Elixirator

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of a technology consulting company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Elixirator?

We were working with one of our clients, a bakery, to develop a digital system for taking orders. They were working with an order book, but it was hard when they were getting a lot of orders and they lost a lot of time.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They programmed the inventory and order management system according to the customer’s specifications. They used Node.js and Postgres for the front- and backend of the application. 

The application allows our client to input future orders from their customers. Each day, the app generates a list of orders to go out that day. There’s also integration with an online ordering system. The client can go to one system to get all the orders; the ones they created themselves and the ones that come from customers online.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager, a frontend developer, a backend developer, and the owner. The project manager helped me with creating invoices and billing information for our client. 

How did you come to work with Elixirator?

I worked with them on another project several years ago. It was a no-brainer to choose them again.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around €12,000 (approximately $12,835).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2019, and we wrapped up the project in January 2020.

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

The customer is really happy with the results. It saves them a lot of time and money.

How did Elixirator perform from a project management standpoint?

It was a good collaboration between the two companies. We primarily communicated via Slack. When there were issues or questions from the customer, I brought them to the project manager and they gave me the answers I needed.

I believe they used Trello to track the project. We had biweekly meetings with the customer to provide progress updates, and then our internal team communicated with Elixirator if there were any changes that needed to be made.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I found their direct communication to be most impressive. If I had a question about anything, they could quickly give me an answer. If they didn’t have an answer, they would get in touch with the developer or someone else who would be able to provide an answer.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I really liked how they worked. The company is small, but their team is extremely capable.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the manager of Earth, a solar company based in Belgium. People can rent solar panels from us.

What challenge were you trying to address with Elixirator?

Digitalization is extremely important for us. We partially developed our own sales tool and CRM but needed additional help. It’s a crucial part of our business because it allows us to maximize the number of customers we can handle with our internal team.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team started from our code base, taking out a lot of bugs and improving security. They moved everything from Blaze to React.

Within our partnership, I can request new features or report bugs, and they immediately have it in a priority list. They ask questions on how they should take care of it.

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact is Yuri (Project Manager). There’s also a remote developer.

How did you come to work with Elixirator?

We were searching for options for whether to hire our own developers or an offshore company. We wanted someone who could easily communicate with our team in the business sense. Elixirator was recommended by a colleague of mine who had already worked with them.

I had a phone call with Artem (Head of Projects and Operations). We immediately felt that it was a good match for both of us.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement with Elixirator started in October 2019.

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

The team at Elixirator brought our systems to the next level. They made it ready for a large number of people to use the platform. We can have 5,000 proposal requests, and it won’t crash. Generating PDFS also goes faster than before.

Our main success has been with a decrease in bugs. In the past, everything was falling apart, and we couldn’t use the software. Now, everyone is happy with the software.

In the future, if we have multiple developers working on it and something breaks down within the code, we will immediately know what’s happening. That’s a big value that their team brought.

We plan to expand our collaboration with additional programmers so we can split their work between the sales tool and CRM. Perhaps in the very far future, we’ll have a third system.

How did Elixirator perform from a project management standpoint?

Whenever there is a problem, I can go to Yuri. We set up weekly calls to give work updates. We use Slack, Google Hangouts, and Google Meetup. Sometimes we use Google Sheets for documentations. That allows us all to see different edits. We sometimes use an old-fashioned Word document or Excel file.

The developer has excellent communication skills, thinking along with our business. The entire team is open and transparent, making it a positive collaboration. If there’s a feature that we need in a short time, they put extra manpower on it and will work evenings and weekends.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication is excellent. Their team makes an effort to understand our business, what we do, our services, and how our operational flow works. If we ask for a feature, they think alongside us, putting in the extra effort to turn it around quickly. They will counter and ask the right questions to get the best feature.

Along with being hardworkers, the team at Elixirator is young and dynamic.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If I had to search for something, I’d say that they could try to understand the business a bit faster at the beginning of an engagement.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an IT manager and board member at an energy broker. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Elixirator?

We wanted to develop an IT platform to fit our company’s needs.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve developed several customized software solutions for us, including a CRM and a tool for our cold calling agents. They developed the front- and backend for these products and do the hosting. They initially used Ruby and JavaScript, but are now moving towards Elixir. 

What is the team composition?

My primary points of contact are Vladimir (Developer, Elixirator) and Artem (Head of Projects & Operations, Elixirator). There’s an additional 10-12 teammates that have worked on our account. 

How did you come to work with Elixirator? 

We connected with one of the individual developers on UpWork before Elixirator was founded. Once Elixirator came into being, they absorbed our project. Their company continued to grow throughout our engagement.  

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $500,000, or more. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in mid-2015, and our engagement is ongoing.

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

We had two audits performed by external companies and we were satisfied with those results. Their software solutions have made our business processes more efficient. 

How did Elixirator perform from a project management standpoint?

They have good project management skills. We have designated project managers and can easily communicate with their team via Slack.   

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re more than a customer, we’ve developed a strong personal relationship. They treat our company as if it is their own. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, because they always take time for feedback and to ask questions. They’re very proactive in addressing potential pitfalls. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise them to work with Elixirator if you want quality work and to build a long-term relationship with your vendor.