The collaboration between OSRAM and Addcode spans a multi-year period and several successfully completed projects — from developing a platform-independent app for wireless control of Luxeye sensors to introducing Agile Scrum, quality assurance and test automation into the development process. A fine combination of electrical engineering, IoT and app development.
Putting together a top team
As a leading supplier of innovative solutions in the electronics industry, OSRAM has a strong research and development team that continually works to position the company at the top of every one of its business areas. Meeting those standards means working only with experienced, technically gifted software developers and QA engineers.
Addcode was selected as a supplier on the strength of exactly that technical background and extensive software development experience. From the first moment, great importance was attached to building a strong team. After selecting developers and testers with the right knowledge and experience, a team was formed to work out a cross-platform app for controlling electronics. The necessary hardware expertise was built up quickly, and each Addcode team member's experience made for smooth integration and communication with OSRAM's R&D team — a team in which opinions and ideas could be exchanged constantly, through online meetings and workshops on the project site.
A pause for thought
After a good start, however, the project had to pause. Because the electronics industry depends largely on end-user preferences and feedback, product development is closely tied to what the marketing department identifies as the market's need. The original concept had to be worked out further before it could be developed any further. To protect the project budget, it was decided to pause the current product development for the time being. That is not efficient for a project's progress, but responding flexibly to it is part of Addcode's role, and in consultation the team was redeployed onto other projects within Addcode.
After a pause of roughly half a year, OSRAM's marketing department presented an entirely new product design, with a detailed description of new features and UI / UX design. It was meant to bring several technologies together under one roof — which in practice meant four international teams from the United States and Europe had to work together. The technologies included .NET Core and Angular, some of them coupled to existing Node.js services, one of the specific competencies of Addcode's development team.
An additional hard requirement was that the newly developed product had to be presented to the public at the industry's most important trade fair — Light + Building in Frankfurt — taking place only half a year after the new project was announced. Making sure the right people were available, that deadlines were met and that quality was guaranteed was a challenge of real size.
Full Agile Scrum governance
The new project left the project managers a great many logistical and technological problems to solve. The existing development teams had not yet had the chance to work together, and were spread geographically across different continents. By holding strictly to Agile Scrum principles, and drawing on years of experience with this way of working, Product Owners, developers and testers set up and started processes in record time. Timing and synchronisation across different time zones had to be bridged by effective planning. Just two weeks after the announcement the kick-off took place at OSRAM's head office in Munich, where all project participants could meet — some of them again — for the project launch, and even enjoy an evening together in the city centre.
The project then continued immediately, following the usual working process. Daily Scrum meetings, sprint planning and retrospectives were supported by Addcode Scrum Masters. Where needed, improvements to the standard way of working were introduced to optimise the process for this situation.
Part of a successful project
With four development teams across three locations, and thanks to committed and experienced project participants, all functional and non-functional requirements were successfully implemented in line with best practices and the latest technologies. Every deadline set was met. Progress was demonstrated to management regularly, and the final approval for integration with the Lightelligence platform confirmed the recognition of OSRAM's management.