Derevo S.A. de C.V.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there

I am an IT manager at an automotive and real estate company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Derevo S.A. De C.V.?

We wanted an automation system to concentrate our information into a single platform to analyze it and establish KPIs to measure results and help us in our decision-making processes.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We used ClixSense, among other tools they suggested, to create the software we needed for our business.

What is the team composition?

It has changed depending on the project, but usually, we work with a project leader and a couple of developers.

How did you come to work with Derevo S.A. De C.V.?

I found them online while searching for a ClixSense services provider, and they were the ones that had the best proposal. They explained in great detail what we could achieve and how.

How much have you invested in them?

We've spent $2,000,000–$3,000,000 (approximately $100,000–$151,000 USD) with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them around April 2015, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve had a great experience working with them — they’re very professional. As for the impact of the developments, they’re changing our business strategy with a great impact. At the moment, we’re at the top of the country’s automotive companies in terms of sales — that has been partly possible thanks to the tools they provided for us.

How did Derevo S.A. De C.V. perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been great — they always meet all requirements timely. Also, they have a great methodology and strict follow-up process. We communicate mostly via WhatsApp and conference calls using Webex.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their experience and skills stand out the most.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything they can improve on.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the main app developer for analytics of a higher education consulting firm. We make analytics for higher education, like colleges.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Derevo S.A. de C.V.?

When I joined my firm, we were a small company. We needed development done using Qlik Sense, and we didn't have time to go and hire new developers. I used to work for Qlik and had worked with Derevo in 2016, so I reached out to them. Within a week of contacting them, they were already helping out.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Derevo provides IT outsourcing services. We've developed a relationship with them where we outsource development and day-to-day platform management to them. They’re our admin, so they manage our Qlik Sense platform via Azure. They maintain various Windows servers with Qlik installed on them. They set up a development and a production environment. Their team does the upgrades and the patches, and they also run the security configuration for us.

They’ve set up the server users, manage the certifications, and are responsible for the server uptime. They audit the server, and we have a weekly call where they give us a health check. For instance, they let us know if we need to change security. They also mention security that we need to change.

What is the team composition?

For the platform management side, we work with three people. Our primary two contacts are the platform manager and the main admin who does most of the work. They also have a backup admin, and sometimes we reach out to him. On the development side, we work with a development manager/technical client lead who manages a team of 6–7 developers.

How did you come to work with Derevo S.A. de C.V.?

They were a vendor for another company that I worked for. We choose to work with them because they are very cost-competitive against developers from the US. They provide 30%–50% savings, and they're also in our time zone because they’re in Mexico. We don't have to worry about Indian time zones, which is where many people go. The third reason is that they are strong at Qlik.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve worked with them for around 1,000 hours and spent close to $100,000. We usually do 100–200 hours a month with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2019, and we used their services on and off through 2020. We had to pause because of the pandemic, but now we’ve been on a pretty big project with them for the last 14 months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve done custom work for us using platforms other than Qlik, and I would give them an overall score of nine out of 10. Their deliverables work, so we haven't had to worry; a lot of times, software companies never deliver. 

They’ve delivered every deliverable that we’ve wanted. They're probably one of the strongest people you could outsource to worldwide for Qlik. The platform has 99.9% uptime, so they are easily hitting their uptime metric.

How did Derevo S.A. de C.V. perform from a project management standpoint?

We've avoided having to hire at least two different headcounts. Sometimes, we need a developer or a server admin, so instead of hiring a US worker who might be underutilized, we go to them. The advantage with them is that they provide this service for many clients, so they know things faster than we do because they often see it.

Their platform management team is the best I’ve seen; I’d give them an A+. We have a weekly call where they disclose a weekly report, we talk and define goals. As for the development side, you don’t know it works until it works. They run agile development, so they can’t predict exactly when something will work.

For communication, they use Google Teams, and we use Monday.com for project management. They don’t use many tools, but they’re willing to hop on the phone with us. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have at least three dozen in-house experts, and 95% of the time, I can email them about some quirky, weird thing that I can't find the answer to, and they’ll know the answer. They have deep expertise in Qlik.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Any company can be better, but there's nothing that sticks out. If I ask them to do more, they will charge me more. They’re fine.

Any advice for potential customers?

Many people reach out to Derevo for development, but their platform management team is also really strong. I think people should look at them for both services.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am CIO at a manufacturing and distribution company in Mexico. Our company has about 700 employees and we are a company that manufactures and distributes wines and spirits exclusively to self-service stores and wholesalers and we export to different countries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Derevo S.A. de C.V.?

our company had been working with qlikview since 2015, and we decided to migrate to qliksense to obtain better KPIs that help make decisions and have better communication with our suppliers. Derevo has been our supplier since 2015 for his greatness in customer service.

What were your goals for this project?

Our objective was to obtain a web page that would allow our suppliers and employees to access more quickly and easily to review their KPIs in order to analyze the information and generate action plans. our model is about sales, displacement and inventory

SOLUTION

How did you select Derevo S.A. de C.V.?

Because it has been our supplier since 2015, all these years Derevo has been an excellent supplie, with excellent service and attention to our company

Describe the project in detail.

We have a series of discovery meetings with the managers to discuss our information, reports and KPi. after we had Analysis sessions with the areas involved, to identify reports, kpi and the design of the page.

With this, derevo started with the development and migration of the sales model, after 2 moths the model was ready and all user validated the information and desing. so we had 4 phases Discovery, Design, Visualization an Mashup

What was the team composition?

we had a great team made up of Discovery manager, web development, quality assurance, sponsors, users, analitycs & Datasciense and managers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within 2 months after our mashup was lauched, we have more users connected to analyze their information, the new design and access it much more easily and visible to analize the KPI.t

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

the comunication was easy, we use always remote sesion and it was very satisfactory that it was not an impediment to the development of the project, all users and Derevo Team were great,

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their attitude, responsibility, and commitment to the project were impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the BI manager in the marketing analytics department of a consumer goods company that operates in 32 countries. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Derevo S.A. de C.V.?

Our company hired them to develop an application for the marketing team with a different approach and an improved UX. We already had some tools in the marketing department, but they were not easy to use for most employees.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Derevo helped us develop a more user-friendly tool for the marketing team. It uses Qlik Sense technology and has mobile and desktop interfaces. 

The team worked with our pre-existing system and focused only on the last part, which is the modeling and UI. They also take databases already built into our system and supply mapping at the end of the data flow. 

We have KPIs and graphs; however, the associated filter’s functionality can be derived from Qlik. The developed app now allows users to customize features, save their preferences, and see their dashboard. The app also only shows information that is relevant to each user, filtering according to location and other options.

What is the team composition?

Our main contact is Alan (CCO). Our IT and data and analytics departments facilitate this engagement for us, and they assigned Alan to work with us. 

How did you come to work with Derevo S.A. de C.V.?

Derevo was hired by another department at our company. 

How much have you invested in them?

Over the past two years, we have spent around $250,000 on all of the projects.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership started in December 2019, and it’s ongoing. We completed some projects, but we still have some others that we are working on.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We released the app within our organization, and the feedback has been great, specifically on the UX part. Users consider the app easier to use, and the fact that we haven’t received any complaints about the app’s performance is a success for us. 

We are implementing KPIs to measure the number of users. One of the projects we are working on now is getting direct feedback about the apps from those users.

How did Derevo S.A. de C.V. perform from a project management standpoint?

They have very good project management, and the team ensures that they always meet the deadlines. In my experience, IT projects always tend to surpass the deadlines that are initially set up. Working with Derevo has been a great experience because they always respect the timing; they even finish sometimes before the set deadline. 

If they can’t meet a deadline, we have follow-up meetings so that we know in advance that they will need an extra week or two. We had in-person meetings before COVID-19, but right now we communicate through phone calls and emails.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

We have worked with other companies, but we like our partnership with Derevo because they understand all of the business requirements. They’re good at translating requirements into a technical proposal. 

They have a really well-structured process. Our team has a discovery session with Derevo at the beginning of each project. This ensures that they understand our needs and various aspects of the business so that they can come up with a proposal that works for us. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Of course, I’d like for Derevo to have better prices, but we definitely value their work and effort.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

One important thing is to take the time for discovery sessions with all of the key people to make sure they’re all clear on what’s going to be developed. It’s difficult to coordinate schedules, but it’s something we have learned that is very important. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the digital and communications manager at Virbac México S.A. de C.V., an animal pharmaceuticals organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Derevo S.A. de C.V.?

We were looking for a company to help us implement a web application.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Derevo S.A. de C.V. created our web app. We sell to distributors and distributors sell the clinics and the clinics sell to the pet owners. We needed to know the size of the market of the pet owners and how we can communicate directly to the pet owners.

We decided to create a reward program. The app allows you to upload the profile of your pet and you can upload however many pets you have. Users can say if their pet is small, medium, or large size, their age, and more and get a promotional 10% on vaccines if they decide to choose from this program. We started to know the profile and who was buying vaccines.

What is the team composition?

There was a big team working for us. We work with a project manager, a discovery manager, a user experience person, and a designer who worked with our internal designer the whole time. During the discovery phase, one of the owners got involved. 

How did you come to work with Derevo S.A. de C.V.?

They were referred to us by one of their clients. I contacted their commercial director. We had a presentation meeting and we liked their idea and work methods.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March 2019–January 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We launched the app at the beginning of 2020 but we had to pause it due to the pandemic. The app received really nice compliments for the application that it’s really easy to use. When we were testing the app, there were some bugs but the quality team took care of it quickly. The app even won an award for its innovation.

We love that we actually had a lot of meetings to actually really know what we want. The users and specialists get involved in the brand standards. It was really good quality. We had 3–4 months to test it before we launched it to the market. 

How did Derevo S.A. de C.V. perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management skills were something we appreciated a lot because it was a new project and we had so many ideas at the beginning. The project was really different at the beginning than at the end because we made a lot of changes. We had to extend our deadlines but they were really understanding. That was really incredible.

The meetings and the development were on time. We had to launch in September for the biggest conference in Latin America.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They used to come to our office and one time we went to their office. We were working there and even the owner of the company came to work with us. It was fantastic that there was the involvement of all the manager levels.

They even go to the clinics some days to know what is in the clinic and who is actually going to. After the research, they explained what they could offer.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, everything was great. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Listen to them because sometimes you have a project idea but they are specialists in what they’re doing.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Architecture Manager and in charge of maintaining the analytics infrastructure of the company

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Derevo S.A. de C.V.?

Derevo helped us to migrate version 11 of QlikView to the latest version 12 with more than 100 models used in the company

SOLUTION

How did you select Derevo S.A de C.V and what were the deciding factors?

We published an RFP and shortlisted 3 companies. After interviewing them, we chose Derevo based on his technical and economic proposal and good experience.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Firts, they audited our systemto identify the proces to migrate and built the best strategic roadmap. second, they worked on models of production to convert on new versions. Derevo migrated and documented the server migration services and performed the technical memory.

How many resources from the Derevo S.A de C.V team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Full time consulting Sysadmin, Qlik or whatever full time is required. Part-time consulting Sysadmin, documenter, solution architect or any part-time required in each sprint, and Product Owner Consulting project management and team organization.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Switching to new version of QlikView made a lot easier y faster for the users to analyze our data on the dasboards an automated processes , we can divide the acces only to autoriced uses , and decrease times of queries for each model information.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Derevo S.A de C.V has a reliable team of experts certified on the product that is impressive in the workflow. tre times per week had conferences and they were quick to adapt.

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

The team drew from their past experience on proyects deployment on our company type, their was conforting to see their expertise.

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

No in this project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

At H-E-B, we believe grocery shopping is more than an errand. That’s why it’s our pledge to always go above and beyond. Here, we think like the customer, not about the customer , I´m treasurer manager

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Derevo S.A. de C.V.?

rapid miner and qlik services

What were your goals for this project?

show cash position and predict cashflow ST & LT

SOLUTION

How did you select Derevo S.A. de C.V.?

RPP process

Describe the project in detail.

We created a treasury platform with machine learning that does a forecasting of cashflows by period, and prediction of the P&L;

1. doing robotization (automation) of theid banking accounts (6 diferents banks),
2. mapping all the transactions with the Peoplesoft ERP,
3. to see the final balance of the wallet ( balance banking vs accounts payable)
4. and giving them the possibility of doing new incomes in other segments (profit) when possible for the business.

We used Qlik Sense analytics techonology, python and Rapidminner for this project

What was the team composition?

1 PMM , 1 PL and 2 developers and 1 consultant

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

1. cash flow prediction VS real cash flow 95% of accuracy
2. visibility of cash excedents for a better investment

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

always good communication and 100% disponibilty for any changes the developer was based in agile methodology

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their prediction team and experience on prediction models are both impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement?

more visibility in the backlog in the sprint planner