Merixstudio

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of Sheepblue, which trains AI on how to schedule people. For people in the US, there’s a work scheduling app. It’s a huge challenge to find the right shift schedule. For example, a single mom may want to be with her kids in the afternoon so she prefers to work in the morning, or a student may prefer to work on weekends. Our mechanism learns those preferences, and, at the same time, understands business needs. It reduces overages in hours and split shifts, and schedules people in shifts that work for them.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

We were looking for a reliable partner to implement our web frontend with a modern technique. We figured that doing so would increase the quality of our backend processes.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Merixstudio developed our web frontend from scratch. We worked together as a team as they integrated into our development. They also developed the mobile UI. They used the Angular framework for development. The communication between the backend and the frontend happens via a RESTful API.

The web frontend is meant to be used by managers to define shifts and manage resources. It has a holiday calendar and off-time management. There are features called “My Shift” and “My Schedule” that are used when an employee needs to interact with their shift and see what shifts would be scheduled in the next couple of weeks.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with a project coordinator who facilitates communication between their team and ours. We had three frontend developers, and we’re currently using two full-time developers.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

We already had experience with Merixstudio on another project, so we asked them to work with us again. We compared them with a few competitors and selected Merixstudio for their professional processes and good communication, and the teams they proposed seemed quite good. They were incredibly reliable, the quality was fine, and they were straight to the point when it came to problems or if they thought our specifications weren’t written in the best way. They came up with improvements, and we had effective dialogue on the same level. We had a good experience, so we got back to them with this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Merixstudio two years ago. The MVP was launched in the first week of January, 6–7 months after we started the implementation. The engagement is ongoing for improvements and reiterations.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Merixstudio has performed quite well. From the beginning, they assigned a project coordinator who pushed the effort, enforced active communication and involved us whenever they became stuck. We onboarded Merixstudio’s team well, and communication improved after that. 

Merixstudio developed the entire frontend of our platform. Whatever the customer sees as coming from our company came from Merixstudio. Merixstudio was able to not only code it but deliver it in its entirety.

When asked for feedback, our users said that the frontend feels rock-solid, which is a testament to Merixstudio’s work. As software developers, we sometimes experience frustration interacting with applications because they feel too fragile or unstable, or because they feel too different between different browsers and devices, but Merixstudio’s frontend is rock-solid in comparison.

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

We don’t have a project manager on their team because we’re directing the project. The development and interaction processes are based on Atlassian’s Jira. We use the tool to interact with Merixstudio and hand over requirements, tickets, and specifications. We’ve worked in an agile way, so we didn’t have schedules.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Whenever there was a feeling of something not going well, such as the communication with a team member, Merixstudio had a good sense for it, and they had an excellent process to escalate issues in the best way. They addressed issues right away before they became problematic. They’re quite proactive when it comes to communication or anticipating issues with the team or the timetable. They contacted us immediately and requested a meeting, and stayed in touch for the next couple of weeks until they were sure the problem was covered. This helped a lot.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re not the least expensive option when it comes to offshoring, but it comes down to paying a price for quality.

When it came to choosing and onboarding new team members, the profiles offered by Merixstudio weren’t conclusive. Every team member had AngularJS skills, but it was difficult to understand whether they were experts or intermediate level. I’d like to choose potential members through a more standardized profile and have an easier way to find the right people without going through several interviews and explaining my needs multiple times. 

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Clients should make expectations around resources clear from the beginning. It’s important to know the schedule as well as the number of resources needed on both sides. On one occasion, we didn’t share our plans enough in advance, so we lost one of our more important resources in the middle of the project. On the current project, we shared our plans for the next 12 months, and Merixstudio let us know about their bookings and the availability of different resources. 

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was updated by the client on January 27, 2020. The original star ratings were: Overall – 4.5, Quality – 4.5, Schedule – 5, Cost – 4, NPS – 4.5. New content is below:

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

For the first project, we’d contracted Merixstudio to develop the frontend for our solution in Angular. Since then, they’ve returned for other Angular-based frontend projects for our mobile and desktop solutions. They’ve also provided basic project management services upon request.

What is the team composition? 

We’ve worked with five resources in total, and it’s definitely increased over time.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $170,000 on the current project alone.

What is the status of this engagement?

This project started at the end of 2018 and is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In general, we’re quite happy with the frontend development. We follow an agile process and regularly measure our task performance. We’ve noticed that we’ve improved, especially since May 2019.

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

It took us a few months to find the perfect set up for us, but we’re really happy with how Merixstudio communicates with us. That, combined with the quality of work and technical approach, has left me quite satisfied with them at the moment. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their project management is really grade-A. If we define a deadline, have an appointment, or want to follow a specific task structure, they’re able to easily fit into that. I trust their ability to deliver, and they’re reliable. That’s what separates them from the other service providers we’ve worked with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s not a lot to improve. I’m really quite happy with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?
 
If you’re not happy with the consultant assigned to you, just be honest and straight with them. They’ll do their best to fix any issue you might have. We actually had an issue earlier this year, but they managed it so well once we said something.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Humanitrack. We’re a startup in Denmark that seeks to connect individuals, groups, and ideas from around the world into a community of communities. Our platform organizes and validates innovation news to identify new opportunities for all of us to solve.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Merixstudio?

I initially needed resources to build the MVP of our platform. Their role has since evolved into developing a polished early beta.

What were your goals for this project?

I wanted to develop a working MVP of my platform on a budget without sacrificing any of the necessary features. This would serve as a foundation to test with our core user base. Since the platform and community around it would define our company, the MVP needed to be exceptional.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I needed a large, cost-effective team to build and test the platform, so I searched for development studios outside of Denmark but within the European Union. Merixstudio responded to my job posting, and I liked them from the get-go. Not only were they transparent and clear communicators, but they also understood my vision and were willing to work with my budget.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

In the beginning, I provided them with my ideas, desired features, logo, and wireframes to scope out the project. We then immediately started on v1.0 of the MVP, which involved UX/UI design, back- and frontend development, and finally QA. After adding some additional features, we reworked this iteration for v1.1.

Their team has since released v2.0, adding significant gamification elements, and we’re currently working on v2.1. The latest version will address issues and make the platform more accessible and focused for new users.

The platform runs on a hierarchical management system and features a newsfeed, custom forum, automatic posting through URLs, a commenting system, and notifications. Users can also register on Facebook and make PayPal donations. Merixstudio designed the UI using Material-UI, and the platform is hosted on AWS.

What was the team composition?

The team consists of a project manager, three frontend developers, a backend developer, a UI lead, and a UX lead. We’ve also had different QA specialists who rotated based on availability as well as an AWS specialist who set up and optimized our platform on the cloud.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re still in the startup phases, so we don’t have any metrics yet. However, we’ve tested early versions of our platform with users and are implementing their feedback into v2.1. I’m confident that our current iteration will help onboard our first core users, allowing us to build out content and make further revisions.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project manager is responsive to my needs and understands my financial limitations, often suggesting ways to reduce costs. We coordinate through Slack and Jira, and they have daily Google Hangouts meetings to keep everyone fully aligned.

They’ve also been transparent throughout the process. When I asked about some minor changes that were taking longer than expected, they told me exactly what had happened. Occasionally, we’ve missed a few deadlines, but this was due to holidays, a growing feature list, and unforeseen complications.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Although I’m a smaller customer, I appreciate that they still treat me like a huge client. I had the pleasure of visiting their office and enjoyed meeting their team. They have a strong balance of professionalism, talent, communication, and friendliness.

Are there any areas for improvement?

While the price estimates were accurate for v1.0, the costs have nearly tripled as we’ve continued to v2.1. Furthermore, the AWS quote was grossly underestimated, and I wish we could’ve avoided incurring setup costs for the un-optimized AWS system during the first few months. However, I appreciate that they were willing to handle the AWS setup themselves instead of outsourcing it to a more expensive vendor.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the commercial director at Consenna.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

We were developing an interactive software and some sales enablement tools for one of our clients. We were looking for additional development resources.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We gave them the wireframes and they developed for us two different tools in HTML5. One tool was an interactive rapid assessment that helped identify whether or not the business was ready for the new program–the Office of the Future. Merixstudio delivered a customized report with their recommendations based on their findings. The other tool was a virtual vending machine, which would provide the appropriate HP products for the Office of the Future, as well as the pricing. They continue to update different elements of the software on a regular basis.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with about six of their team members, including front- and backend developers and a project manager.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

I did some research online and checked their reviews on Clutch. They had very good reviews, so I chose them.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent about £50,000 (approximately $63,770 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in September 2016 and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The client was extremely happy with the software and approved it. They even wanted to use it outside the UK.

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

They're very professional, proactive, and honest. Our managing director went over to Poland to meet with them at the start of the engagement. After that, we mostly used Skype and phone calls to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They do high-quality work. If there is a problem, they address it very quickly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I'd highly recommend them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend speaking with Kamil (Head of Business Development, Merixstudio). He is very knowledgeable and understands business, so you can write out the scope of the project very quickly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of web development at a financial services firm. We provide services in customer lending, banking, and lending to small and medium enterprises.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

We were developing a client-side application and server-side component and we needed additional resources to help us deliver them.

That involved joining in the development work on our new platform, which we were over 70% of the way through.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us finalize project of transformation of our core frontend platform to new tech stack, which we were around eight months into.  It’s an extension of our existing solution but involved building a whole platform.

Their development used Angular, Node.js, and TypeScript, focusing on the public website side. They worked on the communication between the internal systems and the client-side frontend. It’s a more technical component. We were also doing a lot of technical work on the frontend side that isn’t visible to the client.

What is the team composition?

There were four people at the beginning and now there are three. We communicate with all of them; they’re integrated into our team.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

I found them on Clutch.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2018 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They help us with many of our core features, particularly in terms of specifying them. They’re a very valuable addition to our internal team when it comes to complex technical solutions. They help offload our internal dev leads, which is very good.

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management is handled on our side. We’re in constant contact, with daily meetings, and the communication is good. There are code reviews and other things like that to keep track of the quality.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their technical expertize in frontend development is impressive. I visited their office once and saw they have a team of about 70 people, split between front- and backend development. I could really see that they’re specialized in technology, rather than being generalized. It means they know the technologies they work with extremely well.

It also means they have a large team to consult with. They’re professional, which is a rare commodity to find.

Are there any areas they could improve?

In one case they had an employee who was leaving the company and he didn’t perform very well in his last few weeks. There’s not much one can do about that though, and the remaining team members took over and they fixed it. They rectified the situation well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

No.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a project manager at Skreper. We create custom software, websites, and web applications for businesses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

We needed an extra set of hands to help us reinvent an e-commerce system for a major client.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

When we started out, I introduced the developers to our project and went over the pieces that had already been completed. We discussed the scope of the client’s existing web store and clarified which direction we wanted to move in for the overhaul. There were no frontend designs or wireframes to study, so Merixstudio was heavily involved in brainstorming the optimal solutions with us before development began.

Once development began, we used React on the frontend, along with things like Redux and Redux Saga. For the backend, we used Symfony, as well as Doctrine ORM as a database management system. Our company also added a proprietary framework that drives within Symfony. Additionally, we applied behavior-driven development and wrote those tests in Behat.

We’re still in a framework-heavy stage of development. In terms of what they’re working on, one of the programmers wrote a code generator from scratch, which, when given a set of data, generated the entire framework of the code necessary for the back- and frontend.

What is the team composition?

We have a project manager, plus two developers working with us full time. We occasionally bring in an additional specialist to review the completed work.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

I wasn’t involved with that decision, but I believe our CEO traveled to Poland to meet them in person. I’m not sure if he visited any other contenders, but I know he was choosing between Merixstudio and another company, possibly in Africa.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in mid-October 2017 and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The platform is still in an experimental stage, so our feedback right now is mostly from code reviewers and technical personnel. The response has been very positive.

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

I handle most of the project management tasks. Their project manager serves as more of a scrum master, ensuring that the developers there are performing optimally and that we don’t hit any obstacles. In terms of communication, we use Slack actively throughout the day and we also have daily standups via Skype. We also use Skype to have regular sessions for sprints, refinement, and retrospectives.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve worked with two other contractors in the past and Merixstudio definitely stands out from a technical standpoint. Their developers are talented and possess the expertise we need.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They actually ask me for feedback every couple of weeks on how they can improve. Anytime I’ve mentioned something in the past, they corrected it almost immediately. They react very well to feedback. I can’t think of any issues that haven’t been resolved.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I can’t think of anything right now.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Up Your eGame. We provide a way for gamers and organizations to connect with each other. Our tool helps users build their gaming team and branding.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

After interviewing several potential customers, we got to the point where we needed to create a tangible product. We needed resources to work with us through the ideation phase and then build our web-based platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, they conducted a few workshops with us to see if our companies were a good fit. They didn’t want to enter a project that we couldn’t finish, so we worked through the business development process to ensure that we had clear expectations on both sides.

They then developed the UX, wireframes, and visuals. At the time, we were using a logo that I’d created quickly as a placeholder, so it didn’t look professional. They designed a new logo to build a more polished brand identity as well as a landing page.

Currently, they’re working on developing and testing an MVP of our platform. They use React for the frontend and Django for the backend. They’ve included several details that have improved the feel of our site. Although they’re small, those additions are important to the overall functionality and user experience.

What is the team composition?

The team consists of a project manager, UI designer, UX designer, 1–2 frontend developers, 1–2 backend developers, and a QA engineer.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

I researched vendors online and interviewed several agencies to see who would be a good fit. When I described the project, most companies merely provided a quote without going into much detail. However, Merixstudio stood out to us because they required us to do some business development to see if we’d set things up properly. They wanted to look through the workflow and understand what our platform’s experience would be before giving a scope and estimate.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $150,000 thus far.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve recently talked with a university that’s interested in beta testing what we’ve developed and have received great feedback so far. They’re currently using Facebook—which is the gold standard of social networks—but are now keen to switch over to our platform for a period. We consider this a big win for us.

How did Merixstudioperform from a project management standpoint?

The communication is excellent. We have set call times throughout the week and use Slack for any questions or concerns. I also appreciate how detail-oriented they are. If we ask for a certain feature, they’ll discuss the logistics with us, from the budget to the expectations on both sides. They aren’t just an outsourced development team; rather, it’s more of a partnership.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their business development process has been very helpful and prepared us to move forward. After we started the engagement, we joined an incubator to boost our business. During the four-day mandatory training course, we realized that Merixstudio’s workshop had already covered most of the material. They even gave us several tools that the accelerator lacked.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be transparent with your ideas and keep the communication lines open.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The RKW Competence Center is a non-profit and publicly funded research and development institution. We work with and for small and medium-sized enterprises on solutions for the challenges of the future - in securing skilled workers, innovation, and corporate development. Another focus is entrepreneurship. We develop practical recommendations and solutions for small and medium-sized companies, which we provide free of charge. The RKW Competence Center is part of the nationwide RKW network.

I’m the head of online communication, responsible for everything that can be seen online from us. My daily business is comprised of quality checks of our code base and planning of new projects concerning further development of our website features and tools.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

We have an agency that provides layouts for our website. They consult us concerning usability and the user journey, but they cannot provide HTML, CSS, and JavaScript programming. We only have capacity for PHP coding in-house. We had to fill this gap.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve worked on several projects with Merixstudio. The first one was the relaunch of our main website, which involved several templates. The main challenge was the programming of a significant Ajax API. We described what we wanted in detail, and they delivered the corresponding code to us. They also provided quality checks concerning HTML and CSS, using several devices.

The second project was an external web app, also based on Ajax. It provides help to small businesses in the planning of staffing resources. The scope also involved HTML5 and CSS3 coding. They provided quality checks using several devices and browsers.

We worked on a third project for an HTML newsletter. There were several difficulties concerning email clients, which Merixstudio managed very well. They also performed testing. The final product was delivered as fully usable HTML code.

Merixstudio helped us on a recent project with a very tight deadline. We originally planned to get the code from a different agency, which also made the layout. We rescheduled deadlines for the layout again and again, and, one week before the deadline, they told us that they would not have the capacity to code for one year. Merixstudio jumped in and saved us.

We provided layouts and wireframes in most cases along with detailed documentation of what we needed and how we needed it when we had special requirements.

What is the team composition?

I’ve had contact with 2–3 project managers from their team. I saw the developers in the background, but I never had direct contact with them.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

I worked with Merixstudio in my former job. We also worked with them when we had some problems in resource planning so they were my first choice. I knew that they provided high quality at a low price so I decided to work with them on projects for RKW Competence Center.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost of their work has been €25,000–€30,000 ($29,246–$35,095 USD). The relaunch of our website cost around €8,000 ($9,331 USD) and the external web app cost around €5,000 ($5,832 USD).

We started working with Merixstudio in 2013. The collaboration is ongoing on a project basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The only feedback I get is when things don’t work so it’s a good sign that nobody has reported problems. We have a small internal team with two people working on the code. As one of the people looking at the code and performing quality checks, Merixstudio’s work is always well-coded, clean, and organized. It’s well commented which makes it easy to find specific parts.

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

Most of the communication is done via email. The project managers always keep us up-to-date. They are fast in responding to emails. They are always trying to understand what the client really wants. They ask the right questions. If we deliver documentation that is not straightforward, they will email us or start a Skype chat to discuss the work. They are focused on doing everything to make the client happy.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I am very happy with them. Merixstudio is a professional company that is always up-to-date with new technologies. They deliver on time, and, if a delay occurs, they always communicate that they will have difficulties meeting the timeline. This is important if we are responsible for delivering on time. We can communicate with the other people involved, which is possible only if we have the right information.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Be open about what you want from working with them and don’t hide information because it seems unimportant. On several occasions, we provided Merixstudio with information that we thought wouldn’t be important for the coding, but it turned out that when they started working on the project, the information became important for understanding why we wanted the product to turn out in a certain way.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of Happy Scribe. Our company provides automated transcription tools for journalists.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

We're a startup and we were looking for a company that could be reactive. We needed a team that would be able to address our problems and issues on the go.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We were developing an online editor where people could see what the machine had transcribed for them and make some changes along the way. A big part of the work was about aligning the audio file with a text file.

Merixstudio developed the solution as web-based software. We provided wireframes, API documentation, and all other information required. They worked strictly on the development side.

What is the team composition?

There were two resources on their side and two resources on our side. Initially, there was only one person on their side, but they onboarded another one.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

We interviewed quite a few agencies and found Merixstudio. We decided to go with them because we found them to be flexible and the pricing was advantageous as well. We interviewed them about technology, in order to determine if they’d worked on any React projects. We found that they had produced good-quality work in the past and thought they would be a good match for us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around €14,000 ($16,500 USD) in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Merixstudio at the end of January 2018. The development was completed in mid-April.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since its launch, we haven’t faced any specific issues with the software. We haven’t identified any significant bugs that would affect the end user.

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

Their performance was good. Most of the sprints were set by us, then the project manager applied those sprints. We were in direct contact with the developers. It was just a matter of establishing the connections and making sure that everything was fine. We only used Slack for communication, talking to their resources directly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I don’t have anything specific to say in this regard.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The beginning of the project was a bit slow to start. We could have released the software earlier if everyone was onboarded from day one. This is something that they could improve as nothing really happened during the first two weeks.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the COO of two companies. We have recently split one company into three different parts, two of which are involved in software development and digital signage.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

We didn’t have any internal software developers and needed dev help.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They have a wide variety of expertise and rich information, and they can do things we can’t do. Basically, we are not a software development house; we are people who work on projects for customers, and sometimes, those customers need development. We don’t put ourselves into the market as being software developers, but they are.

They provide additional development staffing (and perspectives) when we need it. They’ve designed and developed games for some of our customers, as well as kiosk and touch applications for in-store communication and sales.

For example, last year, we ran a bigger pilot project for a customer. The challenge was that the client needed it done quickly, but we didn’t have any free developers, so we got Merixstudio involved. In a very limited time, they developed the first designs and software. Afterward, the software was deployed fully throughout the customer’s network. After approving the pilot, the client gave us time to recreate the app from scratch as it should be: stable, secure, manageable, and client server-based. Now, we’ve started building a new version from scratch, and Merixstudio catapulted us into that.

They try to optimize the results that we are trying to achieve. They sometimes have valid input that we can inject into our code for smaller problems that we have or benchmarks we want to achieve. For example, on the last project we developed internally, we weren’t completely satisfied with our results, so we gave Merixstudio the chance to develop it for two weeks to see if they could come up with something that performed better and was more secure.

What is the team composition?

We have a range of resources. We started out with mainly C# and C++ developers, more in the Windows .NET environment. Now, we’re working with a couple of experts in web technology. Our biggest project with them featured 5–6 people. Merixstudio has become more and more involved in our day-to-day development.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

We had a choice between hiring people and looking for someone to help us out. We didn’t want to hire someone for a single project and lay them off. We looked for insourcing and, because our graphics manager knew them previously, we contacted them.

How much have you invested with them?

Over the past year, the most recent project cost between $50,000–$100,000

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Merixstudio around 2011. The collaboration is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our clients don’t know that Merixstudio is involved. They just give us the project, and how we handle it is up to us. I don’t have any specific inputs from the customer side, but I think they’ve performed perfectly.

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

They really invest the time—too much at times—for me. I have told them that they don’t have to email me about every step, but they are very keen on keeping us updated. Their English is perfect, but the  distance between us often limits our communication. Everyone has to translate, and some people are scared of this, but I haven’t had any problems with it so far.

Primarily, we keep in touch by email since it allows us to attach everything we want. We also have talk via phone and Skype, but the quality of their video feed can be horrible.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We don’t often work with third parties, but I’m happy with what they do. This is the reason we haven’t looked at other companies. We like to team up, and we like to be loyal. They know us, they know who we are and what we do, and they know our hardware and software. As soon as something new comes up, we don’t have to introduce ourselves, and it saves a lot of time. I have no intention to look for other partners. I am very satisfied with their pricing and quality. Additionally, the people from Merixstudio are extremely friendly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their internet connection needs improvement so we can have better video quality during calls.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of a product experience management platform. Brands upload information about their products such as images, videos, and ingredients through a content management system for use by retailers and whoever needs access to the brand content.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

We were building our platform from scratch. We’re based in Dubai, a region that doesn’t offer resources for our technology stack. The options we have are likely 2–3 times more expensive. The platform would be quite complex, and we wanted the ability to scale it up easily and to use the latest technologies. Many of the companies we approached in our region insisted on PHP, SQL, and Oracle, but this was not what we wanted. We had an older, basic version in place, and already knew the limitations of those technologies. There was a lot of big data to handle, so we needed a scalable, reliable and easy to use solution.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We developed the platform using Django and Python for the backend. These technologies are not available in the Middle East. The platform is currently in production, and we plan to have the website live in two weeks or less. We have another year of development left, and we will start working on integrations with Box, Dropbox, Amazon, Wal-Mart, Carrefour, and hundreds of other platforms in April 2018. APIs are a big part of our roadmap.

What is the team composition?

We’ve always had at least 1 full-time project manager and around 4 resources working on the project, 3 full-time and 1–2 part-time. We also have 1–2 quality testers working part-time.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

We researched 20 different companies from Poland, Russia, and Ukraine using Clutch, and narrowed the list down to six Polish groups. I went there and met each one. Merixstudio was second or third choice on paper, but we also relied on intuition. Through talking to them, I became comfortable working with the team. We were starting a two-year project which would cost over $500,000 within the next six months. They would serve as an extension of our team in Dubai so we needed to have synergy between us. This is why our evaluation was largely based on whom we felt most comfortable with and who had the same ideas and way of thinking as us.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, the billable work cost around $340,000. We are committed to another $160,000 by the end of 2018.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Merixstudio in January 2017 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

So far, we’re extremely happy with the platform’s performance and scaling.

We have 300 clients on board already even though we haven’t started advertising. The feedback we’re getting for the overall concept, the interface, and the performance of the platform is quite positive. Most of our clients are either major brands or Fortune 500 companies.

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

We are using JIRA and Slack along with email and phone calls for communication. There is a weekly call for aligning things and checking the status of bugs, and we also have a strategy call every 2 weeks. I’m not always a part of the weekly call; it’s handled by a couple of people from my team. I participate in the bimonthly strategy call, along with our CTO depending on where we are in development. We always have open communication and are always looking at the progress of the project. They have good communication skills and provide responses quickly when we need something.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We are currently in phase 4 of the project, for which we expected delivery in mid-March. Merixstudio delivered in two weeks, which equates with a reduction in cost. For every phase, we have a 2–3 hour scoping session during which they define what our requirements are and send them back for our feedback. They provide the defined scope of work along with a budget correlating with it. Based on our timelines, project management, and scheduled sprints, the delivery was scheduled to be complete in March. I’m pleasantly surprised to see that the first version will be ready by the end of January. I expect to have another 2 weeks of debugging, but the major development will be finished. Merixstudio is sometimes faster than what they promise, which is an advantage.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Because we’ve been working together for almost 14 months, we’ve come to know each other. There was some miscommunication in the beginning, and things were not as smooth as possible, but this was sorted out. They’re good at understanding customer needs and converting weaknesses to strengths.