At EPIC, we take a unique approach to software development. Our core services (architecture, design, development, testing, and DevOps) fall under an umbrella that we call SDaaS or Software Development as a Service. The SDaaS workflow centers around looking at a client’s goals and thinking of the big picture – an approach that many software development companies lack.
CEO and Founder John Matlosz has firsthand experience working through challenging relationships with software development offshoring companies. For the first 10 years of his career, he learned about the challenges of partnering with these companies as a buyer and consumer. With each partnership, he experienced gaps in the overall mindset the companies had towards their clients and their clients’ goals.
“They really weren’t there to understand what I was trying to solve,” he said. “They were basically there to take orders and fill seats with developers, more or less providing robots. They weren’t trying to think about how to solve the problem. They were basically trying to sell hours.”
Beyond not looking at his needs, these companies also lacked communication across services – which he realizes comes to the detriment of the client.
“The architecture people didn’t talk to the design people who didn’t talk to the developers, who certainly didn’t talk to their QA people,” John said.
Without communication between these groups, the companies simply didn’t deliver cohesive results that served the long-term goals of the clients.
“In the end, we as the client would wind up owning a lot of that responsibility, when the greater service could have been provided by the partner,” John said.
With that insight into the industry – and over 30 years of experience under his belt – John started looking at how he could provide superior software development services that took a different approach.
“I thought about how we might be able to help companies that need software: software products, SaaS companies, or enterprises that rely on software to allow them to service their clients, and package that together,” he said.
Out of these ideas, the foundation of SDaaS was established, creating the opportunity for clients to outsource all of their software development needs.
“When I think about those services taken together, to me the natural thing to call them would be SDaaS,” John said. “We provide all of the necessary capabilities, skills, technologies, and — most importantly — best practices that come from 30 years of experience (with) our clients.”
At EPIC, the methodology behind all of the services that are offered revolves around a “Think Ahead” mindset. For John, the short-term perspective he encountered with software development companies early in his career wasn’t conducive to finding forward-thinking solutions that fit clients’ goals. They were focused on selling their products, not working towards the long-term needs of the client.
EPIC, on the other hand, provides a progressive approach to software development. Our steps involve actually taking the time to first understand a business’ goals. From there, we use those end goals as the path for moving forward with software development needs. All of the services across the spectrum – from architecture to DevOps – are tied together with the ultimate objectives of the client, resulting in cohesive results that serve the common goal. Under the SDaaS umbrella, all potential software development needs are covered. If a client only has one person overseeing software, the entire development process can be outsourced to EPIC.
Of course, we recognize that not all clients need the full spectrum of services available under SDaaS. Clients may also choose individual services that fit into where they are in the software development process, and that work as the solution for their unique challenges. For example, clients may simply need QA engineers to do performance testing or UX experts to create design options for their product. As with the full spectrum of services, these individual services are approached with the “Think Ahead” mindset, keeping the end goal in mind throughout the process.
Whether choosing the full array of resources available under the SDaaS umbrella or an individual service, EPIC provides what is best for the client. We operate under the philosophy of delivering solutions for clients that are forward-thinking and centered around objectives – not simply selling hours. It is, after all, that desire to provide business solutions that served as the initial spark behind the company.
“[It] led me to wanting to form EPIC, so we can do it right and make a difference,” John said.