Background
A regional controls integrator engaged Advastar as its backlog grew faster than its ability to deliver. The firm installed and serviced building management systems across commercial and institutional buildings, with most projects running on Tridium Niagara.
The Challenge
Programming had become the bottleneck. The firm could sell and install faster than it could program, which meant projects sat at the commissioning stage waiting for a small number of people. Niagara-certified programmers are approached constantly by competitors and integrators nationwide, so few are actively looking and salary expectations reflect it. The firm also had an internal quality problem it had not connected to hiring: graphics conventions differed between programmers, which made service work slower and had been a source of argument for two years.
The Solution
Advastar approached Niagara-certified programmers directly rather than advertising, on the basis that this group does not respond to job postings. Certification was verified rather than assumed, and candidates were asked to describe integrations they had built across multiple protocols, which distinguishes genuine capability from graphics work. We recommended hiring one senior programmer specifically for standard-setting rather than throughput, which the firm had not planned for. Two of the four roles were filled contract-to-hire while the firm confirmed that backlog growth was sustained rather than a spike.
The Outcome
Four programmers joined within a quarter and the commissioning bottleneck cleared. The senior hire established a single graphics and naming convention across the team, which resolved a dispute the firm had been unable to settle internally and has since reduced service call times. Both contract-to-hire programmers converted once backlog held.