How OFX Solved IT Shortages Amid the Pandemic

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, securing IT resources suddenly became a challenge for OFX, a financial services company specializing in cross-border payments and bank transfers through its digital platform.

X-Team was able to provide quick, effective and targeted IT staff augmentation for multiple projects, beginning a long-term relationship that continues to the present day.

The Client

OFX, based in Sydney, Australia, is a financial services company that specializes in cross-border payments and bank transfers. The company excels at facilitating international money transfers efficiently and securely for businesses and individuals. The company has been in business for 25 years, developing a reputation for exceptional customer service.

The Challenge

As ‌demand for robust digital solutions increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, OFX faced challenges in scaling in-house IT resources. The company needed high-quality talent with the flexibility to step into a variety of projects, especially those requiring expertise in React, C# or Amazon Web Services (AWS).

The OFX marketing team referred X-Team to executives, and in June 2020, X-Team came on to support IT staff augmentation and address resource challenges.

The Services

X-Team implemented a comprehensive remote IT staff augmentation strategy, focusing on sourcing experienced resources who specialized in React, C# or AWS. X-Team’s approach also looked for IT staff who were the right cultural fit for OFX — able to seamlessly integrate with existing teams and quickly engage with and contribute to projects.

The Results

Laying a Foundation for Global Collaboration

X-Team helped OFX overcome initial IT resource challenges by quickly sourcing talented staff who could easily integrate with OFX employees.

Initially starting with a single engineer, the relationship has grown as OFX’s needs have expanded, reflecting the deepening trust and reliance on X-Team’s capabilities. Notably, this working relationship continues more than four years later, as OFX continues to find value in X-Team’s IT staff augmentation services.

Finding the Best Talent for Each Role

One reason for this enduring relationship is X-Team’s ability to source only the highest-quality candidates, giving OFX strong options no matter who they choose.

“They’re working on finding you the unicorn candidate that’s got great communication, got the skill, and you’ve got a candidate that’s happy and that wants to work for this sort of industry,” Pereira says.

OFX employees note how well X-Teams integrate in with existing teams — there’s little to no distinction between the two groups. This synergy has led to high productivity and continuous engagement across projects.

Making Downtime a Thing of the Past

X-Team’s ability to provide staffing across different time zones is another critical advantage, giving OFX access to talent 24 hours a day. Because X-Teamers integrate quickly, communicate well and are collaborative, projects don’t have to pause. OFX can hand them off to the next engineer, who’s ready to come in and solve the problem.

The 24 hour support with a global augmented team allows OFX to provide nearly 24/7 support to their vendors regardless of their geographic location. “Having different individuals be able to pick up and respond… that's the bonus that you get.” Says Pereira. “So you're really getting a full six days, and it's 24 hours worth of effort that the collective team can can drive.”

Working with X-Team isn’t just about OFX augmenting IT resources. The partnership is about building a workplace where everyone feels like they’re part of the same team and pulling in the same direction.

“We share information about ‘Hey, this is what's happening with the project, or this is what revenue looks like’ — we freely share that information,” Pereira says. “And that's critical: You want to make everybody feel like they're part of the wins, they’re part of the failures, that gives you the best productivity and engagement.