In 2023, Outtask and Aspen Digital entered into a partnership. Aspen Digital, a digital agency specialized in data-driven search marketing, has been helping companies improve their online visibility for 20 years—with a focus on the e-commerce market.
Aspen Digital developed its own tooling for its operations, which they wanted to scale and bring to market. However, this proved to be too large a task for their in-house development team. That’s why they looked for a solution and found it in Outtask’s nearshoring services. Read on to learn how this collaboration was established, how the process unfolded, and what the results are.
Big ambitions, but not enough development expertise
Founded in 2003, Aspen Digital started collecting its own data in 2010. This formed the basis for their current application, which was revamped by their in-house development team in 2017. Although the tool was already valuable for internal use, Aspen Digital wanted to scale the application and make it available to other online marketers and agencies.
“We have always used our tooling for our own clients, but we saw opportunities to also give other agencies access to our data,” says Jory Willemsen, managing partner of Aspen Digital. “This expands their ability to serve their clients better.”
Expanding development capacity proved to be a challenge.
“Our team consisted of four fullstack developers, but due to high salary costs and a tight labor market in the Netherlands, scaling up was not feasible. We decided to allocate budget to ensure the quality of the platform and invest in nearshoring. That’s how we came into contact with Outtask.”
We were looking for affordable development capacity, but with control and the preservation of our corporate identity.
The beginning of the collaboration
Gianni Dawud, manager nearshoring at Outtask, recalls the initial conversations with Aspen Digital:
“In our first meeting, it was important for me to understand the challenges Aspen Digital was facing. In addition, Jory wanted to know how our nearshoring approach could help achieve their objectives. Aspen Digital had previous experience with nearshoring, but it hadn’t worked out well.”
Outtask’s focus is on integration and communication. “Short lines of communication and on-site onboarding ensure that our team feels like an extension of the client. We implemented this immediately with Aspen Digital,” explains Dawud.
Willemsen adds: “It was important that our nearshoring team truly understood what Aspen Digital does. The (search) marketing field is both technical and industry-specific. That’s why we are committed to a long-term collaboration, because a developer, like anyone else, needs time to become fully integrated and deliver optimal performance.”
Nearshoring makes the difference
The benefits of the collaboration soon became evident. “Previously, we had in-house developers, but development has never been our core business. With the collaboration with Outtask’s nearshore developers, we benefit from their additional knowledge and our processes run much more smoothly. Our productivity has clearly increased,” says Willemsen.
Aspen Digital also achieved the targeted cost savings of 35%. This freed-up budget was reinvested in crucial improvements, such as a renewed infrastructure. Moreover, the nearshoring model offers flexibility.“If we need extra capacity, we can quickly scale up without compromising on quality or exceeding budgets,” adds Willemsen.
The first release
The platform that Aspen Digital developed together with the nearshore team has now been launched and is being enthusiastically received by its first customers.
“Without the collaboration with Outtask, the platform would not have been ready for market for a long time,” says Willemsen. “We learned that developing our own software with a small team in the Netherlands is very challenging if you are not a professional software organization. Outtask’s support proved essential to achieving our goals.”
Looking to the future
Aspen Digital’s tooling is already proving its worth for marketers, but their ambitions go further. Their goal is to make the tool the indispensable right-hand for every online marketer.
“That’s why we continue our collaboration with our development team in Valencia,” says Willemsen. “Without these developers, we wouldn’t be where we are today. To realize our future objectives, the nearshoring team is essential.”
Willemsen also offers advice for organizations considering nearshoring:
“If high salary costs and a tight Dutch labor market are limiting your growth, nearshoring is an excellent solution. We started small, with a team of two developers. Now that we are well integrated and our Dutch team is enthusiastic, we will soon expand further.”
He understands that organizations may have concerns.
“Perhaps you’re afraid of losing control over your processes or worried about communication issues. We had these concerns too, but Outtask convinced us. Their support is excellent, and they ensure that communication lines remain short. The collaboration between their teams in Amsterdam and Valencia runs smoothly, and any challenges are resolved quickly.”
