Web, Mobile, Enterprise & Cybersecurity Solutions
Inflection Point is a leading software solutions company with more than 17 years of experience developing core technology, digital and enterprise solutions. We have been ranked as a Great Place to Work by the Great Place to Work Institute for the last 10 years, and also recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in the USA by Inc5000 in 2017 and finalist in the EY Entrepreneur of the Year in Maryland in 2016 and 2017.
Headquartered close to Washington DC and with extensive experience working with companies across the US in the Financial, Healthcare, Education, Security, High Tech and Hospitality industries, our multidisciplinary team of business analysts, consultants, designers, QA Engineers and software developers helps companies accelerate their innovation and grow their business.
headquarters
other locations
Focus
Portfolio
Charles Schwab IMRF Credible Behavioral Health Brown Advisory Kimberly Clark ePesos Vitus Animal Health Authority Brands Global University Network Company Global Investment Management Firm Leading Real Estate Firm
Evenflo
Inflection Point provided UI/UX design and Web Development using Sitecore for their client Evenflo, a babycare and maternity brand that's now experience higher user reviews for their site thanks to Inflection Point.
Recorded Books
Inflection Point provided a OneClickDigital Mobile app in iOS and Android, including UI/UX, development, testing and maintenance to ensure that the app wasn't just stunning to use but also dependable and consistent in its performance.
Make a Wish Foundation
Inflection Point provided this website for the Make a Wish Foundation implemented using Sitecore, helping the foundation attract more attention to its noble cause and grant more wishes than ever before in their history.
Authority Brands
Mobile app for The Cleaning Authority, one of Authority Brands businesses
IMRF
Website and Intranet development and integration
Reviews
the project
Staff Augmentation for Software Company
“They’re able to see the bigger picture and communicate well with others beyond writing code.”
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 VP of engineering for SugarSync. It’s a software company.
What challenge were you trying to address with Inflection Point?
We wanted to extend our team, and were looking for a partner to help us with that.
What was the scope of their involvement?
They integrated as part of our team, working remotely to build our product; they did development work.
The product allows people to store their files in the Cloud and synchronize it. It’s similar to Dropbox.
There were three teams we had working; web interface, backend/platform, and mobile. They worked in all three teams.
What is the team composition?
There were 9–10 people working with us.
How did you come to work with Inflection Point?
I knew them through business connections. I liked that they were nearshore, with minimum time zone difference. When I visited them, I felt they had a sufficient pool of resources to meet our needs.
How much have you invested with them?
We spent $5 million.
What is the status of this engagement?
We worked together from January 2008–February 2011. I left the company at that point in time, but they continued working with the company.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
They were effective and trustworthy to do development remotely for us. We did a big release every 1-2 months. It was a good interaction, with good dynamics, working with them.
How did Inflection Point perform from a project management standpoint?
We managed the projects internally. They worked well in our team, finishing tasks on time. Communication was good.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They are more well-rounded than other teams I’ve worked with. They’re able to see the bigger picture and communicate well with others beyond writing code. They seem to enjoy understanding all the different aspects of a project.
Are there any areas they could improve?
I can’t think of anything.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
In general, it’s important to make any outsourced team feel like part of your own team. With this team specifically, I would suggest maximizing the benefit of them being nearshore.
the project
On- and Offshore Dev Resources for Behavior Health EMR Firm
“They ask good clarifying questions and become experts in what your software does so that they can deliver good code.”
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 was the CTO at an electronic medical record (EMR) SaaS provider. We focused on working with behavioral health agencies.
What challenge were you trying to address with Inflection Point?
I hired Inflection Point because I needed to expand my team of about 30 employees. We had a lot of projects but not enough developers to do them. I needed to find developers quickly, without having to go through the whole hiring process.
What was the scope of their involvement?
I took a hybrid approach, so I had two onshore people from Inflection Point who were in our office and worked directly with our in-house developers. Then, the remaining resources were in Monterrey, Mexico.
Inflection Point’s resources became team members; they had full access to the dev environment and were assigned tickets. This was software development, so they did both front- and backend development and database work. They worked in .NET and JavaScript. They also did some Android mobile app development for us.
What is the team composition?
We initially brought on 15 team members from Inflection Point. When I left the company, there were more than 25 Inflection Point people on the team.
How did you come to work with Inflection Point?
I found them through my friend who had worked with them before. He referenced them and said they were really good, and I vetted them. I chose between using them and an Eastern European development firm I’d used before, but I went with Inflection Point because of the proximity and time zone. The developers were good, and, on top of that, we could take a hybrid approach of both onshore and offshore, as my developers had not done offshoring before.
How much have you invested with them?
The cost was $100,000 a month, so over $1 million a year.
What is the status of this engagement?
I’m no longer with the company, but Inflection Point is still working with them. I brought them on in late 2014.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
The biggest thing was that we were delivering features, bug fixes, and changes at a much faster rate than we could have without them. We were able to do a lot more. We were also able to deliver an Android app; we’d already done one for iOS, but we wanted to make sure we had one for the Android market. Overall, the best way to judge the impact is how quickly we were moving through projects and delivering.
How did Inflection Point perform from a project management standpoint?
They performed very well because they were integrated with our existing systems for managing projects and tasks. Their onshore resources translated quite a bit for us and really kept everybody on task. Even though the entire team was on the standups and calls, the onshore folks made sure that the communication pipeline was robust and pipeline, so that we could deal with issues quickly. If there was a question, we could answer it right away and not lose any momentum.
The biggest challenge was integrating Inflection Point’s resources with our existing employees, many of whom had never worked with an offshore vendor. Communication and culture were challenges, but Inflection Point made it easy. Taking the hybrid approach really helped bridge our teams, so it just came to the point that Inflection Point’s resources were considered team members.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Their code is well written, and they’re basically like your own in-house developers. They ask good clarifying questions and become experts in what your software does so that they can deliver good code. We didn’t have to go back and keep redoing it. I was very pleased with that; I’ve worked with some other firms where the developers would go off and do their own thing, and the code wasn’t great.
For the most point, Inflection Point’s code was well-structured, and they really helped push the product in a good direction. They asked clarifying questions that made the product better.
Are there any areas they could improve?
The only thing I can think of is that there is sometimes a language barrier from a verbal communication perspective. However, that is generally overcome through written communication. There are occasions when you get a developer who has trouble with English verbally. Other than that, I don’t have anything else. Their coding, processes, and senior team are industry-leading. They’re very straightforward and good to work with.
Any advice for potential customers?
Depending on the size of the project, I would clarify what you want from an offshore development group, whether it's Inflection Point or somebody else. Be very clear about what the developers need to do, such as whether they should be on a standup call every morning and what system they’re using for their check-ins. To get the most out of them, make sure they become part of your team. Also, make sure the scope is agreed to with the senior people at Inflection Point so that nothing gets lost in translation.
the project
Software Prototyping & Research for Data Protection Firm
"It was nice to feel like they really cared that we are successful."
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 founder and CEO of Oculis Labs, a data protection firm.
What challenge were you trying to address with Inflection Point?
We were a tiny company with just myself and my investors. I had invented some technology that I needed to implement but I didn’t want to bring on developers at that point since we were still in validating whether the invention was realistic. Rather than try to bring on software developers for what could have been a short-term stint, it made more sense to go to an outside agency that already had developers on staff.
They helped me develop a prototype of a very novel information security product. We went through an early-stage research project at first where I had developed some of the science behind it. I’m a product manager by career and experience, so I defined the requirements in a document for them. We were trying to validate these things. This was one of the most experimental projects in my career ever; it wasn’t clear at the beginning whether this would even work. We were shaping a new category/product.
What was the scope of their involvement?
The security product would allow an authorized user to sit down at a computer screen and read the data on the screen. It could be Word or Outlook or a browser. You could read what was on the screen but somebody standing beside you looking over your shoulder would see just a confusing garble of misinformation that seemed to be moving around the screen all the time. We used a hardware device called a gaze track — a high-end camera that uses infrared light to illuminate the subject’s eyes and determine down to a .5 degree angle exactly where the user is looking on the screen in almost real-time.
The software development task for Inflection Point was to figure out a way to use that technology combined with some science around the way that human vision works and even cognition and the way we absorb information. We would be changing what the display was communicating in as close to real-time as we could get it so, if the user had a Word document open, they would always see the real words wherever they happen to be looking on the screen. All the other words on the screen would be replaced with false information. It was a really crazy idea but it turns out it works.
What is the team composition?
There was a senior person on their side, and we increased and decreased the number of people on the team. There were a couple of other developers working on this as well. It’s been a while so I don’t remember exactly how many but I think we started with one person. Then, we increased it to two and then four before scaling back down to two. We eventually ended the project.
How did you come to work with Inflection Point?
I had worked with the founders of Inflection Point at a previous company five years prior. I trusted them as individuals. Later on, when I came across the idea, Carlos (CEO/Co-Founder) may have found me. He’s a very good networker. He mentioned that he could help me out with the project.
How much have you invested with them?
We spent around $380,000 with them.
What is the status of this engagement?
We worked together from November 2007 until June 2009.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
They ended up producing a working prototype that allowed us to get our first set of customers and a second round of investments. They made a huge impact.
How did Inflection Point perform from a project management standpoint?
We didn’t have a set schedule because of the nature of the project but I don’t recall ever having any complaints about it. Later, I brought people in on my side as well. I had a project manager interfacing with them. That may have helped. We were satisfied.
In a very iterative process, they helped me figure out how we could make this thing work. I’d give them a set of requirements or do a phone call with them and they’d write some stuff down in documents. Then they’d go off and work on it for a week. They’d send me an update. One of the things they really excelled at in this project was the spirit of flexibility. They knew that I didn’t know how this product was going to look in the end. There was a lot of invention going on through the process.
What did you find most impressive about them?
The lead guy was great. He was smart, flexible, and hardworking. A lot of times, when you outsource a software task, you have to be really careful about spec’ing it and doing changes on the fly because they like more certainty. Inflection Point wasn’t like that. The team was very good to work with. It was nice to have support. They were interested in my success. Obviously, they’re there to make money but it was more than that. I went down there once to work with them in person. The office manager and VP that was running the team were there and we spent a bunch of time together. It was nice to feel like they really cared that we are successful.
Are there any areas they could improve?
Nothing stands out. The only knock on them, if there was any, was that they were at a nearshore price-point. It was far less expensive than hiring my own people but more expensive than hiring an offshore company. The flipside is they were almost in my time zone. There were some advantages to them being only an hour difference: the turnaround was good, the guys that run the company are here in Maryland, and communication was good. Even today, I’d be willing to pay a bit of a premium on their services because I know they’re here and they’re easy to work with. I don’t have a big negative.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
I’d recommend anyone outsourcing a project to understand what it is you’re asking for. Understand that the vendor can’t read your mind. You have to write it down. You have to be very clear about what you want them to achieve. Do regular status checks with them and ask for prototypes if that’s appropriate. Give them feedback. You can’t just throw a project over the fence and expect it to come back perfectly. Have a project leader on your side that really speaks for what you need because the vendor can’t do that for you. You can’t assume they will staff it all themselves. You need to staff it with experts on your side as well.
the project
Salesforce Development & Consulting for Real Estate Co
"Their executive team’s commitment makes Inflection Point really special."
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 CRM leader at Irvine Company. We’re in the real estate business, so we own and lease different spaces as well as develop and sell homes. On the B2C side, we use Salesforce for lead toward lease processes. On the office and retail side, we heavily use the platform for lease generation and management.
What challenge were you trying to address with Inflection Point?
Last September, we went live with a Salesforce solution for our retail and office spaces. It was in hypercare for eight months but wasn’t stabilizing. I was brought on board to stabilize the system. When I looked into it, I found organizational issues. The consulting firm that the company used for implementation didn’t produce quality work.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Inflection Point provides all of our development and QA resources for Salesforce. They primarily work in a pure development capacity. We have a blended team, so our technical leads personally interact with each member of the Inflection Point team. We manage the projects and then their team delivers. They also engage at the beginning of initiatives, so when we put our requirements together, they offer advice.
What is the team composition?
We currently work with 16 people from Inflection Point. We have eight developers, 7 QA team members, and an engineer.
How did you come to work with Inflection Point?
The offshore model didn’t work for our company, so I suggested that we transition to a nearshore model. I previously worked with Inflection Point and suggested that we engage them. Carlos (CEO) came to the office, met with our CIO and VP of CRM, and went through his company’s capabilities. We evaluated their proposal and then brought them onboard. We needed to move quickly, and their team wasn't a great risk as a known entity.
What is the status of this engagement?
We brought them on board in April 2020, and the partnership’s ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We measure their performance against the previous incumbent, and we’re performing twice as well. Their team produces extremely high-quality work. Whereas everything failed with our previous vendor, we never encounter problems with Inflection Point's work. Our business owners said that they had never seen work this clean.
How did Inflection Point perform from a project management standpoint?
We’re truly a blended team, so all of their people take their assignments from our team members. Inflection Point's punctual. They’re sincere, honest, hard workers. Our whole IT team loves working with them.
What did you find most impressive about them?
With Infection Point, we don’t just work with the developers. We work with the CEO, CTO, and VP of QA. Their executive team’s involved in the partnership and drives the success of their company. For example, they attend onboarding sessions. Their executive team’s commitment makes Inflection Point really special.
Are there any areas they could improve?
It’s hard to believe but I have to say there isn’t.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
I’ve worked with Inflection Point twice now and have had the exact same experience. It’s their culture. I have to believe that they’d perform at this level for anyone.
the project
Mobile App Development for Retail Software Provider
“When we describe a product, we have complete trust in them that they understand what we’re talking about.”
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.
My position is the director of operations for JPMA, an application provider primarily to the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. WIC is a food assistance program for single mothers and those under a certain income threshold. The program helps to provide them with nutritious foods. Any woman who is pregnant or has children up to the age of five that meets the income requirements is eligible for the program. Depending on her situation, whether she’s pregnant, breastfeeding, or has a toddler, different foods are prescribed to help that person with food and security issues.
What challenge were you trying to address with Inflection Point?
Our company provides the WIC program with two applications, primarily: one is a shopping application that helps program participants find food, download benefits, and that sort of thing. The other application is called WICSmart, which Inflection Point has worked on. WICSmart is an application that delivers nutrition and breastfeeding education. WIC agencies use that app to assign lessons to program participants, who then take those lessons. The app reports results back to the WIC agencies.
We had a legacy version of the WICSmart product when we hired Inflection Point. The product was already pretty widely used when they came in, which I think is even more difficult than starting from scratch. The product was a bit dated. Also, our structure and company had changed a bit, so we didn’t have the developers who had originally built the product.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Initially, Inflection Point made some small modifications and bug fixes, and then they progressed into essentially rebuilding the app piece of the product.
Most of the creative direction comes from us, so we describe at a functional level what we need, they reiterate that back to us to ensure there’s understanding, and then they design the technical aspects of it.
What is the team composition?
We have a primary project manager that we work with the most.
How did you come to work with Inflection Point?
I didn’t make that initial decision, but I believe it was some sort of solicitation. I don’t think there was a whole lot of in-depth research that went into finding them.
How much have you invested with them?
My company has spent around $150,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
The work began in April 2018, and it’s an ongoing project.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We had a legacy product that was getting severely dated, and Inflection Point helped us to make that product current and relevant. They have definitely helped us keep that product more competitive, modern, and intuitive; generally, they’ve enabled us to keep using the product out in the field and continue operating in the environment that we work in.
How did Inflection Point perform from a project management standpoint?
Just as a high-level overview, their project management has been very strong. They practice agile development and are really willing to allow us to be as involved as we want to be. At different stages of the project, we’ve had weekly calls to review the current backlog and sprints that we’re in. They’ve done a good job of giving us demos when there’s a new feature to be released.
What did you find most impressive about them?
We have a different development team for our other app, and I would say Inflection Point is much more organized and has a more transparent approach to the jobs that we’re working on. They lay out what they plan to do and execute it exactly as they say they’re going to. Their planning, strategy, and follow-through have been more outstanding than that of other developers we’ve worked with.
Are there any areas they could improve?
There are always little things, but one thing that sticks out is their project estimations. They tend to be on the low side in terms of how much work a project will require, but it’s not unreasonable. Other than that, I don’t have any other suggestions. When they complete something, they document it really well and provide us with testing tools. I don’t have anything negative to say about their processes.
Any advice for potential customers?
Let Inflection Point guide you on the technical side of things. While we’re somewhat technical, we’re not developers, so they’ve been the perfect fit for us; we’re able to give them a fairly low-level, functional description of what we want, and they’ve been able to take that and develop specifications. They return quality work based on what we ask for. I would say to take the time to explain what you want.
They’re better than a lot of developers that we’ve worked with at understanding the functional aspect of projects and the user experience we’re asking them to deliver. When we describe a product, we have complete trust in them that they understand what we’re talking about.
the project
ERP & CRM Development for Global Franchisor
“They never caused any delays and they were very agile. They helped us meet the changing requirements effectively.”
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 was the CIO for The Cleaning Authority and Authority Brands.
What challenge were you trying to address with Inflection Point?
For this project, we were redeveloping existing ERP and CRM applications.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We updated the applications completely. The backend was rewritten and Inflection Point helped with all of that. This system runs the day to day business. They provided a technical lead and QA staff and developers. We were working in Microsoft environments, so SQL server, and C# were the main languages they were using. They completely changed the frontend UI, but much of the backend remained the same.
Some of the functionality that was new for us we developed a new dispatching tool, a higher level of integration mapping. We were able to demonstrate in our employee dispatch module, where teams would be going for the day. The mapping interface improved visibility into where those teams were navigating for the day.
What is the team composition?
There were seven, on our team, and we had a project manager.
How did you come to work with Inflection Point?
They were a referral from a company the provides executive coaching. Someone from that company introduced us.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together in March 2018 and it ended in July 2019.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Our customer base has been very receptive and happy with this upgrade. In general, the system has improved efficiencies.
How did Inflection Point perform from a project management standpoint?
We fully integrated them into the project. They participated in daily scrums. Even though they’re an off-shore company, we worked very well together. They never caused any delays and they were very agile. They helped us meet the changing requirements effectively.
What did you find most impressive about them?
At all levels, from executives to the project team, everyone was very easy to work with. I was confident in their technical abilities. Even if we weren’t satisfied, their management made the appropriate changes to staffing. They managed the relationship well from that standpoint. I would use them again.
Are there any areas they could improve?
There’s going to be up and downs with any relationship, but they manage things appropriately, so I’m satisfied.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
If anybody is on the fence for working with them—I was very satisfied with them, and I think you will too.
the project
Platform Dev & Staff Augmentation for Educational Company
"Our architect resource had a great understanding of Sitecore and helped us structure our architecture well."
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 CIO of Laureate Online Education.
What challenge were you trying to address with Inflection Point?
When I started working at Laureate Online Education, our web team was not optimal. The organization was looking to rethink the marketing site of the business, so we needed help and resources to move us forward.
We had already decided to use the Sitecore platform, so we were looking for resources who were proficient in that area.
What was the scope of their involvement?
They provided an onshore architect for us who came into the office to work with two resources on our side. Inflection Point took time to understand our business and project needs, and then put together some recommendations.
Our offshore resources helped us with development work and ongoing improvements. At one point in time, they also added other resources to help us with a Salesforce project.
What is the team composition?
We worked with both on and offshore resources.
How did you come to work with Inflection Point?
The person I worked for at the time had a prior relationship with somebody at Inflection Point and introduced us.
How much have you invested with them?
We spent between $500,000–$1 million.
What is the status of this engagement?
We worked together from January 2015–January 2017.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We were able to significantly increase lead capture. We had a 25% increase in our organic leads. There’s no question that we had significant improvements in our lead generation efforts. All of our resources were highly qualified.
How did Inflection Point perform from a project management standpoint?
We ran an agile shop, using scrum methods. We had daily stand-ups and worked closely with them. They had someone on their side making sure that the project ran smoothly. So, it was a good relationship.
Our architect resource had a great understanding of Sitecore and helped us structure our architecture well. Inflection Point worked well with the business and technology teams. The team communicated very well in English.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Inflection Point had good rates in terms of the value we got. The team worked well together and we didn’t see any disconnects between our on- and offshore resources. They were also in a similar timezone as us, which was helpful.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, I can’t think of anything.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
The on-site resource is more of an account manager. He was a good strong technician who had great communication skills. The key to our success was that he had the ability to not only facilitate the rest of his organization but also to bring the technology architecture skills we needed.
the project
Mobile App Dev for Media Distribution Site
"They had quality work and outcomes.."
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 CTO that was brought in to build out a media distribution site.
What challenge were you trying to address with Inflection Point?
I brought them on board to work on our mobile application development.
What was the scope of their involvement?
A couple of Inflection Point’s developers ran our Android and iOS e-book application. We had a basic app on both platforms that their team enhanced.
Their team worked with us to build out where we wanted to go. They gave us ideas for what would work in a mobile format. Their team enhanced the APIs so that we had a proper architecture. They built an e-book reader in our apps, which allows us to deliver e-books.
What is the team composition?
We had a main point of contact. We worked with a project manager and two developers—one for each OS.
How did you come to work with Inflection Point?
I worked with them at my previous company, so I knew them prior to this project. I brought them in to build up this platform.
How much have you invested with them?
We spent around $250,000 a year with them.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together in 2015 and the collaboration ended in July 2017. The only reason that we aren’t using them today is that we decided to have in-house developers working on the project for knowledge retention.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
The opening of e-books was a big change. That was extremely important to our business and the growth of our library distribution. They were great in working with us on designs and implementing them. They do solid work.
How did Inflection Point perform from a project management standpoint?
We used JIRA and ran sprints. We ran most of their tasks through tickets and had a lot of verbal communication. They worked with us daily, so it all worked out. They had great communication and did well.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They were flexible in their model of working with us. They had quality work and outcomes. Their team was quick to react whenever we had any issues.
Are there any areas they could improve?
They could’ve brought in more developers to give insight into our direction and UX experience, but we didn’t ask for those resources. Their team asked us, but we declined. I can’t blame them for not taking a broader role but that could’ve added more value to the engagement.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Anyone that works with them will sit down and integrate them into their teams. They’re going to have a good outcome as long as they know their direction. Inflection Point’s a great asset. They’re going to give feedback on where they think the project should go, but they’re going to get done what you ask them to get done.
the project
Cloud Architecture Platform for FinTech Company
“They’re not only a good technical partner but they’re also very well managed.”
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 CEO of ePESOS, a FinTech company. We provide onboarding access to workers through partnerships that we make with large enterprises.
What challenge were you trying to address with Inflection Point?
In 2014, we started with a very basic infrastructure. We started growing and started looking to improve our security infrastructure by moving it to the cloud.
What was the scope of their involvement?
They did most of the consulting from the beginning. They immersed themselves into our software and started looking at what we had done. They proposed a roadmap to improve security and start to get everything over on the different layers in the cloud to avoid penetration.
Consulting lasted a couple of months to give us an assessment on where we were standing and we needed to do.
Since we finished the foundation, we started building our own internal team. Inflection Point was also very crucial in doing the testing. We’ve been working with them over the last year with testing services to make sure we release it without bugs.
What is the team composition?
The team size has ranged from 2–6 people.
How did you come to work with Inflection Point?
We looked at different companies worldwide and decided to hire Inflection Point.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent about $750,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together in October 2016 and we continue working with them on an ongoing basis.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We haven’t had any security issues on our platform. Their work was crucial to show to our investors. It’s evident we have the right infrastructure. We do a yearly penetration test and got a very high grade. We’re very satisfied. They created a very solid foundation for our business.
How did Inflection Point perform from a project management standpoint?
They are very good. We’ve integrated our IT team with their team. We work in collaboration. They’re very organized. They’ve helped us to move into an agile methodology. They’ve provided us with tools to create an agile project management culture. They’re very well structured. They’re not only a good technical partner but they’re also very well managed.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They’re really good with security and software architecture. They were really helpful. They’re also very good at web development.
Are there any areas they could improve?
We felt they weren’t that strong in mobile app development.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
We started to establish a solid relationship from the start. We’ve been really open with them in terms of the needs and they’re very flexible. They can even train your people. We look at them as an extension of our IT department. We work very nicely as a team. That’s what distinguishes their relationship from other companies we’ve worked with in the past. It’s not on a price-based but it’s based on a long-term relationship.
the project
Development Integrations For Physical Security Platform
“The features that they developed are quite robust compared to our competition.”
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 VP of Product development for Vidsys, Inc. We are what is traditionally known as a physical security and information management platform that enterprises would use in command and control facilities to monitor and respond to situations based on events that are occurring within their enterprise. We integrate disparate systems.
For example, you a campus might have access control systems, but perimeter intrusion detection systems, video analytics, cameras, anything that you could typically you don't want to use to secure the facility or monitor the facility,
We work with multiple vendors and we integrate their products into our platform, creating a unified solution to our customers.
What challenge were you trying to address with Inflection Point?
We were looking to enhance the engineering capabilities of our organization.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We brought them on board to help us with a particular pilot developing these third-party integrations, that we called connectors.
We made Inflection Point part of our engineering organization that would help draft the requirement documents, because, in our industry, oftentimes our customers will come to us and say we have these 50 different subsystems and we use them in various different ways, but we're not really sure how to integrate them.
We brought them in to help us with the requirements gathering. So we would expose them to our customers. They sort of became part of our customer engagement team where they would actually travel with us on sites, nationally and globally.
Working with me, they develop the requirements, understand the use cases.
Once that was clearly understood, then I would work with them to develop the actual connector. And once that was done, not only would they develop it and tested, they would write the customer-facing documentation.
We would go through the user acceptance testing that we would make sure that it was working. We would get customer sign off and then we would move on to the next project.
What is the team composition?
We started with four developers, and it grew into 17 team members.
How did you come to work with Inflection Point?
We decided that we needed a near-shore partner. We were connected to Inflection Point through a former colleague of ours.
How much have you invested with them?
Overall, the cost was several million dollars. Towards the end of the project, we were spending about $150,000 per month.
What is the status of this engagement?
Our engagement lasted from July 2010–May 2017.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
The connectors became a strategic initiative for the company, and is one of our primary differentiators based on the number of connectors that we have getting our library, and the quality. The features that they developed are quite robust compared to our competition. So, they were an integral part in starting that. Their programming skills were excellent.
When I started, it would take us about 12 weeks to develop a single connector, and today it takes about four weeks.
How did Inflection Point perform from a project management standpoint?
Project management is a two-way street, so making them feel like a part of our organization was important. We established quarterly visits, where I would go to their offices. I’m bilingual, so that helped communication. The team itself has very good language skills, which is very helpful when bringing them to meet customers.
We structed the project so that, for every five developers we brought on board, we’d bring on another project manager to serve as a team lead. I would then communicate with those managers to ensure project were getting done on time.
We used scrum and agile methodologies. We had daily standups that lasted about 15 minutes, so we could resolve problems very quickly.
The followed industry standards. And time zones weren’t an issue because they were a near-shore team. They’re very professional in the way they run their teams. They’re very disciplined.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They take care of their employees, and that’s very important. Attrition can kill an outsourcing engagement very easily. From the time that we started, to when we completed the engagement, we only lost one person. That speaks to Inflection Point’s way of treating them, training them, and providing clear advancement opportunities within the organization.
Are there any areas they could improve?
I don’t have anything negative to say about them. They’re a great company and I’d work with them again.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Make them feel like they’re a part of your team. It should be a combined effort. That’s what made our engagement so successful.
Inflection Point is an effective and trustworthy partner. They quickly became a part of the team, were able to see the bigger picture, and communicated effectively with the internal team. Reliable and organized, they released a new aspect of the project every 1–2 months.