Auxis

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are an American cloud computing and virtualization technology company with headquarters in Palo Alto, California. I'm the Senior Manager of Intelligence Automation CoE, is responsible for managing the development, architect, and maintenance of intelligent automation on cloud and on-premises platforms. Responsible for managing and deploying Robotic process automation using UiPath and MS Power platforms and managing the infrastructure automation practice using PowerShell, API, Azure, AWS and many other automation technology and toolset.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Auxis?

Our goal with this project is to automate the full delivery process from code check-in to deployment to the production environment. Releasing a new version should be possible at any time with the confidence of full automation. Continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) embody a culture, set of operating principles, and collection of practices that enable application development teams to deliver code changes more frequently and reliably.

SOLUTION

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

We search online for local Costa Rica IT Consultant firms with proven knowledge of the subject matter. Then we shortlisted 3 companies and requested a demo meeting with their engineering teams.

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

It has become more and more important to bring the RPA automations to the business teams as soon as possible, unfortunately the release of this automations is complex. One reason is that the deployment to production environments currently involve numerous manual time-consuming and error-prone steps, as well as challenging handovers between groups and missing test automation.

• RPA Project Testing Assessment, design, implementation of the test automation for existing RPA CoE projects
• RPA Projects Test cases and Test Data Create test cases and collect/generate test data for the test automations for existing RPA CoE projects.
• RPA CI/CD setup Setup and configure the CI/CD architecture to run the project pipeline
• RPA CI/CD pipeline Define and configure the steps of the CI/CD pipeline to automatically test and deploy projects
• CI/CD implementation Incorporate and test the CI/CD pipeline in the automations included in project
• Knowledge Sharing Knowledge transfer, proper documentation and training for VMware Designers about the CI/CD approach and hands-on changes performed for build test automations

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

Solutions Architect, Business Analyst and Two developers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Implement and deploy test automation for ten (10) RPA Projects with various complexities. As long with their test repositories. Also, they set up the CI/CD servers and configure all the necessary connections and plug-ins to the Orchestrator servers, code repositories, and any other required tool

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication was fluid and teamwork was really strong, multiple knowledge-sharing sessions were hosted and recorded for training purposes.

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

Team with very deep technical knowledge of the tools with good experience doing similar implementation both internally and externally with other customers.

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

Needed to customize some of their project management practices in order to ensure proper visibility and tight control of the spending and tracking of activities.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior director of IT technology for a nonprofit. We have about 1,100 employees and contractors. We have primary offices in Atlanta, Americus, Washington DC, Bratislava, the Philippines, Costa Rica, and Nairobi.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Auxis?

At the time, we were with another vendor. The contract expired, so we needed a company to provide support for our network and data center.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Auxis provide service desk support, which means ticketing. Users can call in if they have any kind of IT problem. Auxis is our first and second-level support. They offer offsite services — we can do most things remotely with today’s technology. They do IT infrastructure, network, and data center monitoring. Most of our IT is in Azure Cloud, and they support it. 

Also, they act as partners for any IT special projects and help us with security monitoring and patching solutions. Since most of our stuff is in the cloud and our network, we purchase and deploy our solutions and hardware. They might help monitor, install, or do some updates, but we buy our own solutions. They only provide the service desk solution, which is their own browser.

Right now, we’ve engaged Auxis for security remediation. Another company did a security assessment, and they’re providing support. 

What is the team composition?

We don’t know how many people are assigned. They have account representatives and people on IT infrastructure, but we’re not sure how many service desk employees are needed to support us.

How did you come to work with Auxis?

We wanted someone who could be a partner in monitoring, supporting, and troubleshooting our overall IT infrastructure.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve probably spent $1.1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the engagement in January 2021 and went live in July 2021. We have another two years left on our agreement.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We do a monthly review to ensure that our needs are met, and Auxis presents us with the monthly metrics. 

How did Auxis perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is excellent. They use Microsoft Project for project management and Microsoft Teams for communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their responsiveness is outstanding. They follow through, assess issues, and adjust based on those issues.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There are always opportunities for improvement. We’re working on fine-tuning our reporting to have meaningful data for our management team. However, considering we’re in our first year of engagement, we’re good with them right now.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you develop your partnership with them and be clear on what you want and expect. If you do that, Auxis can address those concerns, and you’ll have a successful engagement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of an aviation solutions company. We provide equipment used to transport cargo and other commodities in the aviation industry. We also have a comprehensive network of maintenance and repair stations and a digital solutions unit.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Auxis?

We hired them to improve our managed IT services division. We wanted to keep costs down while providing a strong 24/7 service desk for internal and external users. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They utilize a service test program called SysAid that captures our customer transactions and gives us monthly KPI reviews. They’ve also been exploring and implementing robotic process automation. 

What is the team composition?

There’s an infrastructure manager in charge of the day-to-day operations and works directly with senior leadership. Several service representatives assist our team and customers with issues. I’m unsure of the exact number since they work 24 hours per day, so there are multiple shifts. 

How did you come to work with Auxis?

My company started working with them before I started working there. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them for two or three years, and our relationship is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve done a tremendous job of growing with us. When problems arise, they’re responsive and helpful. They have a high-level view because of their experience working with such large companies. We reap the benefits of their experiences with other projects. 

How did Auxis perform from a project management standpoint?

Our projects are executed on time and within budget. The only times we’ve ever been late was due to consequences outside of Auxis’s control. They’re extremely responsive, and I never have to follow up or nag them. We have mutual respect for one another. We treat each other as if we work for the same company. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I had someone tell me once, “it’s not about the service you provide; it’s about the service you provide when things go wrong.” Auxis is very responsive if something isn’t working properly. They will help us through any challenges. They stand behind their work. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing I can think of that they need to change.