the term “Sitemap” used to describe a simple listing out of all pages of a website. While this is essentially what a sitemap is, we take it a step further and use Xmind’s “Mind-Mapping” software to visually map out all pages, content, and global elements of a website or application. We can look at high-level navigation only, or drill down all the way into small blocks of content on each page.

THE BENEFIT OF USING SITEMAPS

Sometimes it’s hard to wrap your head around the entirety of a website or application’s content, especially if it is on a large scale. By mapping the sections out, we can be sure to account for all necessary pieces of information. Once we’ve got everything down, it is easy to review the structure and categorization of the content and make changes accordingly. This ensures that each section’s content is relevant and fits in with the rest of the content in that section. Sometimes we break larger sections down or combine smaller sections together. The idea is that we have balanced, relevant sections that are easy for a user to understand and navigate to. Having all pages of a website or application laid out visually in a sitemap is the easiest way to organize the content.

What are Sketches?

This one is pretty straightforward. In those first brainstorms inside the creative’s mind, sketching is a way to quickly get these ideas on paper. Sketches can happen anywhere—a traditional sketchbook, a napkin, a scrap of paper on a desk…anywhere! The goal is to get as many ideas out as possible. The more sketching happens, the more ideas present themselves. One sketch inspires another. It is truly a creative practice.

THE BENEFIT OF SKETCHING

The great part for creatives is that sketches are purposefully rough. Nothing is off limits and nothing is polished. This gives us the freedom to explore, be messy, have far-fetched ideas, and see where we land—without the expectation that these ideas are in any way refined.

Because of their sketchy state, sketches are almost never shown to the client. They serve as a visual cue to the designer who holds the vision of their final form in her or his mind. No one else truly understands what the rough scribbles will become. They are primarily there to serve as a starting point for the next step in the creative process.

What is a Style Tile?

While sketching has been practiced for as long as art and design have themselves, Style Tiles are a relatively recent practice for designers. Similar to a mood board, Style Tiles are a collection of visual elements to inform the direction of the design. While mood boards are typically used in branding projects to show a range of visual styles in a collage format, Style Tiles are specifically used for user interface design on websites, apps, or software.

What’s great about them is that instead of random pieces of visual information jumbled together to create a “mood,” Style Tiles are more concrete and direct. In a Style Tile, we typically pull together a color palette, typographic styles for headings and body text, button styles with various states, photo treatments, and other visual elements that will likely be included in the design. While together these elements don’t create an actual web or app design, they give enough visual information for a client to understand what the final look and feel will be.

THE BENEFIT OF PROVIDING STYLE TILES

Style Tiles are where most of the design direction takes place. In terms of efficiency, it is much faster to design a collection of elements that work well together and reflect the client’s brand than to create a full design comp. For this reason, we ask our clients for revisions and approval on the Style Tile before moving to a full design comp (a mockup of what the final design will look like). Once approved, the Stile Tile serves as a launchpad for the designer into the full design phase.

What is a Wireframe?

Usually occurring simultaneously with the Style Tile are Wireframes. Where Style Tiles focus purely on aesthetics, Wireframes are all about structure and workflow of the design. They are purposefully not meant to be pretty—they’re usually boxes, lines, and text blocks on a page—so that you focus on the layout alone.

THE BENEFIT OF WIREFRAMING

Wireframes are to user interfaces as sketches are to logo designs, only the client gets to review them. They are a quick glance at the overall layout of the page and give you a sense of hierarchy, spacing, and where the content will go. Wireframes are a way to make sure we account for all images, headlines, text areas, and calls to action in the design. It also gives us an idea of how a user will navigate the website or application, and how they will move from page to page. Because they can be made quickly, it is easier for our clients to request changes in this state than in a fully designed comp.

Wrapping Up

All of these steps in our design process are to help you, our client, be well-informed and involved every step of the way as we take your idea from conception to consumption. We hope this post helps you know what to expect on your next project with us. Like what you’ve seen? Contact us to get started on your new project.

The Envoc Agile Glossary

Posted on by Calvin Fabre

It’s Envoc’s job to make sure you have a great experience in every phase of your project. One of the most important aspects of that is how well we communicate. You may not know it, but software developers and designers have their own vocabulary for the processes and technologies used throughout the life of a project. So, to help you understand that language and ensure we are always on the same page, we’ve compiled the Envoc Agile Glossary to help guide you through the terminology you’ll hear throughout your project.

ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA

When writing a user story, you’ll help us define the Acceptance Criteria. These are the things that will determine the completeness and success in implementation of a user story. For example, if the user story states, “As an Administrator, I need the ability to log into the portal.” We’d define Acceptance Criteria as, “User must enter correct username and password to be properly validated and admitted into the portal.”

Our User Story defined the desired action. The Acceptance Criteria defined the parameters of success for the action.

AGILE

Agile is an iterative approach to software development defined by building software incrementally from the start of the project, instead of trying to deliver it all at once near the end. The focus with this approach is delivering high-quality, high-value code as soon as possible. What this means is that at Envoc, we (you and us) determine what code Envoc is going to work on for a two week period – then we develop it – then we show it to you in two weeks – then we (you and us) determine what we are going to develop the next two weeks. We don’t spend months writing documentation to define the software only to build the entire solution without your input.

BACK-END DEVELOPMENT

This is the portion of development that affects and determines storage, processes, business rules, and product intelligence. It is the non-viewable portion of the software. If we use a car as an analogy, it is the engine, transmission, axle, etc….things the user doesn’t see, but that makes the car go.

BASELINE USER STORY

When estimating the effort to complete a User Story, we first have to define a point of reference for that estimate. This is where a Baseline User Story comes into play. As a team, we define a User Story that is a conceptualized effort of 1. From there, we use that point of reference to define the difficulty of all User Stories for the project.

BURNDOWN CHART

This is a simple line graph that your Project Manager will use to estimate the end date for your project. It is based on your Product Backlog of Story Points compared to the Velocity your team is moving. So, for example, if your project has a remaining backlog of 100 Story Points and your team has a Velocity of 20 Story Points per iteration (usually 2 weeks), then your Project Manager can estimate that your project will finish in 5 iterations (10 weeks).

CONE OF UNCERTAINTY

When a software project starts, 30 years of studies have shown that the initial estimate of effort can vary by as much as 4x more or less because neither the estimator nor the client has fully defined the scope of the project. This potential variance in effort represents the Cone of Uncertainty. However, as we work through the project and know more and more about the scope of the project, our estimates will get better and better, reducing the uncertainty.

Cone of Uncertainty Using Waterfall

Envoc uses Agile Development as opposed to the old “waterfall” method. By using Agile, we tackle some of the bigger unknowns first and reduce the cone faster than is possible with waterfall. This allows us to provide more accurate estimates sooner.

Cone of Uncertainty Using Agile

Just for a reference, you’re probably used to seeing a cone of uncertainty, used with a different subject matter. Especially if you live on the Gulf/East Coast.

Cone of Uncertainty For Weather

DESIGN COMP

After the functionality of your User Interface is defined, it’s time to make it pretty. Our Designers will take the wireframes we created and apply color, shading, textures, and pictures to create a work of art! These comps will be the basis for developing the actual working User Interface.

EPIC

An Epic is defined as multiple User Stories that are combined/grouped to represent a large feature or section of the project.

FRONT-END DEVELOPMENT

This is the portion of development that affects and determines the product UI. It is the viewable portion of the software. If we use a car as an analogy, it is the seats, steering wheel, body, etc….things the user sees and interacts with.

ITERATION

An iteration is a 1 to 4 week development cycle with defined project deliverables. For Envoc, we prefer 2 week iterations. Iterations are also additive in nature. That means, after one iteration, we might have basic functionality developed, and each week, as we use the product and you use the product, we refine it further and further. With this approach, you get to touch, see and feel your product early and often.

Iteration example

MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT

A product with the smallest amount of features that can still be released into production and provide value. By using an Agile approach to development, Envoc can get to your “MVP” much sooner than with a waterfall development approach.

Minimum viable product (MVP)

PRODUCT ADVOCATE

This is you! You are essential to your project with us. As the Product Advocate, you are an authorized decision maker on the project. Your responsibilities include:

Attending all project iteration meetings
Managing the client effort throughout the life of the project
Helping to write and approve User Stories
Reviewing and providing timely feedback on Wireframes, Design Comps, and Development progress
Prioritizing User Stories for development
Helping to write and approving Acceptance Criteria
Accepting the finished product/features for release into production

PRODUCT BACKLOG

The Product Backlog is the total list of remaining User Stories and their associated User Points for your project. They are ordered based on priorities determined by you, the client.

SPIKE (or DEVELOPMENT SPIKE)

Occasionally we have clients ask us to estimate or execute something that has a lot of unknowns. In that situation, we may engage in a Spike. A Spike is a small set of predetermined hours that allows the developer to investigate the feature or product more fully to provide a solution, identify or mitigate risks, or provide a more accurate estimate.

STORY POINT

A unit of measurement that describes the estimated amount of effort or complexity a User Story will require to develop. Story Points are based off a Baseline User Story determined by the project team. Your project team will assign Story Point units to each User Story written for the project. This will help give the Project Manager and you an indication of complexity of the project/task and the time necessary to execute it.

TIME & MATERIALS ENGAGEMENT

This is a type of engagement that we offer to our clients. With this type of agreement, we will invoice you twice a month and only for the time used for your project during those time periods.

UI

Short for User Interface, the UI is the visible and interactive portion of the software.

USER STORY

This is how we’ll define your product. A User Story follows simple template/pattern:

As a [role], I need to [action] in order to [benefit].

By using this template, in a simple and succinct sentence, we’re able to define what the system or product should do all while explaining the value of that action. So, for example:

As an Administrator, I need the ability to disable user accounts in order to control access to the system.

VELOCITY

This is a representation of how fast we can provide deliverables. More specifically, it is the average amount of Story Points, and therefore User Stories, a team can complete in an iteration.

WIREFRAME

This is a simple, grayscale blueprint of the UI. It is not meant to show design elements, only navigation and layout. It allows you and your team to further discuss and define the actions of the user on the screen without any distraction from design elements.

Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles Reducing Wait Times by Accepting Credit Cards

Posted on by Calvin Fabre

Summary: 400 Stations in 40 Days

The Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles recently rolled out over 400 credit card stations to all of its locations statewide. This was implemented in order to provide more convenience while serving the citizens of the state.

Budget Cuts and Louisiana OMV

After having its budget drastically cut, the Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV) had been actively seeking ways to minimize the wait times, and continue to improve daily services. One area of focus was “ease of payment.” Customers would often find out that the OMV offices only accepted cash, and then would be required to use an ATM or schedule a return visit to finalize their transaction.

No-Cost, Self-Funded Model

Envoc, a Louisiana-based software development and web design firm, provided an innovative answer to address the the payment issues. A unique no-cost solution that included hardware, custom software, reporting and ongoing support was created from scratch to attend to the state’s unique point of sales needs including the state’s emphasis on data security and PCI-Compliance. Envoc developed a point of sale software through its PCI/DSS-compliant environment that can process millions of transactions per year via the use of credit and debit cards.

The solution does not require any tax appropriations from the state as it is operated under a self-funded model now popular in many municipalities. The rollout sports a low convenience fee, faster in-and-out times, more payment options for citizens and strong fraud prevention features.

Working Alongside Mainframe Technology and Security

“Minimizing keystrokes, payment collection times, and reconciling with the state’s mainframe required a custom software solution to be developed for the State of Louisiana” said Robert Schroeder, Software Developer at Envoc. “Louisiana’s Department of Public Safety is always improving citizen interaction through reporting and analysis so an off-the-shelf solution was not viable. By working with the state’s IT Infrastructure and existing PC’s in their environment we are able to rollout new functionality quickly and securely.”

“Louisiana’s priority of accepting credit and debit cards at all of their OMV and DMV locations has been realized.” said Chad Lacour, Envoc’s eGovernment Payment Specialist, “This is just a small step in utilizing technology to better serve citizens. Envoc will soon be integrating its point-of-sale software with its own queuing and mobile applications for smart phones, and even offering kiosks for some types of transactions.” The outcome is a win for Louisiana’s citizens.

Transaction Videos

The following videos show the application in action. The application uses credit card and check scanning hardware at the point-of-sale that the customer interacts with. Details on supported hardware are available.

Transaction Details and Credit Card Payment Demonstration

Check Handling in Point of Sale Software

One Click Deployment and Updating

Real-Time Point-of-Sale Activity Dashboard

Contact Envoc for More Information

If you would like to learn more about the self-funded, no-cost, convenience fee model solution implemented for the State of Louisiana by Envoc, please contact us. Also available for review are various reports generated by the software and information which include:

  • Sample Receipts Generated by the System
  • Sample Reconciliation Reports by Transaction Type
  • Daily Email of Transactions in HTML and CSV format
  • Management Portal for Ad-Hoc Reporting and Transaction Research
  • Integration into Active Directory
  • Yearly PCI Compliance Management

How Software Allowed Me to be the Mom I Wanted to Be

Posted on by admin

Lizzie Broussard is a working mother of two. She in no way means for this blog to stand as a way for all moms to live their life. She is merely offering up her experience to the other moms out there to share her story.

There’s a time in every woman’s life when she starts to think about motherhood. For some women, it’s in their early 20s. For others, it’s not until they hit 35. For me, I always knew I wanted to be a mom. Finishing up high school and choosing my major for college, I thought, what career would allow me to be a good mom? What career could I leave for a period of time to raise my kids and come back to? Unable to answer those questions, I just picked my passion – English Literature – and resolved to figure out the mom dilemma later. After all, I was 19 and nowhere near ready to have kids.

After college, I happened to fall into my first job in the software world as a Quality Assurance Analyst – or tester. Although I spent the past four years analyzing literature, quickly I realized how much I loved the software world. I learned quickly and learned to love it even more quickly. Everything was constantly changing and innovating. There was tons of room for creativity and passion. The industry was young and so was I. Again, I thought about how I’d manage kids in a job like this, but didn’t spend too much time thinking about it. After all, I was 23 and kids were a long way off.

Through the years, as I made a place for myself in the software world, moving from tester to specification writer to project manager, I realized just how flexible the software world was, but also how solitary the work can be. Nearly 90% of my job is accomplished behind a computer screen, by myself. So in 2011, at 27, when I had my first daughter, I knew I could ask for flexibility in my position as opposed to leaving the workforce altogether. First, I didn’t want to quit working. Remember all those things I said about the software industry above? They still stood years later. I loved my job and I really loved working. But I also wanted to be home with my daughter. I didn’t want to “miss it all.” So, unlike any of my other coworkers at the time, I asked my boss for a flexible schedule. I’d still work 40 hours a week, but one week I’d be in the office for two days; the following week, I’d be in for three. This would allow me to attend meetings, keep a presence at the office, and work with my developers, all while having lazy mornings with my daughter, play dates with friends, and cuddle sessions in the middle of the day. It was the best of both worlds.

Now, I won’t say it was easy. I had to work hard to make it work. There were late nights clocking hours and early mornings getting things done. But I did it. And I loved it. I got the best of both worlds—mommyhood at home and work life in the office.

Then I met Calvin. I was looking for a new job and I caught wind that he was open to flexible schedules. This was of utmost importance to me. I knew the software industry leant itself to working at home; I just needed to find an employer that felt the same way. During my interview with him, I was going on and on about how I could be available 24/7 for this job. I’d work from can’t see to can’t see just as long as I could still have a flexible schedule. Then Calvin said something I thought I’d never hear an employer say.

“Do you think you work too much? Wouldn’t you like to work a little less?”

I think my jaw hit the ground. Calvin was not only asking me to work for him to help him build his company, but he was asking me to spend more quality time with my daughter—not always worrying about getting my 40 hours in. I don’t think it’s hard for you to imagine that I gave the most enthusiastic “YES!” when Calvin offered me the job at Envoc.

Now I work 30 hours a week. I’m in the office three days a week and at home two. Wednesdays and Fridays are still special for me. I get to do all the fun things with my daughter in the middle of the week and beat the weekend crowds at places like the mall and play yards. We go to the park, play at splash pads, and meet up with friends. The rest of the week, I work hard, but I love it—so it’s not really work at all. Best of all, my bosses know that just because I’m not in the office every day, it doesn’t diminish the work that I do or compromise the projects I manage. Most of all, I’m not seen as a “part-time employee.” I feel like I contribute to the company in a real and meaningful way each and every day.

And 10 weeks ago, my life just got a little more interesting with the birth of my second daughter. Right now, both girls are fast asleep in bed while I get a little work done at my dining room table. In all my wildest dreams I never thought I’d be able to have such a fulfilling work and home life balance. Without the flexibility and innovation spearheaded by the software industry, I know I wouldn’t be able to have such an amazing work arrangement. And that’s how software has allowed me to be the mom I’ve always wanted to be.

Looking for a new career?

Why Custom Software is Better

Posted on by Calvin Fabre

Why Custom Software is Better

Yell at your software? You’re not alone.

Frustrated person trying to develop software on their own

If you’re a modern professional, chances are you use software every day to help with those daily tasks that keep your business running. Why? Because it helps you stay organized. It’s fast and efficient, gives you quick access to important information, and helps you communicate both internally and to the outside world.

And ideally, that fancy software package you bought would work perfectly, all the time, right? Of course. But unless you work on some other planet where your software magically knows every nuance of your particular business and adapts accordingly, it doesn’t work all the time the way you need it to. As a business owner, you likely assumed that the high price tag or the gazillions of features advertised meant that the software you were buying would mean a better experience. Instead, you’ve likely had many frustrating moments wishing it would work like you hoped it would.

Off-the shelf software takes work? Yep.

The thing is, to fully implement an off-the-shelf software system, you have to be ready to invest your time, money, and resources. There are the short-term costs of infrastructure and hardware purchases and upgrades, software installation and rollout, and user training. Then there are the long-term costs of training new users and knowledge transfer as employees move on, licensing costs, hardware, upgrades, and maintenance. Yikes.

Frustrated individual struggling to develop software alone

But more importantly, no canned product sold to the masses will know or understand the unique character of your business, because it wasn’t made just for your business. So, you have 2 choices: hire a consultant to customize the software to fit your needs, or change your business processes to match the generic one-size-fits-all approach the software employs. If you are sticking with off-the-shelf software, we recommend the first choice, hands down.

So, why custom software?

Your company’s value lies in the products and/or services it provides, the talented employees behind it that deliver nothing but excellence, and your leader’s unique way of doing business that brings success. The processes that support your business are of extreme importance. They help ensure sustainable growth, repeatable success, and consistent client delivery. The software that supports your business should promote and enhance the assets which separate and distinguish you in the marketplace. Any other way would be a disservice at best, and a detriment at worst.

Custom software solutions tailored for business needs

Custom software is like a tailor-fitted glove, uniquely designed and molded around your business. It evolves and adapts to a shifting business landscape and your changing needs. It delivers an experience that generates excitement and enthusiasm in your employees and clients. It is a tool that provides deeper insight into your business, its products, services, processes, and people. It provides well-defined and measurable benefits. It partners with your goals and allows you to fully realize and recognize the appropriate opportunities.

At Envoc, we believe software should not be a tool you use to do your job; it should be a tool that helps you enjoy doing your job—not a reason to yell at your computer monitor.



Why We Don’t Offshore and Why You Shouldn’t Either

Posted on by Calvin Fabre

Every week, we receive multiple calls from offshore companies offering software development services for as low as $11 an hour. Does the huge profit margin seem tempting? Maybe—but we turn them down every time. Here’s a few reasons why:

We Can’t Guarantee the Work

Envoc builds relationships with our clients and delivers experiences around design and software at an extremely high standard, every time. And while we can guarantee that standard for ourselves, we cannot guarantee it for anyone else working on a client’s project far, far, away. Envoceans are passionate, highly skilled, degreed, and/or licensed professionals with formal education and industry experience who have been vetted and continually trained. We know they are more than qualified to do the task at hand, so why would we trust someone else with our reputation and our client’s deliverables? We don’t and we won’t.

We Want to Sleep at Night

If you have not built a trusted relationship with someone, why would you trust them to build your bridges, provide air traffic control, write software that flies airplanes, process your payroll, or have access to your most valuable business trade secrets? Using outsourced resources increases security and privacy concerns while introducing anxiety and doubt. By using our own resources and knowing that our products are built the right way, we don’t have to worry about incurring Technical Debt or unforeseen legal issues. And we can sleep soundly as a result.

We Use Both Sides of our Brain

Much more right-brain work goes into creative services like branding, graphic and web design, user-interface design, quality assurance, and project management of software than just raw left-brained manpower for coding. Our Envoceans need and use the very best training, tools, and environment. Envoc invests heavily in training courses, materials, and conferences. We pay thousands of dollars each month for our legitimate software tools that are legally licensed, and we provide the very best collaborative and isolated work environments for our team and clients so that face-to-face meetings and secluded “zone-times” are as productive as possible.

We Don’t Pirate Software

Could we cut costs by pirating operating system software, development software licenses, and graphic assets? Could we pass on Professional Liability insurance and business taxes? We sure could, and many companies do to offer much better rates—but, again, we like to sleep at night knowing we are doing the right thing by our vendors and the great State of Louisiana in which we operate. Have you ever wondered how an offshore company can offer you a $15 per hour rate for software development? Do you have an idea why now?

We Speak the Language

When our clients tell us they want to “Put the Pedal to the Metal,” put a “Full Court Press” on a project, “Cover our Bases” or even “I want you all over this project like a Bad Perm” we know what their idioms and figures of speech mean and nothing is lost in translation. This may not always be the case when working with an overseas firm. Additionally, having 7:00pm conference calls during dinner time doesn’t help the home-life. As in a marriage, timing and communication is key. We like to think we are in a loving, committed relationship with our clients. Envoc’s definition of “Love” is “a commitment of our wills to the true good of our team and clients.”

Triage Available

Has your company or project been adversely affected by an outsourced or overseas engagement? If so, we would be happy to review the project and help you correct any critical issues or help you a plan to pay down the accrued technical debt. You can reserve a 30-minute appointment on Calvin’s schedule, by chatting with us, or by calling us at (225) 384-5549. We will personally triage your situation. If you want to keep the conversation to less than an hour, do not bring up politics or 80s hair bands.