Empeek

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and COO of a healthcare company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Empeek?

We engaged Empeek to build a piece of custom IoT-based healthcare software from scratch.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In the beginning, we had three Zoom meetings in which they asked us a series of questions to get a sense of what we wanted and how we wanted the product's functionality to work. Those calls continued for a number of months both prior to the commencement of the build and during the development phase. During this discovery process, I was able to get a sense of what the product was going to cost and what the outlay of work was going to look like down to a fraction of an hour. 

Empeek also did design work, producing every user-facing element of the product. They gave a series of options from which I picked the one I liked.

At present, we’re still working together on maintenance. They work on small updates we want to implement. They’ve also created an app for the product, and we’re in the final stages of deploying it. It’s a mobile app designed for iOS and Android devices. It has similar functionality to the product except it’s more mobile- and patient-friendly; it’s also more focused on displaying data.

What is the team composition?

A project manager serves as my main point of contact for everything. Empeek uses a pretty good number of programmers with different areas of specialization, but I have a single point of contact — this is my preferred way of doing things. 

What is the status of this engagement?

I began working with Empeek in January 2021, and the engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The product has been built from scratch and connected to thousands of medical devices, and there isn’t a single glitch or problem with it — it’s been a flawless implementation without a single bug. 

We’ve taken it to market and put our staff on it, and it works. This is unheard of, especially when it comes to custom software development. Overall, Empeek is a truly capable group of people.

How did Empeek perform from a project management standpoint?

Empeek has met every deadline and budget requirement. To communicate, we mainly use email and Zoom. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their work ethic and availability are impressive. Once given approval, Empeek can crank out high-quality work quickly. We see tangible results, and the team is great at managing themselves and meeting deadlines while making sure the work is done to specification and budget. 

In addition, their discovery process is thorough; ultimately, their estimated cost has been in line with our actual expense. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. I wouldn’t work with anyone else. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Using anyone domestic instead of Empeek would be impractical. This team works extremely hard, their product is extremely high-end, and their implementation is flawless. They undercut any domestic software developers by a pretty substantial margin. To get the same software done in the US would cost around half a million dollars.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of a healthcare technology company based in Boston, Massachusetts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Empeek?

We needed a software development partner that could help with two things. The first was to design our flagship product's architecture, and the second was to develop and test the software.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They have designed and developed the software from scratch using Figma and React for the mobile design and .NET for our tech stack. The application is compatible with iOS and Android, and they are hosting and maintaining the site on AWS.

What is the team composition?

We work with around six people, including a software designer, a mobile iOS developer, a backend developer, a tester, and a business analyst. 

How did you come to work with Empeek?

I connected with a CTO on Upwork, who referred me to Empeek.

What is the status of this engagement?

The partnership began in June 2021 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They effectively address the requirements. The design specifications and functionality satisfy our and our flagship customer’s needs. They have designed the product to be extensible, with a solid base and architectural backend to allow for product implementation and design scaling. Also, the product hasn’t been buggy at all, so we can support it without difficulty.

How did Empeek perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management has been excellent, and I have no complaints. They stay on time and on budget, and they work well together. They are responsive communicators, even making themselves available at odd hours as necessary. We use Confluence and Jira to oversee the project, as well as Google Meet and Skype to maintain consistent communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I am most impressed with the high quality of design and development, which is really important to us. 

Sometimes, when working with an outsourced firm at the MVP stage, the code must be thrown out, or you must redesign and develop it with another company or internal staff. This is not the case with Empeek; we do not need to throw out the code or switch to domestic staff and continue to work with them directly. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything they could improve on. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Spending time doing the business analysis and designing the project is essential. Focus on those areas initially and then go into software development.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm an advisor to the company (S-FX) and was asked to assist with a strategic overview of the current, and future technical requirements and infrastructure.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Empeek?

Following the departure of S-FX's CTO, I recommended we perform a full AWS audit of the development and production environments, compile a risk report, and address any deficiencies.

SOLUTION

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

We put out an add on Upwork

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

The project was - in principle - simple:

Audit AWS environment for

- Cost optimisation

- Security

- Performance and scalability potential

- Completed documentation

- Regulatory compliance

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

We had made use of two resources. One was a senior DevOps, and the second an Intermediate level DevOps engineer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

All my requirements were met. The team worked well with the company's developers and DevOps. Documentation, feedback and problem resolution was done professionally, and on time.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Worflow was very efficient. Once I've given my expected outcomes, the project was driven and tracked by Empeek.

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

Their competence surpassed the level of their professionalism. 

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

No

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of EdTech Foundry, an education technology company. We develop a chat environment for students, especially first-year students, with the aim to give them a safe place to meet up and get connected with other students to help with the social aspect of getting started at the university. We have a social chatbot that helps facilitate conversation and have ice-breaking games in place.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Empeek?

We had some personal changes in our resources and were in the need of further maintenance. Additionally, we wanted to add new features to our mobile apps. I added all the stuff to the desktop application, but I needed someone to replicate that on mobile and make it a feature parity.  

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We gave Empeek the source code of the application and had them replicate what was on the desktop version into React Native to be available for iOS and Android. They initially started with just adding a few features to our mobile app.

They’ve since taken over the entire development for the mobile and desktop versions. I provide wireframes and we have conversations to make sure they understand what I want.

What is the team composition?

I collaborated with three developers, two project managers, and two business executive management people from Empeek. They also have QA people that are sometimes involved and coders who do peer review to make sure the code quality is good.

How did you come to work with Empeek?

We looked on Upwork and found a few candidates including Empeek. The conversation with them was the most professional and most straightforward. They were also the most reasonable in terms of what they were promising for the cost. We eventually moved away from working with them through Upwork.

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested €4,000–€5,000 euros per month (approximately $5,000–$6,000 USD)

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2020 and it's ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They developed what they promised and they’re always on time. Empeek is flexible when we need new arrangements or need help with another project. They were able to come up with resources within a reasonable amount of time.

Since they didn’t design the product, product KPIs would be unfair to give for them because they replicated our previous work. They developed features like we wanted them to do and the application has been very stable. When it comes to their professionalism, I have no complaints. 

How did Empeek perform from a project management standpoint?

I do most of the project management myself. The project manager on their side could do much more but I don’t need it. I’m a software developer myself and can talk in tech directly to the developers and advise them. They always have an open ear.

I asked them to report every two weeks about the current budget and they’re always on time with that as well. If there are any problems, they communicate them with us. Our teams use Slack to communicate and Jira and Notion to manage the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality is as expected. One thing that stands out about Empeek is they’re not arrogant. Being good often comes with arrogance and attitudes. None of the people I’ve worked with are like that. Empeek's team is always nice and friendly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I suggested that there should be a process in place where there are still code reviews and planning meetings where multiple developers can collaborate, instead of one person deciding on everything. We discussed this, found a process, and are adapting to it.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear about what you need, how long you need it, and the type of relationship you’re looking for with them. Empeek works on a per monthly basis, so you’re renting your resources.

There’s a possibility that QA and project management are just a few hours and you can potentially even ask for a part-time developer. Usually, the ideal scenario is not just five hours per week of development.

They’re looking for longer-term projects. When you go into the project with them, you need to have a certain amount of workload that needs to be done in order to have a fruitful engagement. That’s a general suggestion for working with anyone.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and founder of a telehealth consulting services company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Empeek?

We were building an MVP that will eventually serve as a full personal health record (PHR) solutions platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They implemented frontend designs, which are generally static pages with animation. We also had them work on our counselor listing page, connecting that with the electronic health record software. They were key in making those resources live together a bit more effectively. The final solution is a web application, but we’ll be working toward creating a mobile app as well.  

What is the team composition?

There were two supporting developers and one senior developer on the team.

How did you come to work with Empeek?

I found them on Upwork. We followed a very thorough interview process and found that they had strong experience and communication skills. I felt very comfortable working with them.   

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $12,000 on the first phase.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We started with them in January 2021. The first phase has wrapped up, but we’ll be moving into more phases together soon.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of their work was excellent. They’re a very smart, informed company that understands how to create a functionally-sound platform. They provide accurate cost estimates and timelines, which is very helpful as well. I enjoyed working with them. 

How did Empeek perform from a project management standpoint?

They were responsive and easy to get in touch with. We communicated through phone calls, email, and Skype. They were excellent communicators.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their adherence to budget and time was very impressive. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, it was a pleasure to work with them.  

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very clear about your project goals. That can be difficult in situations like ours; I was hiring a technical team as a non-technical person. It’s important to learn enough about the technical requirements and processes as possible, so you can clearly communicate goals to them. Otherwise, you can’t expect their team to figure it out for you.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the COO of the IT Managed Services Provider, Server@Work. For the iPQF project, I served as internal project manager to coordinate client subject manager experts and project scoping. I worked closely with Empeek project management to execute the vision of our shared clients web application need.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Empeek was hired as our contract software development company. Empeek has an expertise in complex projects and understanding the intricacies of new industries. The project we worked on was light on initial scope but Empeek brought project management and resources to the discovery and scoping process to help bring an excellent product to the market.

SOLUTION

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

Empeek was selected because of their experience with Microsoft Azure application deployment as well as their diverse development resources capable of working with multiple programming languages and technologies.

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

Empeek assisted during the scoping process by interviewing our subject matter experts to help create a comprehensive scope of work document. They then worked closely with our internal project manager to create attainable milestones and for a quick initial deployment of a base system which we were able to quickly begin testing and expanding scope.

Empeek helped manage the project with frequent meetings, project management resources, and a personable project manager who was eager to bring new ideas to the table.

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

During our peak development, Empeek used ten resources on our project. In addition to the project manager, we also had a quality control person, a tester, and a combination of seven front-end and back-end developers.

Additional resources were brought in for special needs during the project. This spanned several months. Empeek was able to scale up the project team from a small initial proof of concept crew to full development with no letup in attention to detail or communication.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The resulting project was a new client-facing management system that is replacing a ten year-old legacy application. The new system will allow our client to continue a valuable line of service with their clients and provide them with a competitive edge by leveraging the latest in application features and security measures.

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

We met with our project manager a couple of times a week throughout the project. This was generally over Gotomeeting as well as Microsoft Teams. We also traded email throughout the day for quick answers. We used Google Docs and storage for a common documentation repository.

This was highly effective for collaboration and to maintain a single source of all project documentation. Source code was managed in Bitbucket. Empeek has their own project management and billing system which tracks all work items and time. This system was used for billing and I had access to the project and time management at all times.

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

Empeek operates with great honesty and integrity. While they are eager to bring the clients vision to fruition, they are quick to point out obstacles and impacts upon cost or development time. The quality of the code output was exception with few bugs or issues found during our internal user testing.

The testing was very organized and issue tracking was efficient. We often found that reported bugs were fixed within minutes. Empeek management and project management is very engaged with client projects.

As our main point of contact, the project manager was exceptional at communicating and bringing creative problem solving to overcome workflow and development obstacles.

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

I will continue to use Empeek as my development company of choice. I can think of nothing about them that I would change.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company is a startup providing digital health solutions for patients with chronic conditions, especially those who may suffer from visual and cognitive challenges. I serve as the CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Empeek?

Empeek was hired to build on and improve upon an existing mobile app prototype designed to enhance medication safety and adherence among certain patient population groups. The team also created a separate mobile app as testing platform for one of the application's modules.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to create prototypes that could be tested amongst our selected test groups.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Much time was spent reviewing candidates both locally and internationally through online matching services. Empeek proved to have relevant experience with a core group of developers that matched our needs, and showed very good communication and effort from early stages onward.

Describe the project in detail.

Full application development in React Native, including page development, integration of back end services and APIs, implementation of limited voice interaction, database connectivity, integration of a 3D animated character intro, scheduling functionality, numerous iterations, and preparation for -- and submission to -- Google Play for publishing.

What was the team composition?

Initial communication with business development manager, and day-to-day communication with a dedicated project manager, and 1-2 developers at any given time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We outlined a list of criteria for completing "phase 1" of our project, compared that project list to completed items, and all were completed. We also added additional specifications and an applet, which were completed within or close to the budgeted amounts.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Workflow is very good. Our day-to-day project manager was very responsive.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their communication and responsiveness were impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement?

App versions sometimes had bugs or other needed fixes that slowed development on occasion and added some cost, but these were typically corrected within 24 hours.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the COO of a full-service market research company, based in Toronto.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Empeek?

We needed a software application for drawing large scale samples.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built an application from scratch for automating our back-office processes, using the Firebase platform.

What is the team composition?

We had a project manager and 2-3 developers in the background.

How did you come to work with Empeek?

Empeek was referred to us by another Toronto based company, who had worked with them several times before. While we were considering several other firms, we chose them based on their reliability, speed, and cost-effectiveness. We knew their previous track record was good, so that was a strong motivator.

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested $10,000 – $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in July 2019 and wrapped up in August 2019. They completed the work ahead of schedule.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They were on a budget, and the app was delivered in a timely fashion. In terms of usage, the application's interface was clean, extremely user-friendly, and very fast. They delivered on all of our performance metrics. As with any software, there were bugs, but they resolved them very quickly.

How did Empeek perform from a project management standpoint?

They provided an effective project management tool that we used. In terms of communication, their response time was extremely fast.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We found the quality of the interface, lack of bugs, and speed of the solution to be quite impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, things were a-ok.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a director at Praxis Cloud Solutions Limited, a financial software company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was the scope of their involvement?

Empeek provides IT development services. We do the business analysis and requirements gathering, and then we pass that onto Empeek. They develop cloud-based and mobile-enabled software using ASP.net, C#, and SQL server. We’re looking at working with Empeek in the areas of machine learning and Enterprise Modular Library (EML) as well. 

What is the team composition?

We work with seven full-time team members; over the years, we’ve worked with 12–14 people.

How did you come to work with Empeek?

I found Empeek on Upwork four years ago, and I hired them to do a six-week project. They did a good job. My client was happy with me and wanted more work, so I continued my engagement with Empeek.

How much have you invested with them?

My company has spent $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

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

SOLUTION

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

They continue doing a good job. Every month, we review whether there’s a better approach to what we’re working on, and they usually come up with one. I don’t need to worry about software development; I give them the requirements, and it just happens. They freed me up to grow my business.

How did Empeek perform from a project management standpoint?

We use their internal tool, and it’s working well. They’re not native English speakers. Sometimes there’s a spelling mistake in the spec, and then the mistake comes out in the software. However, we pick it up in testing and fix it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They do everything very well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’m happy with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the product manager for a tech startup. We're developing a white label platform for marketplaces to line up buyers with delivery people.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Empeek?

We needed a good development firm. We had all our requirements laid out, but we needed someone to build our platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They came up with good solutions and were proactive with new features and ways to use the platform. We had specifications, but they were very good at suggesting alternatives that would function properly. They used .NET, React, Ubuntu Core, and Linux to build the product.

What is the team composition?

We had a project manager and a team of five or six.

How did you come to work with Empeek?

Communication was always very good, and the price was good. I knew from the beginning that they were a good firm. They understood the project and had useful recommendations from the very beginning.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent roughly $50,000 USD.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2018. The project is complete, but we have a second phase planned. If we need to outsource more development work, we will probably use them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They built a product we're very happy with, but we still need to do market testing to see how well the business model will work. We don't have any usage metrics or other data to support the results, but they developed very good deliverables.

How did Empeek perform from a project management standpoint?

They have an in-house bug tracker that they could improve. I've made some suggestions on that. The project manager was very fastidious and meticulous, and communication was very good.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were honest about hours and the volume of work. The most important thing in this collaboration was communication, and the code is very well organized. As we take it over, I'm glad the layout is intuitive. It makes learning new systems much easier for me.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't have any areas of improvement for them, aside from the tracker I've already mentioned.