Ciklum

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of moebelscout GmbH, a Swiss-based comparison platform for furniture and homeware.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ciklum?

We needed a partner to help with software development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided high-level requirements and already had a prototype with all the screens and functionality in place. They added a few more functionalities to the website, mainly working on the backend. They also moved our hosting from a local company to AWS, and they worked on continuous integration.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager and two developers.

How did you come to work with Ciklum?

My partner had worked with them before. They offered a flexible payment model and seemed professional, so we hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement lasted from March–July 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The platform is fast and works well. Some of the technical requirements took extra time to resolve, but the platform is up and running. We plan to engage with Ciklum on another project soon.

How did Ciklum perform from a project management standpoint?

They were fast and responsive, perfectly meeting our project management expectations. We used Trello and Slack to track the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They met our requirements.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They should've been better at not having bugs or at least fixing them without charging us extra.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I don’t have any advice.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO and founder of a workflow management company. We provide a low-code platform on which any kind of data-driven workflow application can be implemented.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Ciklum?

My company engaged Ciklum to help develop and manage our platform. 

​​​​​​What were your goals for this project?

We needed a partner that could provide ongoing support. 

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Ciklum had the capacity to provide remote professional services and completely assume management responsibilities, which would enable us to focus on building the platform.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Since 2008, their team has provided recruitment and retention of resources for development, QA, language training, housing, and IT infrastructure.

Over the past three years, they have implemented our code-based workflow platform. The team is currently focused on extending the platform and ensuring our Cloud platform runs smoothly. We recently began using Ciklum’s managed services, which includes a customer service team, security testing and training, and DevOps support for new implementations and optimizations. 

What was the team composition?

The team includes team manager, four developers, and four QA resources. We are onboarding three support engineers and are looking to hire a senior developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Ciklum’s development team has maximized our capacity to produce cutting-edge software. Without their services, I believe our business would have already been rendered obsolete. Working with such highly-skilled professionals on a remote team has led our organization to become more professional and gain development velocity.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The team is highly effective. A local manager supervises the team. The CEO is a product owner and works with the team to determine what needs to be done. We use Confluence, Jira, Slack, GitHub, GoToMeeting, and Skype.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Ciklum maintains an open and client-focused attitude. I have never found our collaboration to be problematic or inadequate. They invest time in analyzing team performance and procedures as they strive to meet best practices and benchmark assessments. 

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, I can't think of anything. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of a cybersecurity company. We create software that assists forensic investigations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ciklum?

We needed access to a skilled workforce that could support our existing staff with software development and testing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Ciklum provides staff augmentation services on an ongoing basis. They function as an expansion of our team, so our interactions are fairly straightforward. Instead of handing out specifications and waiting for deliverables, we comprehensively manage the resources they’ve allocated to us. This direct connection improves efficiency and agility.

Our software is built for Microsoft Windows with a focus on performance, so our usual development stack comprises light-weight databases, C++, and Qt.

What is the team composition?

Our initial engagement required three resources. Since then, our involvement has expanded to include 20 developers who support multiple projects.

How did you come to work with Ciklum?

We found them after searching for firms online. We valued their ability to act as long-term partners instead of merely third-party providers.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2011 and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The most direct impact is the satisfaction of our users and how often we get praises for how well our products work. Internally, Ciklum helps us leverage all of the Scrum methodology benefits by regularly reviewing our development process and velocity. They are in this unique position to compare our development metrics with their other teams and provide guidance.

How did Ciklum perform from a project management standpoint?

We are in constant communication with our team and the Ciklum team. Ciklum does not manage our projects; rather, they constantly monitor the wellbeing of our team, help us understand our team dynamic, and identify retention risks and opportunities to maintain an enjoyable and efficient workplace.

With our team, we consistently interact via Atlassian products or Google communication tools. On average, we have 3–4-hour daily phone calls to discuss technical details and business values. I usually receive a response from someone on the team within five minutes.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have access to a large talented pool of individuals and they are very good at creating a great work environment for them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their pricing model is very transparent but it would be nice to have a tiered model aligned with the team member's salary.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The key to a successful collaboration is to have an internal individual dedicated to this interaction fulltime.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a development manager for an education firm. We have a network of schools across multiple continents.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ciklum?

We needed additional software developers to help us complete a specific project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Ciklum developed an online application that functions within our English education platform. 90% of our business comes through various agent networks from around the world. Therefore, we built an app that agents use to manage student bookings and quotes.

We provided them with specific instructions, and they built out the platform from the ground up. The frontend was implemented using JavaScript, and they used Microsoft Azure to create the backend. Once the app was complete, their QA team performed extensive testing.

What is the team composition?

I interact with about five resources across their development, QA, and management staff.

How did you come to work with Ciklum?

One of my executive-level colleagues within the company has worked with Ciklum in the past. I wasn’t involved in the hiring process, so I don’t know how they compared to other candidates.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent roughly $250,000–$500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in May 2017, and our current engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The application is live, but I don’t have access to hard metrics at the moment. However, we’re pleased with the work Ciklum provides. They’re efficient, highly skilled, and can execute instructions quickly. Their team raced through the onboarding process without difficulty, which was outstanding. We haven’t had a negative experience with them thus far.

How did Ciklum perform from a project management standpoint?

Their management staff performs as expected and keeps the project moving forward. Most of our communication with them is done through Skype.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Professionalism is their most notable attribute. They’re also attentive and have a similar business philosophy as us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I don’t have any significant suggestions to offer.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Try meeting with them face-to-face if possible. That makes any project more manageable.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We provide a platform for creating animated videos and presentations to spice up your presentations and messages that you would want to convey. I’m the research and development manager in charge of all development, QA, delivery to production, and maintaining our production environment.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ciklum?

We were looking for help with development and QA. We wanted a company that was cheaper than those found in Israel.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We work with them on a regular basis and they provide us manpower rather than deliverables. It’s not project based. We work in sprints and for each sprint we have a deliverable. There’s always something more happening.

Beyond that, they ran several rounds of load testing for us to see that our production environment scales well. We ran a mobile application QA session, too.

What is the team composition?

There are 11 people from their team who are like an extension of our company, working onsite with us. They recruited people according to our requirements: QA testers and frontend developers who worked in React and JavaScript. The automaton Python developers came from them directly. The team is permanent until we decide we don’t want someone to continue.

How did you come to work with Ciklum?

Our COO found them. We chose them because they’re very professional, we got good recommendations of them, and when we visited them in Ukraine, they seemed like a good fit.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2016 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The collaboration is largely between them and our internal developers and QA. The quality of their people is comparable to the resources on our in-house team.

How did Ciklum perform from a project management standpoint?

We don’t use their project management services. They were good with providing resources. They tried to get us resources when we needed them. They use our internal Slack channel.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re another resource for recruiting instead of just having to recruit in Israel. They give us advice on the project management, but we haven’t utilized it. They try to keep a good relationship with us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You can trust them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Neopenda is a global health enterprise that is creating technology for improving newborn health outcomes, particularly in developing countries. I’m the CEO of the company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ciklum?

We were looking for help on the hardware and software side. We had a breadboard for our algorithms and needed to combine different technologies into one final format. We needed a product-development firm to lend their expertise for optimizing our product. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The general device that we're creating is a wearable vital-sign monitor integrated into a baby hat, which measures four vitals. It connects wirelessly over Bluetooth to tablets, where there is a user interface through which people can check the health statuses of all babies in a room. They have the ability to click on the profile of particular babies and look at trends for the past 24 or 48 hours. Much of this had been built-out, but Ciklum changed the operating system we were using, making it more efficient. They used the same visual guidance that we had created initially.

On the hardware side, we started out by looking at various components and trying to determine which ones made sense. Ciklum performed background research on which microcontrollers to use, which Bluetooth chips we needed, and so on. This was helpful in enabling us to make a decision based on our constraints.

From there, Ciklum compiled our components into an actual PCB [printed circuit board]. This isn't an area for which we had much familiarity, so it was nice to have Ciklum take the lead. All we had to do was to let them know what our physical size constraints were.

On the software side, Ciklum helped create a more comprehensive solution. We had code for various parts of things, but they were instrumental in putting everything together in one simple and neat package. The platform uses C++ and JavaScript, and it’s a Linux-based software at this point. We eventually want to transition it to Windows. The backend database is based on MongoDB.

How did you come to work with Ciklum?

I believe we found Ciklum through a reference from a manufacturing firm we met at a conference. We had initially asked that company to partner with us, but we were too early stage for them, so they directed us to Ciklum. They were incredibly professional and were able to develop both the hardware and software side of things, which was not the case for the previous firm we were working with. It was nice to have one company encompass everything we were looking for. Ciklum was also considerate of our mission and didn't try to influence our decisions.

How much have you invested with Ciklum?

The cost of Ciklum's work has been between $120,000 and $150,000. Product development is not cheap. Things have become much more efficient, but there has been a lot of development work done on the hardware and software sides, which proved time-consuming.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Ciklum in June 2016. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or impact of the engagement?

From the business side of things, we're still an early stage company. We're excited to have a final form factor. The product is ready to be deployed at our partner hospital in Uganda, and Ciklum has done a great job of sticking to our timelines and getting it ready before the deadline. We've passed all of our safety tests for the device, which is great. We've submitted our proposals and are currently waiting to hear back from our partners in Uganda.

We are fairly new to the process ourselves. Ciklum had worked in a similar space, but our product is different. They knew the general safety standards but didn't have the expertise to guide us on what testing needed to be done exactly. Ciklum was upfront about this from the beginning, which was good since this was not an area we were willing to compromise. When we did our safety testing, Ciklum was receptive to answering any questions we had about the device and making it compliant with all regulations.

How did Ciklum perform from a project management standpoint?

Ciklum gave us access to JIRA, allowing us to track the hours they spent on tasks. We have fairly regular meetings—around once per week—in order to discuss anything going on. Ciklum's team is always looking for feedback and giving advice on how to make things better. They check with us before making any changes to the allocated hours and give recommendations on whether a task should be done now or later. They're always professional in this sense.

We've been interacting with Ciklum's project manager and also with their tech team. It depends on the discussion topic; on a weekly basis, I've mostly talked with Anton Zemliankin, who has more of a project management role, and Evgeny Volodzko, who has been doing much of the development itself. If there is an issue with our battery, we will be introduced to the person who works on the battery side of things to ensure that it will be addressed. We know Ciklum's whole team, which is great, and I find that they have a wide variety of expertise.

What did you find most impressive about Ciklum?

Understanding our mission, including what we were trying to do and the constraints we had, was the most important factor to us. Cost, power-efficiency, and size were three of the biggest variables we were looking at. This has made things more expensive from a development perspective, but Ciklum has always been supportive in understanding what those constraints were and working within them. I think that this is fairly different compared to other companies that we've talked to. Other groups told us it couldn't be done, but that was simply because they didn't know how to do it. Ciklum has always tried to come up with creative ways for ensuring we achieved our goal.

From a project management perspective, Ciklum has done a great job. We always know what they're doing and how they're doing it. Ciklum is very good at explaining this process to us.

Are there any areas Ciklum could improve?

This is somewhat out of their control, but I wish the product development itself had been cheaper. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are an IT outsourcing provider for big enterprises, as well as government and defense.

I am a delivery manager for the company. I am responsible for the delivery of our Magento e-commerce projects.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ciklum?

We needed to extend our local team and save some money. Ciklum provided a good option to do this in Ukraine, where salaries are lower compared to Germany.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Ciklum provides development resources, from backend to frontend developers, quality assurance specialists, and business analysts. We treat them as our own team and have integrated Ciklum into our own processes.

We have used Ciklum exclusively for open-source PHP projects using the Zend Framework 2 based on Magento, OroCRM [open source PHP-based CRM], Aiki frameworks, as well as others.

We normally have a 6-month development timeframe for individual projects with Ciklum. In one case, we worked on a year-long project for a big enterprise Magento installation featuring more than 20 websites in 50 countries. It involved the use of numerous languages and extensive integration.

How did you come to work with Ciklum?

I was responsible for finding and hiring Ciklum, so I made an online search. It was a long process which led to a shortlist of three partners. Ciklum had the best financial and cultural fit. We gave them a test project and saw it as a good driver to continue the partnership.

How much have you invested with Ciklum?

The cost of Ciklum's services is around $1,200,000 per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Ciklum 6 years ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Our biggest project with Ciklum resulted in an e-commerce platform with $50,000,000 per year in sales. Our clients are unaware of Ciklum's involvement in the work; we act as their sole contact at a project management level. I cannot comment on client feedback, but we've been able to deliver very good quality results and Ciklum has played a part in that.

How did Ciklum perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is handled exclusively on our side, with Ciklum only offering development resources. Communication is done through a single point of contact. We communicate any requests for team modifications or budget changes to them.

What did you find most impressive about Ciklum?

Ciklum's involvement has been to hire resources on our behalf. This process works well, but it would be hard to compare them to other partners.

Are there any areas Ciklum could improve?

Recruitment speed could be improved.