Arcanys

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Patienteer, a healthtech company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Arcanys?

We hired them for software development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

We’ve outsourced our software team to Arcanys. They provide us with front- and backend software developers who use SQL table and PHP.

What is the team composition?

I’m mainly in touch with Arcanys’ management team and the developers. 

How did you come to work with Arcanys?

We found them through our CTO, who recommended Arcanys because he was working in the Philippines at the time. 

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent around $400,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in September 2017, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Measuring success is about the quality of Arcanys’ work and the timing of getting it done. Overall, they’re pretty on top of things from my end. We’ll continue to work with them.

How did Arcanys perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re excellent at communication and meeting deadlines. We typically communicate through email, phone calls, and Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Arcanys’ management team is very responsive, ensuring we’re happy with their service. At the staff level, Arcanys vets their team members; they’ve very good at recruiting good quality resources. Moreover, they look after their staff, giving them perks and benefits, which is attractive to us because that attracts a good caliber of resources. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

At the moment, I don’t think there are any areas they need to improve on. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Arcanys is very flexible with the billing, so they’re an excellent company to work with. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing director of a company that creates websites for florists.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Arcanys?

A lot of florists don’t have websites for selling bouquets online. We wanted to create an e-commerce platform that enables florists to list themselves on the Google Ads platform and not other wedding sites.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Arcanys built an Angular template-based system that helps florists create a new website in just a few minutes. We integrated it with Google Ads so we could control Google Ads and what they’re selling online. It serves a sales platform that fits into a florist’s business.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Eric (Senior Web Architect) and Jill (Project Manager). We had a team of eight developers, which we reduced to five once we started.

How did you come to work with Arcanys?

I went to the Philippines for a call center solution at my former business. While I was there, I searched IT vendors as well and found Arcanys on Clutch. They looked like they had a good history and background. We met up to chat through the business and we hit it off pretty well. When I started my new business, they agreed to work with me again.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2020, and we launched in January 2021. Our work is ongoing with little tweaks.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their quality is impeccable. There hasn’t been a time where they haven’t made the deadline. Our customers enjoy the solution as well, which fills our business objectives. There haven’t been any serious bugs; on the whole, they’re a good team.

How did Arcanys perform from a project management standpoint?

I talk with Eric on a senior level a couple of times a week. I speak with Jill on a daily basis. I also speak with the wider team every two weeks. As part of the process, I have a session with Jill and Eric on what we’re going to build. Then, Jill breaks that plan down into sprints. Next, she discusses it with the wider team. They always deliver on my expectations. I have access to shared Slack and Jira channels.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re great from a budget and quality perspective. I’ve managed my own in-house team before, and it’s a nightmare. They do a good job all around. Their openness and their ability to listen stand out. They really spend time to understand us and the objectives of our business, which is quite unique.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d recommend Arcanys to anyone. They’re a good team that’s worth getting to know. I can’t think of a better team to work with if you want software built. They have a full range of employees that can develop or design.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Digital Earth Network. We are a software platform, working to pull ERP data from systems of companies that have reps in the field.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Arcanys?

We were looking for a partner to develop a multi-tenant software.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed a multi-tenant software for multiple platforms. They are involved in every aspect, including testing.

The system manages ERP systems, providing up-to-date data for reps in the field to use. There is a GPS check-in to verify how long a rep is on-site, performs gap reports, and has some digital marketing tools. There is also a CRM component to log texts and calls, store photos, and more. It also provides digital assets, including brochures, videos, product sales, info, and results. 

What is the team composition?

There are eight or nine people working with us at any given time, including a project manager, UI designer, UX designer, and lead developers/engineers. Different parts of the team are involved at different points of the project.

How did you come to work with Arcanys?

We had worked with a couple vendors who couldn’t complete the work we required. We were considering a few companies, and were impressed with what we saw in the philosophy of this company. Our CTO went to the Philippines to meet with them in person, and found them to be knowledgeable and capable, and they worked in Agile and Scrum.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost so far is between $400,000 - $450,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together around July 2019, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They did very thorough testing, including pushing the software beyond expected demand prior to launch to ensure it would hold up. They fix any bugs that are found and work effectively.

The platform is consistent, and meets our clients’ objectives. Each client’s ERP system can be slightly different, and the team takes time to be thorough with each one. Our clients are extremely happy with the work. They’re a dream team.

How did Arcanys perform from a project management standpoint?

They are an elite team. Per our request, they restrict us to best practices, keeping us on track, with a laser-focus. We follow strict Agile methodology, have daily scrum calls, and bi-weekly reflective calls to discuss ways to improve. We use Jira for tickets and backlogs, and Slack for daily communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re results-oriented, focusing more on solutions and outcomes rather than the problem itself. They constantly look to empower the team, and encourage open brainstorming with no egos, regardless of the team member’s seniority. It is quite refreshing. I love working with Arcanys; they’ve become part of our team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Define your project. They do quality work and are willing to bring in people from all levels to speak into the project and find solutions, as needed.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

International Content Director / National Networks Manager with Office Media market leader Executive Channel Network, who have digital signage networks and operations in Sydney, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Munich, Amsterdam

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Atleast 5 different management applications were designed and developed by Arcanys to provide the necessary capabilities required to aggregate, segment and distributes live data from a diverse range of media suppliers including news, weather, financial hubs and social media APIs.

Additionally, a further 50+ intelligent content applications have been designed and developed for daily operation across 5 markets.

SOLUTION

How did you select Arcanys and what were the deciding factors?

Following a review process of several vendors combined with a recommendation from an industry colleague, Arcanys was shortlisted based on breadth of technical capabilities, sensible costings, and a fiercely positive approach to innovation.

Knowing that a successful project partnership would lead to an ongoing relationship of development we were very fortunate to find a tech partner who was thoroughly trust worthy and shared common values.

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

ECN's ambitious dev schedule for product development required expertise across multiple technologies including;

• .NET
• HTML5
• JS
• SQL
• PHP and more.

Our projects were largely understood from legacy systems and processes which had been brought together piecemeal over many years but needed to undergo fresh development.

Our Arcanys team implemented our refined workflows and automated processing requirements which has alleviated the need for strong technically minded resources to manage daily operations, instead offering capabilities that can be easily controlled and configured by largely non-technical resources.

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

2 x HTML5/JS Developers ( Senior and Mid level), 1xPHP/Symphony (Mid level) , 1x .NET/SQL (Senior)

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

ECN's Source Content Aggregation and delivery is expected to run without interruption (24/7 365 days a year) across 5 international networks, 600+ unique asset locations, combining data from more than 30+ API suppliers, on a daily basis and even more during advertising campaigns which utilise dynamic triggers for a customised audience experience.

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

ECN Project manages all aspects of product development with Arcanys team members in the same style as would be used with our own local resources. Additional inputs on occasion from Arcanys Scrum masters / Team leads proves helpful where meeting schedules are sometimes interrupted.

JIRA is used extensively for allocation of Tasks, Planning and Timesheeting and has been a brilliantly simple and clear layer of transparency ongoing.

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

No pun intended, but Arcanys' unique ability to be a Swiss army knife of services reduces the need to engage multiple suppliers, which saves time, simplifies project spend, reduces communication burdens and improves our agility when kicking off new initiatives.

But perhaps of even greater value is their 'can-do' attitude and relentlessly positive view of the work.

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

There are always areas for improvement in our business and processes. Arcanys as a partner join us in that responsibility and noticeably are proactive in improving communication, transparency and technical expertise. This has been a key differentiator in their style over other suppliers.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Register Now is a SAAS company providing Event Registrations for mass participation based events in the Australiasia region. I am the owner of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Arcanys?

Arcanys was initially hired to supplement our internal development team.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were twofold - to attempt to build our team in a cost-effective manner with talented people, and to gain access to other technical resources on an as-needed basis.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We developed an initial 'test' project that we sent to a number of potential providers that we had shortlisted. We agreed on payment and time frames with 4 providers to complete the project. Not only did the Arcanys team take the time to understand the brief, but they completed it ahead of schedule and provided shippable code that we were able to implement into our platform immediately.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The project is an ongoing one where the technical resources Arcanys provides are working on our core platform offering. We build in dot net have had very high information security and PCI compliance processes which the team has been able to work comfortably within.

What was the team composition?

We have a number of developers, architects, BA and QA's at Arcanys working with us on an ongoing basis. The team works closely with the product team in based in Australia on a daily basis. After some good successes with Arcanys, we have gradually increased our team size with Arcanys and are likely to continue to do so.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Register Now was struggling to find talent at a reasonable rate. We have managed to do that with Arcanys. This has allowed us to concentrate local resources on building the business and growing our customer base which we are doing faster than ever.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We use Azure DevOps to manage our backlog and releases. Our communication is constant and we utilize Slack for internal chat and Google Hangouts daily standups and video calls as required. We find the brief daily stand up at the start of the day to be a very effective way of keeping the team on track.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We have had no turnover with the team we have been building with Arcanys over three years. This is a testament to the management team's efforts to provide an extremely positive workplace for the employees. The Arcanys employees are some of the happiest that I've experienced.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We constantly review our processes with our team at Arcanys and have found the team very responsive to this process. Time zones can prove an issue occasionally, especially during daylight savings, however, on request the team have been willing to adjust accordingly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there. 

I’m the CTO at Reorg, a financial media, data, and technology company. We have an editorial team that writes about complex topics within the legal and finance world. We also have a technology platform that houses the content that are editorial team writes and several database and workflow tools that our clients use. We offer a variety of products that cover a wide range of needs, including distress debt, bankruptcy, mergers and acquisitions, pharmaceutical patent litigation, and other complex topics that investors, lawyers, and financial institutions would be interested in.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Arcanys?

We have an in-house development team that’s part of a larger technology team. We’ve also had an outsourced team in Ukraine since the inception of the company. We were looking to add another set of developers to broaden the kinds of projects that we could work on. Also, from a geographic perspective, we wanted to give ourselves a footprint in Asia to have somewhat of a 24-hour operation going.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We treat our three developers from Arcanys as an extension of our in-house team. We don’t siphon them off to certain projects, and there’s no middle person that manages communication between our outsourced developers and our in-house team. Our in-house team gives them a variety of tasks, from small bug fixes to large, multi-month projects.

Most of their work has been done in PHP using the Laravel framework. They also use MySQL for work on our primary database and MongoDB for larger data sets. They’ve helped with implementing ElasticSearch on our frontend search function, as well as development in Vue.js for the frontend framework.

What is the team composition?

The team is composed of three full-time developers. We have a person here who directly manages those three developers.

How did you come to work with Arcanys?

I did a pretty extensive search and worked with a firm that matches companies with outsourced developers. I was introduced to several different firms and did interviews with the people that I'd be working with at those firms. I happened to find Arcanys outside of that.

I was looking at and doing interviews with a bunch of different firms, and Arcanys was the one that stood out the most. I gave each potential developer a test, and Arcanys scored better than everyone else. Also, from a communication perspective, they were really good. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them during July 2017, and the relationship is currently ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don’t have any quantitative evidence, but we’re in the process of releasing a large project that they’ve been working on. It’s an internal workflow tool that they built for us. So far, the launch has been going very well, and I consider that a testament to the great work that they put into the project.

How did Arcanys perform from a project management standpoint?

The person on our team who manages their developers is a developer himself, so communication tends to be very good. They’re much more responsive than other outsourced teams that I’ve worked with, and that helps quite a bit. The time zone difference is challenging, especially for the person on our team who manages them, but they have regular calls and use Slack to stay up to date.

Usually, the developers will send a nightly update describing what they did during the day. That way, we know exactly what they did for us each day. Most of this communication happens over Slack, which has worked very well for us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve been impressed by their ability to learn new technology on the fly. From what I know, Arcanys is a great place to work, and it seems like they heavily invest in their employees. This shows in the work product that they provide.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't think so. Their work is generally very, very good. The toughest part is probably the time zone, but I'm not sure that there's any viable solution there. We’re figuring out ways to make that work as much as possible. But I'd say, for the most part, they’re excellent.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

No, I don’t think I do.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Tiqque, a consulting company. Application development is our core business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Arcanys?

My company works in a software development paradigm called serverless, and it’s challenging to find developers within this paradigm. We needed help with serverless AWS development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Arcanys provides different kinds of software development. Our clients connect us with a product owner and a business problem, and we engage the Arcanys development team. They interact directly with the client. Right now, my company has a big client in the logistics industry, which means Arcanys is developing different logistics systems. Everything they develop is cloud-based.

What is the team composition?

Currently, we employ sixteen Arcanys developers. We assign developers based on client needs and project requirements.

How did you come to work with Arcanys?

I found Arcanys through a previous employer. We needed a team that was certified in AWS and could fulfill our specifications.

How much have you invested with them?

My company has spent around $200,000-$500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement commenced in June 2018, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s very important that my company can grow quickly, and Arcanys has made doing so much easier. They provide highly qualified developers for us to work with. For instance, the first developer we worked with from Arcanys had experience with one of our client’s cultures, which benefitted their interactions. Carrying on the project without this developer would’ve been very difficult.

How did Arcanys perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is good, and their standards are high. Sometimes, we have to push them to communicate with our clients. If they don’t engage with the client, our partnership with them won’t work.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their company culture and ability to maintain a long-term partnership is critical. We’ve worked with them for a couple of years in different contexts, and it’s always worked out great. Also, they retain key resources for long periods of time, which prevents turnover on our end.

Arcanys’s developers are independent and don’t require constant guidance and direction. Their team has a drive that can push any project forward.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could be more active in increasing their technical expertise and communication skills. They’re good, but they can always do better.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a software development team deputy for Citilog. We provide intelligent video monitoring systems for the transportation industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Arcanys?

We engaged Arcanys to provide development support for long-term projects. We need help handling day-to-day issues like customer requests and bug fixing, formalizing procedures, and improving the system’s overall quality.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Arcanys is in charge of developing our embedded systems. We use a C++ and Linux environment. Their team works on various projects including the engine, the communications protocol, a Java UI, and C++ features. 

Arcanys also works on the UI of our desktop products using C# and DevExpress library, in which their team has in-depth knowledge. 
 
What is the team composition?

We first worked with one C# developer, and the team has grown as we’ve increased Arcanys’ involvement. We now collaborate with five people; four work on development tasks while one is dedicated to testing. As my side’s primary point of contact, I also communicate with a manager and the founders.
 
How did you come to work with Arcanys?

My predecessor found their team through our company’s network.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Arcanys around 2011, and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Arcanys works well within our sophisticated software system. Their UIs have received positive user feedback, and we have full confidence in their ability to troubleshoot and fix complex items. They have truly improved our system.

How did Arcanys perform from a project management standpoint?

We manage the project from our side. We communicate every day via Skype and email, and we use a shared test bay and a shared development platform for testing requests. We also visit their office once a year to get to know their team better.

The team overall is highly attentive and flexible. They have remained patient with us as we formalized our system. Every team member—from the developers to the founders—is easy to reach and willing to fix issues as needed. Despite some ambiguities over the years, Arcanys always meets their schedule and alerts us about potential delays.
 
What did you find most impressive about them?

Proactive and diligent, Arcanys acts like a part of our team. They ask questions if they don’t understand something, and they point ways to refactor a request or improve a process if needed. We appreciate their openness; they feel as invested in our success as we are.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We first were worried about evaluating potential resources through remote interviews. However, we’ve developed a recurring process with Arcanys to assess each incoming team member constructively and thoroughly. We’re thrilled with the collaboration overall.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Have a formal onboarding process. Visit their team regularly as well to clear any communication issues.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of NZ Funds, a financial services organization that specializes in investment management, wealth management, and financial advice. Our customer base is private investors, retail investors, and financial advisors. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Arcanys?

We needed a cost-effective way to scale our IT team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Arcanys provides full-time resources who work with our in-house dev team, taking on tasks from within our weekly or monthly sprints. They recently collaborated on a geo-based cloud service for wealth planning and financial advising. Arcanys works in Azure Stack and uses SQL servers to accomplish their work. They also build web-based apps, using tools such as JavaScript, C#, and Entity Framework.

What is the team composition? 

They initially provided three developers, but we went down to two.

How did you come to work with Arcanys?

We wanted a cost-effective offshore partner located in the Philippines because they overlapped with our time zone. We did an extensive search, doing email introductions and phone interviews with about six or seven different organizations. We then did an in-person visit in the Philippines to conduct a deep dive into the businesses. We chose Arcanys because of their skill set, web presences, and client references.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend about $10,000 a month. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We partnered in December 2017, and the work is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our partnership allows us to move faster and enables our dev team to implement solutions quicker. We’ve become more rapid in our build and release process because of them.

How did Arcanys perform from a project management standpoint?

Overall, we’re happy with their level of communication, documentation, and responsiveness. We had to let one developer go because their work wasn’t what we expected, but Arcanys helped make the transition. They’re flexible and allow us to adjust their involvement based on our needs. We mainly communicate via Skype, email, and WhatsApp.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Unlike other firms, Arcanys is a genuine tech partner, not just a resource provider. They also have a payment structure that keeps them engaged in our projects instead of locking us into a partnership for a long time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

As they grow, they should continue to focus on being a tech partner with advanced skill levels.