STX Next

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am VP of Engineering for a SaaS Supply Chain Software Company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired STX Next to help develop our world-class SaaS Web Application that helps companies manage their imports for the supply chain. Our goal was to get the system to track end-to-end the Purchase Order through the Shipment Confirmation and Tracking Events of international imports. We hoped STX Next would bring their expertise in Python and Node.JS development to develop features faster.

SOLUTION

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

We chose STX Next because they are the number one contracting firm for Python. Recently, they have expanded into JS and Typescript, and our project uses both. They also have people skilled in both Angular and React, and we needed both. In short, we chose STX Next because they have the skills we needed, and a reputation for being the best. They also work as members of our Scrum team, and that is very helpful in organizing.

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

STX Next works either with a scope or as Scrum team members. Rather than a scope of work, we used STX Next to supplement our own team and join our Scrum. They have been responsible for developing major features and continue to do so as team members. We use Jira to organize, and the team also uses Docker, Node, Typescript, Angular, React, MS SQL, Postgres, and Python.

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

STX Next scales up and down with us as we shrink and grow our teams. We have used more than 7 STX team members at once to supplement various Scrum teams.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In general, we have seen incredible success with STX Next. Their developers deliver more story points per sprint than other international contractors. They also get direclty involved in architecture and planning. Our project was completed on time and with more features than was required, due in a large part to STX Next.

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

STX Next is very flexible and adaptive to our own project management. They used our Jira and Slack and are fully integrated into our teams communcations.

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

What is most unique about STX Next is their committment to Scrum and agile. Instead of just doing a project, they understand that every 2 weeks is a mini-project, and are committed to succeeding every sprint. That means:

1. They sometimes work extra hours if the sprint is at risk.
2. They often help other team-mates to succeed in their tasks also.
3. They try to fully understand that work task to do it right the first time.
4. They are committed to testing and quality.

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

STX Next is a bit more expensive than some other firms, but on a story-point by story-point basis it works out to be cheaper, because STX Next gets more done.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm an executive at a cryptocurrency exchange company. In my role, I'm responsible for the company's development, infrastructure, and security.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with STX Next?

We were developing our cryptocurrency exchange platform and hired developers from STX Next for front- and backend development and DevOps. When I joined the company, the product already existed and had a lot of code and people working on it, but the documentation wasn’t comprehensive.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

STX Next provides us with developers who work on our platform's front- and backend and DevOps resources responsible for infrastructure. First, STX Next dove into our product and got help from colleagues to understand it. They've helped develop our cryptocurrency exchange, which has a backend in Python. We use an API on the backend, and STX Next has also built this API and adds new functionality when needed. 

For the frontend, they've helped redesign the exchange website, using JavaScript for development. We have a separate back office function for customer support and compliance with Know Your Customer standards, where we can check the users' transactions. STX Next has built this back office using Vue.js. Meanwhile, our mobile app was developed by another company, so they don't participate in mobile development. 

As for DevOps, STX Next helps us with infrastructure, deployment of new services, security, and ensuring there aren't any incidents. If we have issues, they help us fix them. 

What is the team composition?

In the beginning, we worked with 7–10 teammates from STX Next. We're mostly in contact with team leads, though we also speak directly with the developers when we need specific information. 

How did you come to work with STX Next?

Our partnership with STX Next started before I joined the company. 

How much have you invested with them?

We initially paid them around $100,000 monthly, slowly decreasing to about $30,000–$40,000 monthly. Overall, we've spent over $1 million with STX Next. 

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with them in May 2022, when I joined the company, though the partnership began sometime in 2021. Although our relationship is ongoing, we're about to finish the engagement due to internal reasons.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don't have any KPIs and rely on STX Next's speed to complete tasks as a metric. Since I also work as a developer, I can estimate how much time tasks can take. We also measure their success based on feedback from our internal team. Although we're ending our engagement with them, it's not because of STX Next's work but for internal reasons. 

How did STX Next perform from a project management standpoint?

We use ClickUp for project management. Within the platform, we organize each team's backlog and two-week sprints and can see the teams' velocity. Initially, we used Microsoft Teams for communication, and we've since switched to Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciate that some STX Next developers have helped us a lot. They do a great job when we have issues or urgent tasks; they're willing to work overtime to help solve problems. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We've worked with many teammates from STX Next, some of whom have been better than others. I appreciate proactivity, and some developers were too relaxed and weren't trying to perform unless we pushed them. Therefore, I had to analyze each team and replace some teammates. 

However, I wouldn't say these issues were completely on STX Next since everything was organized before I joined the company, so the teams may not have had proper guidance. Moreover, some developers perform very well and are proactive. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

STX Next is a good company. To get the best results, ensure you choose the right teammates for the job and monitor them. I'd advise having a developer from your side provide feedback about STX Next's performance.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO at NeuroFlow, a behavioral health platform for clinicians and people working on behavioral health issues.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with STX Next?

We were going through a period of rapid growth with a customer base. We wanted to find a partner that could help us increase our development speed and grow our technical infrastructure.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

STX Next has helped us think through some of the business outcomes we’re trying to accomplish to navigate the right mix of technology and align them. They’ve jumped into our existing product and extended some capabilities within our code base. The team has worked on the clinical workflow, patient management, and patient engagement capabilities.

We primarily use Python, and their expertise with PostgreSQL database and AWS is also helpful.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with 4–7 people, primarily senior software engineers.

How did you come to work with STX Next?

Someone referred them. We talked to several partners we were vetting and eventually decided on STX Next due to their expertise in Python. Also, they were familiar with the business stage we were at.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent more than $500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in June 2021, and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

First, our most significant success indicator is feature completion. They’ve built several features that help us grow our customer base. Also, their velocity is measurable in terms of completed stories.

How did STX Next perform from a project management standpoint?

Jira and Asana are our two main tools. For communication, they’ve integrated into our company’s Slack infrastructure. We also have regular Zoom meetings and monthly governance meetings with the project’s leadership. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a deep capacity in everything related to Python, which is helpful because it’s our stack. Also, they’re very familiar with cloud deployment models and the challenges of scaling up. They’re pretty good at understanding what growth might look like and which technical priorities we should work on to meet the need for scalability.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we’re satisfied with our partnership.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear on your objectives and share them so they can work based on the outcomes you care about and apply the right technology.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of Trueflutter App, a dating and matchmaking app. It’s designed specifically for people of African heritage.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with STX Next?

We had built the first version of our mobile dating app with the help of another company, but we were unsatisfied with their services. As our frontend was built on React Native and our backend on Node.js, we needed a company knowledgeable about those technologies so that they could come in and fix what we already had. Additionally, we wanted them to build out the new features and functionalities we wanted on the platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

STX Next has taken over what the other company had done, rewriting almost the entire code. From the beginning, they assessed the entire app and planned how to get it to where we wanted it to be. Since then, they’ve been developing it further, module by module and page by page, improving all of its major functionalities. The only aspect they haven’t rewritten is the algorithm in our backend.

What is the team composition?

We initially worked with a senior backend engineer, a junior backend engineer, and a frontend React Native engineer. We also interacted with a technology leader who wasn’t working full-time on the project. Additionally, we engaged with two people focused on machine learning for about two weeks.

We currently have a dedicated team member who spends a certain number of hours per month working on our account. We scaled STX Next’s team down because we’re not actively developing features at the moment.

How did you come to work with STX Next?

We searched for a company specializing in React Native and Node.js, and we found STX Next on Clutch.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $130,000–$150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2021, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Thanks to STX Next’s work, what we now have is very different from what they inherited from the former team, which is why we’ve been working with them non-stop since they joined. Mobile apps have a crash-free user rate on Google Analytics, which tells how stable the platform is. When STX Next joined, the crash-free user rate on the app was 89%–90%. Now, our rate is 99%, which means that our app is very steady. Additionally, our average review rate on Google Play was about 3.1 stars, but our current rate is about 4.2 stars.

How did STX Next perform from a project management standpoint?

STX Next´s project management is excellent; they’re phenomenally good and offer a lot of transparency. The project leader is very experienced, and he brings all of his experience to the team.

We have weekly standup meetings to align on our weekly objectives, and we plan everything out at the beginning of every month. So far, STX Next has always stayed on task. Additionally, they’re very organized. We communicate via Slack, where we have multiple channels to discuss different subjects. We also use email and have Google Meet calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

From the beginning, I knew that STX Next would offer a very different approach from everyone else. They initially asked me to share the vision of what we were trying to accomplish as a startup, which was very unusual for me to be asked that. When I explained the vision, the level of excitement that their entire team had was evident.

Since that meeting, STX Next has been acting as part of my company, showing great enthusiasm to make my vision a reality. One time, we had an issue with the database. Although one of their technical people was on vacation, he saw the Slack notification and fixed the problem in 20–30 minutes. At some point, they even gave us marketing advice, showing that they really cared about the success of the project. Overall, they’re very involved in the project, and they love our business.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had an issue, but it was more my fault than theirs. When we onboarded a couple of resources into the project to fix some specific problems, there were some financial implications that I didn’t fully grasp, and they thought that I had understood them. When I saw my invoice at the end of that month, I was a little bit startled. However, they explained again how the billing for the additional resource worked.

After that, they immediately created a Google spreadsheet to ease these kinds of conversations. Whenever we have new projects now, they put them in the sheet, including the estimated work hours required and what kind of bill to expect at the end of the month. The moment they started doing that, the problem got solved.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Work with STX Next. If you can tell them what your long-term plans are, they’ll be able to plan out the resourcing for you much better.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a European consulting company in the managed cloud services space. I lead the operations, specifically in our German, Austrian, and Swiss markets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with STX Next?

We were in need of consulting services from a cloud specialist. We also needed this specialist to be available on very short notice.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

STX Next helped us out on two main projects. The first involved our customer’s transition from AWS to our cloud environment. We were in a situation where the scope of the project was much bigger than we anticipated due to the size of that customer’s IT environment. STX Next helped us quickly ramp up to address that problem.

Because of how skillfully they handled that first project, we decided to extend their contract and partner with them again, this time on the automation of that customer’s successfully transitioned cloud environment.

What is the team composition?

There were a total of five engineers from STX Next who worked with us. My main contact was the person who managed those consultants. 

How did you come to work with STX Next?

I’m unaware of the selection process since the person who sought them out no longer works with us. I am aware, however, that we were looking for someone who was near our time zone.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around €100,000 (approximately $114,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement ran from April 2021–January 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I can’t provide any quantitative metrics, but qualitatively, the consultants from STX Next received really good feedback from our managers. The quality of their work and the timeliness of their delivery were on point. 

How did STX Next perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management was also very good. Any issue that they encountered they resolved before it could reach me. They also managed their stand-in engineers well so that they could immediately fill in for someone who was not available. I did not have to worry about this at all as it was fully taken care of. It was all very ideal.

We met on a weekly basis, and they used whatever tools or application stacks were being used in the project they were embedded in. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

STX Next was very productive and technically expert. Even though we’re already experts in the field, we were still surprised by how much we were able to learn from them. They have a really impressive workforce. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you are looking for consultants with strong technical skills and the capability to deliver on time, I highly recommend working with STX Next. It is worth noting, too, that they’re better suited to technical projects than heavily corporate environments. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at a data analytics company. We help insurance companies and hedge funds mitigate their risk and investment, so we have public data we pull to our processes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with STX Next?

We needed help with software development for our business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

STX Next helps us develop and maintain our products through a roadmap that we work towards — they provide an additional workforce to our team to work in all of the backend functionalities for these products using Python. We currently work on various projects; they’re also expanding our API to include other products and providing DevOps resources.

What is the team composition?

They’ve provided around ten members of their team, including Judith (Business Manager), who is my main point of contact. 

How did you come to work with STX Next?

A member of our team used them for a previous project and decided to work with them on this task. 

How much have you invested in them?

We invest around $42,000 a month with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2015, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve been able to develop more than our in-house team exponentially — our development velocity has increased by at least four times. Also, they have broad and diverse skills, making it easy to work with them and rearrange the team dynamics to ensure that every project is staffed appropriately. In addition, they provide extensive risk assessments to our infrastructure — they’ve saved us a few times, and their contribution has been invaluable.

How did STX Nextperform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management has been great; we haven’t had any issues with deadlines and budgets. Also, communication has been fantastic, and I appreciate that. We have daily stand-up meetings, and they provide monthly reports on the things they’re addressing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their leadership team cares a lot about us — their level of customer service is outstanding, and they go above and beyond with us. Also, they’re very proactive and work with us to solve problems.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything they can improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend working with them! Also, do as much forethought and project planning before bringing them in — getting ahead of any documentation in advance would be beneficial.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Blocktrade is a compliant European cryptocurrency exchange. Founder of Blocktrade, currently in the advisory role

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

STX has supported the project since the start with providing a dedicated team that worked closely with our internal team of developers on developing the product and adding new features. The main goal was to be flexible with the development resources which is something that STX Next seamlessly provides.

SOLUTION

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

We explored available vendors and the professionalism convinced us to go with STX Next.

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

Initial setup of the project, project kick-off, project management, software development both on backend and frontend, and other support to our internal team of developers.

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

From 5 - 10, depending on our needs, mostly backend developers, but also frontend, project management and lately also devops.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

STX Next helped with the launch of the product itself, and supported the internal dev team with implementing important new features that enabled a rapid scaling of the business.

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

They are flexible, we used Microsoft Team, Azure DevOps boards, at one point also Jira with Confluence. Their developers were provided as a dedicated team, so they are always available and responsive.

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

Flexibility and speed of finding additional developers for us.

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

Potentially pricing, but there is way more demand for developers compared to the supply.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a product manager for a global consulting business helping businesses achieve ESG compliance

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

STX Next was contracted to run a series of product design workshops, with a view to both providing a fresh set of eyes, but also a pathway from design through development to deployment

SOLUTION

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

We found them following an extended procurement process, including Python/JS expertise, range of services, review of testimonials and technical interviews

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

The engagement consistent of a series of 2 hour workshops taking us through the product design process, including activities such as event storming, ICE matrix prioritisation etc. Outputs included summary of workshop activities, with roadmap and estimates for developing MVP of proposed solution

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

1 product Manager, 2 solutions architects, 2 product designers, some engagement with head of product and vp of engineering

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The insight and guidance provided enabled our company to get behind the wider software development initiative and resulted in a long-term development partnership with STX Next

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

Diligent, punctual, prepared, clear communications, great English

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

Everybody we've collaborated with at STX Next was a pleasure to work with. They're dilligent, dedicated, proactive, creative, good humoured, analytical, great problem solvers, and great learners.

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

None

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Head of IT Department

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

I have hired STX Next in a team extension model. We worked together co-creating QA and Development Teams while developing web and mobile applications.

SOLUTION

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

I found them as a one of the biggest software houses in Europe in my company technological stack. While discussing project's scope they were well prepared, looking in to possible risks and multiple ways to mitigate them. Their team was professional and talkative. It was no brainer to choose them from the group of 3 other companies.

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

We have developed several products together that involved JavaScript, React, React Native, Blockchain and other cutting technologies. They were always helpful and full of commitment.

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

There were 4 to 8 people involved in development teams on the following positions: React.js Developer React Native Developer QA Specialist DevOps

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Thanks to STX Next help I could kick off project in a matter of days. The development process was transparent and professional.

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

We used Trello and Jira for WIP monitoring and planning, and Slack, and email for communication. Professional and easy-going people were key ingredients of our success.

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

One word: Ownership.

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

Not really

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of engineering of the organization. We create software for federal, state, and local governments in the UK and the US.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with STX Next?

We used STX Next to get development resources. We needed developers to work on new projects and re-implement parts of the product in Python.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Currently, STX Next is helping us with two product lines and working on new components and reporting solutions. Also, they’re working with our team on an application that does short-term rental monitoring in the US, like Airbnb.

Overall, they just act as additional resources for our projects. However, there have been projects where our product team gives them requirements, and they go over them and build the solution for us. The team predominantly does development and testing, but they’ve done a bit of design work. The product owner helps to define the requirements.

What is the team composition?

At the moment, we work with about 15 people. It goes up and down based on the project. We have a product owner, who is like a product manager. Also, there’s a SCRUM master, many Python developers, and a few QA testers.

How did you come to work with STX Next?

The engagement started before we acquired the company. We kept them because we were happy with their work. STX Next had good quality, and they were reliable and professional.

How much have you invested with them?

In the first year, we spent about £150,000–£160,000 (approximately $204,000–$217,000 USD) per month. Since the latter half of 2020, we’ve paid about £80,000–£90,000 (approximately $109,000–122,000 USD), and next year it’ll be around £50,000 (approximately $68,000 USD) per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in August 2018, and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve received great feedback from the customers on the quality of their work. In particular, they’ve recently returned a reporting project, and the end clients are pleased.

How did STX Next perform from a project management standpoint?

We typically do project management. We have meetings with the developers at least once a week, and we use Teams.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They specialize in Python, so they have great Python developers. Also, their software development process is good, and they deliver high-quality code.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There have been times when we needed new resources, but they weren’t able to supply them. They’re limited in certain areas, so they have to go and find external people, which takes a long time.

Also, there are a bit expensive in other areas. Their prices go up significantly from year to year, even more than inflation. It’s difficult to budget for future years.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear ownership structure and set clear expectations on what they’ll do. They’ve been a complement to our team, but you could also outsource them into projects. They’d do a good job.