Variantum develops software for managing configurated products and the data generated from them. Founded in 2005, Variantum’s clients include both large and small enterprises of the manufacturing industry.
The Challenge - A need for an external evaluation of the organization's current situation
Variantum has been implementing a Cloud transition for three years and wanted a third-party perspective for its operations, which is why they chose to order a complete software audit from Eficode. They inspected the work organization and processes, the software architecture, the tools and technologies used, as well as the work methods. First and foremost, Variantum wanted Eficode’s external perspective on Variantum’s business foundation and whether their plans were heading in the right direction.
“Our goal was to facilitate the overall process of our operations while also improving our efficiency.” says Kimmo Karhu, CEO of Variantum.
Video has subtitles in English
The Solution - A comprehensive system and organizational assessment
Eficode implemented a combined DevOps assessment and technical Due Diligence software evaluation project for Variantum. The technical Due Diligence provided a cross-section of Variantum’s architecture and the current state of its technical solutions. Additionally, Eficode carried out a DevOps assessment for the organization that focused on Variantum’s organizational culture, tools and the company’s capabilities for creating software and developing them further efficiently.
Overall, Variantum was satisfied with the quick launch and implementation of the audit.
“We had a tight schedule, but Eficode was able to organize the audit with a short advance notice. There are only a few experts of this size category in Finland that are able to carry out such an in-depth analysis with an extensive scope. Perspective such as this cannot be gained from within the company. Eficode has a broad view when one wants an access to the field’s best practices.” Karhu praises.
The Result - Final report and a to-do list that provided opportunities for learning
For the final report, Eficode wrote down its key observations about Variantum, its current state and future views. The company was also given a prioritized to-do list and a roadmap for the necessary development measures. As a result, Variantum got to work right away - rectifying the issues that came up in the audit.
“It was eye-opening to have an external party tell us how things should be done. We talked about their findings afterwards and started to immediately implement the proposed development measures.” Karhu says.
The final report provided Variantum with opportunities to learn, allowing them to question matters and created open dialogue e.g. Variantum’s future direction.
Kimmo Karhu recommends other companies undertake a technical Due Diligence and a DevOps assessment, as the audit helped Variantum reinforce the basis of the company and offered them new perspectives for selecting tools.
“The to-do list of recommended measures and the roadmap for the direction and priority of these measures were the key results of the project for us.” Karhu says.
“When larger transformations are carried through, it is good to involve an external consultant during the early stages, as this helps avoid extra iteration rounds.” Karhu ponders.
Additionally, Variantum has not excluded the possibility of redoing both the DevOps assessment and technical Due Diligence.
“This would give us a result for comparison, and the results achieved through the changes made could then be measured. The final report is only an overview of the current situation. In software business, even just a year is a long time, as technologies, methods, tools and customer needs all have time to change.” Karhu says.
