Designing software for cruise lines can be tricky. Cruise ships are strange beasts; they have all the amenities and systems you would expect to find in high-end hotels, as well as those you would find in restaurants, amusement parks, performing arts centers, casinos, and shopping malls. On top of that, they are built to withstand the trials of intercontinental ocean travel and even arctic exploration.
Most software developers have never written code for such a broad, and yet specific, use case. Designing a calendar system for reservations is not a difficult task for most programmers. But designing a calendar system for reservations where the time zone can change up to three times a day is a different matter. Add in the fact that ship time isn’t actually related directly to a time zone, and most developers would stare blankly at the drawing board.
This is where Sourcetoad comes in. “That’s the kind of engineering challenge that’s really fun for us, is rewarding, and keeps us engaged,” says Greg Ross-Munro, founder and CEO of Sourcetoad. There are always lots of new projects, especially working in cruise and hospitality. We work best as small teams in a startup-like environment to deliver on projects that really have a massive reach. We’re working on solutions that are out on display for the world to see and to enjoy.”
Sourcetoad was founded in 2008 in Tampa. During the last few years, the company has gone from being a relatively small consultancy to becoming a 40-employee organization, with an additional office in Perth, Australia. Sourcetoad has been on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies for three years in a row, on the Inc. Florida regional list since its publication, and has been featured on Tampa Bay Business Journal’s Best Places to Work and Fast 50 lists.
“Tampa is an exciting hub for a business like Sourcetoad to thrive,” says Ross-Munro. “There are a ton of people who have a computer science degree and impressive technical backgrounds who don’t want to work in a cubicle for a huge company cranking out disembodied code every day for the rest of their lives,” says Ross-Munro. “They want to work for a company of maybe smaller repute, but one that encourages them to think critically, to solve real-world problems, and to contribute meaningful work toward true innovation – and that’s what Sourcetoad is about.”
