Intellias

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.

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