Existek

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Initial Force is producing various software and sports hardware for golfer and baseball players. We have applied a number of technologies as part of our brands: Swing Catalyst, Swing Catalyst Baseball and Motion Catalyst.

All of the products form a unified ecosystem to train athletes all around the world. It includes different software solutions, sensors plates, cameras, ball/club tracking, and other accessories. I’m Stein J. Gran, CTO at Initial Force.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Existek?

We are always interested in providing value for our customers and meeting customer needs.

We wanted to expand our ecosystem with two mobile apps based on customer requests. Mobile app development enables a fast and seamless experience, better engagement with customers and good accessibility.

We were looking for a professional team of app developers that would create software for both iOS and Android platforms

What were your goals for this project?

The main goal was to create a camera-based app which integrated with our cloud services and desktop application.The developers we hired had to implement apps which offered the core functionality we wanted as well as come up with additional functionality based on customer feedback.

The main project purpose is to establish direct communication between golfers and instructors that are not limited by place and time. Mobile apps was the best solution to go with

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Initial Force has already had a WPF developer from Existek and were really satisfied with the results of this developer. We also knew that they had app developers, so when the app project was defined we contacted Existek to inquire about the availability of experienced app developers.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The hired developers were involved in the entire mobile development process. As our apps are video apps, efficient handling of video encoding and high framerates was essential.

The tech stack we agreed on consists of Kotlin (Android development), Swift (iOS development), FFmpeg, and Google Service APIs. The app developers were used to these technologies, and were therefore productive and constructive in using the full extent of the chosen tech stack.

What was the team composition?

To meet the project needs, we decided on a team of three people: one iOS developer, one Android developer, and a project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Our business offers a full ecosystem for golfers and instructors. Accessibility is one of the main product purposes. Customers can now record and review their progress via mobile devices. Moreover, it is easily integrated with the rest of our products.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

There was a project manager on-site with the app developers, and this worked out really well. We communicated with the project manager, which communicated with the app developers as necessary.

We could also talk directly with the app developers if there was a need for that, so overall a very flexible and practical approach to project management in this project

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They had several suggestions for good improvements in our products, and their employees have a good work ethic.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nothing that I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Initial Force specializes in sports performance software, technology, sensors and biomechanics under the Swing Catalyst brand for golf instructors and golfers. We also provide software for baseball and skijump athletes. The company was founded in 2006 in Trondheim (Norway). We are delivering user-friendly analytics tools that make up a comprehensive training ecosystem including hardware and software. Our customers are well-known tour players like Justin Rose, Ian Poulter, Suzann Pettersen, Matt Kuchar, and coaches - Cameron McCormick, Sean Foley, Chris Como, Chuck Cook, Mike Adams, Tony Ruggiero, Jonathan Yarwood. The review is submitted by Stein J. Gran, CTO at Initial Force.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Existek?

As our customer base was increasing, we were in need of a desktop developer that would be involved in our product development in close cooperation with our on-site development team. We had basic but rigid requirements. We looked for someone who would be proficient in technical aspects, open for cooperation and committed to the job.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to further improve the user-friendliness and user interface of our desktop application, and the focus of the job is therefore to polish the user interface so we are sure to meet our users expectations when it comes to ease of use and great design in or software. In addition, we needed more resources for maintenance and implementation of new feastures in our software.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We were referred to Existek by a consulting company we have worked with earlier, and this worked out well.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We are working on creating software for sports athletes, in sports like golf, baseball and skijump. Currently, Initial Force can offer a software package which includes support for sensor plates, ball/club tracking, cameras, and other accessories. At that time, we looked for a remote desktop developer that would be familiar with WPF, C#, .NET, and Win32, and could become a member of our team. The project included feature development, integration of new ideas, fast delivery, bug fixing, and lots of research and insights.

What was the team composition?

Existek has assigned one full-time desktop developer to meet the project needs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We have increased our development bandwidth when it comes to implementing new features and changing existing features in our software, as well as finding innovative solutions. We are satisfied with the services Existek have provided for us on a regular basis.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project management is arranged on our side, the developer from Exitek takes part in our agile software development process as a team member. The developer from Existek was clearly used to this way of working, so minimal training was necessary.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are flexible, and are able to allocate extra developes to us if we have an immediate need. Short decision processes are also a big plus.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We have worked with Existek in delivering constant improvements to our products, and they have been a valuable asset in this regard, proving to be flexible and pleasant to work with. We cannot think of anything immediate to improve on for Existek.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the chief digital strategist for a small consulting company that helps customers achieve their goals on the way to digital transformation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Existek?

A customer of ours requested the development of a custom enterprise resource planning (ERP) and CRM system for their sales department.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to create mobile versions of the CRM and ERP system and integrate them in a single unified database that can be accessed by all employees using any device.

SOLUTION

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Existek developed mobile apps for the field agents, which duplicate the existing CRM’s functionality using the same database. They put a team together within three weeks and started the development using an agile methodology.

What was the team composition?

They assigned a business analyst, a data engineer, a backend engineer, two iOS developers, two Android developers, and a project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The project was completed on a tight schedule and didn’t exceed our budget. The pharmaceutical industry was relatively new for Existek when we started the collaboration. Their business unit significantly improved their understanding and expertise in this industry during the engagement.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Communication was excellent. We also managed to transfer a lot of industry knowledge to them. Existek is one of the rare providers that can transform a pure idea that started on a napkin into a customized software that meets all needs. Their technical and business expertise allowed them to come up with suggestions that added significant value to the final results.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The most remarkable thing about Existek is that they're capable of delivering the most advanced functionality as requested and adapt to their customer's demands quickly.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

There’s always room for improvement, but in this case, we started off with a small scope and managed to complete the project smoothly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a technology company located in Norway. We create accessibility tools related to assistive technology, specifically software for people with reading and writing difficulties. I am a product manager for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Existek?

Some years ago, we were having difficulties supporting our applications and started looking for specific APIs for this purpose.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Existek developed our solution based on our specifications. We initially assigned them a text-scrubbing component to develop. It went well, so we've given them the full scope of the Windows application in all its details. They have also worked on the mercantile side of things, like order and license handling. That is a web-based solution running on ASP.NET.

Existek has been working with us for a long time, so they've come to know our solution well. They can make suggestions and improve our specifications. Sometimes we listen to them, and sometimes, we don't.

We have been working with a full-time team of three people from Existek for the last few years.

How did you come to work with Existek?

I looked at companies in Romania, India, and China, but never found a satisfactory option, either because of too much staff turnover or because the collaboration simply didn't work well. We found Existek in Ukraine, approached them and gave them a task to which they responded amazingly well.

How much have you invested with Existek?

The cost of Existek's work has been around $100,000 per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Existek in 2009. 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?

We have become the number-one solution of our kind in the field. Assistive technology is a different kind of animal, and it requires much more integration than normal. I rate Existek on their ability to provide this, but it's a hard stat to quantify. We've had a new major release recently, and we are pleased with the results.

We have done market studies among customers and those who recommend our product to customers. Nine out of ten people would recommend our solution over that of the competition.

How did Existek perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication is one of our more difficult parts since we are using a single manager to convey our requirements to the rest of the team. We need to be clear and ensure that there is a good understanding of what we want. Deadlines are always adhered to. We use GitHub, JIRA, Bitbucket, and other tools of this kind.

What did you find most impressive about Existek?

Existek is a very honest and credible team. They are people I would always trust, and I am completely confident that they would do everything possible to fix any potential mistakes in the work.

Are there any areas Existek could improve?

I would have liked it if some of Existek's developers had better English skills. The most difficult thing has been communication, but our main contact is fluent and can translate our requirements to the rest of the team. Some of the product and project management issues have also been due to our side. Existek could gain more knowledge on methodologies for this area, but this is also true for us.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and CEO of a company that provides consulting and development services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Existek?

I was the main developer, and I needed more developing resources.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I already had previous experience working with Existek, so I started the engagement by working with one of their developers. I’ve added more resources as my business continued to grow. Right now, I have four full-time developers from Existek. They are providing several kinds of development, mostly for custom-tailored web solutions. They also do app development and Excel integrations—everything that’s related to the products we deliver to customers. The products are administrative systems on the backend for the customers—internal websites as well as customer portals. On the backend, there are a lot of statistics. They help integrate information from Excel and different Android apps, which is mostly what our solutions focus on. We’re using Microsoft .NET, Excel, and AngularJS.

We also create Android apps. As the product manager, I work with the product owner to provide business requirements. For the Android applications, we get data from the backend and use reader technology to scan things and gather information, then report back to the main server.

I’ve been working with the Existek developers for four years. I don’t provide the detailed specifications, but they can work from any specifications. We work our way through the different features. I have the ideas and layout, and they basically design every page. They’re not designers, but we come up with a layout that they use for all the pages and modules they develop. I provide the design, but they make it look good.  

How did you come to work with Existek?

I had worked with Existek since 2010 when I was with a previous company. I didn’t consider any other companies at the time.

How much have you invested with Existek?

I spend around $200,000 per year on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our current relationship began in April of 2013 and is ongoing. We’re currently working on a global solution that will roll out worldwide.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have been increasing our staff because the customers are very satisfied with our work. My clients are particularly happy when we’re able to provide a solution to a specification within one day. The developers at Existek are a key value for my business since their work is excellent. They make me look good. I’m very happy with the developers as they are.

How did Existek perform from a project management standpoint?

I work with the team from Existek every day. I’m in daily contact with all the members of the team via Skype and email. We’ve also used different task tools. For example, we’re using JIRA right now. We have daily Scrum meetings, and I’ve been to Ukraine many times to meet with them. They’re very good with deadlines. Our Agile approach and how they solve things are above my expectations.

What did you find most impressive about Existek?

Their ability to deliver on time, reliability, and availability are all impressive. The developers are very committed, even working nights and weekends when required. If there’s anything we need to resolve, they come online very quickly. I have continuous conversations with the team. They never say "no", and they always do whatever they can to fix things. I’m extremely happy with their availability.

Are there any areas Existek could improve?

I think there are always things you can improve. The team is performing exactly how I want them to, so if there’s any needed improvement, it would be on my end.