Vialutions

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm IT Administrator in Grupa Czarna Góra - a hospitality company and mountain and ski resort at the foot of Czarna Góra in the Śnieżnik Massif in Sudety Mountain, Poland.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Vialutions?

Vialutions’ task was a modernization of our IT system. In the past we worked on different applications – basically every employee had their own way of work and preferred tools. Vialutions’ specialists were supposed to check our IT system, figure out what we need to work smoothly and efficiently, and standardize applications we use at work.

SOLUTION

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

I have met Krzysztof Żółtanski, Vialutions Business Development Manager, and he introduced me Valuations company. After this when Grupa Czarna Gora decided to implement Microsoft 365 solutions the decision to choose Vialution as a partner was obvious

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

The whole process was divided into three parts:

1. Business analysis – first, we had to track our business processes and organize them. We made a specific description of our processes and - with Vialutions’ business analyst’s help – we organized and pick the solutions we need the most.
2. Business processes support – we decided to implement Microsoft 365 in our organization. The changes were phased in gradually - from the most key users to the entire organization.
3. Consulting – currently we can handle most things connected to managing our company processes using Microsoft solutions. Also, we can always count on the support and help in the field of network administration.
4. Technologies: Azure, Microsoft 365, PowerBI.

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

The Vialutions team was composed of Business Analyst, IT Administrator, and Microsoft 365 Consultant and Network Architecture Specialist.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are still during implementation but the whole workflow in Grupa Czarna Gora is now fluent and fast - especially in the communication and in data access.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Since we have started our cooperation (January 2020), we meet regularly at calls and online conferences. In the beginning, we invited the Vialutions team to our headquarters in Czarna Góra to find out how exactly they can help us. During the second visit, they focus on upgrading our IT architecture and servers virtualization.
Then our cooperation was organized by a Project Manager from our side and a Project Manager from our vendor. We organize work this way, but all the technical details are arranged between our and Vialutions’ IT administrator via online conferences.

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

They are friendly and helpful people, without strict business rules.

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

No, they are on the right path to be an excellent partner

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

NG Engineering is a leading provider of comprehensive engineering services, equipment within the product development process as well as personal solutions for various industry sectors. We support our clients with our capabilities in the field of project management, CAD engineering, hardware design and production and process planning. We are a reliable and qualified partner in supporting organizations from the planning through the first design concept to the start of production (SOP) and beyond. We are represented with 12 branches in Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

NG Engineering needed several solutions to facilitate the administrative and HR side of the business. Our cooperation with Vialutions started with the SharePoint intranet and progressively we entrusted them with delivering us the new tools. Each application Vialutions provided aims to simplify and facilitate company processes. Our main activity is product development and manufacturing special purpose machines, so we would like to focus on them. Vialutions find ways to make our HR, administration, and sales processes simple, smart, and undemanding.

SOLUTION

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

Recommendation from GetSix

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

There were among other things:

• Intranet (SharePoint) – a platform supporting the daily work of the company. Following the Valutions’ advice, we decided to implement Microsoft’s solution – SharePoint,
• WRM – a solution to working hours reporting and work planning. It counts each employee's hours and marks them on the calendar. It also allows generating reports needed for internal purposes and settlements with clients.
• vGoal - vGoal is a bet-for-fun application that allows placing bets among employees of the company. It is adapted to support football competitions, such as the European championships or the world championships. vGoal is a great HR tool we have been using for several years to integrate the NG Engineering team.
• Permission Control – tool for the IT administrator allows to grant and revoke permissions to folders, groups, and applications in SharePoint at once.
• Application for leave – system for recording holiday forms, linked to the intranet. It speeds up the leave request and accretion process and moves it to digital form.
• CRM – Customer Relationship Management system for NG Sales Department,
• DMS – customized management system for ISO 9001:2015 documents connected with the intranet.

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

It depends on the project – mostly there was a small team “developer+tester” from Vialutions and IT administrator from NG Engineering.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Implementation of work report management gives us process stability in dealing with sensitive HR and customer data while saving working time at the same time.

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

We are in constant contact with Vialutions’ specialists both during the phase of creating solutions and after the implementation. Vialutions’ developers are available not only for our IT administrator but also for users. Communication with them is easy – we can call them, send them an e-mail or write on Microsoft Teams and they answer quickly and substantively.

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

Fast reaction time

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

Process analyst needed ;-)

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of vm.pl and I'm responsible for delivery in our company. Together with Vialutions we belong to the sam IT association. We have many clients in Garmany and many times we need additional support do deliver projects for them.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Vialutions Sp. z o.o., and what were your goals?

One of our clients asked us to help him in their project. They wanted to prepare a new special Robot for semiconductor industries and they needed well experienced C# developers who will prepare GUI for this robot.

I didn't have people at that time so I asked Vialutions if it is possible to find good developers who may help. Vialutions was very supportive and business-oriented and very quickly we found a solution.

SOLUTION

How did you select Vialutions Sp. z o.o. and what were the deciding factors?

We belong to the same association with Vialutions. I asked may members to help us but only Vialutions offered me a great solution and a reasonable price. They were flexible and had helped us to run a project.

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

We work mainly in C# for Windows WPF and WCF. The main step was travelling to our client office and then gather the whole needed scope and requirements.

Developers from Vialutions have great soft skills and our client gave us only a good opinion about them. During our collaboration based on good collaboration, our client decided to expand the collaboration and expand the team.

I believe we would still work for them if coronacrisis hadn't happened.

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

We work with 3 people in total.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project went really well. The client was satisfied and his end user also. The robot is working and installed in a factory. Client thins to get back to develop the project after coronacrisis.

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

The team from Vialution was directly connected with our client. They work in an Agile manner. They had daily standup and all meetings from Agile methodology. They always were mature and business-oriented what our client admired.

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

We were able to gather the team very fast and they were able to travel to our client office quick too.

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

No, I also admire brilliant collaboration with CEO from Vialutions and managers from Vialutions. When our client was struggling with coronavirus crisis we found together with a solution how to help our client which I admire.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Toyota - should I explain anything more? Toyota Motor Manufacturing Poland produce engines & gearboxes for some Toyota models. My responsilbility here is to lead development of dedicated applications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Vialutions Sp. z o.o., and what were your goals?

Vialutions has been creating solutions for our company for years. They are both tools supporting production and used in administration. These are among others:

•  TPM - a system that allows you to perform machine inspections in a timely and appropriate manner
•  IHPL - a program supporting logistics processes in a company (monitoring of a team transporting parts to a production line),
•  Kaizen - an application that allows factory employees to submit suggestions for improvement in processes and their implementation,
• CMR - a program that streamlines the process of issuing waybills.
• Repairs Registry - a tool to store data about repairs done in the product within the production line, allows accepting repairment.

Those are only a few last projects. Also, Vialutions deals with maintaining our intranet and solutions. We also value their consulting in company processes.

SOLUTION

How did you select Vialutions Sp. z o.o. and what were the deciding factors?

Once upon a time, they introduced themselves. Since then we are considering them in most projects due to very good cooperation.

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

Evaluations understand business so well. After a couple of meetings about the project, they prepared the product backlog in JIRA (I know - according to SCRUM it should be done by PO - but sorry, our PO is so in rush).

Most apps are using MS SQL, IIS, ASP.NET, Angular, Web API, .Net Core, Entity Framework, and more. The code source was stored in our Git. Documentation was done in Confluence. We are working in usually 2-week sprints.

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

Usually, 4 people in the core team (developers, tester) worked on our project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Most projects are about workload reduction. A&F Controlling project reduced the workload required for monthly calculations from 2 man-days down to 1 hour.

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

Communication is done using phone calls, emails, Skype, and Teams. They are always ready to be with us in a place in the factory. Also, JIRA was used more for the development team, for us to have progress visualization. 

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

They are very flexible in delivering the required manpower, always ready to adjust for changes during the project. Since often the business has only some raw idea of what they wish to have, Vialutions suggests good solutions for our needs.

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

The last projects are just great!