Xcelacore | Business-Driven Technology
Xcelacore | Business-Driven Technology
Xcelacore is a Chicago based technology consulting firm. We help businesses implement technology to drive innovation with efficiency, accuracy, and for less. We specialize in cloud and custom software development, QA automation, and CRM and eCommerce platform integration.
Our team understands business and technology and the importance of delivering a return on investment. When it comes to technology, there are thousands of solutions and choices. We help our clients navigate the complex world of technology decisions - vetting the myriad solutions in the ever-changing marketplace while respecting the business’ budget. We’ll implement solutions and ensure they meet or exceed business parameters, ultimately increasing ROI and sustainability.
Recommended Providers
Focus
Portfolio
Application development, QA Automation, Devops
BACKGROUND
The client is one of America’s largest family of indoor water park resorts that offers popular, award-winning vacation experiences that celebrate relaxed, uninterrupted time with family and create unforgettable memories. With clients' growth into new markets, their investment in technology was expanding. As part of this effort, the client was looking to increase its application development team’s work velocity. They approached Xcelacore to help them supplement their development on various efforts.
TEST AUTOMATION PLATFORM
Xcelacore assembled a multiple-person QA team to develop a test automation platform for using Behat, BrowserStack, and Selenium. This will significantly reduce the overall time for regression testing and will improve application quality and team velocity. The framework is being developed to support integration with multiple email service providers and multilingual website testing.
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT AND DEVOPS
The client wanted to migrate their PHP-based Drupal platform to .Net and AEM.
Xcelacore Strategy & Solution
Xcelacore team led the development effort. The new. The net-based platform was hosted on Azure utilizing Kubernetes with an efficient CI/CD process.
The client decided to migrate their backend application development from AWS to Azure and partnered with Xcelacore to support them in this effort. Xcelacore quickly assembled a small team and helped develop a containerized dev-ops pipeline for microservices to complete the CI/CD pipeline using Docker Compose, Kubernetes, Azure Container Services. The dev-ops solution is compatible to run uniformly on local dev (windows), staging, and production (Linux) based environments reducing the friction of movement among multiple environments.
Results
The highly scalable new platform was launched, resulting in improved conversion and managing and launching new features effectively.
Reviews
the project
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) for Surgical Device Firm
"They have a solid vision, and they’re a trustworthy group you can work with."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the CIO of Graymont Medical, a surgical device company located in Chicago, Illinois.
What challenge were you trying to address with Xcelacore?
We had a lot of manual processes, so we hired Xcelacore to help us implement new apps that would automate all of our manual processes. The goal was to increase our business’ efficiency through robotic process automation (RPA).
What was the scope of their involvement?
We had a discovery phase where they analyzed what we were trying to accomplish. The team then came back with a requirements document before moving to the development phase. They used UIPath in order to automate the company’s manual processes. After that, they proceeded to the testing phase. The team continues to work together with the company.
What is the team composition?
We’re working their key account executive, project manager, and developers.
How did you come to work with Xcelacore?
I found Xcelacore through a business connection. Someone had connected me with their team, but at the time I didn’t really need their services. Despite that, I continued talking to them a couple of times. When this project came, I asked them if they were interested in taking on our project.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent less than $50,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
Our ongoing partnership started in October 2020.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
From a business perspective, we measure success based on how many people we can process on a daily basis. In a connection with that, we’ve had a good outcome. Furthermore, they’ve been able to resolve all of our technical issues. Our main participation there is just filing the support tickets. Overall, Xcelacore’s solution has impacted our business in a positive way.
How did Xcelacore perform from a project management standpoint?
From a project management perspective, the team is doing very well. We mainly communicate through email and Zoom.
What did you find most impressive about them?
The team has been able to work well during our R&D phase, and they didn’t just dictate how things were going to be done. Instead, they’ve familiarized themselves with our processes in order to give us a lot of options on how to make our processes better.
They’ve also been able to understand all of our business challenges, and they’ve allowed us to invest less at the beginning of the project. More importantly, they've enabled us to see how things are going to work so that we can increase our investment later on if what we’re doing really makes sense for our business.
Are there any areas they could improve?
Once the onshore team is not involved, the offshore team falls apart, so the offshore team just needs a lot of handholding. However, for the most part, the project has been smooth sailing.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Talk to Xcelacore’s owner or key leaders because they’re very well-versed. Moreover, they have a solid vision, and they’re a trustworthy group you can work with.
the project
Staff Augmentation for Software Fintech Firm
"Since partnering with Xcelacore, we’ve increased our valuation from $10 million to $100 million."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the founder and president of a software fintech firm.
What challenge were you trying to address with Xcelacore?
We needed resources to help fill the gaps of our development team.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Xcelacore provides us with scalable solutions through staff augmentation. They operate as our remote third-party team that supports and manages our development needs.
Their team helped integrate an auto reconciliation platform into ERP systems and implemented features such as payment collection.
What is the team composition?
We have a lead architect, two analysts, and four developers on retainer.
How did you come to work with Xcelacore?
I personally know Adnan (Partner & CTO) from one of our golf trips.
How much have you invested with them?
We spend somewhere between $300,000–$500,000 a year.
What is the status of this engagement?
Our ongoing partnership started in November 2019.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Since partnering with Xcelacore, we’ve increased our valuation from $10 million to $100 million, so we’ve grown our business significantly over the past years.
How did Xcelacore perform from a project management standpoint?
They’re very good when it comes to project management because our communication is always open.
We manage the project using JIRA, and we typically interact through Slack, email, and video conferencing.
What did you find most impressive about them?
What distinguishes them from other providers are their communication and hands-on approach.
Are there any areas they could improve?
There’s nothing they should improve on at this time.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Keep your lines of communication open with Xcelacore if you want to get the best out of your engagement.
Xcelacore has successfully developed a solution that positively contributed to the client's business. They're also praised for their ability to resolve all technical issues. The team has solid communication skills, and they have a great understanding of the firm's business challenges.