Pwrteams

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My company measures employee engagements and helps our participating companies implement best practices to improve their productivity through work culture changes and employee engagement. I’m the QA lead, and I help test products that my company creates and helps support our mission.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Skelia?

One of the applications that I test is our annual survey app. We found that a lot of companies wanted more context within the framework of the annual survey, so we built an app that ensures the content from our annual survey better enables employees to interact regularly. We call the application, Connect. We needed to manage Connect's quality in addition to testing the app, but the work involved with these tasks was more than one person could do. We also needed help creating an automation framework and conducting manual testing on an ad hoc basis.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We collaborated with Skelia to help create an automation framework for Connect, and they helped us implement it per our specifications. They also provided manual testing for us.

One of our requirements was a functional automation layer that used technology we were familiar with such as C#. Using C# was important from a support perspective. We used Selenium to interact with Connect functionally. We also used Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS), which they worked into a type of regression suite that would run ad hoc. VSTS’s test manager was used for manual testing, issue management source control, and bug management.

What is the team composition?

One automation developer from their team worked exclusively for us building the automation framework. Another person acted as a flexible, shared resource and was responsible for manually testing Connect per our request.

How did you come to work with Skelia?

We were seeking vendors, and one of our leadership team members identified Skelia. We had a discussion with them, and we found them to be flexible. Their rate was favorable as well. We evaluated them and described our needs. They were able to help us build the automation framework. They also could support our ad-hoc needs for manual testing. The deciding factor, however, was the level of comfort we felt with them. They seemed like a good fit.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in December 2015 and concluded our collaboration in February 2017. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s hard to quantify the assets they built for us, but we derived value from their manual testing and from their work to build the app framework.

How did Skelia perform from a project management standpoint?

This project was more loosely built, with general goals and milestones. They built the framework we requested. They were responsive, and Patrik [Founder and CEO, Skelia] was very flexible when it came to our needs. He stayed in touch with us as well. The person from their team that worked on our project typically fulfilled requests on an overnight basis.

We managed our work and requests through our issue recording system, VSTS. We managed the project using the Agile methodology and the scrum process to discuss and review the work we wanted to complete on a biweekly basis. Initially, we would meet on a daily basis, but we later met twice a week via video conference calls using RingCentral. We would communicate often through Slack as well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their flexibility was commendable. They worked with us to find the engineers we needed and the technology we wanted to use.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were a couple things that were challenging during our collaboration. One of the things that hindered the project was failing to meet our need for running tests on an ad hoc basis - or at least a periodic basis. Tests had to be run on our company’s test server. Yet we encountered a technical problem that prevented us from executing the tests, reporting results, and we couldn’t get past this issue. We believe they could benefit greatly from expanding their technical knowledge and experience. It would be helpful if they shared other existing approaches for addressing our project needs. 

To be fair, their management wasn't hands-off, but it would have been helpful to have them communicate more often with our management team, identify and help resolve technical impasses. Sometimes, things went down the pipeline, and then back up to me, which may not have happened if our management teams communicated. However, this isn’t a reflection of anyone specifically.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Ask more probing questions about the experience, expectations, and needs from the resource Skelia provides. We reached a point where we couldn't advance further. The person that was assigned to us as our resource was great, but I’m not sure that they had anyone above them that could have resolved our issues. Establish your goals. Be completely transparent with them, and be upfront with your needs. I would also require additional project management.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Rubicoin is a startup based in Dublin, Ireland. We create apps that teach people how to invest and advise people about stocks. I'm the co-founder and chief operating officer. Our team is 14 people at the moment, with 6 in technology and 8 in non-technical roles.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Skelia?

We have a relatively small tech team within our overall development team. We'd been doing a lot of the testing and reviewing in-house, and we decided to bring in Skelia to support that testing process.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We decided to outsource not only to gain additional resources but also to make sure we were doing the best in class when it came to testing. We had 2 cross-platform apps that needed updates every 3 weeks for both app stores, so we asked Skelia to dive into the middle of that process. They performed regression and UI testing in advance of new updates.

The first app they worked on has a straightforward content-led structure and it doesn't change often, but the second app is much more involved. It requires user registration and offers dynamic content on a daily or weekly basis, so it needed quite a bit more testing and updating.

What is the team dynamic?

I had two primary contacts: the head of the testing team and the head of development. They worked with each other as well, and then I know they had a number of engineers who carried out the tests, but I didn't interact with any of them.

How did you come to work with Skelia?

From what I recall, they reached out to me and offered their services, and then we discussed in-house whether to take them up on it. For me, an outsourced testing partner needs to feel like a part of our team, so I asked a lot of questions to get a sense of how they'd interact with my development team. Given all the testing we had to do, the relationship wouldn't have worked for me if it was at arm's length. They made me feel very comfortable with their style of collaboration, so we did a few trial runs with our code to see how we'd work together. That went very well, so I was happy to move forward.

How much have you invested with them?

Between $30,000-40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them for around 1.5 years, starting in summer 2015. We're no longer working together, and that's no fault of theirs — we acquired additional funding and have now in-sourced the work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They definitely increased our performance. The number of bugs found by customers dropped dramatically once we started working with them. That was one metric I kept a close eye on for several months, and once we started working with Skelia there was a significant improvement in the quality of our releases to the app stores.

How did Skelia perform from a project management standpoint?

Everything was seamlessly run. They're very professional, clear, and responded quickly whenever they encountered bugs or anomalies. I was also impressed with how they took feedback from us throughout the process. We mainly used video calls to keep in touch, as well as phone and email. We also occasionally used Trello and some of our own project management tools.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They gave me a lot of confidence that they were thorough and professional, which was particularly important to me given the testing we did. In a situation like this, you want to know that your partner cares as much about your products as you do. And I definitely felt that from them, especially from the members of the testing team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It took a while to reach a point where I was happy with the price negotiations for the project. This may be personal preference, but for me, it's important that we have a trial period before we start to negotiate the bill. In this case, we spent a bit of time deciding what to pay for those smaller test projects. To be fair to them, it's probably a function of the scale of their business, but if I was working with a larger company I'd expect them to put time and energy into selling the product to me before they request any payments. But I do understand that it's expensive to spend time and resources on a business like mine if I decide not to use them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I'd say to embrace the relationship. It's easy to look at your outsourced testing team and keep them at a distance, but integrating them deeper into your team is very valuable. Bring them in on a weekly or bi-monthly call as part of your production cycle. They're trustworthy, so rely on them like part of your team, because you'll have a better outcome.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO and founder of entrust-it. We support growth companies (scale-ups), with a hands-on approach. We provide consulting advice and develop application solutions together with our customers. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Skelia?

We were looking for quality assurance [QA] services for what we build for our customers. We were looking for an external company that would be able to check the quality of an application, as well as the cross-device compatibility, which is one of the main challenges of this work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Skelia has been testing the functionality of an application on a number of devices. It is an online ordering system geared towards takeaways and restaurants, which allows users to open a menu on-site by scanning a QR code and opening the app, or order their lunches or evening meals on-the-go.

We’re designing the solution locally in Belgium, and are developing it through our team in Pakistan. They are performing low-level testing but, before releasing it to the community, we needed another quality test for Android, iOS, and web, which is where Skelia came in.

What is the team dynamic?

We are using half an STE [software testing engineer] on a continuous basis, and this has varied up and down. One of the advantages of Skelia is their flexibility, given that sometimes we have functionality testing and sometimes we don’t. We have one main point of contact from their side.

How did you come to work with Skelia?

I know their founder personally; he’s an ex-colleague.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost of half an FTE has been $35 per hour, over a year-and-a-half period.

What is the status of this engagement?

I first worked with them in 2008 or 2009 on another engagement. For this project, we started work in March 2016. The project is still ongoing, as part of a bigger subsidy engagement which will last until the end of February 2018. After that, we will need to see how we can continue the collaboration.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s a little too early to mention results. In terms of feedback related to the operations on our side, we receive regular reports from them and have access to their environments. We should be able to use their services more rigidly, instead of the ad-hoc approach we have now. If we identify things to be tested, they will start doing so. My development team actually need to manage these services.

How did Skelia perform from a project management standpoint?

The performance was okay in the beginning, and less so now. Once in a while, we receive a report from Skelia.

They are integrated into our JIRA environment. They have their own testing environment and management tool, but we follow up on the work using our instance of JIRA.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their flexibility. We have an agreement to use half an STE, but often don’t have any work for many weeks. Other service providers would have already started complaining that we’re not consuming enough of their services, given that we are paying by the hour. In the end, if we need to upscale, this is where Skelia is flexible: we’re not pressed to use their services if we have no use for them. This is the best point for me.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they should continue as they are.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Clients need to have experience managing offshore or nearshore providers. Bring the team over in the beginning for a one-day face-to-face conversation in order to set expectations and explain the solution or project. After that, the communication can go through online channels.

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was updated by the client on February 3, 2020. The original star ratings were: Overall - 3.5, Quality - 3.5, Schedule - 4, Cost - 4, NPS - 5. New content is below.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did your relationship with the vendor evolve?

We have been working with Skelia for quite a while now and are quite satisfied by their flexibility and drive for results. In terms of feedback related to the operations on our side, we received regular reports from them and have access to their environments. In the meantime, we have referred Skelia to some of our business relations, too, which basically says a lot!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Thomas Cook is a large travel company spanning across Europe. I started as a technical lead on the ecommerce platform for Belgium and the Netherlands, but now I’m responsible for the CRM competency center within the company which includes our group tools. I worked with Skelia in both of these capacities. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Skelia?

An external company in Belgium had already developed the website, but we decided to move it over to Skelia.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Skelia took over complete responsibility for developing the ecommerce platform. They built features in each of the areas, including connectivity to the mainframe. They enabled the capability of our ecommerce platform to process mainframe dump files. This allows us to sell these products online, connect to the mainframe, and then conduct the actual purchase which is integrated into our payment provider in Belgium.

They also handled other 3rd party integrations. Skelia had to handle a lot of content integration, for example, Zoover, including photos and descriptive text for our website. They also developed features for our airlines, including one that allows customers to book extra meals or luggage.

They developed the frontend and backend, as well as provided design. They also set up a couple servers in the background that handle and upload data. They used a JavaScript and .NET framework, and also set up the WCMS (web content management system) on Sitecore.

What is the team dynamic?

We increased the Skelia team to 10 developers and 4 QA resources. The team is divided into two scrums, each with a proxy product owner who was also the business analyst based in Belgium. I was responsible for the solution design, and Skelia handled the application architecture. Their resources are actually regarded as a part of our internal team. They also provide additional, temporary resources when necessary.

Other departments are also involved with Skelia, so overall, we are interacting with 40–50 of their team members.

How did you come to work with Skelia?

When I came to work for Thomas Cook, they had already started engaging with Skelia.  Development of the ecommerce platform began a few months after I started.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $1,000,000–$9,999,999.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2009, and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Skelia has been very consistent in their delivery, and we’ve been very successful due in part to the collaboration. After an engagement with a previous vendor failed, Skelia was able to provide us with stability within 2–3 months. Every time I met the business, the team would tell me how awesome Skelia was. The CRM project has been a little tough due to having just taken it over, but we’re already seeing signs of stabilization.

Skelia’s testing is excellent and thorough, and since we’re introduced them to the platform, we saw the number of P1 defects decrease rapidly to a very low level after every production release.

How did Skelia perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team is very honest, and they never promise what they aren’t capable of. They give feedback, and if we do a session where the analyst explains what needs to be done, they ask questions. Sometimes, they reach results that analysts didn’t even think about.

In the beginning, we did weekly or biweekly, but now we just have status meetings. When we first started, getting everyone acquainted was a little difficult, but now when we bring new people in, it’s a lot easier.

We use JIRA for ticketing, and Skype and email for communication. We also use Scrum methodology.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are capable and loyal, and they really support the team by going out of their way to find solutions. They always provide great candidates as well.

Skelia is very driven and motivated, and if we ask them to work on the weekends, they have no problems with it. They are part of our team, and the fact that they’re treated the same as our internal resources really helps with the overall dynamic. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They don’t always have the necessary resources in order to come up with a solution. If we need to scale up very rapidly and temporarily, that can be a problem sometimes.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the former Head of Digital of a consulting company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Our company helps people to move more and better. We want to motivate everyone to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Maintain and further develop corporate platforms
• Testing

SOLUTION

How did you find pwrteams?

Referral

Why did you select pwrteams over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

What was the size of pwrteams’s team?

6-10 Employees

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

• Maintenance and development of backend (Node.js) / frontend (React)
• Devops (Kubernetes, Cloudamqp, ...)
• Testing of deliverables

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Sprint Deliverables
• Delivering new platforms
• Continuity of day-to-day active users

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

• Very positive about the project management
• Always available when necessary
• Think pro-actively
• Great person skills

What was your primary form of communication with pwrteams?

Virtual Meeting

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

• Even though the team works remotely, it feels like a very close team with a great connection to our company.
• Communciation is going very smoothly

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

N/A

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Engineering manager of Besix Unitec

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Automation of infrastructure projects

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• easy to find people
• cheaper wages

SOLUTION

How did you find pwrteams?

Online Search

Why did you select pwrteams over others?

Referred to me

What was the size of pwrteams’s team?

6-10 Employees

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

Electrical design, mechanical design, BIM design, PLC programming, Scada programming, safety calculations, lightning calculations, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, software engineering, software testing

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• project deliverables on time

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

Yes they did. We have daily / weekly meetings to discuss progress.

What was your primary form of communication with pwrteams?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The ease to find new people.

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

The team is working independently (pretty much), we're providing IT equipment and support, we provide an HR platform for personal development and goals, ... Yet the overhead fee we pay to pwrteams stays the same.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the operations manager of a robot manufacturing startup. We develop worker robots that can do many tasks for humans.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Skelia?

We hired Skelia to expand our web and mobile app development team.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to find an experienced software developer that could help with our web and mobile app development.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We selected this vendor based on previous collaborations at another company.

Describe the project in detail.

We prefer not to share this information.

What was the team composition?

We prefer not to share this information.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We prefer not to share this information.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

There was a very good collaboration.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The speed of finding the right person for us and the structured workflow were pluses.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No