Award Winning Bespoke Software Development
DCSL GuideSmiths is a multi-award winning bespoke software development company, with headquarters in Farnborough, Hampshire, and engineering centres of excellence in London, Manchester, Madrid and Bucharest. Since 1994, we’ve created intelligent, cost-effective and intuitive web applications, desktop applications and mobile apps for established businesses, non-profits, government organisations and funded start-ups. We have a team of over 300 across our international business.
DCSL GuideSmiths delivers large scale digital transformation, team augmentation, delivery of discrete Agile projects and world class bespoke software using complementary tech including, but not limited to, Microsoft .NET, Power BI, React and Node.js. The company’s capabilities also include DevOps proficiency and deployment on Azure and AWS. Accredited with Microsoft Gold Partner status, as well as ISO 9001 & ISO 27001, the firm’s highly competitive services are leveraged through an optimal blend of international delivery centres either UK-based or nearshore, all operating under DCSL Guidesmiths’ best practice methodology and with a partnership approach, to generate consistent and superior quality products and services.
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Focus
Portfolio
Mitsubishi, Hospify, Skanska, Water Aid
Intuitive modern data input and access portal
Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group underwrites excess-of-loss and quota-share reinsurance for property and casualty insurers and reinsurers. The company is part of the global Berkshire Hathaway insurance group headquartered in the US.
The company's existing system’s front-end, which teams use to manually enter policy and claims information, needed updating: it had originally been built in the 1990s using Visual Basic 6.0. To bring everything up to date and be able to roll out the same actuarial and financial reporting capabilities internationally, the company needed a new, modern web-based front end for the system, with strong database integration.
In the search for potential development partners in and around London, Mr Dooner, Chief Actuary, discovered DCSL Software. Its considerable experience of developing sophisticated database-linked web sites and intranet portals with easy-to-navigate front-ends was reflected in numerous client testimonials, suggesting that DCSL would be an ideal partner. An initial meeting with DCSL’s owner and the project manager confirmed this.
“It looks attractive and modern – more in keeping with the kinds of technology people use and enjoy in their own time – and it is very intuitive and responsive,” says Dooner. “The clean look and feel and ease of navigation are very impressive, which is down to the design. I had very high expectations and DCSL delivered. The project manager always came back to us very quickly after any change requests and was extremely accommodating. There was nothing DCSL couldn’t incorporate into the web engine: whatever we needed, they could do.”
“DCSL did a fantastic job, and were a pleasure to work with,” Mr Dooner concludes. “They’re clearly extremely competent at what they do, and have produced a system that is very clean, modern and built using very well-structured code. That’s a real sign of expertise.”
IoT- and AI-enabled remote care monitoring app
Karantis360 is a new startup, set up to help the families and carers of dementia patients and elderly people who wish to continue living in their own homes. The AI-enabled software keeps track of the vulnerable family member, learn their routines and how they varied across the days of the week, so that it could accurately detect and alert carers if something seemed amiss. Professional caregivers signing up to the system would be required to log the kind of details families wanted to hear about every visit, and indicate that they had read and understood details of the individuals’ needs, interests and preferences before being able to proceed with a visit. All of this would offer families invaluable reassurance and transparency about the care they were providing, and become a service differentiator for care service providers.
DCSL Software, which specialises in realising companies’ digital and mobile ambitions using the latest software technologies and development techniques, created a usable web solution and mobile app in under 10 weeks. “It was incredible,” Founder, Helen Dempster says. “DCSL has experience of developing healthcare apps, which helped set the direction. That and their agile approach to development meant we could quickly see something and refine it to get to exactly what we wanted, working in two-weekly sprints.”
The Karantis360 app, which supports Android and iOS devices, is based on the IBM Watson AI-based analytics platform and hosted in IBM’s secure cloud. When professional caregivers log visits and provide information about the client’s current mood and state of wellbeing, they upload a photograph to support this: the AI-enabled app ‘reads’ this to detect whether the client is actually smiling. The app was built using the cross-platform Xamarin framework, alongside .NET Core for the business logic and web API, all coded with C#.
Digital best practice toolset for start-up
100 Days is a new Norwegian start-up, founded to disrupt the organisational and leadership development field, via a bespoke suite of repeatable digital support tools.
100 Days was founded to meet a gap in the market. International executive search findings have shown time and again that 40 per cent of executives failed to transition successfully into new management positions, at great cost to all concerned.
“We had a very clear idea of the content but not the technology, so we needed a partner that could provide us with the best possible advice,” Richard Taylor, co-founder, says.
Seeing that DCSL was now a 100-strong development company doing impressive and complex work across a diverse portfolio of projects, the company was keen to know more. DCSL’s development philosophy was impressive to 100 days: "We could see there was a great culture – highly collaborative, where no task is allowed to get stuck – and knew that we had found our partner...DCSL’s success record is based on its ability to deliver."
The toolkit includes videos, text, checklists, worksheets and questionnaires to prompt new managers to fulfil their potential quickly, and deliver quick wins along the way, so that within 100 days they are delivering positive results for the business. A menu system means managers can mix and match preparations and tasks, or systematically work through all the tools, depending on their needs.
DCSL’s contribution in taking the ELLA toolkit from vision to reality has been critical, Richard adds, confirming that the partnership will continue long into the future. As well as working on the next language versions and working on other updates over time, DCSL will develop new toolkits, starting with one designed to boost the impact of knowledge workers. “We hope to get this underway in 2020,” he says.
MiFID II Equity Broker Client Management System
Redburn is Europe’s largest independent equities broker, providing institutional investors such as investment banks and hedge funds with equity research and agency execution in Pan-European equity markets.
Redburn’s clients pay for equity research out of the management fees they charge to their clients. In January 2018, the European Commission introduced new regulatory requirements under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) II, to increase transparency and trust around financial investments and increase protection for those investing.
“We needed to industrialise our pricing methodology, and give more people secure and fast access to all the detail they needed in a user-friendly format,” explains Matthew Norman, Redburn’s Head of IT.
Redburn set out to find a reputable software development firm. When it came across DCSL Software online, it sounded like the perfect fit. "We liked their collaborative and agile approach to development, which is how we work internally,” he says. “We knew that the needs of our CRM team were likely to keep evolving and changing, so this was going to be important. DCSL also use the same sort of technologies that we do internally, so it was a great match. We liked their proposal and demo, and the price which was very competitive.”
The new company-wide pricing system has received impressive feedback for its accurate methodology and calculations, its look and feel, and its speed. “It helps that the users have been proactively involved the whole way through. It is critical to our pricing strategy, to our compliance with the new MiFID II regulation, and to our client relationships. We will use it to support all future negotiations, and to demonstrate to existing clients exactly how their money has been spent, giving them the visibility and detail they need to report back to their own clients.”
Grant Management System for WaterAid
WaterAid is an international charity with a vision of a world where everyone, everywhere has safe water, toilets and hygiene. Since 1981, it has helped millions of the world’s poorest and most marginalised people access these vital human rights, expanding into 35 countries across Africa, Asia, the Pacific and Central America. The charity is headquartered in London, UK.
DCSL Software built a fund, grant and donation management system from the ground up. Now on its second iteration, DCSL has been a close partner to WaterAid throughout its engagement since 2016.
Digital-physical time planner
Bit Planner is a start up company combining the physical and digital world with a fun and easy to use concept. The idea is to take a physical, wall mounted board made of LEGO bricks to represent people, time and tasks, and automatically turn this into a digital calendar.
DCSL’s software development team created a complex computer vision algorithm, enabling the Bit Planner app to detect a physical wall-mounted planning board, and to ‘read’ and transfer details accurately to the digital representation.
The project has been a huge success and is now in the next phase of development, with a "family" edition in the making. Watch this space!
Reviews
the project
Staff Aug & UI Consulting for Coffee Machine Company
"There has been no fluff to it. DCSL is open and straightforward about what we need and what they can do for us."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the software engineering manager at a global coffee vending machine company.
What challenge were you trying to address with DCSL GuideSmiths?
We were looking to achieve innovation and growth.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Our fundamental platform drives 12,000 coffee machines globally, and DCSL is helping scale up our team and rework our backend systems. It’s all bespoke software engineering, and they’re assisting us in pursuing our North Star goals and realizing the technical path for evolving our next-generation systems.
Over the course of our engagement, we’ve also asked for their periodic, short-term support in our cloud-based developments and in the building of our CI/CD pipelines. We’ve also relied on DCSL’s consulting services when we migrated our frontend technology towards a web-based UI framework.
We all work with the Microsoft Stack, but we’ve also leveraged Azure Cloud Services for our deployment pipelines. DSCL works with us on-site.
What is the team composition?
There are currently three software engineers working with our team. We’ve also sought the help of one cloud-based engineer and two frontend architects. We’re just about to engage another solutions architect from DCSL.
How did you come to work with DCSL GuideSmiths?
My predecessor was the one who found them. I believe DCSL’s key differentiators were the quality of their talent and their flexibility in providing resources for both mid-term and near-term projects. They were also found to be very easy to work with.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve invested around $200,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We began working together in May 2021, and our partnership is ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We source talent from three channels; one is internal, another is through external providers, and the third is through DCSL. Theirs has by far proved to be the easiest and most effective to work with. We have a number of hard delivery dates throughout the year, and their team has helped us be successful across all of those.
How did DCSL GuideSmiths perform from a project management standpoint?
Their project management is excellent. We have a very strong relationship with DCSL that’s based on open communication, which is largely done human-to-human as opposed to going through any type of tools.
What did you find most impressive about them?
The most impressive thing has been our partnership, really. There has been no fluff to it. DCSL is open and straightforward about what we need and what they can do for us. They’re flexible, able to meet our needs, and capable of growing, changing, and pivoting with us. I always talk to them about our specific needs and the specific approaches we want to take, and they’re always 100% on board with me.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, I can’t think of anything.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Just keep your collaboration direct, open, and honest. Other providers will pad their plans with a lot of fluff and will not quite listen to what you need in general, DCSL is a partner that you can definitely work very closely with.
the project
Customer Portal Dev for Real Estate Investment Company
"Their team has enabled us to get through the rough patches we’ve faced with our project."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m a manager at a real estate investment company. We operate data centers to maintain customer portals.
What challenge were you trying to address with DCSL GuideSmiths?
We were re-platforming our customer portal, and we needed a team to partner up on this.
What was the scope of their involvement?
DCSL GuideSmiths is revamping our customer platform using C# and .NEY to write the new iteration of the portal. We also use Azure to host the site and .js to develop the front end with dynamic elements.
What is the team composition?
We started working with five members of their team, but we’re now collaborating with only two of them — we’ve had a variable number of people from their side involved in our project throughout the engagement.
How did you come to work with DCSL GuideSmiths?
I found them through Clutch; I was looking for software developers in the US and overseas, and DCSL GuideSmiths stood out above the rest. We chose them because they had all of the core competencies I was looking for in a partner.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent around £300,000 (approximately $414,000 USD) with them so far.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together in November 2020, and the engagement is ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
They’ve helped us move forward with our business. In addition to that, their team has enabled us to get through the rough patches we’ve faced with our project by giving us a foundation to start off.
How did DCSL GuideSmiths perform from a project management standpoint?
In the first couple of months, we struggled to collaborate with the development team and get involved with their management processes. Still, we overcame that together — the group that I work with is helpful and amazing.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Their competency in UI and architecture is outstanding.
Are there any areas they could improve?
They could work on having closer collaboration with customers in terms of updates and demos.
the project
Software Dev Support for Data Science Intelligence Platform
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the product director at a data science intelligence SaaS company.
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
What challenge were you trying to address with DCSL GuideSmiths?
We needed their team’s support in developing our new software products.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We’ve initially engaged DCSL GuideSmiths to help us build our MVP, a machine learning operations platform that’s part of our new product line. We’ve relayed our ideas and market goals to their team, and they’ve developed the front- and backend of our platform and generated design solutions for its UI/UX.
The product serves as a platform for us to conduct IT operations that require machine learning models. Upon the MVP’s completion, we’ve decided to further the collaboration by developing it into a fully-developed platform with more functionalities.
What is the team composition?
We’ve worked with DCSL GuideSmiths’ delivery manager, a chief architect, a cloud architect, a UI/UX designer, one frontend designer, and two backend developers.
How did you come to work with DCSL GuideSmiths?
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent about £750,000 (approximately $1.03 million USD) so far.
What is the status of this engagement?
Our ongoing collaboration with DCSL GuideSmiths started in April 2021.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We haven’t launched the product yet, so there are no quantitative results to share at this point — however, I can confirm that DCSL GuideSmiths meets our team’s expectations with their quality work. They work diligently to conduct product testings and ensure that each solution they produce is functional.
How did DCSL GuideSmiths perform from a project management standpoint?
We communicate via Slack and rely on Jira for project management.
What did you find most impressive about them?
We’re most impressed with DCSL GuideSmiths’ responsive and personable nature, which makes our project flow seamlessly. They’re also a very honest team — they don’t make promises they can’t keep.
Are there any areas they could improve?
I can’t think of anything off the top of my head — they’ve been a reliable partner to us.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Just go for it. DCSL GuideSmiths is a flexible team that adapts well to their client’s processes.
the project
Custom Software Dev for Wine & Spirits Marketplace
"Their professionalism is one of the main reasons why we continue to invest more in their team."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the head of technology and innovations at Fine+Rare, a fine wine and spirits marketplace.
What challenge were you trying to address with DCSL GuideSmiths?
We needed their team’s custom software development support.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We’ve been using our legacy application for over 10 years, so it’s obviously in need of modernization. We’ve decided to address this by moving our existing application to a new proprietary platform. DCSL GuideSmiths supports our development pipeline by handling client-facing solutions. Additionally, they work with our engineering team to take on other development-related challenges.
As our current development partner, DCSL GuideSmiths has taken over our technology architecture and built a more distributed and inclusive platform that we can operate on. They’re currently working on a proprietary cataloging tool for us, which we can use for our portfolio and inventory management.
What is the team composition?
Depending on the project phase and development task, we work with around 8–10 developers from their team.
How did you come to work with DCSL GuideSmiths?
DCSL GuideSmiths was referred to us by a consultant that we previously worked with.
What is the status of this engagement?
We kicked off our engagement with DCSL GuideSmiths in February 2018, and it’s ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
DCSL GuideSmiths has excellent team engagement and performance — they meet all our metrics without any issues. Each pipeline is well-managed and case-centric, so we always find it easy to track their performance, ranging from client activity to website revenue. Apart from those metrics, we also base our evaluation on the feedback of our internal staff, and we’ve heard nothing but great things about DCSL GuideSmith’s performance and work quality so far.
How did DCSL GuideSmiths perform from a project management standpoint?
DCSL GuideSmiths is always on top of their project management game — they’ve been exceptional in meeting tight deadlines and streamlining each project phase for our convenience. Their professionalism is one of the main reasons why we continue to invest more in their team.
What did you find most impressive about them?
DCSL GuideSmiths’ capacity to unfailingly deliver quality solutions definitely stands out. They’re a remarkable team of engineers and developers.
Are there any areas they could improve?
They're already a great team to work with — my only suggestion is for them to consider expanding their services.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Trust their team to deliver the result that your business needs. We get the best out of our engagement with DCSL GuideSmiths because we’ve seen their potential to make important technology-related decisions for us from the get-go and relied on that through and through.
the project
Backend CRM Dev for FinTech Company
"DCSL GuideSmiths strived to meet our particular engineering standards."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the director of software engineering at M-KOPA Solar, a fintech company.
What challenge were you trying to address with DCSL GuideSmiths?
We needed their team to develop a backend receiving system for us.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Our sales process was very mobile-driven since we work and sell our services in rural and urban Africa. Our in-house team needed DCSL GuideSmith’s assistance in maintaining our Android engineering. Their team specifically built a backend system of our CRM that allowed us to manage our customer registration flow by processing the requests we received through our Android app.
The system allowed our sales team to gather customer information and integrate that data into our Android flow, which was then validated by our server. Our team was responsible for ensuring that everything was in place and consistent before we collated it to place into our CRM.
What is the team composition?
We worked with about 6–7 people from DCL GuideSmiths, depending on the project phase being handled. Some of the team members in charge included three software engineers, an engineering lead, and a QA lead.
How did you come to work with DCSL GuideSmiths?
We were very particular with our requirements when we started looking for a development partner — we needed a team that could conform to the way our in-house software engineers built our CRM. DCSL GuideSmiths was a credible agency, and they had the right expertise and field knowledge we needed to implement our solutions accurately, so we were happy to go with their team.
How much have you invested with them?
We spent about $200,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
The project ran from September 2020–March 2021.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We were extremely happy with everything that DCSL GuideSmiths delivered. We always reviewed their lines of code along with our engineering and project management team to ensure that these were up to our software standards. Since we had this two-layered verification system, we were confident that everything their team produced met both our expectations and standards.
How did DCSL GuideSmiths perform from a project management standpoint?
We mainly used Microsoft Teams and phone calls to communicate with DCSL GuideSmiths, while we relied on Azure DevOps for project management. Their team followed an agile methodology, so we found it easy to check on their work and put together their deliverables.
DCSL GuideSmiths was a very responsive and collaborative team. Over the course of our partnership, we witnessed how hard they worked to meet our standards and pay more attention to delivering quality solutions to fit our model.
What did you find most impressive about them?
DCSL GuideSmiths strived to meet our particular engineering standards. While we expected their team to give us promising results, we didn’t actually anticipate that they’d provide these to us, along with an impressive sense of project management. In general, we were pleasantly surprised with that great concoction of engineering quality and a reliable engineering team.
Are there any areas they could improve?
At the beginning of our engagement, it took them a while to get comfortable with our team. They could try to refine their communication skills more to bridge that gap and avoid being nervous when collaborating with a team that shares the same expertise as theirs. In our case, it was quickly settled, and we worked harmoniously together later on.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
DCSL GuideSmiths is an easy company to work with. Apart from hiring their team, all you need to do is communicate your needs well and collaborate with an open mind.
the project
Online Presentation Platform for Financial Printing Firm
"Their project management was very organized, flexible, and proactive."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
Originally established 125 years ago, Black&Callow is one of the leading global financial printing and communications companies. It specialises in preparing and distributing documentation for investment banks all around the world that are seeking to attract investors for public market listings of large established companies, as well as mergers or acquisitions.
For what projects/services did your company hire DCSL GuideSmiths, and what were your goals?
To create these new hosted online services – which it has branded iRoadshow+ and IPO Research Online+ - Black&Callow initially adapted a third-party virtual data room service, which it paid for on a monthly subscription basis – incurring additional costs each time it wanted to update or add new features to the system. But following demand from a significant number of clients for a newer platform that was wholly-owned by Black&Callow, the company realised it needed to create its own software which it could mould and add to over time.
How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?
Black&Callow shortlisted three potential development partners, and interviewed two, choosing DCSL Software. “They ticked all of the boxes. The chemistry was there, the pricing was competitive, and DCSL’s track record and client case studies were very strong,” says Stephen Pusey, Sales Consultant to Black&Callow. The company was also attracted to DCSL’s agile, collaborative, sprint-based approach to development. “It meant we could see and be involved in what was being built, every step of the way.”
Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.
Black&Callow wanted to add new value for banks and their relationships with investors, enabling easy interaction, and saving busy investors valuable time. DCSL, a Microsoft Gold Partner, built brand new platforms using the latest web development technologies, including ASP.NET WebAPI, C#, SQL Server, .NET Core, Entity Framework Core, HTML5 and Vue.js, as well as OCR using Tesseract JS and Leaflet JS, all hosted in Azure. As part of its Agile development approach, and to accelerate development, DCSL also exploited the use of its in-house technology, ‘Waterloo’ - a suite of tools for developers to speed up the creation of functionality common to many software systems.
How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
There were 2 main contacts in the core team, Peter our solution architect and Glen our delivery director.
Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?
The new platform is robust, which is important as thousands of people could be viewing content at any one time. Navigating and interacting with the reports -the ability to add notes and questions, and quickly return to key sections - is a powerful time-saver. Mobile access, via smartphones and tablets, is supported too. Banks can invite potential investors to the iRoadshow portal with a limited-time code, giving them quick and efficient access to highlights of a new investment opportunity.
Via the IPO Research portal, serious would-be investors can use an interactive document viewer to go through presentations in real time with the bank, with the ability to highlight and add notes to sections of interest. For the investment banks, meanwhile, there is rich feedback about what investors are doing through the portals, helping determine genuine levels of interest and engagement at a ‘roadshow’/first-look stage so that teams know which investors to follow up with and can better focus their campaigns. Strategically, being in control of its online platforms offers Black&Callow new differentiation and we’re adding functions and features that banks have been asking for.
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.
Their project management was very organized, flexible, and proactive.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
We have been struck by DCSL’s professionalism, openness and flexibility. They’ve been incredibly accommodating and responsive. Working with them has been a great experience. We genuinely feel that they care, and that we’re in safe hands.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
None.
the project
Custom Software Dev & Testing for Healthcare Provider
"Their ability to deal with complex requirements really stood out."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the former CEO of an organization that provides support to people with cancer.
What challenge were you trying to address with DCSL Software?
We wanted to diversify development activity in providing our services.
What was the scope of their involvement?
The product is an API management suite that connects a wide range of suppliers. It needed to handle government data structures and services. They helped us build a generic infrastructure model. We did some initial prototyping to get a feel for the direction of the product and then started an agile methodology to deliver it, which included testing and acceptance stages.
The custom software they created manages infrastructure. We worked their deliverables through testing, acceptance, and implementation.
What is the team composition?
We worked with about ten people, including a principal architect, two Scrum Masters, and several developers.
How did you come to work with DCSL Software?
I reviewed possible vendors on Clutch and through other sources. After shortlisting five potential vendors, I interviewed three of them. DCSL Software was easily the strongest team I interviewed.
What is the status of this engagement?
I started the search for a provider in March 2020. We worked with them on the build of this project from August 2020–March 2021.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
The build was very specific, and they met all requirements. The software enables us to do business more simply. We’ve created an infrastructure that will allow our business to scale because they established the infrastructure in a generic way. We’ll be able to adjust their work to fit various situations as we move forward.
They had an impressive depth of skills as well as a clear development methodology and performance management model that was easy to work with.
How did DCSL Software perform from a project management standpoint?
They were a solid team that was easy to work with. We had regular meetings, where we shared problems and solved them together. We communicated and coordinated through Monday and DevOps.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Their ability to deal with complex requirements really stood out.
Are there any areas they could improve?
I struggle to find something for them to improve upon, but they could tighten up some of their administrative project management.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Be clear about what you want from the engagement and how you want to work with them.
the project
Custom Software Dev for Building Science Center
"DCSL is a down-to-earth team, and it’s easy to interact with them on a professional level."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
BRE Group is a building research establishment in the UK. I’m a startup validation lead at the group’s construction innovation hub.
What challenge were you trying to address with DCSL Software?
We were creating a digital tool to map the current standards in the UK for modern methods of construction, which helps to determine the appropriate standards for specific products.
What was the scope of their involvement?
DCSL developed a prototype in the Azure environment, in collaboration with myself and the product validation team. Sprint zero was defining our needs and requirements for the tool, after which they started development.
They provided deliverables at specific stages, covering 4–5 main functionalities of the tool. DCSL also designed the layout based on our branding guidelines. The last stage was the importation of the database, which was an Excel file we’d created.
What is the team composition?
We worked with roughly eight people from DCSL. Ben (Solution Architect) was our first contact, and Glen (Operations Manager) was our project manager. There were some changes afterward, and Kirstie (Project Manager) assumed the role of project manager. I worked with her on sprint planning, and I discussed technical aspects with Ben and his team. I met 5–6 of the developers, including Andrii (Technical Architect).
Ben left the company in late-December 2020, and his role was taken over by a new solution architect. I’ve been in close contact with him ever since, especially in the past month and a half.
How did you come to work with DCSL Software?
We’re a government-funded program, so we had a public tendering process to develop the tool. We got proposals from five companies, which we assessed based on a set of criteria and KPIs. DCSL provided the best value based on our evaluation, which was based only on technical aspects.
How much have you invested with them?
The project cost was around £130,000 (approximately $183,800 USD). That was the initial proposal, and we stayed under budget.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working with DCSL in August 2020, and the handover was in February 2020. Development took 4–5 months, and we finished on time.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We’ve achieved what we intended with this project. The tool is practical and user-friendly. DCSL's design makes it easy to access information. It’s a good representation of what we wanted as well.
How did DCSL Software perform from a project management standpoint?
We had very good communication throughout the engagement. We had 2–4 meetings per month, during which we went through progress and associated next steps.
Some items were left behind, but that was partly on our side. We didn’t chase them and found out later that we needed to address those topics again, which delayed things a bit. It was a good experience overall, though. They weren’t excellent in terms of project management, but they were okay. There were some changes to the scope and a lot of people involved, each covering a different topic. It came to a point where I didn’t know whom I should respond to, and I would’ve rather had just one point of contact.
We had a standard email approach to communication, and we used Sifter for issue tracking. The information was provided clearly, but there should’ve been a system for tracking of what was being done and what had been developed, instead of going through PDF files and lists. It would’ve made my life easier when searching for what information was still missing.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They’re quite approachable and highly technically-competent. The overall relationship was quite pleasant. Communication was open and frequent. DCSL is a down-to-earth team, and it’s easy to interact with them on a professional level.
Are there any areas they could improve?
I talked to Nick (CEO) about having a single point of contact, and about implementing a digital tool like Jira for tracking changes and pending items.
There was a transition from a solution architect, that was deeply involved in our project, to a new one at the very end of the project. The new architect understood everything very quickly, but he wasn’t aware of some topics that had already been addressed. Some things could’ve been done better on our side as well, such as providing information.
Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?
I’d tell them to go for it. DCSL is a dynamic, hardworking group, and they have highly-qualified professionals. I have no specific advice.
the project
Web App Development for Contract Procurement Company
“Whenever there was a problem, they helped us come up with a solution.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the head of product development for a company that produces standard procurement contracts for the construction industry. We work largely in the public sector, helping construction companies win contracts for projects like Olympic stadiums, roads, railroad stations, and large buildings. In doing so, the procurement process is run more efficiently and collaboratively.
What challenge were you trying to address with DCSL Software?
Before, our users received hard copies of our contracts and a form to help them describe what their project was. However, details were often lost and it wasn’t an efficient system. We wanted to provide a digital tool that would let them fill out the data form that they can share with contractors.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We went through a discovery phase at which point we were able to clearly define what we wanted to achieve. They built a cloud-based web app to help users fill out our contracts.
What is the team composition?
There are 4–5 people working on the project regularly. They each had different skills and were brought on to help us as we needed.
How did you come to work with DCSL Software?
We looked online for potential partners and created a shortlist of 4–5 different companies. We sent each of them a project scope and they tendered against it. We met with each company to discuss what we wanted and outlined our budget and timeline.
We selected DCSL Software because they had worked on a similar project and understood our background. When they came in to meet with us, we really liked their attitude and how they worked with clients. They were the perfect partner for us.
What is the status of this engagement?
The project began around April 2019 and we launched in October 2020.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
The product has only been live for a few weeks, but the feedback we’ve received has made it clear that it will make a big difference for our users.
How did DCSL Software perform from a project management standpoint?
They performed very well. They worked really well with our technical business analyst. They gave us all the information we needed in sprint meetings. We always knew what was happening, what issues they faced, and how they planned to resolve them. They also let us know if we might face a problem, which helped us manage challenges that came up. Finally, they were transparent about cost and when they would deliver.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They were committed to finishing the project. They had a great attitude and worked with us very collaboratively. Whenever there was a problem, they helped us come up with a solution.
Are there any areas they could improve?
They were great.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
I’d recommend new clients invest in an initial sprint zero. We did that and it helped everyone understand our business requirements. As a result, our costs and timeline were very clear and it was easy for us to prioritize.
the project
Software Development for Construction Materials Supplier
"From start to finish, DCSL delivers a tailored solution."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the managing director of a structural steel company. We wanted to build a platform so that customers could purchase steel online.
What challenge were you trying to address with DCSL Software?
DCSL built out our online platform.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We started with a framework, overlooking views of how the software would look and work. From there, DCSL moved on to actually starting the project, a process that included about five stages. We’ve worked through each phase, building up the software to where it is now. DCSL is currently still working on software.
What is the team composition?
We worked with about 10 members of their team, with about two or three consistent people.
How did you come to work with DCSL Software?
I was referred to DCSL through a friend of mine who’s also having software built by them. We spoke about the requirements, and we found their approach to be quite professional. They were the right people for the job: they’re knowledgeable, experienced, and confident.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent £130,000 (approximately $168,000 USD) to date.
What is the status of this engagement?
The project began in November 2019, and is still ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
It’s still too early to be able to provide metrics, but generally, the people we’ve directed to use the platform really like the way it works. The site is simple to use, and we’re confident that we’ll see great results down the line.
How did DCSL Software perform from a project management standpoint?
Their project management is good. Our project manager oversees two or three developers on the project. We have weekly calls with updates on how things are going, as well as constant releases so we could test the system and how it was performing. We were informed all the way through.
We used emails and phone calls to stay in touch.
What did you find most impressive about them?
From start to finish, DCSL delivers a tailored solution. Throughout the project, they’ve made sure to make us feel involved and comfortable. They’re a team of really experienced developers. They’re local to us as well, which is nice, because we can stop by and talk to them if we have any issues.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, we were very happy with everything. In my experience, everything was fine. They’ve done a top job.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
There are a lot of software companies out there, but DCSL is a team of reliable people who will do what they say and produce a good quality product. Give them a try.
By adapting to the client’s specific tech stack and approach, DCSL GuideSmiths has integrated well with internal teams, effectively helping them complete projects on time. They’ve provided necessary support and resources, flexibly pivoted with the client, and upheld a straightforward partnership.