Ebanx: strategic partnership with squads as an alternative to adding knowledge and speed in expansion

The pandemic and war in Ukraine are atypical situations that consequently generate adversity in the world economy. These changes affect the decision-making of investors and companies that need to adapt quickly to a scenario that has yet to be predictable so far.

According to a study carried out by the TC/Economática platform, Brazilian publicly traded companies added last year more significant investments than in the previous seven years. In 2021, with digital transformations on the rise, the number of assets grew exponentially. However, in 2022 applications dropped, and uncertainty caused many companies to seek strategic partnerships.

The Ebanx challenge

Ebanx is a Brazilian fintech offering payment technology solutions for ten years and connecting Latin American companies to the global market. With headquarters in Brazil and operations in 15 countries, it became the first Latin American unicorn in 2019. The following year, when planning its expansion even more, it encountered some obstacles in the face of the agility it needed.

In November 2020, Ebanx had the technical challenge of optimizing the integrations of its financial reconciliation platform with new providers. For this, they sought developers with specific characteristics. “The expansion of Ebanx required qualified professionals to handle deliveries, but also people who collaborated with our internal team in the development of optimized processes,” says Kalecser Kurtz, Vice President of Software Engineering at EBANX.

The need for more qualified professionals in the technology market is a reality in Brazil. According to a report by the Association of Information and Communication Technology Companies (Brasscom), the country has an annual deficit of 106,000 IT professionals. In addition, economic unpredictability makes decision-making difficult, as expanding the staff of internal employees can become a risk. In this scenario, business scalability needs to find alternatives to meet the high demands and achieve the innovations that the market demands.

The Squad as a Service model

Squads are multidisciplinary teams that bring autonomy, performance, and agility to a project. This model uses the agile methodology to develop activities with continuous improvements and constant feedback. The efficiency of these teams gained prominence in the technology market, and several companies began to offer this modality as a service.

Hire developers or a squad service?

Hiring and integrating a developer into the company’s culture is a challenge in the technology market. In this sense, finding the ideal candidate and incorporating them, in addition to a risk of adaptability, is a process that is often slow. Another factor to consider is the performance and quality of deliveries, linked to what is already being done. 

Hiring outsourced squads is the alternative that large companies, such as Ebanx, have found. When considering its expansion and the economic scenario, fintech saw the strategic partnership with squads as an opportunity to increase the flow of its deliveries and add knowledge from the outside to the inside. “The main advantages are the agility of the process and the added value; each new developer that arrives in a squad already brings with them Objective’s culture, which is aligned with that of Ebanx,” highlights Fábio Alves, Tech Lead of Squads at Ebanx. 

Another point to consider is the flexibility needed to grow and innovate. In this way, when creating a strategic partnership with outsourced squads, the company can adjust and align the results they expect in the short term. This model enables structured agreements, defined objectives, billing management, and accountability.

The shared culture

For a long time, companies believed that all acquired knowledge should be kept within the company. They were silos, closed and restricted. With new concepts, such as Open Innovation (open Innovation) presented by economist and professor Henry Chesbrough in the book Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology, business models began to consider the idea of shared culture.

“I was initially resistant, believing that extending our culture to another company would interfere with Ebanx’s processes, but it was the opposite. The arrival of Objective strengthened our culture because it brought different perspectives. In addition, the partnership increases the maturity of Ebanx’s culture,” says Kalecser Kurtz, VP of Software Engineering at EBANX.

Objective’s strategic partnership with Squads

For almost two years, Ebanx and Objective have been strategic partners. This exchange started in November 2020 by hiring a squad of 2 developers. A year later, the partnership already had eight squads and 19 developers. Objective currently has 11 squads and 36 developers available to work with Ebanx.

Right at the beginning of the partnership, Objective’s squad helped Ebanx create its Software Development Kit (SDK), a set of software development tools that allow the creation of applications. During that time, several projects were made and delivered. Over time, integration activities became the responsibility of Objective squads. “They not only understood the pains of Ebanx but also participated in the process and helped to optimize it,” considers Fábio Alves, Tech Lead of Squads at Ebanx.

The hiring of new squads provided a gain in productivity. In July 2021, 9 developers delivered 427 items; when that number of developers went to 36, item deliveries increased to 1810, a growth of 6% beyond expectations.

With the strategic partnership, Ebanx can focus on the Core Business with the confidence that its other projects are in good hands. Thus, it is possible to grow and innovate in the face of the unpredictable scenario that the world finds itself in and, when seeing this alternative, understand that there are always new opportunities to prosper in business.

The differentials of Objective Squads

Software development is an area of growing transformation. Therefore, it needs professionals updated with the new trends and tools of the market. For Ebanx, this is one of the main differentials of Objective squads.

“Objective works with current technologies, the methodology, and tools that the squads brought to improve the processes within Ebanx. Today, we can predict situations and adjust the route, which speeds up deliveries. In addition, the partnership boosted the sharing of knowledge and the development of safer processes,” considers Rodrigo Pereira, Squad Manager at Ebanx.

Another relevant issue when hiring a squad is the role of leadership. Other companies restrict the squad leader’s role to work processes, such as adding people or changing resources.

According to Ebanx, the involvement of leaders within teams is also a significant difference for Objective. “The squad leaders participate in discussions, are present in the process, and monitor individual deliveries and team performance, adding value and knowledge to projects. This differential guarantees the quality of delivery,” adds Kalecser Kurtz, VP of Software Engineering at EBANX.

The future between Ebanx and Objective

Ebanx is already a consolidated company in the market. In addition to being attentive to growth, the company also focuses on efficiency. In this sense, the strategic partnership with Objective is a reliable support to develop some essential fronts of the company while they focus on evolving their Core Business.

This relationship of trust and mutual appreciation built over the last two years with the squads has become the basis for the continuity of the partnership that should extend even further in the future.

Discover how the Agile Squads from Objective can aggregate value and speed up your business expansion. Get in touch with us and talk to one of our consultants about the topic.