Ibexlabs

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO and Founder of MapClick Marketing, a Software Development and Consulting Firm located in Princeton NJ. We primarily focus on SaaS Application Development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Ibexlabs?

We have been developing and maintaining a very complex and custom saas ecosystem for various sales industries. We had reached a point where we needed to constantly scale and have our projects infrastructure revamped, AWS DevOps, and proper road mapping to ensure our platform could reliably scale with our demands.

IbexLabs solved all of these needs very quickly and have certainly placed a level of piece of mind in our Development Projects & IT Department.

What were your goals for this project?

Goals were simple: We wanted to ensure that our current applications were on a better infrasctructure and one that could properly and reliably scale. We were looking for piece of mind, and a complete solution. IbexLabs has delivered!

SOLUTION

How did you select Ibexlabs?

My team had researched for about 1 month to procure a "solid, reliable, and well accredited" company which we could trust with our complex and immediate needs. Through various reviews, I was sold on the fact that they immediately understood our needs and were swift to propose the proper POA with realistic timelines.

A major advantage also is their location, being local to our business is always a plus. Ultimately - We could tell we found a diamond in the rough.

Describe the project in detail.

Ibexlabs spent a great amount of time with our internal development application team as well as our additional assets to understand our unique application requirements. This paid tremendous dividends as they provided a clear plan of action to service not only our immediate business needs, but also for long term scalability/reliability.

Ibexlabs provided great analysis of our current systems architecture, security, limitations and recommended a number of changes. All of which have led to a much better product / scale / infrastructure. IbexLabs will continue to manage all our Infrastructure and DevOps needs.

What was the team composition?

I typically deal with 1-2 PM's, but am always aware of the 7-8 members responsible for the weekly deliverables for our projects. Very clear and transparent communication with all members of the team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within 3-4 months, our applications are running much smother and we are able to handle our scaling and fluctuating needs perfectly. We have not had a single negative instance since the changes IbexLabs recommended were implemented. Our ability to integrate, scale, and furthering our product(s) are much better and simpler due to the IbexLabs team and continuous maintenance and monitoring.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

From a Project Management standpoint, A+. Great communication! And always straight to the point.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Most impressive about this company is their wealth of knowledge not only on the items that which we directly request their assistance on, but also their ability to anticipate our future needs. They are very much on top of emerging technology and methodologies, and I love that I can trust them to bring this to my attention in our regular reviews.

Are there any areas for improvement?

From communication to implementation to continuous maintenance. Surpassed our expectations, and continue to do so each month.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Co-Founder and CEO of a startup called Brevvie, which rents everyday items through an app-enabled smart locker.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Ibexlabs?

I needed my web application to be more available, scalable, and have redundancies in the AWS architecture to ensure uptime. Additionally, I wanted to move all security (WAF, SSL, etc) to AWS.

What were your goals for this project?

I wanted this project to be quick, cost effective, and set my company's AWS architecture for at least the next 6 months.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I selected this vendor after searching online reviews, and having a web conference interview.

Describe the project in detail.

I asked Ibexlabs to move my company's web app front end to S3 buckets, create auto scaling of our API using Elastic Beanstalk, and make SSL and WAF AWS managed. Additionally, I asked them to automate code deployment to the cloud.

What was the team composition?

Sri, the founder, was the project manager, and the heavy lifting was done by a very capable architect on his team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Ibexlabs is an incredible company to work with! Sri and his team made moving to a more suitable AWS environment a snap. They were very patient and understanding, as I am not very knowledgable about AWS. Now my web app is far more available, cheaper to run, and with greater redundancy and scalability. They delivered on time and on budget. They will be my "go to" team for AWS solutions.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Sri and his team are responsive, and easily contacted via Slack, email, and text.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Sri and his team are very patient, which is impressive, Changing AWS architecture often requires code changes to make the new architecture work. The team was patient and understanding as we made the necessary code changes.

Are there any areas for improvement?

This project went smoothly. I do not have critical feedback.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

i am the CTO at software company headquartered in NY that provides data integration and analytics solutions. our company has about 25 employees and we have clients across North America, Europe and Asia. I am responsible for overseeing the direction of technology within our product suite.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Ibexlabs?

We faced several challenges as we scaled our cloud infrastructure over the last few years. Ibex labs guided us in re-architect and implementing devops in accordance with the best practices. subsequent to this, we decided to perform the AWS well-architected review and because of our previous successful execution of cloud infrastructure automation we decided to go with Ibex labs for this project as well.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal of this project was to review how well we are aligned with the best practices as laid out in the AWS Well-Architected program and remediate any gaps that we find.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We selected this vendor based on our prior experience with them, where they helped us re-architect and implement the infrastructure automation. they had clearly communicated the project plan and were very flexible in terms of modifying the plan according to our needs.

Describe the project in detail.

The project started with an initial proposal from Ibex regarding all the pillars of Well-Architected review. We went through the proposal in great details with them and provided inputs to them regarding certain things relevant to our infrastructure. After a couple of iterations we came to a final agreement on the scope time lines and deliverables of the project.

What was the team composition?

There was 1 project manager and two devops engineers assigned to this project. In addition to this, we had 1 devops engineer from our end to co-ordinate the tasks and updates to the infrastructure with the Ibex team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

By the end of the project, we achieved compliance with all 5 pillars of Well-Architected review. It resulted in significant cost savings on our AWS infrastructure and we built solid DR capabilities for our infrastructure. There were a few minor items which required work on our end, so we worked with Ibex labs to capture the details and the relevant decisions.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had weekly meetings with Ibex where they clearly communicated the status of tasks and the plan for the upcoming week. They summarized the nature of changes that would be required for the upcoming work and also went into in-depth technical details when required. In addition to this we used slack for communication during the week discuss any items during the week. Overall the workflow was very smooth and Ibex team very effectively coordinated with our team to propagate infrastructure changes.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I am very impressed by their depth of knowledge and their willingness to explain all the concepts to our team and there was never a hesitation to hold back any information from us. I was also pleased with their willingness to figure out solutions related to our unique situations which often required some reading and experimentation. Overall working with Ibex felt like a collaborative partnership.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Overall we are very pleased with the work they have done. One area of improvement, could be streamlining of initial setup for all the tools used for collaboration. Since there are multiple people across different geographies, several collaboration tools are required and some times setting up users on all of these tools gets complicated and can take up some time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO at a digital health company that focuses on providing remote patient monitoring solutions to chronic disease patients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ibexlabs?

We were pivoted from a consumer-focused business to a healthcare provider-oriented business. We needed help improving our security operations and becoming HIPAA compliant.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us establish a set of standard operating procedures that were consistent with HIPAA regulations. This included regular security risk assessment audits and a tracking system. 

What is the team composition? 

We work with a project manager and 3 additional team members. We’ve also interfaced with the management team. 

How did you come to work with Ibexlabs?

We were introduced to them by a mutual friend. We found them to be really knowledgeable, and they had experience with projects similar to ours. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $50,000-$100,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in August 2019, and the engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re now operating as a HIPAA compliant business, and their team is providing ongoing support to ensure that we remain compliant. We’ve successfully completed several audits and assessments. 

How did Ibexlabs perform from a project management standpoint?

We used JIRA for project management planning. We also have weekly meetings to keep track of our progress. Their team brings data reports to each meeting. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re very happy with them. They’re very professional and go out of their way to make themselves available. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Right now, not really. I can’t think of anything they need to improve on. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communicate high-level objectives and goals with their team. You don’t need to micromanage them because they can be effective if they simply know your business objectives.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of operations at Procedural Learning and Safety Collaborative, a nonprofit research organization. The software that we developed is used to measure and report on the autonomy and performance of surgical residents, as well as give them feedback.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ibexlabs?

We wanted to make sure everyone was able to work with AWS and do all of the development operations our company has done for so long. It's essential that we have a group that is able to handle spinning up servers and making sure our data is going and be saved to the right place as well as remaining compliant with any laws.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our software developers and data engineer interface with them and they support us in the projects we’re doing with the data we collect. They’re partners and not only help us but push us to discover the newest ways that we can manage our data and manage it effectively. They provide consulting services and push for best practices and cutting edge deployment of new services. For our data warehouses, they’ve been setting up a data lake.

What is the team composition?

We work with 4–5 people. The team has grown and they have people that specialize. Until about three years ago, we were only working with one person.

How did you come to work with Ibexlabs?

They started working with the company before I joined, but my boss chose them based on their experience.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $25,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

They started working with the company in July 2016 and the relationship is currently ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve been absolutely essential to keeping our business up and running in diagnosing problems, making sure that we’re staying compliant, and staying on top of the latest security practices. Our people are understanding our different types of technologies and how best to use them.

How did Ibexlabs perform from a project management standpoint?

Our quick communications are over Slack and we also use the Jira Service Desk and pull tickets if we need to, but they’re flexible on how we communicate with them. They’re pretty reliable over any way of communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They asked us if they could build a data lake for free just so they could learn. That was really awesome because it helped us keep up with cutting edge data. They really push us and it’s great. I’ve been really impressed with the way they’ve been operating and the quality and speed in which they provide services. It seems like they really understand what we’re trying to do and they help tailor their services to exactly what we need.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Work to build a relationship and understand who’s doing what. That helps them understand what your company’s mission is and they can better help you.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the COO of a healthcare application development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Ibexlabs?

Automation of administration and monitoring

What were your goals for this project?

Automate different processes on AWS

SOLUTION

How did you select Ibexlabs?

Initially they were recommended. We interviewed them and were impressed with their capabilities and responsiveness.

Describe the project in detail.

Automation of administrative and monitoring functions

What was the team composition?

IBEX had a project lead, project manager and several programmers. DASH was also involved.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Project was completed in five months. Delays were on our side.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow and team work were very effective.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Responsiveness, skill set and willingness to do what it takes to be successful

Are there any areas for improvement?

Project delays were on our side because certain aspects weren't ready

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CTO/CISO for an insur/fin tech startup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Ibexlabs?

I had the daunting task of building a highly secure, scalable, and cost-effective AWS architecture on a tight budget in unrealistic timeframes. Ibexlabs has helped me with that.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

A number of potential partners where interviewed where I asked them for their honest feedback on my initial thoughts, approach and architecture. Ibex provided a well thought out and reasoned answers - sometimes telling me what I needed to hear and maybe not what I wanted to hear. It's that kind of honest partnership approach that won them my confidence. 

Describe the project in detail.

The Ibex team provided thought leadership, architecture, implementation and ongoing support for our very robust and complex HIPAA/HITRUST solution.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Over the past 3 years the Ibex team has become part of our extended work family and are trusted and valued partners. As with most families we've had our "moments" but we've always remained focused on the larger goals, addressed the issues at hand and got back to doing great things together.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are restaurant online ordering company. I am the managing partner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Ibexlabs?

to help build a new infrastructure on the AWS platform.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Reviews on Upwork.

Describe the project in detail.

Got our current platform (which was ransomwared) running on AWS.

What was the team composition?

We used 2 resources from Ibexlabs and 3 from our company.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project was a complete success. We implemented a new infrastructure within a few days and were able to process transactions again in under a week.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Workflow was very effective. ibexlabs recommended slack for chat and we used zoom and teleconference when necessary.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Responsiveness. They were available and ready pretty much 24/7. Also if they didn't have the answer, they were amazing at finding a resolutuon.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None yet. We are about to sign a support agreement with them. Will see how that goes.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-founder and CTO of Skubana, a SaaS operations platform for high-volume, multi-channel brands and retailers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Ibexlabs?

Ibexlabs has been providing ongoing development, maintenance, and consulting of our various aspects of our DevOps and infrastructure for over five years.

What were your goals for this project?

Our primary goal was to have rock-solid, cost-effective, and cutting edge infrastructure that would allow our software to scale with minimal effort.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We evaluated over half a dozen vendors, and chose Ibexlabs based on their track record and presentation.

Describe the project in detail.

Our infrastructure required design, implementation and ongoing support within the AWS ecosystem. This included EC2/ECS instances, RDS, S3, security zones, and all VPC configuration.

What was the team composition?

The base team consists of three DevOps engineers/consultants, and one project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Ibexlabs delivered on all aspects of their work, and continues to do so with our ongoing and ever-changing requirements.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The communication is excellent, especially considering the remote nature of work. We have ongoing weekly and monthly calls, constant and consistent updates, and transparency on every level.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their technical knowledge, domain acumen, and lightning response times.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We would love for them to be more proactive in providing advice. The technical expertise is there, and they should use it.