99x - Nearshore Engineers & AI Agents

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the QA manager at Kahoot, a software company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 99x?

We needed more QA testers to help our team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

99x is providing QA testing for our products. We interviewed each of their testers before engaging with them. We prefer to have various resources in time zones ahead of us conducting tests, so results are ready by the time we come to work in the morning. 

What is the team composition?

We work with three junior testers and one senior tester. 

How did you come to work with 99x?

Their sales representative contacted us. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve started working together in March 2021, and our partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

99x’s services are much more cost-effective compared to hiring onshore resources. They provide accurate work, but they take a little longer to finish. That said, their speed has improved as they’ve gotten to know our products. 

How did 99x perform from a project management standpoint?

99x is a diligent project manager, spending extra hours if needed to get the job done. We collaborate through Slack, Jira, and weekly calls and meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

99x takes good care of their staff, so their resources stay. Unlike other agencies in their region, they have a low turnover rate. They’re a friendly place to work for.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They need to be more transparent on how they use their hours. We’ve addressed the issue with them, and their team totally understands.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have an interview with their personnel before taking them on board. Be clear about your expectations and the hours they need to work for you. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

The co-founder and CEO of a SaaS business that develop software towards the automotive industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 99x, and what were your goals?

We needed a small development team that could scale over time. Business domain is important to us, something that the team has learned rapidly. We always prefer quality over quantity, something that 99x has delivered well on and involve us in their recruitment process.

SOLUTION

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

99x has versatile skills to complement our in-house team and quickly provide more developers when needed.

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

We use a kanban work method where we have a team lead.

Our process goes from

• analysis
• development
• code review 
• testing
• merge
• release which works great for us.

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

There are 7 people in the core team at the moment and will now form a second team for a special branch project. We have 6 developers and one team lead/test.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are overall very happy with the services that 99x provides, domain knowledge is always the most challenging but they perform well here also dispite the distance.

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

Atlassian suite with Kanban development.

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

They add resources when we need it for special purposes like big data knowledge which we do not need a full resource on. The ongoing recruiting is also important for us.

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

Keep the retro meetings and knowledge building for ongoing improvement.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm CTO at Com Laude. Unique among registrars, Com Laude provides Client-Shaped Domain Services meaning that we place the individual needs of each of our clients at the heart of our operation. Established in 2004, Com Laude delivers an exceptional customer experience to brand owners seeking strategic domain name services. Our leadership team, with many decades of industry experience, is directly involved in the day-to-day business.

Our Domain Strategists are domain experts that strategically manage your portfolio ensuring it is shaped to meet your business needs. Our extensive knowledge informs the advice we provide to each and every client – advice provided in many different languages, including most European languages, Japanese and even Swahili. Where other providers may outsource to anonymous agents in distant locations, our team of Domain Strategists provide all aspects of our service personally, establishing a close and trusting business partnership that is truly client-shaped.

A global organisation, we have a network of seven offices across Europe, North America and Asia. We support Intellectual Property, IT and Marketing professionals to take control of their domain portfolios, secure their on-line presence and address digital brand infringement. We serve clients in many sectors including: Automotive, Banking, Bio-tech, Consumer Goods, Engineering, Entertainment, Fashion, Food, Gaming, Luxury, Media, Pharma, Retail, Sport, and Wellness.

We also work with the world’s leading law firms, government organisations, and smaller companies who need to protect commerce critical domains. Our solutions help our clients maximise their ability to conduct business online with strategic domain name management, protection against cyber-attacks, and by counteracting digital brand infringement.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Com Laude sought to develop a next generation corporate domain name management and monitoring digital platform to manage, monitor, and protect online domain name intellectual property.

As companies have increased their capability to serve online channels, cyber-attacks including online brand infringement, DNS and domain name hijacking which divert legitimate sales, steal personal information, or prevent businesses from operating, have also increased making online business increasingly risky. The Company sought to develop a platform that would enable its customers to view and manage online Intellectual property assets including domain names, SSL certificates and DNS records whilst in parallel, monitoring the activity in the domain name space for potential IP infringement.

SOLUTION

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

We found them through a referral and considered them along side other resourcing and recruitment strategies. Near shoring offers us the flexibility to upsize and down size the development and QA team in line with the changing demands of our product development roadmap.

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

Our hires from Cleverti have seamlessly integrated with and strengthened our existing in house teams who use an Agile development methodology and we now have a number of scrum teams running in parallel focused on a range of high value product development initiatives. This has enabled us to ramp up our product development efforts and reduce the time to market for key products and services.

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

We currently have 4 people working with us in senior development and QA positions.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As mentioned above, the Cleverti hires have enabled us to ramp up our product development efforts and reduce the time to market for key products and services.

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

We use an Agile approach to software development with daily scrum meetings and 2 week sprint releases. The Cleverti people are an integral part of this process, participating at every stage. We use Microsoft Teams, Jira and GitHub for communications which work very well for a de-centralised team that work across different time zones.

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

They were able to effectively vet candidates before the second round of interviews. This shortened the recruitment process and meant we were able to onboard high quality candidates in a timely manner. They are also very good at ensuring a good relationship exists through effective account management.

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

Nothing to note. They have been very good partners for us and we have made some great hires through them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Head of Product and Development, overseeing the product management function and development team.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 99x (formerly Cleverti), and what were your goals?

99x (formerly Cleverti) was instrumental in building our in-house development capabilities. They scoped and hired our current development team and continue to be consultants for our future strategic growth.

SOLUTION

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

Along with several other companies based in Europe, 99x (formerly Cleverti) participated in an RFP to determine our long-term future partner. 99x (formerly Cleverti) showed the ability to adapt to our business needs and structure and made clear how their process would work.

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

99x (formerly Cleverti) assisting us in building out our development team for our website, CRM, publishing and data products. It reports to our Head of Technology and Head of Product. The team builds and maintains the web application, APIs, middleware etc and develops new products and designed by the product team. The structure is a traditional scrum development process with 2-week sprints and a close working relationship with CE colleagues.

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

Three developers are on the team, with skills ranging from back-end, front-end and full stack. We are also exploring growing the team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The development team is outstanding and fundamentally feel like full members of the CE community. They have been responsible for building out a new email/notification system, a completely new website redesign, integration with a new data visualisation project, a middleware to work with our complex CRM and maintain the integrity and performance of the entire tech architecture.

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

We have a traditional scrum structure although it is closer to Kanban because of delays and reliance on third party vendors. There are daily morning standups, multiple planning and estimation sessions and retrospective every two weeks. The day to day interactions are between the development team, the Head of Technology and the Product Owner.

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

99x (formerly Cleverti) does not have development 'on-hand' that they throw onto a project. Instead, they take their time to find the right person for the right project. Additionally, we could choose who exactly we wanted on the project to build a proper team.

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

99x (formerly Cleverti) is generally very good at accommodating our needs and works quickly. It is, however, worth them communicating the process for hiring consultants more clearly. During our first hire we learned things during the process that would have been useful to plan for beforehand.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a consulting group. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Nextly?

We worked with Nextly to build a B2B product. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Nextly helped us build visitor management software. Internally, we laid the groundwork for the concept, and they made it work by providing engineering and backend design services. They were responsible for database design and systems operation, and we used Laravel and Vue for this project. 

During the engagement, we had scalable staging and production environments for addressing the conflicts that came up as we implemented the features, and Nextly did some QA work for us. 

What is the team composition?

I interacted with a total of seven people, but my primary communications were with two people. One of them was the production manager and engineering lead, while the other was the head of system operations; they were the people I permanently dealt with. Then, we pulled in other engineering and design resources as needed. 

How did you come to work with Nextly?

Nextly was referred to me by someone who has a company that was further along in their engagement. I was impressed with their product, so I hired Nextly. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $20,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement lasted from January–March 2021. The project has been completed, and we’re now developing features on a much less substantial basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I have an engineering background myself, so I conducted my own code reviews as a participant — Nextly produced a quality product. Their team was completely critical to the product’s launch, and it wouldn’t exist without them. I’d also highly recommend them to other businesses. 

How did Nextly perform from a project management standpoint?

I used ClickUp to manage the project on my side. We also used Slack and email to communicate. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Nextly had a well-rounded team. Initially, I thought I’d need to bring in additional resources. However, we were actually able to do everything together. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there weren’t any. I was really happy with Nextly, and I wouldn’t discourage anyone from using them. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Stay involved in the process because Nextly is a big team. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a software startup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Nextly?

We needed an engineer to help with software development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They work on our e-commerce cross-posting application using Node.js. Users can easily cross-post their inventory onto multiple marketplaces.

What is the team composition?

We worked with one developer full-time for 6–7 months. Then, we had one part-time QA engineer for two months.

How did you come to work with Nextly?

We found them on Upwork. We also interviewed several other engineers during our search. When we interviewed the developer that they assigned us, he was very skilled and experienced. It was exactly what we were looking for.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2019, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They work very well with our team. We measure their success by how many story points the developer completes.

How did Nextly perform from a project management standpoint?

We treat them like another developer on our team. We use Slack and Google Meets to keep in touch. We also use Jira and Github for project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a large array of good talent.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’re great. The team is very flexible.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you want good talent, Nextly has what you need.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and CTO of an online school.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Nextly?

We developed the backend for our new application and needed someone to create the frontend. We wanted to use JavaScript and React.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did mainly the frontend development of our mobile app. We had developed 80% of the backend in-house, and we developed our designs as well. They used HTML and CSS to implement the designs. Then we started working with React to create and implement our user interactions and API interactions for the frontend.

Our platform includes an e-commerce component where students can purchase courses and an e-learning component where students can complete the course. The courses are mostly video-based. We use Vimeo. Our application had to gather the course information, the chapters, all the materials and display them on a platform for the user.   

What is the team composition?

There was one designer, two frontend developers, and an account manager.

How did you come to work with Nextly?

I found them on Upwork. I was looking for frontend development companies from Latin America or the United States because of the time zone. Nextly had experience working on this kind of project. They did some tasks for me, and after evaluating the code quality and the communication, we decided to hire them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2020, and the work is ongoing. The initial work took 2-3 months with the main features we needed. After we launched our new platform, the continued ongoing work developing new features and correcting bugs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve improved our conversion rates and the usability of our platform. The students’ completion rate is higher as well. We like the new platform.

How did Nextly perform from a project management standpoint?

We assign tasks on Jira, and we have weekly meetings with them to keep up with the work we need. We have a very transparent way to check billing and hours.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very focused on good practices. Communication is also excellent. We always know what point we are at on our tasks.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Communication is never perfect. It’s good, but we had a few misunderstandings. We’ve been trying to improve that.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I refer them to friends or other co-founders that need technology partners. They’re not cheap, but the money you spend is worth it.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Head of Technical Delivery for a CX insights SaaS platform based in Petersfield, UK. Our company has just over 100 staff members providing services to customers across the globe. My role oversees the development and quality assurance of our expansive estate of platform services and integrations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 99x (formerly Cleverti)?

We engaged with 99x (formerly Cleverti) to expand upon a pre-existing successful partnership with another team augmentation provider to add further flexibility to our Java development capacity. We have a core internal team working across multiple scrums each specialising in a particular area of our product. Outsource resources are dispersed and fully integrated across the teams, giving us the ability to scale up and down in line with our current requirements.

What were your goals for this project?

We did not engage with 99x (formerly Cleverti) to complete a specific project, rather to increase the overall output of our development capacity with experienced Java developers who could get up to speed with our codebase and working practices quickly. Cleverti certainly helped us to meet this objective.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We were specifically searching for a partner who could support an augmentation model rather than a typical development outsource. Having gone through a rigorous selection process we chose 99x (formerly Cleverti) on the basis of a number of factors - their access to a large talent pool, our ability to be involved in the candidate selection process and their focus on soft skills to ensure effective engagement in scrum activities. As part of our due diligence we met with technical leads and developers at 99x (formerly Cleverti) to get a sense of what it might be like to work with them and hosted a private interview with a current client to get open feedback on their experiences.

Describe the project in detail.

Once the partnership with 99x (formerly Cleverti) was secured we worked with their technical lead and sales director to define and agree the team make-up and candidate profiles. It took a matter of weeks from this point for 99x (formerly Cleverti) to pre-screen a pool of strong applicants, all with excellent spoken and written English, from which we shortlisted and conducted second stage technical tests and interviews to select our new team members. The onboarding process was very important to set the engagement up for success; we invested in travel and accommodation for the new joiners so that they could spend two weeks at our offices getting to know the internal team and to undergo an intensive induction to our codebase. Initially the team worked with our third line support developers to gain broad exposure to the platform and, during the Christmas period, they took on a specific data migration project giving them an opportunity to work together. Once this project had concluded we dispersed the team across our scrum units, each joining a group consisting of our internal developers and those from our incumbent augmentation partner. The 99x (formerly Cleverti) team members fell into our way of working very quickly and made an impact from the get-go demonstrating a high level of expertise and professionalism.

What was the team composition?

99x (formerly Cleverti) band their developers into brackets of seniority – junior, mid-level and senior. They recommend that a senior team member is appointed to act as an on-site lead offering support to the other team members. We kicked off our project on this basis with one senior and one mid-level developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

During the early stages of the engagement the 99x (formerly Cleverti) team took ownership of a high-profile backlogged project and brought it to a successful conclusion, taking requirements and feedback from us as they went, proving that they can work self-sufficiently. During their time working in augmentation with our core internal team they also demonstrated their abilities to collaborate and communicate remotely, making a real difference in the velocity and quality of our deliverables.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The 99x (formerly Cleverti) team members were fully engaged in scrum, having no time difference between us made it easy for us to coordinate their involvement in daily ceremonies. They were fully participative in refining and sizing work, sprint planning, demonstration of output and feeding into our retrospective cycle.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Tomás, their Nearshore Sales Director, is a great ambassador for the company. From the very first interaction I had with him through to the completion of our engagement he has maintained an exceptional level of communication always closely monitoring our partnership to ensure it was tracking successfully.

Are there any areas for improvement?

When we first approached 99x (formerly Cleverti) they had not worked with many UK clients before and certain liabilities we’d expect to see were not covered in their standard contract. Having said this, they were very flexible and quick to resolve any issues raised during the negotiation process. Secondly, 99x (formerly Cleverti) do not support/share any costs of travel for team members for the onboarding process or ongoing team building. This was something we were used to with our other outsource partner, considering it as a shared investment in setting the ongoing relationship up for success.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and owner of a company that focuses on collaborative planning. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with cleverti?

I developed a digital project coach for team members and leaders. They were developing that software app for me.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The product was developed to help me and my business. I’d developed this product through a PowerPoint prototype but had no real conception of how to technically enable it. It was developed both for mobile and web use. They used Docker to create a Node development environment for the project. At this point, the app isn’t designed for mass consumption. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with two people from their end. 

How did you come to work with cleverti?

A business partner found them and introduced us. They acted as the bridge, so I didn’t know about the team prior to the introduction. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project in December 2019, and they wrapped up in February 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don’t have a background in development and code, so I appreciate their guidance on how to bring my concept to life. I had a detailed blueprint with pictures, and they made that a reality. They took my work to the next level with their expertise.  

How did cleverti perform from a project management standpoint?

I had a good connection with the programmer I was partnered with. He wasn’t just following instructions. Instead, he was truly collaborating with me to achieve my goal. They were flexible with communication, adapting to our communication approach. I appreciated their willingness to accommodate our work styles. Everything was kept simple. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They offer their services without a sales push. Their team exposed us to options to enable our success and meet our needs. They were great to work with. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I had a great experience, so nothing comes to mind. We’re in the process of getting another project ready for them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a digital marketing agency in the insurance brokerage space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Nextly?

We hired them for custom software development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our product is essentially a two-sided marketplace where employers come onto our platform and look for a new insurance broker. Nextly revamped the existing product using PHP and Symfony. We provided some minor documentation before they launched into development, but their scope of work entailed bug fixes and UX/UI enhancements.

What is the team composition?

The team was comprised of five people. I worked with a team lead but also communicated directly with their developers.

How did you come to work with Nextly?

Our initial outsourcing partner had failed to deliver, so we posted for a job on a freelance site. Nextly reached out to us, and we had an interview over the phone. We were attracted to the fact that they’re in the same hemisphere as us, so there isn’t a significant time difference.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in December of 2019 and the project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve effectively tackled many of the project’s tasks. We use a ticketing system that involves cards to track open issues. They’ve been able to complete 20 cards, or tasks, so far.

How did Nextly perform from a project management standpoint?

They do a great job. They’re always very communicative, and whenever I ping them on Slack, they respond in under ten minutes. They’re always on time for our check-ins, along with being consistently present and professional. In addition to Slack, we use GitLab to track bugs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their professionalism and experience distinguish them from other contractors I’ve worked with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything. They’ve done a great job.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Their team is professional and eager to work, which is awesome. Our weekly stand-ups and ongoing Slack communication have been effective.