Lateral Inc.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief technology officer for a company called Microf. We provide financing for consumers who want to replace their residential heating or air conditioning systems.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lateral Inc.?

We used a US-based firm to build out a custom origination platform. I had a high burn rate with the US firm. I needed to cut costs but also have a dedicated development group to continue the platform’s enhancement.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Lateral works as an extension of our development team. Their team works on the software architecture and engineering approaches. They also design the platform, which runs on Linux, Apache, and Tomcat servers. They leverage Java with Spring Hibernate as well as open-source technologies and MariaDB for the backend.

They help us to understand the best approach to design solutions based on our business needs. Their team keeps the software nimble as we continue to grow and change.

Originally, the solution was an origination platform for dealers to submit rent to own leases. Their team helped to turn the product into a lending tree for residential heating and air conditioning replacement.

What is the team composition?

I work with a senior Java developer and a few other Java developers. There are a QA software tester and a project manager on the team too.

How did you come to work with Lateral Inc.?

One of the members of our board of directors owns a power company in the Atlanta area. He exclusively engaged Lateral for all of his software development needs. He recommended that I interview them to see if they could meet our needs and cut costs. I called them and elected to change over to them.

How much have you invested with them?

Since starting our work with them, we’ve spent about $1.5 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Lateral around November 2014, and we’re in the process of adding five new lenders into the platform as we speak.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

When we switched from the US development firm to Lateral, defects in the code almost completely went away. Throughout my career, I’ve worked with a lot of different offshore companies, and quality was always an issue. I’ve never had an issue with Lateral's work. The quality of their work’s exceptional. I consider them part of our competitive advantage as a company.

How did Lateral Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

We use JIRA. We manage all of our sprints and testing activities within the platform. I meet with them daily for at least 30 minutes. Their team understands and accommodates our schedule, so the challenges of an offshore team aren’t there.

What did you find most impressive about them?

A little over a year ago, we needed to change our UX/UI to React because we needed more flexibility. Lateral, being such good team members, took it upon themselves to fully educate and train the development staff on React to make the transition quickly. Their team was up to speed almost overnight. They truly are an extension of my team. I’m not sure how we could manage our velocity of change without them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

A few years ago, the time difference was a challenge. As they’re in Romania, there’s a six-hour time difference between us. When we had a release, we needed to investigate hiccups and anomalies, which was difficult with the time difference. We talked about it and put a game plan in place. Now, every time we have a release, they switch to our time zone.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I wanted a company to become my offshore development group. Just as I would with any other group that I manage as CTO, I meet with them regularly. You get that which you put into an organization. Set clear expectations and goals. It’s important to jointly measure and manage those goals.