Igloo Case Study: How Software Team Augmentation Scaled a Digital Workspace Platform

Igloo, a digital workplace technology company, was rapidly scaling their platform but faced a common challenge: they needed more development power to meet product demands and tight release timelines. Their internal team was strong but too small to move at the pace their product roadmap required.

ISU Corp partnered with Igloo to provide specialized developers through a custom team augmentation model. These developers seamlessly integrated with Igloo’s culture and workflows, helping accelerate delivery, reduce technical bottlenecks, and empower their internal team.

About Igloo

Igloo Software builds a leading digital workplace platform that helps companies connect their employees, tools, and knowledge in one central, cloud-based hub.

Fast Facts:

• Founded in 2004

• Based in Canada with a global client base

• Focused on internal communications and digital employee experience

• Used by Fortune 1000 organizations across healthcare, tech, and finance

The Challenge

Igloo’s development team was working on a complex, enterprise-grade platform, but their internal bandwidth couldn’t keep up with the demands of product expansion and roadmap goals. They needed:

• Extra development capacity, without sacrificing code quality

• Engineers who could integrate quickly with their team and culture

• Agile contributors who could jump into an existing system with many moving parts

• Solutions to debug, optimize, and enhance internal features rapidly

What Igloo Needed:

• Senior developers to boost delivery speed without requiring lengthy onboarding

• A seamless cultural fit to maintain a strong team dynamic

• Problem-solvers who could contribute and share knowledge

• A flexible staffing model to scale development on demand

The Solution: Custom Team Augmentation by ISU Corp

ISU Corp provided a team of highly skilled software engineers with expertise in enterprise application development, system optimization, and agile collaboration. These developers didn’t just code, they became a true extension of Igloo’s internal team.

Key Contributions:

• Team Augmentation: ISU developers were embedded directly into Igloo’s teams to support delivery across high-priority projects

• Cultural Integration: Our team members adapted to Igloo’s internal values, communication style, and workflows for seamless collaboration

• Code Optimization & Debugging: Engineers quickly identified performance bottlenecks, resolved bugs, and enhanced feature stability

• Knowledge Sharing: ISU team members proactively shared strategies, contributed to architectural decisions, and supported internal developer growth

The Results

✔ Accelerated development timelines without compromising code quality

✔ Improved platform performance through targeted debugging and optimization

✔ Strong cross-team collaboration, with ISU developers acting as trusted team members

✔ Increased internal team efficiency and exposure to new best practices

✔ Flexible, scalable development support that allowed Igloo to hit product milestones faster

Why Team Augmentation Matters for Tech Companies

For fast-growing software companies, access to high-quality developers at the right time can be the difference between hitting milestones or missing opportunities. But hiring full-time isn’t always practical.

ISU Corp’s team augmentation services give companies like Igloo the flexibility to scale with confidence. Our developers integrate quickly, contribute strategically, and deliver results, without the delays of traditional hiring.

Whether you need to move faster, strengthen your team, or optimize existing systems, ISU Corp can help you scale with purpose.

Need to Scale Your Software Team?

ISU Corp specializes in custom team augmentation and enterprise software development. We help companies extend their capabilities, hit product goals, and strengthen their in-house teams faster.

Let’s build something together. Contact ISU Corp today to explore how we can support your next big release.

The Benefits of Process Automation Using Software Development Services

Among the many draws businesses have towards custom software development, workflow automation is among the most recurring reasons. So much so that research is finding around 50% of businesses have plans to implement this kind of automation. Workflow automation? What is that? 

To put it in perspective, nearly 85% of small businesses alone depend on some form of manual task every day. Of that 85%, most likely have ambitions to expand the business, which in order to do so requires being able to focus their energy on more complex tasks. 

Using Automation

Here is an example of process automation:

Think of an e-commerce startup that has to manually input and track inventory or transactions. The owner would spend hours each day trying to keep up and it would become impossible to do manually, especially if the business began to scale up. 

So instead of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on yearly salaries for people to manage data, the owner hires a team to implement a custom software system that handles these tasks automatically.

This is a very simple example of process automation. The concept is broad and can be anything from automating repetitive tasks to generating and distributing reports, transferring files, or even integrating business applications. 

Process automation is an investment that saves businesses time and money by reallocating their time toward more important tasks. More than that, it gives businesses their most important asset: the ability to scale. We’re going to need more detail to support that claim so with that said, let’s go over the top 6 benefits businesses can expect to see with process automation. 

1. Processing Speed:

   Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is the most common user-friendly technology used to automate repetitive manual processes. RPA uses software robots that can produce several times more output in a shorter period than a person could. This not only opens up the capacity of data that can be handled but also condenses the time it takes to do so.

2. Analytics:

   When using RPA, the system is constantly keeping track of what it’s doing and when it’s doing it which is then composed into analysis reports. What’s great about this is that if an error does occur, you’ll be able to go back and see where. When a company first implements this kind of software, it will be really helpful for identifying the speed bumps in any of the organization's current processes. 

3. 24/7 Work:

   Employees only work an average of 8 hours a day, whereas software can always be on the clock. Stack that up next to a 40-hour work week and that’s 80 extra hours of work businesses are getting Monday to Friday without having to give up any benefits.

4. Compliance:

   Certain industries (Insurance, Banking, Healthcare, etc.) have regulation standards that must be met. Automation software like that of RPAs can assist companies in meeting these standards. It adds that extra layer of control and oversight in business processes.

   The software will be built to perform these tasks to the exact specifications outlined and will continuously do so as the company needs it to. As a result, because the process is very consistent, there is not a lot of risk for error and all records are kept in the event an irregularity does occur. 

5. Reducing Errors:

   In organizations, mistakes made by employees add up and can cost millions of dollars (an average of over $60 million annually). Touching again on the compliance piece, automation software is able to reduce this risk of error dramatically by strictly adhering to the process standards.

6. Employee and Customer Satisfaction:

   By switching from a labour-intensive landscape to a process automation system (for repetitive tasks), employees can direct their time and energy toward the other tasks we’ve consistently referred to as “complex”. This just means that the company's resources are being used to address needs that provide value.

   Also, notice the order of “employee” before “customer”— this is because to deliver value to your audience, the ones delivering the value need to be motivated to do so. 

Reflecting

Every industry is different, especially in terms of its long-term goals and short-term needs. This means that when it comes to technology, the resources being utilized need to have a solid strategy behind them. Custom software development is only effective when this strategy is in place and the stakeholders in the organization are aligned with its purpose. 

Businesses who are looking to go the extra mile need to recognize the importance of what they will do with the time and resources they’re freeing up when using an IT service like process automation. Without that strategy, there’s not a lot of value in implementing this technology and that will be an expensive mistake down the road. 

In order to strategize efficiently, talk to professionals to help your business get on the right track.

Written By Ben Brown

—

ISU Corp is an award-winning software development company, with over 17 years of experience in multiple industries, providing cost-effective custom software development, technology management, and IT outsourcing.

Our unique owners’ mindset reduces development costs and fast-tracks timelines. We help craft the specifications of your project based on your company's needs, to produce the best ROI. Find out why startups, all the way to fortune 500 companies like General Electric, Heinz, and many others have trusted us with their projects. Contact us here.

How to Overcome The 5 Most Common Challenges During Software Development

Software development is one of the most complex and demanding processes that any business can undergo. It not only requires talent with programming languages, but it also requires the ability to navigate development environments, libraries, frameworks, and troubleshooting, all while working under time constraints. Nonetheless, the most crucial characteristic that sets the best programmers apart is their ability to solve problems effectively.

The Reality for Companies Starting a Software Project

In 2023, many companies either are currently or soon will be undergoing digital transformation using custom software development to keep up with the demands of the digital marketplace. This is exciting for businesses wanting to level up their development, but what’s important for every company to remember is that a software project can face plenty of obstacles which will require clear communication to overcome.

The riskiest part of a software development project is typically during the beginning and is commonly due to a lack of three things: 

1. Planning

2. Goals

3. Transparency between the client and the development team

A study from last year found that 75% of IT executives agree that projects are often in trouble from the “initial phase” due to a lack of clear expectations or proper planning. The three components listed above are the most crucial pitfalls to avoid during your project, but they are not the only ones.

In a perfect world, software developers would have all the necessary resources and information on a project with all possible changes from the client outlined as well as an ideal deadline for everyone. However, this is not always the case, which means that when obstacles do arise, teams need to be equipped to overcome them.

With that said, here are 5 common challenges when starting a project and how to overcome them:

1) Planning, Goals, and Communication:

At the base level of struggles during a software development project, a lack of clear vision is at the forefront. This is a relatively easy fix because it simply requires the organization looking to integrate custom software to review their needs and reach a consensus on how they want the system to benefit their stakeholders. 

Custom software systems are directly built to fit the needs of businesses which means that to justify building a system, businesses need to sit down and define their reasoning. 

2) Time Restrictions:

In some cases, when a new project is started, the deadline is agreed upon before the details of the project are outlined. This can be detrimental to the success of a project which means that when both parties consult, the scope of work must be laid out to determine an appropriate deadline.

It’s additionally important to consider that resources and budget play a significant role in determining the timeline as it gives developers a sense of how much time they can allocate and the resources they can dedicate to each stage of the project. 

3) No Testing = No Innovation:

When it comes to testing your IT systems, the importance of consistently ensuring quality performance and finding room for improvement is self-explanatory. The purpose of software testing is purely to mitigate the risk of error and ensure that systems can keep up with what is expected of them. 

The last step of a software development project is the testing and maintenance phase which allows companies to identify any faults in the system as well as areas that they may want to improve on in the future.

4) Technical Challenges:

Developing software often involves using new or complex technologies, which can lead to technical challenges as with any technology. In the case of custom software, these challenges can range from compatibility issues to something as difficult as debugging complex code.

To prevent this, it's critical to have a team with a diverse range of technical expertise and experience. This will not only ensure that experts are overseeing different areas who can then work together to solve any technical challenges that arise, but it will also help teams stay up to date with any outdated technology that needs to be updated.

5) Managing Changes and Expectations:

As the software development project progresses, there may be changes to the scope, requirements, or timeline. These changes can be difficult to manage and may lead to confusion or delays.

To overcome this, it's important to have a change management process in place. This process simply requires clear communication between the development team and the client and should include an outlined process for evaluating and approving any changes. Having a clear understanding of the project scope and goals can help manage expectations and reduce the likelihood of unexpected changes.

Final Thoughts

Challenges during software development are nothing new which means there’s no real reason to panic if you encounter them. As long as you’ve established clear expectations and communication standards with your software provider, risk can be mitigated.

Businesses that are firm on their standards and make sure that their software developers are aligned with said standards will have the greatest chance of success when it comes to digital transformation.

Written By Ben Brown

—

ISU Corp is an award-winning software development company, with over 17 years of experience in multiple industries, providing cost-effective custom software development, technology management, and IT outsourcing.

Our unique owners’ mindset reduces development costs and fast-tracks timelines. We help craft the specifications of your project based on your company's needs, to produce the best ROI. Find out why startups, all the way to fortune 500 companies like General Electric, Heinz, and many others have trusted us with their projects. Contact us here.