Deepsea Developments

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Development Engineer in a Research&Development company embarking on commercialization of smart glass products based on electrochromic technology. These are used for energy savings in windows for applications in residential, commercial buildings, etc.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

DSD has been our electronics and app developers. We gave them our requirements on what we needed a custom power supply and controller to do and how we needed this to pair to a mobile application for communication with it. They designed and manufactured the full pcb, developed the firmware for it and designed and released the mobile app to go with it.

SOLUTION

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

We did an online search, we interviewed with two or three developers and decided this company was the most invested, they seemed to understand what we needed and capable of delivering while still working with our budget.

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

We gave DSD a detailed description of what we needed the controller to do. We met several times to discuss the details of flow diagrams to ensure both parties were on the same page on every step. We worked together by testing the controller they made with some characterization on both sides testing several versions of firmware until the desired functionalities were all in place. We also tested the different versions of the mobile app and made sure both were communicating properly to control our product as needed.

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

We spoke to the project manager, the programmer for the firmware, app developer, and other people involved.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The controllers and app have been used to showcase our product to different investors and for press releases. The reaction to having a modern way of controlling our smart glass remotely is always very well taken.

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

We had several forms of communication including a chat where all relevant employees were available so that if I had any questions or concerns, I could send a message to all and the right person could reply to it within minutes or at least the same day.

They also send weekly reports with updates on progress made or bottlenecks faced. Delivery dates had to be pushed a couple of times due to required iterations as expected in any new development, but in general they deliver within a couple weeks of expected or projected times.

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

Their availability is remarkable; there is always someone there to reply to our questions and that is always appreciated as ideas and concerns can come up at any time during a development such as this.

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

The project ended up costing more than what had been estimated as more work had to go into the development than what they initially thought. The good thing is they did work to come up with a good compromise that would work for both parties to account for this.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My name is Gabriel and I lead the team of data science in the innovation team of Celsia. Celsia is one of the largest generators and retailers of energy here in Colombia, and we also operate in Panama, Costa Rica, and Honduras.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Deepsea Developments?

We are in the innovation team, so what we do here is put our technologies on these models in order to see the feasibility of new streams of revenue for the company. One of the areas we were working on was the IoT arena on how we can connect devices to the cloud through the data, to try to answer or offer new services to our clients. 

In that sense, we started looking for companies that were really good at hardware designs and also connecting devices to the cloud — that's how we ended up working with Deepsea Development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They started by hearing out what we wanted to do. They then came up with some options, like we can do the project by using these methodologies, and then we chose one. On Jira, they did a prototype where if it worked, we went ahead and started developing more — and if it didn’t work, we go do the next one. In that methodology, we really liked the way we were accomplishing things.

We worked in three different segments. One of them was electric transportation, and another one was a tracker device for the vehicles. We were able to monitor the electric variables of the vehicles in real-time, as we wanted to know the voltage, the current, and the power that was used in an electric vehicle every time it was driven. We connect a device to the computer of the vehicle and it sends out the data to us — they helped us develop that device to be able to do that.

As for tools and systems, they did use a lot of Arduino, and we also used Raspberry Pi in terms of hardware — the technologies that I’ve described weren’t exactly in the tracker products, but in our drives.

What is the team composition?

I've worked with around 7–8 people from their team. Usually, they have a project owner or manager and a couple of developers for the projects. They are also very flexible whereby if we need more people, let's say a developer in two weeks to help us out with something, they can find somebody and bring them onto the project.

How did you come to work with Deepsea Developments?

We've worked with them for the last 2–3 years. We were attracted by their talent since the beginning, and the people that are working there are really good at what they do. In terms of the speed of their work, they have this rapidness of prototyping devices, so in just two weeks, we already had a prototype that we were able to test out — we really liked that.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent somewhere between $80,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in the second half of 2018, around July. The partnership is still ongoing as we still have some projects with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've done about seven projects with them, and only one of them didn't bring the results that we wanted. Other than that, everything has worked pretty well, and we're now getting into this new phase of working in the operations space. They have been patient with us in terms of developing and prototyping, and we’re just, at this moment, jumping into the operations, so we'll see how we go with their technology.

How did Deepsea Developments perform from a project management standpoint?

In the beginning, they were pretty all over the place. I mean, they got the results, but I think they have some opportunities to be more organized. However, they've been adjusting their processes internally throughout the years and projects. Right now, they're very organized in terms of project management, delivery, and documentation.

One of the things that I had a problem with them is that they were pretty good at developing the things, but they weren’t so keen on documenting — they're getting better at doing both.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Prototyping, they did that really well. I threw them an idea of what I want the device to be and in two weeks, they had something that did exactly what I wanted.

Are there any areas they could improve?

In terms of operations, they've got to move the capabilities of prototyping more into the operations side. As of now, we're able to support a scale operation of their devices. They're managing to do it now, but as I was telling you, we're just starting to realize how that works, but that could be their main challenge nowadays.

Any advice for potential customers?

I would advise you to be very engaged with them throughout the project. Not to be like, okay, these are my requirements, you go do that and come back with the results — it doesn't work that way. 

I prefer to have periodical meetings and checkups on how the development is going, or if it is going where I want it to go. If somebody hires them now, I would advise them to work with them and not just give them some requirements and wait for the results.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder of a retail product company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We wanted to develop a mobile app for our users. The app will control our physical product through a Bluetooth connection. The app can also operate independently from the physical product to provide a flexible user experience.

SOLUTION

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

We searched online for app developers. DeepSea was recommended by a partner product development company.

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

Within weeks of being tasked with the development, mock-ups of the app screens were delivered. Several rounds of revision followed with updates provided on a daily basis. The app implementation is still in progress.

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

There is a project manager assigned. I also have interacted with several technical leads who have sought my opinions and also provided feedback as the project progressed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

App is still in development.

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

Meetings have typically been held via videoconference. I have been regularly provided status updates.

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

The experience of doing the mock-up for the app was very good. They were quick to make alterations when asked. Implemented parts of the app have also been good.

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

I'm happy with the progress thus far. The app development is ongoing.