Objectivity Ltd.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Sr Cloud Solution Architect specialized in Data & Analytics working at Microsoft Central and Eastern Europe. I lead Microsoft's partners technical development and technology strategy across CEE.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Objectivity Ltd., and what were your goals?

Microsoft Poland presented Objectivity as one of our partners with proven capabilities to deliver data solutions based on Azure services. Our client – a major European airline – considered Azure as their main platform for Data Analytics Solutions. We had proposed to run a Proof of Concept (POC) to show how Azure services (applied according to the Client’s needs) could address the company’s analytical challenges.

The PoC would also prove that, with Azure solutions, the Client’s teams could quickly access various types of data and leverage data science to solve major business issues.

SOLUTION

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

Microsoft nominated Objectivity as a highly-skilled technology partner. As a Microsoft Gold Partner with the Advanced Specialization in Modernization of Web Applications to Microsoft Azure, Objectivity could be entrusted to provide the Client with the answers they were looking for. Objectivity was one of three presented partners, and they were chosen by the Client thanks to their competence in the field of data and their previous experience in aviation.

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

The Client wanted to test multiple functionalities in the PoC and prove that the architecture is flexible, allows for a quick introduction of new types of data sources, and can be further developed in the final solution. The team performed an analysis of Big Data from an extensive data source — over 300 variables from plain sensors, recorded at a 5-second frequency during each flight. Objectivity used the power of Databricks to collect, process, and aggregate the data which was then uploaded to a data warehouse in Synapse.

Previously, Power BI was used as the data model and transformation layer, and its load was now transferred onto a data warehouse that was easier to manage and scale out. This allowed for the data to be processed in a single place and become available to different user groups. The integration process was coherent and well-monitored thanks to the use of Azure Data Factory. Objectivity trained a flight delay Machine Learning (ML) model that would be able to determine the probability of flight delays and their extent.

The model was then deployed to Azure Kubernetes Services. The new MLOps process allowed the model to continue to learn and produce predictions in the Client’s areas of interest. The architecture built by the Objectivity team was also supplemented with various new components e.g., bots, streaming, and live dashboards. The team processed a portion of the Client’s data in the PoC, however, the architecture they created can be easily scaled to cover giga- or terabytes of data.

The second PoC focused on gathering structured data from various documents – invoices, and receipts. The documents were either generated automatically by various providers or filled in manually. The aim of the PoC was to establish if cognitive services – i.e., Form Recogniser API – are able to ensure a high enough quality of data from intelligent OCR.

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

The PoC was delivered by a dedicated team of 7 people, which included 2 Data Engineers as well as a Data Architect, Data Scientist, Machine Learning Engineer, Data Analyst, and a Project Manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The Client received a robust solution that could be further developed by their analytical teams, together with handover and a set of MLOps trainings. Client’s teams are able now to continuously expand their new data solution. The PoC was supplemented with recommendations, findings and detailed cost analysis which provided the Client with the validation they needed. The PoC presented the Client with a convincing argument for a revision of their data integration landscape.

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

Objectivity worked in a Kanban methodology. The team was led by a Product Manager. They worked closely with the Client’s stakeholders, validating requirements and outcomes on weekly basis. The solution, conclusions and documentation, were presented during demo sessions by technical team members.

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

The PoC covered a wide range of topics to be covered and used a set of different data services. Objectivity Ltd. managed to set up a diverse team that successfully delivered the deliverables in a tight timeline.

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

None

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of a financial services company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Objectivity Ltd.?

We needed a partner with a high degree of skill in delivering bespoke software.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve helped us develop multiple websites and applications. We have multiple vendors and they’re just one of the vendors that we have that provide the resources to build those applications for us. All of the developments are bespoke software builds for a tax line of service. 

It’s mainly websites or applications that manipulate displayed data for clients. We build solutions that have elements of machine learning in them because Objectivity Ltd. has a team of data scientists. We build some AI/ML applications as well. The bulk of the work is bespoke websites for the financial sector.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with probably 200 people. I tend to work with all the teams directly. They have many developers. We have a main person we reach out to when we need a new team to build a new solution. I believe they call him a tribe leader. They have a number of people that do work for us and they group them in teams of five people.

How did you come to work with Objectivity Ltd.?

They were recommended. We have people on our team that used to work there. They had a good reputation. We chose them because of their culture and they’re quite close. They’re only a 1–2 hour flight from London which is convenient. Their rates were also very attractive.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent 5 million British pounds (approximately $6.7 million USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

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

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We deliver all our projects using an agile methodology. The product owners and project managers we have start with initial assumptions and budgets. They track the burn-downs and burn-ups and all of those KPIs. They’ve been quite good.

How did Objectivity Ltd. perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication is very good. We’re on a shared communication platform. We have instant messaging. We’re in the same channels for all projects. We have daily standups. We have project planning sessions, retrospection, and all of the agile ceremonies you’d expect. The communication is 10 out of 10.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Before we even decided we wanted to build something, they already had a very dry but still functioning prototype for us. They quite often go the extra mile just to show us how something could be done when we’re struggling with thinking about solutions. They go ahead of our expectations.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing that comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to challenge them. The estimates they produce for the work is their idea of the work that has to be done. They obviously don’t know our business inside out. Don’t take their estimates at face value. Always challenge. Always try to understand why and how they priced the work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for an international software and money services company. We deliver hosted software solutions to retailers, including in-store till systems and commerce systems. I'm the head of software development for the UK part of our group. I'm responsible for a lot of our software development and deliveries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Objectivity Ltd.?

We hired them to augment our development team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They're currently enhancing and augmenting our headless commerce solution, which is all web services. Technologies include Java, Spring Boot framework, JWT for authentication, and Tomcat.

What is the team composition?

The team size runs anywhere between six and twenty individuals. They delivered three teams of around eight people in development, business analysis, and test functions to augment my development capabilities to deliver on product development and projects we're currently engaged in.

They integrate with our in-house staff and operate as standalone teams on various projects. I have a client manager, and we also work with a project manager and another point of contact to identify and fulfill our resource requirements.

How did you come to work with Objectivity Ltd.?

We've worked with them in the past. We previously had a good experience with them, and one of our colleagues enjoyed working with them in an interim role. We agreed to reengage them based on our previous experience and their extreme proximity to our office. Their development capabilities improved a lot since our first engagement with them, and they were the logical choice to hire.

How much have you invested with them?

Our total expenditure falls somewhere in the $200,000–$1 million USD range.

What is the status of this engagement?

We reengaged with them in September and started work in December 2018. The work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've seen a positive impact, and they increase our capabilities and capacity to deliver. They bring in a high level of technical expertise. Thanks to their capabilities, my internal staff experiences none of the anxiety that arises with other third-party groups.

How did Objectivity Ltd. perform from a project management standpoint?

I'm very happy with the integration with our team, and they communicate well with all of our team members, on every level. We get good governance from their project management and project assurance functions.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their maturity and their approach to satisfying us in our market space are impressive. They're a technology company first, and they focus on the quality and capability of their own staff. That feeds through to the quality of service. They stay at the forefront of technology and can offer a broad variety of resources.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I like them, and I feel they're going in the right direction. They invest a lot internally to create capabilities and market for the future. They're doing all the right things.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Invest time and effort into understanding their approach to delivering projects. Explore their structures, so the context is clear.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of telent, an information and telecommunications company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Objectivity Ltd.?

We have software development capabilities in-house, but I needed additional resources for one of our key customers. I also wanted to try to upscale or modernize our own development abilities.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a contract that wasn’t performing well, and it needed system development. Objectivity Ltd. sent over a business analyst to analyze the requirements and worked with that project team. They got a development team involved and delivered a great piece of software. Everybody liked it, and we’ve been working with them ever since.

We developed an in-house asset management maintenance system that we use on all of our big maintenance contracts. We have a contract that looks over all the traffic lights in London, which presents challenges in the delivery model and the way we manage our resources. They developed a completely new module that allows us to schedule our resources in a dynamic way and monitor and report on performance. They used HTML 5. The UI performed well with ease of usability. Our end customer wanted to deploy it themselves for their own purposes. That initial work was a successful project all around. They’ve done quite a bit more work on our maintenance application.

We also have a product for our rail customers based on our management system that a station manager uses to manage TCT via security. We use Microsoft Silverlight. Over 9–12 months, they completely redesigned, redeveloped, and tested that product into new single brands and native applications that allowed us to have a more modern, lightweight UI and more flexible deployment methods.

What is the team composition?

I mainly deal with a couple of people in the UK. They have a main client representative that is Poland-based that interfaces with me when needed. For each project, they have a specific team with a business analyst on that team, who is also a project manager. We’ve never had more than two or three developments going on in parallel. It was probably a 10-person team for the management system. Most of their team is based in Poland.

How did you come to work with Objectivity Ltd.?

We had a tender, and they contacted me, so I went to see them because they were local to us, and I felt that they could meet our requirements. Then, I spoke with a couple of their key customers who had confidence in them. We also went to Poland to meet their management team and see the development facilities, and they made a great impression. They did a great job analyzing the requirement and breaking down what needed to be developed. It was a trial working together, and it worked well.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2016, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re excellent at process mapping. For the scheduling system of London’s traffic light system maintenance, they analyzed what we were doing and mapped the process they needed to do. They built on an existing system that we already had for management resources. They efficiently put a module on with great UI that allows easy scheduling and reporting. It was exceedingly successful and transformed that contract into the highest performing contract of all for London’s traffic light system.

They’ve also done quite a bit of ongoing development on things like customer portals and mobile application development. My internal customer is extremely complimentary of what they’ve done and how they’ve developed the new applications for the business.

How did Objectivity Ltd. perform from a project management standpoint?

They have a daily stand-up video conference. They come over and spend time with us as needed. The communication is good.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a genuine desire to do a good job for us. It’s not just about profit; it’s about developing something well. They’re fantastically professional and honest.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have less interaction with them than I did originally. It’s important they don’t lose that contact and forget the existing customer.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Tonik Energy is a renewable energy provider that brings new technology to the B2C and B2B markets. I'm the technology director, responsible for enterprise architecture, information security, internal IT, and software development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Objectivity Ltd.?

Because of our rapid growth, we needed more development capabilities. We wanted to hire a development partner that could scale their team to meet business and market demands. 

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to deliver a key business project while scaling up our long-term development capabilities. We engaged Objectivity Ltd. to build a development team and deliver a key project.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I had the pleasure of working with Objectivity Ltd. during a project with similar requirements. We considered contract resources, but that did not build a flexible team structure or offer a reasonable price.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They built a referral capability within our product set. Objectivity Ltd. integrated with our development team and our entire business, teaching us a complex architecture and implementing the solution across our whole platform. 

What was the team composition?

The team included a part-time project manager, a business analyst, developers, a tester, and a part-time solution architect.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They delivered the solution on time and within budget. It's now a key part of our sales strategy, helping us retain customers and develop our referral pipeline. In addition, our greater development capabilities have allowed us to quickly bring products to market.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Our project manager ran extremely efficient agile processes. They provided clear documentation and progress reports while dealing with issues through daily calls.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were a high-quality development team with meticulous processes. We were particularly impressed with how well they captured our requirements and managed our stakeholders.

Are there any areas for improvement?

To be honest, they could improve very little.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the product owner responsible for launching the marketplace. We are one of the leading companies in the financial sector, part of an international financial group

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Objectivity Ltd., and what were your goals?

We faced the challenge of serving a new generation of entrepreneurs who manage their business "fully" online. We wanted to respond to current trends in ecommerce and the financial sector. We planned to enable our clients to lease products on one of the European markets without the need to visit many institutions. The idea to address these needs is to build a marketplace that offers products combined with a "fully online leasing process".

SOLUTION

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

We sent requests for proposals to several potential contractors. After interviewing shortlist, we chose yhis vendor based on their expirience, price, contents of the offer and completion date.

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

The scope of the project consisted: building marketplaces and the integration component, for efficient communication with back office systems. Used technologies:

Front end:

• Angular 10,

Backend:

• Java,
• Spring Framework,
• JHipster;

Infrastructure:

• Docker,
• Terraform
• Azure;

CI/CD:

• Azure DevOps,
• Git

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

The team consist of project manager, business analyst, architect, 3 developers and QA manager

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since launching the marketplace, we have seen a steady increase in customer traffic. Based on feedback from customers and suppliers, changes were implemented to improve the ease of navigation, presentation and product search.

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

We worked in two-weeks sprints. We had daily stand-up with the team. I worked very close with their business analyst. We also had weekly status meetings with project manager and business owners. We used Teams, jira.

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

The team was very committed to implementation. Where problems occurred, it took a proactive approach to solving them. Quickly adapted to changes in requirements. Communication with their whole team has been very good.

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

There were some communal problems in the early stages of the project, but these were quickly resolved and no longer occurred in later stages.