Infopulse

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder & CEO of stazzle (stazzle.de) – a digital portal for temporary staff management that connects healthcare facilities and personnel service providers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our project received the first round of investment, and we moved forward with the solution development. We needed to strengthen our internal team and close the expertise gap to launch an MVP and validate the project potential.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We were looking for a service provider with specific technical expertise and relevant experience in custom solution development. Infopulse met all the criteria and offered the most fitting service package.

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

Infopulse covered all aspects of the product development, including core features of the platform, frontend & backend, implemented analytics and user dashboards, created automated tests and mobile API, and ensured solution security and compliance. They worked closely with our in-house team and project managers, who overlooked the business side of the solution.

Altogether, it allowed us to launch the MVP of our product and move forward to planning further development of a full-scale platform with extended functionality. At the moment, the team is working on refining the MVP, as well as being involved in planning the second iteration of stazzle.

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

From the beginning of the project, 19 engineers from Infopulse worked with us, including:

• Delivery manager
• Product owner
• Back-end Developer (PHP)
• Front-end Developer (Angular)
• Manual QA Engineer
• DevOps Engineer (Azure)

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project was finished on time and according to the product roadmap. As a result, we launched an MVP of stazzle within the expected timeframe and acquired a few clients who now actively use our solution. Infopulse also provided extensive R&D services and contributed to the platform redesign and roadmap for full-scale product development.

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

Since the start of the cooperation, we have established a close and effective connection with the Infopulse team via regular meetings and consistent email communication. As we continue to develop the second iteration of the platform, the workflow remains seamless and straightforward.

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

As a service provider with a profound experience in custom software development, Infopulse offered valuable recommendations in terms of technologies and operational processes. For example, their approach allowed us to reduce time & resources on testing and further optimize feature development.

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

Some feature implementations took longer than expected; however, the general timeline followed the agreed schedule.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the IT manager at Sammode Lighting, a lighting manufacturer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Infopulse?

The goal was to migrate our email from three different service providers to Office 365.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us migrate all mailboxes to Office 365. In that effort, they checked all activity to the servers and deployed the correct tool to synchronize all the Azure Active Directories. Then, they helped us migrate the mailboxes.

Since we used local service providers, we weren’t able to use automatic immigration tools. We had to export all the mailboxes to Office 365. It was quite a long operation.

What is the team composition?

There were two engineers who worked remotely.

How did you come to work with Infopulse?

They're a Tier-1 partner with Microsoft, so we hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent €13,000 on the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together from March–September 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They were really efficient during the migration, taking less time than expected. Professional, they have a strong knowledge of the Office 365 migration process.

Their team satisfied us by solving all the issues that came up. Through this project, we received an Office license and a subscription to other document-sharing services. We plan to have a less than a one-year ROI.

How did Infopulse perform from a project management standpoint?

We had really good communication. They prepared a task list, and we just had to follow it. The project management was very easy. We used one Excel sheet to organize, which was enough.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a great partner. We will continue to work with them on other projects.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing I’d have them improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We had good, professional people from Infopulse. I recommend working with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for Delta Wilmar, a producer of tropical and sunflower oils. The company is a Ukrainian segment of a Singapore-based Fortune 500 holding called Wilmar International.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Infopulse?

We were seeking a partner for a large SAP S/4HANA project. SAP S/4HANA is an ERP system for large enterprises.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

For much of the project, Infopulse delivered existing standard solutions, without creating them from scratch. They spearheaded the project using SAP Activate Methodology, which outlines several distinct stages of development. Each component goes through functional and technical specifications, then development, testing, and deployment.

We gave the team full project specs, and they provided consulting expertise. Then, we collaborated to implement standard functionalities with the best SAP S/4HANA practices in mind. Together, we aimed to develop around 300 custom functionalities. While we have an in-house development team, all critical components were delivered by Infopulse.

We added the standard modules—including but not limited to financing, accounting, fund management, and a material ledger. The platform also allows for material management, like planning and purchasing required materials.

The software covers production planning, sales and distribution, logistics execution, quality management, and document management. We’re currently employing process orchestration, as well.

We’re using SAP Enable Now for user manuals (a separate functionality from those listed above). SAP Solution Manager is another program we’re also using.

We had an agreement for the development of around 300 custom components, but we’ve only developed the ones that were business-critical. We decided to forgo the ones that weren’t absolutely necessary.

What is the team composition?

The full project team included about 100 specialists, more than 30 of whom were consultants and developers from Infopulse.

How much have you invested with them?

The total project cost over $2,000,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Infopulse in November 2017 and went live with the ERP in January 2019. What followed was a three-month-long stabilization period, and we officially launched the platform in April.

They’re continuing to work for us as a support team. They help us resolve any issues that appear and are developing additional functionalities.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were satisfied with their work. There was a significant amount of work done over the year-long project. There were some issues, as with any project, but these were successfully fixed by the Infopulse team. Any errors we found were fully remedied, and they provided all the resources required. Consequently, we were able to go live just as planned.    

Some issues will appear during each and every project. Even though our colleagues from Infopulse didn’t have onsite resources, they mobilized all forces in order to resolve any problem. They assigned additional resources in the time required to address those issues.

How did Infopulse perform from a project management standpoint?

We thought Infopulse’s project management was effective. Their project manager was hardworking and target-oriented. He handled all the resources from Infopulse as well as our subcontractors. Diligently identifying potential issues, he was also forward-looking and proactive.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

We were experiencing a resource bottleneck, where we needed more hands. While Infopulse provided experienced and hard-working members, we still had significant deficits in capacity. While they tried to resolve those issues, they could improve by acquiring additional material management resources.

As I understand it, the supply in Ukraine for this type of resource is scarce, so I don’t think they could do anything about it. They had attracted all the qualified resources at the time, and they couldn’t onboard anymore.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at Agillic AS, a software service company. We provide an automated custom marketing platform. We operate mostly in the Nordics and are expanding throughout greater Europe as well as the US and Asia.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Infopulse?

We needed an outsourced option that would have lower rates than we would pay here in Denmark.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Infopulse provides us with outsourced support to our ongoing product development cycle. They primarily work with Java, JavaScript, and React. Infopulse provides us with multiple software engineers and a quality assurance engineer who each work with a person in our Copenhagen headquarters that shadows them. The Infopulse colleagues are allocated across our five teams and embedded within those with our own staff.

What is the team composition?

We work with about seven people including the software engineers and a QA engineer.

How did you come to work with Infopulse?

The collaboration with Infopulse was established when I joined the company. They’ve been part of our team for 15 years now. There’s a trend to outsource to India or Ukraine or now Poland. There are talented people and competitive prices so it made sense for us to outsource a good chunk of our development work. We keep working with them because they have knowledgeable people on staff and minimal staff turnover, which is rare. We’re able to keep the same key personnel over many years which is important to us.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since 2004 and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their ability to recruit in a tight market is a huge asset. They can find the type of engineers we need so that we can ramp up on multiple fronts. That, combined with the quality of the code they deliver, has helped us reduce our cost and provided great value.

How did Infopulse perform from a project management standpoint?

We speak to our Infopulse colleagues every day. They work more or less like our own employees and use our internal project management tools. Their staff are integrated into our teams. It functions very well so the Infopulse account management seldom needs to intervene. We only interact with them if we have problems or if we need them to hire more people. When we put a request to them, they’re quick to respond and find the people that we need.

What did you find most impressive about them?

For me, it's definitely the way that they’ve been able to hold on to key people. There’s no guarantee for staff retention and it’s easy to end up in a situation where you are allocated new people. Their flexibility and ability to retain the staff on our projects is important to us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The major issue for us is the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)—but they can’t do anything about that uncles they move their offices from Kiev to the EU or Ukraine becomes part of the EU. If they could offer services inside of the EU somehow, that would be of interest to us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Given that Infopulse works within our teams and not on a project basis, it’s difficult to find metrics to determine how they’re performing. I would suggest setting up an arrangement that has their developers buddied with your own developers to review and communicate with. That setup of close, consistent contact can help to avoid cultural differences and ensure that expectations are clear.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the project manager of a blockchain development company. Our aim was to create a truly private ecosystem for messaging and payments, with full control over the digital footprint. Our platform provides privacy and networking infrastructure for secure and anonymous collaborations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Infopulse?

We needed to translate complex mathematical, academic publications into programming languages to start the development of our products.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us to drive the process of translating publications into programming languages, and we’ve started working together on our first product. Aside from top quality research and development expertise, they’re very helpful in connecting directly to blockchain experts. That sped up the integration processes on all of our projects.

We’re working with them on implementing our mission-critical project, which is a new technology platform for businesses to use for any commercial activities. It allows any company in the B2B market to integrate blockchain technology. Our aim is to help all the companies out there to do so, which is a revolution. Infopulse is helping us build the protocol that will be our solution for these organizations.

What is the team composition?

There are five people, with a project manager on their side who helps find the right people for us. He arranges interviews for us and follows the entire project. We’re also in contact with each of the people on the team as well. At the end of this year, we expect to have more developers, mathematicians, and cryptographers.

How did you come to work with Infopulse?

They were recommended to us as a team that’s very skilled in the blockchain pace. We needed people that know many different languages like Java, Scala, C++, and also blockchain and cryptography. They have excellent people around cryptography and that’s a very hard skill to find. We were considering other companies at the time and had worked with a few, but realized we wanted to partner with Infopulse.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2017, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The sidechain will be published in the third quarter of this year, so we don’t have an actual deliverable to be analyzed yet. However, the quality of their work is outstanding thus far.

How did Infopulse perform from a project management standpoint?

We do a lot of workshops in Kiev and Italy with them to have a direct conversation with everybody. Their team is bright, which leads to great communication and a high level of trust. We have crystal-clear transparency in the project delivery—the timeline was aggressive at the beginning, but they’ve always delivered on time and are very precise. If we need a call with them over something urgent, they’re always available.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very good at math and have expert-level programming skills. Beyond that, whenever there’s an issue, they highlight it and are proactive in finding a solution. They autonomously discover other technologies that we might be able to use.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes it’s hard to speak with such minds because they are so intelligent. If we don’t use the proper language, they will continue to correct us until we use the exact terms. They can be very square minded, but when we’re in symphony with them, it’s easy to see their potential.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Try to sit down with them for the first two weeks because it helps them understand what you want out of your project and for you to understand how they work. It’s important that you let them work the way they want—they're experts. Working together for the initial period sets expectations and is beneficial for everybody.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a founding partner at a technology consulting company. I manage out US-based technical team.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Infopulse?

I needed a vendor to assist our internal technical team in building out an intranet portal in SharePoint.

What were your goals for this project?

The vendor needed to build a modern portal using the latest technology in a timely manner.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

After interviewing many vendors, we chose to work with Infopulse because of their technical skills, the team’s level of engagement, and their proposed prices.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Our previous solution was cumbersome and unattractive, so we needed Infopulse to update it with a modern and responsive design. Using React and Angular technology, their team is building a new intranet portal and integrating it with SharePoint. There are also several custom backend components that allow us to manage lists.

What was the team composition?

We’re working with a project manager and several developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

So far, our user base has been delighted with the results of Infopulse’s work. They’re now able to find important company information easily.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Their project management skills are excellent. They not only meet our needs consistently, but they exceed our expectations.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

There are several things that really stand out about their services. First, their technical skillset is very impressive. Second, they respond to requests and questions at any time—day or night. Third, they get along well with our internal team.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Honestly, I can’t think of anything.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a software company based in Hanover, Germany. I’m an IT and general business consultant.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Infopulse?

We were working with the German branch of a multinational bank on the design of a new software for car financing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’re developing the web platform. They’ve handled the business analysis, project management, development, QA, and deployment. They’re using GitLab as a source code control system and deployed to the cloud platform of our client.

The platform has around 200 web screens for configuring a complete wholesale loan application business. It has management functionalities for existing loans—admins can change the loan types, the products linking the loans, and the loan amounts. There are 20 transactions that can be performed on the system. Depending on the product, the loans have different installment and interest plans, fees, payout structures, and so on. This is all handled through product management.

There is an internal rule engine that provides flexibility for the car financing business. We have multiple rules inside the platform, which can be changed by the business user without rewriting the application. It’s a very complex application that is able to function automatically 98% of the time. It processes 5,000 loans per day.

What is the team composition?

We have 26–28 people working on this project. They’re a mixture of developers, QA testers, and business analysts.

How did you come to work with Infopulse?

They were recommended to me by a friend who’d worked in Norway for Evry, the mother company of Infopulse, for several years. There is a lack of IT personnel in Germany, specifically for AngularJS user interfaces, so I hadn’t found a local team when I was put in contact with Infopulse. I found that they could provide excellent programmers and engineers while producing excellent quality.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Infopulse in March 2017. We are within schedule.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We measure the quality of their work through user acceptance testing and it's very good. They have a QA team and automated test cases, which works well. They deliver functional software to the platform. There are misunderstandings at times, at the business analysis level, but we haven’t received any software that we had to double check, or that had errors in it.

How did Infopulse perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve performed impressively well. We communicate with the business analysts over Skype and use Confluence and Jira for project management, sprint planning, and so on. They’re perfect in terms of responsiveness. We’ve no problems with English communication—all their members speak the language well and respond immediately, keeping us up-to-date.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciate the software quality they produce and I love working with them. They use their brains—some development teams are able to follow every character of the requirements, but without thinking about it. Infopulse is able to think through everything in a meaningful way and they ask questions until everything is clear. They do much more than they have to, as they want to produce meaningful applications.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind. I’m really happy with them.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

They’re able to rethink our requirements. Future clients should be aware of the fact that Infopulse will have a lot of questions. They ask because they need this information before being able to start development.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the marketing manager for the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, which is a non-profit all-Ukrainian public organization responsible for the development, reinforcement, and protection of the Olympic movement. The committee has an exclusive right to represent Ukraine in the Olympic Games and other competitions of the International Olympic Committee.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Infopulse?

They acted as a partner to create a mobile application for sports fans of the Olympic team of Ukraine.

What were your goals for this project?

The main goal of the app was to provide a number of excellent features for anyone wanting to get news about the Olympic movement in Ukraine.

SOLUTION

Describe the project in detail.

With the OlympicUA app, users could receive news and photos from the Olympic Games in Rio, instant push-notifications about the victories of the Ukrainian team, game schedules, and additional information of the Ukrainian Olympic team members. Users could also gain access to exclusive video content from the National Olympic Committee and take part in free lotteries. Infopulse was responsible for all the technical and design details of the app.

What was the team composition?

About 10 people were involved in the project from their side.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The outcome and feedback for the app were good but it still had a few minor bugs. The overall impression from the public was positive and the app fulfilled its purpose.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Their team delivered good results and great communication.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their openness, professionalism, attentiveness, and responsibility are what’s most impressive about them.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No—they coped with a difficult task in a short time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a manager for the application management team at my company that delivers outsourcing solutions to businesses in the Nordic area.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Infopulse?

We wanted to augment and enhance our outsourcing staff for IT services, so we began looking for outside companies we could partner with.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Infopulse acts as an extra complement to the services we already offer here in Sweden. It can be hard to find the right set of skills for a certain project, and Infopulse helps us fill those gaps. At first, we wanted to satisfy structural-based tasks, but now Infopulse provides skilled people in numerous areas such as Linux and SharePoint.

What is the team dynamic?

They mirror our structure here in Sweden, so they have the same organizational setup and routine, which makes working with them much simpler.

How did you come to work with Infopulse?

The former owner of our company initially began working with Infopulse, so we somewhat inherited them as a partner.

What is the status of this engagement?

I’ve been working with them for more than 10 years.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We measure Infopulse’s success and impact in a variety of ways. We establish KPIs with them and have a Customer Satisfaction Index [CSI], along with numerous other methods. So far, their success has been good; they provide competent work at a great price.

How did Infopulse perform from a project management standpoint?

They deliver quality work that meets our exact guidelines and expectations. It’s up to par with what you’d see here or in the United States, and projects meet their assigned specs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The entire team is competent, and they never fail to deliver high-quality products. They’re loyal to us, and we can trust them to do a good job on whatever we assign them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

When we first began working together, their English wasn’t the greatest. But now, it’s not a problem. They’ve come a long way in their communication.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Meet with them in person, get to know them, and be specific with what you expect. Open up discussions and everything will go smoothly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of information communication technology and procurement of an independent state agency responsible for promoting quality and accountability in education and training services and for making educational awards in Ireland.

We provide services to about 1,000 providers of higher education and training and will make awards to 170,000 learners this year.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Infopulse?

Our company had a variety of applications, some of considerable complexity and some that weren’t very functional. We approached Infopulse to carry out a technical review of a SharePoint-based application with the purpose of improving its performance and functionality. Since then, Infopulse has won a competitive tender to support our company’s applications and cloud infrastructure.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Infopulse supports and develops applications for the company. The applications are primarily .NET and SharePoint based but the portfolio includes PHP/MySQL and Java applications. The contract also includes supporting and developing our Dynamics CRM [Customer Relationship Management] tool and web presence.

This is an end-to-end service, including everything from requirements gathering, to design, development, testing, and deployment. This is managed using Visual Studio TFS [Team Foundation Server] online.

Infrastructure support includes supporting around 150 virtual machines in Microsoft Azure for corporate applications and our web presence. The database support includes the migration to SQL Server AlwaysOn.

How did you come to work with Infopulse?

Infopulse was identified as a result of an evaluation of service providers online.

How much have you invested with Infopulse?

We've invested over a million dollars.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Infopulse in April 2015. By December 2016, a 3-year contract was put in place.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Infopulse's applications have improved the quality and reliability of our services to our customers, reducing the level of support calls.

How did Infopulse perform from a project management standpoint?

Infopulse’s management of projects is outstanding, including general planning, meeting timelines, and documentation.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Infopulse operates at very high standards in all its work. The level of skill within their workforce is outstanding.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We are very impressed by Infopulse’s work. They should keep doing what they’re doing!