Cayuse engaged VIE to assist with critical engineering issues, provide a technology roadmap and assist them in the hiring of a technology leader.
Situation
Cayuse, a web software product company based in Beaverton, OR, faced several challenges following the departure of the software development manager. Cayuse planned a search for a new VP Engineering, but recognized that could take several months
Critical Issues
Cayuse’s CEO saw signs of poor communication between development and management, poor morale in the development team, unrealistic software release planning, and not meeting customer expectations. Cayuse also had two platform development technologies, one of which (ColdFusion) was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain and hire qualified engineers for. Cayuse decided that it needed immediate assistance in engineering leadership
Solution
VIE was engaged to provide an interim VP of Engineering to address the immediate critical issues, to assist with the search and hiring process for the full time software leadership, assist in definition of a technology roadmap, and work on transition management for ColdFusion developers
Results
The interim VP Engineering identified key issues, and developed solutions. Specifically, providing a communication model for product management and engineering that helped with prioritization and improved release management; defining a process for long range product release management that embraced the engineering agile philosophy, but still enabled senior management to craft a product roadmap; improved the development prioritization model, and the communications between engineering and devops; recruited and hired a new software quality assurance team; helped define the job description for the new engineering manager hire, and utilized VIE network to locate suitable candidates without resorting to executive recruitment/staffing agencies. The new engineering leadership was onboard inside four months of VIE engagement, and the interim consultant was able to seamlessly hand-off leadership/