cleverti

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm CTO at Com Laude. Unique among registrars, Com Laude provides Client-Shaped Domain Services meaning that we place the individual needs of each of our clients at the heart of our operation. Established in 2004, Com Laude delivers an exceptional customer experience to brand owners seeking strategic domain name services. Our leadership team, with many decades of industry experience, is directly involved in the day-to-day business.

Our Domain Strategists are domain experts that strategically manage your portfolio ensuring it is shaped to meet your business needs. Our extensive knowledge informs the advice we provide to each and every client – advice provided in many different languages, including most European languages, Japanese and even Swahili. Where other providers may outsource to anonymous agents in distant locations, our team of Domain Strategists provide all aspects of our service personally, establishing a close and trusting business partnership that is truly client-shaped.

A global organisation, we have a network of seven offices across Europe, North America and Asia. We support Intellectual Property, IT and Marketing professionals to take control of their domain portfolios, secure their on-line presence and address digital brand infringement. We serve clients in many sectors including: Automotive, Banking, Bio-tech, Consumer Goods, Engineering, Entertainment, Fashion, Food, Gaming, Luxury, Media, Pharma, Retail, Sport, and Wellness.

We also work with the world’s leading law firms, government organisations, and smaller companies who need to protect commerce critical domains. Our solutions help our clients maximise their ability to conduct business online with strategic domain name management, protection against cyber-attacks, and by counteracting digital brand infringement.

For what projects/services did your company hire cleverti, and what were your goals?

Com Laude sought to develop a next generation corporate domain name management and monitoring digital platform to manage, monitor, and protect online domain name intellectual property.

As companies have increased their capability to serve online channels, cyber-attacks including online brand infringement, DNS and domain name hijacking which divert legitimate sales, steal personal information, or prevent businesses from operating, have also increased making online business increasingly risky. The Company sought to develop a platform that would enable its customers to view and manage online Intellectual property assets including domain names, SSL certificates and DNS records whilst in parallel, monitoring the activity in the domain name space for potential IP infringement.

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

We found them through a referral and considered them along side other resourcing and recruitment strategies. Near shoring offers us the flexibility to upsize and down size the development and QA team in line with the changing demands of our product development roadmap.

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

Our hires from Cleverti have seamlessly integrated with and strengthened our existing in house teams who use an Agile development methodology and we now have a number of scrum teams running in parallel focused on a range of high value product development initiatives. This has enabled us to ramp up our product development efforts and reduce the time to market for key products and services.

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

We currently have 4 people working with us in senior development and QA positions.

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

As mentioned above, the Cleverti hires have enabled us to ramp up our product development efforts and reduce the time to market for key products and services.

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

We use an Agile approach to software development with daily scrum meetings and 2 week sprint releases. The Cleverti people are an integral part of this process, participating at every stage. We use Microsoft Teams, Jira and GitHub for communications which work very well for a de-centralised team that work across different time zones.

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

They were able to effectively vet candidates before the second round of interviews. This shortened the recruitment process and meant we were able to onboard high quality candidates in a timely manner. They are also very good at ensuring a good relationship exists through effective account management.

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

Nothing to note. They have been very good partners for us and we have made some great hires through them.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Head of Technical Delivery for a CX insights SaaS platform based in Petersfield, UK. Our company has just over 100 staff members providing services to customers across the globe. My role oversees the development and quality assurance of our expansive estate of platform services and integrations.

For what projects/services did your company hire cleverti?

We engaged with Cleverti to expand upon a pre-existing successful partnership with another team augmentation provider to add further flexibility to our Java development capacity. We have a core internal team working across multiple scrums each specialising in a particular area of our product. Outsource resources are dispersed and fully integrated across the teams, giving us the ability to scale up and down in line with our current requirements.

What were your goals for this project?

We did not engage with Cleverti to complete a specific project, rather to increase the overall output of our development capacity with experienced Java developers who could get up to speed with our codebase and working practices quickly. Cleverti certainly helped us to meet this objective.

How did you select this vendor?

We were specifically searching for a partner who could support an augmentation model rather than a typical development outsource. Having gone through a rigorous selection process we chose Cleverti on the basis of a number of factors - their access to a large talent pool, our ability to be involved in the candidate selection process and their focus on soft skills to ensure effective engagement in scrum activities. As part of our due diligence we met with technical leads and developers at Cleverti to get a sense of what it might be like to work with them and hosted a private interview with a current client to get open feedback on their experiences.

Describe the project in detail.

Once the partnership with Cleverti was secured we worked with their technical lead and sales director to define and agree the team make-up and candidate profiles. It took a matter of weeks from this point for Cleverti to pre-screen a pool of strong applicants, all with excellent spoken and written English, from which we shortlisted and conducted second stage technical tests and interviews to select our new team members. The onboarding process was very important to set the engagement up for success; we invested in travel and accommodation for the new joiners so that they could spend two weeks at our offices getting to know the internal team and to undergo an intensive induction to our codebase. Initially the team worked with our third line support developers to gain broad exposure to the platform and, during the Christmas period, they took on a specific data migration project giving them an opportunity to work together. Once this project had concluded we dispersed the team across our scrum units, each joining a group consisting of our internal developers and those from our incumbent augmentation partner. The Cleverti team members fell into our way of working very quickly and made an impact from the get-go demonstrating a high level of expertise and professionalism.

What was the team composition?

Cleverti band their developers into brackets of seniority – junior, mid-level and senior. They recommend that a senior team member is appointed to act as an on-site lead offering support to the other team members. We kicked off our project on this basis with one senior and one mid-level developer.

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

During the early stages of the engagement the Cleverti team took ownership of a high-profile backlogged project and brought it to a successful conclusion, taking requirements and feedback from us as they went, proving that they can work self-sufficiently. During their time working in augmentation with our core internal team they also demonstrated their abilities to collaborate and communicate remotely, making a real difference in the velocity and quality of our deliverables.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The Cleverti team members were fully engaged in scrum, having no time difference between us made it easy for us to coordinate their involvement in daily ceremonies. They were fully participative in refining and sizing work, sprint planning, demonstration of output and feeding into our retrospective cycle.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Tomás, their Nearshore Sales Director, is a great ambassador for the company. From the very first interaction I had with him through to the completion of our engagement he has maintained an exceptional level of communication always closely monitoring our partnership to ensure it was tracking successfully.

Are there any areas for improvement?

When we first approached Cleverti they had not worked with many UK clients before and certain liabilities we’d expect to see were not covered in their standard contract. Having said this, they were very flexible and quick to resolve any issues raised during the negotiation process. Secondly, Cleverti do not support/share any costs of travel for team members for the onboarding process or ongoing team building. This was something we were used to with our other outsource partner, considering it as a shared investment in setting the ongoing relationship up for success.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and owner of a company that focuses on collaborative planning. 

What challenge were you trying to address with cleverti?

I developed a digital project coach for team members and leaders. They were developing that software app for me.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The product was developed to help me and my business. I’d developed this product through a PowerPoint prototype but had no real conception of how to technically enable it. It was developed both for mobile and web use. They used Docker to create a Node development environment for the project. At this point, the app isn’t designed for mass consumption. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with two people from their end. 

How did you come to work with cleverti?

A business partner found them and introduced us. They acted as the bridge, so I didn’t know about the team prior to the introduction. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project in December 2019, and they wrapped up in February 2020.

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

I don’t have a background in development and code, so I appreciate their guidance on how to bring my concept to life. I had a detailed blueprint with pictures, and they made that a reality. They took my work to the next level with their expertise.  

How did cleverti perform from a project management standpoint?

I had a good connection with the programmer I was partnered with. He wasn’t just following instructions. Instead, he was truly collaborating with me to achieve my goal. They were flexible with communication, adapting to our communication approach. I appreciated their willingness to accommodate our work styles. Everything was kept simple. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They offer their services without a sales push. Their team exposed us to options to enable our success and meet our needs. They were great to work with. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I had a great experience, so nothing comes to mind. We’re in the process of getting another project ready for them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CTO and owner of an IT company called dev4real.

What challenge were you trying to address with cleverti?

We were short on manpower with good knowledge and good work ethics. We also needed extra resources for different projects we were working on with our clients.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They are helping us by providing resources on a daily basis.

What is the team composition?

We work with one person daily and are working on adding another resource shortly. We plan to increase the number of team members by a few more throughout this year.

How did you come to work with cleverti?

I found them through a contact I trust. I explained that I needed assistance with manpower and that it was very hard and expensive to find resources locally. He knew a company in Portugal that could help, which was cleverti. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in September 2019 and the work is still ongoing.

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

The big picture is that the resource is exactly what was promised, which has been good. He is available to us full-time and neither complains nor makes excuses. Everything is done on time and as requested.

I have had other experiences in the past with other companies who have said the resource isn’t available for whatever reason. With cleverti, there have been no complaints and everyone is happy. I can’t guarantee that everyone from cleverti will be the same, but to start with, our resource has been very good and he keeps his promises.

How did cleverti perform from a project management standpoint?

They are pretty prompt in replying to us even during off-hours which is surprising.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are not complicated to work with. There are companies that stick to the contract no matter what, whereas cleverti sticks to the contract and goes beyond when we need them to. They are very flexible. 

Portugal is very far from Estonia, so I was reluctant to work with them in the beginning, but they have proven themselves very well. Their sales talk was good, but more importantly, they’ve come through with everything they promised.

Are there any areas they could improve?

So far, there are no complaints about or negative aspects of working with them. They fulfill their promises and they always deliver.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO and co-founder of a worker-centric platform. We support temporary and self-employed workers to earn more, save more, and invest more of their money.

What challenge were you trying to address with cleverti?

We needed help with platform development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They are building our SaaS platform, which is essentially a marketplace with some functionality we’re building in-house. Over time, we will handpick integrations with existing software, products, or services. They have used Angular and .NET for the frontend and backend.

What is the team composition?

We have worked with four people from their team, including two full-time developers. They’ve provided really great support throughout the engagement.

How did you come to work with cleverti?

They were recommended to us by our CPO, who had gone through the sales process with them. He recommended we speak to them, which led to a phone call with Tomas, and then we agreed to start working with them.  

How much have you invested in them?

We spend €6,600 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began the collaboration with them in May 2019, and the work is still ongoing.

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

We wouldn’t have been able to achieve anything like what we have with them (with the same timeframe and budget) if we had stayed with a UK-based development agency. To their credit, Andre (Senior .NET Core Developer, cleverti) and Carlos (CEO, cleverti) have worked incredibly hard, not just on a technical aspect around the product, but also to really understand the pain points and problems we are trying to solve. They have always held that vision and been able to transmit that naturally into their code.

The biggest compliment I could say is that it feels like we have known Nuno (Team Leader & Frontend Developer, cleverti), Carlos, Tomas, and Andre a lot longer than we actually have. It has been great in terms of the quality of the product and the speed. Everything has been fantastic, and we are really happy.

How did cleverti perform from a project management standpoint?

We agreed to a set of project management systems that we, as well as the developers, are happy with. They have been really open to that the whole way. We have a stack that works well for us and ensures that we have really good communication.

One of the other attractions you get from cleverti is that Tomas provides excellent business development support. Nuno, who is the group CPO and is involved across all of the projects on more of a technical aspect, fills a question-busting, solution-providing role which we essentially get as part of the package. There are no hidden costs for that kind of expertise either. He acts as a very effective go-between with clients and developers.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s easy to scale up when needed, and it’s been a lot more cost-effective than anything we could get in the UK for the same quality. There is much less turnover than in a UK-based agency as well, leading to a continuity factor and a peer support element. They keep their developers happy, both financially and culturally. The culture within the organization is one of genuine support for the client. It is a really good, positive culture. We were lucky to find them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, not really. Nothing springs to mind, and we are really happy. The relationship we have with our two developers is what makes it for us. You don’t really know how it is going to go or how someone will react in certain situations until you start working with someone, especially in start-ups, where something has to be torn down if it isn’t built right. In our specific case, it has been pretty perfect. If there any issues that come up, or delays, they come up from our end. I can’t fault them at all.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company deals with spatial information, with quite a diverse project portfolio, mainly working for public clients. I'm the head of the software development unit.

What challenge were you trying to address with cleverti?

We wanted to be more flexible in our response to our projects. It was difficult to find competent professionals to help with these tasks, so we were looking for a partner that would allow us to be more flexible and able to scale.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They work with us using web and mobile technologies, including Angular, Ionic, and Java, and we also use database technologies. Our upcoming projects will include Python.

What is the team composition?

So far, we’ve worked with five developers from their team, and there are three more joining us this month.

How did you come to work with cleverti?

I found them through their web page and contacted them. I was in contact with several companies, and cleverti were the best fit for us and our goals.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in July 2018, and it’s ongoing.

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

They’ve allowed us to start some projects we wouldn’t have otherwise been able to, providing us with solutions to scale some and set up others. The quality is very good so far. We have the same way of thinking about our work and what should be accomplished, which means the teamwork is excellent. They’re crucial for the work we do.

How did cleverti perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication is really good. We’ve set up mixed teams with cleverti, divided between Munich and their office, and we have a manager on their side, who’s not directly involved in the work. If there are any issues, they provide us with the help we need.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have useful resources, which are difficult to find in our location. Communication and management are very good, as is the overall collaboration. We think the same way, and they do everything to find solutions for us. Our teams work well together.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t see anything in this regard. There can always be improvements during a project, but we work on them together. 

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

No, I can't name anything specific.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of a startup based in Copenhagen. Our goal is to provide headhunters with the tools to find the right candidates under specific verticals.

What challenge were you trying to address with cleverti?

There are limited and expensive development and technical resources in Denmark. We hired cleverti to develop all the interfaces we’re using on the platform, from customer-facing to internal interfaces.

What was the scope of their involvement?

For development, we used Angular JS, HTML, JavaScript, and CSS.

What is the team composition?

We worked with one of their developers.

How did you come to work with cleverti?

I was prospecting various outsourcing companies in Denmark. I’ve worked with other companies based in Eastern Europe and felt the relationships were never that constructive. After going in another direction, I found cleverti purely by looking for Portuguese outsourcing companies on Google. I’m actually planning on moving to Portugal and wanted to see what companies were there, along with their prices. The fact that cleverti was located in Europe made it easier when it came to billing and having only a one-hour time difference. I got in touch with them, and the relationship started from there.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between €40,000– €60,000 (approximately $45,000–$68,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with cleverti over a year ago, and the project will finish at the end of April.

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

We’re currently raising money for the company, and I’d love to keep working with cleverti. Their sales manager is helpful and listens to the needs of his customers. They were highly-responsive; there was no time where I couldn’t get in touch with them. When it comes to development, I value their motivation and work ethic more than skill.

cleverti assigned us a junior developer who was highly-motivated and personable. There was an onboarding time where I had to explain to him about online technologies. He got better and better within a few months. Today, we outline tasks at a high level, and he works on those by himself. Since we’re a small company, every resource is critical. The developer wasted no time. He needed different devices to test the interface on, and there was no problem for cleverti to do that. Their team is likable and always there to help. There were some setbacks, but nothing determinantal to our business.

How did cleverti perform from a project management standpoint?

The developer used our internal Jira account, and I did project management. We were free to manage the developer as we wanted. I only required that he had the right toolset at every point in time. I made it clear that if he needed a Windows device in two hours, he should have it. They always delivered in that sense.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Apart from responsiveness, they delivered what we expected them to. cleverti was interested in the project, working hard to better it. Their attentiveness to our process was also a huge plus. After a few months, a set routine kicked in, which lessened their questions. They knew I was managing the developer myself, so they received a status update from him every few months. I never had an issue with my developer; I was lucky.

Are there any areas they could improve?

cleverti did everything we needed them to in the right way. I don’t see any areas where they could improve. One time, our developer was in a noisy area, so I asked them to move him.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My business partner and I each have over 40 years of experience in the computer industry. We help legacy and mainframe organizations modernize their applications and computer systems.

What challenge were you trying to address with cleverti?

We have a variety of partnerships with other firms, one of which is cleverti. We use them to pull additional resources.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially worked with them on testing technologies and solutions, but currently work with them to transfer IBM- or Cobalt-based systems to distributed Linux platforms. It is difficult to find resources with experience in some of the technology we use, so the collaboration is particularly positive for us.

What is the team composition?

We use their consultants as needed. We currently work with one to three, and will increase the team size next year.

How did you come to work with cleverti?

Our relationship with them predates the founding of our current company. They helped us build our structure, and we’re revisiting our relationship with them now to fulfill resource requirements for some of our projects. We have a long history with them, mainly thanks to the quality and affordability of their resources.

How much have you invested with them?

The current project involves between one and three of their consultants, who we engage full-time. Current costs are around €6,000–€7,000 (approximately $6,900–$8,000 USD). We expect to double that next year, based on resources we’ll need for coming projects.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our initial contact with them started back in 2009, but it took a while to work with them. We've had an on-and-off relationship with them since then.

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

The project we were working on was going badly when we brought them in. We were struggling to find the right resources, but they gave us exactly what we needed. They provided high-quality consultants and really saved the whole process.

How did cleverti perform from a project management standpoint?

They all speak excellent English, so are easy to communicate with. We only work with one to three consultants, so we manage the project while they deliver resources against the contract.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve been in the business for a long time and have hired nearshore and offshore resources from a variety of countries. I particularly like my collaboration with cleverti. The level of cost is low, the quality is superior, and they’re much closer to our time zone.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would be helpful to them if they expanded their visibility in the market. We plan to expand our business with them, and a stronger presence would help grow their pool of resources.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a company that creates software for the oil and gas industry.

What challenge were you trying to address with Cleverti?

I’ve used Cleverti for several projects. For this project, we wanted to make the functionality of our desktop application available on the cloud. We were building a web-based frontend for the app for the first time, and we needed a developer with JavaScript skills who could use the React framework we chose.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Cleverti advised us on how to use the framework and eventually provided us with the developers that we needed. We launched the first part of the application recently.

I’m not familiar with the technical details of the project, but we’ve primarily used JavaScript with the React framework. I know other technologies are used in terms of REST, APIs and proxies.

This was a one-off project, where we gave them our specs and they delivered, but I have worked with Cleverti in three or four other contexts. When I first started working with them, the company I was with was doing PHP development, testing, and support. The second project I did with them involved .NET developments for an e-health app for pharmacies in Norway. Later, in my role as the CEO of another company, I asked them to develop our web infrastructure.

What is the team dynamic?

We have one dedicated person at Cleverti, and we work with two others on an on-demand basis, depending on the workload.

How did you come to work with Cleverti?

I’ve been working with off-shore outsourcing development for at least 15 years with different projects and companies. I originally started outsourcing to India, but we had issues with the time difference and the travel time. So I started looking for alternatives that were closer to Norway.

My requirements for the new vendor were that they were in a similar time zone to us and that I could get to them in a few hours via a direct flight from Oslo. We chose to look in Portugal, because it has good universities, and it’s easier to find people with English proficiency Microsoft-based skills. We narrowed down our list to a couple of Portuguese vendors and eventually chose Cleverti. This was in 2010 or 2012.

How much have you invested with them?
I would have to check, but I think have invested about €50,000–€100,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

I think I started working with them on this project at the end of 2016, beginning of 2017, and we launched the app in September.

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

It’s too early in this process, but initial feedback has been good. Most of our users are still using the desktop app and aren’t yet on the cloud. So far, we are very happy with what we’ve seen.

On a scheduling note, they were able to get the job done on an accelerated timeline. Our goal was to launch the app in October 2017, but we got invited to present at a September forum in Paris with a large crowd of customers. We asked our internal team and Cleverti's team to accelerate development so we could demonstrate it at the forum. We cut the schedule by a month, everyone got to work, and we were able to launch the product on Sept. 16.

How did Cleverti perform from a project management standpoint?
 

We basically see the Cleverti people as part of our own team. They adapt to our project management, which I appreciate. They’re very accommodating of our preferences in terms of stand-up meetings and communication platforms (Slack, Skype, etc.). We use Agile development and Scrum, and they have adapted to that as well.

When it comes to communication, they’re very good. They have solid English skills and articulate their concerns well.

I also appreciate the way their senior staff operate. If we have a technical question or need something outside the scope of the project, their senior people will join specific meetings and advise us along with their team. They never charge extra—it’s an extended part of the service. That’s one of the best things about Cleverti. I think it helps them train their people and avoid technical difficulties.
 

What did you find most impressive about them?
 

Their overall quality is impressive. If I have a problem with a vendor, I don't search for another one–I just call Cleverti.

I use Cleverti not only because of the quality of work they do, but also because of the management’s personal attention. They take my calls and go the extra mile to help me. I can call their CEO if I'm worried about anything, and he will call me back to discuss things. As a small client, we only have one dedicated person and a few additional resources, but that doesn’t change the attention we receive. When I was outsourcing to India it was difficult to get in touch with their management.
 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't think there are any areas they could improve. They are expensive compared to other vendors, but they’re worth it for the quality and peace of mind they deliver.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of Spindots, a discount exchange network. 

What challenge were you trying to address with cleverti?

They built our web platform.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They used native PHP to build our APIs. They also used JavaScript, MySQL, and some components of JSON. They integrated social networks, reporting systems, and a dashboard. They installed the system and they are now supporting both the platform hardware and software. There are some components of the platform we do in-house.

What is the team dynamic? 

There are two full-time developers, two part-time developers, and one project leader. There is another person that sets the platform and defines the criteria and security.

How did you come to work with cleverti?

I’ve known them for a long time; some of our guys had previously worked with them. I knew they had the experience and confidence to build the platform.

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent €50,000 [$60,000].

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2016, and the relationship is ongoing.

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

We are a startup using the platform as a proof of concept to help us sell and implement the concept to some markets. This prototype is not the final version. We want to change some of the user interface components. The platform is online and people can use it, although it’s not finished. As soon as possible, we will continue to build it out. We are currently negotiating partnerships. cleverti will be supporting us for a long time.

How did cleverti perform from a project management standpoint?

We used both Microsoft and Git to manage the platform implementation. Management wasn’t difficult because we don’t have many people involved. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Things were well done and I like the API. The API is the connection with our other systems. It’s one of the main features of our platform. cleverti created it by themselves without our help. It’s very efficient. It was important to define the technical architecture using resource systems that were not on the main domain. We had to rebuild some components and it’s very fast and efficient now. It’s been a good project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We need to improve the project management as we continue to grow. Right now we can manage the project with the team we have, but as we improve, we need to change project management, tools, and the connection between our two teams.