Instinctools

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Product of an information technology company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Your privacy-enhancing alternative to Google Workspace/Notion. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire *instinctools to accomplish?

• Maintain pace of development without cutting corners on quality of the product and the UX/UI

SOLUTION

How did you find *instinctools?

Referral

Why did you select *instinctools over others?

Referred to me

How many teammates from *instinctools were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

They effectively supported our internal team by contributing experienced and capable professionals.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Instinctools has been a valuable partner for Fileverse by helping us maintain our pace without cutting corners on quality of the product and the UX/UI. With the help of their product designers and QA engineers, we increased the quality of our zero-knowledge (ZK), e2ee (end-to-end encrypted), and self-sovereign, products.

What made them a great partner was their capacity to proactively find the right fit and solutions based on the particularities of our needs. Instinctools will make your objectives their sole focus, and have a team of professionals that will abstract away all the operational parts of the partnership to allow you to focus on your business.

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

On time and great follow up.

What was your primary form of communication with *instinctools?

Email or Messaging App

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

Instinctools will make your objectives their sole focus, and have a team of professionals that will abstract away all the operational parts of the partnership to allow you to focus on your business.

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

Nothing to add. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the IT Mamanger of Kelvion

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Kelvion is the leading global developer and manufacturer of heat exchange solutions. Renowned for its commitment to innovation and sustainability, the company delivers cutting-edge thermal management solutions that empower customers to ensure reliable and efficient operations. 
Kelvion’s extensive portfolio serves a wide range of applications such as data centres, crypto-mining, hydrogen production, heat pumps, marine, HVAC, refrigeration and the food and beverage industry. The company's global sales, service and production network ensures that Kelvion is always available to support customers wherever they are. 
Whether supporting site installation, providing on-site technical service or replacement parts – Kelvion’s comprehensive range of service offerings is designed to optimise performance and extend the product lifecycle to ensure sustainability and reliability.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire *instinctools to accomplish?

• securing our critical business application
• ensure the proper functioning of the tool and its development
• implementation of a DRP on this tool

SOLUTION

How did you find *instinctools?

Referral

Why did you select *instinctools over others?

Pricing fit our budget

How many teammates from *instinctools were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

instinctools took care of securing our critical business application and now ensure the proper functioning of the tool, its development, and the implementation of a DRP.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our business applications are now stable, secured, and under control.

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

We took a flexible approach given the age of our application and the loss of knowledge about how it works that has occurred in the past years.

What was your primary form of communication with *instinctools?

Virtual Meeting

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

Effective remote work

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

not that I can see for now

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am a Transformation Lead at Neo Medical SA

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Neo Medical is a medical device company (spine implants and spine surgery instruments)

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire *instinctools to accomplish?

• Migrate our collaboration tools to Microsoft 365

SOLUTION

How did you find *instinctools?

Clutch competitor

Why did you select *instinctools over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from *instinctools were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

The initial scope of work focused entirely on a comprehensive IT infrastructure migration project. The primary objective was to transition our collaboration and file storage systems from existing platforms – Google Workspace (including emails, Google Drive, and Calendar) and Tresorit – to a new Microsoft 365 tenant.

Key deliverables:

• Successful and complete migration of all specified data from Google Workspace and Tresorit to the Microsoft 365 tenant.
• Correct configuration and mapping of user accounts, shared mailboxes, and organizational structures within Microsoft 365.
• Implementation of solutions for identified potential issues (e.g., Online Archive).
  Delivery of user-friendly documentation and effective training sessions for all employees.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The primary success was the smooth and efficient migration to Microsoft 365, completed with minimal disruption to our operations. Proactive solutions, like the Online Archive implementation, ensured a robust and scalable system. Comprehensive documentation and training significantly eased user adoption. Our decision to engage Instinctools for ongoing IT support directly reflects our satisfaction with their performance and the positive impact of the migration project on our IT landscape.

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

Instinctools provided strong project management with regular follow-up from a dedicated project manager. They consistently tried their best to address all our needs and were highly responsive. We appreciated their collaborative approach, always working with us to agree on a common way of doing things. They delivered items on time, meeting the agreed-upon schedule for the migration project and continuing to be reliable for ongoing support tasks.

What was your primary form of communication with *instinctools?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

We were particularly impressed by their high level of flexibility and ability to easily fit our specific needs. This was evident not only in their technical expertise and proactive problem-solving during the complex migration but also in their capacity to quickly find and mobilize resources for the ongoing IT support that followed. Their ability to provide reliable resources for this continuous support, which can sometimes be challenging for other companies to staff quickly, has been incredibly valuable.

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

If there was one area for potential improvement, it would be slightly more proactivity regarding change management initiatives, such as initiating employee training sessions. While the communication materials provided were excellent and developed in close agreement with us, we had to specifically request the Teams training meetings. However, once requested, the training was delivered very effectively, and the overall communication with our employees was handled very well.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the software engineering manager of a web development company.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Providing website, developement & designs solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire *instinctools to accomplish?

• Create a website design
• Develop the designed website

SOLUTION

How did you find *instinctools?

Referral

Why did you select *instinctools over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from *instinctools were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We needed a website to be redesigned and developed to enhance user experience, improve functionality, and align with our modern brand identity. Key deliverables included:

• A fully responsive website design optimized for all devices (desktop, tablet, and mobile).
• User experience (UX) and user interface (UI) improvements to streamline navigation and engagement.
• Custom front-end development with clean, performant code.
• Back-end integration to ensure seamless content management and dynamic functionality.
• SEO optimization to improve search visibility and organic traffic.
• Performance enhancements for faster load times and better Core Web Vitals.
• Cross-browser compatibility to ensure consistent performance across all platforms.
• Ongoing support and maintenance post-launch to address any issues and implement updates.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Beyond meeting expectations, their work was outstanding in both design and functionality. They even went the extra mile by visiting us on-site to present the final deliverable, ensuring every detail aligned with our vision. This level of dedication showcased their commitment to client success.

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

They delivered the project flawlessly within the agreed timeline and budget, demonstrating strong project management and adherence to deadlines. Their transparency throughout the process kept us informed and confident in their progress.

What was your primary form of communication with *instinctools?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

What impressed us most was their diligent approach to communication and seamless collaboration. They provided regular, detailed updates—keeping us informed at every stage without overwhelming us. Even more notably, they executed the entire project without disrupting our daily operations, adapting to our schedule rather than demanding last-minute meetings or delays. This combination of transparency and flexibility made the process effortless on our end and set them apart from typical vendors.

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

I cann't think of something.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the COO of LeanSquad Software

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Software development 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire *instinctools to accomplish?

Integrations

SOLUTION

How did you find *instinctools?

Online Search

Why did you select *instinctools over others?

Good developers

How many teammates from *instinctools were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

The goal of this project is to develop a web application utilizing Node.js for the backend and React for the frontend. The application aims to provide a seamless user experience, efficient data handling, and a responsive design that meets the specific needs of the client.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

1. User Engagement Metrics:

User Registration and Retention Rate: Measure the number of users who registered and continued to use the application over a defined period (e.g., 30, 60, or 90 days).

Session Duration: Track the average time users spend on the application, indicating engagement levels.

Feature Usage Statistics: Analyze which features are used most frequently to assess whether they meet user needs.

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

• User Satisfaction Score (CSAT): Conduct surveys to gather feedback on user satisfaction, aiming for a score of 80% or higher.
• Net Promoter Score (NPS): Evaluate users’ likelihood to recommend the application to others, with a target of +30 or above.

What was your primary form of communication with *instinctools?

Virtual Meeting

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

The project management for the web application development was organized and efficient, adhering to established methodologies such as Agile or Scrum. The team held regular sprint meetings to assess progress, discuss challenges, and re-prioritize tasks as necessary. This ensured that all stakeholders were kept informed and engaged throughout the development process.
The team demonstrated a strong commitment to delivering items on time and was highly responsive to client needs and feedback. They established open lines of communication, utilizing tools like Slack or project management software to facilitate ongoing dialogue.
In summary, the project management was effective, with timely delivery of milestones and a strong responsiveness to client needs, resulting in a web application that successfully met the project’s goals.

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

There are no areas identified.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of Development of an engineering company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Implementation and design of conveyor systems and development of autonomous mobile robots

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire *instinctools to accomplish?

• Development of a webbased Userinterface

SOLUTION

How did you find *instinctools?

Online Search

Why did you select *instinctools over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Awesome effort in quote presentation

How many teammates from *instinctools were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

The aim was to develop an intuitive web user interface for a mobile robot. Particular attention was to be paid to the target group, ease of use and the rapid implementation of an initial MVP for presentation at a trade fair.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

A truly innovative and intuitive user interface for mobile robots that offers unprecedented simplicity for the user.

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

The project management was highly professional and extremely structured. Transparent plans were drawn up and metrics were used each week to show progress and risks. Whenever there was a change to the plan, sometimes at very short notice, maximum effort was put into realizing the plan

What was your primary form of communication with *instinctools?

Virtual Meeting

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

*instinctools delivers great work at a reasonable price, and they are very flexible with cost options. I was also impressed with how the project was structured in terms of their expertise: they literary gave us access to experts and professionals that openly shared their knowledge with us.
These facts make them stand out as true, honest, and diligent professionals.

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

There is always room for improvement, but I am absolutely satisfied with the performance of *instinctools

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Frontend guild manager of a CX Solutions Company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We provide personalized user experiences for brands and retailers based on a wide range of behavioral data, across multiple mediums.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire *instinctools to accomplish?

• Assist in reducing our tech backlog
• Support our R&D efforts in lower prioritized areas
• Migration of legacy projects to modern stacks & infrastructures

SOLUTION

How did you find *instinctools?

• Referral
• Other

Why did you select *instinctools over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fits our budget
• Great culture fit
• Impressed by the level of technical skills

How many teammates from *instinctools were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

At the start of the project, the team's focus revolved around the migration of legacy Angular code to a more modern stack - mainly React. Over time the team has also worked on several additional areas which were considered as less prioritized but with high impact, once completed. This allowed us to free our internal teams to keep focused on higher priority tasks, while retaining an ongoing effort not to neglect the rest of our product offerings.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Onboarding of the team was done very quickly - the team "hit the ground running" and was very quick in picking up their tasks, understanding them, and delivering on them. We were also very impressed with the team's level of communication and quality of work. At the beginning the team worked pretty isolated from our internal development teams, but once both sides were more familiar with each other's contributions - integrations worked very smoothly. 
Availability and communications were very good, and - based on feedback from both sides, and past experiences with other vendors - it feels both sides understand each other pretty well. On most of the epics the team was tasked with they were able to exceed our expectations in both the quality of work, as well as hitting delivery milestones. We were also impressed with the team's effort to be involved more, and to reach beyond the areas they worked on.

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

PM was very professional and well maintained. Goals and timelines were set and understood clearly. On most tasks and epics - where there were no external blockers during development and testing - they were able to deliver on time and even exceeded our estimates. Responses to shifting needs and definitions - which did happen a lot, unfortunately - were quite positive, and the team was able to be very reactive.

What was your primary form of communication with *instinctools?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Compared with prior experiences with other vendors, we were very impressed with both the team's level of communication and quality of work. We were pleased with their responsiveness and willingness to be involved in our business.

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

I believe the team (and the vendor in general) are making a great effort to deliver. So far I have not experienced anything major that I would flag as a major area that requires improvements.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of Engineering of lawpilots GmbH

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

lawpilots GmbH works in the ed-tech industry and provides the best in class trainings for companies in the area of compliance, data protection and security, and ESG.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire *instinctools to accomplish?

• Build and maintain our Learning Management System (SaaS)
• Provide QA capabilities for our Learning Management System (automated and manual)

SOLUTION

How did you find *instinctools?

Other

Why did you select *instinctools over others?

Good value for cost

How many teammates from *instinctools were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

instinctools engineers work on delivering new and improving existing features of our SaaS offering, including dev.ops activities of our cloud infrastructure. Lately instinctools also provide us with a QA automation engineer to help us with our e2e testing efforts.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

A continuously growing and happy customer base that values our service. We have low churn rates looking at the customers that use the system.

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

instinctools does deliver on time and budget. The company proactively asks how they can support our efforts and provide ideas how to help us with very good candidates with expertise that either we requested or that instinctools identified to be missing.

What was your primary form of communication with *instinctools?

Virtual Meeting

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

The professional way everyone at instinctools shows when working with them – from the account management to the engineers we work with.

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

Maybe provide us with an option to buy out their engineers after let's say 18 months :).

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the co-founder and CEO of SpexAI GmbH. Our company is currently developing an AI-driven imaging system to streamline cannabis cultivation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with *instinctools?

We sought out professionals who could assist us in creating our frontend and backend solutions, specifically to manage our imaging systems and present data in a visual format for our customers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

We asked *instinctools to write the whole software regarding steering our camera systems. The overall task was to connect our research partners' software and manual steering with the camera systems and save and load the data.

We needed a user-friendly and intuitive frontend software tool, like a questionnaire. This tool would help guide our research partners through the entire process. Additionally, we required the device to allow annotations on pictures taken by our camera system. The team has been utilizing Figma and Python. 

As a startup, we don't always have tasks for the team. There have been more significant breaks in between when we're fundraising or testing our development, but then we continue to work together. 

More recently, we began a new project to visualize our data, and *instinctools has been developing a map feature to see all the details we're acquiring with our camera system and analyzing our AI. This allows our clients to have a map of their greenhouses, all the details, and actionable insights we give them.

When we embark on a new project, we have thorough discussions with both our team and the team on our side. We establish all necessary requirements and prioritize them accordingly. We keep track of everything using lists or advanced tools. We work through each requirement, review the results, and make any necessary revisions.

What is the team composition?

We work with a team of 2–10 people. The sales executive is my primary contact. The co-founder drives all technical development and constantly communicates with the tech team. We collaborate with a business analyst, senior and junior developers, and a single team lead. 

How did you come to work with *instinctools?

My co-founder was contacted through LinkedIn by them. Later, when we established our company, he remembered the interaction and reconnected with them. 

How much have you invested in them?

We've invested almost €300,000 Euros (approximately $332,600 USD),

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with *instinctools in October 2019, and it's an ongoing collaboration. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We're pleased with *instinctools. Their business analysts are exceptional. They serve as the spokespeople between technology and business, representing both sides effectively. 

We work with a time and effort contract, but it's not an open budget. The team is dependable when it comes to managing time and finances, consistently staying within the designated budget.

How did *instinctools perform from a project management standpoint?

Usually, the *instinctools team delivers before the deadline, which is fantastic. 

We use Slack, Jira, and Google Meet for calls for communication. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I'm most impressed by *instinctools' transparency and open communication. We can quickly get on a call whenever there are issues without any hidden agendas. I appreciate their authenticity. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Developing software on a project basis can be difficult. As we don't always have the same ongoing project, new teams are assigned to us periodically. Despite having worked with *instinctools for some time, we often have to start from scratch and brief the new team. This can be challenging and frustrating for us. However, we are unsure if this is manageable from their perspective because they have to fill their resources. It isn't necessarily a negative aspect, but that's the only improvement from our side. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

When working with a third-party service provider as a client, clearly communicating your expectations is essential. Putting everything in writing and having multiple iterations beforehand can help prevent misunderstandings and manage your expectations. It's best to be proactive to avoid getting caught in a vicious cycle.