STX Next

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Product Owner/ VP of Software Development of Esoft Planner

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Facility management software

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire STX Next to accomplish?

• Provide an efficient development team to allow for the continuous development and management of our software application

SOLUTION

How did you find STX Next?

Online Search

Why did you select STX Next over others?

Pricing fit our budget

How many teammates from STX Next were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

• Continuous development of our software application and the support and maintenance.
• we expect development that provides consistent value to our product and its users to allow us to grow.
• we ask that their time is spent in specific areas. 60% be spent on new development sprint goal. 10% testing, 10% meetings, 10%bugs/fixes, 10% on our CRM tool. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

When pulling time sheets we see most sprints allocate the time/resources properly after my analysis. 

we have grown overtime with the capability of development as the team has become faster and more efficient after the first 6 months of working with them.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

At first no. But after about 6 months of working with them we got better communication and have developed better processes as we work as a continuous partner

What was your primary form of communication with STX Next?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

I'm impressed by STX Next's willingness to be flexible. We are a demanding client with a tight budget that forces the team to be diligent and be in constant communication with. 

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

The onboarding process for us was a bit of a nightmare for the first 3 months where nothing really got done or was communicated not properly 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Project Manager of CloudCompli

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Our company offers a comprehensive cloud-based stormwater management platform, integrating digital inspections, issue tracking, analytics, and weather monitoring to enhance program efficiency and provide valuable insights.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire STX Next to accomplish?

• Continuously enhance and maintain our mobile application.
• Advance and refine our BMP Map Builder Product.
• Advance and refine our BMP Map Builder Product.

SOLUTION

How did you find STX Next?

Referral

Why did you select STX Next over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from STX Next were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

• Upgrading to the Latest React Native Version: Deliverable: An updated app running on the latest React Native framework, ensuring improved performance and access to new features. 
• Integration of TypeScript: Deliverable: Enhanced code reliability and maintainability with TypeScript implementation, leading to fewer runtime errors and more robust app functionality. 
• Implementation of Redux for State Management: Deliverable: A more efficient and predictable state management system within the app, resulting in smoother user experience and easier code maintenance. 
• Optimization of Existing Libraries: Deliverable: Updated and optimized libraries that are fully compatible with the new framework and programming enhancements, contributing to overall app performance and stability. 
• Continuous Addition of New Features: Deliverable: Regularly updated app functionalities and features, ensuring the app remains competitive and meets evolving user needs. 
• Quality Assurance and Testing: Deliverable: A thoroughly tested app with each upgrade and new feature addition, ensuring high quality and reliability. 
• Documentation: Deliverable: Comprehensive documentation including technical details of upgrades, feature guides, and user manuals. 
• Ongoing Support and Maintenance: Deliverable: Continuous technical support and maintenance services to address any issues or bugs, ensuring smooth app operation. 
• Compliance and Security: Deliverable: Assurance that all upgrades and features adhere to relevant industry standards and security protocols. 
• Communication and Reporting: Deliverable: Regular updates and reports to stakeholders about the progress, challenges, and changes in the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Improved App Performance Post-Upgrade: We observed significant improvements in the overall performance of our mobile app following the upgrade. This was evident through enhanced load times, increased responsiveness, and a notable decrease in crash rates, which collectively contributed to a smoother UX. 
• Reduction in Runtime Errors and Bugs: Post integration of TypeScript and optimizing our libraries, we saw a substantial reduction in runtime errors and bugs. The number of reported issues decreased markedly, indicating an improvement in code quality and stability, which has been instrumental in enhancing app reliability. 
• Increased User Engagement: Following the implementation of new features and upgrades, we witnessed a notable increase in user engagement. This was reflected in metrics such as higher daily active users, extended session durations, and improved user retention rates. Additionally, user feedback and ratings on app stores became more positive, further confirming the success of our enhancement efforts.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

STX Next displayed exemplary project management throughout our collaboration. They consistently delivered all items on schedule, demonstrating a high level of efficiency and commitment. Their team was notably responsive to our needs, ensuring that all project aspects were aligned with our requirements. 
Moreover, they maintained a strong adherence to deadlines, which greatly contributed to the smooth execution and timely completion of our projects. Their professional approach in managing timelines and responsiveness was a key factor in the successful delivery of our objectives.

What was your primary form of communication with STX Next?

Virtual Meeting

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

What stood out most about STX was their exceptional commitment to client satisfaction and their collaborative approach. They worked closely with us at every step, ensuring that all our needs were met and going above and beyond to keep us happy. 
Their company culture resonated deeply with ours, creating a harmonious and productive working relationship. Additionally, their ongoing support and proactive check-ins to ensure everything is running smoothly have been particularly noteworthy. This level of personalized attention and care in fostering a positive client experience is what makes STX truly unique and impressive.

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

None

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.
I am a Director at VetMedux

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We provide trusted education and time-saving tools to support veterinarians and their teams as they navigate the complexities of modern practice.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire STX Next to accomplish?

• Web development
• Discovery workshop
• Native app development

SOLUTION

How did you find STX Next?

Referral

Why did you select STX Next over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from STX Next were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Initially the project began with a discovery workshop. We came away with eight deliverables, helping us leverage the expertise of the STX Next team across multiple areas of our business. We came away with requirements, a roadmap, recommendations on the system architecture, concept design, and a prototype. The STX Next team also gave us an estimate for team composition needed to develop the platform. 

After we agreed on the initial scope, we dove into development. We rebuilt our previous product from scratch (web and native apps), then moved on to adding an additional tier to the paid subscription. We originally planned on this being a limited project, but we quickly realized that the skills and professionalism of the STX Next team made an ongoing relationship desirable.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Successful relaunch of our web and native applications. Successful launch of a premium tier product. Successful launch of a user-feedback-driven redesign. Functional API development to allow integrations within our industry. Ongoing work to greatly expand and improve integration opportunities.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

We used the scrum methodology for our project. We mainly use slack and jira to communicate. The team was open to using software that our company uses vs requiring us to use new software. Overall, we have been thoroughly impressed with their communication skills. Originally I was somewhat concerned about working with a team in a completely different time zone, but we have overcome those challenges. The team is always responsive and open to hearing our thoughts and concerns.

What was your primary form of communication with STX Next?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

I have been impressed with their ability to think outside the box and come up with new, unique solutions to problems that we have. They have taken the time to truly understand our product, audience, and needs in order to provide us with the best possible solutions. In addition, they have a wide range of specialities on their team, which allows us to pull in additional individuals while we tackle specific tasks. This was extremely helpful as we were building our search engine. 

We were able to work with a search expert that guided us through the process, gave us recommendations, and was open to hearing our feedback as well. Our STX Next team cares about our product as if it were their own and is always striving to create the best possible product.

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

We encountered some challenges around expanding our product offerings with our existing team. The STX Next team worked closely with us to solve this issue by setting up a second team to run two parallel projects.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CTO of a consumer products & services company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Automatically generate audio versions of news articles and monetize via audio advertising.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire STX Next to accomplish?

• Build out back end for mobile app to consolidate our content
• Have an additional developer to participate in PR reviews, etc.

SOLUTION

How did you find STX Next?

Online Search

Why did you select STX Next over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from STX Next were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

• Backend for mobile app
• Content delivering and filtering
• User management

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The app is working! We had a great experience working up through versions, and feature/product outcomes are the most important ones.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

We worked together for ~6 months, in intervals of two-week Jira sprints. We did a good job scoping, and the items were delivered on time.

What was your primary form of communication with STX Next?

Virtual Meeting

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

Our STX Next developer was amazing. She was incredibly capable across various facets we needed, and if she was ever outside of her comfort zone, it seemed the STX Platform was there to support her -- she was able to ask other STX developers or experts about topics she was working on for us.

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

We're very satisfied. They maybe could have helped with onboarding/kick-off, but I think that was just something that we (from the customer's side) were naive about. Learning opportunities all around -- STX was absolutely great.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO at a financial advisory company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with STX Next?

We needed help from a development company to update our web platform to better manage our advisory process and make our business more efficient.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a previous web platform that didn’t fit our company’s needs anymore. STX Next has developed a new web platform from scratch using Python and Vue.js. Our platform allows our clients to leave a review and has a reconciliation fee functionality as well. At some point, we considered hiring STX Next for design services, but we didn’t need them in the end.

What is the team composition?

We work with six teammates from STX Next, including four developers, one product owner, and one QA tester.

How did you come to work with STX Next?

I found STX Next online. I chose STX Next because they seemed professional and had the skill set that we required. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested £300,000 (approximately $376,000 USD) with STX Next.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with STX Next in June 2022, and our partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

STX Next has met my expectations, and I’m pleased with the platform they’ve developed. Our users have recently started using the platform and are very happy. STX Next has shown great expertise and put the work into trying to understand what we want to achieve.

How did STX Next perform from a project management standpoint?

STX Next is impeccably good when it comes to communication. They’re responsive to my requests and very proactive. I have frequent meetings with STX Next’s service delivery manager, who always takes and implements our feedback.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m most impressed with STX Next’s professionalism. STX Next’s staff is excellent, and their development team works diligently to develop the platform according to our requirements.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The project has taken longer than expected. I hoped to have something delivered in 5-6 months, which turned into eight months. During this time, we had to continue paying for the additional time because our fee wasn’t flat. However, we’ve discussed this situation, and what STX Next has developed so far is excellent.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I encourage customers to work with STX Next because they manage client relationships well.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work at a district heating supplier. We supply heat, hot water, and cooling to thousands of customers in the UK.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with STX Next?

We needed a company that could help with our metering and billing platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

STX Next provides software development support for our metering and billing platform. They’re responsible for helping us manage and improve the platform.

What is the team composition?

We've worked with four developers, one tester, one DevOps, and one product owner/Scrum Master.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2019, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our main measure of success is whether the sprints are planned, tested, and delivered successfully. This has resulted in smooth delivery and ongoing improvements.

How did STX Next perform from a project management standpoint?

STX Next has performed well in terms of project management. We run an agile project delivery, and every two weeks, they do new work for us. We have a very structured relationship — we have regular presentations and sprint planning and delivery meetings. They have the agility and flexibility to quickly make changes within what we’re delivering. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed with STX Next’s fantastic work ethic and support. They’ve helped us get over inevitable hurdles that we’ve faced during software delivery.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Tailored products for individual customers would be an extra product offering that I'm sure would be well received.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Putting a structure in place for the delivery is crucial to deliver successful change. It ensures the whole team know what's planned yet gives them the freedom to deliver their best.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at Boopos, a fintech company and private bank.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with STX Next?

We needed to augment our team with engineers familiar with data warehouses, including AWS, as well as with Python and Angular development expertise. Thus, we sought staff augmentation service providers to help us out.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

STX Next provides us with staff augmentation services — they specifically provide us with Python and Angular engineers knowledgeable in AWS. These resources are embedded in our team, and they continuously work with us to help us develop an internal platform for banking purposes. Our internal resources are senior-level engineers, so STX Next provides us with mid-level engineers.

Initially, STX Next offered to develop the job descriptions for the resources we needed, but we wrote our own ones instead. Then, they ran the candidate search process internally. Once they found the right candidates for us, they trained them internally before incorporating them into our team.

What is the team composition?

I work with STX Next’s head of machine learning and the engineers that they’ve hired for us.

How did you come to work with STX Next?

We found them on Clutch and chose them because they were very transparent regarding expectations. They were the only ones able to provide realistic timelines, and they found the kind of candidates we wanted.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $170,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2022, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

From day one, STX Next has made things really easy for me. Their engineers have been able to work with our internal engineers without any issues.

How did STX Next perform from a project management standpoint?

STX Next’s engineers work under our project management guidance. Initially, we communicated via email and video conference calls; now, we communicate via Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

STX Next is really transparent. Moreover, they have great engineers who work really fast. Thanks to the quality of their work, we don’t have a lot of iteration, which facilitates the fast pace.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Initially, we had some back and forth with STX Next’s legal department to set up our contract agreement. That process took longer than expected because they weren’t flexible regarding their legal framework. Other than that, I have no constructive feedback for them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Ensure they understand the project, what you want, and how you work. Additionally, ensure you understand that the engagement will be under their rules.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of a donate-now-pay-later service provider for nonprofits. We help our clients raise money and increase the average donation value. Meanwhile, we allow donors to receive the full tax benefit of their donation immediately and fulfill the financial obligation over three, six, or nine months.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with STX Next?

We needed to find an affordable way to develop the product, which is a first of its kind from inception. In late 2021, we had a good idea of what we needed to build and proceeded with the implementation phase with STX Next. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

STX Next has developed our platform. Initially, they provided a 2–3 week process that allowed us to identify requirements, high-level services, and high-level architecture. Once that phase was completed, they rolled into the implementation phase with a separate team. 

The team has used a Python technology stack, React on the frontend, and AWS for hosting. Development took close to seven months, from the first line of code to the deployment. Our product is a button a nonprofit can integrate into their website. The button launches hosted experience as a lightbox on that site or a dedicated tab. Although the tool is designed to be mobile-ready, it’s not a mobile application. 

Currently, STX Next is building additional features. They also provide DevOps, QA, and architectural capabilities for us. In terms of DevOps, they assist us with releases and changes to our production, staging, and development environments. 

What is the team composition?

We have an architecture teammate and several DevOps resources. I also work with their software development managers and a local representative for STX Next in the US, who helps with team augmentation and resolving issues. 

How did you come to work with STX Next?

I knew the founder from a previous relationship when I worked with another company —  we were the first US company to work with STX Next. We watched them grow from a 60–70-person team to a 100-person team and then to the company they are today. 

I was the architect of that project and inherited the relationship with STX Next. Back then, we worked with three third-party development shops. Within a year of my joining the company, we reduced that to an exclusive relationship with STX Next because they provided the best services and quality. 

When I came to my current company, we went through an evaluation process and considered offshore providers in various countries. Ultimately, we found that STX Next still had competitive prices, even though they were a bit more expensive than they used to be. 

The quality they offered and the fact that I had access to the teammates I had previously worked with gave me the confidence that they could execute our complex project. I didn’t want to risk working with unknown people, so I chose to bet on  STX Next because I knew they could provide quality resources. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent north of $750,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2021, began the build phase in 2022, and launched the product in August 2022. Our engagement with STX Next is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The product’s quality is good; we’re integrated with a number of third parties, and our part is the most stable of all the technological components of our solution. We monitor traffic on our website, and the results have met our expectations. 

Moreover, STX Next’s timeline for delivery has been good, considering the breadth of services and the complexity of the product, including the number of third-party integrations we require. Since our launch in August 2022, we’ve made it through our first peak donation season around the holidays. 

How did STX Next perform from a project management standpoint?

Since our project involves a custom build, our scope changes regularly. Therefore, rating STX Next’s timeliness is challenging and depends on who we ask. 

We use the Agile methodology, so we have sprint planning exercises, sprint retrospectives, and standard activities related to this way of working. As for tools, we use the Atlassian suite for project management, including Bitbucket, Jira, and Confluence. For communication, we use Slack extensively as our core tool. We also have daily stand-up calls and sometimes multiple calls a day. I meet with the software development managers every week.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The resources STX Next provides are high-quality. I appreciate the flexibility with which they roll teammates on and off the project. One of our concerns is not wanting to bring on teammates we won’t engage with for a long period of time. The folks STX Next has brought into the team have stayed on the project for a reasonable time. 

Historically, STX Next has a bench where, as folks roll off a project, they can grow their skill set. As a result, when the same teammates come back to our project or hop onto another project, they’ve benefitted from additional training and can now provide a higher value for the dollar. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only issue we’ve had is turnover on both sides. In the last couple of years, there’s been a spike in need in the engineering market, and STX Next has had some challenges with employee retention. However, this issue hasn’t impacted our team too much because I’ve worked with these folks for a very long period, and they enjoy being on the project. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I advise understanding your needs. If you have a brand new project, take advantage of the offer to work with STX Next’s architecture team to come up with an early sketch of the solution. 

I also recommend using their DevOps support; that’s been very good for us in managing the complexities of hosting environments. The rest will depend on the particulars of your project; we get quality resources from STX Next, who are proficient in the technologies we use, so we’re satisfied with what we’ve gotten. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am VP of Engineering for a SaaS Supply Chain Software Company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire STX Next, and what were your goals?

We hired STX Next to help develop our world-class SaaS Web Application that helps companies manage their imports for the supply chain. Our goal was to get the system to track end-to-end the Purchase Order through the Shipment Confirmation and Tracking Events of international imports. We hoped STX Next would bring their expertise in Python and Node.JS development to develop features faster.

SOLUTION

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

We chose STX Next because they are the number one contracting firm for Python. Recently, they have expanded into JS and Typescript, and our project uses both. They also have people skilled in both Angular and React, and we needed both. In short, we chose STX Next because they have the skills we needed, and a reputation for being the best. They also work as members of our Scrum team, and that is very helpful in organizing.

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

STX Next works either with a scope or as Scrum team members. Rather than a scope of work, we used STX Next to supplement our own team and join our Scrum. They have been responsible for developing major features and continue to do so as team members. We use Jira to organize, and the team also uses Docker, Node, Typescript, Angular, React, MS SQL, Postgres, and Python.

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

STX Next scales up and down with us as we shrink and grow our teams. We have used more than 7 STX team members at once to supplement various Scrum teams.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In general, we have seen incredible success with STX Next. Their developers deliver more story points per sprint than other international contractors. They also get direclty involved in architecture and planning. Our project was completed on time and with more features than was required, due in a large part to STX Next.

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

STX Next is very flexible and adaptive to our own project management. They used our Jira and Slack and are fully integrated into our teams communcations.

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

What is most unique about STX Next is their committment to Scrum and agile. Instead of just doing a project, they understand that every 2 weeks is a mini-project, and are committed to succeeding every sprint. That means:

1. They sometimes work extra hours if the sprint is at risk.
2. They often help other team-mates to succeed in their tasks also.
3. They try to fully understand that work task to do it right the first time.
4. They are committed to testing and quality.

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

STX Next is a bit more expensive than some other firms, but on a story-point by story-point basis it works out to be cheaper, because STX Next gets more done.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm an executive at a cryptocurrency exchange company. In my role, I'm responsible for the company's development, infrastructure, and security.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with STX Next?

We were developing our cryptocurrency exchange platform and hired developers from STX Next for front- and backend development and DevOps. When I joined the company, the product already existed and had a lot of code and people working on it, but the documentation wasn’t comprehensive.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

STX Next provides us with developers who work on our platform's front- and backend and DevOps resources responsible for infrastructure. First, STX Next dove into our product and got help from colleagues to understand it. They've helped develop our cryptocurrency exchange, which has a backend in Python. We use an API on the backend, and STX Next has also built this API and adds new functionality when needed. 

For the frontend, they've helped redesign the exchange website, using JavaScript for development. We have a separate back office function for customer support and compliance with Know Your Customer standards, where we can check the users' transactions. STX Next has built this back office using Vue.js. Meanwhile, our mobile app was developed by another company, so they don't participate in mobile development. 

As for DevOps, STX Next helps us with infrastructure, deployment of new services, security, and ensuring there aren't any incidents. If we have issues, they help us fix them. 

What is the team composition?

In the beginning, we worked with 7–10 teammates from STX Next. We're mostly in contact with team leads, though we also speak directly with the developers when we need specific information. 

How did you come to work with STX Next?

Our partnership with STX Next started before I joined the company. 

How much have you invested with them?

We initially paid them around $100,000 monthly, slowly decreasing to about $30,000–$40,000 monthly. Overall, we've spent over $1 million with STX Next. 

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with them in May 2022, when I joined the company, though the partnership began sometime in 2021. Although our relationship is ongoing, we're about to finish the engagement due to internal reasons.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don't have any KPIs and rely on STX Next's speed to complete tasks as a metric. Since I also work as a developer, I can estimate how much time tasks can take. We also measure their success based on feedback from our internal team. Although we're ending our engagement with them, it's not because of STX Next's work but for internal reasons. 

How did STX Next perform from a project management standpoint?

We use ClickUp for project management. Within the platform, we organize each team's backlog and two-week sprints and can see the teams' velocity. Initially, we used Microsoft Teams for communication, and we've since switched to Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciate that some STX Next developers have helped us a lot. They do a great job when we have issues or urgent tasks; they're willing to work overtime to help solve problems. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We've worked with many teammates from STX Next, some of whom have been better than others. I appreciate proactivity, and some developers were too relaxed and weren't trying to perform unless we pushed them. Therefore, I had to analyze each team and replace some teammates. 

However, I wouldn't say these issues were completely on STX Next since everything was organized before I joined the company, so the teams may not have had proper guidance. Moreover, some developers perform very well and are proactive. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

STX Next is a good company. To get the best results, ensure you choose the right teammates for the job and monitor them. I'd advise having a developer from your side provide feedback about STX Next's performance.