Initialyze

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Creative Director of Teladoc Health

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Virtual Healthcare

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Initialyze to accomplish?

• Re-platform corporate website
• Develop robust component library
• Elevate site performance

SOLUTION

How did you find Initialyze?

Referral

Why did you select Initialyze over others?

• Referred to me
• AEM expertise

How many teammates from Initialyze were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Ground up site re-build, front and back end, consulting, project management and collaboration with internal design teams and stakeholders.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Successful launch of a new tech stack, CMS and scalable component library and site/page builder allowing marketing to get content out more efficiently and more performant site overall.

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

On time and on budget. Very collaborative.

What was your primary form of communication with Initialyze?

Virtual Meeting

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

They brought a lot of value from working with other clients that they lent to us, saving us from potential missteps and they do this without charging incrementally for every area they add value and expertise like other firms do. Package deal and they ensure you will launch successfully.

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

Maybe closer alignment on all the details and RACI earlier on. We made some big discoveries in terms of Adobe license and implementation, what was expected from UX creative team and more. Initialyze was great at pivoting and working with us but maybe deeper discovery with more of the players involved like engineering, marketing, etc from us the client side.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an EVP and partner at Tendo Communications, a content agency. I lead content strategy and delivery teams here.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Initialyze?

We work with large B2B clients to do full-service content consulting. A lot of our work is editorial, but there’s also a lot of strategy work involved. We do everything up until a technical build, but, quite often, our clients look to us to provide the full-service implementation of the platforms that we write requirements for. They also look for new system builds and QA on system builds. We don’t have the resources or capabilities to handle these tasks, so we repeatedly turn to Initialyze as a partner.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve worked on multiple engagements for us, typically implementing Adobe Experience Manager. They’ve also done custom implementations, scripting, and writing code for migrations. When tasks are complete, they also test the system on multiple browsers.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with a number of people across our multiple projects. In general, we interact with their CEO, who acts as a senior consultant on the strategic side, as well as 1–2 architecture engineers.

How did you come to work with Initialyze?

I have a long history of working with their co-founder on our implementations, and I keep going back to them because I can always trust them with big projects.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent a total of $250,000–$50,000 with them over the years.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since September 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We measure our migrations on our accuracy with delivery time. I don’t have specific numbers on hand, but they always complete work within the required timeline to help our clients.

How did Initialyze perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re incredibly strong in this regard, always working to a budget and delivering on time. We typically manage our projects through SmartFeed, where both teams have access. We put up QA testing plans there, and they provide information here or in separate spreadsheets. Jira ticketing also helps with certain QA projects, as well as specific Slack channels for their team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

First, their quality of work always stands out; they continuously uphold our reputation. If we bring them on as a partner, they always meet our standards. They’re also incredibly flexible, adjusting to changes that come in from our clients and stakeholders. Finally, Initialyze’s team always collaborates with us to find the best solution.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any constructive feedback for them right now. Even though they’re a small team, everyone is hands-on and responsive.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Provide a clear and specific scope. With all implementations, it’s important to detail all the complexities and required integrations up front — the same is true with migrations. If you’re missing information at the outset, it will take longer to get everything locked down.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We're in the business of building cloud products and modernizing our customers' and our own digital transformation journey

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Mihir and his talented team were hired to design, develop and implement a digital transformation and modernization project involving migration of the company's digital assets from legacy platform to cloud. Mihir & team also worked on creating the CICD pipeline framework for faster time-to-market.

SOLUTION

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

The choice was honestly easy. Quality and speed of delivery are extremely important for a fast growth company. Mihir and his team are a set of certified professionals in cutting edge technologies that are required to keep a company ahead in the competition by not just delivery good but delivering faster.

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

Mihir and his talented team were hired to design, develop and implement a digital transformation and modernization project involving migration of the company's digital assets from legacy platform to cloud. Mihir & team also worked on creating the CICD pipeline framework for faster time-to-market.

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

Mihir was the chief/principal Web Architect. His team of 4-5 experienced and certified developers were the tiger team who delivered a multi-year roadmap program in a matter of few months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Quality of deliverables were top notch and best-in-class in the industry. AEM, Chef, AWS certified developers and architects produced quality deliverables for a multi-year digital program in a matter of few months. Consequently, the deliverables were reused and rolled out across the globe for regional digital modernization efforts. Initialyze's developers are highly skilled in Python, Ruby & Unix - a rare combination to find in any market.

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

High impact, clear and transparent communication. Initialyze has highly accommodative developers who did not just work the allocated hours of the day but they owned huge portions of the program and delivered them end-to-end. Initialyze went above and beyond in ensuring they resolved issues in production regardless of the time of the day (or night!)

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

Quality, accuracy and speed of delivery was the most impressive part about the engagement. 'Value for money' truly manifests in the work Initialyze does.

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

Initialyze could consider expanding their presence in Latin America & Europe. That would be a win-win for Initialize and it's clients. Initialyze has all the chops to expand it's business globally and they should totally consider doing so.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP publisher product of a supply-side platform (SSP) in the programmatic advertising space. I’m responsible for product management for the publisher on the supply side. We’ve been working to build a series of self-service tools that enable web publishers to curate their inventory and find unique value in it so they can sell it for the best price through deals.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Initialyze?

Upon my arrival at the company, I found that we didn’t have enough frontend application expertise in-house, so we hired Initialyze to help us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initialyze is building the frontend of a web application that goes on top of our proprietary ad serving technology. The team is using React, and they deliver the project iteratively. Our internal data team is responsible for pulling and preparing data for the frontend. Based on the recommendations of the Initialyze lead, we're using GrapQL to prepare that data for the app's interface. Additionally, the team has provided consulting regarding the Agile methodology. 

The product's main purpose is to enable publishers to prepare their ad inventory for selling in a couple of different ways. First, users build a private marketplace (PMP) deal; then, they can look at their inventory and determine the most valuable assets based on historical prices. The app identifies inventory that will perform against a buyer's KPI. All of that data science is coming from our team. The app includes charts and graphs that compare and highlight where publishers are earning the most revenue, what inventory is performing the best, and where they have room for improvement.

What is the team composition?

We've worked with 9–10 people from Initialyze, including junior developers, architects, and creative technologists. Mihir (Founder & CEO) has provided consultancy. 

How did you come to work with Initialyze?

I had worked with some of Initialyze's teammates at a previous job, so I was already familiar with their work. When we got in touch with them, they came in with a collaborative approach that I liked. 

How much have you invested with them?

By the end of the year, we'll have spent close to $1 million. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Having beautiful visualizations on our app helps publishers make decisions about what they're going to do. Moreover, the resources Initialyze has provided are generally as-advertised in high quality, and their prices are at or below market rates. The team is collaborative, and their bug rate is within our expectations.  

Since much of what they do is closely tied to my team's work, it's hard to isolate their performance. Still, they've been really open in helping us figure out what to ask for. As we go to fill full-time positions, they understand that they're part of the picture and not the whole thing. We're in a closed beta with limited usage, so we don't have any metrics yet. 

They've seamlessly integrated with my team, which has people in India, Turkey, and Ukraine. We decided to go with a more expensive leadership because we wanted people in our locale who we could meet in person while also using near-shore resources to keep the work moving. Initialyze's team is in 6–7 countries, and our collaboration works very well. Although they're not doing staff augmentation, we treat their developers as though they were on our team, which is a good way to work for us because we don't have specific project-based goals since it's an ongoing effort. 

Initialyze has been really flexible in helping us find places to economize and places to invest. Another thing I like about working with them is their honesty and transparency in highlighting issues early. Out of the people they've staffed for us, only one of them hasn't worked out, and we didn't have to flag the issue; Initialyze figured it out, removed that person, and let us know. 

How did Initialyze perform from a project management standpoint?

Like with results, it's hard to separate their project management performance from our in-house team's performance. Their consulting about the Agile methodology has been helpful because our in-house team is spread out, and most of us have never met each other in person. Initialyze's leadership and expertise have been beneficial in that regard.

We have a daily stand-up meeting, and we have the team on Slack. At first, we tried to use Asana, but we decided it wasn't a good fit because it couldn't meet our needs. After the first sprint, we decided to stop using Asana, and we now use Jira for project management. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Initialyze's strength is in their leadership's expertise and willingness to collaborate. They're also trustworthy; I believe them when they say they can complete something by a specific date. I've worked with a few vendors that tell me what they think I want to hear, and then we end up in trouble because I believed them. With Initialyze, that happens a lot less. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything they should improve right now. If anything, it's been challenging to hire the additional resources we want. However, they do a good job of ensuring they have quality resources; that's why they've been slow to fill some of the roles. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

First, ensure that you're having periodic check-ins with their leadership and spending time to help them understand what you're trying to achieve. They're good at providing options and helping you think through problems. Therefore, you should make them a partner and not just an outside vendor.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the alliance's sales manager at Funtionize, responsible for our global partner relationships. We’re a software company developing an AI, machine-learning-powered test automation platform that is sold to organizations of all sizes around the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Initialyze?

We rely on partners like Initialyze to help us implement our SaaS solution, helping clients accelerate their time-to-value with our technology.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve partnered with Initialyze on several opportunities. They have very strong customer relationships with large companies, and they help them with software testing. As part of this offering, they introduce us to their clients for us to offer our testing automation software.

Once we close a sale with one of their clients, they help them implement our tool and provide them with training and consulting services to accelerate their investment’s time-to-value. These consulting services range from platform mentoring to actual automated test creation. They also help them automate pre-existing tests they might have in place using our tool.

Initialyze’s services are both remote and on-site. Although our tool can be easily implemented remotely, they can also collaborate with the end customer in person if needed.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with everyone from Initialyze’s team, from their CEO to their delivery teams, marketing groups, and sales representatives. However, we’ve collaborated the closest with their technical team to ensure that the tool is working correctly for end customers.

How did you come to work with Initialyze?

We had a mutual customer, so we formalized our partnership once we realized that working together was a great fit.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $20,000–$25,000 on their training and consulting services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around October 2020, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Initialyze has become extremely adept at using our platform, which has ultimately helped us bring value to our clients. We’ve partnered and engaged with multiple global companies, and Initialyze has accelerated our product’s time to value for every one of those companies by at least 50%.

Proof of their excellent skills is that they’ve implemented our software so well that clients have come back to procure additional software. Additionally, they’ve generated more business for us by recommending us to their customers, demonstrating their strong customer relationships and credibility.

How did Initialyze perform from a project management standpoint?

Initialyze’s project management is excellent. We usually use Jira, Xray, and TestRail to manage implementations with end clients, depending on the project. We have many Zoom sessions and continuously communicate via email and phone calls. Everyone from their team is very responsive, which is one of the reasons our projects have been highly successful.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Initialyze’s technical expertise in our products is impressive. Their expertise includes not only knowledge of our platform but also knowledge of testing methodologies and business applications. They’re great at integrating our platform into our client’s businesses based on those methodologies, which ultimately helps our customers deliver software changes faster and more safely into production.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’ve performed exceptionally well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Work together and make sure it is a good business fit for both parties; if you are, be confident that it will be a great relationship.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Senior Engineering Manager

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Provide security solutions for identity and access management

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Initialyze to accomplish?

• Digital technology audit
• Re-platform website to AEM
• Web Development, QA, and DevOps support

SOLUTION

How did you find Initialyze?

Previous engagement

Why did you select Initialyze over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Initialyze were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Initialyze was brought in to perform a digital technology audit but is currently migrating our digital properties to AEM and providing staff augmentation for the QA Team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Consistently completes releases on time

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

Initialyze has highly skilled resources, who are always responsive to our needs.  They are fully committed to the success of our company.  We fully trust the leadership team and the engineering team.

What was your primary form of communication with Initialyze?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

From the initial technology audit to the current AEM migration, Mihir and his team have been very professional, knowledgeable, and incredibly responsive. They took the time to understand our unique business needs and provided tailored solutions that are consistenly high quality.

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

Mihir is a great leader who is fully capable as the CEO, architect, and an engineer.  He's able to split his time effectively between these roles but his biggest impact is being the architect.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the VP, Digital Marketing and Enablement of a healthcare company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Makes quality healthcare accessible for people everywhere

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Initialyze to accomplish?

• Move our website onto AEM

SOLUTION

How did you find Initialyze?

Referral

Why did you select Initialyze over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Initialyze were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Initialyze built a pre-defined set of templates in AEM and migrated our current website onto AEM. We are also using them for help throughout the year as we continue to migrate all our web assets onto AEM.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Delivery of a full website on AEM, which was delivered on time.

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

Yes and they were very responsive

What was your primary form of communication with Initialyze?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Very knowledgable about the AEM product, worked quickly. They're able to navigate internal challenges; they're great people to work with

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

N/A