Future Processing

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of Software Delivery of Interparking

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Interparking is a leading European company specializing in parking services, with a focus on improving service quality, offering innovative transportation solutions, and maintaining an environmentally responsible approach across a network of 1,001 sites and 419,119 parking spaces in nine countries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Future Processing to accomplish?

• Filling the competency gaps in our internal team with the knowledge and expertise of external specialists from Future Processing, allowing them to work alongside our team

SOLUTION

How did you find Future Processing?

• Clutch Site
• future processing

Why did you select Future Processing over others?

Close to my geographic location

How many teammates from Future Processing were assigned to this project?

14

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

Future Processing specialists support us in current tasks and contribute to many of our projects. In most cases, one or two specialists from their team are involved, with a focus on developers and a business analyst.

Tasks they are involved in include ongoing support, bug fixing, customer card migration/renewal, rewriting the API for parking space reservations from synchronous to asynchronous communication, adding support for an external supplier's API, gathering data from various systems and presenting them in an aggregated version.

Their tasks also include co-creating an application that collects invoice data available in SAP, and subsequently allows the retrieval of a list of invoices and the invoices themselves in PDF format, standardization of cookies management and analytics tools, introduction of OneTrust and Matomo and more.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Future Processing specialists are part of our internal teams. They support us in current tasks and contribute to our projects. There are projects where their expertise is crucial, but overall, it can be said that they serve as a complement. What is certain is that, thanks to Future Processing specialists, we can fill the skill gap and successfully complete our projects.

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

When a need for a new specialist arises for us, we report it to the leader at Future Processing, who, based on the details and specifics provided by us, sends a few candidates. These are not random individuals but those who have been pre-screened by Future Processing to match our preliminary requirements. There is no need to set deadlines as Future Processing reacts very quickly.

We appreciate that, thanks to them, we have access to specialists from various areas. Additionally, we value the fact that regular meetings are conducted with each tribe lead to assess the performance and satisfaction of the individuals with whom we have chosen to collaborate.

What was your primary form of communication with Future Processing?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Above all, the expertise and professionalism of FP’s Engineers employees. Technological proficiency, willingness to learn, and a proactive approach have distinctly set the company apart from other providers. We are pleased with the flexibility and diversification of services offered by Future Processing, especially when it comes to delivering the right specialists tailored to our specific needs.

The ability to scale resources according to project requirements has made collaboration efficient. Additionally, we appreciate their pro activeness reflected in the flexible response to our changing needs. They approach our issues holistically and meet our needs by proposing additional services (such as UX or security).

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

I think there is always room for improvement. Better orientation in dynamic business realities, where our goals are not always straightforward, could be enhanced for individuals with whom we collaborate. However, I must admit that Future Processing has been very open to feedback and has always been adjusting personnel in accordance with our needs.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Triq builds digital endurance sports training prescription application for triathletes that generates personalized training plans— scientifically backed by the latest sport science insights to provide better training success in the highly individualised and fast changing lives of ambitious hobbyists endurance athletes. The plan is generated based on race goal, the personal schedule and current fitness status. I'm the CTO of TRIQ.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Future Processing, and what were your goals?

Developing a state of the art visually appealing mobile app and cloud infrastructure. We were looking for expert developers, a quick start and a fairly dynamic access to talent.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Near shore. Good expertise and talent, availability, english skills.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

First key deliverable was an app to release for the market fit phase. We have 2 weeks sprints producing a releasable mobile application. Tech used is iOS, Swift, .NET, C#, Azure, Azure App Services, Azure Functions, Python, Garmin API, web, Firebase push notifications, CleverTap, etc

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Scrum master, lead dev, 1-3 iOS developer, 1-2 Python developers, 1-2 backend developers, 1-3 QA, 1 requirements engineer for sometime.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Every two weeks we get a well tested high quality application from the team. Consistently.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Classic Scrum. Because of the pandemic, we've rarely met in person. Various meetings online: Dailies, all the sprint rituals. Slack. Jira, Confluence. It works well.

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

They are really good. Experienced, bright, professional. They work well together in the team. They follow best practices without asking for it.

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

Nothing that I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of engineering for an insurance company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Future Processing?

Our business segment is growing globally and we need technology to support the growth. We are developing a configurable platform to deploy in multiple countries. To scale up the program, we partnered with Future Processing to work with our teams.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Future Processing provides a whole agile team to be part of our program. Initially, we provided the information so they’d help us execute. They’ve used a mix of AWS cloud technologies, JavaScript, and Spring Boot, and everything is furnished by Serverless Orlando Services. They’ve also contributed to the design.

The platform is a full-suite insurance lifecycle and value stream. It’s an in-house iterative software application.

Future Processing formed an autonomous agile product team as part of this particular program.

What is the team composition?

We have over 20 people on our team, including a scrum master, product owner (PO), architects, product designers, and engineers.

How did you come to work with Future Processing?

Future Processing was introduced to our company. This program, started in 2019, was the first engagement with FP.  Since then, as a result of the success of this program, the partnership with FP has grown multi-fold.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $1–$5 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement with the program started in 2019 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Overall, it’s easy to work with Future Processing. They have industry-standard agile team skills and come up to speed quickly in every role they play.  The team not only gels into the program, they bring expertise and insights and are an integral part of the program.  

The team grew from 5 people to 20+ in the past 18 months, which speaks well about how satisfied we are with our partnership.

How did Future Processing perform from a project management standpoint?

Future Processing team comes with industry-standard agile team skills. They were able to form the backlog quickly and were mindful to grow the team's velocity over time. They’ve reduced the onboarding time for new team members. Now, someone can show up and be able to develop and check-in code within two weeks.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their professionalism, flexibility, and company culture are most impressive.

I am most impressed by the professionalism and the quality of the team. They took the time to absorb and understand our business and technology landscape, which made them contribute quickly as a partner. People in every role bring their A-game. 

We started with five individuals, and they were able to jumpstart the team and get in a productive state within 2–4 weeks. FP listens to our needs and was able to find the right people to support us.

Throughout the pandemic, we know FP is very mindful of employees' health and wellbeing. Their company campus setup (e.g. onsite child care) indicates that they are a people company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

At this point, the challenge is for all of us to maintain and add to the level of capacity we have. Our demand is high because of our partnership’s success.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear on what the engagement is about. If you don’t know, they can help you explore it. Future Processing has a vast service portfolio, so they’ll be able to meet your needs.

For companies in the US, be mindful of time zone differences.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a consultant for an employee benefits software.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Future Processing?

The existing product we had was based on old legacy technology and was no longer meeting the needs of the market. We needed Future Processing to do a complete redesign and redevelopment.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Future Processing developed our new website based on the Microsoft Technology stack which was delivered within the Microsoft Cloud Platform. They worked alongside our in-house architecture, development, and product teams. 

The team was involved in low-level design work as well as development, testing, and QA work. They were also involved in specific enhancements to the product.

What is the team composition?

There were over 30 resources. 

How did you come to work with Future Processing?

They had been working for a number of years with us before we changed our name to Zest. We considered looking for other partners, but we felt they had the knowledge of the business and technical capabilities to score what we wanted to do. Overall, they were highly regarded. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent over $3.5 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement lasted from March 2015–February 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When new requirements arise, we will work with them again because we were very happy with their quality of work, technical capabilities, and overall support. It was a good partnership. The product itself has been highly successful in terms of market penetration. 

Customers have migrated from the old product and new customers who have come on since have all been very happy with the product. It’s been the market leader within the employee benefits technology market. We’ve had extremely positive outcomes for the business. For example, we won an award last year for being the best technology provider in the sector. 

How did Future Processing perform from a project management standpoint?

They provided development support but not project management specifically. The team provided agile scrum teams alongside our internal agile scrum teams. They were responsive to our needs, and we communicated via collaboration tools and conference video calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their technical competence and quality of output were impressive. Future Processing worked very hard on being a partner, and they were conscious of the role they played in the business. They made sure that they were working with us towards our objectives.

Are there any areas they could improve?

As a company, they had processes they needed to follow. There were some cases where we felt that their processes weren’t wholly responsive enough for what we do. That has nothing to do with the people, just the way they operate.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear about what you’re asking of them. Once they understand what you’re looking for, they’re a very constructive partner.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of a healthcare technology firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Future Processing?

We had an internal strategic objective to develop a new suite of intuitive products. We wanted to consider the UI/UX carefully but didn’t have the expertise internally. We wanted to be able to scale our software development capacity as needed using an external resource.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Future Processing helped develop a style guide with a set of UX guidelines for us to apply to all of our projects moving forward. We worked with their UX team directly to develop the style guide. Their team came to the UK for a number of days to understand our business and our software users. 

They also delivered a number of web applications to us. For one project, their team developed an application that deals with the brokerage of care packages in a cloud environment. At the moment, they’re helping to support and maintain our products, making small bug fixes and feature enhancements.

What is the team composition?

We engaged with 3-4 people primarily but worked with up to 15-20 people. The size of the team depends on where we are in our project roadmap and development lifecycle.

How did you come to work with Future Processing?

When I was with a different organization, I worked with Future Processing. I continued the relationship because of their deliverables and operations, which I knew would fit well with our workflows. There weren’t many other outsourced companies that offered the same range of services or had the same reputation as Future Processing.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent  £500,000—£1 million pounds (approximately $620,000—$1.25 million USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2016 and the engagement’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We developed a number of applications for customers using the style guide that Future Processing created. Customers find the applications intuitive and easy to use, so it requires little training to understand how to use them. The ultimate success metric is that a user can pick up our platforms and use them easily. That means that we’ve got our UX/UI right.

We haven’t had any high-priority issues with the web app. From day one, we’ve been able to onboard customers. We continue to onboard customers and generate revenue.

How did Future Processing perform from a project management standpoint?

Key stakeholders in the UK engage with Future Processing’s scrum teams and scrum master who leads their teams. During the development, we had daily standup meetings with them to understand how they progressed. We used Confluence, Microsoft Teams, and Skype for video conferencing.

Their team was proactive in raising the risk. If we asked them to complete a task but their team thought there was a better method, they highlighted their recommendations. We have a collaborative working relationship. It’s easy to communicate with them, which isn’t a quality that I found with past outsourced partners.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Future Processing takes the same amount of pride in the outcome of a project as our internal team. Their team approaches development with the same seriousness and dedication as us. They’re professional and dedicated to delivering the best that they can. It doesn’t feel like we’re working with an outsourcing company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I haven't worked with a better outsourcing company. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Get them involved in the process early. Future Processing has a technical specialist team that can advise your early technical decisions based on their experiences. Keep your product owner close to your business but also make use of Future Processing’s proxy product owner. This means that Future Processing has a product owner to turn to if they have immediate questions that need to be answered about features and priorities.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of operations for Styles&Wood, a construction company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Future Processing?

The original brief was to deliver a modular property management system. That was completed in late 2017 and was very successful. Since then, we’ve engaged with them to support us through a number of migrations of our client base.

We had a legacy solution on ASP.NET that was based on pretty old technology. It was a package we had originally purchased and customized. We felt like it was time to change it, and we wanted to move to something that was much more modern in its look and feel.

We wanted to change it from being a one-size-fits-all product to being a more generic, modular system, where clients could pick and choose what they wanted to do. The goal was to create a solution that would provide our clients with a significant amount of configuration capabilities. This way, clients could tailor the solution to their business, despite it being an off-the-shelf SaaS product.

We had an in-house development team that was focused mainly on the legacy system, but we didn’t have access to a modern skills base. We needed a company that could provide modern techniques to give our product a much wider exposure.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They updated our software and designed the UI/UX of the platform. The development work is done using the Microsoft stack, specifically ASP.NET. They also leverage HTML5 and the Kendo forms loader.

We have some very large retail clients in the UK, and they’ve helped us migrate them over onto the new platform. Future Processing is also working with us to continuously enhance the product. We’ve consulted with them for two or three more additional modules, as well as a decision analytics integration.

Future Processing also manages our codebase and our release process, and they provide us with third line support for the product. We have a second line support desk based here in the UK, and they provide development support through their office in Poland.

What is the team composition?

The size of the team varied over the course of the engagement. There’s always been between 12–17 people. We have a dedicated team that includes a team lead, two business analysts, one solution architect, nine developers, and four test analysts.

How did you come to work with Future Processing?

We were looking for a technology partner who was operating in our space and could give us access to modern technologies. Future Processing was recommended by a couple of other contacts within the industry. They have a fairly significant footprint in the UK.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent £2.5 million (approximately $3 million USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2016 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve worked with them on a series of projects, and they're very good at hitting timelines and getting results.

How did Future Processing perform from a project management standpoint?

The original project was kicked off using Kanban. Since then, we’ve moved more into a Scrum hybrid that's not pure agile. We do quite a lot of requirement specifications.

They continue to perform incredibly well, especially at managing their own resources. We hold weekly meetings with them to make sure the sprint plan is effective and to keep them focused on our current priorities. We have shared access to Git libraries. They use Jira, and we use Azure DevOps.

These common tools help us manage the progress of the project. We also use Slack frequently. We work together closely and have an excellent working relationship.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most significant value add that they give us is access to a pretty substantial knowledge base. They have between 800–900 employees who work on a broad portfolio of projects across multiple sectors. There’s a constant supply of fresh talent coming through.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We sometimes struggle to get estimates out at a reasonable time. During the initial engagement, we were developing a completely new product from scratch, and there were no real pressures in terms of client demands. Now we work in an environment that is much more client-led.

Sometimes keeping our focus on the commercial aspect of what we’re trying to do can be a little bit challenging. It’s easy to spend time just thinking about the architecture of the solution. There are times when we need them to be a little quicker. It can be difficult when we’re managing budgets against clients and trying to keep the scope really tight.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You’ll get the most out of your engagement with them by making sure your team is invested in the project. If you work with them on an agile basis, you’ll need to buy into agile completely.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO and co-founder or Smart Valor, a Fintech start-up. It’s a digital assets platform that currently supports crypocurrencies and utility tokens. Our business is shifting towards the trading of security tokens in the stock exchange domain.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Future Processing?

We partner with Future Processing extensively for our product development and key account management. They’ve helped us bridge the gap between business and technology. There, we’ve found people who can handle the development and technical aspects of blockchain while still engaging in the business side of it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve developed the software for our product offering. At this point, we operate almost like a hybrid company as they’re engaged in almost all of our technological processes. Their UI/UX member implements wireframes, and my own team aligns our inputs with these before progressing into the development sprint.  

In our collaboration, we’ve utilized multiple versions of AngularJS as well as Nodejs. The backend is primarily operated through Java. When it comes to DevOps, we host our platform on AWS.

On top of working with their senior developers and technical experts, their quality engineers execute the automation and manual testing of the product. Future Processing has even supported us with requirements engineering, which is the process of determining user expectations for a new product.

What is the team composition?

We’ve engaged with a full-scale matrix of a team. We started with technical experts, supported by senior, mid-level, and junior developers. We’ve worked with UI/UX experts as well as quality engineers and senior architects. We also had a Scrum master overlooking the work. Their team range truly speaks volumes about the company’s flexibility.

How did you come to work with Future Processing?

I worked with Future Processing with my former employer before I started my work at Smart Valor.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $1,000,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our cooperation began in October 2017, and we have an ongoing relationship that I hope will continue for a very long time. They’re a fixture of our organization.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our success with Future Processing is evident by just how extraordinary our platform currently looks. They’ve been a critical part of developing it.

How did Future Processing perform from a project management standpoint?

We would work within a Scrum framework, and their Scrum master was excellent to work with. Our project management was otherwise executed internally, so they were more focused on the technical delivery aspect. We used Slack, Jira, and Confluence to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I would especially highlight their expansive technical expertise which has provided us with outstanding security at all levels of our organization.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

I believe that this is something they’re already working on, but we could potentially use more hands in managing our DevOps. They have the knowledge to bridge our system operations with our development but have too few people to leverage that expertise.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of development for a software provider in the workforce management space. A medium-sized company in a larger group, we are based in the UK and have international clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Future Processing?

Future Processing is our primary development partner. They augment our internal development team for multiple projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team is building out our platform’s functional capability and technical architecture. Services for the full-stack development include testing, architectural design, and implementations. Predominantly, they are building on top of existing code for this piece of software; our team had the core functionality and original architecture in place at the start of the project.

What is the team composition?

The team comprises about 20 people including an account manager and team lead. The former handles the business side while the latter runs the day-to-day operations. There are also sub-team leads, lead developers, and then developers and QA specialists within each team.

How much have you invested with them?

We currently spend approximately £700,000 ($929,642 USD) per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Future Processing 6–7 years ago, but this project began in 2016. The partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Future Processing implements changes quickly and delivers quality work. The code is well architected and structured. Internal stakeholders find the functionalities user-friendly. We track progress via the user stories and backlogs.

How did Future Processing perform from a project management standpoint?

The team works in scrum. We use the Visual Studio Team Foundation Server. The product owner manages the backlog and the team executes on each item that’s tracked in the repository.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Future Processing is as effective as I would expect an internal team to be. Previous outsourcers have only acted on our functional specifications and design documentation. But with Future Processing, we experience an engaged partnership. This relationship enables us to express our vision and objectives while the team collaborates on design.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, the staff is proactive and responsible. However, Future Processing does allow their staff to move from one project to another. That setup makes it harder to keep workers sustained on less interesting projects, such as those with technical data or legacy technologies. They may not be the best outsourcing solution for grunt work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The team is cutting-edge in their space and takes ownership of their work. I highly recommend hiring them because they ensure proper partnerships.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO at Demica. We provide a fintech SaaS platform used by major banks to provide working capital to businesses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Future Processing?

We engaged Future Processing to replatform our SaaS platform–written in Visual Basic 6 (VB6)–using newer technologies.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The project was unusual because we didn’t want a like-for-life solution. Future Processing designed and architected the software from its UX experience to its structure and codebase. The team built the system using agile practices. They also worked closely with me to determine the technical architecture and how it needed to interact with existing services.

The SaaS platform now uses microservices. Future Processing wrote the code in Java with an AngularJS user interface.

What is the team composition?

We first worked with a small team comprising a project manager and four designers. As the project progress, Future Processing assigned us a business analyst, a technical architect, and four people devoted to QA. The team has now grown to 45 people.

How did you come to work with Future Processing?

We were searching for a Java development partner. Onshore vendors fell outside our budget, so we looked into two nearshore firms in Poland. They each came back with proposals, and Future Processing offered the best plan.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $1 million–$5 million so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2018, and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve started using the updated platform and demonstrating it to large, multinational banks in Europe. It’s received very positive feedback so far. Future Processing gave us the scalability we were looking for. We’ve engaged their team as a long-term development partner going forward. They developed a rearchitected system rapidly and supplemented our internal team with specialist skills.

How did Future Processing perform from a project management standpoint?

We’re highly satisfied with their communication, documentation, and overall responsiveness. We visit them every six weeks for workshops. Our in-house project manager interfaces with their project manager regularly, and I have weekly calls with their business analyst. We collaborate via Slack and Jira.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Future Processing offers an in-depth knowledge pool that has been invaluable to us. They supplement our team’s development project and specializations.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind. We’re highly satisfied with their work.

Any advice for potential customers?

We’ve found it helpful to have a proxy project owner on both our team and theirs. I serve as project owner on my side and interact directly with someone who acts a subject matter expert on the Future Processing team. This process streamlines our communication.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We work in business development. We help companies find service providers like Future Processing, for example.

What is your position?

I am the founder of the company. In most cases, I'm also the project manager from the client's side while also managing the business development side of the project.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Future Processing?

One of the first projects we did with them was a custom software project. A company wanted to develop new business-to-consumer software.

We looked around for a company of a certain size. Our experience is that the bigger the company, the better it usually is at internal training of the staff, and holding boot camps. Future Processing confirmed to us that this was something they did a lot, actually. I have seen few companies be that active in internal boot camping. They really keep their staff well trained. Also, we wanted somebody who had a very clear image of project methodology, and how to manage an IT [information technology] project, and how to set roles and expectations. Mainly for those reasons, we chose Future Processing at that time.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Future Processing was in charge of deciding which platform and technology we would use for the project and they decided on a PHP-based solution. This was something that scared the more conservative individuals among us because we thought PHP was a hobby thing that you would do in your room, and that you needed Java or .NET to think bigger or create more sustainable structures. Future Processing did a very good job convincing us that PHP had grown since we last updated ourselves.

We have expanded the scope of their involvement to include several mobile projects. They developed both a mobile front-end and then a dynamic back-end. They've used several technologies in the back-end. We've also done a couple e-commerce projects. The mobile projects were for iOS, Android, and mobile Web.

For the very first project, we brought our own designer. What we saw was that when Future Processing started doing testing with their internal UX [user experience] team, we got very good input. The UX/UI [user interface] bit has really impressed me, more than I thought it would from the beginning.

How did you come to work with Future Processing?

Our researcher came up with a list of potential development companies. We knew we wanted to go east to save money. I have done a tremendous amount of outsourcing projects, so I knew back then that the cultural aspect is vital for project success. For this reason, Poland, with its mix of informal flexibility and also the German work ethic and precision, appealed to me. Based on that, they came up with a shortlist of Polish partners. From that shortlist, Future Processing stood out in every way, in terms of their size as well as other things.

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

I would estimate it to be a €1.5 million [approximately $1.6 million] investment so far, and growing.

What is the status of this engagement?

The relationship is very much ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The biggest project we've done there reached about 2,200 story points [Scrum methodology for establishing milestones], and it's still going on. That is during about 18 months of development, with a five-person team. I can't fish out an accurate number of projects we've done with them at the moment. Each and every project has been a success, though.

How did Future Processing perform from a project management standpoint?

We were assigned a project manager in addition to several developers. The team project manager is responsible for documentation. Sometimes we will bring in a QA [quality assurance] specialist or somebody from business analysis if they have a backlog because we find that they handle that way better than us or the client. Their QA department and methodology is one of the best I've seen. QAs can be a pain in the back sometimes, but they have really brought our projects forward.

What distinguishes Future Processing from other providers?

They're really proud of the strength and talent of their QA. I think that what makes Future Processing unique is how they're doing internal QA conferences, and how they keep honing their model of how to integrate more effective QA into their core development team.

In hindsight, are there areas in which they could improve, or things you might do differently?

I felt that they did not have a good model for price estimations. It's difficult to estimate a project that is supposed to be agile, but we saw that, sometimes, they would use a team for estimating the project and then the project would be sent to another team. This caused a lot of frustration, because the estimates were way off. Sometimes, it would say 56 man-days, and it turned out to be more than 100. They are getting better now. One of their ways of solving the problem is to force the customer to do a pre-project.