Astute Softwares

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and co-owner of Kaffein SRL. Our organization is based in the north of Italy, and we work with pharmaceutical companies and local government entities.

We were working previously on communication and marketing, but over the past few years we’ve been more oriented toward technical development. Our main clients are in the pharmaceutical sector and government sector.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Astute Softwares? 

As we grew, we realized it was time to get a broader, larger team to collaborate with us on various technology projects. The first of these was a project for a local government entity that needed a cloud-based software that could help scan students into study halls without contact with administrators or operators. In terms of bandwidth, 100,000 students needed to be able to use the solution by June 2022.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We worked through an agile methodology of development and release to create the eight modules of this project. Each module had a deadline for full development and testing, and Astute Software hit every one, delivering the complete solution before the required date.

The system itself consists of a web application for administrators and study hall operators and a mobile application for students, though the operators occasionally use the mobile app as well. The apps are hosted on AWS, but there is also on-premises data storage; this was a key requirement. By scanning a QR code, students are able to book and check-into study hall without having contact with the operators. In addition to development, Astute Software lead the research process beforehand.

The project was so successful that we’ve since opened and are working on 4–5 other projects with them.

What is the team composition?

There were around 12 for this project, but including our ongoing collaborations we’ve interacted with 22–24 people. The resources are structured into teams, each with a lead: iOS, Android, architecture, etc.

How did you come to work with Astute Softwares?

We found them to be most qualified because they had people who were certified by AWS in architecture. Their time to delivery was very accurate and we saw positive feedback from their other clients on their website. They were also pretty economical compared to other providers, and budget was a key requirement.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent more than €100,000 Euros (approximately $114,000 USD).  

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since November 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The solution has been in place for 5–6 months and is performing as expected, when all study halls are in session, the solution will be able to handle the 100,000 bookings per day that it needs to.

Astute released the project ahead of time. Where we lacked the experience to develop a large project like this, as well as see potential risk factors, they guided us, carrying the project from conceptualization and requirements through to launching in the App and Play stores.

How did Astute Softwares perform from a project management standpoint?

There are a few open channels for communication with their development team, and our respective project managers communicate daily. We use ClickUp for project management and sprints, and Skype for communication. If there’s something urgent, we’ll hop on a call.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They go out of the box to help you and be available, which makes them stand out. We always found them to be available, even our Christmas and other holidays. They put us on high availability and were able to provide exceptional service thanks to their large team. I’ve worked with many providers, but Astute is the best.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve already communicated with them about the need to improve professional communications over email. There were cases when the project manager wasn’t available and we received information through the team leader. This was fine, but we expect communications to come through the designated person. They may have their own internal system, however.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be as descriptive as possible with requirements to get the maximum out of them. Additionally, Don’t talk about the budget initially until after you have explained all your requirements.