Azumo

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CTO of Big Run Studios, a social mobile game company in the real money and free to play games spaces. We have a growing portfolio of live games and continue to push hard on innovating in the space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Azumo?

Our challenge is to grow the business from a game developer to a developer and publisher. While we found success by developing games that are published by our partners, we want to expand on that success by self-publishing, thereby taking a larger portion of the entire business.

We hired Azumo to build out our entire data strategy. We consulted Azumo to determine which technologies to build on, what to focus on in the short term, and what to leave until after proof-of-concept.

With Azumo, we have been able to built out a full, end-to-end data pipeline: data lake, warehouse, reporting, and alerting layers that heavily inform our business decisions and support our user acquisition efforts.

SOLUTION

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

I have worked with Azumo at two game studios now (NCSOFT and Big Run), drawing on their web-engineering capabilities. We already had a great working relationship via the web engineering efforts, and when they mentioned they also had data science capabilities, we decided to try them out.

After a short and very successful trial period, we moved forward with getting more resources and putting our data pipeline wholly on Azumo.

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

We came to Azumo with a high-level proposal of what we were trying to accomplish: we wanted to collect our own end-user analytics, generate reports quickly, and make decisions on that data. Our focus was providing meaningful data to the user acquisition organization, so that they could better target ads. Azumo provided some feedback on initial technologies to use, and we moved forward with an MVP.

With Azumo's help, we moved forward standing up a data lake on S3, an warehouse layer on Snowflake, and a reporting layer on Sisense. Once we were able to make preliminary reports from user behaviour, we moved on to integrating data output from Adjust to help us track campaign data.

Now, we are continuing to tune the pipeline and reporting as we continue to rollout new games.

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

We started the project with a part time data architect and a full-time data engineer. At this point we have two full time data engineers, a part-time project manager, and a part -time data architect.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Progress is very easy to demonstrate, as we now have comprehensive, near-real-time reporting on many of our live games. Previously, we had only a few basic aggregate trends that were out of the box with Firebase. We have, as a business, been able to make important decisions about ad spend and development focus.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow started quite smoothly as we were all fairly heads down on the different pieces. As we scaled the team (and the games), we hit some rough spots where too many requests from our side were hitting data engineers on Azumo's side (separate requests from product owners, UA, CEO/investors, etc).

This is when we onboarded the part time project manager from Azumo, and now we're back to smooth sailing as he has been able to funnel the requests into a prioritized funnel.

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

The people are great, simple as that. Again, I sought out Azumo having worked with JP at a previous company (NCSOFT), so I knew his team would be a good tech and culture fit for what we were doing at Big Run. They are all great to work with and excellent at their jobs.

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

Azumo doesn't typically work in the gaming space, and so their data team has had some growing pains in learning to see insights specific to game publishing. This is the largest area of improvement I see for Azumo.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the director of TryTank, an experimental lab for church innovation and growth.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Azumo?

We needed to hire an external resource to help us develop an Alexa Skill that leads people through prayer.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to develop an Alexa Skill that would allow us to test if people would use it as a prayer partner.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They understood exactly what we wanted to do, and made suggestions to make our idea better.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Azumo took our idea and made it a reality. All we had to do was provide them feedback on the work they were doing as they moved the project forward.

What was the team composition?

We primarily worked with two members of their team—one of which was the project manager—and others from their side as needed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Their work was incredible. The Skill launched six days ago. Already an average of 21 people a day are praying with Alexa using our Skill. That’s just from friends telling friends. We’ll soon kick off a marketing campaign to further get the word out. 

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We met live online to get the project going and for regular updates. Azumo always had someone taking notes and making an action list. It worked very well.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I’d been told that to create this Alexa Skill would cost tens of thousands of dollars, which was way more than we could spend. What’s amazing is that Azumo not only understood what we wanted, but they did it for a small fraction of the cost.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not really. We like them so much they're already working on our next project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO and founder of a company that provides managed IT services and support, cybersecurity consulting, risk management, and digital solutions for small business and enterprises across North America. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Azumo?

We hired them for software development, platform development,  and staff augmentation. 

What were your goals for this project?

A key project stakeholder recently left at a critical juncture, causing us to seek immediate help. We needed someone with cloud experience and significant web and app app development expertise.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We knew the founder of the company.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Azumo took over a software modernization project in the midst of a sprint. They quickly addressed development issues, modernized the code, and developed our application.

What was the team composition?

We had one project manager, one architect, and two developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Our solution is stable and scalable, and it performs well. Having Azumo as a partner has enabled us to focus on our business and stop worrying about the platform and its underlying code.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

They run two-week agile sprints with daily standups, which is a great way to proceed.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They're personable, efficient, knowledgeable, and extremely customer-oriented. Their extensive experience with software and technology architecture equips them to design and implement robust platforms.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I don't have any suggestions at this time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for Facebook. My office provides a suite of services and products to connect people and communities. I lead a supplier diversity program, which engages companies owned by ethnic minorities, women, veterans, LGBT, and differently-abled entrepreneurs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Azumo?

Part of my role is to find prospective new suppliers. Much of those searches begin at conferences and events geared toward a large variety of industries. We staff our event booths with a number of people from procurement, but a staff of ten people can’t process the thousands of interested parties in the time allowed. We wanted a self-service kiosk where prospective clients could self-assess and determine whether we had a need for their goods and services. The goal was for this self-service option to complement our in-person discussions and speed the process. We needed an app developer who had a background in conversational chatbot experiences.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did all of our wireframes and developed the entire app. Our team has no background in this, so we described our goals for them and they created a solution quickly. We wanted users to intuitively understand what they were supposed to do, so Azumo was tasked with building the app and designing an interface that could be productive for both the user and our procurement team.

The app was built strictly for iOS. Attendees could use iPads mounted to a table in our exhibit booth. The most important part of this interaction was to build up a databank to assess the kinds of businesses expressing interest and to collect contact information from the suppliers that were the most promising.

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with their CEO and their CTO, but I know there were other people involved in the project on their side.

How did you come to work with Azumo?

I always strive to hired diverse- or minority-owned companies. I searched a number of channels to find a certified minority-owned business that could help us with a chatbot. Azumo was the only company that fell into both categories, so we looked over their website and liked their capabilities. We reached out to them through their Facebook page. Within an hour, we had a meeting scheduled for later that afternoon, and we kicked off the engagement from there. It was a lightweight app with a short time frame, so they submitted a proposal over the weekend and we kicked off the following Monday.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around May 2018 and launched by June 2018. The entire engagement took about a month.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were really excited to exhibit alongside a number of other large companies in the technology space and in other industries. Several representatives of other companies looked at the app and were interested in developing something similar for their own use. We had brand ambassadors to guide people through the app, which involved using camera technology to scan their exhibitor’s badge. That way, we could store their information through an API.

All the attendees who used the app were grateful for the process, even if they didn’t have a chance to speak with someone in person. It allowed more individuals to register their interest.

How did Azumo perform from a project management standpoint?

They did very well. We had a very short window to execute everything, but they met all the deadlines we set, even when I was the bottleneck that kept the project from moving forward. From the first phone call through to execution, they provided data in real time and were excellent communicators. They sent a representative for onsite support in case anything went wrong, but we had no issues at all.

We started our communication through Facebook Messenger, but quickly moved to email, phone, and video conferencing. They’re local and convenient to us, but most of our interactions were remote.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They know a lot about the products they build on and were very responsive. This project was built in React Native, and the capabilities matched everything we were trying to achieve. Since I’m not particularly technical, they broke down barriers and explained all the intricacies in a way that was easy to understand.

Are there any areas they could improve?

In this particular instance, I can’t think of anything they could have done differently. It was a lightweight project, and I don’t have any critical feedback for them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We work in a variety of environments, including healthcare, to help companies with sales, safety, and communication. Our platform allows us to inform and influence people, help with patient onboarding, and measure patient activity and response to our initiatives.

While we don’t build software ourselves, we have spent a lot of time working on this platform. I’m a company partner and customer success lead. I interface with current and prospective clients to understand their issues and assign appropriate teams to them. Once we have a solution in place, I check back with customers to see if their quality of life has improved.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Azumo?

We wanted to speed up our development cycles and execute new features more quickly. Our in-house development team wasn’t big enough, so we decided to hire external help.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They work on a lot of major features for us, based on guidance from our side. We write out all our stories in Jira and split them into multiple feature sets. Then, we give them our wireframes to achieve our goals. Our product leads and computer scientists provide most of that information, though our technical underwriter will step in for more complicated tasks.

They manipulated our authentication system in a new way that allowed users to work as individuals or as part of multiple organizations. It was a complicated feature that took multiple sprint cycles, but it works wonderfully. We were also stuck for weeks on a domain issue. We finally brought it to them, and they saved us a lot of time and energy with the solution they came up with.

As soon as they complete a feature, it goes into review, before returning for revisions and testing. Once the whole process is finished, it goes out to our servers. Azumo adheres to our technology stack, which includes Ruby on Rails and Twilio.

What is the team composition?

We work with three people from their team, including two full-time members and one part-time associate who acts as a technical liaison.

How did you come to work with Azumo?

We shopped around for developers and interviewed them. They were flexible and agile, and they had the technical expertise we needed and an agreeable price point. We decided to try them on a temporary basis, but have worked with them ever since.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent more than $70,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Azumo in December 2017, and the collaboration is ongoing. We grew from one developer to two in 2018, and we’ll expand again in 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our team loves working with Azumo. They work very fast and have an appetite for challenging tasks. They’re very specific, and we’ve established a good rapport with them. They’ve worked on some big features for us and helped us differentiate our brand in the marketplace. We’re still getting to know our second developer, but his work ethic and knowledge are very good. He writes many of our tests.

How did Azumo perform from a project management standpoint?

They are very involved and feel like a part of our internal team. Our best interests are first in their minds, and they clearly care about our goals. They write all of our code and help clarify any language issues or issues we face. We have a wonderful experience with them and consider ourselves very lucky.

We work with the developers on new features and stories in Jira, and operate within a scrum environment. We also use GitHub to coordinate our code. There are daily planning meetings, and a lot of our communication runs through Slack. We work in two-week cycles and speak all day with them. I feel very close to their developers; they’ve become a part of my family.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their principal is very responsive and fast to react if we have a question or request. I asked him to find me a developer similar to our first one, and he came back a week later with a developer whose skillset was complementary to the first and matched our needs. We considered them for help with HIPAA compliance, but ultimately went with another team for that. They never took it personally and are always professional. The experience is great and the work speaks for itself.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I really can’t think of anything, they’ve done a good job.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the product owner at Discovery Networks Latin America.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Azumo?

We needed help with the development of an AI device, Alexa for Amazon. The system was launching for the first time in the Latin America markets, specifically in Mexico.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’re developing a product for use on Alexa for Amazon. They’ve developed the skill, which distributes our content throughout that platform, using proprietary technologies and Amazon’s infrastructure.

What is the team composition?

There’s a developer, a supervisor, and a project manager.

How did you come to work with Azumo?

I found them through online research and chose them because they had the best skillset.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2018 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re working on a highly complicated product which requires a lot of planning, engineering, and customization of the new technology. They’re doing an excellent job.

How did Azumo perform from a project management standpoint?

I’m very happy with them. We have daily communication and they always deliver before our deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their development knowledge is impressive. They’ve been very professional and patient with Amazon’s requirements, which ask for very high standards.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’m 100% satisfied.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of a social networking company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Social media mobile app 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Azumo to accomplish?

• Add features and improve current code quality

SOLUTION

How did you find Azumo?

Online Search

Why did you select Azumo over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Azumo were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Fix our mobile app posting capabilities and add live streaming. Improve our paid subscription flow and messages function. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Each feature we needed to be improved or added has either made significant progress or has been completed. 

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Yes, they delivered items on time and brought in the needed people if the project required it to meet the time goals. 

What was your primary form of communication with Azumo?

Virtual Meeting

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

Communication is very good, and if I had any questions or needs, they always provided the support needed. 

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

No

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the VP Product & Engineering of a software company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Sales & Marketing Software for Business Advisors

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Azumo to accomplish?

• Improve quality

SOLUTION

How did you find Azumo?

Online Search

Why did you select Azumo over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Azumo were assigned to this project?

10-15

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

• Feature development
• Bug fixing
• CI/CD
• Infrastructure support
• Automation QA
• Project Management

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Improved system availability
• Fewer bugs
• Faster performance

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Azumo has a track record of delivering on time and achieving results. They are responsive to the needs of the business and can change direction as needed.

What was your primary form of communication with Azumo?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

High quality of services across a wide range of functions:

• development
• devops
• design
• QA
• project management

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

Continue to ask questions and understand the business.

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was published on March 8, 2023.
Director, Sales & Marketing Software Company

Software

11-50 Employees

Toronto, Canada (3801)

Confidential

$200,000 to $999,999

Oct 2022 - Ongoing
Project summary

Azumo has helped a sales and marketing software company make their platform more scalable. The team works on minimizing down times and delivering new features, such as marketing automation and API integrations.

Feedback summary

The product's usage is up, and it's more scalable and optimized for a new user base, thanks to Azumo's work. The team has managed the engagement well. They constantly communicate with the client about any hiccups. Their resources are also always available to help and provide updates whenever needed.
BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director, Product of (a/an) Software

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Sales and marketing software for business advisors to help them find, win and keep their best clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Azumo to accomplish?

• Make the platform more scalable
• Transition off another development team who wrote primarily in old code
• Complete product development for marketing automation prior to our annual conference

SOLUTION

How did you find Azumo?

Referral

Why did you select Azumo over others?

• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

What was the size of Azumo’s team?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Delivering new product features and ensuring the platform is scalable and downtime/issues are minimal. Key deliverables include marketing automation, API/ native integrations with our platform.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Product Usage is up
• system is more scalable
• platform has been optimized for new user base

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Our project manager is the best I have ever worked with. As we had a shift in development vendor he was in constant communication of any hiccups with transition, items needed and the capabilities of his team. Very technical and always available to help. They're great at coordinating and providing updates along the way.

What was your primary form of communication with Azumo?

• Email
• Messaging App

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

Their accountability if something goes wrong and their dedication to ensure the new product development is completed even when other issues arise.

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

Have everything thoroughly documented so if team members shift we can get the new member up and running quickly on the project.
Star Ratings
Overall rating: 4.5

Quality: 5

Cost: 4.5

Schedule: 4

Willing to refer: 4

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the CTO of a healthcare company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are an automated communications platform for academic research and clinical trials.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Azumo to accomplish?

• Move some existing UIs into a modern framework.

SOLUTION

How did you find Azumo?

Online Search

Why did you select Azumo over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit

How many teammates from Azumo were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Move existing UIs into the new framework. Create reusable components and provide the infrastructure needed for us to continue development.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Number of screens converted to the new UI.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

We managed the developer as part of our team. He was always on time, very responsive, and a good fit.

What was your primary form of communication with Azumo?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Azumo did a great job.

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

None.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of a software company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We enable business owners to create and display video-based instructions directly into the software their employees utilize daily.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Azumo to accomplish?

• Ongoing development of our software.

SOLUTION

How did you find Azumo?

• Referral

Why did you select Azumo over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Great culture fit
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Azumo were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We tasked Azumo with the ongoing development of our software, including:

• Building and managing our platform
• Development of our billing functionality
• Ongoing development of new functionalities
• Creating a mobile-friendly version of our application

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The measurable outcomes were:

• Taking our product from MVP to launch
• Developing our internal and client-facing billing functionality
• Building the mobile-friendly version of our application

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Azumo accurately assesses the scope of work and delivers on time. If the scope increases, or is taking longer than expected, they are quick to notify us and make the appropriate adjustments.

What was your primary form of communication with Azumo?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

I find the communication most impressive and they have pretty much become apart of our company. They also have a very strong work ethic and deliver on what they promise.

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

Nothing I can think of - they have been a great asset to our team.