What do you do when a critical software project is behind schedule, over budget, and showing little progress?

That was the situation one of our enterprise clients faced during a large-scale digital transformation. They had partnered with an offshore consulting firm to build a unified member portal that would streamline legacy systems, automate manual workflows, and deliver a seamless digital experience. But after three years, the project had stalled. Leadership was growing impatient, and internal teams were stretched thin managing other high-priority initiatives.

Enter Callibrity: A Fresh Perspective on a Failing Project

Initially, our team was brought in to support the offshore team and help regain momentum. But as we began our assessment, we uncovered deep-rooted technical and process issues that explained the lack of progress.

• The codebase was overly abstracted, riddled with brittle integrations.

• Simple changes triggered cascading failures.

• The test automation suite took 23 hours to complete, rendering it unusable for daily development cycles.

In just one week, our consultants delivered immediate, high-impact improvements:

• One team member rewrote major portions of the codebase using a more streamlined, maintainable framework.

• Another reduced the test suite runtime from 23 hours to just 23 minutes.

These early wins proved that Callibrity wasn’t just a temporary fix—we were a strategic partner capable of transforming the entire trajectory of the project.

Uncovering Core Issues

Through a detailed technical review and sprint analysis, we identified several critical issues:

1. Overengineering:
The offshore team had overemphasized reusability and composability, resulting in a system so complex it was nearly impossible to maintain. Layers of abstraction turned simple tasks into multi-day efforts.

2. Ineffective Agile Processes:
Sprint ceremonies were bogged down by poorly written user stories, overly prescriptive acceptance criteria, and design-focused conversations that distracted from actual delivery.

3. Fragile Testing Frameworks:
The test suite mirrored the system’s complexity—entangled, untrustworthy, and nearly impossible to debug. Testing offered little value and delayed development cycles.

The result? A system that had drifted far from its original purpose, paralyzing the organization with technical debt and unclear direction.

A Bold Plan: Rebuilding with a Lean, Focused Approach

After presenting our findings, we proposed a dramatic but necessary pivot: scrap the failing system and rebuild using our proof of concept as the foundation.

In just three sprints, we committed to deliver what hadn’t been achieved in three years—clearing technical debt, restoring agility, and building a functional, scalable product.

Understandably, leadership was hesitant. But our transparency, roadmap clarity, and early wins built the trust we needed to move forward.

Adapting to Change: Navigating New Challenges

Even with a clear path forward, challenges emerged:

1. A Strategic Pivot:
The client reprioritized their roadmap, drastically reducing scope. Our team quickly reassessed acceptance criteria, reprioritized work, and adapted the plan—minimizing rework and staying on track.

2. Limited Stakeholder Engagement:
Lack of client feedback threatened alignment. After consistent outreach, key stakeholders began attending demos. Their feedback revealed data inconsistencies, overlooked requirements, and logic gaps that we swiftly addressed.

3. Corrupted Data Practices:
The offshore team had manipulated backend data to look “correct” on the frontend. We uncovered these issues, rebuilt the data pipelines, and ensured real, accurate data drove the application—resulting in a system that could be trusted in real-world use.

Despite these obstacles, the team maintained high velocity. We scaled from one to three concurrent workstreams: finalizing the member portal, correcting backend data, and developing an internal management tool.

The Results: A Modern, Scalable Platform in Just Three Months

Following development, we conducted penetration testing with only a few minor issues identified. In just three months, we delivered what hadn’t been completed in three years:

• A modernized platform capable of processing billions in loans

• Automation of critical business workflows

• A scalable, maintainable architecture ready for future growth