ThetaOne

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO and one of the co-founders of Simply Data Now. We started out as a data integration provider but have slowly branched into consulting services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ThetaOne?

We engaged ThetaOne to support us on a massive data migration project for our Fortune 500 client. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

ThetaOne worked with us to migrate large volumes of data from our client’s data house into Amazon Drive. This involved building a web-based portal using React and a JavaScript library. While we focused on the backend work, they designed the UI capabilities and workflows.

Our main challenge was ensuring that our client’s customers’ data quality met regional data regulations. For example, if a customer belonged to a certain geographic area, we would have to make sure that their customer data was up to par and alter the workflow within the portal around that information. ThetaOne supported us with this, along with designing graphs, trendlines, and an intuitive UI.

What is the team composition? 

I’ve worked with two main points of contact.

How did you come to work with ThetaOne?

One of my friends from college knew about ThetaOne and referred me to them. After I contacted them to discuss my requirements, they came back with quite the complicated quote. We had a tight timeline, so I figured we’d test them out on a small portion of the portal. It was nicely done, so we extended their involvement into the rest of the project.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted about 18 months, from January 2017–mid-2018. Afterward, we engaged them again to build one of our own product lines—it’s a tracking app for the logistics sector that looks at driver data. That project kicked up about nine months ago and has been going well so far.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our project succeeded largely due to ThetaOne’s contributions, and we’re quite happy with the results. The portal has been well-received and is now operational within our client’s organization. 

How did ThetaOne perform from a project management standpoint?

We have a close bond, so I always just pick up the phone and call them whenever I need to get something out. They’re available throughout the day, so reaching them is never an issue. Aside from that, we communicate through email, Google Hangouts, and other channels.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Throughout the development process, the team has been very helpful. They went above and beyond the call of duty to assure us, and we ended up having a lot of fun with them. We were never really under any kind of stress whatsoever.

I’ve worked with other development houses that would simply take our specs and build out the product. In contrast, I liked that ThetaOne would deliver more than that. They don’t push back against our ideas. Rather, they try to get things done as efficiently as possible.

Are there any areas they could improve?

All of the UI elements that they built function well, but they lack a bit of panache. If they could improve on that, it would set them apart more.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?
 
First thing’s first, make sure you approach them with clear requirements. Then, start with a small piece of the work and see how they deliver it before going all in.