Alterdata

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work at MediaCom - a media planning and buying company. I am responsible for the research department (about 40 people). We focus on analytical projects aimed at increasing the effectiveness of our clients' activities (MMM, data science, analytical consulting, and consumer research)

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire alterdata.io, and what were your goals?

The main purpose of the project was to move existing excel tool to web application. As the excel tool we own has a significant impact on our work, we wanted to keep all of its functionalities – algorithms, pre- and postprocessing of data, results reporting – in the new application. The main goal of the project was to create an online tool, maintaining core functionalities from the offline version, with the use of already-created Python algorithm. On top of the optimization and processing abilities we wanted to obtain refined dashboard screens for the results of our analyses, and, ideally, make the algorithm faster (vs excel and its first version).

SOLUTION

How did you select alterdata.io and what were the deciding factors?

We started working together a little earlier with the support we needed for cloud solutions. During this time, we could experience how effectively Alterdata deals with complex problems. It was certainly one of the main factors influencing their selection to the shortlist of potential suppliers.

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

Once our cooperation started, we conducted a series of discovery meeting to fully understand the project’s scope and its objectives. During the meetings we agreed on the scope of consecutive iterations for the project and divided the work into specific threads (backend – calculations, backend – optimization, frontend). Depending on the thread, we held additional meetings to develop needed solution. For front, we went into iterative mode: we held meetings discussing our requirements for upcoming screens, and within a week or two we met again to feedback created screens and discuss next.

This way, we saw the progress on front in quite a timely manner. For backend, we held meetings discussing offline tool calculations and formulas, after which the team developed solution that came back to us for testing and approval. Using this approach, we arrived at first, mockup version about 1,5-2 months from works’ beginning (dashboard part), within the next month - second (calculation) version, and the optimization part after another month. Between the versions, we were constantly polishing the existing parts. Next, we continued with what we can call maintenance areas of the project.

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

In total, we worked with 3 backend developers and 1 frontend developer. Initially, the setup was to work with everyone individually, but with time one of the backend developers took on a role of project manager, merging multiple areas of work. Apart from contact with developers, we stayed in touch also with company’s management to discuss budgeting topics.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Already after publishing the calculation version of the project, we felt comfortable presenting the product to our internal stakeholders and potential new ones. We have received a positive feedback to the work done: the people that had previous experience with the excel tool saw the progress in terms of speed and clarity of results presentation. The ones not accustomed with the tool were really appreciative towards its look and easy navigation, as well as responsiveness to their business needs. With the positive feedback and new developments, we feel comfortable presenting the tool to external stakeholders as well.

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

I believe that introducing the stronger presence of a project manager was a good move for the overall success of the project. Although all team members have their areas of expertise, the PM presence made it possible to clarify the relation among the threads, also giving us one point of contact for agreeing on next steps and solving challenges. The majority of the team was very accessible and open to ad-hoc Teams meetings and phone calls. Apart from the structured budgeting calls we rather had a need-based communication, which was nonetheless very fluent. We also appreciate the budgeting meetings that give us a better perspective of the workflow and budget status.

As this is something that was introduced after our initiative, it may make sense to held such meetings from the beginning of every project, to communicate progress and potential risks. One area that we felt could be somewhat improved was our visibility of frontend part involvement – we have the understanding that the developer was involved in other projects, but having more clarity on the hours that could be devoted to our project (e.g. c.a. half a week, or one working day every week) could help us understand expected progress on visual part of the project. Needless to say, this is the area which is most exposed and as such easier to observe if something is, at least apparently, not progressing fast enough.

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

I very much appreciate the company's efficiency and flexibility, as well as the fact that working with them we felt taken care of and that we knew that they were taking responsibility for the final product they would deliver.

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

Nothing that would be significant.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a CTO at a gaming company with around 20 employees. Currently we're developing a few mobile games that have millions of players around the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire alterdata.io, and what were your goals?

The more users we have, the more data to analyze there is. We are collecting many kinds of data - basic telemetry, user characteristics, how they behave in our apps and what they are willing to pay for. All these data comes from many different data sources and here is where Alterdata.io comes in.

SOLUTION

How did you select alterdata.io and what were the deciding factors?

By a recommendation from a friend. We received a good recommendation so we decided to give them a try

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

Our main focus is to analyze monetization data and visualize it using very custom dashboards. As the data comes from many different data sources, we need to aggregate it, make consistent and, finally, analyze and present graphically to see the history, trends, geographic location relation, etc.

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

We are constantly working with a data analyst and a programmer. Sometimes we speak to their manager when we want to start something new.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We advertise our products on many different platforms and regions using advertising campaigns. In advertising, thanks to our solution, now we can clearly see which markets are the most profitable for us and which ones create loss. Now we can, almost immediately, take an action to reduce the loss by cutting off campaigns that are not profitable, and improve the profitable ones.

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

From time to time we speak with the manager when we want to start something new or need some architectural advice. On day-to-day basis we use Slack, Monday and e-mail to communicate and organize our work.

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

They have very wide knowledge on data flows and data analysis. Their team consists of very talented and communicative specialists - from programmers to data analysts.

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

I don't think so. We are very pleased to work with Alterdata.io.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Hellmann Worldwide Logistics Polska Sp. z o.o. Sp. k. is part of Hellmann Worldwide Logistics Worldwide. In Poland, we have 14 branches operating in many areas of road transportation (groupage and full truck), contract logistics, sea freight, and airfreight, with the employment of over 500 people. My position is IT Director, responsible for IT infrastructure and all business-related IT activities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire alterdata.io

We hired alterdata.io to help us to manage decentralized data from a couple of different operational systems (local TMS for road, central WMS for logistics, external system for sea-/airfreight) into one data warehouse. We knew the situation but needed external support to analyze data structure, different RDBMs and prepare ETL for regular data upload to Data Warehouse.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to have data from many different systems in one Data Warehouse database, uploaded regularly (up to 15 minutes frequency) and with the lowest workload possible (so preferably incremental/differential).

SOLUTION

How did you select Net Spark Solutions Pvt. Ltd. and what were the deciding factors?

I invited 3-4 companies for the RFP, presented current situation and project goals. During discussions and presentations alterdata.io convinced me by direct contact with specialists talking professional language and having common uderstanding of technical aspects of the project. Of course financial aspect played significant role as the offer was within project budget.

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

After deciding on cooperation we prepared a plan of data integration from our operational systems, based on importance. We started by integrating Local Road TMS based on MSSQL, which was relatively easy. Then we focused on the financial system, based on IBM DB2. The International Road based on IBM DB2 as well. There were also couple of minor integrations based on Excel files.

What is the team composition? 

The project team was built on 2 sub-teams: alterdata.io's 3 persons (project management and developers) and Hellmann local team of key users responsible for particular source systems. I was the coordinating manager for both sub-teams as well as a technical consultant and data warehouse administrator.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

With alterdata.io's work, we managed to achieve goals for the project. Businesses now have access to the most up-to-date data from different systems in one database. Operational reporting was improved significantly.

It is very hard to demonstrate figures. Data Warehouse is now ca. 300 GB in size, operating daily on +/- 10 GB data exchange. External systems are synced with max 15 minutes delay (including financials).

There are already many (+/- 100) reports running regularly or on user demand with data accuracy and frequency.

There is a lot of positive feedback from business areas using the most up-to-date reports based on DWH.

How did the vendor perform from a project management standpoint?

For project management we used Redmine project management system hosted in our company, but alterdata.io's team fitted to use this standard.

There were tasks assigned to sub-teams members with reporting of the progress and documenting changes.

Time tracking module was used to report all the time spent, which was base for cost management.

Regular meetings (calls) were organized to manage progress and take decisions on the project steps/phases.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The strong point of alterdata.io's team was their technical knowledge related to different RDBMs and MSSQL Integration Services.

Combining direct contact with their team, explaining the technical aspects of single integration was providing smooth project progress and final goals achievement.

Are there any areas they could improve?

From the project perspective, there were no significant areas to be improved.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a software developer at an FMCG company that mainly specializes in health and personal care products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire alterdata.io?

We were looking at improving one of our most time-consuming processes which is cash forecasting. We decided to use machine learning technology which we didn't have the in-house expertise for. In order to build a proof of concept we turned to Alterdata.io as they came recommended as experts in the field.

What were your goals for this project?

One was to drastically reduce the time that analysts were spending on the task, second to look for improved accuracy in the predictions being made.

SOLUTION

How did you select alterdata.io?

We were looking at a few companies that were offering ML consulting, those came through mostly by recommendations from other colleagues that had heard/dealt with them before. We picked alterdata.io as they were offering the most complete package of services. Top management was involved in the decision-making.

Describe the project in detail.

The project involved building and optimizing a machine learning model from scratch and establishing a data pipeline in accordance with our internal architecture - all this was provided by the vendor. My role was to provide training samples, general guidelines as to what we want to achieve, also connect the vendor with our dev team for any troubleshooting.

What was the team composition?

Initially we had 3 people from the vendor, their CEO, Chief Analyst and a developer responsible for the machine learning model. In the later phase two additional devs were involved to help build the architecture.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had successfully built a model that meets our expectations.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was really great. They were always available for discussion, provided valuable insights, and they met all deadlines. We were mostly connecting via email and Google Meets.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

It's obvious that they have a great passion about what they do, backed up by vast knowledge. We really liked their no-nonsense approach and friendly attitude.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None that I can think of.