1. Keith Erickson November 3, 2016 EE 1001

2. Presentation Goals Company Background Business Operations
Software Engineering
Future View
Parting Thoughts

3. Locations
Duluth, MN
Grand Rapids, MN

4. Saturn Systems History
Founded in 1990 in Duluth, Minnesota
Origins in DoD contracting: device control and integration, detailed engineering
Since 2000, focus has shifted towards enterprise application development (desktop, web, mobile)
% Growth Annually Since 2006
Currently have 78 full-time staff; 65 are programmers and engineers

5. Awards
Recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of 5000 Fastest Growing Companies in the U.S. for five consecutive years (2011 – 2015)
Recognized by Minneapolis Star-Tribune as one of 150 Best Places to Work in Minnesota (2015, 2016)
Recognized by Minnesota Business Magazine as one of Best 100 Companies to Work For (2015, 2016)

6. Competencies/Skills Project Based Work or Staff Augmentation
Architecture & Design
Coding
Quality Assurance
Deployment
Technology Expertise
Microsoft – C#, ASP.NET, SQL Server, C++
Java technologies
Mobile: IOS, Android

7. Rural Outsourcing U.S. Alternative to Offshoring Saturn Systems Model
High quality / low risk
Central U.S. location
High skill niche (degreed engineers)
Low employee turnover

8. Culture It’s all about Culture Produce the highest quality software
Technically challenging work
Transparency and communications
Teamwork
Respect, honesty and integrity
Perks and flexibility

9. Staff Profile Management Team Duluth Technical Staff Telecommuters
MSEE, ECE, CS, Math, Accounting degrees
Duluth Technical Staff
CS, ECE, related 4 year degrees
Project Managers, Technical Leads, Senior Software Engineers, Software Engineers, Programmers, QA Testers
Telecommuters
Saturn employees, working from their homes in outstate areas
Currently 3 telecommuters; special circumstances only
Grand Rapids office
Currently 5 software developers

10. Business Operations Marketing & Sales Operations Finance
Recruiting &HR

11. Business Activities Business Development (marketing & sales)
Operations (scheduling, HR, administrative)
Finance (budgeting, taxes, accounting, forecasting, strategic planning)
Recruiting

12. Marketing / Sales Multiple Marketing Channels – New Customers
Minnesota Public Radio
Freeway Billboards
Organic Search
Google Adwords
Tradeshows
Referrals
Existing Customers
Familiarity with Quality Products, Processes
Match Saturn Capabilities with Customer Needs

13. Revenue Generation Project Based Contracts Staff Augmentation
Time & Materials
Starts with an Idea….Ends with an Application
Staff Augmentation
We remotely plug into client’s existing development teams

14. Business Costs Personnel Sales & Marketing Recruiting Infrastructure
Direct labor (billable staff)
Benefits (health, dental, vacation, 401k, perks)
Management and administrative
Non-billable labor (i.e. “bench”)
Sales & Marketing
Billboards, Public Radio, Google Adwords
Recruiting
CareerBuilder, LinkedIn, Craigslist, employee referrals.
Infrastructure
Computer equipment, furniture, rent
Other
Insurance, taxes

15. Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
Writing Proposals and Estimates
Writing Functional Specifications
System Architecture & Design
Software Development
Device control & protocols, web applications, desktop applications, database design and programming
Quality Assurance Testing
Deployment and integration
Ongoing support and maintenance

16. Traditional Software Engineering
Waterfall approach
Define project scope & requirements.
Document system design, interfaces, test strategy.
Development and unit testing.
Beta deliverables and client testing.
System QA testing and integration.
Training & ongoing support.

17. Agile Software Engineering
Iterative approach, designed to elicit immediate customer feedback
Define short-term limited functionality releases (sprints or iterations).
Frequent “scrum” meetings to discuss project status, identify problems, and update sprint schedules
Sprint level QA testing and integration.
Training & ongoing support.

18. Benefits of Agile Approach
Individuals and interactions - team interactions like co-location and mentoring are key.
Working software – builds confidence and provides a baseline for discussion.
Customer collaboration – requirements cannot be fully collected at the beginning of the software development cycle, therefore continuous customer or stakeholder involvement is very important.
Responding to change – quick responses to change and continuous refinement.

19. Development Process Agile/Waterfall/Mixed Lead Engineer Centric
Adapted to Customer Needs
Lead Engineer Centric
Cloud Based Project Portal
Consistent Process

20. Process & Communications
Project Portal for internal and customer communications (Basecamp, Jira)
Internal Project Checklist
Issue Tracking
Milestones
Published documents
Time Entry system for internal operations and customer invoices (BillQuick)

21. Quality Assurance Developer Independent Testing Documentation
Black/White Box Functional Testing
Documentation
Formal Test Plans
Test Case Creation Tools
Formal Test Results

22. The Future View
Software power and capabilities will revolutionize society at a rapid pace
Companies will continue to invest in software technologies to increase profit and gain competitive advantage
We expect continued growth
Expand Marketing Budgets and Channels
Expand and Refine Recruiting Channels

23. What This Means For You Very Bright Employment Outlook
Companies will continue to invest in hardware and software technologies to reduce costs and increase profits
Reduction in Overhead employees
Engineers Will be Scarce and Coveted
Very challenging degrees
Many high school grads are not prepared for the challenge
Offshore competition has equalized

24. Parting Thoughts Commitment to Your Degree Program
Study First. Study Hard.
Those with the best record get the best jobs
Work For Companies Where You are the Product
Revenue Employee vs. Overhead
Tech and Engineering Companies
Don’t be Afraid to Take Risks

25. Questions?