International Internet Photo Community Incubates New IT Solutions Services Company
No. 0028 - Released August 15, 2006
Putting people first - Internet-based online photography site takes lessons learned from in-house technology success to form custom software development outsourcing company.
The global business need for efficient, customized software development and supporting IT-services has found a home in the heart of Europe.
A new IT-outsourcing specialist called enprovia Software Engineering s.r.o. has emerged from the in-house needs of Nikonians� - Worldwide Home for Nikon� photographers.
The Nikonians site was faced with the challenge of responding to over a million daily hits from a base of more than 50,000 members in over 140 countries. New members wanted a reliable search engine that could provide quick access to frequently asked questions.
"We began with existing software," said Nikonians co-founder Bo Stahlbrandt, who founded Nikonians with his partner J. Ram�n Palacios six years ago. "But the specialized nature of our community soon had us developing our own in-house software solutions." One of those solutions was a dedicated search engine, NikoScope.com, which helps members quickly find information on the site's nearly 500,000 pages.
Stahlbrandt, with a background in applied software engineering rooted in the early 80�s, studied the trends in the industry before laying the groundwork for enprovia.
"There are efficiency differences between mediocre and excellently skilled experienced engineers in the ratio of 1:6 or more," he said. "Having these motivated professionals working with a toolset of proven processes and best practices ensures timely delivery within budget at the required quality level. We call that the enprovia Methodology." "We cover the complete software lifecycle," says Kristina Nessl, Executive Office Manager of enprovia Software Engineering. She describes that coverage as including: "Everything from project management, requirements management to deployment, maintenance and support."
"We put a very strong emphasis on the people who are involved in every part of the process," she added. "It's a theme we adopted from Nikonians which is a true community of people."
While enprovia has already begun serving the near shore (European countries) markets it is also positioned to tackle international outsourcing opportunities. The current global trend for outsourcing through countries that have moderate income levels comes at a time when enprovia's home office in Slovakia can provide quality services at rates nearly half to two-thirds less overhead in comparison to German and American equivalents.
The field of competition in this arena is growing fast, and enprovia's aim is to fill the gap between generic software development and a service designed to put people ahead of technology. That's where enprovia's origin as the offspring of Nikonians will provide a distinct advantage.
"It comes as a full circle," said Stahlbrandt. "We started as a small group with an interest in photography and the goal was always to help our members understand how to use their Nikon equipment � how it works and ticks."
"This 'help' aspect is very important," he said. "It's the cornerstone of Nikonians and enprovia exists because of our Nikonians experience. It is a separate entity, serving different purposes, but the one thing we have in common is we are always concentrating on people first, technology second."
enprovia� Software Engineering is an IT startup company, specializing in providing outsourced solutions covering all phases of the software lifecycle, from analysis, project and requirements management to deployment, installation, maintenance and support. The company�s living motto is "Putting people first" which is reflected both in skills acquired, development efficiency and the provided solutions usability. North American and European companies are to be found in its customer base. While enprovia establishes itself in the IT outsourcing market, it continues to support the Nikonians site by maintaining the NikoScope search engine, and developing new software platforms, such as the Nikonians Workshop Management System, a match making platform for US photography teachers and students.
Kristina Nessl
enprovia Software Engineering s.r.o.
www.enprovia.com
Phone +421-918-645 669
eMail kristina(at)enprovia.com
Nikonians� - Worldwide Home for Nikon� Photographers
Founded in the year 2000, Nikonians� is the friendly home for Nikon� enthusiasts on the Internet. With more than 53,000 members from 140 countries and over a million unique visitors per month, it is the largest community of its kind.
The community is not affiliated to Nikon Corporation.
Nikonians� is a registered trademark of Nikonians.org. Nikon� is a registered trademark of Nikon Corporation.