Accelerance

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CTO of ONMO Inc.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Cloud-based mobile gaming

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Develop frontend interface for back office support tool
• Improve structure and clarity of existing front end code
• Develop strategy for releasing unique mobile app for large number of our b2b clients

SOLUTION

How did you find Accelerance?

Online Search

Why did you select Accelerance over others?

• High ratings
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Accelerance were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We brought Accelerance on to help us develop some new internal tools for helping us to support our growing list of b2b clients who offer our white-labelled gaming system to their subscribers. They also helped us do a feasibility study on creating React Native apps for each of our clients, and helped us work on a pipeline for maintaining and updating them in the various app stores.Their team also helped us do some cleanup on our existing front end React code.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We achieved both the development of the b2b support tool and the cleanup of our existing code. We also worked through the options for developing and maintaining apps for our b2b clients.

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

The team was very good at communicating, and did an excellent job of documenting their work and progress. They were extremely responsive to our requests and needs, and delivered everything we had planned for on time.

What was your primary form of communication with Accelerance?

Virtual Meeting

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

The way the team integrated with our team and with our culture was impressive. They very quickly became a part of our wider development group. They also worked very independently and which made them very easy to work with from a PM point of view.

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

We were very happy with their work, and don't have any complaints or areas of improvement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a partner at MarksNelson in the technology consulting division; we are a consulting and advisory firm. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Acclerance?

We’ve hired Accelerance to assist with finding technology development partners. We work on a project basis with our clients, and because of that, it’s difficult to always find the variety of technical skill sets we need. Accelerance helps us find partners for our projects and acts as our technical implementation consultant. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We normally talk to them about what we require regarding the skill sets and the time zone a company works in. The partners they find for us range from data analysts to developers, and Accelerance has a catalog of firms worldwide. Based on the criteria we present, they identify the technology, expertise, and cultural set we need. 

In the past, they’ve found us companies with expertise in C# and Microsoft technologies like Microsoft Dynamics and Microsoft Power Platform.

What is the team composition?

We primarily work with Rich (Chief Customer Success Officer). 

How did you come to work with Accelarance?

Accelerance was a referral; one of our employees had used them on a previous project and suggested their services. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around June 2016, and the engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They find high-quality partners for us to engage with, and we’ve continued to partner with these companies because we are satisfied with their work. We’ve also continued to use Accelerance’s services, which speaks for itself. 

How did Accelerance perform from a project management standpoint?

They meet deadlines and stay on budget. We communicate through email and phone calls. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They offer a fairly unique service, and their network of global partners has been a huge help. We wouldn’t have access to that network without them, and their ability to maintain it and find relevant firms has been extremely helpful. We also appreciate how streamlined their process is and how we only have to speak to one point of contact. They’re open, easy to talk to, and transparent. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing we can come up with. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Talk to Accelerance and make sure you understand how their business works and how they can support your organization. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former director of digital services for a Catholic publishing company. Currently, I’m the director of mission engagement of a nonprofit. We provide programs for other nonprofit organizations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Accelerance?

The project's goal was to build a cloud software application from scratch. We had no developers on staff, so we needed to find an offshore outsourcing company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Accelerance helped us figure out how to outsource software development services to accomplish our goal. We initially had a scope definition of the project, and they helped us refine it and organize it to make it easier to present to the companies we might contract.

First, they connected us to a company in Venezuela, but the country went through a massive political upheaval that almost shut it down. We had a lot of troubles with that first vendor, so the project was in jeopardy of coming to light. We tried to launch the product, and it failed. At that point, we turned again to Accelerance to help us reconcile that relationship and save the project. We brought one of their people on our staff to negotiate the existing relationship with the vendor that wasn’t working for us. Then, they found a new vendor.

What is the team composition?

The managing director was our main point of contact throughout the engagement. We also worked with 4–5 other team members, but it was never more than one person at a time. One of the primary people we collaborated with was a senior consultant; we hired them as part of our staff to manage the outsourced team.

How did you come to work with Accelerance?

We were looking for somebody to help with the website and found Accelerance online. We reached out to them and several other companies. We decided to work with them because they had experience with offshore clients and appeared to be unique in their field. We didn’t find anybody else in the business that could connect our company overseas in the same way they could.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We reached out to them in December 2018 and started our contract in January 2019. Our partnership ended in June 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The biggest success was launching the software and bringing it to market. The secondary impact was the knowledge we gained. When we walked into our relationship with Accelerance, we didn’t understand anything about software development. We didn’t know how much we didn’t know.

By the time we were done, we had a well-educated program manager on our staff. Accelerance’s team mentored and trained them so we could stop our relationship with them, which was a great mark of success for somebody who was consulting us.

How did Accelerance perform from a project management standpoint?

They delivered on time and stayed within budget. We predominantly used Zoom to communicate; we had little in-person contact.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They had a unique business model. Many companies outsource offshore programmers or programming teams, but that’s a different arrangement. We wanted to build software without being a software company, so it wasn't easy to find offshore talent. Accelerance helped us find the right team, and they knew how to navigate those waters successfully.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we were completely satisfied with them. If we were going to do it again, we’d listen more to their advice. The team tried to tell us things that we didn’t understand, and that got us into a lot of trouble.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust them in areas where you don’t have much experience.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Directory of DevOps of a mid-sized practice management software company. Our platform provides a cloud-based solution for health care providers to manage their practices.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Accelerance?

We needed to scale up multiple new development and QA teams in quick succession to help finish off projects that were years in the making, along with facilitating new development.

SOLUTION

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

They were a referral due to some members in the company having positive experience with them in the past.

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

They were able to connect us to a near-shore company to provide us of all the developers, QA, and scrum leaders necessary to get the necessary teams up and going within a few months, along with knowledge transfer and ramp up from the existing product development members.

Describe the recruitment process in detail.

I unfortunately wasn't here during the recruitment process so I can't really speak to how it went.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

With their help, we have been scaling up to more teams and getting a number of major projects completed without any major impact to quality.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

With our company moving to full-time remote around the same time as onboarding, our workflows worked out really well, especially with everyone still being within the same time zone. There wasn't any major change required in the existing workflows.

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

They quickly provided us developers, QA, and product team members that were competent, having a great work ethic, and ready to tackle the many challenges our company has in a way that minimized the impact to our company and culture.

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

Not really, all communication has been quick and earnest on their side, and any potential issues were tackled promptly.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Chief Technology Officer for the leading sales, marketing and back office software platform for real estate professionals that helps them run their businesses better via world-class lead generation, consumer websites, CRM technology and powerful mobile apps

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We were looking to grow our software development capabilities by adding a new team of resources to continue to add new features to our products and hired Accelerance to help us select the right partner to work with that would best fit our needs.

SOLUTION

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

I have previously worked with Accelerance on a project with a prior employer and knew their capabilities in helping to select the right partner.

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

We first met with Accelerance to explain the specific needs we had for the team, types of resources and skill sets, overall projected budget we anticipated and other general location based desires.  After learning more about the markets we were able to zero in on a couple of specific regions that would be a good fit. 

From there, Accelerance reached out into their partner base to locate three potential partners, each of whom we held 2-3 meetings to better understand their capabilities and resources to evaluate which would be the best match for us.  We did locate that partner and are continuing to work with them on an on-going basis on software development projects.

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

From Accelerance we worked primarily with one Managing Directors.  Each of the potential partners had 3-4 people on each call, typicall including a company principal, a business development person, and an engineering lead.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our outcome was to essentially double our software engineering feature development capabity which we have done.

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

All communication has been timely with Accelerance as well as the partner selected.  Given the remote/offshore nature of the engagement, all meetings have been over Zoom or Google Meet and we now use Slack to communicate more day to day.

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

I am not aware of another company that provides the type of service that Accelerance does, certainly not with the robust level of information about each potential partner.

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

No areas of improvement that we are aware of.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of Engineering for an irrigation services provider.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Accelerance?

We had been leaderless in terms of software for about 18 months; we had no roadmaps or complete teams in place. So I came on board to build up the team and the products and get things ready to go through a period of extreme growth. I needed a company that could help us build our team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I was doing an exercise to evaluate some different firms around the world, and that's when I came across Accelerance. They have a portfolio of companies that they have vetted that provide outsourcing resources. 

Accelerance has helped me locate teams that they have done some vetting on and had some background information on, and they’ve helped me vet the teams that I was evaluating. They essentially act as a matchmaker between us and outsourced teams around the world.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with a managing director from Accelerance.

How did you come to work with Accelerance?

Accelerance reached out to me through targeted email.

How much have you invested with them?

We don’t pay Accelerance anything — they actually get commissions from the companies they match us up with. But the entire size of the project, including what we’re going to be paying the outsourced company, is about $350,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2022, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I evaluated 15 different firms, and two of the final candidates that I was looking at had been recommended by Accelerance. They’ve really provided a lot of value during the process of selecting outsourced teams — they’ve done an excellent job of looking at the different firms’ portfolios and recommending ones that matched my needs, which saved me a lot of time.

How did Accelerance perform from a project management standpoint?

Accelerance has performed well in terms of project management. They have been integral in managing our deadline and assisting in locating teams that could actually operate to the tight deadline I was trying to hit.

We primarily communicate through email and Zoom meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I've never come across another company that does what Accelerance does. So as far as what distinguishes them, they're the only ones I know of in their market segment. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I have no complaints.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make good use of the material they provide. They've got a lot of interviews and collateral material on every one of these firms that they're matching people up with. It’s also a good idea to be detailed about the specifications that you give them for your team, such as the technologies, hours, languages, and frameworks that you want, because they do have a vast database of attributes of the projects that these firms have worked on before. If you give them enough detail, they can do a good job of matching you up.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CTO of a company that provides software, marketing services and consulting to dental practices and dental service organizations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Accelerance?

We needed additional development capacity to help us spec out and implement a new UI for our SaaS based product. Accelerance helped us find a company in Latin America with the right people for our project.

SOLUTION

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

I frequently get solicitations from offshore development companies. However, it is difficult to know who can deliver and our results with other projects had been mixed. Accelerance offered a way to skip ahead in the process to find qualified companies with a proven track record with other projects.

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

Accelerance assessed our needs and presented three prospective partners for us to interview and select from. All three were actually quite good but we found the perfect combination of location, skillset and price. This saved us a great deal of time over doing this process on our own.

Describe the recruitment process in detail.

We had three rounds of interviews with each prospective company and talked through their ability to provide the right people. We received SOWs from each and were able to make a selection based on the best fit and price.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are very happy with the company Accelerance found for us. They saved us a great deal of time and effort as well as providing a broader set of options then we would have had otherwise. It is difficult to vet providers before committing to a project. Accelerance gave us an additional level of confidence before we got started.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The Accelerance team was very helpful and offered valuable advice during the process. They consistently were able to move the process along quickly, usually more quickly then we could ourselves!

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

The service is quite unique and in the end it did not cost us anything to use. I have found Accelerance to have a uniquely broad and deep understanding of the companies they work with as well as valuable insights into the regional and national cultural and work dynamics.

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

None come to mind

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of engineering for a cybersecurity company. We protect against credential theft, phishing, domain, impersonation, social media, and a dozen other cybersecurity threats for companies, employees, or companies’ customers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Accelerance?

Our software engineering team sought offshore or nearshore partners to provide technical talent.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially met with Accelerance to discuss what we were looking for in a partner company. They got to know us as a company so they could do proper matchmaking. Then, they went into the library of companies they’ve worked with to match us with someone who could fill our needs. Once they established a match, they didn’t walk away. Accelerance continues to have an ongoing stake in the relationship.

They do a lot of research on the companies they present to customers. Accelerance provides details about how big the vendors are, their financial conditions, and their services. Also, they go on-site to verify what they present and score the companies.

What is the team composition?

We’ve primarily worked with Michael (Managing Director), but we’ve met with 3–4 people.

How did you come to work with Accelerance?

We were already analyzing outside vendors, and someone gave me Michael’s contact information. He was local to us, so we met him. He told us about what Accelerance did, and it made sense to see what extra information they could bring to the table.

How much have you invested with them?

They didn’t charge us anything. They have an arrangement with their partners to be paid through the relationship once we work with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in September 2017, and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When we first started, we were looking for a nearshore partner. In the end, we partnered with a company in Brazil. At one point, we had 10 technical resources working for us, which we ramped up over six months. It was impressive considering how hard it’s to find technical talent and how fast we can find people. Overall, they were all good, quality people, so we were pretty happy with them.

However, we moved away from having a nearshore partner and went towards an offshore one. We worked with Accelerance again, and they provided a set of companies to evaluate. We selected a vendor that they also recommended.

How did Accelerance perform from a project management standpoint?

The decision-making process is excellent. We typically communicate through email or in-person meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Many people need the service they provide, but not everyone realizes that there are companies like Accelerance to help them find partnerships.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They probably need to improve on the ongoing touch base. As the months pass, they stay in touch occasionally, but it could be more frequent. When items come up, they help rectify them, so they provide value in that area. However, it just seems like they should work on the ongoing relationship.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you work with Accelerance, you’ll get a lot out of it. However, you should be transparent so they can find the best match. I can imagine some people might not want to share certain information, but they should trust them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CIO of Academic Partnerships, which helps universities put their programs online.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Accelerance?

We’d just acquired a small SaaS provider and wanted to enhance their features. Initially, we tried to find new resources to add to our team and hired Accelerance to help us integrate our new team and their processes and methodologies. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Accelerance has helped us integrate our new IT team to improve our development services. We provided Accelerance’s team with documentation on our newly-acquired company’s processes, feature definitions, communication styles, and associated specs. Then, they facilitated four half-day discussions with various members of our new engineering team, including scrum masters, existing and new engineers, and the product team. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with two teammates from Accelerance. 

How did you come to work with Accelerance?

I’m not sure how we found Accelerance, but I think I responded to one of their marketing emails. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $40,000 with Accelerance. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with Accelerance began in October 2021, and it’s ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The new development team that Accelerance helped integrate into our firm has accomplished about 60% of our planned yearly development in just six months. Accelerance’s help has made our teams significantly more effective. 

How did Accelerance perform from a project management standpoint?

Accelerance communicates clearly with me biweekly and monthly to keep me abreast of their work. We also talk about the challenges we’ve had to work through during those meetings. We usually communicate through email and Microsoft Teams calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Accelerance’s experience and communication are excellent. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have nothing for Accelerance to improve. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d advise customers to hire Accelerance and utilize their Align workshop when they need to integrate a new team of engineers into an existing team. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the SVP of IT, and we’re developing an enterprise software for our company, which is in the real estate industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Accelerance?

We manage about 1,000 employees and have 3,000 clients that we provide different services for. There isn’t an off-the-shelf software product that fits our need on the enterprise level across multiple states, so Accelerance came on to help us find a partner to build a software of this caliber.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They worked to create a roadmap for and provide guidance in developing software, as well as working with a software development partner. Accelerance demonstrated a way to vet certain partners based on our needs, a way to create a scope, and a way to run the interview process for new partners.

Their team has worked with us to help research not only development partners but also custom software to ensure that there wasn’t any solution out there that met our needs. That took a lot of time and research, as well as investment in learning our industry.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked really closely with three people, including the managing director and a consultant.

How did you come to work with Accelerance?

I was familiar with one of their employees and knew what they did. It started with a cold call based on their past experience. The call gave me some clarifying information about their services. When I realized they could meet my needs, we proceeded with some introductory calls.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $400,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since August 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’m not sure where to start, as they’ve mostly provided consulting and guidance, but they’ve helped us be able to analyze our own abilities in software development. This knowledge has put us in a position to understand our engagements and work from a good roadmap in building our enterprise software.

How did Accelerance perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve done an excellent job with project management, exceeding our expectations. We’ve worked through Microsoft Teams, Azure, and a roadmapping software called Aha!. Accelerance has been critical in setting up Microsoft Azure, and Aha!.

We mostly communicate through Teams and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

This is hard for me to say, as I haven’t worked with another similar provider, but Accelerance was able to staff up quickly from a consulting standpoint. Their consultant has remained available to us and demonstrated their investment in helping us develop an industry-leading software.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have a good answer for this.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Accelerance has the ability to provide as much or as little consulting as you need, so it’s important to understand where you sit from a technology standpoint. This will help you engage with them and move forward.