Consulting & Clients

Are Keyhole "Consultants" Employees or Contractors?

At Keyhole Software, we’re consultants – we work with clients. But we’re all employees of Keyhole. Our employees are with us over multiple client projects and are looking to have a long-term engagement with a company while not looking for the technological sameness of staying in the same position for years on end. Our passionate, tight-knit employee development team of ~100 surrounding you & supporting you to succeed in projects.

Does Keyhole Do Contract To Hire?

We do not do contract to hire. Our team consists of Keyhole W-2 Employees who are with long-term and over multiple projects. In fact, Keyhole clients are contractually prohibited from soliciting our employees for the duration of our engagements.

What Types of Clients Does Keyhole Work With?

Our clients range from members of the Fortune 500 and Global 1000 to local, well-funded startups. Clients are in a plethora of business verticals, including insurance, healthcare, financial, manufacturing, logistics, and the retail sector. You can see some examples of clients here.

What Does a Typical Project Look Like?

It's hard to pin down what a 'typical' project looks like because every single one is so different. In general, a team of 2-7 Keyhole employees assists clients. This can be anything from a modernization initiative, project recovery, application enhancement, greenfield development, or brownfield development. We prefer team-based consulting where it is not a lone wolf type of scenario so you have ample support and a better environment. You can see an example of some of our projects here.

Are Projects On-Site With The Client?

It varies widely and depends. One key thing to know is that we do not require our employees to travel outside of the general metropolitan area they live in. If the client is outside of the KC or St. Louis area, it will be remote. If it is in the Kansas City or St. Louis area, it can be either on-site, remote from home, or remote from the Keyhole office.

Before COVID-19, ~60% of projects were on-site with ~40% remotely. This worked out when a client was local to Kansas City or St. Louis and its managers preferred on-site work. However, COVID brought all Keyhole Consultants remote and many of our clients will remain remote indefinitely. We do not restrict where people can work, any requirements of the job site come from the client. We do, however, try very hard to accommodate the preferences and locations of our employees.

What Happens When My Project Ends? What If You Can't Find Me A Project?

We are very good at anticipating project end dates and matching people up with their next client. Our preference is that when a project ends on a Friday, the next project begins the following Monday.

In the case that doesn't happen perfectly, you would go directly to our "On Deck" internal team. This team is designed to allow you to work full time even if you do not have an external client. This generally includes work on various internal software products and skills to prepare you for your next project. There is a daily standup.

Does Keyhole have a management structure for its developers or do we just align to our client's structure when on-site?

A bit of both, as every project is different. You will need to align with and understand the structure on the client site. This means you must follow the client team lead or project manager's lead as to the direction of the project.

Each project is also a little bit different Keyhole-wise as to the structure. Generally, there is a Keyhole "point person" on each project, but it depends -- it wouldn't make sense to have a project lead if there are just two folks on the project, in most cases.

All structure information for your specific project is provided at the start of the project. We're not big on titles and hierarchy - the big thing is for you to understand who to go to if you encounter challenges that need to be overcome. In general, you could also reach out to the salesperson who is on your project, Managing Partner David Pitt (on the technical side), or Lynn Brownlee, one of our floating project leaders.

How Do I Dress?

Client dress codes are to be followed at the employee’s discretion. Most of our clients have a business casual dress code, though it varies from client to client.