Working for a US Company: Web, Mobile, and IoT Together

The US market is very attractive to European companies thanks to its size, its profit potential and its homogeneity (relative to Europe, at least).

Entering the American market, however, has its difficulties – geographical distance and cultural differences are just two factors worth mentioning. As we started exploring international markets in the mid-2010s, we gained some experience in the USA early, developing a platform for a Boston-based cell biology research company in 2015.

However, the project I’m going to describe was much more complex, as you will see.

Our customer is a leading multinational company developing and producing safe, reliable trailer components and systems for a multitude of applications (including heavy-duty shipping, construction, recreational vehicles and agriculture), with over 130 years of experience. The company is headquartered in the USA, employs nearly 4,000 people, operates several manufacturing facilities, and distributes its products through over 50 locations internationally.

The Task

Our customer decided to develop applications for their end customers, which required harmonizing digital experiences across web and mobile platforms to maintain their exceptional service and customer experience. This strategic move demanded seamless integration of sensors, APIs and other components to support efficient workflows.

Key functions required of the system include:

• Asset Management related to group and organization
• Asset Monitoring
• Geofence Management
• Customer Payment
• Customer Service Dashboard

Our Approach

The development of the whole system was a co-production of internal and external development teams, with the contract for front-end development awarded to DSS Consulting. The whole collaboration consisted of several finished and ongoing overlapping projects using agile methodology to enable the necessary flexibility.

We delivered cohesive user experience by developing a web frontend and cross-platform mobile apps seamlessly integrated with backend services. The web interface was designed to provide responsive and intuitive experience for the end-users, while providing administrators and helpdesk staff with support tools.

We also co-designed the hosting infrastructure in close partnership with the DevOps and the Security Team of the client, ensuring the solution met their operational standards.

The mobile apps are built to mirror key workflows of the web interface, using identical backend logic and shared data flow. To ensure market reach while maintaining efficiency, we worked on a single codebase which was then built and published to both iOS and Android platforms.

Along the way, we emphasized transparency: we held regular online meetings, demos, reviews, and ensured joint decision-making. The client always knew what was being built — and why.

Challenges Along the Way

The project was not without its challenges.

• Given the 6-hour time zone difference, coordinating the project required extra planning due to the limited overlap in working hours.
• Task priorities varied initially across individual development teams, which improved as routines were implemented.
• Building trust between teams and with the customer required structured team interactions and consistent transparency.
• Ensuring seamless data flow between software components (developed by different teams) while maintaining the required level of security brought additional considerations and extensive testing measures.
• Finally, providing continuous architectural oversight to the whole system, supporting the shaping of the system’s evolution with stability and clarity was also a challenge.

What We Learned From Working for a US Company

The success of the project depended on each development team. To ensure seamless cooperation between teams, regular communication and coordination played a key role.

In a cooperation spanning several time zones, building trust with the customer is key. As we never once met face-to-face, we ensured consistent transparency and regular updates to keep our customer in the loop.

Are you facing a project spanning multiple platforms, several teams – even several time zones? Why not discuss this over a cup of coffee?