Agiliq

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of Capitol Enquiry, a publishing company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Agiliq?

Agiliq provides us with software development services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Agiliq initially started helping us with maintenance and support for GovBuddy, a web product that we had built in the US. However, they ended up building the product further, adding more features and functionalities for us.

The app's framework is Django, so we currently use Python. However, the technology stack evolved over time. We initially started using a bare-metal server, but we moved to the Google Cloud. We also use open-source Linux OS for hosting the product, and we rely on jQuery for some of the asynchronous functionality that our customers experience when using it.

This is a complex web application with a lot of functionality, so over the years, we’ve developed a rigorous set of processes and procedures, including unit testing and regression testing, which have helped us release a stable product for our customers.

What is the team composition?

At the peak of development, we’ve had around 10 people from Agiliq working on our project. We’ve had different project managers at different phases of the project.

How did you come to work with Agiliq?

We started using Django around 12 years ago, during its early years. We found Agiliq online because they were specialists in that technology at the time.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around the end of 2009, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

With the latest round of changes that Agiliq made for us, we tripled the number of subscribers to our product. Overall, they’ve been a phenomenal partner.

How did Agiliq perform from a project management standpoint?

I would rate Agiliq’s project management 5/5. They’re very responsive, and they’ve even had resources working on weekends to make sure that our system is reliable. At times, we’ve had up to 6–7 developers working for us full-time. We mainly communicate via Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Agiliq specializes in Django, and they do their work superbly. They’re at the forefront of this technology.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Agiliq’s communication could be more rigidly defined so that we can have better expectations set on how a project will be managed. Aside from that, they’ve done a superb job.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re looking for backend technology partners, Agiliq is the perfect one. They take very difficult-to-understand-and-implement backend technologies and make the process very easy. They can handle a lot of complex workflows, and they ensure that those workflows are implemented in a tested, methodical, and thoughtful manner. Additionally, bring the designs and visual elements yourself, and don’t rely on them to take charge of those.