Tech9

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of (a/an) Education

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We provide cybersecurity training and courseware to help educators and corporations help their students and employees secure the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Tech9 to accomplish?

• Build a courseware delivery platform
• Integrate platform with cloud labs
• Provide integrated learning experience for teachers and learners

SOLUTION

How did you find Tech9?

Online Search

Why did you select Tech9 over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

What was the size of Tech9’s team?

2-5 Employees

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

The goal of the project was to build a platform for the delivery of educational courseware. The scope of the project expanded to include integration with AWS so participants can interact with real-world environments. The scope also expanded to include grading, quizzes, an admin portal, and is still ongoing!

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Schedule
• Budget

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

Initially there were some issues in communication around scheduling and project management. What impressed me was the way Tech9 handled it. They took ownership, fixed the project management issue, and pulled in extra people to get the job done. I was very impressed with the way they handled project and am a long term customer.

What was your primary form of communication with Tech9?

In-Person Meeting

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

I was impressed with how they handle challenging projects and road bumps along the way. Every project has its challenges and Tech9 is extremely capable of managing adversity to ensure a successful product for their customer.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Tech9 could have done differently?

I'm happy with Tech9. I have no reservations to recommend them. If issues arise, communicate early and often to ensure a successful outcome.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder and CEO of Big Leap, a digital marketing agency located in Utah. We work with medium and large brands to improve their marketing performance.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Tech9?

We've partnered with Tech9 on many occasions to improve our clients technology - from web design, UX/UI, apps, and more. They've been incredible at taking care of those immediate needs but also identifying other opportunities for our clients to improve their digital presence.

What were your goals for this project?

We are very protective of our client relationships and need a dependable group to assist us with technical changes that help us drive better performance. Tech9 has been that and has come through anytime we involve them with one of our clients.

SOLUTION

How did you select Tech9?

We've worked with many dev partners in the past. Most have been okay but it's been refreshing to find a partner like Tech9 who has the expertise and flexibility for our project. They have a great reputation and lived up to everything I researched online.

Describe the project in detail.

Tech9 has helped us with complete website redesigns and launches, minor design refreshes, more complicated back end projects. In some cases, our agency is involved to communicate the needed changes and sometimes our clients worked directly with Tech9.

What was the team composition?

We work with a project manager at Tech9 who goes to bat for us. The PM works with their dev teams to make sure we get what we need. It's a perfect arrangement for us since we don't have the background to get into the technical details with developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our primary goal is to implement technical changes to help our client's get better results from SEO, social media, referral traffic, etc. At the end of the day, they moved quickly to help us implement changes that helped us drive results for our clients.

On top of that, we want to make sure our clients have a good experience with any groups we refer them to and we've heard many positive experiences from our clients who have worked with Tech9.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very good. Our team and theirs worked together very smoothly to get the work needed for our clients.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We've worked with many dev shops. I think the most impressive things about Tech9 is their organization and systems which help them get work done quickly and hit deadlines, their dev teams who are supremely capable, and just the positive, upbeat experiences we have with their team members.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None that we can think of.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former VP of engineering at a residential solar company that installs solar systems on customers’ homes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tech9?

We were looking for staff augmentation of software developers for a few projects we were working on.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We asked for their help with two projects. The first was an app that our customers could use to monitor how much energy their solar system was producing. They helped us build interesting metrics along with that. For example, a user might see their energy equated to saving a certain number of trees. The second project was developing an e-commerce platform that allows us to sell residential solar systems and equipment. Again, this was a staff augmentation engagement. We had existing teams with software engineers and asked them to provide additional resources with specific skills to enhance our teams.

The developers they gave us participated in all of our internal processes including our planning sessions and standup reporting meetings. They helped us plan, do releases, and write code, working side by side with our team.

What is the team composition?

We were in contact with Nick (CEO, Tech9), Robert (VP of Sales, Tech9), and a few others in product management and architecture positions. Our team worked with them from time to time, but we were most regularly involved with the software engineers working with us from Costa Rica. At least 90% of our interactions were with them.

How did you come to work with Tech9?

We were looking for and having conversations with different vendors. In our initial vetting phase, we found Tech9 to be very flexible and felt that they understood the culture of our team. Because of that match, we felt that they would be the best choice to find engineers to truly fit in with our developers.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $30,000 each month with them. The total operation will cost between $500,000–$1,000,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in February 2019 and are continuing our collaboration now.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our primary metric for them was judging how well they integrated into our staff. Their team fit into our existing operation pretty easily, collaborating well with our developers. They were able to provide us with very good engineers that understood our tech stack and fit the culture of our team. Because of that, it was easy to treat them like members of our team. They were able to work transparently and productively.

How did Tech9 perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team would get on phone and video calls with us throughout the day to participate in our day-to-day meetings and updates. Since this was a staff augmentation project, we handled most of the management. Every once in a while, someone from their end would visit our offices to answer questions and share ideas. That was appreciated. We communicated over Skype and Google Hangouts.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They found high-quality talent that fit our needs very quickly. We were able to participate in the interview process, which helped us ensure that candidates matched our company culture. After those interviews, we were always shocked by their recruiting skills. Their ability to bring in top talent really helped our project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing drastic comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re very flexible, and I heartily endorse their services.

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was updated by Scott Llewelyn (VP of architecture & software development) on May 20, 2020. New content is below. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m VP of architecture and software development at a solar software solutions company.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tech9?

We partnered with them to bring in good, long-term development contractors that are able to help with individual projects and move the enterprise further as a whole. They’re developing institutional knowledge.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have a broad set of development areas including e-commerce, payment systems, and hardware. Across all of my IT and engineering departments, there are resources from Tech9 embedded into each team. Some of these resources are leading teams and giving direction while others are more junior team members. Instead of outsourcing, I see this as a strategic collaboration. They bring in the remote resources that match up with our need for various projects.  

What is the team composition?

There have been 15 total team members that have worked for us. As of now, 14 of them are actively developing.  We also have interaction with their management and leadership team as needed.

How did you come to work with Tech9?

They approached our company for the contact, but I wasn’t here at that time and didn’t play a role in the decision-making process. However, I’ve watched our relationship grow from five resources dramatically to 14 across six of our teams. 

How much have you invested with them?

At the end of this year, I project that we’ll have spent about $1.5 million with them. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the engagement in June 2019, and they’re still collaborating with us. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their impact has been hugely demonstrated across a number of enterprise projects. For instance, they were key to the success of our customer integration app. 

How did Tech9 perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve been using several communication tools for our projects, including Slack and WebEx. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve been flexible and helpful in filling the roles and capabilities that we needed. When I change skill sets that I’m looking for on short notice, they’re able to bring on additional resources that meet our needs. They’re committed to helping us move our company forward, making sure that they’re providing to our needs.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’ve been instrumental in integrating their resources into my team. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be honest with that you need. That way, they’ll be able to best understand your requirements and fill those needs.  

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CIO for Pattern, an e-commerce reseller that allows brands to optimize online sales on Amazon, eBay, and other platforms.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tech9?

We wanted to build internal applications and scale our process in a cost-effective manner. To increase our technical development, we looked to outsource the project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided full-stack developers based in India at a low cost. They primarily used Ruby on Rails for the backend stack with a PostgreSQL database. Their team also used React on the frontend. We provided wireframes and requirements for Tech9, but otherwise, they work as an extension of our development team.

What is the team composition?

We work directly with five developers and some account managers.

How did you come to work with Tech9?

I worked with Robert (VP Sales, Tech9) on a previous engagement. He reached out to fill our need.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in November 2018 and the project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our feedback has been very positive. We were impressed by the speed of delivery. They’ve provided cost-effective and high-quality work. Their team has a formal approach to development that is valuable in the quality of code they provide.

How did Tech9 perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is very good. They were integrated into our internal project management system and they’ve always met deadlines. A project manager was given, but we discontinued that role. The timezone differences are a challenge, but we work through it. We mostly communicate by Slack, Jira, and email as well as a weekly video chat.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The first developer Tech9 assigned to us was very impressive and opened our involvement with their team. Whereas we’ve worked with other agencies in the past and it didn’t work out, their team has helped change our attitude. We plan to use them for quite a while.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Perhaps having a developer spend time with us would be valuable, but we haven’t made that happen yet.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of outreach at The Younique Foundation. We work with survivors of childhood sexual abuse, providing parents with preventative information and healing resources for survivors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tech9?

We wanted to redesign and rebuild our existing websites: one for preventative resources, and the other for healing services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We wanted Tech9 to redevelop both of our informational websites. They created application pages and transitioned our donation and shop functions over to a Shopify plugin. The current site they’re working has a login feature that’s location-based.

Our team completed the design and graphics. We brought in content writers and graphic designers, and they augmented the staff. It was a perfect meshing of both companies.

Tech9 is currently working on additional web-based projects for our company.

What is the team composition?

We have a point of contact, Adam (Director of Web Development, Tech9).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Tech9 in May 2017, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Tech9 hit this one out of the park. I was impressed with the look and feel of the wireframes — the work their team put in reflected in the final product. Tech9 has strongly impacted us because they’re maintained our brand identity throughout the project.

How did Tech9 perform from a project management standpoint?

Tech9’s project management was excellent. We had an internal project manager, but their team helped us focus on what needed to get done. They were communicative and pushed the project professionally.

We had a weekly call with Adam, and a Slack channel to communicate with other team members. A few times a year, I have lunch with their CEO and check on the status.

We opted into a mid-tier dev resource package with their company, which means we don’t receive their full attention. Some elements took a little longer but didn’t slow the project down. It was because of added features and the package we selected, not because of hang-ups on their end.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Tech9 has realistic communication styles. They explained every impact as far as workflow and timing. Their team did quality work on the websites. Everything looked how we requested and functioned well. They can offer more, but I appreciate Tech9’s ability to work with what we provided and augmented it to make it better.

Are there any areas they could approve?

I wish their team took on even more of a consulting role. Tech9 did at some level, but that service could be amplified. Their team could provide the pros and cons, and other crucial decision-making information.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Involve Tech9 at the beginning when the project’s scope is developed. They can give you valuable feedback and advice on where difficulties could arise.