STX Next

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of digital products for a research firm.

What challenge were you trying to address with STX Next?

We wanted to expand our development resources with a more local connection. We were looking to add resources in our predominant technology stack of Python and React.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team of engineers from STX Next use a ticketing system for development tasks. Initially, they were collaborating with our internal team, but as time went on, they began working more independently. They mainly work in Python and React. We also have access to UX designers and frontend developers.

What is the team composition?

The service manager is my main point of contact. They assign engineers and designers to work with us on different projects; they have a large crew in four different locations. Team size varies by project.

How did you come to work with STX Next?

We chose them because they had the best talent pool for Python and used Agile methodology. They also had the best pricing.

How much have you invested with them?

My company has spent $700,000–$800,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in November 2018, and it’s ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

They have done a lot of work in React that has improved the overall look of the product as well as the quality. They help us create and maintain software that is more flexible to adjustments. We have learned a lot from watching their day-to-day processes: standups, bi-weekly sprint reviews, etc. They have made the software development process more transparent and predictable.

How did STX Next perform from a project management standpoint?

They have a good grip on what they’re doing. They work in Agile methodology. The service manager and I meet every week or two to discuss the progression, what’s going well or needs improvement, and what’s coming up. We also rotate people on and off the project as needed. There is daily interaction between our project manager and their Scrum master and product owner. They also communicate via Slack or phone with our internal team regarding technical challenges or anything that needs to be discussed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are a one-stop-shop. A key benefit is their ability to quickly scale up or down, allowing us to get new people on board for projects. It’s very efficient.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They had to develop their React resources along the way, which slowed some things down. They also took a while to understand what drives our company, making it difficult for them to work independently on specific features.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Hire them for the skills they have in-house. Their core strengths are Python and working in greenfield situations, such as startups or new projects. They have a multi-disciplinary team.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a IT/healthcare start up company with products to both public and private sector. I'm a chairman of the board.

For what projects/services did your company hire STX Next?

We needed to have a good architecture plan, prototype and overall plan to cover future roadmap for developing needs.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to have clean view about our idea and paint that into reality.

How did you select this vendor?

We had heard STX is a good partner for several fields of our interest and just went for it.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Our project was to sit down and use their expertise to get all our thoughts to understandable format. We actually sat down for three straight days together with STX design and developer team to get everything sorted out.

What was the team composition?

Our two founders and 4-5 team members from STX

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

When started we had a bit different approach to our product/service and STX just guided us to the right direction.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management was fully taken care of by STX and it was just perfectly done job! Everything was written down with photos, memos, scetches and finally the Plan.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was impressed with the pure know-how of the whole team of STX Next employees.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the lead developer for a seafood marketplace.

What challenge were you trying to address with STX Next?

We needed help with development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They work on the main development of the marketplace with our in-house team. They’re developing a feature to show the customers which products are available and which aren’t, as well as online payment integration. We’re using only Python for the backend. From time to time, they do a little bit of JavaScript.

What is the team composition?

We worked with one junior backend developer and one senior backend developer. There’s one QA engineer who is developing our automation testing and related features. The manager is my main point of contact.

How did you come to work with STX Next?

Our former CTO chose them, so I can’t say.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2019 and the work is ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Our aim at the beginning was to have more Python developers on the team, and they fit perfectly. We’re working as one big team. We’re able to develop the features that we want and the quality of work has been solid. They’re really experienced and they’ve made a great impact.

How did STX Next perform from a project management standpoint?

We work in a scrum process and we haven’t had any troubles. They take part in our daily meeting. They’re working from Poland but it’s like they’re working on location with us. We consider them team members.

The relationship is very transparent and we always know what they’re doing. They’re good at communication and hitting deadlines. We use Jira and an online whiteboard.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re really friendly and easy to work with. I’m really impressed with their competence.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we’re happy with them. They’re always trying to find a good solution.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure the people you’re working with from STX Next are personable and friendly. For us, it was very important to us that the person fits with the team.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO and founder of a communication platform for business schools. 

What challenge were you trying to address with STX Next?

We engaged STX Next to develop our platform.

What was the scope of their involvement?

STX Next built the backend in Python and the administrative panel using Django. The panel handles our users and databases without requiring our team to code anything. The frontend uses predominantly React and Vue.js, and we’re using CraftQL to create the interface between the front- and backend. Our team spent nine months designing the product before we started this project.

The platform provides a network for users to browse, filter, and search for other users using their profile information. It also features a new group messaging system which allows the user to add many people at once based on their profile info.

What is the team composition?

At the height of development, we had about six people working on the team: two frontend developers, three backend developers, and one full stack developer.

How did you come to work with STX Next?

I reached out to about 23 different partners across the world, and STX Next was one of the ones that made it to the very final round. I found them on Clutch after my COO suggested Poland as a potential area for partnership. STX Next demonstrated technical ingenuity while charging competitive prices, resulting in a nice balance between quality of work and cost.

I'd already gone through and created a backlog of features and functionalities that I wanted. I just needed to know how far my set budget could go through that backlog. A salesperson wouldn't have that level of insight. STX Next had a technical person on the very first call, which was incredibly helpful and set them apart from other partners. That person then took over my team when I chose STX Next for this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2018, and the project is ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The platform has launched internationally. We have over 3,300 MBA students and 46 business schools on the platform at the moment. Our site hasn’t once crashed as our user base expands and people experiment with our features—a testament to the quality of STX Next’s work. We’ve received praise from users and our team on the platform. We’re thrilled with STX Next.

How did STX Next perform from a project management standpoint?

STX Next is highly flexible when it comes to a startup’s needs. We can scale the team as needed and only have to give them a week’s notice. We never have a team member sitting around doing nothing. STX Next also adapts their protocols to meet our preferences and challenges. I can’t recommend them more highly from that perspective.

We use Jira and other Atlassian products to manage our tasks. We used to use Slack for our communication, but we’ve since migrated over to our own platform.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Because STX Next has hundreds of resources available, they can scale our team easily. If I went with a smaller company, they’d have to outsource the work whenever we encountered specific challenges. At STX Next, the team can reach out to their network, share and receive knowledge, and bring back a tested solution to our problem.

They are also focused on creating a long-term partnership. STX Next cares about the software they’re building, and it shows in the final quality and user experience.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Originally, STX Next wasn’t as flexible in giving up its set methodologies to accommodate our needs. However, when we asked to use our money to replace a structured project management process with an additional coder, STX Next agreed. I’m glad they had the flexibility, but it wasn’t an option they considered before our project. It was a learning process for us both.

Any advice for potential customers?

Know your products thoroughly so that you know precisely what you want it to do and what you want to be built. It will save so much money. STX Next will help you prioritize your requests and challenge assumptions you’ve made, but it’s best to be prepared in advance.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the business development manager for an organization that supports the empowerment of women.

What challenge were you trying to address with STX Next?

We needed a company to help us reach far more people. We came up with the idea to develop a mobile app so we could send our message to people. We wanted to share our teachings with people and influence them to challenge themselves to be their best, positive self.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed our iOS and Android mobile app. The app offers meditation and audio lessons. We have several topics such as relationships, how to set boundaries, and how to be more positive. People can listen to our teachings through audio files. Whenever you want to learn something new, the app is always there with new content.

STX Next followed our branding guidelines in their development of 90% of the designs. We went back and forth and changed a few things until our visions aligned. STX Next is working on the backend, operations, and design.

We postponed the release of the app because the content isn’t to the standard that I want yet.

What is the team composition? 

I worked with the project manager, the designers, and the developers. They are all handpicked. I love each one of them.

How did you come to work with STX Next?

One of my team members searched for the best app companies. We interviewed 10 companies and asked them to give us a sample of their work. It was extremely important for us to work with a company that was on the same level, and that’s what we found with STX Next.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2019, and the project is scheduled to be complete in July 2019.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We have the beta version of the app, and it’s outstanding. It’s performing well. The internal team loves it.

How did STX Next perform from a project management standpoint?

The project manager is the best. She’s exceedingly organized. There were no frustrations for me. We always had good, open communication with her and the team. We use Slack and InVision to communicate. They deliver on time. They’re detailed and on point. At the end of every sprint, they tell me what they’ve done and what they have planned. They show me the results in our weekly performance meetings. I’m happy with them. They go the extra mile to help me. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re great. Once we’re done with this app, we will give them some new projects. Since we’re connected with the people here in the UAE, we’ll propose their services to some of our partners. 

I love that they are so in love with the app and what we do. They want to be part of this social change and empowering women.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If they had an Arabic translator, it would give them a good jump.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear vision of the project. Know your goal and vision of the app. STX Next has the tools and the mind to do it.

Introduce your business and what you do there. 

I’m director of business development at BetDSI. We're an online sportsbook.

What challenge were you trying to address with STX Next?

We're trying to create alternative methods of playing options for our members.

What was the scope of their involvement? 

STX Next is connecting all of our software backend systems to a chat platform, which allows users to have a synchronous connection with the site. Users are able to handle business, make wagers, and check their account without actually having to log in. They achieve this through cell phone authentication and a chat platform. They also do some design work for banners and landing pages using HTML5 Creative. 

What is the team composition?

There are three people assigned to the betting bot integration, and one for the design elements. I worked closely with Judith (Business Development Representative, STX Next) on setting up the project. Once the project kicked off, I mostly work with Lukas (Marketing Manager, STX Next) and Tomasz (Team Leader, STX Next).

How did you come to work with STX Next? 

I found them on Clutch. I looked at several companies and contacted a few. STX Next was responsive while many others were not. Also, they had a background in working with chat platforms. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $25,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement? 

The kickoff meeting happened in January 2019 and the engagement is ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Bot integration is due either the end of this month or next month, depending on delivery from our end. The HTML5 designs have helped create a more attractive presence online in terms of client acquisition. Overall, our internal team is quite happy with their work. Everything seems to be working properly, with solid functionality. 

How did STX Next perform from a project management standpoint? 

They've done a good job in project management. All meetings and collaboration have been professional. STX Next works with our managers in a way that's conducive to getting projects accomplished. We set up a series of meetings and a schedule, and they've met all our requirements. They use Trello to regularly update us with status information. Though it’s somewhat complicated on our end, they work well with our two programming groups. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Overall, their responsiveness is most impressive. It's difficult to fully grade their work at this point as we’ve yet to see a finished product. However, I've worked with several other offshore companies and it hasn't ever turned out well. We’re actually seeing positive results from STX Next, which makes them stand out among other service providers.

Are there any areas they could improve? 

There were some issues with our teams getting on the same page at the beginning of the project. We needed information from them in order to create APIs. There was a miscommunication and they were waiting for information from us. Once we worked through who needed to do what, they got the first pieces going. STX Next was ultimately able to deliver what was needed.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Keep the lines of communication open and be very specific. One thing we did that was helpful was to create detailed spec documents. Because of our UI/UX capacity, we were able to send them examples of what we wanted. That definitely helped streamline the process. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of operations at a data company.

What challenge were you trying to address with STX Next?

We engaged STX Next to provide supplemental development, QA, and DevOps resources as we continued to build out our internal engineering team.

What was the scope of their involvement?

About 95% of our platform is in the cloud using AWS technology. We rely on STX Next’s DevOps resources to monitor our cloud around the clock and alert us to any system issues.

Most of our internal code utilizes Python. STX Next offers development resources to modernize our processes, including writing a new version of our API that we use to serve our data to our customers. We are also converting our data pipeline to more modern technologies, and we have used the Python developer to rewrite some of those processes, as well. For a short time, we also worked with a QA technician who ran test scripts for us.

What is the team composition?

In addition to the one QA engineer, we work with one python developer and one senior architect, who helped with the onboarding to get the developer accustomed to our system. STX Next also provides 2–2.5 DevOps resources to look after our operation.

How did you come to work with STX Next?

I had a positive experience working with STX Next at a previous company, and I hoped they could replicate that success here.

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent less than $200,000 to this point.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement began in January 2019 and remains ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We became quite frustrated with a previous DevOps vendor that was not proactive in reaching out to us when we had system alerts. Working with STX Next has been a complete turnaround. We never have to reach out to them for crucial information. They are thoroughly communicative. We expect to have them as part of our team for quite some time.

We’ve completed the work with the QA resource, and we initially planned to end our engagement with the Python resource at the end of May 2019, but it’s been such a successful partnership that we are instead looking to extend the support for several more months to help with some additional projects. With their development help, we’ve hit all of the milestones we expected to hit.

How did STX Next perform from a project management standpoint?

They are quick to respond to all of our messages. They’re reasonable in their approach, and we’ve been completely satisfied. We use Jira to manage their work queue and monitor their tasks. We’ve developed a productive workflow.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The service delivery manager that is our primary point of contact has been wonderful to work with. They’ve been reasonable and flexible to our requests about wanting to extend the contract. They’ve done everything in their power to ensure that the resources initially assigned to us stay with our team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing in particular needs improvement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We benefited from having their senior architect help with the onboarding process of their development resource. That senior figure is one of the more experienced people they have and has dealt with multiple engagements. They know how to make the onboarding period easy. I would recommend utilizing that resource if possible.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of product development at Firmstep. We offer a SaaS platform to help local governments and public sector organizations provide excellent service to citizens as efficiently as possible.

What challenge were you trying to address with STX Next?

Our platform was a monolith built in PHP and JavaScript. It became increasingly difficult to maintain as we added more features and products. It also lacked full documentation, meaning that knowledge was lost through regular staff turnover.

We decided to move to a microservice modular architecture platform using Python and AWS services. We brought in STX Next as development partners to assist our internal team and lead the rebuilding process.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our platform offers a form builder and form renderer. Once a user builds out a form, they can customize how it displays through the form renderer. The renderer had become buggy and difficult to maintain. STX Next rebuilt the tool to address its root issues. They also redesigned it to automatically comply with the government design principles established by the Government Digital Service. This update makes it more straightforward for customers to abide by their industry’s design standards.

STX Next also revamped a workflow management tool used by councilors to organize their caseload. They improved its performance to better accommodate the tool’s current level of demand. They also added filtering options, more powerful search functions, and flexibility in the user’s viewing experience.

The team helped us update our self-service portals and widgets as well. They’re also working to improve the platform’s overall user experience, decreasing page load and render times while implementing a more consistent and visually appealing design. 

What is the team composition?

Our initial team comprised ten people: a product owner, a manual tester, and eight frontend developers, backend developers, and full-stack developers. We’ve added another two teams over the last few months and started working with a scrum master to help manage each team’s processes.

How did you come to work with STX Next?

Our CTO found their team through online research. STX Next had also worked with a mutual colleague, which further convinced us that they were the right fit for this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2018, and the project is ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Given the scale of the rebuilds, several features have yet to be released to customers. However, our pull requests in our code repositories have increased tenfold, which we’re happy to see. Working with STX Next has also taught our internal team about agile processes, Python, and new technologies. They’ve shown us better DevOps practices and how to deploy our code more safely.

How did STX Next perform from a project management standpoint?

We lacked experience working with outsourced teams. STX Next helped guide us through the initial process where we learned our ideal workflows to maximize productivity. They’re excellent at understanding requirements and delegating tasks appropriately. We never feel the need to micromanage their work.

We communicate through Slack and host weekly standups on Google Hangouts. When we need to update requirements, we either use a Google Doc or a phone call. STX Next manages tasks and progress through Jira. They’re highly independent and self-sufficient, and they always keep us up to date on the project’s status.

What did you find most impressive about them?

STX Next has adapted well to our organization, our goals, and our management styles. They’re also deeply engaged with our product and platform. Even without having direct experience working with UK local governments, the team still produced excellent user story maps and user personas for each product. They also often suggested ways to improve the user experience and make the outcome more successful.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Since these were new technology stacks for us, we hadn’t thought about deployment in the earlier stages. This lack of planning caused miscommunication later on about the exact scale of the project’s scope. We eventually resolved the issues though.

Any advice for potential customers?

Trust in their process. Give the team a degree of freedom to expand on the original requirements and make adjustments. If STX Next had stuck to our exact list of specifications, we would have wound up with a lower quality product. They’re very experienced developers with a solid understanding of UI/UX principles.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the software engineering manager for Scurri, an IT company providing carrier integration for e-commerce merchants. We connect and optimize online ordering, shipping, and delivery. It’s a dynamic platform and API designed to be simple, effective, and adaptable.

What challenge were you trying to address with STX Next?

We needed help scaling our team when we received big projects with fast deadlines. Specifically, we needed Python developers, and they’re difficult to find due to demand. We work with high-profile customers and we needed developers who would integrate seamlessly into our own team with no decline in quality.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They came on board a few years into the existence of our platform. They’re embedded completely in our process to the point that there’s no difference between one of our in-house developers and one of theirs. We’ve given them specifications for all the work that needs to be done. They've helped us integrate new shipping carriers into e-commerce platforms.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with three full-stack Python developers from STX Next. They assist with coding, databasing, and infrastructure elements. We also discuss details with their project manager every two weeks.

How did you come to work with STX Next?

Our engineering manager found them originally, and we contacted them again for our current engagement.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost is over $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in April 2018 and the collaboration is ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Adding their developers did not slow down our process at all, nor diminish its quality. They’ve maintained the same standards we have on our own team. We’re completely satisfied with the quality and reliability of what they’ve delivered.

How did STX Next perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve never had any issues with their project manager, who responds immediately whenever we have questions or suggestions. Their developers take part in our planning and retro meetings. We have our own Kanban development process and we communicate through Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They offer a broad range of consultation services. We can always count on getting specialists for single tasks—AWS implementation, for example—who bring a unique understanding of the work needed. It’s like paying for three developers while also having access to skilled consultants who can help whenever needed.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would help our business if they could offer service at any time of the day.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Always work to understand the developers personally during the onboarding process and integrate them fully into the team. Don’t treat them as a third-party service.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a multi-channel marketplace platform that works with independent brands to sell a variety of products, including homeware, fashion, and jewelry. As the product manager, I oversee STX Next’s developers.

What challenge were you trying to address with STX Next?

We decided to outsource all of our development to STX Next so that we wouldn't have to hire and coordinate between different vendors. Their team works with our CTO to improve and maintain our platform.

What was the scope of their involvement?

STX Next handles all of our development support to enhance our marketplace solution. It’s a custom built platform that allows independent brands to sell products through our site. Brands can upload portfolio items through a design dashboard, manage their profile, and update their listings.

So far, STX Next has resolved bugs and assisted with new developments. While the team is proficient in Python and JavaScript, they’ve also learned to work with Cubic to help build features. They now continue to maintain our site.

What is the team composition?

They’ve assigned an overall account manager who serves as the point of contact between us and our developers. Initially, we worked with a single developer but have since expanded their team to two.

How did you come to work with STX Next?

Our CTO had research and contacted several options, including STX Next. We set up a call with them and were impressed with their work.

What is the status of this engagement?

They’ve worked with us since April 2018, and I don’t foresee us ending the engagement anytime soon.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Since joining the project, they’ve helped us maintain and grow our platform. Whenever we’ve had a technical emergency or unforeseen downtime, they’ve always been available to keep the site live, even if it meant acting out of hours.

Furthermore, STX Next is willing to scale to our project’s needs, providing qualified, professional resources. At one point, one of our developers needed to switch to a different project, so they replaced him with and helped bring the new member up to speed to ensure a smooth transition.​

​​​​​​How did STX Next perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re professional and communicative. We use Slack to keep in touch throughout the week and Trello to track tasks.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Not only are they familiar with general tech stacks, but they’re also willing to learn new platforms to help us grow. We use Cubic to generate the experiences on our website, which neither of their developers had worked with before. But they were able to pick it up to support us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, their work has been great, and they have high standards. Sometimes there can be a bit of a language barrier since they’re based in Poland, and we’re in England. But this hasn’t affected the work.