ArcusScale

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of business operations for a pharmaceutical manufacturing company. We provide pharmaceutical hub services and patient support programs to biopharmaceutical companies developing medications for rare and complex conditions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ArcusScale?

Our goal was to create a web-based partner-facing portal for an internal workflow management system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We partnered with ArcusScale to develop this partner-facing portal, assist with designing the UX, and improve our database integration. We started with a discovery phase where we gathered the necessary requirements, understood the nature of our products, and finalized the project's goals.

The relationship took approximately eight sprints and 16 weeks, in which the ArcusScale team worked together with our development team to build and code the portal. Some of the features and functionalities they implemented are a multi-factor authentication system, the ability for patients to upload documentation, and a messaging function.

Moreover, the portal is based on the C# and .NET frameworks, with Angular being used for the design. They also utilized Azure and Kubernetes for containerization.

As for the branding aspect of the partnership, they assisted us in generating the visuals for the UX.

What is the team composition?

My main contact was the project manager, and my team interacted with their development team.

How did you come to work with ArcusScale?

We found them online and decided to work with them because their rates, timelines, and approach were solid and reasonable.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested approximately $170,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from January–May 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their involvement has allowed us to attain new business, provide solutions for our customers, and expand our portfolio of business offerings.

We’ve made one of our pipelines very strong by simply making that solution an option.

How did ArcusScale perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed well from a project management perspective because they were very timely and consistently professional.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were impressed with their transparency, openness to feedback, and flexibility.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There wasn’t anything they did wrong as they delivered their tasks with agility at a cost-effective rate.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d advise you to understand transparency, set expectations, and be upfront with your requirements.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-owner and business manager at Ardentz Global. We develop software for nonprofit organizations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ArcusScale?

We needed someone who could develop a data management web application for a nonprofit organization. We wanted a product that could streamline the way they manage their donations and their donors’ information.

We had actually been working with another vendor before, but they were growing exponentially and just kept putting the project on the backburner, so we decided to look for a company that could get the job done.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

ArcusScale is helping us develop a web app for a nonprofit that allows them to identify who their donors are, how much they’re donating, and what their backgrounds are, among other information.

We’ve met a lot of times before starting the project; we provided them the scope and let them know what our needs were and they provided us with a timeline. We’re now at the point of the project where we are scheduled to deliver a presentation to higher-ups of the organization we’re developing the app for.

What is the team composition?

I primarily work with the CTO and his partner, but we also work with their team.

How did you come to work with ArcusScale?

I know the CTO personally, and I wanted to give their company the opportunity to work on this project. After meeting and interviewing him, my partner and I decided that they’re the right company for this job.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $10,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our clients are very impressed with the app, which is not surprising because ArcusScale has put so much effort into building this app. There’s just nothing that they haven’t already thought of — they’ve even thought about how the product’s going to sell and how it’s going to work in our clients’ environments.

How did ArcusScale perform from a project management standpoint?

I’d give ArcusScale a 10 for project management — I’m just that impressed with them. When they commit to a certain project, we already consider it done. They always deliver on time, sometimes even ahead of schedule, and the deliverables are always professionally done.

We primarily communicate through Zoom, but we sometimes meet in person. We can also reach each other via email and phone calls when needed. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

ArcusScale has done everything well so far — I’m truly impressed with the quality of their work, their open-minded approach, and their receptiveness to feedback.

They’re just so knowledgeable. They know that not everything fits one project — they’re always thinking outside of the box, customizing the project for us, and giving us ideas on where they think the project should head to make the project as best as it could be.

They’re also able to explain everything in a manner that I understand, which is great because I’m not really a tech-savvy person. They make everything so simple — when they were developing the app’s pages, they went as far as to explain how it had to be done for ease of use.

Another thing that I love about them is their transparency and their constant communication. There are never any surprises. They always let us know what’s going to be done and what’s going on with the project, whether it’s good or bad. They’re very easy to communicate with, which I think is very important.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You have to make sure to have open communication with them. You can’t just tell them to get something done — you have to be hands-on with your project. You have to go back and forth with them and let them know what your expectations are if you really want a good product.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder of redriverhub.com, the first safe and secure platform for mineral owners to market their oil and gas mineral and royalty interests.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We signed up with ArcusScale from the beginning of our project, to help us build our online platform. Our goals were to develop a transactional service we could monetize by providing an online premier marketplace that buyers and sellers could use, thereby providing more transparency and liquidity to a process traditionally conducted through phone calls and emails.

SOLUTION

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

Originally introduced through a friend, we then went through a vetting process of reviewing references and previous projects they had completed. Our code is backed up and always available to us and we had a third party review the code several times to ensure it wasn't a bunch of spaghetti code that would be hard to decipher and build on. Since we don't write code, we wanted a qualified third party (which we vetted and hired) to provide a review and report. They came back with excellent remarks and said we were in good hands and the code was all very structured.

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

Due to the complexities of the offer and transaction process, we first developed wireframes and logic for what we thought the project would require. We had a year of planning on our part of deciding what it should look like and what should happen at every turn, i.e. offer, counteroffer, etc...we have a bank that provides an escrow service as part of the transaction, which involved building an interface process for them to use and react to as transactions progressed. Regarding our platform build, the UI is angular - and MD Bootstrap - and the API is Java Spring. We are currently releasing it every 2 weeks or so to Beta, which we then test before releasing it to production.

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

We work directly with the two founders and interact with the front and back-end developers vis Jira.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The bottleneck in our development has always been me as the product manager and my reluctance to release anything but a complete, perfect product; I am a little bit of a perfectionist and had succumbed to "the letting perfect be the enemy of good" syndrome. Being new as a product owner, the two founders helped me develop this skill set and guided me in ways I don't think any other software company would have done. Our platform was released in mid-2021 and we are now beginning to monetize our investments. They also developed both an iOs and Android app for our platform, which we also launched this year (2021).

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

These guys are extremely helpful and we brought them to us many times, at various locations around the country (at our costs of course), to work on the project roadmap with us. We use JIRA for managing our stories and sprints, and we communicate using slack, where most of our online meetings are held and we frequently hop on the phone for short discussions.

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

I think the most unique thing is their transparency and communication, and willingness to help do things the right way. This has been a 5-year relationship for us and it has worked out very well.

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

this is a tough one for me because I believe in general we can always find ways to improve. It seems any issues have usually been with me, where we decided and built something one way, then I decided we should do it differently which of course costs money and more development time. No significant criticisms from me regarding this company. They have been a gem to work with.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Software Engineering of RareMed

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We build hub service applications and integrations to better service patients with Rare Medical diseases

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire ArcusScale to accomplish?

• Automate the end to end testing of 2.5 custom applications we built using cypress.io

SOLUTION

How did you find ArcusScale?

Referral

Why did you select ArcusScale over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from ArcusScale were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We wanted a project team to come in and build end to end automated tests for two and a half applications we have built. We needed a team that could work independently of our current team and who deliver high quality code and teach out quality engineers better coding practices

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We provided the arcus scale teams a number of tickets to action on. Each week they were to report the status of how many was left and what is blocked. These week status and overall delivery were the key KPIs

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

In the beginning, we asked arcus for weekly updates and to meeting twice a week in case they were blocked. They provided both. There were a number of times when the project changed in terms of team members, environments, requirements, ect. They were extremely flexible and always willing to go the extra mile to make us happy. Additionally, they over communicated as much as they could to make sure that we were aligned with the direction they were going in

What was your primary form of communication with ArcusScale?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their communication and flexibly to work to make sure we they delivered the product we were wanting

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

Nope. We are extremely happy with how this project went.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the VP Engineering and Operations of Oseberg

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Information Technology

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire ArcusScale to accomplish?

• Reduce AWS spend
• Migrate a Legacy Application from a contractor to in-house
• Switch out a data vendor

SOLUTION

How did you find ArcusScale?

Referral

Why did you select ArcusScale over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Referred to me

How many teammates from ArcusScale were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

AWS Spend - provide analysis of areas of potential reduction, provide staff augmentation and executed plan to save ~10k/mo. Application Migration, provided staff augmentation and migrated platform to in-house infrastructure. Vendor migration, provided staff augmentation, developed new sourcingsoftware.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

AWS - $10k/mo savings, Migration of legacy application to in-house infrastructure control, successful vender migration that will eventually provide ~$8 of savings per month.

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

Yes

What was your primary form of communication with ArcusScale?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The culture and eagerness to get the job done right was impressive.

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

na

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of Renalis

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Renalis develops software based digital therapeutics for pelvic health disorders in women

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire ArcusScale to accomplish?

• Hire a lead software architect and team
• Build our initial technology platform
• Add 3 conditions to the platform

SOLUTION

How did you find ArcusScale?

Referral

Why did you select ArcusScale over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from ArcusScale were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

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

We needed to completely rebuild our platform to accommodate new therapies and launch a research study. ArcusScale needed to build the team todo this, including remote QA testers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Study was launched on time and on budget. It is an ongoing success. Tech team is solid.

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

Very responsive. They delivered everything on time and budget. Total team players

What was your primary form of communication with ArcusScale?

Virtual Meeting

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

Their willingness to work cooperatively. Their prowess in presentations.

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

No