Tired with coins, lines, and faulty pay machines, Jordan Wainer, an entrepreneur and innovator decided to improve car parking systems around the world. That’s the story behind Admyt, a solution providing a seamless shopping experience: simply drive in and enjoy your visit at the mall, hotel, or pretty much any place where you have to pay for a parking spot.
They have validated their idea by implementing their solution in 14 premier malls across South Africa and 6 live offices, with 6 more launching in October 2018. Their app has been already downloaded by around 30,000 users. As a business, they have set out to improve people’s lives bit by bit.
In the first part of the interview with Jaco van der Merwe and Devon Beynon we spoke about their business model and strategy, the future of car parking systems, and how the Polish market became their market of choice for the Admyt solution. In the second part, we discuss their most burning technical challenges: refactoring legacy code and outsourcing their software development.
Karolina Gawron, Monterail: Jaco, I know you’ve been a CTO at Admyt for a few months now. How did your adventure with Admyt begin?
Jaco van der Merwe, CTO at Admyt: It began somewhere back in 2015 when Admyt started. Back then, I was still working for another company—Protoclea, the guys who developed the license plate recognition system we use. Admyt approached Protoclea for an LPR solution that opens barriers at the malls. I was part of the team that worked on this solution for a little over two years when Admyt asked me if I would be interested in being more actively involved. I thought this an exciting idea.
Karolina: So what was the most compelling thing about Admyt?
Jaco: They think outside the box. This isn’t a solution that couldn’t have been done a while ago and the technology isn’t exactly new. But for some reason, everybody seems to have accepted that paid parking requires tickets and there’s nothing you can do about it. Admyt came around with a new idea and I thought that it was a great one. It challenges the norm of how we use daily things. And obviously makes everybody’s life better. No fuss, no standing in lines… Simple. From an engineering perspective, it’s nice to do something that improves people’s lives on a daily basis.
#legacy code #product design #development #admyt
