Award Winning Consulting Since 1991
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Technical Insights
Development That Gets To Work
Black Slate is growing! Let Black Slate help you find your dream job in software development. Our extensive list of software careers focuses on quality. Consider one of our many software careers and come along with us as we look to another record-breaking year of growth, client satisfaction, and exciting projects with great people working by your side.
CI/CD – Agile – DevOps – Digital Transformation – 99.70% Referral Rating
The discovery stage is crucial when setting up the correct team to deliver your project successfully. At times this has been completed before our introduction to the project. In these cases, you may have determined that you only need specific roles added to your project teams, and that is just one way we can help augment your team. Other times clients ask us to take on this role to get an expert outside perspective. Either way, this phase is essential and must be considered to be confident that you have the right talent in place and that what you are building or modifying integrates with your existing system.
Tools & Techniques We Employee:
Black Slate – Custom Software Development Done Right The First Time!
Converting your vision into reality requires a clear picture of requirements and the experience necessary to set a strong foundation for your new reality. Using the Software Rrequirements Analysis, the design phase encompasses how the application and users interact with each other, with the current infrastructure, and with other applications. In addition, this phase deals with architecture and UI/UX, so all the elements come together seamlessly.
Areas Considered During The Design Phase:
Black Slate – Custom Software Development Done Right The First Time!
When selecting your team, we ensure it fits your needs, not ours. Of course, top talent is a key to our success, but a proper blend is a formula for project success. At Black Slate, we specialize in talent that does more than heads-down programming, but we also understand not everyone on the team needs to be a senior or billing every hour of the day. So, using what we learned in stage one and how stage two comes together, we define your team and estimate the timeline, making sure to keep you updated every step, so there are no surprises.
Areas Considered In The Build Phase:
Black Slate – Custom Software Development Done Right The First Time!
Following the final release, we make sure you are in control. Whether you keep us around as a trusted partner or have us hand it off to your team, we understand that a solid knowledge base is one of the most important aspects of a project. Therefore, following deployment and before we hand over the keys, we always include 30 days of monitoring and mentoring to ensure a smooth roll-off and that your internal team is in control.
Areas Considered In The Completion Phase:
Black Slate – Custom Software Development Done Right The First Time!
If you trust your project and recruitment to someone, wouldn’t it be wise to select a firm with a proven record since 1991, helping major companies like GE Healthcare, NASA, Best Buy, and others modernize or pivot to new technologies? Utilizing a proven formula that combines world-class software development, hands-on education and mentoring, and dedicated IT recruiting, Black Slate’s clients have found success building software while building their in-house team for the long haul.
Areas Considered In The Recruit & Hire Phase:
Black Slate – Custom Software Development Done Right The First Time!
Black Slate’s custom CI/CD, Agile & DevOps-based software development services combine everything you need, including assessments, design, architecture, development, testing, delivery, and deployment.
Whether evaluating your platform and determining if it should be kept, extended, or replaced… or diving right in to update and customize, we spool up quickly.
Your front end is where the user gets to know you, from the graphical user interface to everything that makes up the experience. Our consultants specialize in the tools and techniques required to ensure you create an application your employees and customers love to use with the functionality you expect.
Your front end may be what everyone sees and interacts with, but your back end is doing all the work. Let Black Slate’s consultants help you get every response served up quickly and accurately while injecting the experience you need so the tough questions are asked.
Whether you have decided on a more traditional 2-tier framework (Client Side & Server-Side), a more independently tiered (3-tier) framework (Client-Side, Processing-Logic-Side, & Data-Side), or an API-Driven | Microservices architecture, our experts can help you create what you need or assist your team with design and development.
Let us help your team convert your monolith to a manageable micros-sized, microservices, service-based suite solution with proven system and application architecture expertise.
Whether it is part of the modernization process or a completely new solution, automating and optimizing your workflows to eliminate manual tasks is what we do. Let’s implement technology-based solutions that retain your best talent, eliminate manual errors, and make your job easier.
Integration onto the cloud and away from existing infrastructure can take many forms, whether you have selected a multi, hybrid, or a single-service solution. We create and integrate your applications no matter which option you have chosen. As a Microsoft Gold Partner and AWS development partner, we bring incites that can help from start to finish.
We don’t just consult companies on Agile; we live Agile and the various forms of development agility. It’s how we run our business, manage our day-to-day operations, and drive the faster deployment of the necessities.
Tips and tricks to help you succeed as an IT manager and thought leader!
Tom Helvick
Experience and success typically go together. Add in curiosity, commitment to excellence, and a genuine concern for clients, and you’ll understand why Tom Helvick excels as Director of Operations at Black Slate. Tom brings years of top-tier experience—and results—to his role leading our operational team. After years spent working for Deloitte as a Practitioner Support consultant (Tom was dispatched around the world to help correct distressed projects), creating a framework called ITASCA that is still in use today, and serving on the primary Microsoft team that vetted C# during the “C” development process, Tom moved to Black Slate. He makes sure every project is matched with the most appropriate Black Slate talent, so your project team is the right team.
Why Did You Choose Consulting And Operations?
Consulting allows you to move outside your comfort zone and forge new relationships. I enjoy being in an almost continuous discovery phase where I’m learning about new clients and asking lots of questions. I quickly learn so much about people and companies, which ensures that I can connect the right Black Slate team members to every client project.
Sideline
Tom was nominated by one of his players and received the Minnesota Hockey Coaching Excellence award while coaching the Edina girls’ U15 “A” traveling team. He is currently a coach for Lakeville South’s Girls Varsity hockey team.
To understand why so many companies rely on Black Slate for custom application development, software modernization and cloud migration you must understand the importance we place on staying up-to-date with the most current technologies and methodologies while providing proven expertise in trusted technologies.
“When an outside firm asked over 4000 of our customers these questions, we immediately understood why they trusted Black Slate!”
Say “Yes” To Black Slate!
99.55% of customers answered YES!
99.55% of customers answered YES!
99.70% of customers answered YES!
Clients Testimonials
99.55% Of Our Past Clients Said “Yes, They Would Work With Us Again!”
“Black Slate’s SQL expertise was invaluable in improving our database server performance. Thanks to the guidance and work from Black Slate consultants, we’ve reduced runtime on common queries, modernized our technology stack, created a platform for real-time sales feedback, and enabled more comprehensive strategic planning for our company. We look forward to working with Black Slate on future projects to drive even more value from our data.” — Tom B
“Black Slate eliminated hundreds of hours in manual work…”
“Working with Black Slate has been a great experience. Converting a manual process of entering data into spreadsheets to a new online system gives us access to real-time results. We have modernized our business like no one else in the market. Eliminating hundreds of hours in manual work, while giving our customers a tool to quickly manage their business and improve profits is a great benefit we can now offer.” — Jay W
“It was a pleasure working with everyone at Black Slate.”
“Thanks everyone for all of your hard work on another successful portal project! As always, it has been a pleasure working with everyone at Black Slate.” — Sandra K
“A credit to their hard work…”
“It’s great to hear about the positive responses to eCharging and the enthusiasm shown by those involved. These remarks are a credit to the hard work that you and the rest of the eCharging team have put into the project. These comments remind us of the important impact our daily work has on improving the criminal justice system across the state. Good work and congratulations!” — Robert H
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