Trigent Software - AI Development

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior IT manager of analytics at a manufacturing company. We make systems and parts for the semiconductor industry. We manage many platforms and grow through acquisitions, so we acquire a lot of analytics software. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Trigent Software?

With Trigent Software, we wanted to standardize our analytics platform across the company. Our team chose Microsoft Power BI as our enterprise standard, and we wanted to bring other groups onto the platform that had been using other analytics platforms over the years. We wanted to decommission our Tableau server and implementation — which were used by several hundred people — and move everything into Power BI.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Trigent Software has helped us with the refactoring work. They open the Tableau workbooks, analyze how they’re created, and document custom calculations, charting, and everything else in the dashboard. Then, they recreate the workbooks using the Microsoft Power BI app and republish it to the cloud service. Moreover, they’re responsible for the first-level QA testing. We’ve also recently engaged them in a second project to convert SAP HANA to SAP Datasphere.

What is the team composition?

We work with five teammates from Trigent Software, namely a team lead, three developers, and one QA tester. The team lead is also the project manager. 

How did you come to work with Trigent Software?

Trigent Software was recommended by my boss, who had worked with them at a previous company. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement started in May 2023, and it’s ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve gone live with 44 dashboards, each with various complexities. They all underwent user acceptance testing with only 1–2 defects reported. The defect rate is extremely low because of our two-step testing methodology. The dashboards are highly accurate, and we’ve received hugely positive feedback from users in terms of their experience. 

How did Trigent Software perform from a project management standpoint?

Trigent Software has performed well, and their communication is clear. We have had daily scrum meetings for a while and have encountered unknown complexities. Despite that, the team has kept good documentation of what’s happening throughout the sprints. They document what we’ve accomplished and what has slipped. We’ve also hit our main deadline, which is good because we’ve changed our software licensing and can’t go beyond the deadline. 

We use ServiceNow as an internal project management tool. For scrum meetings, we use planning forms done mostly through Microsoft Excel, which we have on Teams-shared sites that everybody can access. We review that document almost daily. 

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

The whole team has been great to work with and communicates well. They accommodate our differing schedules. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re smart. I appreciate working with them because they don’t obfuscate things. When I give them a problem and ask them to give me three solutions, they come back the next day with those solutions, making me think which one’s the right choice. Overall, they’re sharper than the average team I’ve dealt with in terms of outsourcing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. They’re extremely accommodating to whatever we throw at them. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Come to the table clearly defining what you want to accomplish. Lay it before them and get their advice and buy-in on the project. Your ideas should be fleshed out when you talk to them. Then, listen to them and know what they can modify based on their experience. We hire contractors not just because of their technology skills but also because of their expertise in other projects with other customers.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the VP Engineering of Tempus AI

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Heatlthcare technology

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Trigent Software to accomplish?

• Software Test Automation
• SRE - Amazon workspaces configuration

SOLUTION

How did you find Trigent Software?

Referral

Why did you select Trigent Software over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Trigent Software were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

• Project 1: Test Automation Project 
  • This team will write Automation Tests, replacing manual test execution using mainly Playwright, Concourse, and other tools developed internally by CUSTOMER. The majority of the work will require proficiency with Typescript, Python, Docker, and Kubernetes. 
  • Gaps in test automation will be addressed in several CUSTOMER systems, including lab operations software (LIMS), report generation software (Reporting Pipeline), and customer-face user interfaces (Customer Systems). 
• Project 2: Test Automation for the Developer Tools Enhancements Project 
  • As part of the Developer Tools Enhancements Project, CUSTOMER is developing: 
    • unit tests
    • (developer) smoke tests
    • end-to-end tests
    • source code refactoring’s to reduce cyclomatic complexity
    • source code documentation additions, for their CLI, cloud service, and web-based tools. 
  • This team will provide testing services including smoke test authoring, end-to-end test authoring, documentation, others for CUSTOMER’S Developer Tools project. 
  • The details of the scope of this project are to be defined by the CUSTOMER.
• Project 3: AWS WorkSpaces Support Project 
  • CUSTOMER utilizes AWS WorkSpaces as a VDI environment used to provide secure access to CUSTOMER systems and software. 
  • This team will migrate configuration of resources to IAC, provide security updates to image, and expand existing functionality while providing ongoing end user support/troubleshooting.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Number of automated tests 
• Number of tickets for AWS workspaces completed

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

• Items were delivered on time 
• Extremely responsive to needs and scheduling

What was your primary form of communication with Trigent Software?

Virtual Meeting

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

They were responsive

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

Higher caliber automation engineers

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the President

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We provide analytical services to the medical device industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Trigent Software to accomplish?

• Create a software program

SOLUTION

How did you find Trigent Software?

Referral

Why did you select Trigent Software over others?

Referred to me

How many teammates from Trigent Software were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Trigent created a chemistry software program from the ground up. This was a highly involved program that processed analytical data and produced a final output.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• The program successfully processed the data provided. It allowed increased productivity from our entire team resulting in significant cost savings.

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

The team worked very hard to help us finish this complicated project. They also worked long hours to help make sure the project stayed on time. They also shifted their work schedule so that we could have daily meetings. This required them to meet with us at 10pm their time. The commitment level was tremendous.

What was your primary form of communication with Trigent Software?

Virtual Meeting

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

Their programming skills were outstanding. They were highly professional and committed team members.

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

I think early on we had some false starts. This related to our not having clarity as to the best methods to accomplish some things. I don't really feel this was Trigents fault as much as the complexity of the program and our companies limited resources. Trigent worked with us to resolve these issues and get it right.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

CanPrev is a natural health products company, and we manufacture and distribute supplements, vitamins, and natural health products in Canada. I’m the VP of marketing, experience, and systems.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Trigent Software?

We had outgrown a lot of our typical order processes or account processes. As a result, my goal was to begin another evolution of our internal business systems to improve our throughput, which was mostly order throughput. Overall, we engaged Trigent Software to ensure that we would achieve growth and scalability at the same time.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had an existing system in place that needed to be replaced with a more extensible system. Trigent participated in a month-long intensive knowledge transfer understanding our existing data flows and processes. Afterwards, there was a collaborative discussion regarding software architecture, technical stack and scoping, before beginning a series of sprints. We, the client, were involved in near daily stand-ups during this time. By February 2021, we had soft launched this system. 

This positive experience led to including Trigent into the rest of our digital transformation projects - systems that required re-architecting and scaling. This includes a product information management system to better handle the fast-paced launch and version control of hundreds of physical products. Warehouse and inventory management systems are also being re-architected.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with full-fledged development teams which are composed of a project manager, technology lead, testing lead, and 3–4 developers.

How did you come to work with Trigent Software?

We interviewed and assessed 4–5 different companies before settling on Trigent Software.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in May 2020, and we continue working together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve enjoyed a tremendous amount of growth over the past year and a half, and we’ve had an opportunity to see how effective the new systems look. To put that in number, our daily order maximum throughput has increased by 150%. In addition, the maximum time it takes to process orders now has been reduced by 30%–40%.

How did Trigent Software perform from a project management standpoint?

I’ve been impressed with their project management and it’s one of the reasons why we worked with them. In addition, they have a good escalation chain, which allows matters to get sorted right away. We have daily stand-ups in the morning, and we use tools such as Jira, Asana, and Slack. Overall, we’ve dealt with a lot of contractors, and Trigent Software is the best company we’ve dealt with.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Trigent Software is very flexible. Furthermore, compared to other agencies who assume they know what we want, their team listens to our needs. After listening to us, they offer new ideas to the table, allowing us to have an open relationship with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’re really good at what they do. We tend to value UX and design more than is typical for internal facing systems, so there is some effort in conveying exactly how we want things to look and feel. However, we get around that by having our own designers flesh out these concepts.

Just a minor thing to take into account.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know exactly what you want, and integrate them with your internal team. Furthermore, the best way to get the most out of any agency is to be heavily involved in the actual project with your internal teams. If you let them do the discovery by themselves, they’ll make assumptions because it’s difficult for an individual or organization outside your own business to know what you want.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work in the transportation and logistics software division at Trimble Inc. My specific position is the carrier integration manager. This means I manage the team that handles carrier web services and integrations, connecting our easy-to-use platform to external carrier APIs that allow our customers to take advantage of those connections.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Trigent Software?

Trigent Software is the driving force behind the team that maintains our carrier API enhancements. They’re responsible for building out new carrier connections.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

My team works with Trigent Software to integrate carrier APIs to work within our platform. If the carrier has a new product available, we integrate it with our web services so that our customers can take advantage of it. This work includes maintenance, upkeep, and enhancement. 

What is the team composition? 

My team consists of a lead, two developers, and a QA specialist. The plan is to get the QA specialist to take on automation work at some point, and we’re also trying to grow the team.

How did you come to work with Trigent Software?

We’d already established a relationship with Trigent Software before I came on board, so I was introduced to them when I took over the team 14 months ago.  

What is the status of this engagement?

This was before my time, but I believe we started working with them around January 2017, and the engagement is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’ve expanded the team to bring on some of their resources because I’ve been pleasantly happy with the work that they’ve done, the way they’ve operated, and the communications they’ve provided. At a high-level look, their results are plentiful, and everyone is happy with them.

In terms of project time to completion data, we don’t really have a structure that allows us to pull that information. We can be put on hold for weeks at a time, which is not necessarily something that we have control over. Since we can’t rectify that, it doesn’t seem justifiable to take that into account when looking at Trigent Software’s performance.

How did Trigent Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We work off of a Kanban board in Jira, shifting our projects around as time allows. They’re also not afraid to ask questions or provide their own input. If I need to rely on them to make some of the tougher decisions around development when I’m not available, I have full confidence that they know what to do.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s the quality of work. I hear stories about other challenging contractors that my company work has worked with, and I haven’t had to deal with those issues with Trigent Software. In fact, I feel confident that I’ll never have to deal with some of those problems because of how Trigent Software handles our workload. They split up the teams on their own so that their developers can focus on the work that we need. There are no extra frills.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, overall, everything has been going great, and the communication is awesome. I’ve even had managers from their team check in to see how things are going, which is always nice. That’s not something I see often with our other contractors.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

As long as you maintain that fluid two-way relationship with the team lead or the developers, you’ll get the best results. 

Allow them to express their thoughts on the situation. Trigent Software’s people know what they’re talking about, so it’s worth considering their suggestions. Of course, the team can take direction very well, but they’ll do better when you let them run with their creative thoughts.

They might want to try something that you won’t necessarily agree with, but I’d suggest going with it if you have the time. Either they’re going to learn something to better themselves, which will help you down the road, or they’ll end up teaching you something that you didn’t know. 
 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the lead QA engineer at Rally Health, a healthcare company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Trigent Software?

We were working with an offshore company and had issues with tasks not being completed on time. There were a lot of miscommunications and we needed a new provider.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Trigent Software provides manual application testing of mobile iOS and Android apps. It’s for 10–15 different devices. They help us to run around 1,000–2,000 test cases when needed.

What is the team composition?

I had a main point of contact but I communicated with a lot of the team. There are around 10 resources. If I need another resource, I can get them.

How did you come to work with Trigent Software?

We were one of the first companies who worked with them. Now, they are a huge organization. My manager suggested them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $50,000–$199,999.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2018, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As they got ramped up, it became a smooth process for any new person coming in. They took full responsibility and made sure that person was ramped up. That was really good. We had less time spent onboarding. Once someone is on the call, we know they’re trained.

How did Trigent Software perform from a project management standpoint?

At the start, it took time for them to ramp up but once they were in a flow, nothing stopped them from excelling and learning new things. There was a time we had to be on top of things and had to have calls regularly.

Once the process was in place, we didn’t have to spend much time explaining what needs to be done. Emails and calls were sufficient. They execute the tasks every day. They’re very accustomed to everything now. On a scale of 1–10 for project management, I’d give them an eight. We use Jira for project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s easy to work with them. They foster a professional and friendly environment.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve on consistency in some cases.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend people who are self-starters and want to grow in the field of QA. They give a lot of opportunities. Trigent is a good vendor for people first entering the software world.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of engineering at a company that builds infrastructure software for insurance companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Trigent Software?

We needed help with testing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’re building automated tests for our new web-based UI. They’re using Java and Cypress.

What is the team composition?

We have three people working on the project full time. We also have a part time project manager.

How did you come to work with Trigent Software?

One of the engineers at our company worked with Trigent in a previous role.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend $18,000 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2020, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve been doing very well and accomplishing all the tasks that we asked them to do every sprint. It’s a complicated product for new people to understand, but they’ve done a great job of getting up to speed. We’re quite happy with the work that they do.

How did Trigent Software perform from a project management standpoint?

As far as I’m aware, they’ve been doing quite well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The speed at which they’re able to understand the product is impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It pays to have a part time project manager on their side to coordinate directly with the project manager on your side. It takes a fair amount hand holding to work with an offshore team, especially with the different time zones.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of HI-Way Safety Systems, Inc. We’re a line painting company working all over New England.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Trigent Software?

We needed to develop online services for our staff and crew.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had Trigent create an online scheduling software that allows us to schedule when we’re in the office or on the road working. 

From that, it developed into a mobile app, which Trigetn also designed. It’s compatible with both iOS and Android.

What is the team composition?

There were about 10 people working on the project. We had a project manager, who was our main point person.

How did you come to work with Trigent Software?

We’d done research on several different companies online, and we found Trigent has an office here in Massachusetts, which is ultimately why we decided to work together.

How much have you invested with them?

We probably spent just under $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project took place from June 2019–December 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Trigent’s work was a success. We had a couple of ups and downs throughout the project, and it took longer than anticipated. Overall, we were satisfied with the quality.

How did Trigent Software perform from a project management standpoint?

Trigent was good. They responded promptly to any issues. We kept in touch mostly over email; they shared a Google Doc, but I never really got into using it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Trigent understood what we were looking to do.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could’ve estimated the timeframe a little better.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m in specifications management for Navistar International, which is a major truck manufacturer in the US with business around the world. My group monitors and controls design releases from engineering to manufacturing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Trigent Software?

There are billions of available feature combinations when ordering a truck. Given the numerous compatibilities and incompatibilities, it’s a complex process. Trigent offered us an engine that would allow us to release what we call “mass customization”. In other words, we’d have the ability to release combinations in advance of customer orders to confirm the compatibility of one with another.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

My department is a handshake between manufacturing and engineering. We look at how we can make systems be more user-friendly and efficient, which Trigent helps us to accomplish. Trigent built software that we specifically use for “coding” — a complex system of truck ordering that allows customers to customize vehicles at the time of order.

Their team built an engine that allows us to evaluate releases and to quickly convert orders into bills of material for all the combinations. It evaluates orders for incompatibilities, ensuring that we don’t send orders that our manufacturing team can’t build. As the platform continues to expand, their work is perpetual.

We do 2–4 upgrades per year, creating new content and functionalities. After we write requirements for the software, Trigent develops them. We then review the functionalities together before putting them into production. We’re working on a new project with Trigent to expand the coding engine for our sales department.

What is the team composition?

We meet weekly with 12–20 people from Trigent depending on the project. On an ongoing basis, about 15–20 people from Trigent directly engage with us. There are more working behind the scenes, however.

How did you come to work with Trigent Software?

Our IT department sourced Trigent before my time because our company had an outdated and inefficient system. Our team likely sent an RFP to a bunch of companies and reviewed them all.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend $1 million—$1.5 million per year with them, including maintenance, efficiency upgrades, and special projects. Projects can range anywhere between $100,000–$1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

This project began in 2020, and we have an ongoing partnership. My company began working with them 20 years ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our engagement’s primary success metric is the efficiency of upgrades. We assess how many new features Trigent releases in any revision and whether or not there are errors. We made a couple of patches in the last year for hundreds of changes in functionalities. Trigent’s great, so we didn’t find any problems.  

We sit down with them as a team and review what we want to do. By the time we receive any revisions, we’ve already reviewed and tested the new functionalities. When it’s time for release, we’re highly confident in its accuracy. Users seldom have a problem with our releases.

An important quality is Trigent’s integration with us. When I pick up the phone to talk with them, it’s like I’m talking with my team. They come up with enhancement ideas that we haven’t considered because they know our business so well. I’ve dealt with a lot of big companies for other types of software and engines. It’s easy to do business with Trigent.

How did Trigent Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We work in sprints, which allows us to make changes to our requirements. By the time we finish a project, we receive what we need. We meet regularly but can also pick up the phone and call them at any time. We’re always talking about ad hoc matters.

Trigent’s integrated with us. In terms of project management, it’s like working with a team in our own company. Their team’s integrated into our own processes, which makes them a part of us. Their business manager knows so much about our business that it’s hard for them to miss. Between the technical expertise of the coders and the systems, process, and business interface, we have a very successful relationship with Trigent.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m most impressed by their unbelievable understanding of our complex requirements. When ordering a truck, there are billions and billions of combinations available. Trigent understands that, which makes them extremely effective. Their ability to handle this complexity is phenomenal. We’ve had other companies look at the requirements of this system, and they told us they couldn’t do it. Trigent continues to do it quite successfully.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If I were to ask them to change and stand on their heads, they would. I don’t feel that there are any constraints between our companies. There isn’t a request that I wouldn’t feel free to share with them, and that they wouldn’t comply with.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

The key to our success is Trigent’s business manager. Integrate their company into yours as opposed to having a vendor-customer relationship.