If it doesn’t exist, create it. That’s what TAG did when looking for the perfect tool to manage their clients, projects and consultants. With Nimbus they’ve developed the ideal platform for secondment firms. From tracking time to tracking candidates, Nimbus combines elements of an ATS, ERP and CRM tool. We sat down with Jelle and Rino, two consultants who played a key part in the product development.
Jelle and Rino, how did TAG come to the decision to develop its own platform?
Rino: ‘The platform is the end result of a project to improve our own workflow. Before, TAG consultants used different tools to record their timesheets, making the process more complicated than it needed to be. So, we started working on a way to integrate all these tools into one platform, to make the lives of our consultants easier.’
Jelle: ‘The platform’s first purpose was to get our timesheets right. We wanted to log everything and have 100% traceability. It’s not an issue if your employees are not 100% billable, it’s not knowing how many hours they are billable that poses a problem. Because then, you’re missing out on business opportunities, as the consultant could have supported other clients.’
What were your roles in the development of the platform?
Jelle: ‘For the first few versions of the product, I took sole responsibility: from development over testing to deployment. As we reached a phase were feature requests were booming, I received support from other consultants and became their scrum coach. That way, the project turned into a learning opportunity for consultants to gain experience in different roles, which they can then apply in other consultancy projects.’
Rino: ‘I’ve been the product owner of the project since September last year. My role is to translate business requirements for creating or improving features into tasks and to manage and prioritise the necessary actions. As Jelle mentioned, what’s cool about these internal projects at TAG is that you can try out a role you would like to hold in future client projects or, if you want more variety, combine the internal role with the one you’re currently holding for a client. For instance: I’m simultaneously working on an aftercare project for a client. This way, I get to familiarise myself with different sides of a software project.
What was the development process like?
Jelle: ‘Throughout development, consultants were using the tool and giving feedback. We were continuously finetuning the platform to fit our needs and are still doing so now. To follow up on the software development, we use market standard support tools, such as Confluence and Bitbucket. Because we were building something from the ground up, we had thoroughly familiarised ourselves with the ins and outs of the used frameworks, such as Django.
Rino: ‘That is why working on this project besides our client projects was such an asset: we gained relevant knowledge we can now use in future client projects.’
TAG prides itself on being tech independent. How does the Nimbus platform fit within that vision?
Rino: ‘Because we’ve built the platform from the ground up, we have a thorough understanding of it and can apply it to support our clients even better. But that doesn’t mean that we’ll be exclusively using this platform for our clients. We continue to stay true to our vision: apply the tool that best fits our clients’ needs.’
Jelle: ‘We are first and foremost consultants, not software sellers. Some clients will be sufficiently serviced with this platform, while larger companies will need a more comprehensive tool. As we search for the perfect solution to our client’s problem, our Nimbus platform can already perform great results.’
What are the next steps for the tool?
Jelle: ‘There is always room for improvement. Today, consultants continue to work on the tool, offering new colleagues the chance to gain useful experience in a live environment, as if it were a client project. That’s great for onboarding, great for our skill set and great for our clients.’
Thank you, Rino and Jelle, for taking the time to talk about the tool. Hopefully more secondment firms will discover Nimbus’ benefits!
