Spyrosoft and TrackMan: a lasting partnership

We’ve been collaborating with them for the past 4 years, and have supported the teams at TrackMan before, during and after the launch of their innovative products, tracking systems for baseball and golf professionals. The mobile version of the baseball system was released in 2019 and since then has been embraced by multiple teams across the US, Japan and Korean baseball leagues and over 500 amateur groups worldwide.

TrackMan

• Established: 2003
• Industry: Information technology for sports
• Employees: 400
• Headquarters: Denmark

Humble beginnings

But how did our partnership start? Former Chief Financial Officer of Trackman, Oluf Riddersholm explains that before looking at outsourcing opportunities, they initially wanted to grow the team of developers in Denmark. This plan was difficult to carry out due to the current state of the local market.

What issue were they were faced with? The biggest issue was not being able to recruit enough skilled developers with desired mid and senior levels of experience.

That is why the executive team wanted to outsource select services abroad. Initially and for a short while, TrackMan looked into offshore locations such as India and the Philippines, but quickly decided that recruiting developer teams in a close-by country would be much more efficient, with reliable and consistent quality of services. They heard a lot about Poland and how experienced the local developers are, so they started their search for an ideal technological partner. They located 5 companies that filled their requirements – including Spyrosoft – and started interviewing them.

Searching for an ideal business partner

What made them choose Spyrosoft as their business and technology partner?

Olof Riddersholm again:

We really liked Konrad [Weiske, CEO at Spyrosoft] and the team, and we also brought in an application developer from Denmark to assess the technical skills. Spyrosoft had exquisite quality engineers and experts with a great attitude.

The teams at TrackMan also wanted to partner with a company of similar size so the whole relation would feel and be set equal right from the start. After a few initial conversations, we decided together that the Build-Operate-Transfer would work best for both entities, both in terms of how the collaboration would be carried out and finalised. What was also important for TrackMan was the fact the BOT model would mean that both groups of developers are working as closely as possible, following the same principles, and having similar work culture.

Our partnership began by recruiting the first developer who would become a leader, driving any hiring initiatives and taking care of the team locally. This role was quickly filled by Przemyslaw Izdebski who was newly employed to TrackMan and considering moving to Denmark. When it became apparent that he would be needed in Wroclaw, Poland, he gladly agreed and formed the abroad TrackMan office.

The current state of the collaboration

Przemyslaw promptly recruited two other developers, creating an evolving partnership. Today, the team is 13 people strong, and every team member visits the main HQ in Denmark regularly to keep up with how the company grows and adjusts to the challenges. Przemyslaw still manages TrackMan operating locally being responsible i.e for onboarding new people on to the team. He introduces them to other developers, discusses engineering standards they want to maintain and the architecture behind their software stack. The team also works directly from the Spyrosoft office so any information related to both companies and the partnership can be shared easily.

Together with TrackMan and Head of Department, Ulrich Landbo, we are now developing software that allows for real-time ball tracking and for managing the collected data in cloud environments. The solution not only enables real-life presentation of the trajectories while the game is still on as well as collecting data that let sport professionals analyze once it is completed. The tracking technology collects information about ball movements, including its trajectory and other parameters. Data is then presented on a computer and/or tablet – as well as being transported to the cloud.

The product is also ideal for using the collected data to set up indoor baseball and golf simulators where the non-professional players have a chance to prove themselves participating in virtual matches on home screens or in dedicated outlets.

The product ecosystem is built using Microsoft technologies, Azure cloud solutions, .NET-based software as well as MSSQL and MongoDB databases.

Although our collaboration is well into its 3^rd year, we’re not slowing down as both teams enjoy it not only on a professional level, but they also formed friendships that make communication between them even more effortless. The partnership has changed and evolved over time, and we’re looking forward to driving it through the last stage of the Build Operate Transfer model whenever the occasion will arise.