Comminus

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Global Head of BI & Digital FC Solutions for a multinational company within the Captive Finance Sector with Headquarters in Germany. We offer Mobility Solutions for Customers, Business, Dealer, Corporates and Fleets.

For what projects/services did your company hire Comminus?

Comminus is responsible for the implementation of a digital Reporting App providing all relevant business information to senior management on their mobile devices and web.

The app includes multiple digital features e.g. automated Reporting, Storytelling, Commenting, Screenshot-to-Mail, Fingerprint and Face ID, Build-in Data analytics

What were your goals for this project?

Automation and digitization of corporate and local reports, innovative ways of sharing data and information, reduction in time and cost to create management reports, new insights, unlimited data availability, BI Self-Services

How did you select this vendor?

General Vendor selection process incl. Pitch. Comminus did work for other projects with us so they were not completely unknown.

Describe the project in detail.

Selection based on Pitch with general ideas and mock ups as well as cost benefit analysis

What was the team composition?

Project Manager, multiple Database and Front End Developers, BI Consultant

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

The created applications are in use by 13,000 colleagues within the whole organization, on a monthly basis the applications have more than 20,000 clicks by users. More than 1,000 unique users login to the applications on a monthly basis.

With the features we were able to replace 100+ reports worldwide and gained new innovative and efficient ways on how to report and interpret data. The apps were awarded with the internal Best Finance Game Changer Award as well as external with the Excellence in Analytics Transformation Award in AAP.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective. Working in a very agile and grown SCRUM resulted in quick deliveries and feedback cycles. Impressive to mention was that the business team was sitting in Singapore while development happened in Headoffices of Comminus in Croatia.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They're very committed, working over hours and overtime to deliver results, very agile

Are there any areas for improvement?

Convincing to move to a more structured SCRUM approach took a while. Quick solutions sometimes resulted in rework efforts to make implementations more sustainable. Quality of first deliveries required rework which was always done as part of bug fixes. Improvement of quality of development was however very observable over the time.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an IT consultant for a financial services company. I’m own a specific application that is used for risk figure calculations.

What challenge were you trying to address with Comminus?

Our previous tool was based on a basic Excel application. It was decided that we needed an application that would fulfill all the additional requirements that our business had. We decided to look for a supplier who could help.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I provided them with design specs and wireframes. They then developed the backend and frontend of a web-based application that runs in Internet Explorer. The application calculates risk figures for other entities. It’s only an internal application and is not internet-facing. They offer ongoing support.

What is the team composition?

We worked with up to five people.

How did you come to work with Comminus?

I wasn’t in this position when they were hired.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2017 and the work is ongoing.

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

Everything works fine and all our requests get processed fairly quickly. People who are using the application are using it once or twice a month. We’ve received very good feedback.

How did Comminus perform from a project management standpoint?

They provide all the information we need. We have a close relationship and they’re transparent. We talk every two or three days, through scheduled weekly calls and emails. They also use a collaboration tool as part of their effective management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They respond quickly compared to other providers. They offer great value with their performance.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we’re completely satisfied.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the head of BI department in European affiliate of Fortune 500 company.

For what projects/services did your company hire Comminus?

Our data warehouse was over 15 years old, made for past business support, and out-dated. Since we launched industry-changing innovative products, the business has transformed dramatically and our infrastructure needed to be built from scratch.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed to find the best solution, scalable and flexible which can grow based on business requests.

How did you select Comminus?

We selected the top 5 suppliers in data warehousing business in Croatia and Slovenia to contact, send out our brief, and gathered them all for a presentation.

Comminus stood out on many levels, they were among the most prepared, the company presentation was excellent, they had a huge experience in similar projects, and offered much-needed flexibility in their approach.

Describe the project in detail.

We had a kick-off session, both sides explained their ways of working and we came to a deal – from day one everything was functioning as agreed. Phase by phase, with constant communication and daily scrum meetings. If we got stuck at some point we could count on their support.

What was the team composition?

We had a project manager to support us and serve as a main point of contact. On the backend, we had one full-time developer, while others joined the team for specific purposes.

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

The solution is up and running as planned. We had a couple of delays, but everything was sorted in minimum time. For the time being no major errors were observed.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We needed some time to align but overall I would say outstanding.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Expertise, willingness to help, and flexibility. We had several internal issues where we were stuck, unable to find a solution, their team jumped in every single time and helped.

We had numerous late deliveries or late-minute changes that need to be made, and we could always count on their understanding and support. The team is very knowledgeable, supportive, and always willing to help, everyone, from backend developer to CEO.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not that I am aware of.