iomico

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Technology of SafeDefend, LLC

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

SafeDefend provides a comprehensive training and alarm/alert system for armed intruder situations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Bring to life a new PCBA — all the way from design through design and manufacture — which will be at the heart of all of our future safety box devices.
• Bring to life another new PCBA — all the way from design through design and manufacture — which will be at the heart of all four of our alarm system devices.

SOLUTION

How did you find iomico?

Upwork

Why did you select iomico over others?

They had expertise in all required areas (including OpenWRT and IoT)

How many teammates from iomico were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Two PCBAs were to be designed based on our specifications. For each board, Iomico worked with us to establish functional requirements. They put together the system definitions, taking into consideration functional/electrical requirements, cost targets, regulatory requirements, etc. They carried out architechture and parts selection, schematic design, PCB stackup/layout.

So far, for one of the boards, they have had an EVT prototype run manufactured, brought up, and debugged. Functional validation is in progress. The board will then be taken through a DVT stage, and on through a PVT run.

As for the second board, it is now at the stage where the EVT run is about to be manufactured. This board will then also proceed throught the remainder of the process all the way through a PVT run.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Schematics and PCB layouts for both boards were delivered, as well manufacturable BOMs with approved alternatives. There was a successful handoff of fabrication and assembly files. A successful handoff of EVT prototype fabrication and assembly files was completed for our first board; soon the same will be true for the second board. So far, the only physical deliverables produced are the EVTs for one of the two boards they are working on. There is more to come, certainly. Project milestones were met.

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

Iomico's project management approach is very structured and transparent. Projections for the completion times of tasks and for when milestones would be reached were dynamic. Iomico quickly and continually updated these projections to respond to challenges faced that would delay the project, and for fortunate events which accelerated the project. Items were delivered in reasonable timeframes. Their entire team was on top of things at all times. Responses to our inquiries were always swift and clear, whether via messaging app, e-mail, or video/audio conference.

What was your primary form of communication with iomico?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They shine in the technical expertise of their team members and in the way that the several experts on the team function as one super-expert unit (as ideally a team should be). They clearly possess a very high ability to commuicate and synchronize internally very efficiently. Their willingness to help educate members of our team along the way (as this is our first undertaking of this kind) is impressive and appreciated. They run the show so we don't have to. They ask questions of us when it's necessary, not when it isn't. And they're very good judges of that.

In addition, their communication abilities to us (the customer) are excellent. They are clear and do not lag behind in their communication with us. If communication is ever held up / slow, it's almost always our (the customer's) fault.

I find it both unique and impressive that the people on this team are from diverse backgrounds, work from different places around the world, and manage to work together to accomplish complex feats. They also all seem to enjoy what they do. I certainly hope this is the case. Everyone on the team is very pleasant to work with. They all seem genuine, real; and I don't dread our meetings. I think they are all wonderful people. Truly.

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

The only thing here is that I would have liked to have been provided a more accurate estimate early on of how much time the projects would take. They ended up taking much longer than initially estimated. That being said, A) we understand that this can be a very difficult prediction to make with all of the variables and unknowns involved, and B) they have greatly improved in their abilities to accurately estimate milestone/project completion times since the start of the projects.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

David Drake: I am the IoT Strategist of Cornell Pump Compay
Systems Engineer: I am a Systems Engineer at Cornell Pump Company.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

DD: Industrial Pump Manufacturing
SE: Cornell Pump Company manufactures centrifugal overhung pumps for a variety of applications and provides IIoT monitoring solutions for pumps and other industrial assets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• DD: Zepher programming
• SE: Contribute to a firmware project

SOLUTION

How did you find iomico?

Referral
Online Search

Why did you select iomico over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Dev was very skilled

How many teammates from iomico were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

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

DD: this is a copyright.  high level,IOT embeded software using Zepher
SE: We paid for hours instead of deliverables. The hours were used to write firmware, review firmware, and build CI/automated testing infrastructure for firmware modules.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

DD: its ongoing but very successful
SE: 

• Cloud-based CI builds working in GitHub.
• Complex firmware modules written and tested.
• Excellent tips, tricks, and design patterns learned by our devs.

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

DD: constently ontime or ahead of time
SE: Items were delivered on time or late for good reason with advanced notice.

What was your primary form of communication with iomico?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

DD: iomico's communication and expertise stand out.
SE: Dawid:

• He's really smart and his code shows clear thinking and good attention to detail.
• He has deep knowledge of the tools we use and taught us a bunch.
• He's a good communicator and he asks questions instead of making assumptions when he doesn't understand something.

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

DD: They are on their way to growth, I'd say they should ad more engineers
SE: Nope. The first annoyance I've had in dealing with IOMICO is being asked to fill out this form.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director Software Engineering of Byte Technology

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Byte Technology’s controlled-access kiosks redefine convenience with secure, innovative food and retail solutions. Offer 24/7 access unattended without the risk of theft while optimizing revenue, reducing costs, and delighting customers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Improve and Maintain our on store's android software suite
• Add new payment modalities to our android powered kiosks
• Improve RFID scanning logic / technology to meet future demand

SOLUTION

How did you find iomico?

Inherited them from a prior employee

Why did you select iomico over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from iomico were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

The Iomico Team helped us migrate our old android software out of the dark-age and into the new allowing us to quickly integrate new payment, restocking, tracking and other solutions requested by clients..  These changes allowed us to wheather the covid storm and pivot to provide new offerings and support new clients... 

Key work was:

• Improving our RFID scanning technology, on store payment and inventory processing
• Adding new remote + in person authentication for store restocking and maintanance.  
• Migrating comunication protocols.
• Updating and improving software to support changing and improving boards displays and other systems + hardware.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Key work was:

• Improving our RFID scanning technology, on store payment and inventory processing
  Adding new remote + in person authentication for store restocking and maintanance. Allowing us to increasing our fleet by 50% reaching new clients with new demands.. 
• Migrating comunication protocols, in 5 weeks they created new migration software allowing over the air updates to 1000+ stores across the USA where prior complete updates would of required new SD cards to be shipped out and installed at each location 600+ locations..
• Updating and improving software to support changing and improving boards displays and other systems + hardware.  Allowed us to wheather the supply chain nightmear, our prior software took forever to handel different components Iomico was able to add new remote adjustable values and settings to better integrate with our myriad of replacement/ temporary pars we dealt with durring the Supply chain crisis.. 

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

We do spend a lot of time learning and iterating on RSSI technology which requires a lot of investigations and discovery which is very hard to define timelines for.  That said they've always hit defined deliverables and are willing to work extra to get things across the line.  

What was your primary form of communication with iomico?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Everyone's willingness to work as a team, both team members consitently go out of their way to work with us to better understand the requirements / issues.  We are constantly working on building new technology and they are all in with us creating testing applications, one off's to  help test and define new RFID scanning methods or processes and to integrate / troubleshoot with new readers or antenna.. 

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

I can't think of any

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the CTO of an engineering company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Custom embedded Linux devices.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Android device bring-up on an evaluation kit board.
• Evaluate driver health.

SOLUTION

How did you find iomico?

Online Search

Why did you select iomico over others?

• High ratings
• Good value for cost
• Expertise aligned with need

How many teammates from iomico were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Project was to do initial bringup of Android Open Source Project (AOSP) on a development board that we were using for evaluation. Iomico developed a evaluation test plan and executed the tests giving us the confidence to proceed with the project. Iomico produced a detailed report on what was working and what was not, allowing us to focus our future development efforts.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

A comprehensive spreadsheet broken down by the various subsystems that this custom effort had. Each line item described the test in detail and a status with notes was left indicating the state of the tested item.

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

A dedicated project manager was assigned to this effort acting as a bridge between our two teams. Weekly status meetings were scheduled and were regularly attended by the PM and the developer. Items were delivered on time. We were able to adjust course as any surprises came up and they were very accomodating and responsive.

What was your primary form of communication with iomico?

Virtual Meeting

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

iomico has quite a broad area of expertise in-house. The assignment of a project manager was also very nice to have as it kept the project focused and on task. Their attention to detail was also commendable.

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

Initial contract negotiation was tricky, as both companies were trying to find a mutually acceptable way to minimize our respective risk on this project. Iomico had proposed a way to limit the initial scope in a way that was satisfactory to both sides and we have since built up the trust to continue work on future projects together.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Research and Development Engineer of Industrial Technology Research

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

ITR is a full-service predictive maintenance provider focused on elongating the life of the most complex industrial equipment

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Help with the development of a wireless sensor network

SOLUTION

How did you find iomico?

Online Search

Why did you select iomico over others?

High ratings

How many teammates from iomico were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

• Scope of work:

1. General Software/Firmware Review
2. Improve communication reliability between Coordinator and Endpoint 
3. Add firmware features: 
4. Consult on best deployment strategies 

• Deliverables:

1. Updated Endpoint firmware that implements best coding practices and new features 
2. Updated Coordinator software that improves communication reliability between devices, cloud computing, and cloud databases

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The measurable outcomes from the project are the functionality and deployment of firmware and software for the wireless sensor network.

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

Project management was handled professionally. Their team kept constant communication and documentation on the progress and milestones. Additionally, they provided valuable insights on necessary trade-offs during the development process. Team dedication around key milestones kept deliverables on time.

What was your primary form of communication with iomico?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They are technically competent and have an eye for sourcing talent in various areas.

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

Understanding a new project and working on an existing infrastructure takes time. Their team did an awesome job at understanding the existing solutions and adding/redesigning them to meet changing needs. No areas for improvement.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the VP of Engineering of Sleepme

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Smart temperature control for your bed.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Improve IoT Device Connectivity Issues

SOLUTION

How did you find iomico?

Online Search

Why did you select iomico over others?

• High ratings
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from iomico were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

The scope of our project was to improve the overall wifi and MQTT connectivity resiliency. We have issues today where our product will be unable to reconnect itself to our cloud broker, resulting in the need for a physical power cycle by our end users. The desired end result is that if the device was able to ever make a good connection to a home network, that it would always be able to reconnect after a temporary disconnection event - even if that requires a reboot of the unit.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Iomico showed a high degree of technical expertise in the initial audit phase of our product's codebase. They identified multiple code issues, ranging from minor items such as missing error handling, to more advanced and less pronounced cases such as incorrect / missing logic. They were able to quickly implement all the suggested fixes, including a few side requests. 

They also helped implement a general watchdog logic that will ensure the unit, even if a reboot is required, will always be able to get back online.

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

Excellent project management. We had visibility into tasks and progress via their JIRA board, caught up with weekly Zoom meetings to sync on goals, and constant daily communication through Slack. They implemented faster than we expected for sure on this project, and were great to work with for all our requests.

What was your primary form of communication with iomico?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Talented engineers, great project managers, and great communication all the way around.

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

Nothing comes to mind from this project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at a maritime transportations company. We work in the marine industry, offering maintenance and accessories.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with iomico?

We asked iomico to help us develop our own WiFi system to have a better connection on board since our customers had requested it before. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

iomico has developed custom software for our maritime vehicles that has allowed us to improve our products, including the 5G connection.

iomico has used multiple technologies for development. They’ve built the firmware on top of a real time operating system (RTOS) and used Vue.js with a continuous integration tool for the UI’s customization. iomico has used a tool similar to Jenkins for software testing.

Moreover, iomico has helped with our product’s certification. Our products must be certified since we work in the worldwide marine industry. They have also worked on all the required network protocols, including WiFi, internet, and global system for mobile communication (GSM) protocols. iomico is currently working on the feasibility study of other projects that are under development.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with around 20 different specialists from iomico from all expertise levels, including senior and junior. We’ve also worked with UI/UX designers and iomico’s owners. 

How did you come to work with iomico?

We consulted several business partners for company recommendations that could develop this project. We had several calls with iomico and chose them for their professionalism and organization.  

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent around $300,000 with iomico.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership with iomico started in September 2021 and is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

iomico has helped us be at an advantage over our competitors. We recently attended an important trade show in the marine industry, and we were one of the few manufacturers that presented a 5G product for the industry. We’re happy with iomico’s work. 

How did iomico perform from a project management standpoint?

iomico has immediately become one of the most proactive partners in our portfolio. They’re always available and quick to respond. We communicate through Slack and WhatsApp and have Zoom and in-person meetings. 

Moreover, iomico’s project management has been excellent. They provide good follow-up and feedback through Jira. iomico’s team is really involved with our project, and we feel like they’re part of the company.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m most impressed with iomico’s commitment to meeting deadlines. They’ve always been proactive, and their goal is to respect deadlines even in critical situations like the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Moreover, iomico has been clear and honest throughout our engagement. They inform us about unexpected situations in real time. For instance, our project’s budget increased during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the lack of electronic components.

We initially started the project with a different budget. However, iomico has stayed by our side and checked for the best possible solutions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything for iomico to improve. If they approach other customers the same way they’ve worked with us, they’ll surely get more projects. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend working with iomico if you need an honest, professional, and technical development partner. You must have a clear idea and be transparent to approach the job because iomico is an entirely trustworthy partner.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CTO of a consumer electronics company, launching a new product that incorporates cutting edge computer vision.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We lacked in-house expertise regarding embedded systems, computer vision on the edge and firmware development. We hired Iomico to guide us in the selection of the various hardware components, testing their capabilities and writing the shipping firmware for our product.

SOLUTION

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

Iomico had a strong track record of delivering high quality products and an ability to adapt and be flexible as the project took shape. They also had a strong reputation for taking projects all the way through the lifecycle which was a big bonus for us. Lastly they where open and honest throughout the process, which was a refreshing change from the 'yes men' we had also been considering.

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

Iomico started by creating a list of hardware requirements, so they could reach out into the supply chain and gather a number of samples of camera and embedded boards that could meet the projects needs. Next they thoroughly tested each option so we could finalise our hardware selection. Finally the firmware was developed over a number of sprints. They provided excellent documentation throughout the process, which helped keep everybody on the same page and ran daily calls with us to ensure alignment.

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

We had two core team members working day to day on the project, a firmware engineer with expertise in computer vision, alongside a project manager to ensure we remained on track. Other team members would join as and when required.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have been delighted with the quality of work and their flexibility as the project evolved and will be keeping them onboard for the long term.

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

Project management has been great, with the team providing daily status updates, longer weekly catch ups, excellent documentation and have been very proactive in suggesting options to keep everything on track.

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

Their openness, honesty, and quality of work have all been absolutely outstanding. We really feel in control and at no point have felt in the dark.

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

I think we could have brought on additional resources earlier in the project, however thats more on us than on Iomico.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Hatch manufactures custom electronics. We focus on custom Android products, but had a client request for an IoT product which we wanted to help with. I own Hatch.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire iomico?

Firmware and hardware development.

SOLUTION

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

Met in person. They understood the project. Offered a fair price. Seemed easy to communicate with and serious to work with.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Approve a BOM. Get schematics. Do PCB layout. Make prototype. Test prototype. Find and fix problems. Make another prototype. Work out bugs and optimize.

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

Project manager. Hardware Engineer Firmware Engineer Bluetooth Engineer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The team has been very helpful and committed to providing a high level of care to the project. At first there were problems which created a delay, but the owner of Iomico stepped up and took responsibility. They've done a very good job following up after the initial problems. They have shown a high level of dedication and professionalism.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The team was good about following timelines. We had a weekly call to go over status. The calls ranged from 10 to 60 minutes and were helpful. Iomico engineers created good documentation about the project which helped during the testing phase and onboarding new engineers.

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

The engineers were genuinely nice people, made themselves available, and knowledgeable.

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

Initial expectations misalignment led to a long delay, but they took responsibility, didn't charge more and did a great job on the second try. To me taking responsibility for mistakes is more important than avoiding mistakes. One is real and the other is impossible.