Euristiq

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a co-founder of a pre-construction value management estimation tool used to create efficiencies in projects. I primarily handle product management and operations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Euristiq, and what were your goals?

We needed developers that would be able to understand the unique and custom features required to build a website from scratch. We are budget conscious and were looking for a company that we could partner with that would provide:

1. high quality services
2. clear understanding of deliverables and timelines
3. professionalism.

SOLUTION

How did you select Euristiq and what were the deciding factors?

We contacted several companies like Euristiq. After receiving proposals back from Euristiq and others, we went with Euristiq because of the high level of up front detailed analysis put into the proposal.

Additionally, the CEO and CTO were extremely friendly and informative throughout the pre-SOW phase.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Full MVP phase development (from scratch) of a web-application that harnesses grid technology (AG Grid) and Stripe integration.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Initially, we worked with Ivan, the CEO of Euristiq. He eventually brought on 2 - 3 additional senior developers (CTO and senior tech lead) to discuss high level requirements. Now, we have a full scrum team (3-4 developers, 1 QA, and 1 project manger) that work with us in an Agile framework.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We have 2 week sprints. After each sprint there is a detailed sprint demo coordinated and led by the development team. These sprint demos correlate with the delivery milestones documented in the Project plan.

The deliverables I've received so far have been of high quality. There is evidence of thorough analysis in the requirements so that the end result matches the true problem statement of each user story.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

Email, Teams, Jira, and Confluence.

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

Extreme diligence and professionalism. Additionally, Euristiq seems to really care about building the right things. This means, they try to understand the "why" behind building something before doing the work.

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

None that I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of an IT consulting business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Euristiq?

We have a multilingual, multichannel language processing platform that was built by engineers, and we needed somebody to provide good UI/UX resources. We wanted someone who would look at the bigger picture and help us determine the best UI/UX.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Euristiq worked on our Angular platform. They brought on somebody to make what we had done look and feel better, and they also provided decent suggestions in terms of what experience would be best. One of their teammates provided a high-level performance review of our current state.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two teammates, including a senior engineer or architect.

How did you come to work with Euristiq?

I had worked with them on another project. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about €14,000 (approximately $16,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in August 2020, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The UX is smoother and easier to use. We’ve received a good reaction from our sales events. It looks cleaner. 

How did Euristiq perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is good. Our full-time engineer operates as a part of our team, which works well. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Euristiq knows what they’re doing in the UI/UX space. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing they could do better. Initially, they had trouble meeting my expectations, but the senior leadership was very understanding and dismissed some candidates. They eventually adopted the level that I expected.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you understand all of your requirements ahead of time. The more they know, the better they can serve you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO at a company that provides solutions in identity management, identity verification, and data sharing for government, financial, and other public markets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Euristiq?

We needed to add to our development capacity.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Euristiq augments our development capacity in areas of development where we need a fast turnaround and engineering expertise in Go. They’ve worked on many projects for us.

What is the team composition?

There’s a team of 20, and I interact with Ivan (CEO). We work with their operational leads, their chief architect, and their development lead, among others.

How did you come to work with Euristiq?

We did a search for companies that could provide such services. Euristiq came to us proactively, and we almost found them by mistake. We had good cohesion with their management team.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2018, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve been very happy with the quality of service they’ve provided. They deliver on time and within budget. The team delivers quality work.

How did Euristiq perform from a project management standpoint?

We have regular standup meetings, and the development team has daily standups. We have management meetings probably once a week and sometimes bi-weekly. I also meet with a CTO partner every month. Euristiq meets deadlines all of the time. We use Atlassian and Confluence.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are responsive to our needs, have the ability to adjust to fast changes in the requirements, and will work overtime.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there are no problems.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Using remote development organizations is always an interesting proposition for everyone. Sometimes it’s hard to adjust using the remote development organization. 

I strongly recommend embedding Euristiq’s developers in the teams of their potential clients so that it’s not an “us and them” attitude and it’s always a team effort. I advise clients to understand who the lead is on Euristiq’s side so that they have someone to rely on.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for Octopus Group. We are primarily in investment financial services, but we also do energy, healthcare, and P2P lending. I am the VP of engineering, so I look after the engineering test delivery function.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Euristiq?

We operate agile teams that are based around products. I wanted some offshore resources to bolster our teams. The main aim was to have cost-effective resources with specific technical knowledge. It’s difficult to find good, inexpensive technical knowledge in the UK, so I resolved that by going offshore.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Because we work in a team extension model, Euristiq’s resources have worked on a whole host of tasks. I engage and treat them as if they are full-time employees, and they work on many things. They have needed to be very adaptable to different projects and skills.

I have a frontend developer who works in Angular and backend developers who work in the .NET stack. They are proficient in writing C# code in .NET, but also very good at working in cloud-based solutions. They’re good at Azure DevOps and automation, such as building CI/CD pipelines in DevOps. They also have database knowledge. I wouldn’t say the backend runs a full-stack because they don’t do much on the frontend, but they certainly are experts in a range of different technologies on the backend, including database and backend components.

What is the team composition?

Currently, we have four people from their team working with us.

How did you come to work with Euristiq?

I needed to find offshore resources, but it was challenging finding people directly via word of mouth. I decided to find vendors that would find those people for me. I contacted different companies that I found through various sources. I interviewed the companies to make sure they were the right fit for us; that included meeting some of our compliance requirements around data security and things like that. We also wanted to make sure they were the right cultural fit and that they were willing to work with us in the way we wanted to work, i.e. the team engagement model, and that they weren’t going to try and push us down the project route. Based on an initial discussion with Ivan (CEO), Euristiq was a suitable fit.

How much have you invested in them?

We have spent around £300,000 (approximately $370,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We imported our first resource from them in July 2018. We’re still working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Of all the vendors I work with, and I have a few, they have provided the best quality engineers at a very good price. The engineers have been more junior, but they’ve actually come in with mid–senior level experience. They have done a really good job and been team players. They are very ambitious and keen to learn, which is a good challenge for me. They are from a university town, so I think they have the pick of the crop. They have been knowledgeable.

How did Euristiq perform from a project management standpoint?

We are agile, so it is on a week-to-week basis. They report directly to a dev team lead who manages their work. They work in sprints, so it changes every two weeks. We have to move them around to different teams every now and then, and they are fine with that. They are very adaptable.

We use Kanban boards. We were using Clubhouse, but at the moment, we are using Jira and Azure DevOps.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I would say their technical knowledge and willingness to take stuff on set them apart. It is a challenge for us to make sure they have stretched targets because they always want to learn more.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they have been fine actually. They are the easiest vendor to work with, and I have no complaints at all.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I interviewed everyone on their team, and I think that worked well. If you want a successful team, you need people who are the right cultural as much as technical fit. They have generally come up with really good candidates. 

I would also say that you need to keep communication open; they are an intelligent and ambitious lot, and they want to know what is going on all the time. They want to know what they will be working on next. Keeping them engaged and maintaining open communication lines is important.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of Rolique. We are a web and mobile development company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Euristiq?

As an agency, we work on high-profile projects. Sometimes we need expertise or a team extension really quickly, and that was the main reason we got in touch with Euristiq.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We involved Euristiq so that we could extend our technical team on short notice. We’ve worked on two projects with them. One project was the transformation of services for an international furniture retail company, and the other project was the development of a corporate security application. One of the projects was short-term and lasted three months. The other project is ongoing, and we have been working on it for eight months so far.

What is the team composition?

Euristiq has provided us with three engineers for the two projects. One person is still working on the existing project, and the two other people from their team were part of the short-term project of three months. We’ve been happy with all three of them.

How did you come to work with Euristiq?

I know the founder of Euristiq, and that is how I got in touch with them. We went through their recruiting process to try and understand what their skill level was. We were surprised that the culture and tech expertise that they had were exactly what we were looking for.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them for the first time in August 2019, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The first metric is the ease of onboarding. We onboarded them really quickly, and they rapidly assimilated into our team. They work diligently and contribute a great deal to the projects. We track the work through Jira and GitHub, and we also do code reviews. The code quality, level of performance, and communication are all on a really high level. I can also point out that their thought skills are very good, and they have an excellent command of English in general.

How did Euristiq perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Jira, Slack, and GitHub, and we’ve never had a problem with a failed deadline or lack of communication. In general, communication and commitments have always been met. Communication is on a really good level, in my opinion.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve gone the extra mile on assignments that we’ve given them. They think outside of the tasks given and think about the product, which is very important. They provide valuable technical consultations, which we very much appreciate. In general, all of the people who have come through Euristiq are proactive and professional, which we also appreciate a lot.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We are super happy with them. Any issues, even if they were minor, have been solved right away, so I cannot even call those issues.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You can trust them. I have to point out that the CEO and CTO are very helpful. They are tech-savvy, and you can rely on them. They are professional and have a great level of tech expertise.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company provides custom software, integration, analytics, and big data solutions for our clients, serving the healthcare, IoT/operations, agriculture, and logistics industries. I'm the CTO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Euristiq?

Our project was to implement a specialized patient electronic management system for a specialized medical clinic. It was an angular front end with a .net core backend. We required additional capacity development capacity to implement the complex workflows and interface interactions,.

What were your goals for this project?

The interface was complex in that through the single-page web application, it must accommodate multiple modules, entities, user interfaces and workflows. The solution needed to have an intuitive design, be aestheticly appealing, and very efficient. Further, it had to conform with the regulatory requirements related to the management of patient information.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

A trusted advisor had experiance with Euristiq and suggested they may be able to assist us. We engaged them and provided them a few augmentation related tasks, and based on their performance with these activities, we decided to increase their responsibilities on our project.

Describe the project in detail.

We engaged the Euristiq, provided them interface user stories while we developed the back end. We worked with them through the implementation and integration of their development efforts into the code base for the application.

What was the team composition?

the team included a project lead, quality assurance lead, 2-3 back end developers, and 3 front end developers. Euristiq provided 2 of our front end developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

While the project had its challenges, the team really came together, and pulled it off. The final product met all the original goals of aesthetics, intuitive design, and performance.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

workflow was good - we had daily scrum meetings, and because of the timezone difference, we started our day with a recap of the progress they had made. We used Jira to manage user story requirements, and implemented a client acceptance checklist to ensure overall progress completion. English as a second language (ESL) issues were not experienced.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They have top-notch front end developers who could quickly implement our interface workflows and designs. One of our challenges was ensuring we had enough work defined that they would remain fully engaged on the project! They would identify opportunities for improvement, and they were very easy to work with.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We have implemented a checkpoint between our two companies to discuss opportunities for continuous improvement. We will continue to leverage Euristiq to augment our team, and have already engaged them on two other projects. An areas for improvement is better ownership of the assigned user stories, however, our experiance is that is more about how we engaged, versus thier capabilities or approached. If we gave only highly detailed tasks, their ability to own the approach and outcome didn't exist.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of software development for Europe’s largest airline. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Euristiq?

We hired Euristiq for development services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve worked with Euristiq’s developers on two major projects. My company has about ten teams working in parallel, with each team being responsible for an area of the website. For instance, the payment delivery team is responsible for the payment page. Euristiq provides developers to supplement these teams.

The first project they helped us with was a website rebuild and redesign. They were also involved in an internal project, which was for scheduling and some operational processes around flying the aircraft. They’ve supported .NET and Angular development.

What is the team composition?

My main contact is Ivan (CEO & Co-Founder, Euristiq), and we’ve worked with roughly 20 developers altogether.

How much have you invested with them?

I don’t have an exact number, but we found them to be of good value.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Euristiq in July 2017, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everyone on my team has found them to be good to work with. Even though they’re contractors, they seem to be very much a part of the team. The rollout of the new website is going well, which Euristiq contributed to; we’ve seen significant improvements in performance as well as uplifts in conversion and revenue. Their output has been high-quality. Overall, it’s been a successful engagement.

How did Euristiq perform from a project management standpoint?

We follow the Scrum methodology and work in two-week sprints. Their developers work remotely, but they occasionally visit us, and we have team get-togethers once or twice a year. They’re very active on Slack and other communication channels. They also attend our daily team meetings via Slack, Chime, or some Webex alternative, and they join in as any other team member would.

Ivan and the company’s CTO provide background support. I meet with the CTO every 1–2 weeks to discuss how things are going. He tells me how his team sees things and vice versa. I also provide feedback on his developers.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The developers are high-quality, and we’ve been satisfied with them. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No; overall, we’re pretty satisfied.

Any advice for potential customers?

This isn’t specific to Euristiq, but ensure you’re getting the right people and skill level. I would’ve liked to put all of Euristiq’s resources through our own interview process.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

The company I work for develops Zigbee controllers for outdoor and complete luminaires. Our customers need LED retrofitting and control systems for their homes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Euristiq?

We hired Euristiq to develop a backend to handle the incoming Zigbee nodes and display the information on a web-based frontend. We also needed firmware development.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted an easy-to-use, UX web application and structured backend that can handle several real-time Zigbee nodes for our customers.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We had worked with Euristiq for several projects in the past and felt comfortable with their dedication and quality resources.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They used C# and Microsoft Azure to develop the web app. They did the complete integration of the system architecture based on our customers’ requirements. Their team helped with the backend coding and frontend development for the platform, as well as firmware development. They are currently supporting our daily operations with the system.

What was the team composition?

The project began with two teammates, but the number increased to 5–10 people when the scope expanded.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Euristiq delivered the work on time and as expected, even when our requirements changed throughout the project. We were able to get the platform live quickly as an MVP, and we’ve built new features into it.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Their team was effective in managing the project. They met every deadline, even if it required working late.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They outsource tasks effectively and track the work closely, which is rare in this industry. Their ability to complete and manage the project efficiently was impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement?

In my experience, there was nothing I’d suggest they improve.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We’re a digital product design firm, helping enterprises and startups to create designs and launch successful digital products. I’m one of three partners in the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Euristiq?

We needed a software development firm to develop a smart energy management solution for the building sector.

What were your goals for this project?

We were looking for a firm with the expertise to develop the software part of a smart energy management solution. There was also a high priority on connection security, so we needed to find an IoT partner who would share our design vision.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We interviewed numerous local agencies and found Euristiq IoT’s technology offering to be a perfect match. They had an impressive client list and a proven, successful track record of delivering IoT projects, so it was an easy choice.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They took our designs and built an application, utilizing their expertise in IoT to create a reliable and secure connectivity solution. It’s a complex application based on a variety of access technologies, from common Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular, to emerging narrowband-IoT communication technologies like Lora and Zigbee.

What was the team composition?

There was a project manager as well as a number of software experts. Our team did a lot of the UI/UX work alongside Euristiq's software developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They understood the business need and goals, and they leveraged their IoT expertise to provide a high-quality and secure application with a smooth delivery.

We’re very pleased with the work and have gotten great feedback from our customers. We wouldn’t have worked with Euristiq for a whole year if the results were not excellent.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Their attention to detail, emphasis on IoT security, and generosity with time contributed to a fruitful relationship. They pulled off amazing work and demonstrated their solid work ethic. The project manager made communication easy, effective, and transparent. We used Jira and had regular team meetings. They went the extra mile to ensure highly-secure connectivity, which is a key factor in any IoT application.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The final product was the most impressive thing about our cooperation. I truly appreciate their conformity to industry best practices and how they provided a boutique experience.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, all of their work is consistently high quality. Euristiq has been a great technology partner, and I highly recommend working with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

HeSaLight was a street-lighting company that was putting intelligent controls into street lamps to control luminaires through a backend service and database. I was the manager of the project for both hardware and software, including development, introduction, and getting the product to market. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Euristiq?

We wanted to make a fully compliant backend to retrieve data from all the luminaires around the world. A year or two ago, we planned to install 1 million luminaires, but only managed to install 50,000 before the company closed down. We tested (simulated) with 1 million on the backed. The server backend needed to retrieve all the data from luminaires, which were actually sending data every 15 minutes. Creating a system like this was quite a challenge.

Euristiq also did extensive simulations for the millions of lamps using the system to see how it would work in real life. Our clients would get all the metric data from the lamps and be able to control them. The system also had to track all the hardware and the luminaires from the first day they were manufactured, through the process of installation, and after they were live in cities.

This was a brand-new invention for our company. Other companies are doing similar things, but this was our own design and concept at the time. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We discussed different ways to create the system, and Euristiq proposed multiple mechanisms and ideas to achieve our goals. The requirements spec was designed along the way because we wanted to evolve during the whole process. I discussed our options with Euristiq, and we came up with ways to handle different tasks within the scope of the project.

The product communicated through an SIP [structural insulated panels] system, a radio system, and some gateways. From the gateways to the backend, we had TCP/IP [transmission control protocol/internet protocol] connections running through telephone cords. Euristiq developed the engine to communicate with thousands of gateways around the world that were each connecting to hundreds of luminaires. The system ran on a big, scalable Azure environment with different database technologies for various purposes.

I worked with 2 or 3 people but primarily communicated with Pavlo [CTO and Co-Founder, Euristiq].

How did you come to work with Euristiq?

I and another company actually worked for HeSaLight as consultants. The other consultant company had used Euristiq before. I was working on a part of the project in the beginning, and then I became the team lead for the whole project.

How much have you invested with Euristiq?

It was around $350,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2016 and the work ended in December 2016. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their service was totally outstanding. Once we discussed a task and the timeframe, they never let me down. Everything was delivered on time, and the work was always excellent. They addressed multiple items that I didn’t even mention to them.

While they developed the product, they also were making the tools to test it accurately. The quality of the solution is outstanding. I’m really sorry that I could not continue working with Euristiq. We were completely satisfied with the solution—the backend, the graphics, the human interaction with the system, and everything else. I only have the highest praise for the product.

How did Euristiq perform from a project management standpoint?

They always submitted a schedule of completed work with the hours that we paid them for. We didn’t focus too much on documentation, but because there were so many things that we wanted to do with the system, the technical stuff was documented. I had no doubts about what they had been doing.

What did you find most impressive about Euristiq?

I’ve been in the IT industry for the last 40 years, and I’ve worked on many electronics projects and software projects. I’ve been starting a number of companies using high-tech software. I cannot compare Euristiq to any other team. They’re excellent.

The team often shared their opinion on different engineering tasks. As a project manager, not knowing all of the technical details, I find it’s often difficult to express my ideas. Euristiq listened to me, which kept ideas growing throughout our discussions.  

Are there any areas Euristiq could improve?

No.