a boutique of quality software and data science
In software development and data science, poor design and execution cost time, money, and embarrassment.
We are on a mission to show that quality always pays back.
Our teams provide tailor-made top-quality solutions in data science and web and mobile development: in just a few years we became a trusted partner for important industries and enterprises, as well as startups in search for innovation. Get to know us more on xtreamers.io or follow us on LinkedIn.
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Axa, A2A, Illimity, PWC, Techedge
Sofan
VIEW PROJECT ➙
Challenge
Sofan, an innovative startup, wanted to create a social co-watching platform for football fans. On the platform, hosts can create events where guests can participate. An event is a football match that guests will watch at the host’s, sharing the pay-tv subscription and having fun together. Most of the time pubs are crowded and the experience of watching sport events there is not optimal: Sofan aims to give the user an alternative to know other fans in the city, and watch the match on a comfortable sofa.
Solution
We developed an Angular application for the web platform that uses NgRx as state manager, exploiting Angular libraries to share the whole business logic with a Ionic cross-platform mobile application. We used Firestore as NoSQL database directly connected to the client and the entire Firebase platform exploiting almost all its services. We created a complete serverless platform using Cloud Functions in TypeScript/NodeJS and batch jobs to source sport events and teams. Algolia was adopted to crate the event search experience, leveraging full-text, filtering, geoquery, and facets.
Results
The platform did not disappoint the expectations and the hype that newspapers created during the launch. Thanks to several social media partnerships, Sofan reached more than 10000 registered users in Milan and tens of successful events. During the COVID-19 pandemic we introduced online events, yet the promotion was much less successful. The app is currently online but the number of active users dropped to zero.
Pipeline: the game that delivers
VIEW PROJECT ➙
Challenge
Eficode, an important player in the DevOps ecosystem, wanted to create a digital version of Pipeline, an original card game. Pipeline is a quick and fun way to explore alternatives for Continuous Delivery without actually building anything. The players, working in small groups, design a pipeline for a given scenario and optimize the deployment lead time, discussing what steps are needed and in which order. The goal of the digital Pipeline is to enable sessions with distributed teams during the pandemic and beyond, while preserving the experience and the formative value of in-person events.
Solution
We started by designing the UI and UX of the new digital game, blending the experience of the physical game with the interactions proper to the digital environment. Then, we developed a React Single Page Application. We used Firestore and Firebase real-time database to enable the real-time game collaboration and a smooth multiplayer experience. We structured the code base with a monorepo approach to enhance reusability and implement CI and CD for the whole platform. Eficode and xtream decided to make the codebase open-source to share their effort with other developers.
Results
The first, challenging test for the application was its showcase during the largest DevOps conference in Europe. The app was capable of scaling seamlessly, and both UI and UX got stellar feedbacks by the players. Moreover, much to Eficode's delight, the infrastructure cost of the app remained zero after tens of games were played The app is currently online and free to play. If you want to have a test flight, you can do it right now!
DeepPsyMe
VIEW PROJECT ➙
Challenge
University of Pavia and Catholic University of Milan were applying for a European project aiming at improving rehabilitation after invasive surgery. We saw the opportunity to apply the same research to different fields. A global consulting firm entered the project providing funds and business expertise. An interdisciplinary project was born, with the ambitious goal of teaching machines to recognize the psychological traits of individuals, and create optimized interaction policies for each individual.
Solution
The first topic where DeepPsyMe was applied was insurance. The social psychology team of Catholic University of Milan provided theoretically sound models for insurance awareness. We created PsyMe, a mobile app to collect data from volunteers and identify the parameters of the model. Then, in collaboration with University of Pavia, we created a Bayesian network, a probabilistic predictor simulating the effects of different interaction policies on different individuals. A Deep Reinforcement Learning agent was trained to choose the best interaction policy while asking the least questions to the user. An algorithm to improve the model and the policy from collected data was designed and integrated into the system.
Results
The research was presented in several papers appearing on international peer-reviewed journals. Explainability and ethics played a key role in the development: we discussed the topics in several public events. The system sparked the interest of several major financial institutes, yet the prototypes are still not ready to be put into production and more research is required before commercial go-live.
Power Load Forecasting
VIEW PROJECT ➙
Challenge
A leading Italian utility wanted to improve its power load forecasting models, just one year old. For utilities, load forecasting is key for market trading and portfolio management. The problem statement was quite standard: given 3 years of historical data and 2 years of weather forecasts, provide 1 to 4 day-ahead predictions of hourly power load. Still, there were two main challenges. First, residential and industrial customers in each market region had to be considered separately. Second, data got available with a 2-month delay. Therefore, standard short-term forecasting techniques were not applicable.
Solution
We started by performing an in-depth analysis of the business problem, in order to assess constraints and establish evaluation metrics. Then, we extracted data-driven insights with a thorough explorative analysis. In building the models, we tried and compared different approaches from statistical learning and deep learning. We mutuated some ideas from the academic literature, yet we had to come up with original solutions to account for the delays in data availability. Attention was devoted to feature engineering, in particular in modelling the relationship between power load and temperature. The final solution was implemented with a Python Luigi pipeline and deployed on-premises.
Results
Our models resulted in a decrease of the relative error - a proxy for the financial losses due to inaccurate predictions - by 24% for residential customers and 26% for industrial ones. Early prototypes of the models were adopted before the final production deployment due to their superiority with respect to the legacy system. The final Luigi pipeline was integrated into the IT platform of the utility and became the official load forecasting tool.
Reviews
the project
Custom Software Development for Fintech Company
"They were brilliant, so a few words were enough to make them understand the points."
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 head of technology for a fintech company. We operate in the non-performing loans market and do business with non-performing loans. We recently became a bank, which was big news here in Italy.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the founder and head of technology for a fintech company. We operate in the non-performing loans market and do business with non-performing loans. We recently became a bank, which was big news here in Italy.
What was the scope of their involvement?
xtream provided software development services. The work consisted of uploading a set of non-performing loan positions into our core systems.
Initially, we provided them with one page, but it was minimal. Nonetheless, together with the explanation of the project, they managed to write down the documentation successfully. Then, we managed the coordination of the overall project. It involved different actors — our team was one, xtream was another, and there was an additional system integrator.
Their team helped us develop a modern tech stack. The deliverable was a piece of software, so they had access to the code repository. It wasn’t an easy task because we had to align different data from different sources, and they helped us build this module. Additionally, there was a basic frontend component in this module, and they designed it.
We used a typical stack for web application development. It included modern web-based technology based on JavaScript, which included TypeScript, React, and NestJS.
What is the team composition?
We worked with 1–2 people, including Alberto (Founder & Web Architect) and Luca (Founder & Head of Web and Mobile).
How did you come to work with xtream?
I knew them from before because we had some professional links from previous activities and other colleagues. In Italy, there is no other team like xtream for web development. As we already knew each other, we knew that we could do good things together, and we did.
How much have you invested in them?
We invested around €15,000–€16,000 (approximately $17,000–$19,000 USD).
What is the status of this engagement?
We worked with them on this project from June–September 2021. We’ll definitely work with them again as soon as we can.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We had to do very few corrections and wrap-up calls because xtream was really autonomous in doing the job. Basically, we only had to do the kickoff call with the project explanation, and then they went on by themselves. It was of great value, especially since my team and I manage a lot of projects at the same time.
Therefore, having a good partner was extremely helpful. They were reliable, and when they said they’d have something by a specific date, they delivered.
How did xtream perform from a project management standpoint?
They were really good. We got them into our Slack channel, but the main communication channel with Alberto was the phone because it was easier. They were brilliant, so a few words were enough to make them understand the points.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They were independent. They didn’t need to be managed that much, which was a really great and valuable thing for us.
Are there any areas they could improve?
Honestly, everything went really smoothly. We don’ have anything to complain about.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
If you make them understand precisely what the project is, it’ll go smoothly. You probably won’t have to manage them at all, but you have to be clear from the beginning. Therefore, you have to communicate the project’s features precisely and with a lot of details. Once you do that, you can forget about them for a while, and xtream will deliver the result.
the project
Web Dev for Card Game App
"What they managed to deliver in terms of look and feel of the project is much better than expected."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
Eficode is the leader in DevOps in Europe. We offer both professional services to improve software development practices, as well as managed services to manage tools for software development lifecycle. We are writing this review together as Chief Marketing Officer (financial decision-maker), International marketing manager (project manager) and our Academy headmaster (product owner).
For what projects/services did your company hire xtream, and what were your goals?
We have an existing "card game" that is used to educate and inform software development professionals and decision-makers about the concept and benefits of Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD). This game is played face-to-face with members of the DevOps community and our current and future customers, facilitated by a DevOps professional from Eficode. As pandemia prevented this game from being played face-to-face, we needed to move this game online, where we could continue to use the format of a game to make the topic both entertaining and approachable. Because we intended to open source this application, we wanted a partner that can develop a game using methods and tools that are well-suited with the open source community. We also wanted an architecture that automatically could scale to fit the needs, without costing a lot in idle mode.
How did you select xtream and what were the deciding factors?
We were looking for a software development partner who uses modern development tools and methods. Because we were refactoring a physical game into a digital format, we wanted a partner that can co-create the game with us. We knew Xtream from the past because we knew that they had done prior work for some other businesses, but we had not worked with them before ourselves. We selected Xtream due to their customer and technology understanding and their collaborative way of working. Their inputs and questions when we were in the selection process made us confident that they understood the game we wanted to create. We also appreciate that their price level was competitive, although it was not a deciding factor.
Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.
First, we defined the product requirements from different user personas: facilitator of the game, player, as well as sales and marketing. We then reviewed these requirements with Xtream and defined a scope for the Minimum Viable Product. Based on this scope, Xtream wrote a Statement of Work and a commercial proposal. After the commercial negotiations and agreement, the project team started working in a 1 week cadence, with a meeting every week for clarifying the feature scope and design.Their designer integrated our style guide into her suggestions and made large efforts to keep the look and feel of a real card game. They build the app using Google cloud functions and Firebase for storage, and React af the frontend library.
How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
We worked together with 4 people, plus a Co-founder for the commercial part. Juliane was in charge of UI/UX design. Gabriele and Luca worked with us to specify the scope of the actual application, and defined MVP with us. The Co-founder of Xtream (Gabriele) worked with us to specify the project scope in a high-level. Luca and Alberto were the primary developers on the game, and the ones demoing progress every week.
Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?
The game was delivered on scope and on schedule, and is available at https://eficode.com/pipeline-game. The game has been successfully used in a number of engagements with our current and future customers, and the general feedback has been extremely positive, both from our facilitators as well as from the players.
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.
Project management went very smoothly, with them taking ownership of making sure they knew what we had in mind in terms of functionality and design. As written above, they took a true agile approach, where focus could shift from one week to another, depending on where it made most sense to see progress for further development. Communication was through our Slack workspace, and they responded almost instantly. Project was delivered on time, and progress was continuously shown each week.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
We felt strongly that their ability to tap into a game only shown through images, and an initial design idea made on a piece of paper was very professional and strong. What they managed to deliver in terms of look and feel of the project is much better than expected.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
We cannot think of any substantial feedback to improve or do things differently. It was a successful project on the whole.
the project
Mobile App Dev for University Professor
"Altogether we were extremely satisfied by their proactive professional attitude."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I am a full professor of Social Psychology at the Catholic University of Milan. I do research in the field of communication and behaviour change, with regard to health, wellbeing and sustainability.
For what projects/services did your company hire xtream?
xtream covered the technical part of the project, and in particularly they were involved in developing, testing and distributing the PsyMe mobile app for iOS and Android.
What were your goals for this project?
We needed to realise a mobile app to collect data from participants in research experiments, asking them first to fill in a questionnaire, then to read a sequence of messages sent them on a daily basis, and finally to fill in a second questionnaire to evaluate the effectiveness of the messages in terms of appreciation and influence on attitudes and intentions.
How did you select xtream?
My university has a collaboration agreement with the University of Pavia for the development of artificial intelligence tools for dialogue management. A few founders of xtream are former students of the latter university, and they created an innovative and very interesting technological start up company.
Therefore we decided to establish a specific collaboration agreement among us and xtream, to develop the PsyMe app.
Describe the project in detail.
PsyMe is a free app created to support scientific research in the field of social psychology and artificial intelligence. PsyMe was born from the joint effort between the University of Pavia, the Catholic University of Milan and xtream, an innovative start-up based in Milan.
The users of PsyMe are volunteers participating in scientific research. They receive a unique and anonymous code from the scholars involved, which they can activate the app with. Later on PsyMe will take care of proposing two Qualtrics questionnaires, separated by persuasive text messages.
PsyMe has been developed as a React Native cross-platform app and distributed over the Play Store and the App Store for iOS.
What was the team composition?
xtream appointed a project reference person which we were able to interface with, whereas all the development was taken care of by their Mobile & Web team.
Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?
The app PsyMe has been first tested in an experiment that involved more than 500 participants. The results were excellent, the collected data were insightful about the research goal and allowed the elaboration of a very interesting statistical model. Other experiments are now about to start and we are planning to use the app for a variety of studies.
How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?
Together with the University of Pavia team we conducted with xtream a thorough analysis of the requirements and the functions that the app was to perform. The functions identified in this way have been realised by xtream in a very precise and effective way. Altogether we were extremely satisfied by their proactive professional attitude.
What did you find most impressive about this company?
The xtream team proved to be extremely competent and attentive during all the stages of the prliminary analysis and also very effective and precise in realising the software of the app, which matched the expectations entirely.
Are there any areas for improvement?
We are currently planning some extensions of the PsyMe app to introduce the possibility to send multimedia messages as well.
the project
Website Dev & Design for Co-Watching Platform
"They did a great job. We are very satisfied!"
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
Sofan is a co-watching platform where people can share their passion for TV events in a stimulating and friendly environment. I am the CEO of the company.
For what projects/services did your company hire xtream, and what were your goals?
We hired this team to design and develop a new website. By doing this we had the chance to increase our user base and increase our revenues.
How did you select xtream and what were the deciding factors?
When I met Federico T., one of the most important entrepreneurs in the Italian country, he advised me to hire Xtream because they are among the best web developers in the market.
Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.
We had a kick off meeting to discuss our goals. Starting from there the team delivered mock-ups for our website. We used Angular to make it real!
How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
There were 2 full-stack developers and a project manager.
Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?
After launching our website we saw a terrific growth of our user base. Users love the design and usability of the website.
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.
We had daily stand-ups with their project manager, who communicated with the rest of the team. We used Trello to coordinate all the activities.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
They are young technology enthusiasts, passionate learners, and unconventional consultants. This is very impressive.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
They did a great job. We are very satisfied!
the project
Software Development for SaaS Company
"I was very impressed by the ways of working and satisfied with the style of collaboration."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I'm the CEO of a SaaS company. We developed cloud-based equipment management service.
For what projects/services did your company hire xtream, and what were your goals?
We hired xtream to support in developing our UI to strengthen our team and speed up the development.
How did you select xtream and what were the deciding factors?
We chose the vendor based on a good review.
Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.
We scoped the elements for the development, iterated together with the team and our designer to ensure that outcome was spot on.
How many people from the xtream team worked with you, and what were their positions?
We worked in total with three collaborators from vendor's team.
Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?
Delivery was well executed, and the progress during the project was well communicated. Delivery was as scoped and with high quality.
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.
We had a weekly status and open line of communication on the way. The collaboration worked well and we knew constantly where the project was going.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
I was very impressed by the ways of working and satisfied with the style of collaboration.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
No, not really anything to do differently.
xtream provided custom software development services for a fintech company. They built a module that uploaded a set of non-performing loan positions into the core system with a web-based JavaScript stack.