One of the biggest names in security, Vicon Industries, produces a wealth of security solutions — from high-end AI-driven security cameras to access control equipment — for universities, correctional facilities, hospitals and government agencies worldwide. But central to their strategy is their video management system (VMS), Valerus: it is the central hub where security operators engage with video feeds, perform forensic investigations, and manage various inputs from a multitude of hardware.
With extremely high development costs and infrequent software releases, they trusted CXR.Agency to identify inefficiencies, augment their team, and chart a new path.
Rebuilding the Development Process for One of the World’s Leading Security Technology Companies
Rebuilding the Development Process for One of the World’s Leading Security Technology Companies
CLIENT
VICON VALERUS
DISCIPLINES USED
- Digital Intelligence + Strategy
- User Interface Design
- Program, Project & Service Management
PROJECT
Rebuilding the development process for one of the world’s leading security technology companies.
THE BACKGROUND
THE CHALLENGES
- Reduce multi-million-dollar development costs
- Increase software release frequency
- Uncover and reduce inefficiencies in a massive codebase
- Learn complex application and numerous integrations to begin augmenting development in under six months
SOLUTION
Improve and augment existing development process and team Prioritize critical infrastructure improvements to improve codebase stability Restructure teams to clarify responsibilities and new process Create improved QA process to increase software release stability
SERVICES / PROCESS
PHASE 1: LEARNING ABOUT THE PRODUCT AND GOALS
After an extended discovery phase, we uncovered a host of costly inefficiencies. For example, several developers shared redundant responsibilities. We also uncovered several instances where unreasonable duties fell onto the wrong party. Our solution was to restructure the team, clarify responsibilities and augment their existing team with leadership from CXR.Agency, who would ensure a consistent process throughout the transition.
PHASE 2: LEARNING THE MASSIVE CODEBASE
CXR.Agency developers had limited knowledge about Valerus’ infrastructure, so we began by learning more about its backend. Our team is very comfortable acquainting themselves with other developers’ code, but this one required learning a new codebase, but also a multitude of shared languages and integrations. We jumped right in, assigning the core team to Valerus and smaller teams to the ancillary hardware components so we could provide a complete solution and expertise for Vicon.
PHASE 3: ORGANIZING EFFORTS FOR MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY
By defining and following process and clarifying responsibilities, we were able to reduce redundancies, cut out unnecessary slowdowns, improve ownership and create a more positive development culture. This helped reduce the redundancies created by overlapping responsibilities. It also ensured teams were dedicated to their areas of expertise, rather than having the developers design the UI/UX and perform QA, for example.
PHASE 4: IDENTIFYING NEXT STEPS, DESIGNING AND DEVELOPING NEW FEATURES
In just a short period, we felt comfortable creating new features within the tight timeframe. With our new structure and clearly defined responsibilities, we were able to release a new version of the product within months. According to Vicon’s support team, reports of critical bugs were down over 60%, making this one of the most stable and reliable releases yet.
RESULTS
- Reduced development costs by 76%
- Stabilized the codebase to create more reliable releases
- Increased annual output from 1 release per year to 2 – 3 per year
Now Let’s See What
We Can Do For You
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