Qulix

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the founder and CEO of a small IT engineering company based in Düsseldorf, Germany. We’re an IT architectural engineering team working mainly with industrial and business automation companies. Our company develops cloud platforms and mobile solutions, most of which involve sophisticated algorithms. We’re a team of three people, all senior IT architects, and we’ve been in business for almost four years.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Qulix Systems?
We have dedicated teams on their end and source IT specialists for individual projects for customers in Germany. They have high specialists, and the price difference between Eastern Europe and Germany is a marked advantage.
 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?
We act as business or IT architects and work on-site with clients, and Qulix Systems provides development specialists. They provide dedicated teams depending on the project. Those teams offer a broad technology stack, including Java, .NET, Python, in data science, AI, and so on. They also provide design services.

Our first project with them was for an industrial IoT company, a leading CNC machine producer with 30 years on the market. We developed a product improvement. Qulix provided both development and strategic guidance. Our second project is building an MVP of a large banking platform. The challenge here was to create a great MVP in a very short time.

What is the team composition?
Qulix had a six-person team for the banking project.

How much have you invested with them?
The second project cost about €150,000–€200,000 (approximately $180,000–$240,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?
The first project with Qulix started in October 2018, and the collaboration is ongoing. We’ve just finished our second project with them.
 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Qulix is a great partner for sophisticated development. They don’t just do what we tell them to, they’re also good at product ownership and thinking along with us. Their team enjoys creating products, and we don’t need to micromanage them.

They did a great job on both projects. The banking platform was a complete success. We managed to develop a very strong, completely functional MVP in six weeks. It’s going to be rolled out to the market in late June 2021.

We have certain KPIs in terms of code coverage and code quality. We have software for monitoring the development which gives us quality assessments. A 70% code coverage is good for us. It’s a banking platform so we needed to make sure that it’s secure. We told Qulix that 70% would be good, but they managed to reach 90% by the end.

How did Qulix Systems perform from a project management standpoint?
We can outsource entire projects to them where they’ll do the project management themselves. In our case, we do the project management ourselves and just source individual specialists from them. We create teams of specialists and work remotely.

For non-technical clients, Qulix Systems can also handle the entire post-management of the product. We had very strict timeframes on the second project. Everything was done in Jira, and we had daily meetings. Qulix delivered completely on time. They’re open to using whatever tools the client wants.

What did you find most impressive about them?
They’ve created a company culture that attracts great talent. I went to Eastern Europe before choosing Qulix and got to know the market. There are a lot of body shops there, but Qulix isn’t one of them. They’ve managed to create an environment where their employees feel happy and contribute ideas instead of just doing X and Y. Qulix isn’t too big nor too small. They don’t have the bureaucracy that larger companies have, where the employee becomes just a number. They care about the things they create.

Are there any areas they could improve?
No, I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?
They need to have a clear idea about the purpose of the project. Secondly, I recommend using technology that isn’t from the stone age and that the developers would enjoy working with.

Third, the client shouldn’t be a dictator. They should convey their vision and bring Qulix onboard—let them co-create the product. Even if it’s an outsourcing project, it’s important to build trust and not micromanage them, instead of creating 100-page contracts.
 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO for Talaera, an online platform that connects corporate clients with certified English teachers. We provide custom-tailored English lessons for their employees.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Qulix Systems?

We needed developers to help build our technology.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Qulix Systems has provided two full-time developers for the past two years. One is in charge of our Android app, which was recently completed and submitted to the App Store. That developer is now working on our server infrastructure. The other developer works solely on our web client front, making all the decisions and reporting to me. For a few months, Qulix Systems provided additional resources to test our software and work on the frontend.

When starting a project, we develop a set of requirements that we discuss until finalized. One of the developers will then own that assignment and build everything. For example, we provided screen mocks for the Android app, and Qulix told us it would be best to not make it a cross platform. They also provided UX/UI feedback to improve the app.

What is the team composition?

At most, we interact with our manager and four developers.

How did you come to work with Qulix Systems?

A colleague referred Qulix Systems. I trusted the person who recommended them, so I hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $150,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website and Android app are both online and functioning well. I’m a stickler for good code, and I’m happy with what they’ve produced so far.

How did Qulix Systems perform from a project management standpoint?

They track their work well. We use Github to share the code and file the bugs, and we use Slack multiple times a day to communicate. We also hold weekly Skype conference calls, and I go to their office twice a year for a few weeks to work with the team in person.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The engineers are well-educated and enthusiastic about their work. The manager is responsive and helpful, and all the developers are willing to learn and improve.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Some of the developers’ English could improve.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Be clear about what you want to make sure you get the right person. Otherwise, you may spend a lot of time trying to find someone for your role.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder and president of a B2B digital service agency providing a full spectrum of services including branding, custom application development, and mobile application development. Primarily, we deal with financial services companies such as banks, private unions, investment banks, hedge funds, insurance companies, etc.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Qulix Systems?

We needed resources to build our capacity. We worked with them early on for UI development, and then that expanded into graphic design services, PHP development, mobile application development, etc.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Over the years, we've learned how to work with them on multiple projects. We present the project to them and provide them with an initial high-level requirement of what we're looking for. We define what roles we need depending on the size and scope of the project. For example, we may need designers, UI development resources, or a business analyst to do wireframing.

As the project progresses, we go from stage to stage, plan to design, design to UI dev, and UI dev to backend implementation. Everyone works together toward the end on the QA process, finishing touches, and go live, and maintenance after that. It's a long-term relationship; we work with them on an ongoing basis once the project is done.

One of our clients came to us for a redesign, an increase in lead conversion, and better digital performance across the board. We provided everything from analysis to graphic design, UI implementation, content management platform implementation, and a number of other custom workflows along the way. Qulix did the visual and graphic design for web templates, collateral items, logo creation, etc., and on the UI dev side, anything related to HTML, CSS, JavaScript development, they get those templates to work responsibly in the browser, mobile devices, etc. From there, we worked internally for content management implementation and the rest of the platform integration as well.

On the graphics design side, everything that we do is in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. They're also proficient in iOS, Android, Drupal, and PHP development. They only played a role in development and design; all the strategic work happened with our team.

What is the team dynamic?

We work with a single point of contact for all the resource management. We have 2 UI developers, 2 designers, 1 print designer, and 1 business analyst full-time in Scandinavia, but they work remotely in Minsk, Belarus. The size of the team varies according to each project, but it generally stays the same.

How did you come to work with Qulix Systems?

We found them through a recruiter. We talked to 3–4 different companies, but we decided to go with Qulix because we liked their portfolio and experience and the interview went well. They also had financial services industry experience in Europe.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them since June 1, 2011.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We see a cost-benefit to working with them as opposed to hiring onshore. We don't have to worry about overhead costs such as benefits.

In terms of direct client impact, having a breadth of knowledge and resources to access for different types of implementation is also very beneficial. We're not spending time and money on training. Internally, we leverage them for things that we need.

Overall the benefit of manpower and reduced cost is the biggest benefit for us.

How did Qulix Systems perform from a project management standpoint?

We have project managers on both sides. We constantly update on both sides, which helps us deliver the project since most of the time, the Qulix team is just one of the components. We use status-tracking tools like JIRA. They work very well with those platforms. They're very responsive. We talk on a daily basis with one or multiple people on the team, either directly with developers or through the project management contact. We also use Slack to communicate or instant messaging; it's very efficient.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The talent pool that they've built up over the years across multiple platforms is the biggest efficiency.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a software product developer. Our solution helps people with investment management. I am a product manager for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Qulix Systems?

We wanted to accelerate the pace of development by leveraging outsourced resources.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Qulix Systems has provided front-end and back-end web coding for our company. They did not handle any design or strategic work. We've used up to 6 developers from Qulix Systems at a given time and interact with them directly, without any project management. We take care of the project management ourselves.

How did you come to work with Qulix Systems?

We found Qulix Systems through Clutch.co and compared their services to a handful of other companies. We were exclusively looking to outsource our work for the economic benefits.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have been working with Qulix Systems for around a year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I cannot provide any specific success stories or figures, but Qulix Systems has delivered work both on-time and up to the caliber that we were expecting. The results have been consistent over time. To the best of my knowledge, the products coded by Qulix Systems have seen positive feedback from end-users. Feedback shared by other stakeholders here has also been very positive. 

How did Qulix Systems perform from a project management standpoint?

Qulix Systems delivered on-time and within the specified budget, without any issues. We are using a wide variety of project tools, GitHub being the one we interact with the most. We work in an Agile fashion. In addition, I have not experienced much of a language barrier. Their ability to communicate in English is excellent, which was an unexpected but pleasant surprise. 

What did you find most impressive about Qulix Systems?

Their level of account management has been good and their project managers are extremely responsive. My understanding is that Qulix Systems' developers are of high quality, although this was to be expected.

Are there any areas Qulix Systems could improve?

Nothing comes to mind. We're happy with what Qulix Systems is doing.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Postindustria is an invitation-only tech incubator with a custom software development arm. We are focused on founding and launching new tech businesses and providing work-for-hire web and mobile development services to startups and established companies. I'm the VP of Product Management. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Qulix Systems

GlobeOne project is about simple and easy money transfers between different parties. Our investors were looking to create the best-of-class service for a certain niche of end-users.

What were your goals for this project?

The challenge was to create the service within a very limited timeframe but ensuring all mission-crtical aspects such as flexible enterprise architecture, scalability, superior performance, failover and so on. 

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We were looking for a combination of mature engineering skills and deep financial expertise as the project was quite challenging.

Describe the project in detail.

Qulix was able to provide the full-cycle product development service - from business analysis, UX and solution elaboration to QA. 

What was the team composition?

Their background in financial sector was quite impressive.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

I need to say that we're more than happy with the result.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The team was not very cheap (we had more cost-effective tenderers), but their experience with financial systems middleware and front-end (including certain reusable assets) was priceless.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I would definitely recommend Qulix for any complex and multi-tier projects and implementations.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a financial software company. We have a technology platform for fund selection and portfolio construction, mainly for institutional investors around the world working with funds. This includes anyone building portfolios with funds or selecting funds to invest in hedge funds, mutual funds, ETFs [exchange-traded funds], and so on.

What is your position?

I am a senior associate. My responsibilities reside in software project management, building quantitative models in Excel and then validating them.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Qulix Systems?

We were looking for a software developer that could offer high-quality work, and that could provide us with a scalable team that would be completely managed offshore. Our aim was to lower development costs as well as maintain a high quality to our deliverables.

We needed developers experienced in new and upcoming technologies, and in enterprise-level ones, such as C#, .NET, and various components like Infragistics. We were also looking for a company that could work with mathematical financial models, complex elements with many interlinks, that would also require expertise in statistics and an ability to understand complex formulas from Excel and VBA [Visual Basic for Applications].

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

Their work extends to both back-end and front-end development. Our software is a desktop product, which Qulix Systems develops in its entirety. They help make suggestions on how we can improve the product using industry-standard components, add new functionality to available components, and how we can have a consistent approach to our development.

The team they provide us is comprised of 10 developers. Even though they're outsourced, they work exclusively for our company. They are a dedicated team. Mainly, we liaise with the project manager. Occasionally, we will communicate with the developers as well.

How did you come to work with Qulix Systems?

I wasn't working for the company when they were brought in. Our CEO, along with our co-founder, researched them and identified Qulix Systems as a company that offered a good service. They tested a couple of other companies in a similar region.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The annual development cost is between $400,000 and $800,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The collaboration started in 2005. Qulix Systems have been involved in our operations almost from the outset of our company.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Generally, we're happy with the number of defects that we find. Resolutions are dealt with quickly. Occasionally, we've had to emphasize the priority of certain points, but this is normal in the development life cycle of any company.

In general, the feedback for our products is good. Our clients don't interact with our development team at all. We keep communication separate in order to ensure that in the case of any defect, the person in the middle, typically an account manager is able to handle the issue with the development team and the client respectively.

In time, feedback has gotten better as we learned how to work with Qulix Systems and how to provide new specification models in terms of Excel, and use JIRA properly.

How did Qulix Systems perform from a project management standpoint?

We work on a sprint basis for our development process. This involves two weekly get-togethers. Every two weeks, we evaluate how many points were developed vs. how many were initially planned. We also track the number of defects detected on a weekly basis.

As we add new functionality and solve problems in the existing functionality, we're likely to create problems along the way. The software is quite complex. We strive to get a good idea of the number of defects, which are likely to be deemed important. We use JIRA for project management. Document exchange is also through email and Google Docs.

What distinguishes Qulix Systems from other providers?

They're extremely polite and hard working. This attitude is part of their local culture: their people work hard and give honest opinions on where we should or shouldn't spend our money. We receive constructive feedback constantly. As a client trying to develop new, groundbreaking models, we might try to push the boundaries too far or develop something unrealistic. Qulix Systems help us stay on the ground and make the right decisions in terms of investments. This is a unique proposition for their company. On top of this is their ability to understand complex calculations and implement them into a good product.

Is there anything Qulix Systems could have improved or done differently?

They should have a more proactive approach in terms of providing solutions to known, identified problems. This is something we're constantly working on.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

We build mobile apps focused on financial services and loyalty. We host our services on a proprietary platform, and clients gain access through a mobile app.

What is your position?

I'm the vice president of innovation and product.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenge that you were attempting to address when you first approached Qulix Systems?

The biggest challenge was bringing our product to market. We had a solid concept and business model, but no functional prototype. We needed development support to actually design and deploy a functional prototype that we could use to demo with potential customers and investors. We had limited bandwidth in-house, so we went to find a partner that could offer us support.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail?

They have worked with us extensively in a number of different areas. We use them for mobile development on both iOS and Android, Web development using mostly Java, and QA/QC [quality assurance/quality control] and ongoing support. We manage their developers directly and also handle all of the UI/UX [user interface/user experience] design in-house.

How did you come to choose Qulix Systems as your partner?

The relationship already existed by the time I got here, so I don’t really know how it began. 

Could you provide a general cost estimate for this particular engagement?

Between $200,000 and $1 million. They’re competitive and have a better pricing than other offshore firms that we’re using.

When was the most recent project completed?

We currently have a development team that’s been working with us for almost a year. We’ve increased the size of that team on several occasions. Prior to that, I’ve used several teams from them. I had another team for six months, and that project ended in December. So we're really always working in parallel with them. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the quality of their performance?

For the project that’s ongoing, I have metrics as far as how much they’re completing each sprint. We’ve been very impressed with their performance. The code they’re delivering is usually free of defect and tested for viability. They remain in constant communication with the project manager on our side, and offer consistent updates and seem to incorporate the feedback we give them effectively. Our experience with the previous development team wasn’t as positive. We had a few issues with our deliverables and had problems with responsiveness. Once we brought this to their attention, it was rectified, which we’re glad about.

When working with Qulix Systems, is there anything that you would consider unique or special about their strategic approach or development methodology that distinguishes them from other vendors?

All of their offshore developers are incorporated directly into our team and follow our development strategy, which has been great. In general, they are very quick to respond when we have sourcing needs. They have had some of the strongest developers out of the five or six offshore companies we work with. They seem to really emphasize quality over quantity. There are four of them at Qulix that I would hire in a minute because they have a fantastic work ethic and just excellent coding abilities. 

In retrospect, are there areas in which you think they could improve as a service provider?

The last project that we had them on, it felt like the resources were on multiple projects. When we brought it up, we didn’t get very good response from their leadership, and the changes never happened. We ended up having to use our onshore developers to finish that specific project, so we were pretty unhappy with that situation. On that particular project, the improvement I would have loved to see was simply some knowledge that their resources were 100 percent committed to our project, and that if not, the leadership would make changes based on our concerns. We haven’t had issues like that since, but it would have been nice at the time to have them be more flexible with us.

What advice, if any, would you give a future client of theirs?

Establish rapport with all of the different sourcing managers. It’s really important to create an effective workflow and understand who is in charge of what before giving them assignments. That’s true of any effective offshore relationship.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

We operate and manage e-commerce platforms for the local government here in the United Kingdom.

What is your position?

I’m the managing director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenge that you were attempting to address when you first approached Qulix Systems?

At the time, we needed to build an e-commerce platform from scratch. We had a lot of custom requirements that had to be met within a tight timeframe and budget. We didn’t have the expertise in-house, so we knew that we were going to have to partner with an external developer.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of their involvement?

Primarily, we take care of the high-level requirements and design in-house. They are performing all of the custom coding, and elements of business analysis, QA [quality assurance], and system architecture. The major element is the custom coding. They take our high-level specifications and then build out the solution. The main technologies they use to develop the functional platform are .NET 4.5, MVC 3, and Microsoft SQL server 2012 R2 for the database. They also perform ongoing maintenance. We continue to develop and improve the platform, as our requirements are constantly evolving as we respond to changes in the marketplace.

How did you come to choose Qulix Systems as your partner?

One of my colleagues and I had worked with them in the past, at another company we were with. Being familiar with their work already, they were one of the first firms that we contacted with our project.

Could you provide a general cost estimate for this particular engagement?

It cost around £1 million [approximately $1.5 million].

When is this engagement scheduled for conclusion?

We don’t have an exclusive arrangement with them, but we don’t use anybody else. We’ve continued to maintain a very strong working relationship with them. There is no definitive timeline; we just send them work on an ongoing basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the quality of their performance?

I suppose the primary thing is, we don’t get any complaints in terms of significant problems from clients or their own end-users. We’ve seen a very high retention rate with our clients in terms of them using the platform for upwards of three or more years, and they all keep renewing their contracts. Overall, I think that all stakeholders have been impressed with the solutions crafted and delivered by Qulix. That has to do with the service we provide to them, but also the underlying platform itself. It’s a combination of a lot of contributors, but Qulix definitely holds their own.

We used to maintain a project-based arrangement with them. However, in the last 18 months, we’ve moved to a more agile approach with more flexibility. We’re pretty much always in constant communication with them. They’ve met all of our expectations.

When working with Qulix Systems, is there anything that you would consider unique or special about their strategic approach or development methodology that distinguishes them from other vendors?

Whenever we’ve got a particularly big or complex bit of new functionality, they will come spend a few days with us on site. We don’t experience cultural or language barriers in any way when dealing with their developers or project leads. We feel like they’re almost an extension of our own organization. That’s how well they can integrate with our in-house team.

What advice, if any, would you give a future client of theirs?

I suppose the only advice I would give is not to be swayed or influenced by past experiences with offshore development, and treat them as a genuine partner, and the relationship should work, even flourish.

BACKGROUND

Could you describe your organization?

I work for a software development firm in Estonia. We design and develop custom solutions for businesses mostly here in Europe, but we also have some clients in the United States. 

What is your position?

I'm the business development manager and the executive director of our Belarusian branch.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenge that you were trying to address when you first approached Qulix Systems?

When we first approached Qulix some six years ago, it was because we were undertaking a very large and complex project, and we didn't have enough Java developers in-house to build out the solution. We decided to find a technology partner to support our team and provide the technical resources we needed. 

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail?

Their original scope of work was pure Java development. We had their developers writing custom code, testing and deploying it. But we've expanded their role in the years since to everything except direct project management, which we always handle in-house. They perform custom programming in Java and .NET languages. They do all of our UI/UX [user interface/user experience] design work. They handle performance testing and quality assurance. And they offer strategic consulting, maintenance and support services, too. 

How did you select Qulix Systems as your partner?

I can't remember the exact method, but I believe they came recommended to us by someone internally. It was years ago, so I'm really not positive.

Could you provide a general cost estimate for this engagement?

The original project was an hourly based project. We've only ever had one fixed-price engagement, several years back, and it was in the range of $300,000. Since we're mostly using them to support our own developers, it doesn't usually make sense to have them work on fixed priced projects. 

When was the most recent project completed?

The last strictly defined piece of work was finished back in December [2014].

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the quality of their performance?

We've never had an issue with quality assurance. They have a fantastic automated system for testing viable code before delivery, and it has made a huge difference in ensuring quality. Our end users are always interacting with a very polished end product. The user experience is fantastic and simple. We have received nothing but positive feedback. Internally, our own developers have been consistently impressed with the quality of the code that Qulix is able to produce. 

When working with Qulix Systems, is there anything that you would consider special about their strategic approach or development methodology that distinguishes them from other vendors?

We have worked with offshore development teams in the past and our experience has been hit or miss. Some teams are great from a technical standpoint yet lack the responsiveness and communication skills necessary to cultivate a successful partnership. Other teams just can't seem to handle the scale of certain projects. The great thing about Qulix is their extensive talent pool. They have a very nuanced understanding and practical knowledge of technology solutions. We've really been able to leverage their expertise. 

In retrospect, are there areas in which you think they could improve as service provider?

I really can't make any recommendations based on our experience. They have been an outstanding technology partner and a valuable development resource when our own capabilities are strained. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CTO of a comparison website for fashion products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Qulix Systems?

We engaged Qulix Systems to design and develop a progressive web application.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted the functionality of a progressive web app on our website, as well as a fresh design.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We contacted several vendors, but Qulix Systems’ professional response and genuine interest distinguished the team. They demonstrated good technical knowledge from an early stage.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They designed the app based on our wireframes and developed the front- and backend from scratch.

What was the team composition?

I served as project manager. Their team comprised a designer and two developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

No, we had no specific metrics.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

They offered project management, but I preferred to handle the role myself. I interacted directly with their team.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They went the extra mile and we were completely satisfied with the results.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No. We were happy with the entire experience.