STX Next

BACKGROUND

Could you describe your organization?

We [two respondents] work for a midsized software development firm in Poland with about 150 employees. We specialize in developing enterprise software for Polish banking and financial services firms.

What are your positions?

One of us is the head of the sales force, and the other is a senior architect.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges that you were attempting to address when you first approached STX Next?

We met with them years ago and started working on some smaller projects together. We manage our projects directly. We work hand in hand with our own customers to determine the specs they need, and STX works with our developers to build out the solution. They perform custom development and testing.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of their involvement?

Like I said, they were primarily responsible for custom coding, testing and some re-architecture work. Their team is very creative and innovative, and working with them is sheer fun. They’re also able to make some great recommendations around process improvement, and they’ve always been very creative when it comes to engineering a solution from scratch, or troubleshooting bugs. 

How did you select STX Next as your partner?

We researched the marketplace online and came up with a list of potential partners. We went ahead and vetted the whole group and chose STX based on their technical skills. When we first began, we only worked on some smaller projects with them. It was more of a vendor relationship and a real partnership, but they were able to prove themselves over the course of a few projects. They worked with us on very specific tasks. Once we had worked with them for a bit and had a good grasp of their experience, we began to bring them onto our larger projects. Now, we really rely on them as our development partner. They’re involved in most of our most complex projects.

Could you provide a general cost estimate for this engagement?

About $7 or $8 million in total.

How long has this relationship remained ongoing?

We’ve been working with STX Next for about eight years

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the quality of their performance?

Our statistics are mainly internal, based on our quality assurance systems. I can’t share anything specific with you, but collaborating with STX has given us a way to improve our processes. We work together with them to implement improvements, and we’re happy with the results. In terms of our customer-facing solutions, end users have always been very satisfied with what we’ve delivered. They have some very talented, very dedicated developers there. 

When working with STX Next, is there anything that you would consider special or unique about their approach that distinguishes them from other vendors?

They are extremely cooperative with us. We have had some demanding requirements and deadlines in the past, and they’ve always been able to deliver, even when it means going that extra mile. We value the relationship we have with them.

BACKGROUND

Could you describe your organization?

We make videos searchable for users. All videos are basically a black hole to systems like Google because they don’t know what contents are in each video. We use transcriptions of these online videos to produce keywords that can be used for SEO [search engine optimization] and advertising, so you can increase the viewership of your videos.

What is your position?

I’m the chief product development officer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenge that you were attempting to address when you first approached STX Next?

We use a blended on-shore and offshore development strategy, but we integrate both teams. We have one large team and they work around the clock, handing off tasks to one another. We have been having trouble sourcing quality developers with an existing offshore partner, so we started looking around for others and tried quite a few different options. We settled on STX, and they provided a great developer to us that we’re really happy with. We’ll probably be expanding our relationship with them this year.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of their work in greater detail?

They’ve only been responsible for technical development. They’re given fairly well-defined stories to work on, with no real architecture or design going on. Their developers work on fairly complex tasks with our other developers.

How did you select STX Next as your partner?

They actually reached out to us. I received a cold call from them, and the timing was impeccable. At the time, we needed people with technical proficiency, but didn’t want to commit to full-time resources in-house. We administered some coding tests to our potential hires, and STX performed very well on that. They’re also great English communicators, which is important and quite a rarity when working with offshore companies. We also looked at their location, in terms of the time zone they work in. We prefer Eastern Europe to India, and they’re very flexible with their hours.

Could you provide a general cost estimate for your engagement with STX Next?

[It was] $70,000 a year.

When was this project completed?

We use them in a team augmentation style, so projects are not completed. They just work for us ongoing. We started working with them in October of 2014, and I don’t see any end in sight.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the quality of their performance?

We do track some metrics, and I found it to be in line with my expectations for an offshore team, which is roughly 75 percent productivity compared to their onshore counterpart, mostly due to their inability to ask questions while they’re working, and lack of familiarity with the product. Their developers have been excellent and extremely proactive, which is nice. If they have issues, they reach out to us.

When working with STX Next, is there anything that you would consider special about their approach to project management or client relationships?

They seem like they go above and beyond in terms of commitment. There have been times when the developer we use has stayed late and worked weekends to get things finished for us by our deadline. That is different than other offshore sites, where they’re very much watching the clock.

In retrospect, are there any areas in which STX Next could improve as a service provider?

They are kind of small, comparatively speaking. That would be my only concern with them: their bandwidth. They have a very narrow focus, technical development, which means they can’t really service all of our needs. I don’t know how comfortable I would be giving them an enormous project to do all on their own.

BACKGROUND

Could you provide a brief description of your company?

The company that I was a part of when we worked with STX was a small IT [information technology] startup. It’s a company that offers software-as-a-service solutions that can integrate with different shipping applications used by carriers like FedEx, UPS and the postal service.

What is your position?

Product manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you first approached STX Next?

Typical challenges you’d encounter with any a software team as a product manager: getting to know the developers; getting them up-to-speed with existing processes, and getting them familiar with the particular software we were developing. That’s always difficult at first, getting the jive with the team, whether they’re a remote team or onsite.

SOLUTION

How did you select STX Next as your solution partner for this endeavor?

I wasn’t actually involved in the selection process. Our founder was responsible for hiring them. By the time I’d joined the team, STX was almost finished with the deployment of our first application. I suspect a large factor in the decision was the sheer level of expertise that their developers seem to command. They’ve always been able to solve our problems, and often within very tight timeframes.  

Could you describe the scope of work delivered to you through the course of this relationship?

STX is largely a Python firm. That’s where their core skills are and that’s the technology in which our API [application programming interface] was developed. We brought them onboard so we could take advantage of and leverage their knowledge of Python. I’d guess that more than 80 percent of their work has revolved around custom Python development, but they’ve also helped us with testing and quality assurance.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

I wasn’t there for the first deployment, but our funding for the entire company was around $1 million, so I would say somewhere under that while still in the high six figures.

Do you recall when the most recent project was completed?

We just finished work last month, so very recently.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of the work they’ve delivered?  

As a product manager, I was speaking with customers on a daily basis. Based on their questions and feedback, I’d then talk to development team about technical issues and potential improvements. Since our product was marketed for developers, I spent a lot of time communicating with STX about the specifics of our software. My interaction with STX was strong enough that I was able to turnaround solutions on a very regular basis. Their custom development is impeccable, and they’re very capable at strategizing with their clients, too.

When working with STX Next, is there anything you’d consider unique about their approach or development methodology that distinguishes them from other vendors?

They’re very methodical when it comes to custom development, which results in very high-quality code. They adhere to a lot of the modern-day engineering practices that you would expect to see from a quality firm in terms of building code in a modular sense, building code with testing in mind, and constantly incorporating user feedback to improve usability and functionality. That kind of approach may not necessarily be exclusive to STX Next, but it’s definitely a differentiator in the space, and there aren’t all that many that can perform as well as STX.

In retrospect, are there areas in which you think STX Next could improve upon as a service provider?

I don’t think so, honestly. I think if there were any faults that would come to mind, it would only come from our end in terms of miscommunication or lack of communication. I can’t bring to mind any specific faults or needs for improvement. Once the team learned everybody’s dynamics and learned how to jive together, everything unfolded very smoothly.

BACKGROUND

Could you provide a brief description of your company?

We specialize in what's called market implementations, so we do the production work for sister ad agencies in the [organization's] group. Those ads are print, video, and digital advertisements. In the process, during the last five years of doing production work, we've developed a number of software products. We now have a software division of about 150 people. I run that software division. We've got three main software products.

What was your position?

I'm the managing director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges that you were attempting to address when you first approached STX Next?

Obviously, there are challenges when you start a relationship. First of all, you've got to educate the vendor as to your software stack and the way in which you work. You need to test their ability to follow instructions and examine their capabilities. We accomplished that task by spending time in their offices with their key developers and project leads. We have very particular technology needs, so we needed to ensure that our vendor had the technical chops required to complete our work.

SOLUTION

How did you select STX Next as your solution partner?

We use Python pretty much exclusively. The first and foremost criterion was having deep expertise with Python. I've done a lot of outsourcing around the world and I've had a lot of success in the past, in Eastern Europe, Bulgaria, Poland, etc. That's originally where I was looking for vendors. STX Next emerged as the biggest Python development shop in that space. Their reputation really preceded them, so they ended up being the number one choice on my list.  

As I mentioned, we traveled to their office to interview their developers and project leads. We wanted to get a better feel for their expertise and their development process. I admit that we were very impressed by their previous work, and it was made clear to us that their engineers were well versed with Python.

Could you describe the scope of this project?

We operate spring teams with their developers. They work on any number of development initiatives. The types of project they work on really depends on our client and what their needs are. On the whole, most of their work is custom development, bug fixes and troubleshooting, and ad hoc testing and quality assurance.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in monetary terms?

We spend roughly $500,000 a year with STX Next.

You retain them for ongoing projects, correct?

Yes.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of the work they've delivered?  

One way to measure it would be the number of storyboards completed through our sprints. In the beginning, we were operating two sprint teams for one particular project. One team was from a separate vendor, based here in the United Kingdom; and the STX team was working from Poland. After a few sprints, STX Next quickly overtook the U.K.-based team in terms of development quality and turnaround. We were very surprised, but also very impressed. After that project, we transitioned our development initiatives over to STX Next. More importantly, perhaps, was the fact that STX was also much cheaper than their U.K. counterparts.

When working with STX Next, is there anything you'd consider unique about their approach or development methodology that distinguishes them from other vendors?

I like the management information around who's working on what and how long. Their whole management and development process is very transparent. I can see the detailed breakdown of the amount of time spent on each of our various tasks. You know you're getting genuine data. There's no hiding how long it took to accomplish something. That really stood out to us.

In retrospect, are there areas in which you think STX Next could improve upon?

There's a definite cultural difference between United Kingdom and Poland, which we're getting still coming to terms with. There are a few communication issues here and there. We've been working with them for over a year now. Most of those have gone away but, at the start, there were a few communication issues. We've addressed them successfully. There's always some kind of learning curve.

BACKGROUND

Could you provide a brief description of your company?

We’re an information system company based in the Washington, D.C., area. Our offices are in Rockville, Md. We help clients, large and small, in the area of food and product safety. We basically help the companies comply with the changing and complex regulatory environment. We also provide consulting services and supply chain management services where a lot of the process is document management where you need to get questionnaires and get feedback. We cover about 170 countries in terms of our regulatory database. We’ve got clients all around the world. The latest count was something like 60 countries. We’ve got teams of people located all around the world. My team is located in about seven countries.

What is your position?

I’m a project manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you first approached STX Next?

The primary challenge was searching for qualified talent. We use a content management system (CMS) called Plone, which is a Python-based platform. It’s a very specific, niche tool. The major problem we confronted was finding experts in the field that could help us solve some of our technical hurdles. I was the lead developer for a long time. We were originally looking to hire a permanent resource, but could only seem to locate qualified contractors. STX was one of them.

At the time, we were looking for administrative type help. We needed help speeding up our services, performing data caching, performing backups, and monitoring our processes. We had a very specific and limited project in mind when we first began. Our experience with them and the success of that first project really set the precedent for moving forward. We’ve been using them as our development partners ever since. 

SOLUTION

How did you select STX Next as your solution partner for this endeavor?

They responded to our posting. I posted in a variety of places, like Stack Overflow, newsletters, job boards, things like that. They responded to the ad, got in touch with our HR [human resources department]. HR got in touch with me because I’m the project manager. I then vetted them. We deal with regulations and compliance. We work in a very high-pressure environment. If we do something incorrectly, bad things can happen. We wanted to make sure that if we did choose a contractor, that that contractor had that kind of experience. STX Next has worked with many Polish banks. I believe the largest bank in Poland is one of their major clients. The fact that they dealt with sensitive information, such as banking data was a great reassurance to me.

Could you describe the scope of work they’ve delivered to you over the course of the relationship?

We’ve been contracting with them for a year now. We started at end of July or August of last year. As mentioned, a lot of the original work was Plone troubleshooting and administration. They developed some custom add-ons based on optimization of our code base. They had done some general server management as well, improving and monitoring of our servers. I would say the bread and butter of our relationship has been the deployment of new modules, and new add-ons.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

Over the last year, we probably spent between $100,000 and $200,000.

You retain their services on an ongoing basis, correct?

Yes. In fact, I’ll be visiting their office in Poland this August [of 2014] to meet them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of their work?

In terms of their work, they’re spot on. They always deliver excellent code the first time around. Bugs are very minimal. If a bug does come up for whatever reason, they fix it immediately. In terms of all of my technical criteria, they exceeded everything. Then, in addition, I got this management process that made us deliver more effectively, more efficiently. We’re more in touch with what the client wants. If the client wants to change something, we can change rapidly. With the previous process before, we were far more in the waterfall model, and so changes were harder to take on, especially late in a project. This, I think, has increased customer happiness as well. All around, it’s been a great working relationship and I’ve been very pleased.

When working with STX Next, is there anything you’d consider unique about their approach or development methodology that distinguish them from other vendors?

We also do a lot of work with object-oriented databases as well as relational databases, which these guys really excel at. That’s a unique skill set to have. They can also build add-on products and do server administration. When we were approached by STX Next, and we told them about our area and what we did, they were actually saying that what we were doing was quite smart, and exactly what they would have recommended. I was glad that they understood our field. They understood the importance of confidentiality. They understood the importance of our high-pressure environment and delivering on time and also the technical challenges that we face. Their knowledge of Python and Plone is bar none; they're wizards in that area of expertise.

In retrospect, are there any areas in which you think STX Next could improve upon as a service provider?

I was talking about this with them a few days ago. They have an internal SCRUM Board. The SCRUM Board is quite adequate. It works well. Internally, we’re talking about maybe moving to a newer platform because it’s adopted by industry, it’s standard. We’ve been talking about how they may be able to improve some of their internal tools, their SCRUM Board, and bug tracking system. That’s probably the only think I could recommend to them in terms of improvement.

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your organization?

We’re developing sophisticated, in-depth portal for large companies. We build websites, of course. We also build apps, and we’re now into the Beacon technology, the Bluetooth 4.0 technology.

What is your position?

I’m the director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you began the relationship with STX Next?

Before STX Next was founded, I was one of the co-founders of STX Poland. I started it up about nine years ago. At the time, I needed some Plone and Python developers, so we began sourcing them from Poland. Even though I don’t work there anymore, I remain close with pretty much all of their leadership. We have a very good relationship. They’re a development firm almost exclusively dedicated to Python/Django/Plone development, and that’s exactly what we needed. We needed a cohort of qualified and professional developers to augment our own internal development team. We were running into capacity and scaling issues, but we had to ensure that whomever we put on the projects would be extremely capable and competent.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of work delivered to you during the course of this relationship?

They’ve been heavily involved in the technical aspects of our projects. The majority of their work is custom development with Python. They’ve done everything from basic code reviews, bug fixes and slight modifications and enhancements to all the way to complex integrations with multiple unique systems. They handle the testing and quality assurance, and they configure and optimize all of the deployed systems.

Could you provide a sense of the size of these various initiatives in terms of their financial cost?

We’ve invested around $900,000 to $1 million, but this is, of course, during the last three years. It’s grown exponentially. We’ll definitely be well past the $1 million mark this coming year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of their work?

I really don’t have any kind of figures or statistics to share with you. I can tell you that our customers and stakeholders remain consistently pleased with the quality of their deliverables. For instance, STX Next has worked alongside us with one of our priority customers for almost six years. This particular client has made it patently clear that they want STX developers working on their assignments. They’re very confident in what STX Next can bring to the table. That’s just one illustrative example, but there are a number of others, too. On the whole, we’ve experienced issues with STX. To the contrary, they deliver such high-quality development services that they’re deliberately sought out by firms so that they can guarantee technical excellence to their own customers.

When working with STX Next, is there anything you’d consider unique about their approach or development methodology that you think distinguishes them from other vendors?

The thing that impressed me most about STX Next was how proactive they are with their clients. They don’t approach a project in a linear fashion. It’s not A, B, C, and then project complete. It’s less about them meeting our deadlines and checking items off our wish list. They’re much more focused on isolating the problem or problems and then brainstorming any number of viable solutions, depending on what results are most important to the client. They’re thought partners first, and then they’re code monkeys. Their meticulous about this approach, too. I believe it’s one of the primary reasons they’re able to deliver such high-quality work so often. They really perform their due diligence before dedicating their resources to a possible solution.

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your organization?

Our organization offers web application design and support consulting services. It is mostly geared towards the Plone content management system (CMS). However, we also work with other platforms depending on the client project. We primarily do system development, application development, and application integration, but we also perform systems optimization, environmental setup, and custom development.

What is your position?

I’m the director of operations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you initiated the relationship with STX Next?

We needed to find developers with expertise using Plone CMS. Finding resources locally is extremely challenging because of the specialized skill set that’s required in understanding not only Zope and Python. We needed developers that understood the structure of Plone and how to utilize its infrastructure in the most efficient way possible. We needed a reliable and qualified set of developers to incorporate themselves into our own development teams. We need to ensure they’d be competent and capable of contributing significant value to our development projects.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of work that they delivered during the course of the relationship?

In terms of STX, they have been involved in everything from not only helping us with minor bug fixes, but all the way up into managing entire projects, specifically those that require complex migrations, custom enhancements and optimization services. A lot of the work has been custom development alongside our internal teams, but they also help us with testing phases and strategizing our overall Web presence.

How did you select STX Next as your solution partner for this endeavor?

I’m not sure I know the answer to that question. It was actually a colleague of mine who’s no longer with the company that identified them. I’m not sure how they got to us, but once I was aware of their skill sets and once I had the package of information they sent us, I quickly latched on. I saw the value in having them help out with some of the specific projects we had at that particular time. At this point, they’ve demonstrated to us that they can handle almost anything we throw at them. When I know that I have a challenging project coming up, or that our capacity is somewhat limited, I know I can rely on STX Next. They add significant bandwidth to our development capability, and also add significant quality to the work we deliver.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in monetary terms?

That’s difficult to say because the cost varies depending on the amount and complexity of projects going on at any given time. We’ve had multiple projects going on simultaneously with them, and single, very large ones. Some of the smaller projects have been around $25,000; some of the larger ones have been around $200,000.

This is an ongoing relationship, correct?

Yes, it is. We have a number of ongoing projects with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback you’ve received that would demonstrate the effectiveness their work?

They’ve collaborated with us on a number of high-priority projects, and the end customers have been consistently impressed with our deliverables. For us, the fact that our client has continued to bring us more work, and we’re now approaching half a million dollars in the last year and a half with that same client, the return of business, I think, is indicative of our good work and how much they appreciate it. They continue to see us as their main developing arm. As a matter of fact, they had an internal developing arm that was based in the U.K. and they’ve since dropped them. We’re now their primary development team.

In terms of your own internal evaluation of their performance, how satisfied is your staff and executive team with the overall flow of these various initiatives?

We’re extremely content. There was a period about two years ago when they informed me that they were going to be reaching their maximum capacity and that we might not be able to utilize their services for a few months. That was when I realized how much we’d come to rely on them. I brought it up as a major point with our executive team, explaining that we simply had no way of replacing them for the interim. The fact was that they provide such high-quality work with such consistency that it’d have taken us months to simply find a viable replacement, let alone get them hired and up and running. We had to convince them to remain active on our behalf so we could keep our own customers happy.

When working with STX Next, is there anything you’d consider unique about their approach or development methodology that distinguishes them from other vendors?

They’re very big on having scrum teams and they manage their projects and iterations to make sure that when we are receiving updates, it’s not at the end when it’s too late to make any adjustments. We receive very timely update from them. There are updates that provide feedback during the development cycle so that, again, we can catch things quickly and often. That kind of meticulous process and attention to detail is definitely one of the primary reasons why they’re so effective at what they do. Moreover, we’re allowed to be part of that process, and keeping that open communication is ideal for us. It’s one of the reasons we’re such a good fit because both of us really appreciate and exercise good communication.

 In retrospect, are there any areas you think they could improve upon as a service provider?

If I think long enough, I’m sure I can come up with something. I feel like everybody has something they need to improve on, or else you don’t have that continuous growth, and you’re not really challenging yourself. Of course, I wouldn’t want them to take any holidays, that’d be number one, not allow them to have any time off, but I know that’s not reasonable. My only wish was that they had more resources. As I’d mentioned, when they end up with too much work, we might end up losing some of their developers to repurposing. Of course, that then diminishes our own internal development resources, and then we’re forced to make do either without them for a specified period or temporarily search elsewhere for replacements.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the CFO of a B2B information services firm.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

B2B information services provider supporting the marketing and advertising community. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire STX Next to accomplish?

• External development parter
• Rebuild tech stack
• Rebuild front end of website

SOLUTION

How did you find STX Next?

Referral

Why did you select STX Next over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from STX Next were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Support in-house team with rebuild and/or migration of the tech stack and key platforms, including web hosting, CMS, email stack, subscription paywall, etc.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Success migration of various critical platforms with minimal bugs
• Improved code quality resulting in faster, reliable website
• Rebuilt web front-end 
• Website performs better for end users

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

STXNext was very responsive and able to optimize resourcing as our project and needs evolved.  Additionally, they were able to work overtime when required. They act as an extension of our in-house engineering team.

What was your primary form of communication with STX Next?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They are good to work with and understand the needs and challenges of a B2B information services provider.

Very flexible and adaptive.

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

We've enjoyed working with STXNext and they are a critical partner to our success. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Senior Data Scientist of a financial services company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Specialized real estate investment firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire STX Next to accomplish?

• Migrate and transform ETLs

SOLUTION

How did you find STX Next?

Online Search

Why did you select STX Next over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget

How many teammates from STX Next were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

STX was responsible for developing net new ETL pipelines leveraging existing stored procedures.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They completed all ETLs.

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

Timeline was in need of adjustment early in project due to initial timeline and resources velocity in completing tasks.

What was your primary form of communication with STX Next?

Virtual Meeting

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

N/A

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Group IT Director of Tour Partner Group Ltd.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are the leading Destination Management Company and organise trips to Nordic Countries, UK, Ireland and Baltics for Clients all over the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire STX Next to accomplish?

• reduce time
• increase response time

SOLUTION

How did you find STX Next?

Referral

Why did you select STX Next over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from STX Next were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

The scope for this project was to develop a LLM which is able to identify and specific requests we receive from our Customer, look for the requested details on our systems and prepare a reply to our Sales Agents

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

the putcome of this project is to generate more offers to our Clients in a much shorter time period.

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

Project Management was great, every milestone was delivered on time, response was always friendly, accurate and quick.

What was your primary form of communication with STX Next?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

STX Next's setup of the projects, as well as the quick and self-reflected replies were impressive.

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

nothing to improve, keep doing what you do as you do!