Celestial Systems Inc.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an executive at ViewsML

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Develops algorithms to improve imaging for cancer diagnosis

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Improve our front end app
• Complete our transition to the cloud

SOLUTION

How did you find Celestial Systems Inc.?

Referral

Why did you select Celestial Systems Inc. over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

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

6-10 Employees

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

The goal was to get our app running on the cloud with a few additional features. Key deliverables were containerizing an AI algorithm python script with associated libraries and deploy it on Kubernetes clusters.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Improvements in the application, continuous understanding of deployment of algorithm, build out of development pipeline

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

The PM team has been very resourceful and responsive to the changing dynamics of our project, as the scope has somewhat they changed they ensured resources were available.

What was your primary form of communication with Celestial Systems Inc.?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They are very understanding regarding the budgetary and cash flow restrictions of a startup while still maintaining high quality personnel on our team.

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

In the beginning there was a mismatch in the skills of the PM and the needs of our program, Celestial addressed this promptly, but with more initial discussion this could have impacted schedule less in the beginning.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of an engineering projects estimating company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Cost estimating for projects in mining, energy, and infrastructure industries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Scope, Design, and Build a Web Application

SOLUTION

How did you find Celestial Systems Inc.?

Email Marketing

Why did you select Celestial Systems Inc. over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Flexible Engagement Models

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

6-10 Employees

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

Understand our business objectives and goals with the development of a database and web application that will bring our spreadsheet-driven business processes into a scalable, user-friendly web app. Prove the application is feasible by selecting the technology stack, and creating proof-of-concepts for the main screens and the most complex functions needed. 

Manage the whole project, including scoping the requirements, designing the interface, creating a development pipeline, developing and testing the application. Work closely with the client (myself) for approvals and clarifications along each step of the development process.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Does the application work? Do the test users like it? Were we able to import all of our existing data easily?

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

Project management is very client-oriented, they listen carefully, respond to requests readily, and are always checking to make sure they've done what was asked. The project managers are very deliverable-focused, which can cause them to lose sight of bigger-picture unless the client keeps them on track. 

There are many levels of management in Celestial which feels "top-heavy" from someone used to very lean startup-style companies, but it works well for them as they are able to deliver results for a reasonable cost.

What was your primary form of communication with Celestial Systems Inc.?

Virtual Meeting

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

The flexibility in having many team members who are specialists and involved in many other projects; it means they can join your project, complete certain tasks or solve specific problems, and then move on to other assignments.

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

Quality control of UI mockups could be improved -- have someone check for basic formatting, spelling, and other errors before sharing it with clients.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Co-founder of Troveworks, Inc.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Collections automation and receivables management

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Redesign the UI
• Complete existing feature set for free product tier
• Build new features for advanced use cases

SOLUTION

How did you find Celestial Systems Inc.?

Referral

Why did you select Celestial Systems Inc. over others?

• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

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

6-10 Employees

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

The scope of work included: 

1. UI/UX Overhaul: Creating a new theme, reimplementing certain screens, addressing usability issues in existing screen design 
2. Implementing new features: integrations with Sendgrid, Quickbooks, Gmail, Office365, collector team management features, collections workflow, customer account management, dashboard analytics performance upgrade

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After the work with Celestial, we now have a functional product that enables us to start acquiring users and customers.

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

For the most part, the team delivered on time. There were a couple of delays related to complications with 3rd-party integrations that were related to the 3rd-party. They worked collaboratively with me on the schedule and backlog management. Overall, the quality of the work was high.

What was your primary form of communication with Celestial Systems Inc.?

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

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

The team at Celestial Systems has deep expertise in front-end software development and engages deeply with clients to understand the use cases and propose optimal designs that balance the tradeoffs between usability and technical feasibility.

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

Overall, the team did a good job managing the project. In an earlier phase of work, the Celestial team experienced a lot of turnover in their org and team, so we had multiple project leads onboard, then depart which caused delays as we would need to train new leads and developers as old ones departed. Other than this, we had a good experience working with Celestial.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of Cognare s.r.o.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We provide high-end software development services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Finding a full-time ExtJS developer for end-customer

SOLUTION

How did you find Celestial Systems Inc.?

Through personal acquaintance

Why did you select Celestial Systems Inc. over others?

• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

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

1 Employee

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

Senior ExtJS software development, communication with final customer, working in team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Total hours, amount approved by end-customer and invoiced.

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

In the beginning I had to train the developer to provide daily commits and I had to implement some internal policies, but over time he is fulfilling this correctly and to our satisfaction. I am satisfied with his work at this time.

What was your primary form of communication with Celestial Systems Inc.?

Virtual Meeting

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

Good communication, plenty of resources available, preparedness to provide solutions fast.

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

At this moment nothing comes to my mind.