Merixstudio

What was the scope of their involvement?

When we started out, I introduced the developers to our project and went over the pieces that had already been completed. We discussed the scope of the client’s existing web store and clarified which direction we wanted to move in for the overhaul. There were no frontend designs or wireframes to study, so Merixstudio was heavily involved in brainstorming the optimal solutions with us before development began.

Once development began, we used React on the frontend, along with things like Redux and Redux Saga. For the backend, we used Symfony, as well as Doctrine ORM as a database management system. Our company also added a proprietary framework that drives within Symfony. Additionally, we applied behavior-driven development and wrote those tests in Behat.

We’re still in a framework-heavy stage of development. In terms of what they’re working on, one of the programmers wrote a code generator from scratch, which, when given a set of data, generated the entire framework of the code necessary for the back- and frontend.

What is the team composition?

We have a project manager, plus two developers working with us full time. We occasionally bring in an additional specialist to review the completed work.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

I wasn’t involved with that decision, but I believe our CEO traveled to Poland to meet them in person. I’m not sure if he visited any other contenders, but I know he was choosing between Merixstudio and another company, possibly in Africa.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in mid-October 2017 and the engagement is ongoing.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve worked on several projects with Merixstudio. The first one was the relaunch of our main website, which involved several templates. The main challenge was the programming of a significant Ajax API. We described what we wanted in detail, and they delivered the corresponding code to us. They also provided quality checks concerning HTML and CSS, using several devices.

The second project was an external web app, also based on Ajax. It provides help to small businesses in the planning of staffing resources. The scope also involved HTML5 and CSS3 coding. They provided quality checks using several devices and browsers.

We worked on a third project for an HTML newsletter. There were several difficulties concerning email clients, which Merixstudio managed very well. They also performed testing. The final product was delivered as fully usable HTML code.

Merixstudio helped us on a recent project with a very tight deadline. We originally planned to get the code from a different agency, which also made the layout. We rescheduled deadlines for the layout again and again, and, one week before the deadline, they told us that they would not have the capacity to code for one year. Merixstudio jumped in and saved us.

We provided layouts and wireframes in most cases along with detailed documentation of what we needed and how we needed it when we had special requirements.

What is the team composition?

I’ve had contact with 2–3 project managers from their team. I saw the developers in the background, but I never had direct contact with them.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

I worked with Merixstudio in my former job. We also worked with them when we had some problems in resource planning so they were my first choice. I knew that they provided high quality at a low price so I decided to work with them on projects for RKW Competence Center.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost of their work has been €25,000–€30,000 ($29,246–$35,095 USD). The relaunch of our website cost around €8,000 ($9,331 USD) and the external web app cost around €5,000 ($5,832 USD).

We started working with Merixstudio in 2013. The collaboration is ongoing on a project basis.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They have a wide variety of expertise and rich information, and they can do things we can’t do. Basically, we are not a software development house; we are people who work on projects for customers, and sometimes, those customers need development. We don’t put ourselves into the market as being software developers, but they are.

They provide additional development staffing (and perspectives) when we need it. They’ve designed and developed games for some of our customers, as well as kiosk and touch applications for in-store communication and sales.

For example, last year, we ran a bigger pilot project for a customer. The challenge was that the client needed it done quickly, but we didn’t have any free developers, so we got Merixstudio involved. In a very limited time, they developed the first designs and software. Afterward, the software was deployed fully throughout the customer’s network. After approving the pilot, the client gave us time to recreate the app from scratch as it should be: stable, secure, manageable, and client server-based. Now, we’ve started building a new version from scratch, and Merixstudio catapulted us into that.

They try to optimize the results that we are trying to achieve. They sometimes have valid input that we can inject into our code for smaller problems that we have or benchmarks we want to achieve. For example, on the last project we developed internally, we weren’t completely satisfied with our results, so we gave Merixstudio the chance to develop it for two weeks to see if they could come up with something that performed better and was more secure.

What is the team composition?

We have a range of resources. We started out with mainly C# and C++ developers, more in the Windows .NET environment. Now, we’re working with a couple of experts in web technology. Our biggest project with them featured 5–6 people. Merixstudio has become more and more involved in our day-to-day development.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

We had a choice between hiring people and looking for someone to help us out. We didn’t want to hire someone for a single project and lay them off. We looked for insourcing and, because our graphics manager knew them previously, we contacted them.

How much have you invested with them?

Over the past year, the most recent project cost between $50,000–$100,000

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Merixstudio around 2011. The collaboration is ongoing.