Cron d.o.o.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The company is Hawaii-based and provides voice-over IP business phone service and internet and cloud services for small- and medium-sized businesses. I’m the president.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Cron?

We are constantly facing challenges with technology because it’s always changing. Four years ago, we were getting cloud services and evaluating different technologies, and we decided to use OpenStack for our platform. We didn’t have the expertise for that in-house.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We got in touch with Alen [Komljen, DevOps Engineer], who is one of the founders at Cron, and he did the design and helped with the implementation as well. He provides ongoing support whenever we have technical issues or when the customer requires more features.

How did you come to work with Cron?

We posted the job on one of the freelancer websites. Alen expressed his interest in helping us. In the initial discussion, we limited the work to design. He’s very knowledge and responsive and after we finished the first phase, we felt very comfortable that he could finish the job.

How much have you invested with Cron?

We spend $20,000 with them per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in April 2014, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The uptime is very important to us because this is a service we provide. If the system has any issues, it will directly impact our customers. It’s very important that we resolve issues in a timely matter. When we have urgent issues, Alen is always able to get things fixed quickly.

How did Cron perform from a project management standpoint?

Alen has been very responsive. We communicate through emails and online chat. On our side, we have requirements that aren’t always clear. When we lay down the project objectives, we have ongoing discussions with Allen. He’s very flexible.

What did you find most impressive about Cron?

Alen is really good at taking ownership of any problem. If we have issues or new feature implementations, he’s always able to get things resolved without us having to remind him. He keeps his eye on the ball.

Are there any areas Cron could improve?

The technology is so diverse and everybody has limitations on technology. Alen is really good at what he does, but sometimes we wish he could know more than what he currently does.