We do a lot of work with startups looking for that little push to get them to the next stage in the build cycle, but often they require a little more discretion, so in cases like this we have to be a little vague with the specifics. What we can do is describe the task a little bit.
In short, “Client X” needed some API integration into a prototype they’d been working on for an important funding-related demo. There were actually two APIs from two different suppliers, but one was pretty standard stuff. The other, however…
The API request needed to be signed with SSL certificates, the request data needed to be encrypted with AES-128, a session key with a salted MD5 hash needed to be included, and the response was encrypted, UUEncoded, and compressed. And there was no sample code available for the platform the client had used, and due to the terms of the license agreement, no forums or blog posts to draw on the experiences of others. It’s the kind of project where you get gibberish back until all the pieces are working, and it’s incredibly difficult to provide an estimate of hours required.
Also, the request came in on a Friday, and that important meeting was on Tuesday.
We got it working, on time and under budget, using our core technical execution principles.
