Azilen Technologies

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a co-founder of a startup that has been around for five years, and we develop advanced technologies for the IoT, especially network software.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Azilen Technologies?

Azilen Technologies has been our partner in India that handles some of our software development and the majority of our customer support for our larger customers there.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They started by helping us find people to join our team and managing payroll. Now, we have a few team members there who are helping us with development work in Java, NodeJS, and C++.

What is the team composition?

The total number of individuals changes from month to month, but generally speaking, we work with about 15 people from their team.

How did you come to work with Azilen Technologies?

We spoke to a number of companies, interviewed and accepted proposals from several, and Azilen Technologies was the best bid at the time, so we decided to go with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent a little bit over $500,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement began in 2017, and we are continuing to work with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were quite happy with the relationship and what they have done. All of the developers we hired through them have delivered high-quality work and stuck to the deadlines that we have given them, and their team has handled payroll smoothly, so we haven’t had any problems.

How did Azilen Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

Their whole team is incredibly professional. We manage the project management ourselves for the most part, but we have had no problems in terms of staying on top of the work that they are responsible for.

Our communication with them is very well structured, centered around quarterly management meetings and monthly follow-ups. Beyond that, they respond quickly to any immediate questions or messages that we send to them as well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They did a great job of structuring the relationship from the beginning of our work together.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There are definitely no major issues that we have experienced in working with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that you establish a good relationship and a clear understanding of your engagement from the beginning so that everyone is clear on their responsibilities throughout the project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO at a professional services and software company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Azilen Technologies?

We needed help fulfilling a custom development contact for one of our clients.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Because of the size and desired pace of our client’s project, we subcontracted some of the development work to Azilen Technologies. They provided a remote software development team in India to assist us with the project. This helped us manage the cost of completing the project on deadline. They used a Java tech stack to create their end of the software app.

What is the team composition?

There were about 10–11 team members assigned to the project.

How did you come to work with Azilen Technologies?

I originally met with them 4–5 years ago. I was impressed with their persistence over time in cultivating a relationship with us. We’ve done smaller projects with them before, and they continued to show interest in our work. As we were sourcing this project, we interviewed them and a few other parties. They were the most impressive in communicating how they would safely deliver the project, so they won.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $250,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from April–August 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The end client got what they paid for. They’re currently working through the exact results of the final product on their side, but the client indicated that they were satisfied with the deliverables. They’ll be able to either push the product into the market or sell their intellectual property with the solution we delivered.

How did Azilen Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

Our primary collaboration vehicles were Jira and Confluence. We also had daily Skype calls with them to catch up on progress. They were great communicators, which helped us make our time commitment to our project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They took on opportunities to improve through our feedback. If something wasn’t right, they always addressed it. They also offered us suggestions on how we could be more efficient on our end. Their team did a great job on our project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything off the top of my head. It was a very good engagement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and CEO of Dollar Dollar Dollar Inc. We’re a golf and sports skills challenge online app company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Azilen Technologies?

We were looking for a business partner to fulfill our development and IT needs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Azilen Technologies manages our entire IT ecosystem, which encompasses hardware, software development, strategy, and security. Although our company purchased subscriptions to the environments, their team manages them day to day to ensure the system’s health and wellness. Our entire IT environment’s based in cloud technologies including hosting, development, and production. They’re not only responsible for the hosting environment, but also the code. Their team fulfills develops our product and determines our strategy. They decide the languages and platforms we use to optimize the development, management, and delivery of our applications.

What is the team composition?

At one point, I believe Azilen Technologies had up to 30 people working on our project.

How did you come to work with Azilen Technologies?

I used my LinkedIn network as one of the ways to socialize our RFP because I’ve been in the software business for a couple of decades. We sent our RFP worldwide and received over 30 responses. A colleague saw the RFP and sent it to Azilen Technologies as they used to work together. His recommendation was important to our decision because he’s top-notch. Also, Azilen Technologies went further than any other respondent. They gave us their interpretations of the product's look and feel in mockups. Truthfully, their response was head and shoulders above any other respondent’s.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $50,000–$100,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

Azilen Technologies came onboard in March 2019 and their work with us is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their team has expertise in coding and delivered a great product. One of their greatest qualities is their organization. They’ve given us detailed project plans and detailed weekly status calls that show us progress down to each task. The hours it takes them to provide that information seems enormous given the level of detail. That’s been truthfully invaluable. We know week to week where we are, what each team member is working on, and the percentage of completion.

How did Azilen Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

We develop using an Agile methodology. So, all of our efforts are scoped and broken up into sprints. Depending on the requirements for each individual sprint, the team members increase and decrease.

Their team has skills and abilities to use Kanban and the latest features. Right now, we’re using a meeting after a minute template that goes through and captures our call. We use Zoom for all of our video conferences and Azilen Technologies creates detailed project plans in Excel. The tools are simple, but the projects are done inexpensively and effectively.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their customer management has been great. We had a lot of meetings with employees of different levels from the CEO to their customer management folks. Their project manager and lead program manager have been fantastic. They have great communication skills.

Are there any areas they could improve?

This is picky and I don’t know if there’s a solution. However, no one in their company plays golf and we’re building an app for the golf industry. We’ve spent time explaining US and global golf cultures, how scoring works as well as what it’s like to play the game. That’s been our only challenge, but their team has learned quickly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and COO of Assessment Innovation, Inc. We offer a software product that evaluates prospective hires.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Azilen Technologies?

We engaged Azilen Technologies to develop our SaaS platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Azilen Technologies designed and built the platform for iOS, Android, and the web. They created features using our platform’s languages, which include Node.js, React Native, and Angular. They were also crucial in mapping the system’s micro-architecture.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with over a dozen people since the project began. Our main point of contact is a project manager.

How did you come to work with Azilen Technologies?

We chose to work with them because their CTO had specific expertise in developing SaaS platforms. The team also had experience working in our platform’s languages and our technology stack. Lastly, they offered to assign a very senior project manager who is highly skilled and accessible.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2016, and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Azilen Technologies was critical to allowing us to build a platform that we can scale from an MVP to an enterprise-level platform.

How did Azilen Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve organized work in two-week sprints using Jira. We first set our parameters and put tasks in the backlog based on priority. Azilen Technologies then builds each feature quickly and pushes them into production.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team is not only highly skilled in software development, but they also understand our business goals. The project manager and scrum master keep everyone on track with their assigned tasks in each sprint. They also regularly ask for feedback on each process, which allows for immediate adjustments when any issues arise.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the project manager of an online education company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Azilen Technologies?

We engaged Azilen to help us redesign and develop an app, since our previous app wasn't working well.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Azilen designed and developed a mobile app, fixing the bugs and issues in its code that a previous developer provided. Working through each phase, we submitted tickets for their team to review through Jira, where they also tracked milestones and feedback from other developers on the team.

What is the team composition?

We work with a handful of people on their team, including a designer, developer, business analyst, project manager, web developer, and an iOS developer.

How did you come to work with Azilen Technologies?

When I found Azilen, I liked that they not only had extensive technical knowledge in mobile app development, but could also explain their work to me in terms I could easily understand. Their communication and collaborative approach set them apart from others.

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested about €50,000 ($58,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them since 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Azilen significantly improved our app, improving overall customer satisfaction as a result. Thanks to their efforts, our earnings have increased by about 30% in the last year.

How did Azilen Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

Our project manager has been great about translating our ideas to the team and explaining the technical details of the project to us. We mostly use Jira and email, but I can also reach their team at almost any time through WhatsApp.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their seamless communication and support is fantastic. I'm also impressed by their ability to completely overhaul a complex app, quickly making the necessary changes to fix the mistakes another vendor made.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a software company focused on semantic and knowledge-management web technologies. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Azilen Technologies?

We were looking for a way to get users more involved on the mobile side than on desktop, and we planned to develop a mobile client for our solution. We didn’t have the capabilities for this in-house, so we contacted Azilen. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their work here consisted of creating a functional app prototype that demonstrated our technical requirements. Primarily, our platform offers a visualization of informational elements. Users have the option to make comments. After launching the app, they can see all the information related to themselves and are able to feed information to the core system.

How did you come to work with Azilen Technologies?

We originally found Azilen through our network. Then, we had some interactions with them in the past in the proposal phase of some projects. They supported us well with fast prototyping, ensuring our ability to meet the technical implications of those projects. We use the Telerik user-control framework, and an Azilen’s salesperson had worked in a company with expertise in this technology. When he moved to Azilen, he contacted me on their behalf.

We have done some prototyping with platform-independent tools and figured out how we could develop our app with native technologies. We already knew that Azilen had the right skill sets, so we inquired about their interest and availability.

We’ve worked with Azilen during the proposal phase of a service-bus project. If we’d won that offer, Azilen would have helped as well.

How much have you invested with Azilen Technologies?

The cost of their work is between $40,000–$60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the current project in March 2017. We’ve completed the first 3 builds of the app and plan to continue the development over the next year. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or impact of the engagement?

Since we are in the beta phase of the build, I can only provide feedback from test users at the moment. The app is functional, and it runs as expected. There are no big problems with it, but I have no metrics yet.

How did Azilen Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re able to adapt, and we received answers to our questions in the same day. They also share general feedback on the progress of the work. I appreciate their consistent communication.  

We use our own knowledge-management platform as a project-tracking tool. Since it has functionalities for answering questions, uploading documents, and so on, we decided to use it in this project.

What did you find most impressive about Azilen Technologies?

They provided the necessary skills for handling worldwide project management. They excelled in both technical and collaborative abilities. They agreed to work with our own information platform and communicated through it from the first day.

Are there any areas Azilen Technologies could improve?

Azilen could learn how European and US cultural views affect designs for that market. We did run into cultural differences in terms of design. India uses a multitude of colors for screen designs, but many firms in Europe prefer more conservative user interfaces.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My business offers IT services related to website development and Customer Relationship Management [CRM] customization.

What is your position?

I'm the director of IT projects.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Azilen Technologies?

I was looking for an outsourcing company for custom development work. We didn’t have the necessary resources here to manage the amount of work we had to complete, so I wanted to leverage an outsourced solution to bring in the talent we needed while also keeping costs down. I was trying to find a balance between talent and cost. 

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

They worked primarily on custom development for websites, online shops, and web CRM. They developed modules in Magento and use Vtiger for CRM. The main site was built with WordPress and the other systems were integrated and configured to work with it.

The size of the team varied depending on the project requirements. The project manager they assigned was my single point of contact. I don't normally talk to the developers directly. We have a specified number of developers, typically one person per skill type. There were more at the beginning, but the work is nearing completion. They provide in-house quality assurance, so everything they deliver is tested for reliability. 

How did you come to work with Azilen Technologies?

I knew someone in Belgium that had been working with Azilen already. I contacted them and was very impressed with their proposal and estimates. There was another company that I approached, from India, but I chose Azilen because they function more as a team and their project manager seemed more proficient. 

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

We have spent $20,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working together for a little more than a year. We have one completed project, and another that is still ongoing. It's almost finished, but we are still working on integrating and configuring some third-party applications.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I work for other suppliers, which have all been satisfied so far. For the most part, the deliverables we receive have been very elegant solutions. They’re all tested and very reliable. I can't share any figures because I don't have access to that data, but my end customers have been for the most part very pleased with the work completed for them. 

How did Azilen Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

Unfortunately, the project we're working on has been delayed. This was not their fault though and had to do with external factors. In general, I'm very satisfied. They use Jira for project management on the developers' side, and another Scrum-like tool. I communicate back and forth with them using Jira.

What distinguishes Azilen Technologies from other providers?

They're very responsive. This is not always the case in this field. They deliver good quality work.

Is there anything Azilen Technologies could have improved or done differently?

Nothing immediately comes to mind.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We're a company called Prime Principle, and we have a main product called Classroom Monitor, which is an online solution for schools. The solution itself is a Web-based and mobile platform, which helps educators their track students' progress.

What is your position?

I'm a director on the technical side.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenge that you were trying to address with Azilen Technologies?

We never really had an incredibly good mobile offering, so we were looking for somebody to build an app for us, which would work for both iOS and Android platforms. So, we were looking for a decent option to outsource the development of this app. We wanted to be a bit involved with all the planning and strategic stuff and the design. We really wanted someone we could work together with, so we chose Azilen Technologies.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail?

They provided the design, development, and testing, the full life cycle for the integration between our existing site and the mobile app. We built the part of the integration that accesses our website, and they're building their half of it, which accesses the mobile version. At this point in time, the project has been moving step by step, incrementally, without looking too far into the future, but we will definitely consider them for other projects where there are things that are suited to their capabilities.

How did you come to work with Azilen Technologies?

The original introduction was from a colleague. When the idea was introduced originally, we mulled over it and looked at various options for probably about a year, and we decided to go ahead with this project. The cost was definitely a key factor but, more importantly, we really wanted to find a partner that we knew we could trust, and one that had the experience and a proven track record in doing what we needed. Reliability and consistency were the most important drivers. 

Could you provide a general cost estimate for this engagement?

So far, we've spent around £16,000 [approximately $24,800].

What is the status of this engagement?

This was our first project with Azilen, and it started in January of this year [2015]. I think we're looking at a completion in the next couple of weeks. I'm expecting everything will be done by the end of June.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics, metrics or user feedback that would demonstrate the quality of their performance?

What we have so far is kind of prototype versions of the product, and we've been able to see in time the improvements that have been made to it. I would say that we're very confident with this project. We have good feedback, and we've really praised them for that.

Is there anything unique or special about Azilen Technologies that really makes them stand out?

The one thing that I've valued most has been their consideration. They've been a great thought partner when it comes to thinking through our core strategy and what our objectives should be. There have been times when we've requested something, and they've come back to us and said, "hey, we don't know if that's going to be the best way to go about it," and then they'd offer some alternative recommendations. I've really appreciated that aspect of our working relationship.

In hindsight, are there areas in which they could improve as a service provider?

The only problem was that the project overshot the deadline a little bit, but not a massive amount. That would be the only thing that I could possibly call into question. However, it's not going to affect the outcome of the project.

What advice, if any, would you give a future client of theirs?

It's definitely best to take advice from the people that have been through the process before and have that experience, particularly from a design, layout, and workflow perspective. I think that kind of stuff has added massive value to the outcome of the project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

We're a software solution provider and a Microsoft Silver Partner. We provide custom-built software applications for clients all over the world.

What is your position?

I am the business development director. I basically identify opportunities to expand our services and generate more client demand.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenge that you were trying to address with Azilen Technologies?

In essence, we were finding it difficult to recruit qualified .NET development resources in the United Kingdom, and we had current and pending projects that required additional resources. It was really important to find a cost-effective partner with the expertise necessary as well as the bandwidth to increase and decrease capacity when needed.

Could you describe the scope of work assigned to them?

Our projects are varied, and they range from quite large to very small. What we were looking for, realistically, was a resource that could help us across multiple projects for multiple clients. We weren't looking for them to do a specific project. It was more about us having the resources to be able to assign extra people to projects as needed. Azilen Technologies really became an extension of our in-house team, with everyone working together. They were almost exclusively responsible for functional development using the Microsoft stack.

SOLUTION

How did you come to choose Azilen Technologies as your partner?

I had worked with one of the directors of Azilen years ago. We had kept in touch, so I approached them because I trusted him.

Could you provide a general cost estimate for the amount you've invested in their services?

We've spent about £20,000 [approximately $31,000] working with Azilen Technologies.

Is the work still ongoing?

Yes. We've had several engagements with them, and we've even expanded the scope of their involvement to PHP development, too.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the quality of their performance or the success of the engagement?

We don't really have any specific quantitative data. Realistically, we just see them as an extension of our internal team. The quality of the work they turn out is similar to the quality that we deliver here in the U.K., although it does take longer for them to do the work. I think much of that is because we have intimate knowledge of the systems we're working on, so they have to kind of catch up. As we transition more work to them, those delays will certainly decrease.

We've been satisfied with their project management, too. The only issue is the time difference in real terms. We only overlap a part of their day, but they accommodate us by moving some of their hours to fit more suitably with ours, which we really appreciate.

When working with Azilen Technologies, is there anything that you would consider unique about their practice that distinguishes them from other vendors?

They have a group of senior individuals in their organization who are able to grasp requirements fairly quickly. When I've worked with other organizations, I've found that you have to spend a lot of time and investment in making sure you transfer as much knowledge as you possibly can. The staff at Azilen always seems to have a technical understanding at a higher level than most of the others I've worked with in the past.

In retrospect, are there areas in which you think they could improve as a service provider?

The one thing would be in the level of daily communication. We are used to working with two-way communication during the hours that they're available. I think it would be more efficient if the communications were constant, but that is really a byproduct of the time difference.

What advice, if any, would you give a future client of theirs?

You need to invest your time in understanding the cultural differences. A U.K. or U.S. person may say something technical that doesn't mean the same thing in their country. As a result, understanding the language they use in their IT [information technology] space is important.