We recently returned from another trip to visit our development partner Avantica Technologies in San Jose, Costa Rica. The trip was fantastic as was meeting with our teams to discuss what went well, what they liked about the products they worked on and what could be improved.
The picture below shows our CTO Tom Johnson meeting with the Avantica team that we have working with us on the solution for our client Brightstorm. I actually know all these engineers from a previous project, my last role as a company VP, and specifically requested them to work with Open Mountain.
We tell all of our clients they should plan at least one visit because meeting directly with the team enhances the understanding of the work and leads to a better unified solution. Ironically, clients take that part almost for granted and often ask us about the country and what we have seen. So far we have enjoyed the active volcano at Arenal, the wildlife of the Monteverde reserve and the warm beaches of Tamarindo (pictured below) among other places. But there is still more of the country we would like to see.
I have to admit that I didn’t start down this path of near shore development to see an exotic land. I just happened to have a long time friendship and rewarding working relationship with someone from Costa Rica. Mario Chaves, Avantica’s CEO, and I worked together at many different companies and even went to the same college although we graduated different years.
The first time I worked with engineers from Avantica was at a small startup in the advertising space about 10 years ago. The lead was an engineer named Henry who is currently the Director of Development at Avantica. Henry is as smart as they come. I went to San Jose once to meet with him and the team. We spent the entire day collaborating on different aspects of the product.
I knew then that Henry and the team were up to speed on the latest technologies and as capable as teams I had worked with in the US. I could describe a problem and know by their questions and solutions that they understood the essence of the problem. That to me is the difference between true collaborative development and remote outsourcing. I want my team to have a stake in the product, to understand what problem we are solving, because that will drive the best result.
This last trip, as always, I stopped in to see my friend Henry. He was playing with a new Google Android phone and we caught up a bit. Henry is in the picture below along with some of the others we have worked with at Avantica.
Had I not had that first positive experience, I might not have centered Open Mountain around near shore development. I had high expectations based on my experiences as a US developer. Software developers work fast. We like to throw our ideas and brain storm. Some of the best product ideas come from engineers discussing a problem and shooting off on a tangent. This type of collaboration happened on my first trip to Costa Rica and has become a repeatable experience throughout the years working with the teams of Avantica.
I go back again and again to the country for the purpose of direct team interactions. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I also go to see one of the most beautiful countries in the world. After all, who would you rather be? The person reading this blog or someone in the photo below? How about both? Cheers!
Click the photo so see more pictures from our trip!
