Velocity Partners’ General Manager of our Argentina and Venezuela nearshore delivery centers, Cristian Gohlke is passionate about delivering quality results to our customers. As our first Argentina hire, he was instrumental in helping to build a successful Agile team for VP’s Argentinian operations. From the start, Cristian focused on hiring the “right people” and to establish a culture that is aligned with Agile methodologies and VP’s principles. In fact Cristian’s own commitment and work ethic has led to a work culture that has very little employee attrition in both our Venezuela and Argentina delivery centers.
Cristian’s responsibilities include overall office management, project reviews and resource utilization, preparing nearshore staff for projects, coordinating staff training, recruiting, interviewing and hiring nearshore staff. He started his career as a software engineer but quickly advanced to technology leadership positions. His background in software engineering has better prepared him to handle the challenges involved in managing our busy development centers. With a computer science degree from Comisión Argentina de Informática, he enjoys music, sports, and recreational activities in his spare time. Our General Manager of the Uruguay and Colombia delivery centers is Pedro Minetti. One of Pedro’s strong suits is utilizing his interpersonal skills to build long-term relationships both in his personal and his business life. His responsibilities include managing all operations in the region as well as local company growth, financial planning, and resource management. With a career that has spanned more than 20 years, Pedro’s extensive background in information technology includes managing multiple global accounts along with overseeing and integrating large, multicultural teams. Pedro studied at George Mason University and the Universidad de la Republica del Uruguay. In his free time, he enjoys weekend camping trips or heading to the sea for scuba diving expeditions. Please visit Velocity Partners’ website to read our entire leadership’s bios and to learn more about our offshore software development company. Velocity Partners expertly delivers nearshore (Western hemisphere) software development services using a distributed Agile model that offers outstanding planning, accurate delivery and optimal business value. Our team is comprised of top Agile experts, consultants, and engineers who believe in not only meeting but exceeding our customers’ expectations. Contact us to learn more about how a distributed Agile model provides high-quality software development.
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Founded in 2004, Velocity Partners has built a reputation for providing innovative, world-class nearshore software development services that offer excellent planning, accurate delivery and optimal business value. We are proud to have worked with some of the country’s most respected names in business including Microsoft, Disney, Expedia, Getty Images, WebMD and MTV and still maintain relationships with many of them.
Velocity Partners’ software development services provide exceptional value to our customers through Lean principles and Agile practices. Agile methodologies include total transparency and visibility in each phase of the project. Work is done in incremental steps in order to facilitate a quick, flexible response to the inherent unpredictability of software development. Our collective years of software development experience have shown us that by engaging in a two-way dialogue and taking the time to get to know our customers’ challenges, we can save them time and money by proposing the best solutions. We firmly believe that Velocity Partners’ success is based on operating as a true extension of our clients’ teams, and working in close collaboration with them throughout the life of a project. Our professional team is comprised of leaders from the software development community and brings to our firm a diversity of expertise including architectural design, crafting software as developers, testing, and mastery of information technology. Our team also has lots of experience working with large, multi-cultural teams and understands the value of building relationships. Members of VP’s executive team are centered in Seattle WA, Portland OR and Atlanta GA. Our nearshore delivery centers are located in Buenos Aires, Paraná, and Rosario, Argentina; two centers in Montevideo (Uruguay); Medellín (Colombia); and Caracas (Venezuela). Please visit our website or contact us to learn more our services. Velocity Partners is an offshore software development company that expertly delivers services using a distributed Agile model that offers outstanding planning, accurate delivery and optimal business value. Our team is comprised of top Agile experts, consultants, and engineers who believe in not only meeting but exceeding our customers’ expectations. Velocity Partners is pleased to offer the community a number of resources regarding Agile/Scrum practices and methodologies including informative blogs by Bob Galen. For 15 years, Bob’s focus has been leveraging agile methods as the best way to deliver software value. He is an experienced, pragmatic, and passionate agile trainer, coach, and practitioner.
One recent blog from Bob (posted on our website) deals with the problem of agile team members taking on more than they can handle, and negatively affecting both their productivity and quality of work. Bob identifies factors that may contribute to the problem including the project leadership setting unrealistic goals in terms of their teams’ capacity. Overwhelming the teams’ capacity hinders their ability to produce quality work and meet goals. This may also be a result of management not wanting to disappoint their clients and passing the pressure along to their teams. Or it may be a result of technical teams succumbing to the pressure and trying to deliver on unmanageable goals. Bob points out that more times than not the problem stems from having too many things “in play.” If this is the case, the solution is to reduce the number of parallel projects and really focus on fewer projects, which should increase quality and productivity. He reminds us that multi-tasking doesn’t save time but actually negatively impacts productivity when switching from one task to another. Galen also reminds Agile practitioners “that busyness or sheer effort is not necessarily correlated with results.” Rather work on small sets of things until you get them done. Furthermore, to be the most productive, align your work and commitments to a doable capacity. Please visit to our website to see more of Bob’s blog as well as to learn about our offshore software development company. Velocity Partners expertly delivers nearshore (Western hemisphere) software development services using a distributed Agile model that offers outstanding planning, accurate delivery and optimal business value. Our team is comprised of top Agile experts, consultants, and engineers who believe in not only meeting but exceeding our customers’ expectations. For more information about our cost-effective software development services, please see our website. Velocity Partners was founded in 2004 as a spinoff of an Agile training company and has quickly evolved into a top offshore software development company. Our reputation is built on proudly providing customers with superior software development services that incorporate the latest, emerging technology using Agile/Scrum methodologies.
In fact even our name, “Velocity,” is a term used by practitioners of Agile to track the effort estimates associated with units of work completed over set intervals known as “iterations.” These short work periods often run from Monday to Friday but are usually not longer than four weeks. In addition they are agreed upon by the team and followed for the duration of the project. “The fixed length of iterations gives teams a simple way to obtain, based on velocity and the amount of work remaining; a usually accurate (though not very precise) estimation of the project's remaining duration.”¹ Software development using an Agile model consists of an initial vision and planning period, followed by the sequence of iterations, and finally a short closure period upon the project’s completion. When using velocity to track and estimate the length of a project, it is important to remember to take the aggregate of the team’s efforts during the first few iterations and not just individual results. In addition since each team and each project is different, there is no meaningful comparison of velocity. To ensure a reasonable approximation of the project’s completion date, user stories must be measured in a consistent manner and the velocity calculated by counting the units of work completed in a set interval. Please visit our website to learn more about our premium software development services. Our nearshore delivery centers ensure that communication is timely as we are all in the Western hemisphere. Moreover your team will be built to specifically address the technical needs of your project as well as your business domain. At Velocity Partners, we expertly deliver nearshore (Western hemisphere) software development services using a distributed Agile model that offers outstanding planning, accurate delivery and optimal business value. Our team is comprised of top Agile experts, consultants, and engineers who believe in not only meeting but exceeding our customers’ expectations. Visit our website to learn more about our cost-effective software development services. Source: ¹agilealliance.org/glossary/velocity/ To continue to meet the professional needs of our employees, Velocity Partners provides a range of training and development opportunities including workshops and conferences that focus around technical practices and Agile/Scrum software development processes. We are an active member of the Agile Alliance, and our leadership team conducts not only our own Agile seminar series but are regular contributors at the organization’s conferences.
This year’s annual Agile Alliance conference, Agile2017, will be held on August 7 - 11 at the Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, FL. The focus of the conference is dedicated to furthering Agile principles and providing a venue for people and ideas to flourish. Agile2017 expects to have people from over 40 countries, and attendees will have their choice of 250 Agile Sessions as well as insightful Keynotes from the world’s top experts and thought leaders. The conference will also provide an opportunity for social interaction and networking events. Another conference of note from the organization is the Agile Alliance Technical Conference that takes place on April 19 - 21 at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel in Boston, MA. This conference focuses on exploring the emerging and growing set of Agile Engineering practices. Agile Alliance states the conference will highlight Agile’s move from strictly developer-focused toward a more “multi-disciplinary field that now includes practices from operations, testing, data science, and infrastructure/cloud engineering.” The conference will offer practitioners in all of the involved fields to share and discuss new advances, hear from the experts and explore a wide range of topics. As you see, while we are firm believers in the power of distributed Agile, it does not mean we apply pressure to our customers to adopt the model in the same way. Instead we work with each client to integrate Agile into their existing processes in whatever way is most comfortable. Contact us to learn more. Velocity Partners expertly delivers nearshore (Western hemisphere) software development services using a distributed Agile model that offers outstanding planning, accurate delivery and optimal business value. Our team is comprised of top Agile experts, consultants, and engineers who believe in not only meeting but exceeding our customers’ expectations. Please see our website to learn more about our cost-effective software development services. In addition to numerous web pages highlighting and explaining our software development services, goals and background, we also provide informative, well-written blogs to help to educate our workforce as well as the general public. Authored by Bob Galen, an Agile Methodologist, Practitioner & Coach Manager based in Cary, NC, they deal with the finer points of Agile practices, Agile coaching and Agile leadership. All of them are worth your time if you wish to learn more about Agile methodologies.
In a recently posted a blog from him called, ScrumMaster? The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Galen addresses an article from Mike Cohn’s newsletter regarding taking on the role of a ScrumMaster while also serving as the team’s manager. He points out that it is difficult when the ScrumMaster is also the person you report to and closes his argument by stating that it is simply too challenging to get the right balance. However we encourage you to read the whole article. In another blog, Mr. Galen explores the Qualities of a Great Agile Coach. Drawing on an article from is Tanner Wortham, who writes a blog called, Spikes & Stories, Galen elaborates on the qualities of a coach in terms of their bias. Take a look at the full article on our website as it is filled with lots of good advice for an Agile coach. Agile methodologies and practices are at the core of Velocity Partners’ technologies and provide the framework for our software development services. As our client, we recognize you are the boss and provide transparency and visibility throughout each phase of development. Our ultimate goal is to offer a unique combination of software development prowess, Agile expertise and personal accountability. Velocity Partners expertly delivers nearshore (Western hemisphere) software development services using a distributed Agile model that offers outstanding planning, accurate delivery and optimal business value. Our team is comprised of top Agile experts, consultants, and engineers who believe in not only meeting but exceeding our customers’ expectations. For more information about our cost-effective software development services, please see our website. Velocity Partners uses a distributed Agile model as the framework for our services, and our talented leadership team brings lots of experience to the process as recognized thought leaders in Agile software development. Founded in 2004 as a spinoff of an Agile training company, we have been creating exceptional software development solutions that routinely exceed our customer expectations for more than a decade.
With a diverse range of backgrounds, our leadership team’s experiences include architectural design, crafting software as developers, testing and an overall mastery of information technology. VP’s Managing Partner and founder, Peter Stroeve, has worked in the high-tech industry since 1985. His role is to serve as the big-picture thinker and he is responsible for the overall management, strategy and performance of the company. Stroeve is focused on delivering and exceeding customer service along with recruiting the top talent in the field. Prior to Velocity Partners, he started the consulting organization, ProDX, in Portland, Oregon. One of our Senior Partners and second longest team member, Brian Estep develops new business, manages existing accounts, and recruits and oversees the company’s technical staff. Brian also directs IT Operations for the company, developing and implementing the IT strategy in order to support the company’s strategic objectives for both North and South America. Another Senior Partner, Steve Macmillan joined the firm in 2007. He brings his 20 years of experience in the software industry to developing new business, managing ongoing client relationships and providing oversight for client projects. He also oversees and guides our nearshore delivery operations to ensure customer satisfaction. The Senior Partnership team also includes Mark Manzo, a 30-year veteran in the software industry. He background includes helping companies of all sizes to achieve their goals and he brings that same commitment to steering our clients’ successes. Manzo is responsible for developing new business, and he understands great relationships start with listening. Barnaby Sheridan is another of our Senior Partners. With 25 years of experience in developing software, he expertly manages client expectations in terms of timeliness, cost and quality. He also oversees our personnel practices and tools to ensure they are ready to meet the changing demands of Agile software development. We encourage you to take a look at the bios of the rest of our team. We are sure you will agree that we are lucky to have some of the most talented individuals in the industry at Velocity Partners. Velocity Partners expertly delivers nearshore (Western hemisphere) software development services using a distributed Agile model that offers outstanding planning, accurate delivery and optimal business value. Our team is comprised of talented leaders from the software development community, and we offer cost-effective solutions for any size company. For more information about our exciting career opportunities, please see our website. For more than a decade, Velocity Partners has been providing innovative global software development services to companies of all sizes. Our success is defined by the success of our clients and we strive to accomplish this through dedicated teamwork and collaboration.
We have proudly completed software development for highly-recognizable companies such as Comcast, Microsoft, Oracle, Dell, CoStar Group, US Bank, and eHarmony to name a few. However we will work just as hard for you regardless of whether you are an entrepreneur just starting out or a large, well-established corporation. By using Agile/Scrum methodologies to drive our technology processes, we are able to offer an effective alternative to traditional project management and provide cost-effective solutions. The VP process includes collaborating with our clients, allowing our leadership team to set the vision, and then empowering our employees to work together to create the best outcome. The distributed Agile model is designed to facilitate teamwork and collaboration, and allows complete transparency throughout the process. We also incorporate emerging technologies and the latest Agile software developments into our efforts as our staff participates in on-going, cutting-edge training involving technical practices and using Agile/Scrum software development processes. Furthermore, we are proud to be regular contributors at Agile conferences. Since Velocity Partner’s methods rely so heavily on excellent communication, our teams participate in daily standups with clients. This level of communication also allows us to track key accomplishments, service level changes and potential project risks in order to ensure accurate delivery and the best business value. We encourage you to take a look at our website for more information about our process and our successes. Velocity Partners expertly delivers nearshore (Western hemisphere) software development services using a distributed Agile model that offers outstanding planning, accurate delivery and optimal business value. Our team is comprised of top Agile experts, consultants, and engineers who believe in not only meeting but exceeding our customers’ expectations. Contact us to learn more about how a distributed Agile model provides high-quality software development. Three of Velocity Partners’ Latin American delivery centers are located in Argentina, which is famous for everything from mountain terrains, glacial lakes, and Pampas grasslands as well as lively dance and music. With a vibrancy similar to that of New York City, we are proud to have cosmopolitan Buenos Aires as the site of one of our advanced technology centers.
Buenos Aires is both the largest city as well as the capital of the country and is a top tourist destination for its European-style architecture and culture. It has even been referred to as the “Paris of South America.” However, we will warn you in advance that it is almost impossible to experience all the city has to offer in just one trip. Home to tango dancing, the city is rich in museums, exceptional restaurants, boutiques, opera, symphonies, contemporary art, botanical gardens and much, much more. While there are many sights to see, the main square in the Monserrat barrio of central Buenos Aires, the Plaza de Mayo is a natural starting point. Lined with historic 19th-century buildings, several major landmarks are located around the Plaza including the Cabildo. Now a museum, the Cabildo was used as seat of the ayuntamiento during the colonial times. The May Pyramid is at the hub of the Plaza de Mayo and is the oldest national monument in Buenos Aires. Other must see buildings facing the Plaza are Casa Rosada, the presidential palace and the Teatro Colón, ranked by National Geographic to be the third best opera house in the world. It is also considered to be acoustically among the five best concert venues in the world. Also you will not want to miss the chance to tour the Recoleta Cemetery, which is rated by the BBC as the best cemetery in the world, and the one of the world’s 10 prettiest cemeteries by CNN. With over 4,500 above-ground vaults (94 of them are national historical monuments), the country’s former presidents and the “First Lady of Argentina,” Eva Peron are buried there. Many of the beautiful, elaborate marble mausoleums and statues were sculpted by famous artists. Velocity Partners expertly delivers nearshore (Western hemisphere) software development services using a distributed Agile model that offers outstanding planning, accurate delivery and optimal business value. Our team is comprised of top Agile experts, consultants, and engineers who believe in not only meeting but exceeding our customers’ expectations. Contact us to learn more about how a distributed Agile model provides high-quality software development. Source: touropia.com/tourist-attractions-in-buenos-aires/ For many companies, sooner or later they will require customized software development services in order to address their company’s unique needs. That may have you wondering about how to go about hiring the best software development company for your project. While your professional network is a good place to start, also see if your friends and colleagues have any recommendations.
Once you find a couple of companies that look promising, you can start researching their range of experience as well as the quantity and quality of projects they have successfully completed. Take a look at their portfolio of clients and read testimonials from satisfied clients. In addition ask the software development companies questions regarding the type of applications and their scope of work they have experience with in past projects. This will help to clarify whether or not they have the technical experience you need. Also consider how they dispense their services (i.e. their delivery centers) and whether having your software development team on the same time zone as you is important. Ask if the company has a good history of employee retention, which is important if you want some assurance of consistency in your team. In addition find out what methodologies and practices are at the core of their software development. Furthermore, the most critical question is if the process includes on-going communication, and will you be updated and apprised of your project’s progress on a regular basis? When you determine which company will give you the best results, your next step is to explain in detail what you hope to get out of your project. Help them to understand just what you are trying to accomplish and how soon you need to have it done. If you made the right decision, your software developers will actively listen to you and ask lots of questions to ensure they understand the scope of your project and expectations. Other questions include discussing timelines, the cost, and if they offer any support once the project is completed. Velocity Partners expertly delivers nearshore (Western hemisphere) software development services using a distributed Agile model that offers outstanding planning, accurate delivery and optimal business value. Our team is comprised of talented leaders from the software development community, and we offer cost-effective solutions for any size company. Please see our website to learn more about our cost-effective software development services. |
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