Tallium Inc.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We here at X-Forces are a social enterprise that support the ex-military community into starting-up their own business/self-employment. We provide those wishing to start up their own business with support that includes training, on-going support, finance and mentoring.

We are the exclusive training provider for the military’s CTP (Career Transition Partnership) start-up awareness courses and delivery partner for the Government’s Start-Up Loans Company.

Our approach is quite different to that of other providers as we encourage both self-employment and employment thus ensuring individuals are making informed decisions when considering the financial implications of self-employment.

In addition to the above we also deliver a variety of training days ranging from 1-day awareness courses to substantive 4-day courses to a number of external partners.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Tallium Inc.?

The XFE Knowledge Exchange Hub was an idea of ours, so we required a company to make this a reality for us, so we choose Tallium to help us bring this project to life.

What were your goals for this project?

The XFE Knowledge Exchange Hub has been created to enable the community to self-serve on education, information, knowledge and networking at a pace and in an environment that is appropriate for each of you as individuals within the military community.

The ambition is that this XFE hub will become a great platform to find all relevant information about self-employment relevant to the military community.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

X-Forces Enterprise searched online for the right web designer to make this happen for us. We sorted out about 3 possible company’s, and started discussions with them.

We were introduced to Tallium through Blam, so we made the connection and they listened to what we were after. We narrowed it down to 2 Company’s after receiving their initial quotes and pitches etc.

In the end I was no brainer for us to select Tallium as they were the best value for money and listened to what we needed, which gives you a good feeling you have selected the right company.

Describe the project in detail.

This all stared for us with a fair few discovery calls and meetings to set out our goals and expectations. Within the first few weeks of development we started to see mock-ups and designs of the Hub, which was great to see and to provide our feedback.

With a few alterations and final designs, the hub stared to come together and take shape. Tallium provided us with goals at each point of the development and stuck to them. We have been informed of all design progression and updates on a regular basis, which was great to have.

We are now moving in to the final stages of the platform, and just making the final changes we require to improve the development. Tallium have been right behind us all the way.

What was the team composition?

We initial had discussions with the Tallium team to kick things off and moving in the right direction. We were then assigned a Project manager called Fillip Danylchenko, who was our point of contact at all times during the design and development of the Hub. He has been a great Project manager for us, with keeping us informed of all progression from start to finish of the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have started to get people registered on the Knowledge Exchange Hub all ready and we can see what a great source of information it is and will become to the business wanting to use this .

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Fillip, our Project Manager that was assigned to us has been great to work with and more importantly has been there for us from start to finish. We have had regular conversations and updates from him during the whole process, which has given us the confidence to know we have chosen the right company to build this for us.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I must admit Tallium has been so supportive during this project and has shown us that they really know their stuff when it comes to design and development. Not only have we learned during this process, but Tallium has been so supportive to us and very patient at times. We can certainly recommend Tallium to anyone looking at using them for whatever they need.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I would of though most people would say things to be done quicker etc, but for us it has been at a great pace and worked for us. On the whole we have been very impressed with Tallium and I would say, more importantly that quality is better than speed. So thanks to Tallium, we now have a great Online Hub to use and provide.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co. owner of the company. It is a graphic competition with a retail store. Also we give donation to non-profit organisations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Tallium Inc.?

We gave the mechanism and a first layout to create the whole working website.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal was to create a very complex website with webshop, product voting system for visitors, blog, shareing availibity and jury voting system.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were recomended by another contest site.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They designed and developed everything for this website. I only gave them the text and logo and a video.

What was the team composition?

There was a designer, a back end developer and a manager. We discussed everything via Slack which is very effective, and once a month we made a video call as well.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We just started our project so we don't know yet how effective our website, but so far, it looks work well. Easy to use and looks great.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project management was very effective.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are fast, profound, proactive and their price is affordable.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not at all.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Design Contest is a community shaped by the joint efforts of talented designers and contest holders. By hosting a design contest with us, contest holders are able to choose from a variety of great designs created by talented, professional designers from all over the world. Our designers compete for the prizes offered, which motivates them and pushes them to their limits in order to create innovative, fresh designs. DesignContest is making the world more aesthetically pleasing since 2003 I have worked for designcontest since 2005, I'm the Sr. Support at designcontest.com

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Tallium Inc.?

Designcontest was due for a new site update, front end and back-end work. Tallium is the first choice always when we are looking to update/change or add to our site.

What were your goals for this project?

Designcontest.com needed a new fresh and updated look and feel, along with a new way for designers to work with clients. Tallium was and is able to complete these requests as needed in a very timely fashion. We needed a new fresh look a more modern and trendy look and feel with ease of use.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

The choice is easy. We have worked with Tallium exclusively for the past 5 yrs. Designcontest needed work on the site so we went researching and found Tallium. The reviews made Tallium stand out even more.

Describe the project in detail.

Designcontest needed front and backend work most important though a new look and feel, we needed to bring the site up to date , make it more modern and easy to use for users

What was the team composition?

Tallium started the project promptly, sending us daily updates along with test site samples to show us the new development. Tallium has several techs working front end and several backend. Plus the QandA section for testing and flushing out any issues

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The new fresh look did the job. We increased our sales and back on top again. Our designers are very pleased plus the site is easy for clients to use. Designcontest has a nice workflow for designers and clients now with the new fresh updated look and feel

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Working with Tallium Inc. couldn't be easier! We had constant contact. The Project manager was on top of everything. He understood our needs and wants and conveyed them to the team developing the new designcontest.com site

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The knowledge, the ability to understand what we need and want. Plus the contstant contact and updates. We were never in the dark about the development

Are there any areas for improvement?

The only improvement would be a team over here in the US :)

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm creative director in event agency specialized in electronic music events qievdance.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Tallium Inc.?

We needed a new website for our business to display our events for end users and sell tickets for these events. Tallium also done a design for the project.

What were your goals for this project?

Improve conversion rates on the website, update look and feel, make it more modern. We also added a completely new feature to sell tickets online. This part improved our online sales a lot!

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were recommended to us by another marketing agency we worked with.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We started with the wireframes as a first step. We easily approved them with our internal team. Later we provided guys from Tallium with our preferred design style and our brand book.

Design work exceeded our expectations a lot! After this phase we moved to development, implemented initial scope and we are still continuing to work with their team on different website updates.

What was the team composition?

The main communication point on their end was Project Manager. We also had a kick off session with 2 Back-end Developers, 1 Front-end Developer and Designer. I'm not sure if all of them worked on the project all the time. They also told me that they had a Quality Assurance Engineer on the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I am very pleased with the work done from start to finish. I would never have believed that it is realistic to create a large enough website with a payment system in such a short period from scratch. But they coped with it, and besides, the cost was not that high. Our online sales increased a lot! All our visitors love new website.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project manager always understood us well and was always available for our questions. All our team enjoyed working with her.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The quality and their willingness to deliver a high-quality result. The final result exceeded our expectations!

Are there any areas for improvement?

Maybe they should add digital marketing services to their service list. Everything else was perfect!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We develop a financial technology marketplace that connects private wealth managers and banks to leading alternative investment products and services. My position is product owner in the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Tallium Inc.?

We hired Tallium to update our entire frontend and make it responsive using React technology.

What were your goals for this project?

The responsive frontend had to be live within a short timeframe with limited functionalities (MVP) in order to fit the business needs. After a successful launch of the platform on the market, Tallium helped us adding functionalities and scaling the platform.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were recommended to us, and after a short selection among other vendors and visiting them, we decided to go with them. They provided great reactivity to our needs and gave all the confidence we needed.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Tallium took over the platform in no time. After initial analysis of our APIs and DB, they took over the whole frontend development in React. Our internal designer was providing the design elements and Tallium made a great job implementing the design. They are very solution-oriented and we could rely on them to make sure the solution was fully responsive, and the design was working great on all screen sizes.

What was the team composition?

The project had about 6 people. Tallium provided a senior engineer, a junior engineer and a scrum master. They were interacting on a daily basis with our CTO, our backend engineer and our designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our solution was launched in time, and all milestones were respected. Tallium was fully supportive and understanding our business needs, the team was very motivated and could deliver a great platform and generate a successfuls launch for our users.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management was very effective. The engineers were coordinated by a project manager at Tallium, who was interacting with our team. The work was very effective and goal oriented.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were impressed by the reactivity of the team and the way they adapted to our needs. Being a startup ourselves, we got all the agility we needed. We were also impressed by the quality of the deliverables.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We could address areas of improvements during the project and they were all answered. Tallium was very open and customer oriented in the whole process.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a project manager at a digital marketing agency, founded and based in Switzerland.

Our client manufactures high-end sensor solutions in the elevator and doors&gates market. The client has approx. 500 employees and offices in more than a dozen countries around the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Tallium Inc.?

Our client was in need for a webshop with specific requirements, regarding complex integration of their CRM, ERP, as well as complex limitations depending on regulations of different markets around the world.

What were your goals for this project?

The solution had to be implemented in a rather short timeframe, and had to respect:

• The internal processes and systems of the production- as well as the sales-department of the client
• Implement all legal and order processing regulations from the different regions around the world

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We chose this vendor because their experience, professional approach as well as the capability of providing ressources convinced us.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They took care of the design, development, configuration, as well as the administration and implementation of the solution, all the way to the deployment. We worked closely during the design phase, and then they developed everything according to the specs, and released in short bi-weekly sprints.

In addition to implementing all the requirements, they were also very helpful in suggesting additional specs/features during the whole process and consulted us thoroughly.

What was the team composition?

We had two project managers on their side that were always available. Additionally, they provided us with multiple designers and developers, so we always felt there were enough ressources to reacht the milestones.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The platform was launched on time, all the milestones were implemented correctly. The platform has already gained a lot of traction, our client is very happy with the performance so far.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

PM was on point and very professional. We have a very open and direct communication with them and collaboration works smoothly and quick.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Communication is great and active, which is very important to us.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Some minor side tasks were not defined at the kickoff and somehow got lost. More detailed project requirements (also from our side) would have helped to smoothen out this little bugs.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the owner of Next Day Cleanup, a junk removal company based out of Santa Rosa.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Tallium Inc.?

I hired Tallium to design and build a website.

What were your goals for this project?

to have a functional website that has the features I wanted.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I came to them throgh the website design contest. I had a nice logo made with design contest, and the owner also runs tallium in ukraine.

Describe the project in detail.

Build a website with features that I asked for.

What was the team composition?

I am not sure.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Project never completed. I paid for the website but it was never really finished. Poor performance. Avoid this company.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

it was satisfactory.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

designcontest.com

Are there any areas for improvement?

having a local team would have helped

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was updated by the client on March 24, 2020. The original star ratings were: Overall - 2, Quality - 1.5, Schedule - 3, Cost - .5, NPS - .5. New content is below:

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tallium Inc.?

I hired Tallium Inc. to design and build a website for me.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Suffice it to say, the first part of the engagement did not work out. After I left the review, however, Oleksander (Project Director) reached out to me and really did his best to improve the functionality of the website, including adding a booking service, all without asking me for any more money.

He took a personal approach, and it was clear that he was making an effort to satisfy the customer. Everything I wanted has now been fixed, and the site looks and works significantly better than it did before. It’s still a work in progress, but it is much closer, and I have been satisfied with Tallium Inc’s work since Oleksander took over.

What is the team composition?

I work directly with Oleksander for all of the work now.

How did you come to work with Tallium Inc.?

They reached out to me after I left the review and offered to fix everything that I wasn’t satisfied with.

How much have you invested with them?

Tallium Inc. is providing the fixes to the site I originally paid for at no extra cost to me.

What is the status of this engagement?

We are continuing to work together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

My business is very new, and I’m getting so much demand that I can barely keep up with it. As far as increased revenue directly from the website, it is a little too early to tell what the effect has been, but I have no doubt that it will contribute eventually. I’m happy with how everything looks and functions at this point.

How did Tallium Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

Oleksander has been very proactive and communicative ever since we started working together. He has committed to communicating with me in whatever way I found the most helpful, which for the most part has been over skype video and audio chat as well as screen shares.

I was so frustrated in the beginning because of how the experience initially went that Oleksander really spent time with me and just listened and was able to win me over with the amount of attention and care that he paid to my project. I really feel that he makes himself available and demonstrate care for the customer.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Some companies are just looking to get your business and then move on to other customers, but Tallium is really striving to retain their customers by delivering satisfactory experiences. It shows in the work that I was able to get from them once we established a better understanding.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It really is of the utmost importance that you go into the project with a clear vision of what you’re looking for. Be ready to communicate proactively with their team and give them lots of feedback, because the better relationship you can develop with their team lead the more likely you are to have a successful engagement in the first place.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a booking platform. I'm the founder and general manager of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tallium Inc?

We hired them to redevelop a product for us. We previously worked with another team of developers, but we didn't have a great experience with them. The platform launched before Tallium took over, but we faced a lot of issues from the previous development team. The speed of the portal was bad, and the portal was full of bugs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

All of our developers are outsourced. Tallium redeveloped elements within our entire stack, and they completed everything we required of them. When they took over, they fixed everything left over from the previous team. The majority of the tasks we give them are small, and most of their work included adjustments to the existing platform.

What is the team composition?

We're in direct contact with a project manager, and the rest of the team includes a frontend developer, a backend developer, and a quality assurance manager. Sometimes, we involve a designer or their CEO when we face something challenging. There may be other team members that we don't interact with.

How did you come to work with Tallium Inc?

A friend of ours referred them. After a long round of interviews with twelve or fifteen companies, we liked Tallium's presentation and decided to hire them. We liked their pricing and their quality, and there was no danger that they would outsource the work to another company.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent more than $50,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in March or April 2018, and we’re still working together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They optimized the speed to a higher level, and they rewrote parts of the portal. Response times are much better, and I'm happy with several of the backend optimizations they've provided. We're going through a round of investment, and our new budget will allow for more development. I plan to give them bigger tasks and continue working with them.

How did Tallium Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is good from my viewpoint. I prioritize deadlines, and we've never had an issue. My contact person responds in a timely manner, and I would rate them very highly. We use Slack to communicate, which works quite well for us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The solution they provided is completely customized, and I like their approach. Compared to the other companies we considered, they had a much better background and portfolio.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Based on our current needs and our budget, I'm very happy with everything they do. There may be things they can improve, but nothing specific comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Ask them to present solutions and show you their portfolio. Their previous work helped us choose them. Get to know them personally and follow your instincts. If you feel their approach is right for you, hire them. They're professional, honest, and easy to work with.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there. 

I work in consulting at Krivi Associates, Inc. which is a limited liability company. Currently, I'm also the owner of Connect.Family. Since I just started my business, I don't have many employees yet.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tallium? 

I hired Tallium to develop my app, Connect.Family. At a high level, it lets users build a family tree. It's great for people like me who immigrated to the US and have family members in a different country. Our kids and grandchildren will be able to use the app to learn about their ancestors via the knowledge they provide about the culture and how they're related to us. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

My product is a social media network that is purely for connecting family members and friends. Tallium developed the app from scratch for both the Android and iOS platforms. I provided a document that described what I was looking for and how I envisioned the app should work, and why I started this concept. 

At the start, I had a call with the CEO. He had a couple project managers and developers join to go over my requirements and plan together. After they took a couple of days to review, they came back with their thoughts, a design, wireframes, and an estimated cost and timeframe for the solution. The team was very professional and presented thorough feedback after listening to my requirements. 

They developed the technical infrastructure and added key functionalities for the system.  Users can invite all their family members and then create their own groups. There are features for chat, video calls, and sharing media exclusively within a user's specific network. 

They recommended tools for the backend architecture, hosting, technology to use for the frontend on iOS and Android. They offered a more affordable option than expensive in-house development from scratch. Instead, they used an API to get a better value for the services.

What is the team composition?  

They assigned people with different skills sets to our project whenever the phases changed. In total, I believe about 10–12 resources worked with us at various phases.  They were all fantastic.

How did you come to work with Tallium? 

I was looking for a good development agency.  I used a different team to design another app's logo, and they connected me to Tallium.  

How much have you invested with them? 

I spent around $26,000–$27,000.

What is the status of this engagement? 

We started working together in November 2018. The app just went live for both iOS and Android four days ago. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

At this point, it's only been four days since the app launched. In this period, the first month live, I'm considering the bugs we identify and feedback from various end users. 

By the end of June, I'm planning to start a marketing campaign to give us a better picture of what the usage statistics will be. As of now, we've already had over 100 installations. 

How did Tallium perform from a project management standpoint? 

From a project management standpoint, their performance was absolutely fantastic. They use a tool called Jira where I can track all the tasks they're working on and see their progress and how long it's going to take.

What did you find most impressive about them? 

In my work as a consultant, I've traveled  to many parts of the country and across the globe and have seen many service providers. Tallium has given the best performance of any team I've seen so far.

The best part about working with Tallium is how well they keep you informed. They not only tell you what needs to be done, but also what, when, and why.  

Tallium always supports me and offer multiple options to choose from. Rather than taking a stance, they leave it up to the client and provide all the knowledge you need to make the right decision. 

Are there any areas they could improve? 

I wouldn't say they need to improve anything. There's nothing I want them to change. I've asked them to continue hosting my product.

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

Try to prepare yourself before you ask them to get on a call. Clients should do their homework and clearly present all the requirements so Tallium can come back with clear cut details about the resources and work the project requires. 

They're highly skilled technically. Giving them the right information will help you get the best results out of your work together.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

FanLeague is a social pool-betting application for the European market, primarily focusing on the UK and on English football.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tallium?

They’ve been working as our full production team, at least on the development side, since the beginning of our project. That included iOS, Android, and web application development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Tallium developed our platform for the web and as native applications for Android and iOS. They used Laravel PHP for the backend and API, Swift and Java for the native applications, and Angular.js 2 for the frontend.

The initial specifications were made by us, but Tallium were part of the blueprint drawing process, which was done for the entire platform. They were involved from the beginning, doing the specifications and assisting during the planning phase. We’ve been working with them for some years now, during the initial launch, but also for maintenance and updates.

What is the team composition? 

The size of our team has varied from 12–22 people, averaging around 16. Depending on the phase of the project, we’ve needed to add additional resources.

How did you come to work with Tallium?

I’ve worked with them on products before, so I had them in mind. I think I found them through a mutual contact in Ukraine.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost of their development work has been $1.5 million so far, at least.

What is the status of this engagement?

We starting working together in July 2016, and the engagement is ongoing. We started blueprinting the project one year before launch. Actual development started a few months later.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We wouldn’t have been able to launch the app as quickly without Tallium. We had a third party review the code and it passed with flying colors, from both a security and an aesthetic point of view.

It was a fairly complex product. We have licenses in the UK, Malta, and Uganda, so there were quite a few complex requirements on how we could operate in terms of the technical, infrastructure, and security sides. Tallium are willing to help us succeed in getting stuff done.

How did Tallium perform from a project management standpoint?

The relationship has worked really well. They deliver on time, as requested, and they remain open to changing requests during the process. We’re detail-oriented people, and it’s worked out.

We communicated quite often. I coordinated the effort from the product side, and I called them more than once a day. We also used sharing tools; for example, I'd specify something in Jira, and they’d make it happen.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re really agile—the product requirements changed often, and we worked in a scrum methodology. From a sprint perspective, we managed to change most of the scope, while still keeping our eyes on the product that we wanted to deliver. They handled significant changes across a huge project. The way they kept track of all the small details was impressive.

They ask the questions that need asking and fully understand what is required, which keeps costs down. It’s really good relative to our market, but also to other markets, in terms of value.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve had discussions along the way and have given them feedback on where they needed to improve. They’ve been keen to take that feedback and have made all the fixes requested. For example, we weren’t performing as well on Android as we were on iOS, and there were some delays solving this. They put together a team that helped us catch up.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I would definitely recommend them. They can take on customers who know exactly what needs to be done and want to go down to the nitty gritty of all the details, as well as more vague projects. They can deliver either web- or app-based platforms.