Intellias

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a small IT project management and development company in Switzerland.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have worked on several projects with Intellias, starting with Java, Oracle database, and web development. We have also used Intellias for client-server projects, as well as portal development and Android and iOS work.

In general, we've worked with teams of 5 –10 people from Intellias. Their project managers were in touch with ours, but we also had contact with the developers themselves.

How did you come to work with Intellias?

I met with Intellias' team in Switzerland at a time when their company was developing its business.

How much have you invested with Intellias?

The cost of most of the projects we've done with Intellias has been between $100,000 and $300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Intellias in 2005. We have worked on six or seven projects with them so far. Our most current one started in August 2016 and is still ongoing.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Intellias has provided creative and professional resources, who are up to date and know their business. A good thing about Intellias is that they concentrate on the DACH region [Germany, Austria, and Switzerland], which means that they understand the business going on in this area.

How did Intellias perform from a project management standpoint?

In general, we've communicated through phone and Skype with Intellias, but we also use JIRA for tracking specific issues.

What did you find most impressive about Intellias?

Intellias has German-speaking resources, which is a good benefit for us, especially when involving clients into discussions. Intellias is service-focused during all decisions, concentrating on what is a benefit for us and our business.

Are there any areas Intellias could improve?

Areas of improvement also include our own company. The communication could be improved, but we wouldn’t have had the same issue if we were talking with English natives. German can be difficult to translate, so we’ve had trouble in translating from non-English speakers.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Intellias?

I would recommend Intellias to clients looking to start bigger projects.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We develop B2B software with payment functionalities within the gambling space, namely online casinos and sports. We have around 70 clients worldwide and have been growing nicely over the last few years. I am the chief executive officer of the company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Intellias?

We have development offices in Romania, Armenia, China, and Vietnam. We were looking to expand our development capacity, making Intellias our 5th development office. We were at the outset of starting a large project that would involve at least 30 developers, but it ended up requiring 50. We were faced with recruitment issues in our main offices, so we started looking around. With all our other development locations, we have made the investment of establishing a local company, thus not using outsourcing per se. Intellias is the only instance where we used an outsourced development company that sits between us and the developers. It was a departure from our normal practice. The reason for doing it was because of the size of the project — we felt that we needed to have a reasonable assurance of staffing up quickly.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have built an application for payment integration using Intellias. That is an area with strict requirements since the product will undergo an audit for obtaining a payment provider license. We started architecting the solution and applied for a payment service provider license (PSP) in Malta, one of the preferred European issuers. In order to do this, we needed to obtain what is known as PCI 1, a high level of security. We hired a dedicated security specialist as part of our Intellias team. The specialist’s job was to review everything we were doing and present both architected documents and testing, allowing us to pass the audit later on. This is a bit unusual in software development, where the usual focus is on other things. We had very high standards that needed to be met.

We knew this area well already, given that the application we were building was replicating an existing lower-quality solution using a new team and higher requirements. Intellias represents 40% of the team we're using for the project, specifically with more than 60 developers. Our solution is web frontend, but most of our work with Intellias was server-side. It involved many senior developers experienced with .NET, and Java. The transactions handled by the software involve many server integrations, storage, and security. Most of the frontend developers in Intellias' office are working on the back-office interface for configuration, search, and administration, not a traditional end-user portal.

The interaction was key for us. We have set out to make Intellias' team a part of our own staff, so we weren't looking for the typical outsourcing model of handing over requirements and waiting for a result. We haven't used Intellias' project managers, but we have used them for hosting, recruitment and servicing. We have taken control of the projects and the staff to a large degree. We have been active within the organization; I have traveled regularly to Intellias' location and so have our members from job and division management. After a 2-year collaboration, things have become quite smooth. For all intents and purposes, we see Intellias as just another office in our matrix. They do play an important role, but it's limited in certain ways.

How did you come to work with Intellias?

I had an employee who had worked with Intellias and recommended the company. I was looking at other places, mostly in Kiev, but since he'd had a good experience, we decided to include Intellias in the interview process. We also talked with 3 other companies. We made some job descriptions and asked for sample CVs for the first team from each candidate company. Intellias came out strong in this regard. Overall, they have not disappointed us since then. The actual offering is never exactly as described, but we've been able to recruit talent from Intellias fairly well. It's been a stable relationship, with very few developers leaving our team since we've started. The price mattered, but another reason for choosing Intellias was their location. L'viv, Ukraine is a small city compared to Kiev, which offers more developers but also has more staff turnover. I've seen this in Bucharest, where we have our own company. The turnover is too great, even though we're active in our retention effort.

How much have you invested with Intellias?

I don't know the exact number, but it's significant. We've increased our initial team of 5–6 people to 60 developers on Intellias' side. The cost for Intellias is the same as other major players in the Ukrainian market, split between the staff and the company overhead. I like this model because it makes it clear what Intellias' costs are, and, if the staff has a salary increase because of inflation, it will hit me one-to-one.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have been working with Intellias since the spring of 2014. The initial staffing process was slow, with the work starting more seriously in November to December of that year. Our framework was built during 2015 and 2016. We're mostly done at the moment, with most projects being delivered. 

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We don't keep track of completion percentages or other tasks, largely because this has not been Intellias' role. We have taken the lead on all projects, so any mistakes in terms of architecture and scheduling have been our responsibility. Intellias gave us the clay to work with and it was up to us to use it. I am happy with the quality of developers; Intellias has a good team. There will, of course, be some misses when hiring 60 people, but, if 50 of those are kept, then we've done a good job. We are probably around that number.

How did Intellias perform from a project management standpoint?

We have deadlines and they have been missed occasionally. In the beginning, delays were more unexpected, but our communication has been better, with ample warning coming from their side. This isn't exclusively the responsibility of Intellias because the project planning happens with our own staff. Intellias has no say and isn't informed about our project plans and milestones. If we did great, I wouldn't credit Intellias and I wouldn't discredit them if we did poorly.

We have used our project management tools of choice, which are the same ones used in Romania and China. Intellias adapted to them.

One particular thing I was looking for from the start was to have the team move out of Intellias' office. This happened when we reached 25 people. Our initial team was housed along with all other developers in a big office, which meant that the staff felt more connected to Intellias than to us. I wanted to change that and Intellias was flexible in accommodating us. In 2015, our team was moved to another office which Intellias set up for us. It was quite far away from our initial location. The office is in an area which we liked and has our logo on the door. For all intents and purposes, it's our own office even though Intellias is paying the rent and ensuring that everything works in terms of Internet and other facilities. It was a good solution for us, making our developers feel like a part of our company even if their employment contracts say Intellias.

Another goal was to convert the team's operation to our fully-owned payment setup. This was in our contract from day one. The longer we wait, the more profit Intellias makes, but the price paid for taking developers out of Intellias also decreases. It's a good setup which shows good flexibility and understanding of our needs. We've grown within the organization and gradually separated in terms of office, and, one year from now, in terms of the contract.

What did you find most impressive about Intellias?

It was a great experience to speak to Intellias' management, given that I was in touch with their CEO from day one and not with an assigned account manager. We have become one of their largest clients, which Intellias realized from the start. Not that an account manager can't do great things, but having a direct line to their CEO really does help. There aren't usually many issues, but, when I need to, I can go to Intellias' CEO and get a fast and professional reaction.

Are there any areas Intellias could improve?

It's been a pleasure working with Intellias and I have very little to say in terms of improvements.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a German work council education institute. We are a market leader offering a spectrum of seminars, from law-related topics to economics, and everything else that a work council could be in need of.

What challenge were you trying to address with Intellias?

We were modernizing our IT infrastructure and decided to have a hybrid Azure integration.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Intellias is working on creating a web API, serving the consumer endpoints we are providing such as our website or app. We have an ASP.NET Web API project and are using C# for the backend. The platform-as-a-service uses a SQL server using the Entity Framework. We are also creating OData controllers for more flexibility in terms of data querying and extending entities.

Our endpoints are the key features of the project. We currently have an old-school method for data transfer, using integration services that read from one database and store the information into another. We are analyzing the data transferred and implementing APIs for it. We thought that the translation process for transcribing our entities would take more time, but Intellias' developer quickly understood what we actually needed. I am very confident and satisfied with the process.

We are currently employing a single developer from Intellias, although I've used a team of 3 people for a past project. Our overall project is employing other external contractors, with a total team of 10.

We are employing an Agile methodology using a backlog and multiple iterations, which is used for all our projects. The development is somewhat chaotic at this time, but that is more our fault.

How did you come to work with Intellias?

I first worked with Intellias in 2010, and have actually grown to be friends with their chief developer. Given that I had had a good experience, I thought it would be a good move to replicate it currently.

We had another company in competition, and we are also working with another service provider in Croatia. My experience with them, as well as the cost, made my choice for Intellias very easy.

How much have you invested with Intellias?

We are currently in the scope of $50,000 for Intellias' services, for our full list of requirements. Some of the financial decisions are made by my bosses. Our company is quite dynamic, with many analysis processes. Things could change, but for the moment, the scope will remain constant.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Intellias in October 2016. We have an ongoing relationship with Intellias.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We are still in the development phase. After the analysis phase, we worked on a few proof-of-concept deliverables. We have gone through the implementation and are now in the test phase. The service provider taking care of our website will test the endpoints created by Intellias, looking at performance issues around our Azure setup. We will refine the missing details later on, but Intellias is helping us with the testing phase for the moment. That is a good milestone to reach, and we have done it in good time. Everyone has been content with the progress.

The next phase will revolve around the community side of the software. Once our customers are registered on the site, they can buy our seminars and books. Those transactions will need to be handled by us, which will be the next step. We have set a deadline of August 2017, and I think that we are progressing well.

How did Intellias perform from a project management standpoint?

We have worked with a project manager from Intellias, but we have preferred working directly with our developer. We are setting up use cases for the endpoints, typically explaining our requirements and exchanging documentation over Skype. There is not much overhead with project management. We collaborate almost daily, but I was able to give our developer a set of to-dos while I was on vacation; everything worked fine. The only difficulty has come from the fact that we use German wording for everything. Translating things into English is often the most painful thing.

What did you find most impressive about Intellias?

During my 2010 Java project with Intellias, they did a perfect job, supporting me with all architecture and design questions. We had a 3-person team which worked proactively. The current project may have seemed boring to Intellias by comparison, but I can't say anything negative about the company. Intellias cares about the company, doing as much as possible to satisfy us.

Are there any areas Intellias could improve?

The only thing that could have been done differently was on our side. Intellias came into the project after our workflow had been set up. I can't say that Intellias did anything wrong, on the contrary.

If their target countries are Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, Intellias' team could improve its German. I speak fairly good English, but it could be a problem for my colleagues.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CTO at a Legal Research Company. The company provides a legal directory and data analytics products.

For what projects/services did your company hire Intellias?

We needed to quickly augment our internal teams with a flexible, high quality engineering and QA resources, to build a range of digital products.

How did you select this agency and what were the deciding factors?

We wanted a geographically diverse workforce to enable us to scale rapidly in a high demand market place. Ability to scale, cultural fit, technical capability and cost were key factors in the decision.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Our business is a leading global legal research company, who research and rank law firms and lawyers. We have numerous websites showcasing legal directories and thought leadership.

Intellias provide Engineering, QA and Scrum Master resources across 3 scrum teams, developing and enhancing our legal directory proposition, creating new digital products for our customer to use, and transforming our data capture platforms. They work alongside other internal resources to create high performing teams.

Describe the recruitment process in detail.

We initially discussed the strategy for the business, team expansion and the individual projects, alongside the technical requirements for the resources. Intellias conducted first round interviews including technical tests we prescribed.

Following this, we reviewed technical tests and interviewed shortlisted candidates, selecting those who met our high standards. Intellias met the requirements and 2 years on, we are pleased with the team, whom are highly regarded and valued colleagues.

Can you share any outcomes from the engagement that demonstrate progress or success?

With their support we have built out an additional 3 scrum teams, and launched multiple product iterations to the market place, including enhanced profile proposition, re-brand of our website, new microservices and enhancements to our data capture platform.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Team work has been extremely effective, with daily stand-ups via Microsoft Teams, and engagement in the full scrum ceremonies. The team work from Jira and confluence, with delivery and code quality performance measured through JIra and Flow respectively. Regular retrospectives and health checks across the team identify strengths and improvements.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They provide high-quality resources and a cost-effective price, removing part of the recruitment overhead and looking after their staff proactively.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Nothing I can think of at present.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am CEO

For what projects/services did your company hire Intellias, and what were your goals?

We hired Intellias to embed our AI Algorithms into a scalable SaaS platform. Intellias helped us to put our AI into production.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Intellias approached me an international Geo conference. All material they presented to me was very diligently put toghether. The business development people were very supportive to find out what our needs are. Intellias was very flexible to offer exactly the services that we needed and to share know how with us.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We hired Intellias to embed our AI Algorithms into a scalable SaaS platform. Intellias helped us to put our AI into production.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

There were 8 people in the core team.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Intellias delivered a very user friendly and stable tool to us, despite the project being technically very challenging.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Intellias has excellent project management. They use state of the art project management tools and technologies. They work very tranparent and it felt to be one team with our internal staff from the very beginning. Intellias colleagues are always willing to share knowhow and dont work like a blackbox.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The professional staff, independed of the role. Excellent results.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

nothing

Please describe your company and your position there.

One of the big players and most innovative in the agrochemical industry. About 30.000 thousands employees worldwide. My position was Digital Delivery Manager, in charge to setup a dream team in Kiev to support the digital strategy of the company.

For what projects/services did your company hire Intellias?

A layer of transformative digital products and services for the farmers. It went from proof of concepts, tech spikes, integrations and extensions with other applications, mobile apps and a SaaS.

What were your goals for this project?

Build a core team in Kiev, part of a bigger network of digital product engineering teams.

How did you select this vendor?

A request of proposal was sent to different companies. Intellias was the most responsive and thorough in their answers.

Describe the project in detail.

We were a special client of Intellias in the sense that the team members we hired were working in our offices in Unit City (Innovative Business Center at the heart of Kiev). Intellias adapted their management style to accommodate to our demands. I was in contact of different representatives that had specific roles (HR, Delivery/Account manager, etc.). However I was in contact with my counterpart that was basically like a member of the company. The hiring process was transparent and it didn't feel like a process from a separate company.

What was the team composition?

We started with an agile team from Business Analysts, UX/UI Designers, Backend and Front End Developers (Java and React), QAs, Tech lead and one Devops at the end. (the team was around 30 people)

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

While I cannot share the product we developed, I can measure the success on how fast we setup a team of 10 and later augmented it to more than 30 members. The skills and maturity of the team has been recognised from the first weeks of activity.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Well, almost all 'my' team in Kiev was coming from Intellias. They worked with another dev team in The UK and other developers from US and India. It was challenging at times but their professionalism and pragmatism made the team very flexible. I cannot criticise much since they passed my hiring process and we had great time working together. I never considered them as part of another company.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

When they tell that they care about their staff, they don't only say it, they do it almost on a daily basis. Intellias was like an extension of our HR office but specialised for IT. Hiring and keeping developers or any staff in IT can be challenging to say the least. They helped us to get a great team! Another thing that impressed me is the way they are using JIRA. A showcase for any company.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I loved discovering their center of expertise. They need to get better in advertising what they do. They deserve to be known by more companies and create more synergies. The presentation of their CVs was top notch but sometimes the content was incomplete. The rush of hiring was the cause but these details could matter for other companies. At the end of the day the most important was that we built a trustable and fruitful collaboration.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Position: Technical Product Owner Company: Loan Comparison platform

For what projects/services did your company hire Intellias?

Internal CRM system development and support.

What were your goals for this project?

Deliver new features to the customers based on backlog defined by Product Owners. Guarantee stable execution of current services.

How did you select this vendor?

Based on the recommendation.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Software components development and testing based on requirements backlog.

What was the team composition?

Cross-functional team of Java BE developers, ReactJS frontend developers, QA.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

we went through the period of establishing stable execution processes and right now are capable of developing new features at a full speed.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project is lead by 2 product owners and technical product owners from customers side and executed by 2 teams with dedicated team leads on vendors side in an agile manner.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was impressed with their readiness to adjust to requirements.

Are there any areas for improvement?

- continuous staffing flow