ITSG Global

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder and CTO of BEN Energy. We develop analytics software for utilities in the German-speaking market. We have a few different products, including customer engagement analytics to analyze customers’ energy consumption. 

We also have analytics tools for the business side of utility companies to help them better understand the needs of their customers. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ITSG Global?

We have a platform that helps customers understand their energy consumption, and we needed help moving it to a new frontend technology. Later, the project expanded to include app development. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We worked on two projects with ITSG Global. We didn’t have any in-house development teammates at that time, so ITSG Global did all of the work for us. First, ITSG Global ensured our web platform could coexist with our new frontend technology and our internally implemented core features. To do this, they transformed our widgets into the frontend Dojo framework we were using at the time. 

They then helped us develop our white label cross-platform mobile applications using Javascript. They built the frontend from the backend system we’d already made. ITSG Global added a login for our backend system and custom UI elements, including sliding navigation and several views of a customer’s energy consumption. Their team also integrated live energy data into the app. After the app was developed, ITSG Global assisted with our app store placement.  

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact was Cezary (Partner & CTO), along with one core developer. 

How did you come to work with ITSG Global?

ITSG Global was recommended to us by our former head of engineering. We initially screened a couple of agencies, telling them what we needed and they proposed several developers. However, the developer from ITSG Global was the best, so we hired them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about €180,000 (approximately $204,000 USD) with ITSG Global. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with ITSG Global was from January 2015–June 2019. However, we do still maintain a working relationship, but we don’t currently have a contract with them. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

ITSG Global delivered excellent code — they were very professional and personable. 

How did ITSG Global perform from a project management standpoint?

My internal team managed the development projects, so I can’t speak to their project management. However, they were great at communicating, despite being an offshore team. When the project first started, we used Skype to communicate, but we progressed to primarily using email and Slack. 

ITSG Global was very flexible in the time we were allotted to work with their developer and was in charge of scaling the developer’s work up and down.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team at ITSG Global is great — the developer from ITSG Global was one of the best I’ve ever worked with. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

After two years, the developer we worked with became a little bored with our project, but I’m not sure that is something they could’ve prevented. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Customers need to screen the candidates they are given. ITSG Global has an excellent prescreening process, but it is critical to do another internally and run code with their candidates to see if they are fit for the job. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

The director of motyvation systems office, a leading bank on the Polish market

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

An application to automate the settlement of salaries in the sales network

SOLUTION

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

Based on the tendering procedure, the basic criteria are price and supplier experience in implementing similar projects

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

The supplier has prepared software for automatic calculation of salaries in the sales network. The cooperation began with a workshop presenting the expected result. Then, at cyclical intervals, we received the next stages of the project. The final product significantly automated the work and eliminated all mistakes

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

The project involved 4 people, a project manager, two developers and a software tester. Perhaps more people were working on the supplier's side

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to launch the project ahead of time thanks to the test environment made available on the supplier side. They delivered a software that did not require any corrections.

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

Very good cooperation in non-standard conditions during the COVID-19 epidemic, all work was carried out remotely without meetings in the office

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

Very good communication and amazing speed of action

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

From my perspective, I do not see any areas that need improvement

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a product-driven company, and we have a platform for business management and business travel bookings. As the CITO and consultant, I’m responsible for the IT department, as well as our offices in Poland.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ITSG Global?

We have more than 150 developers contracted in the company, but we still outsource talent outside. In terms of modern product development, we’re often challenged of having many features and ideas we want to build, but not having enough resources — we call these challenges peaks.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Normally, we do pure software development. The technologies we mostly use are the .NET Framework or .NET Core Development — and for the back- and frontend, we use Angular 11.

In addition to the general development, we ask them to provide us with a specific software whenever there need arises — and if there’s a need to build a team, we ask ITSG to provide us the full squad of developers and testers.

There was also a time when they provided us with back-office services such as invoicing and payment, as well as building a subscription module for us — this subscription module enables users to access our platform. We’re planning to ask them for other services, such as UI/UX design in the upcoming fiscal year, which starts September 1.

What is the team composition?

Our normal squad usually has around 6–7 people. We usually need a designer, front- and backend developers, and a tester. The team composition for future projects will depend on the plans for the next fiscal year — but I’ll need a full squad of frontend developers to focus on the UI/UX design.

How did you come to work with ITSG Global?

We started working with them because of their appeal and visibility on the market. The relationship with ITSG was initiated through a project, to check what they can do for us. We asked them to deliver a basic task, and as time went on, we contracted more and more people from their team. I have monthly meetings with them and we like that they’re really interested in what we do, our growth, and what our investment plans are for the next fiscal year.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend about 30,000 PLN (approximately $7,700 USD) monthly for one engineer, and we currently have six engineers working for us.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement started somewhere around June 2017, and the partnership is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Before ITSG developed our product, we were using an app that was behind in terms of technology, so users were a bit unhappy with what we had because of the performance among other problems. The developers from ITSG then helped us build the application written in a completely new technology called Slater, which resulted in our app maintaining a current score of 4.5 in the App Store and Google Play.

We also measure our success with satisfaction surveys from end-users when they use our platform, and we can see that it’s constantly growing — our NPS at the moment is at its peak.

How did ITSG Global perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve never had any complaints from the product managers and the product leaders about ITSG. We normally build a roadmap for our squad at our company, so they know what they need to deliver upfront for the next few months.

We have the software development and release cycle, and they always make sure to deliver something.

What did you find most impressive about them?

First of all, we’re impressed with their flexibility. Whenever I have a challenge or problem to resolve, I'm always calling ITSG because they’re always open to help us — they also often offer us much more than we expect.

Apart from that, we also like that they’re very open-minded, because that helps when it comes to building long-term relationships. They always know the conditions and what’s expected from them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They meet all our requirements, so I don't see any space for improvement at the moment.

Any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to be very open and honest with them — tell them the entire story behind your business problem in order to build a good relationship with them. The more honest and transparent you are with them, the better offer you will get.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of the customs brokerage company Rusak, which provides customs clearance services in Poland and United Kingdom.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We have employed ITSG Global to create order management and tracking system. The main goal was to create structured workflow for main operations in our company and to allow for digital data exchange within the company and with the clients.

SOLUTION

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

Service provider was chosen based on personal contacts. We have chosen them because they have extensive experience in workflow and data processing software.

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

The project was carried in typical stages of IT development. We have performed business and infrastructure analysis. We developed the concept for assumptions for the software. Then the software was created, developed and finally tested. The software was then improved and extended in following stages to increase its capability and answer to our business needs.

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

Usually there were two persons involved, senior manager and project manager, directly running the project. In addition there were software analysts and developers engaged for agreed scope of works.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The final software is running live and serving several hundred cases/orders daily. The cooperation with clients improved and efficiency of data management increased. The software has clean, user friendly interface and is used actively by more than one hundred users.

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

We have run the project through personal meetings, emails and documentary deliverables. There was no major issues with timing and project management.

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

The key advantages from our perspective were their flexibility in cooperation and understanding of the client's needs. We also appreciate the reasonable cost of the project.

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

We are generally satisfied with the quality of provided services.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the product manager at Starfish Storage, a software startup. We create software to help people manage large amounts of data.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ITSG Global?

We already had the core software, but we needed help with the UI side of it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

ITSG Global first created the GUI design of our software from scratch. We gave them the feature set we needed, which they then implemented. To get our feedback, the team sent us wireframes and applied our desired changes until we got to a finished product. After helping us with our main product, ITSG Global is now working on our website design.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with 10 people: a project manager, an analyst, two GUI designers, four developers, and two QA specialists.

How did you come to work with ITSG Global?

ITSG Global called our founder and offered their services. We decided to work with them after we saw their previous work.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent close to $2 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in February 2016 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since ITSG Global implemented the GUI design, we’ve gained more than 50 customers, most of whom are big companies. Their work has given us an effective way to show people what the product can do and convince them to try it out.

How did ITSG Global perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is excellent. We have multiple weekly calls, so we’re very in sync with them. We typically use Slack and Jira.

What did you find most impressive about them?

ITSG Global is very good at understanding our needs and bringing in the right people to fill in those needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We don’t really have an issue with the ITSG Global team.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communicate well with them and frequently review their work.