Development for Oxford University Press
- Custom Software Development
- Confidential
- June 2015 - Ongoing
- Quality
- 5.0
- Schedule
- 5.0
- Cost
- 4.0
- Willing to Refer
- 5.0
"I constantly refer them to friends and colleagues who are looking for offshore partners."
- Other industries
- Oxford, England
- 5,001-10,000 Employees
- Phone Interview
- Verified
Digiteum initially developed a framework to convert dictionary information into various digital formats. They now provide QA, testing, web design/dev, and API dev services.
Digiteum is organized and diligent in their reporting, and proactively suggests improvements to the client's proposals. They are now a go-to resource and have been engaged by different departments within the company for development and design work.
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
BACKGROUND
Introduce your business and what you do there.
Oxford University Press is the world’s largest and oldest university press. We’re based in Oxford, England with offices around the world. I am the technology director for the Academic Dictionaries Division in the Global Academic Group.
OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE
What challenge were you trying to address with Digiteum?
We have a very large licensing program where we license dictionary and language data to companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and others. It’s been a very successful program, but it was a very time-consuming and expensive process. We needed to take various sources of dictionary and language data and convert them into the format that we used. Before I joined 2 years ago, we’d been using freelancers and doing it on a case by case basis.
SOLUTION
What was the scope of their involvement?
The first project was the dictionary conversion framework and pipeline. I had worked with Digiteum previously and knew they were very skilled. I sat down with them and explained the business problem that I wanted to solve, which was getting a wide variety of dictionary and language data in a variety of formats. From there, we needed to create a conversion pipeline so we could convert data in a repeatable, cost-effective, and accurate way. They pulled together some plans and processes which we worked on and approved, and we took it from there. They provided architectural guidance and developers to build the technology. They provided the test and QA for both the system and the results of the system. They also provided linguistics assistance in some of the technical computation linguistic tasks that we do.
Because that program was successful, we expanded the relationship. We also used them for testing and QA services for our core lexical platform and websites. Meanwhile, our marketing team uses them for website design and development. We’ve also used them for technical development in some of our technical projects, primarily around API development and platform development.
They use a lot of the Microsoft tools and systems, doing a lot of work in .NET. They’re familiar with a variety of backend systems and languages such as PHP, JavaScript and scripting language for a variety of web servers. For the front-end, they can do HTML, JavaScript and CSS. They use C# for the conversion pipeline and they also use Python. They’re a pretty wide-ranging shop. I’ve worked with them previously where they helped with mobile application development (both iOS and Android) and I’ve yet to have them not be able to take on a technical situation. If they don’t have resources in-house, they typically can bring people in from other places inside Minsk to help us with issues.
How did you come to work with Digiteum?
I’d been at a previous digital agency in London called Beattie McGuinness Bungay (BMB). In my previous role, I inherited them. The founders of the Startup (BMB TAB) had selected Digiteum for some early prototyping and projects. I’m not sure how Mike and Roy selected them, whether it was skill or luck (or a bit of both) but I worked with Digieum at BMB for almost 2 years and was really impressed with them.
When I moved to Oxford, Digiteum was the first team that I thought of because I’d been working for them the past 2 years. The relationship was fresh and I knew that they would be ideal for the role. I’ve selected other offshore partners and agencies in the past, but I didn’t really have to do that this time because I’d worked with Digiteum before and they were a natural choice. I originally started working with them in March 2013 and through 2014. I’ve known them for almost 4 years now.
How much have you invested with Digiteum?
Over six figures.
What is the status of this engagement?
I joined Oxford University Press in January 2015. I believe I started engaging to get the contract in place in March. We kicked off work around June or July of 2015 and we’ve basically worked with them non-stop since then. We’ve been using them for a year and a half and we’ll continue to do so.
RESULTS & FEEDBACK
Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?
We work in a very Agile and lean way, which involves sprints. There’s never a question of their commitment; they deliver on time and on budget. Because of the success we had in the conversion pipeline, the marketing team at Oxford University Press in the Global Academic Group brought them on to work on websites and others. A couple of my other partners have brought them on as well. I’ve never had an issue with them. They deliver what they say they’re going to do. We’ve been happy.
How did Digiteum perform from a project management standpoint?
They did really well. Most of their engineers speak really good English, but some don’t. They always ensure that the main project manager and technical leads speak good English. We typically have daily stand-ups for the project and we have weekly project calls. We also get reports at the end of each sprint. We get regular financial reports, budgetary reports, on what’s been spent.
What did you find most impressive about Digiteum?
I’ve used partners from Eastern Europe, Poland, Russia, and Belarus. I’ve also used folks from Vietnam, China, and India. The thing I like about the Digiteum team is they will push back and challenge assumptions. If I ask them to build something or take on a project, they’ll come back and suggest enhancements. That’s what I look for in a partner. I don’t want somebody that’s just going to do exactly what I say because I make mistakes. I enjoy the fact that they’ll ask if we’ve thought about doing something else or using this tool, or we could do it faster if we drop these features to get it to market so you could test it. They will tell me if they think I’m going in the wrong direction. I really appreciate that. If I ask them to build a car and accidentally say, “Build that with square wheels,” they’ll let me know. I’ve worked with other partners who would literally build me a car with square wheels and not push back.
I like the fact that if I ever do have an issue or question, I can pick up the phone and talk to my technical leads or my project manager. I can also talk to the owners and co-founders at any time, provide feedback, and get things fixed. I’ve never had an issue that’s not been resolved. We can have very candid and open discussions on matters. The team is very upfront—they tell it like it is and I like that. They do what they say they do. They go above and beyond. I imagine that there’ve been times that they’ve been behind on a deliverable. Instead of coming back and saying, “We need extra time,” they just get it done whether that means working extra hours or taking a hit on the margin they would make. They’re in it for the long-term.
Are there any areas Digiteum could improve?
Not really. They’re my go-to folks for technical projects and technical testing. It would be great if everyone in the shop spoke perfect English, but that’s not going to happen in an offshore company. Everyone’s written communication is good.
RATINGS
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Quality
5.0Service & Deliverables
"They always deliver what I expect and sometimes a lot more."
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Schedule
5.0On time / deadlines
"If they ever look like they’re going to slip, they work extra to make sure it’s done. We’ve never had an issue on schedules."
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Cost
4.0Value / within estimates
"They’re not the cheapest offshore partner I’ve ever used, but the value that I get makes up for the slightly increased cost."
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Willing to Refer
5.0NPS
"I constantly refer them to friends and colleagues who are looking for offshore partners.
