Synergy Codes

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a co-owner and CTO of a software development company that works in many industries. We act as the technical arm of a small group of companies.

What challenge were you trying to address with Synergy Codes?

A tool that we use to accelerate our development lifecycle required some expertise that Synergy Code had on staff. The solution is a code-generation project that had never been built before that would help people develop microservices.

 What was the scope of their involvement?

The solution uses domain-driven design (a set of standards for the industry) to capture business domain models. We came up with a solution and a set of requirements. Our specifications are less formal than other companies’ are, but they work for us. Synergy Codes staff contact was able to shape those requirements into a final solution.

The solution has evolved over time as we've come to more fully understand what exactly we're developing — the range and the design of modeling are very complex areas.

The solution is Microsoft based, so the portion that Synergy is involved in is built with React, and we have it running on a WebView display. The only technology they didn't build from scratch was a GoJs diagramming tool.

The tool is a graphical interface within Visual Studio that allows us to drag and drop code to capture a business model. From there, we take that information and generate the actual C# and ASP.NET classes, which run as microservices in the cloud.

Most of the work that Synergy does has been handed off to our team, and we assumed ownership of the project shortly after delivery. There are certain things that we go back to Synergy for, however, including externalizing some of the model’s elements.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with around 3–4 people, including a senior developer and 2–3 junior developers. When we were working out the design, we worked with another senior developer. Our contacts have stayed the same throughout the project.

How did you come to work with Synergy Codes?

They were a recommendation through another company that we partner with for technology.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since September 2019. The main development is done, but they still send me small updates. We’ll probably be working with them on a larger project later this year.

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

If I was to take any business idea and put it through the traditional business development cycle, we’d be looking at 3–6 months before we have a usable project. Now, with the product that Synergy Codes built, we can have a working solution in a matter of days.

If I look at the delivery side, they adhered to their estimates almost to the exact day.

There have also been an incredibly small number of defects. I’ve been in the software industry since 1982, and I’ve never seen someone hit the development mark as high as Synergy does. They've nailed this. This is our idea, and they've delivered it creatively and efficiently.

How did Synergy Codes perform from a project management standpoint?

Everything went through a fixed contact and was done on schedule. We typically communicate over Skype. GitHub helps us collaborate as well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Because we have a very good relationship with them, it’s very easy to communicate our thoughts and ideas.

Are there any areas they could improve?

To be honest, no, there aren't. Over the past four years, I’ve witnessed how excellent Synergy is as a company. They’re customer-focused and continuously improve. I’ve dealt with many offshore companies, and Synergy’s communication abilities are by far the best I’ve seen.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be prepared with your design if they’re not creating it for you. Also, be prepared to see your solution come about quickly. They turned everything around fast.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO and co-founder of EON Collective. We specialize in data monetization projects, migration to the cloud, data governance, and process mining and analysis. We deal with anything that has to do with modernizing legacy applications and projects that deal with data analysis.

What challenge were you trying to address with Synergy Codes?

We were working on a project for a major insurance carrier. This company gets audited regarding where their information is and how it’s being calculated, and they have certain responsibilities relating to GDPR compliance. They have to account for the rules they’re applying against their data sets, so we were asked to build a data lineage application and decided to bring in a partner to help us.

We needed a company with experience in the graphing analytics stack we wanted to use, which shows nodes and how they’re connected. We also wanted a partner with a keen eye for UI design. Our contract was a fixed bid, so we had to meet our deliverable in a specific timeframe and needed a provider we could count on to meet deadlines and understand the requirements the first time around.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Synergy Codes is our frontend team. They helped us build the data lineage web application for our client. The team used GoJS and React. We initially went to them with the requirements, and they came back with a time estimate. 

We started by working with their UI designers to ensure the experience would meet the client’s goals. We had a wireframe we’d put together using Zeppelin and Sketch, and we provided that to the Synergy Codes team. They suggested changes to the UI design, which we enacted. This involved graph science that the team understood, encoded, and developed. 

From there, they helped us develop the app. The use case was to trace the attributes coming from the client’s reports and ETL: Tableau and the data modernization warehouse in Snowflake. The app can trace that information from the ultimate source to the ultimate target. Synergy Codes helped us build specific algorithms to understand the shortest paths.

Since the application was finished and we went into user acceptance testing, we’ve requested additional changes that the team has handled. Our client has also requested changes to the UI or if there’s an issue, and Synergy Codes provides support. 

What is the team composition?

We work with a UI Designer, a Scrum Master, a couple of developers, and executives who participate in meetings. In total, the team has about five people from Synergy Codes.

How did you come to work with Synergy Codes?

We were initially looking for a local provider and were considering different packages to build the frontend. Our client decided to go with GoJS as the framework, so we called GoJS, and they recommended Synergy Codes as the company to reach out to, bar none. We did a little bit of homework by visiting their site and doing some online searches, which also took us to them. 

Through our recommendation, we reached out to Synergy Codes, and the minute we talked to the team, we knew they were right for us. We liked that they were a one-stop-shop specialized in Web UI and could manage their own work. 

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent $70,000–$90,000. We paid in the neighborhood of $70,000–$80,000 for the initial effort, and additional changes cost around $10,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2021, and the first delivery was in August 2021. Our partnership is ongoing.

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

We measure the quality of Synergy Codes’ work based on the feedback from our client, and they told us this is the first app they receive on time and within budget. Plus, they praised the UI, saying it’s gone beyond their expectations — this level of accolade is huge. Synergy Codes’ suggestions have augmented something that was already visually appealing and have given us an even better visual experience for the app.

Of course, there are bugs in any development project, and Synergy Codes addresses them well. Additionally, whenever there are changes in requirements along the way, the team immediately understands and makes the change. Their work has not only made us look good and enabled us to get more business from this client; it’s also inspired us to seek a stronger relationship with Synergy Codes going forward. 

Synergy Codes is at the top of the charts regarding timeliness, accuracy, completeness, and budget compliance. Their timelines and the accuracy of their estimates are typically spot-on. Anytime work falls outside their estimates, it’s generally due to some level of scope or requirement change. 

How did Synergy Codes perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re able to provide a full team, and they not only source their work; they manage the process themselves and provide estimates on the timelines. We use an Agile environment, and they run their own Scrum cycles, document them, and deliver, which is what we were looking for. 

We use Jira to capture the requirements and stories and track the project’s progress. We utilize Zoom for communication quite heavily. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Apart from their quality and passion, I’m most impressed with Synergy Codes’ trustworthiness. I’ve worked with many companies over my 30-year career, and they’re one f the most trusted companies I’ve partnered with. When they say they’ll do something, they not only do it; they relay information to us, including the issues. Their trust and passion really set them apart from other companies we’ve worked with.

While other companies change teams constantly, Synergy Codes provides a consistent team from beginning to end. Plus, there’s a big synergy between our teams — pardon the pun!

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could expand their toolkit to encompass more capabilities. They do just about everything in the UI space, so the only improvement I’d suggest is to continue pushing the envelope on graphic packages. They already do that naturally, and I’d expect to see more of that growth. We’re hoping that they get the level of funding to take their work to an even higher level.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re looking for a high level of expertise, make a comparison and look for a company that has references and a portfolio. Also, have providers walk through their wireframes and design. 

When it comes to Synergy Codes, go in with an open mind regarding the app’s requirements. While the team can work within a box, they can also expand your application because of their experience across different verticals — they have expertise bar none.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a technology company, improving process safety technologies.

For what projects/services did your company hire Synergy Codes, and what were your goals?

Our product needed an interface to a diagramming tool to allow users another form of data entry and mapping.

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

We found Synergy Codes through the recommendation of the Gojs network as a company that specialized in using their libraries.

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

The process has been very professional. We had a kick off to discuss the scope and spirit of what we were looking to build and where our development experience was. We outlined the parts our team would be building and the parts they would build (gojs). They have followed regular sprint deliveries and followed up early where there were questions. They also provided some design meeting to help provide alternatives our team had not considered, which ended up getting implemented.

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

we have had 2-3 (outside of project management and business roles) people on the project and the relationship has grown to be an ongoing partnership.

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

They have taken a huge learning curve away from our team by picking up this piece of our application and continue to provide improvements in our diagramming features.

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

There are sprint planning (every two weeks), Backlog reviews as needed, and on demand communication on questions for the work items being delivered. Additionally, they have provided needed workshops to pull out the spirit of what we are needing at various phases which has gone a long way for our teams to remain in alignment as we each focus on our parts.

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

They are professional, helpful, and insightful. Beyond the great technical ability... the above are worth so much.

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

All improvements would be on my side as a customer.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the principal and owner of a IT Services and Software business based in Sydney, Australia. My company, Metricus, is building next generation Process Mining solutions, targeted for specific business sectors

For what projects/services did your company hire Synergy Codes, and what were your goals?

I had the requirement for taking a prototype Process Mining solution, built around Go.JS in JavaScript and HTML, and transform this solution into a React, Typescript environment. This involved UI consultancy from Synergy, Synergy providing a best in class architecture, and Synergy providing the code to replace the prototype

How did you select Synergy Codes and what were the deciding factors?

Primarily through there experience with Go.JS and the recommendations provided by NorthWoods Software

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

UI design, provision of baseline React/Typescript architecture using Material, replication of all functionality provided in the protoype, then ongoing coding and consulting related to additional phases.

How many people from the Synergy Codes team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Multiple. The CEO, a project manager, a lead developer, 2 coders and a UI specialist

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

Could not have asked for me. Open, honest, transparent and they deliver. I intend to keep using Synergy for all coding work, as opposed to hiring staff locally or using local contractors/consultants

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

Professional, yet at the same time, relaxed as required

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

Their professionalism and transparency in the workflow have been impressive. A company you can trust

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

No.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Reglynk is a GRC solution built on the salesforce platform. I am a co-founder and manage the product development.

For what projects/services did your company hire Synergy Codes, and what were your goals?

We needed our Go.js JavaScript library for building interactive diagrams and graphs updated with new features and bug fixes which is why we reached out to Synergy codes. Our goal was to have a user-friendly flow chart builder within our application.

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

We reached out to Go.js for a referral of vendors that specialize in the Go.js javascript library.

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

The scope was to update the existing flowchart with a fresh UI/UX as well as fix existing bugs.

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

We worked with about 2-4 members from Synergy Codes from the CEO to the main developer on the project

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

Within a month we were able to release the updated code which fixed some major bugs we had been experiencing. We also were able to have a fresh new look and feel to the application which has been well received by our users. The project was scheduled for 3 weeks but ended up taking four. It was still within the expected timeline as Synergy provided a working product within the month.

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

Synergy's communication was via email and daily calls. The communication throughout the project was smooth and concise.

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

They were able to take the requirements and executed them without follow-ups. This was important as it showed they listened well and have good experience with the material we required.

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

We ended up a little over budget but otherwise the project went smoothly.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a recently retired Managing Director of a software company and managing this project is part of my handover comittments. The company Flite Software NI Ltd is a small specialised software co-delivering solutions to engineering designers.

For what projects/services did your company hire Synergy Codes, and what were your goals?

We are converting/expanding our legacy core product to HTML/CSS/JS/Rust and Synergy Codes (SC) are responsible for the diagramming/flowsheet UI. This is the key UI part of our Flow Designer product where the user will spend most time.

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

Knowledge and experience with diagramming software. Good communication and English skills Professional Approach Existing portfolio

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

Scope of work is defined by reproducing and improving existing legacy product UI functionality. Project steps are split into 2 phases: Phase 1 reproduce existing functionality. Phase 2 make improvements, new features and enhancements. Project split into 2 week sprints with feedback and deliverables available every 2 weeks.

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

There are 4 people on the project team, including a project manager with more people being drafted for specific needs in order to meets time goals. Our company has one project manager and 3 full time software engineers working on this project. Interface is project manager to lead programmer and project manager to project manager.

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

Project is 75% complete at the time of writing review and just ahead of schedule. To date our code testing of the software produced has been positive. Few bugs, quick fixes, good understanding of needs.

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

2 week sprint, slighly ahead of time schedule. Communication via bitbucket, online emails, demo site.

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

So far they have delivered on their promises. They are 100% professional.

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

Documentation is good, but could be better kept up to date.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a software development company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Synergy Codes?

We were looking for new ways to present our catalog’s content.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Synergy Codes helps us build a web-based product. They’re responsible for the UX/UI design and the integration, working with GoJS, Javascript, typescript, and Angular to manage these efforts.

What is the team composition?

We work with two developers who are supported by GoJS and UX experts.

How did you come to work with Synergy Codes?

We did some research to find companies that knew how to use GoJS, and they popped out as one of the best, so we decided to work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between €50,000–€60,000 (approximately $61,000–$73,100 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started this project in January 2021, and it’s ongoing.

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

Two of the components they developed have been successfully integrated into our website. Though the last component hasn’t been finished yet, we’re very happy with the deliverables.

How did Synergy Codes perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate through Slack and Google, which has worked well for us. On top of that, they’ve assigned us a project manager who works directly with our technical lead. Our internal development cycles consist of feedback sessions and one-week sprints.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have great technical knowledge and are very easy to work with, which we highly appreciate.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We’ve been working with them on a contractor framework, which has worked well for us.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

OPAL-RT is a manufacturer of testing equipment. We provide tools for testing different kinds of systems, which can be parts of cars, airplanes, or any type of equipment. The final product is a real-time simulator through which we can simulate a part of a system, or produce input and output for the equipment under test. I’m a product manager for the company, specifically for electrical products. I also work in other areas of the company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Synergy Codes?

We needed to develop a new interface for one of our products, and I was looking for a company that had experience with Vue.js technology. We needed them to help us build the web application.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Synergy Codes developed a web application using HTML5, JavaScript, and other web technologies, including React. It can run in the cloud, but it can also run on desktops. It’s not only web-based; it’s an application that can run in different flavors.

Its role is to provide the UI to build circuit models for our customers. It’s a drawing tool for designing models of the equipment that users want to perform tests on. It’s intended for our customers, not internal use. The product is fully embedded in our application, so the user doesn’t perceive it as a web-based application.

What is the team composition?

We used the agile process in this project and I acted as a kind of product manager in this context. There is no direct project manager; it’s more of a scrum master who manages the execution of the tasks, and makes sure the delivery is good.

For most of the time, I worked with analysts who helped me gather requirements. They did the refinement with the rest of the team, including the estimates and planning. They came back to me with a delivery date. I also worked directly with the developers at times, so that they could ask me more questions about the app, how it works, and what the purpose of what I’m asking for is.

How did you come to work with Synergy Codes?

I contacted several companies, and found Synergy Codes through a referral from another group.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in April 2017, and the current project will end in December 2018. We’re planning to continue working with them after that. It’s a long-running project.

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

We’re just starting to sell the product, so I don’t have a lot of metrics yet. Synergy Codes’ involvement helped us speed up development and the launch of our product. They’re helping us gain knowledge and be ready if we need to do this type of development ourselves.

The product hasn’t been deployed to customers yet, but we’ve gotten feedback from partners, who really like it. Internal users also appreciate it. Just yesterday, I had someone tell me the app is really easy to use.

One of our objectives is to simplify workflows and improve the usability of our software. We’re going in that direction with this initiative. We’ve put in a lot of effort to simplifying the lives of our users, and the feedback we’ve received from internal users and partners is exactly this. They are really happy about the initiative.

How did Synergy Codes perform from a project management standpoint?

There are many mechanisms in place for helping communication. We have 1–2 meetings per week to talk about the refinement of the requirements and our needs. We draft a document after each meeting, then they ask us to validate everything. We have demonstration meetings every two weeks, in which we can see the results of their work and comment on them.

There's also a portal where we can enter our feedback; they gather that feedback and act on it. All the selected technologies are documented on that portal. They record everything—they’re sometimes more organized than us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

One of our reasons for selecting them was their ability to learn things that are outside of their current business. In our case, we’re doing technical things and we couldn’t easily find a company that would be willing to learn our stack. Synergy Codes easily caught on to everything we were doing and they were able to give us suggestions for improvement. They added value to our work. They’re smart enough to go further than just doing their job.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve tried to organize the work in different packages or measures, but the start and end of each step weren’t always clear. We continued to add parts to different steps, so it was difficult to measure the time needed for and efficiency of each one, even for us. We could do better with how we split tasks and organize the work in different packages or areas. Synergy Codes is generally open to improving things like this.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

None.

Please describe your organization.

I am the CEO of a company that develops and markets software for monitoring middleware-centric applications in order to maintain high performance and availability. We’ve been developing a cloud based SaaS version of our product to complement our existing on premise product.

What business challenge were you trying to address with Synergy Codes?

Synergy Codes has been helping us develop key aspects of our cloud based SaaS product.  The product is large and feature-rich so the development cycle has been long. We have deployed beta versions and are planning a formal release at the end of the year.

How did you come to work with Synergy Codes?

A partner who had used them in the past referred them to us and gave a good recommendation concerning their work on web-based user interfaces. We talked with them about past work they’d done and what we wanted to achieve, and they seemed to have good suggestions and gave an overall favorable impression, and we decided to move forward.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

Synergy Codes helped develop the frontend to the system using Javascript in a node environment and React, including the interactive portion that allows users to craft and customize their own visualizations and displays. They have also developed APIs to communicate with the backend, and helped streamline integration into the system as a whole.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in September 2015, and have been working together since.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We’ve had extremely good feedback from previewing customers, and they have expressed they are looking forward to being able to take full advantage of this newly hosted service version of our product.

How did Synergy Codes perform from a project management standpoint?

Their ability to self-manage is impressive. They’ve assigned and tracked tasks to 1-4 members at any time, then conducted quality testing with a fairly rigid release schedule. It’s been a pleasure working with them, and they’ve been able to deliver an essentially finished project with minimal project management intervention from us.

What distinguishes Synergy Codes from other providers?

Management of resources and professionalism sets them apart from the rest. They seem committed to being easy to work with and are adaptable. Their self-management skills are commendable, and they’ve remained dependable and reliable. They take their business very seriously.

Is there anything Synergy Codes could have improved or done differently?

At this stage, I couldn’t point to any particular area that needs improvement. I’ve been extremely happy with their work.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CTO of a company providing a website that guides clinicians and biologists working in bioinformatics. We’ve indexed 18,000 bioinformatics tools out of 50,000-70,000 on the internet. We classify them by extracting metadata from articles and identifying the software tool needed for analysis, which ultimately helps biologists and clinicians who don’t know a lot about bioinformatics.

What challenge were you trying to address with Synergy Codes?

We wanted to have a way to display how a biologist or clinician could use tools in a specific order. The tools are in pipelines or chains through which the user analyzes data, and this functionality is important.

We wanted to have a dynamic and reactive solution, so we chose a special Javascript library, GoJS, and Synergy Codes was hired to implement this.

How did you come to work with Synergy Codes?

I found Synergy Codes via a Google search as the only company indicating their experience working with the GoJS library.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Synergy Codes used GoJS to implement our pipeline viewer, and we decided on a specific JSON format with them as an input to the application. The graphical part corresponded with categories that each had a list of programs sorted according to rank. Synergy Codes created an API connection between the application and our website in order to recover the information needed at each step.

We needed to display the JSON side of the pipeline construction in a way people could understand, which was complicated. Synergy Codes needed to allow users to add optional steps to the obligatory ones. They needed to be in specific places and easily identified as optional or obligatory, in case biologists and clinicians didn’t know how to analyze data.

We implemented 11 filters which can reduce the number of tools based on the operating system and programming language, so biologists wouldn’t have to filter through them manually.

I also wanted a functionality for biologists and clinicians who don’t know anything about analysis. They can click on a button and receive a selection of the easiest tools to use according to an algorithm. This was all implemented in JavaScript, and is working fine.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Synergy Codes in February 2017, and the first part of the project was completed April 2017. We will patent the product and put the tool online now that we have organized the functionalities and changes our pipelines require. We will start 3 other projects with Synergy Codes.

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

This was not an easy project because it required complicated algorithms, but Synergy Codes performed well due to skill and efficiency.

How did Synergy Codes perform from a project management standpoint?

Synergy Codes was responsive and transparent while working under the Agile methodology. We had 2-week sprints where we discussed the scope to gain understanding of functionality, and they asked questions when they didn’t understand a point. I appreciated the good communication during our sprints, as well as the results and project management they displayed during briefings.

What did you find most impressive about Synergy Codes?

They are responsive, curious, smart, and efficient. We’ve changed some specifications as a startup, but they adapted quickly. They learned the specifics of our platform, sought solutions, and promptly executed the project.

Are there any areas Synergy Codes could improve?

I have no suggestions. Synergy Codes is already very good, and I have told them they are the best team I’ve worked with so far.