Andersen Inc.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am a Scrum Master at DECTA

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Payments and payment infrastructure

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Andersen Inc. to accomplish?

• to support with additional scope of work and deliver results faster

SOLUTION

How did you find Andersen Inc.?

Online Search

Why did you select Andersen Inc. over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Andersen Inc. were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

On a regular basis our team needs additional high-level of IT support. Their team has proven fantastic job at supporting challenging projects and delivering high level results

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Product quality increase, stakeholder feedback, enhanced employee engagement.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

The integration of employees from Andersen into our team has been instrumental in expanding our capabilities and taking on additional scope. Their expertise and experience have added immense value to our project, enabling us to tackle new challenges and deliver outstanding results.

What was your primary form of communication with Andersen Inc.?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The collaboration between our existing team members and the Andersen employees has been seamless and synergistic. They have quickly integrated into our work culture, bringing fresh insights and innovative ideas that have sparked creativity and problem-solving.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Andersen Inc. could have done differently?

Highly suggest to offer English courses for some of the employees. Due to language barriers, some of the processes are slower than it should be

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the operations manager for the automation team at Spiromatic, an automation company. We build software automation for the storage distribution of raw ingredients, mostly in industrial bakeries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Andersen Inc.?

We needed Andersen’s help with custom software development. We automate the entire installations we build for our customers, and these installations are done on a project basis. This means that every installation is different for every customer but uses the same components.

These automation solutions need standard software to support them, but the software needs to be customized according to every project. Although our in-house automation engineers do the customization, we rely on Andersen to help us develop the standard software.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Andersen helps us develop automation solutions for our customers — they’ve worked with us on different projects. We work together daily, so our team is basically 50% of Andersen’s resources and 50% of internal resources. Whenever we finish one project, we move on to the next one. Although each project has different features and functionality, we keep the same team.

The software that we customize alongside Andersen for these projects is an ingredient-handling system. This system helps users manage the ingredients needed in a bakery, such as flour, water, yeast, and sugar. Additionally, it helps them manage recipes that the equipment leverages to produce dough for different products, like bread or pizza.

In addition to ingredient and recipe management, this system allows for making production orders for batches of dough. The production planning is then sent automatically through open platform communication interfaces to the programable logic controllers that operate the machines at the bakery.

Andersen has collaborated with us on developing all parts of the entire system, from setting the materials and recipes to planning the production orders. On top of that, when production orders are executed in the bakery, we capture a lot of data for traceability purposes.

In the food industry, we need to be able to trace back the process for a certain end product and the ingredients used. With this traceability feature, we capture a lot of data from the production process. Then, we put it in a database and produce reports based on that information.

Moreover, Andersen is entirely in charge of our testing automation; that’s something they do by themselves. As for the technology stack, we’ve used .NET Core and an SQL Database. We also have an Angular, web-based UI on which Andersen is also heavily working.

What is the team composition?

We’ve been working with three teammates from Andersen over the last two years, who work with us full-time. We initially started working with one person, but the team has grown over time.

How did you come to work with Andersen Inc.?

Although I don’t recall exactly how we met them, I believe that they presented themselves to us. At the time, finding software engineers wasn’t easy, so we took the opportunity. However, we started carefully by hiring only one engineer from their team. Over time, we got used to working with external resources, so we kept growing the team.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent around €30,000 (approximately $33,000 USD), so we’ve spent close to €500,000 (approximately $542,000 USD) thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2019, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One of the best success metrics for working with Andersen is that I’ve never had to go back to them to get a refund or have a discussion with them regarding quality issues. Although we had some challenges in the first year, we’ve never had quality issues since then, which is great.

How did Andersen Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

We work on a sprint-cycle basis with Andersen all the time, and their developers have become friends with our developers over time, so it doesn’t feel like we’re outsourcing anymore. We’re in charge of the project management ourselves, and Andersen’s resources almost always deliver good quality products on time. 

As for communication, we use Azure DevOps. We communicate in English, and aside from one teammate from Andersen who had some difficulties communicating in English, we’ve had no issues with our communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Andersen is very proactive. If one of their team members needs some training, I don’t even have to mention it; they notice that and make sure that they get the appropriate training. Additionally, We’ve worked with other consultancy companies, and we’ve seen a big difference in working with Andersen. Other companies treat the people they outsource as if they were numbers. However, I don’t have that feeling about Andersen. They care about their people, which is good.

Are there any areas they could improve?

During the first year, we had some issues working with Andersen. They were a bit pushy at trying to incorporate a project manager from their team, and it took us some time to make them understand that that wasn’t how we wanted to work.

Ultimately, Andersen accepted our decision, and we started collaborating very well — all we needed was to get to know how to work together. Now, they’re like a part of our team.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Engineering of (a/an) Financial services

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a digital platform leading a new era of private equity investing. We enable the world's most engaged investor community to access expert knowledge and bite-sized, private equity investments.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Andersen Inc. to accomplish?

• Company has extensive talent pool and can provide the right candidates on short notice
• Provides constant improvement of engineering knowledge based on feedback
• Ensure that rates are acceptable compare to other vendors

SOLUTION

How did you find Andersen Inc.?

Referral

Why did you select Andersen Inc. over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

What was the size of Andersen Inc.’s team?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

All engineers are fully involved in the software development lifecycle and are responsible for delivering a high-quality product, development a new features and maintaining an old functionality. They are part of scrum teams and together with their team members are working on achieving company goals.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• High quality product
• Achieving team goals
• Taking ownership of key projects

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

All developers are members of different teams in our Engineering department. They take the initiative in their daily team activities, always supportive, open to challenges and feedback, willing to improve and constantly growing as professionals. We can entrust almost any task and be sure of a good result. They are hard working, not scary to work on various complex tickets and take ownership of key features on our application.

What was your primary form of communication with Andersen Inc.?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email
• Messaging App

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

There are several things I am very happy about working together with Andersen: first of all it's a talented engineers and also great account managers. The customer is very important to them. They follow the process, provide constant feedback and updates, also takes requirements and requests very seriously. We have timely communication, there are no surprises. And this is reflected in the fact that we have been working with them for over a year and a half so far.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Andersen Inc. could have done differently?

So far, there has been nothing from my side that I have wanted to highlight

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company supports various customers with custom implementation of web applications. I am the leader of the development team.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Andersen Inc., and what were your goals?

Last year we implemented a platform for our customer, which needed to be extended in several ways to support the latest use caeses of the customer and to replace another old system from the customer.

SOLUTION

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

We worked together with Andersen on another project and asked them for assistance here as well as we had positive experience working together.

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

We had mockups done by our designer. Andersen managed the project in Jira, implemented the web frontend (React and TypeScript) and was responsible for QA of the whole project.

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

We had three people working from Andersen:

• Business Analyst
• QA Specialist
• Senior Web Developer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our customer was highly satisfied with the outcome of the project and already got positive feedback from the users of the platform. The expectations of the web application were fully met.

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

We had weekly sync meetings to talk about open questions and decisions. Tasks were managed in Jira and most communication was done in MS Teams.

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

Most impressive for me was the level of professionalism the communication was prepared (Tasks, QA Reports, Meeting Minutes). Also the quality of the web application was very high and we did not need to conduct separate tests.

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

With the amount of time I was available the team from Andersen did the best what was possible. For some pages in the application the development took a bit longer than I would have expected.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Marketing Manager in a healthcare company,

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Andersen Inc., and what were your goals?

Company shifted from investigational to commercial use . Requirements to initial website changed and it had to be adapted to be more user-centric and patient-oriented.

SOLUTION

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

This vendor was selected before I joined the project. Decision was based on proposal, concept and price offer

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

rework of complete website, new sitemap, new graphics and animations, added functionalities such as location finder and hotline.

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

4-5 people, project manager, Key Account manager and IT project manager

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Website was successfully launched, team was always very responsive and eager to find solutions

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

Easy communication via Teams calls or written, email. Check-in calls to align on processes. Good to check-in via Teams to ensure timely delivery.

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

We were impressed with how they took care of their teams and held up the business, service, and spirit despite the political crisis situation.

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

Change of project manager twice during process, first one did not manage the project well enough, second one left the company towards the end of the project - led to some delays, but was made up for immediately. Would have wished for some more advice on several layout and functionality decisions, i.e. possible implications on SEO, ratings etc.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Co-founder of a medical device startup headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Andersen Inc.?

UI/UX for a companion app to a robotic rehabilitation device for patients at home.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We interviewed 10 vendors that were either recommended, had contacted us in the past, or that we identified based on clutch ranking. Then we selected the vendor based on relevant portfolio, value-for-price, and emotional appeal.

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

The project was divided in 2 work packages: The first work package was centered around building the user flows and wireframes (1 week sprint), while the second work package was to develop the design concepts for a complete clickable prototype in Figma (2 week sprint).

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

1 UI/UX designer and 1 Project Manager per work package.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were very happy with the clickable prototype which exceeded our expectations. The prototype is the first demonstration for a future version of our product and will be used to both secure funding for implementation and for early customer feedback.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was very effective, we had daily short meetings to show progress and discuss questions. An account manager also followed up regularly regarding our overall satisfaction with the project.

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

The team was responsive and fast. There were no delays except the ones incurred from our team between work packages. They also have an impressive pool of talent given how quickly they could find good resources in short time. The designers were very good and paid close attention to our user personas and their needs (elderly/accessible design). Moreover, the team engaged different designers along the process to ensure matching skillsets and project demands.

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

A live project Gantt so we can always follow the project plan could be helpful.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a medical artificial intelligence company, developing solutions for the diagnosis and management of neurological conditions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Andersen was tasked with developing a comprehensive web-based cloud processing platform, allowing for high-throughput multi-modal data processing.

SOLUTION

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

After speaking with a number of other vendors, Andersen was selected based on the competitive pricing offered, relevant background, and enthusiastic approach to understanding and delivering the project.

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

As part of the project, an initial scoping piece was carried out by engaging with a business analyst at Andersen, creating UI designs, and user stories and describing the required tech stack needed to deliver the project. Subsequently, the actual development work started, which involved sprints defined based on the user stories described by the business analyst, and continuous feedback from our team.

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

approximately 6 personnel: 1) project manager 2) business analyst 3) dev-ops specialist 4) UI/UX designer 5) front-end developer 6) python developer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project was delivered within budget and time and captured all the requirements set out by us. The team at Andersen were very accommodating of unforeseen changes or requirements that came to light during the development phase.

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

The project management was carried out very effectively, using various reporting tools to communicate spring objectives, what has been delivered, cash burn rate, outstanding issues and bugs, etc. Tools such as Jira and SharePoint were used to achieve this.

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

They enthusiastically worked with us to understand our needs and proactively offered solutions and improvements. They wanted to deliver an end result that even went beyond our anticipated goals for this phase of the development.

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

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the VP of Product at ChronWell, Inc, a digital therapeutics company with focus on Liver Health and Cardio-metabolic Health.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Andersen?

We hired Andersen for initial prototype and UX design of our digital health app.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We searched and validated multiple vendors. Andersen impressed us with the quality of their work and people.

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

The UX team conducted cursory market research on resources we provided, evaluated existing wireframes and ideas/designs, iterated on the wireframes and delivered UX prototypes for the MPV as well as overall vision of the product. The team also conducted user testing and incorporated the learnings into the design.

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

My team worked directly with their UX/UI designers, project manager and clinical expert. Technical and BA experts also participated when we needed. Overall team was very eager and available to help with any needs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The team at Andersen delivered great quality prototypes that helped us accelerate our concept validation and product development. We are continuing to work with them as we grown the product and add more features.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The team at Andersen was very responsive, quick to understand general concepts and turn them into actionable prototypes. They established clear deliverable timelines and stayed on point.

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

Two things impressed us the most about Andersen. First, the speed and level of understanding from their team on the needs of the project and the general concepts presented to them. One conversation of an idea is sufficient to get exactly the outcome you're looking for. This is a rare and valuable quality for the team and the company.

Next, we have been impressed with the extent that the company has gone to take care of their employees and consistency in communicating with their clients in a difficult situation full of uncertainty and stress.

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

So far, no additional comments.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder and former CEO of a travel tech startup. I’m in charge of our company’s main product, specifically the R&D, software development, and project management around it.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Andersen?

Andersen is providing us with resources that help develop our product’s backend and UX.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Andersen provides individual resources who are part of a larger, mostly remote team setup. They are part of the development process where they have to perform like a normal employee. Together with these resources, we’re building our initial product and bringing it to a sales-ready level so that we can use it with clients. They help us with UI/UX design, software development, and Python backend development.

What is the team composition?

We have three people from Andersen working with us. They have provided a fourth resource, but there has been a switch due to the Invasion of Ukraine. One of the guys is based there and is limited in his capacity right now. From their side, we have UI/UX designers, software developers, and backend engineers who mainly work with Python.

How did you come to work with Andersen?

I came across their newsletter years ago. Sometime later, we experienced a resource gap when our outsourcing agency in Lithuania struggled to find Python resources. That’s when we reached out to various agencies, including Andersen.

We received info from those agencies, and we vetted all the profiles in a normal recruiting process. In the end, we chose Andersen because they delivered the best available profiles and because they had a really confident project manager who came through with a very professional and cleanly structured process. They also have a German entity that can communicate in Russian, German, and English.

How much have you invested with them?

With about 20–25 people involved, we have spent about $2 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

They started working with us in September 2021, and it is an ongoing partnership.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re not necessarily delivering a product for us, but they have helped us build and launch the product. It’s normal for some issues to come up since we’re dealing with people, but in general, they have delivered what we expected from them and at a very good cost. If we compare the output to the daily or hourly rate, it is really attractive. 

How did Andersen perform from a project management standpoint?

We have a scrum master that handles all project management, including the business and contractual parts. We do a monthly review where we discuss where we are standing, how each resource is performing, and whether we need additional resources. Andersen is very engaged when it comes to that, and it has all been very good.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Andersen has an impressive professional approach to outsourcing. The whole process and the whole administration have been really good. 

They always provide a clear contract with clear requirements of what they need and don’t need. They’re strict about their terms when we negotiate, and they don’t simply give in. Everything is really straightforward, and the project management team, especially our project manager, is really helpful. To sum it up, they have great accountability.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only constructive feedback we have is related to the individual resources or the profiles that Andersen produces. However, we vet all candidates like in a normal recruiting process, so there isn’t much room for them to wiggle. They can only produce the profiles that are out there, so it’s okay.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The key thing is how you treat them and integrate them into your own team. Bring them into your system and processes and acquaint them with your standards. You’ll also need a clear understanding of your product, what you want, and what deliverables you need. I think that’s part of the recipe for success when working with them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Founder and CEO of TaskDent; online financial monitoring platform for business owners in healthcare.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We were looking for solutions to help doctors be able to easily be able to keep track of their business performance and manage their overall financials all in one place. A solution that would track different metrics and create proper analytics related to business and personal financial data.

SOLUTION

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

We researched and contacted multiple vendors with experience in this kind of projects. Primarily via the clutch.co and companies websites. Andersen found to be very responsive and cooperative with a large network of resources which gave us a better impression compared to others.

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

We started with discovery phase and business analysis. Once we agreed on the scope of the project and initial cost for MVP we moved on to the design and development phase.

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

One business analyst, one designer, one project manager and team leader and 1-2 developers. During the project we had 2-3 substitutes in each position which went smoothly.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our software was built from scratch and more features added or were modified based on needs. We have started testing and debugging the product already and the outcome seems to be inline with the expectations.

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

The management was great and caring about our experience. We communicated via Skype, Jira and email during the project which was very organized.

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

Most impressive part of the project was the responsiveness and communication. Each step of the way we had quick feedback and followed the time lines very closely. Another aspect as a very positive point was their attention to our eproence and satisfaction with their performance.

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

In these kind of complicated projects, it is expected there will some flaws and need for improvements. During the development and testing it is normal that things don’t perform or appear as expected. We always communicated any issues and received great response and cooperation to solve them.