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About five years ago I was interviewing in Amsterdam for a software engineering position at one of the largest telecom companies in Norway. It was a casual style interview, with two members of the development team, mostly focusing on technical matters, both regarding the position and my professional background. We spoke about one hour and I was left with the impression that the interview went quite well. There were no uncomfortable questions, no long pauses and no gaffes on my side that I could think of. I was quite certain that the process will advance to the next stage. A few days go by and no sign. I was starting to doubt my overly optimistic evaluation of the situation. Eventually I get an email response from someone at the HR department saying the two interviewers didn’t feel I was a good fit for the position. I was a bit surprised to hear that. By this time I was expecting a rejection, but the feedback left me quite puzzled. So I followed up with an email asking if there’s any chance I get a more detailed explanation on why I was rejected, to which I got the reply that the two developers who interviewed me felt I have good enough technical skills, but they didn’t feel I would be a good . cultural fit And that’s that. It’s the most dreaded rejection feedback which an introvert like myself, with a healthy amount of insecurity, knows it cannot be challenged or contested. This so-called is not something that you can have a say in, or something you can achieve, whether that is something you want to or not. Also it’s not something you can actively train for, like when you’re rejected because “you don’t have enough experience”, or “you don’t have this or that skill”, or even when they need “someone with leadership skills”. If you’re not a cultural fit, that’s rather permanent, and it’s not like you can go out and acquire some and apply for the job next year, mostly because the “culture” is a very loose term in this case and you’re not sure what it is exactly, but you know that you don’t fit in. cultural fit Photo by on Justin Main Unsplash The Company Culture It is up to the organisation to make the decision if someone is a cultural fit, based on its own values, policies, and other considerations which collectively make up the company culture, although these are not always clearly defined. So in order to be accepted, one must not only have the skills and qualifications required for the position, but also meet the company’s expectations in terms of cultural fitness. How this decision making process works though is not always transparent, one might say even arbitrary. The candidate can be rejected on the basis of cultural unfitness even when they are applying for a position inside a team or department which is currently being formed, and in which case it is unlikely that the culture is well defined. The company culture varies to a large degree from organisation to organisation, but most of them have one, either explicitly defined or more indirectly shaped. There is a growing trend in the tech industry where the organisation believes that it needs to think it through and decide its own culture. Based on this, the company will review candidates to fill positions, and these candidates will not only have to be qualified but also will need to possess a certain combination of personality traits that are presumed to contribute to the individual fitting in. Some companies will put it forward on its website or blog, others will be more subtle about it towards potential hires. Sometimes the company will discuss its with the interviewee as part of the process, in an attempt to make it easier for both parties to decide if there’s a match. culture hiring Cultural Fit Recruitment The culture seems to emerge at a stage when there’s a large enough degree of prosperity and success in the company, often as part of its expansion process. Over the past decade an idea has started to take shape, especially in the tech industry, that companies should attempt to hire for “cultural fit” and many of them seem to believe that culture fit is arguably more important than skills or experience. The argument is that a poor culture fit will lead to higher employee turnover, to speak in business terms, and that can be costly for an organisation, with the placing this cost in their report, and using as reference the book by Wayne Cascio, at 50%-60% of an employee’s annual salary. Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) 2008 Retaining Talent “Managing Human Resources: Productivity, Quality of Work Life, Profits” There’s a growing number of articles, many of them from business journals such as Forbes or Harvard Business Review, advocating the practice of hiring for culture fit, such as this one from 2015: . This type of literature is suggesting that in order for an employee to be successful in an organisation there needs to be a strong match between the organisation’s values, ethics, and beliefs and those of the employee. Recruiting for Cultural Fit The key component of a good “culture fit” can be directly linked to employee happiness, and the idea is that a happy employee is more productive, and that will ultimately lead to more profit. It’s a win-win. Companies believe that fostering the well-being of their employees will contribute to their success, and shows that promoting policies which will increase employees feelings of well-being, such as respectful treatment at all levels, will ultimately lead to greater happiness levels and overall better job satisfaction. There’s plenty of other sources which indicate that . research by the SHRM happiness improves business results Unsurprisingly though, employee happiness is also determined to a large extent by the individual’s own personality, as , a workplace wellbeing consultancy, indicates. They have found that employees who scored high on positive emotions and enthusiasm, and lower on depressive tendencies, will experience more “good days at work” than the others. research carried out by Robertson Cooper Ltd If a key component of a successful “culture fit” is personality, then, to a significant degree, specific traits would be those which indicate a relatively happy individual. A less than happy person could not only have problems with adapting and being productive, but also be a negative effect on the rest of the team. Whenever there’s a poor cultural fit, the overall morale of the team is affected, and inevitably is the effectiveness as well. At this point, it’s relatively safe to assume that organisations prefer, for the most part, homogeneity vs eccentricity. For this reason there’s a good amount of effort put by a growing number of organisations into screening candidates for cultural fitness. A candidate, on the other hand, will attempt to put their best face forward, when interviewing for a new job, or a promotion, in order to maximise the possibility of acquiring the position. This, however, poses a problem of imbalance between people’s behaviour and the emotional states they want to appear they are feeling. by researchers at Stanford, published in the journal, found that . The study further suggests that the practice of recruiting for cultural fit may lead to hiring bias. This finding doesn’t seem to be much of surprise, with various organisations already starting to voice their discontent with the practice, such as Buffer.com, which instead advocates on their for a slightly different approach called . Facebook also has their own response for , an internal training programme which they have . A new study Emotions “what is interpreted as the ‘best impression’ varies from person to person and from culture to culture” Open blog “cultural add” managing unconscious bias made public The Nokia Moment Is the company culture really that important for an organisation success? And if so, how far should the organisation go in terms of applying it? A recent BBC4 documentary called reveals that in its heyday, a core value of Nokia used to be “Respect for people”. But as Nokia was found itself with huge, unexpected success, a shift in values also started to emerge. The film further shows how Nokia’s enormous, quite sudden, success also started to attract a large number of people who might have been drawn to the organisation just because they were looking for success and financial gain, rather than making a worthwhile contribution. This has overtime led to the core value being reduced to just “Respect” alone, which arguably has played a role in Nokia’s eventual inability to further innovate. The Rise and Fall of Nokia So could this be a case of too much company culture? Successful companies which are now in a position of prosperity, are very weary about their success and how long it might last, fearing a which draws analogies with the moment in which Nokia was just before the release of the iPhone. Nokia moment I can also report that I may have witnessed a Nokia moment in one of my previous jobs in my career. Back in Amsterdam for about five years I have worked for a start-up which was developing a web and mobile chat messenger platform. A very successful product by all accounts, with a large user base and popularity, reaching its peak sometime in 2009 when profitability was at an all-time high, the engineering team operating as a well-oiled machine, and overall employee job satisfaction was soaring. So the company was expanding and, as a result, the company culture was also being shaped more clearly. The core values and principles were emerging, along with various management level position changes. By 2011, the general attitude has changed, the core companies values were prominently displayed and circulated internally, and these changes seemed to have coincided with a decline in the chat messaging market. The advent of the iPhone and other smartphones gave birth to a new sort of messaging platform, the most prominent one being WhatsApp, which provided new and exciting capabilities for mobile messaging over traditional chat platforms, such as MSN or Yahoo. My employer was found with a very difficult problem to solve, to adapt to the decline of the market in which they were operating. A new platform was needed, one which will effectively take on WhatsApp, in all its glory. Much like Nokia needed a strong competitor for the iPhone, and just as Nokia came up with the MeeGo platform, they also came up with a competitor for WhatsApp, however it didn’t quite work very well in either cases. Looking back now, one has to ask oneself if there’s any link between a well-defined company culture and promoting creativity and innovation. Do they play well together? It doesn’t seem to be an idea that André Spicer, a professor at the Cass Business School in London, would agree with, as he writes in : Spicer has also authored or co-authored a series of books, including and . his essay published in the Aeon magazine “Often, these cultures imprison employees in narrow ways of viewing the world, such as the common obsession with constant change”. The Stupidity Paradox (2016) Business Bullshit (2018) The One and The Many Hiring for culture fit doesn’t seem to play well with diversity and inclusion hiring practices either, which not only make up the recruitment rule of thumb in terms of morality and ethics, but also in terms of legality, at least in democratic countries which have enacted laws for equal opportunity employment. In the US, under the , . And mental health issues, such as depression, bipolar disorder, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are , and more importantly, are non-obvious during an interview. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) “employers cannot use eligibility standards or qualifications that unfairly screen out people with disabilities and cannot make speculative assumptions about a person’s ability to do a job based on myths, fears, or stereotypes about employees with disabilities (such as unfounded concerns that hiring people with disabilities would mean increased insurance costs or excessive absenteeism)” recognised disabilities under the ADA This leads to the conclusion that evaluating a person’s happiness levels during an interview and using this type of information to determine if that person is a good fit for the position, based on how they might appear emotionally, is not only immoral, but also possibly illegal, under the . In Britain mental health issues are protected against discrimination under the , with mental health conditions that are defined as impairment being listed under of the . ADA Equality Act 2010 Section A Guidance document Photo by on Margo Brodowicz Unsplash Could the solution then be to remove the component from an organisation recruitment practices entirely? What would that look like? Companies would be left with only qualifications, academic background or experience to judge candidates with. And they would have no choice but to that new hires will be a good fit, because if someone doesn’t fit it in a team or a company, there’s probably a reasonable explanation of why that is the case. culture trust Eliminating the culture layer will leave only trust and true diversity & inclusion policies as the baseline, and these should be the only acceptable recruitment practices. This might sound like a concept straight from a utopian novel and well, quite frankly, it is. The world imagined by William Morris in his novel is directly associating human happiness with economic activity, and how some of his ideas, not only have practical applications in the 21st century’s , as explains, but also how the world seems to have caught up with them. News from Nowhere (1890) “age of the Internet” this Aeon.co essay If recruiting for cultural fit is a practice fraught with problems, then maybe the whole idea of company culture is a failing concept. This might be a classic case of the philosophical problem , a concept which was recently debated at length at the by BBC Radio 3. “The One and The Many” 2018 Free Thinking Festival The quitting economy One possible take on this problem could result from a concept which is already gaining a lot of attention in the business and economic space at the moment: . If one were to apply this to a company and its employees, then the result would probably be the so-called or . The concept in which these trends originate is based on the ideas put forward by influential Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek (1899­-1992) and other members , commonly referred to as neoliberalism. This school of thought argues that individual employees, existing or prospective, should think of themselves as businesses, an idea which is analysed at depth by , associate professor of anthropology at Indiana University, Bloomington, in her Aeon essay, . decentralisation gig economy the quitting economy The Mont Pelerin Society Ilana Gershon The quitting economy In this kind of environment, which seemingly makes the company culture irrelevant, the emphasis is place on the individual ( ), rather than the organisation ( ). When an organisation starts to grow and develop its own culture that will later serve as a screening tool for new hires to be accepted, it is also, in many cases, creating a closed circle environment. A type of exclusionary society in which bias thrives, and to which the individual has to adapt in order to be accepted. But in the these types of incentives for motivating the employee, who is either an independent contractor, or someone preparing for the next job, are no longer relevant, nor effective. The One The Many quitting economy Gershon further indicates in her essay that the driving force now is — how passionate an individual is about their work — and it goes on to suggest that . A manager role is no longer to make sure that an employee is fitting well into the team, but rather to focus on making sure that the employee is able to do their job well, and also to assist them on making the transition to the next job, whenever that might be. Companies now accept that the individual doesn’t really work for the company, they work for themselves and for their passion, and building a career in a company is not something the individual should aspire to. passion “in the quitting economy, you have to work for passion, and working for passion means focusing on the task, not the company” Even if this thinking might sound a bit too radical for most people to digest, with immediate challenges such as job security and stability, the potentially constant fatigue of having to find a next job, or maybe a lack of feeling that the individual belongs to a group, the initial effect will probably be a shift in the corporate culture narrative, and a transition to a more inclusive and diversified organisational structure.

Not a Cultural Fit

Two weeks back, Zoho Corporation sued Freshworks for copying its trade secrets. I wrote a report on comparing the two businesses during my MBA as part of a course requirement. In the wake of recent developments, I believe it will be an interesting read: attaching below, a version of the essay. Disclaimer: I worked at Freshworks for fourteen months before pursuing MBA The Indian software industry used to be known for its offshore service operations of companies in the West. During the last few years, the trend has been changing. Two companies are building software products to the world from the capital of the southern state of Tamilnadu. and , are very similar companies, in their business strategy and problem-solving approach. They differ in aspirations and vision. Freshworks Zoho Freshworks is a relatively new age internet start-up focussed on aggressive growth. It engages in guerrilla marketing, often going head to head with one of the industry leaders like SalesForce, which is more than ten times its size. Zoho portrays itself as a neighbourhood company from southern Tamilnadu with big ideas and empathy for small businesses. This essay studies the companies from a strategic perspective, compares their choices and attempts to identify their essence. In the last few decades, India has become a global powerhouse of the IT services industry. Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Cognizant and Accenture recruit in large numbers from the engineering colleges around the country. They take advantage of the prevalent labour arbitrage, offer software services for Fortune X companies in the West. The Indian economy has prospered due to the growth of the software services industry. Tata Consultancy Services has an amassing 8.37 trillion INR in market capitalization as of June 2019, which is a little higher than 8.36 trillion INR market capitalization of Reliance Industries. The explosion of data coupled with the availability of high-power computing enabled businesses to move to the Cloud. Migration to Cloud is a painstaking process for engineers in a company; therefore, they were outsourced to eastern countries like India. Indian software service companies, during its long affiliation with western clients, developed expertise in Cloud computing. It forms the base for software as a service (SaaS) products. Traditional software products came with licence or purchase options often priced at exorbitant rates. Office essential software was purchased at negotiated terms, but during the brink of the millennium, things changed. The dotcom bubble period saw many businesses opening in silicon-valley without a strong vision or knowledge. Later, when the bubble was burst, only a few, invested firms survived. Companies started after the dotcom bust emphasized on investing in their productivity tools. As the cost of acquiring a new customer started rising, companies began listening to their customers. A new category of products called Customer Relationship Management (CRM) was born. CRM consists of all the steps in the sales cycle from lead generation, approaching a client, documenting the interactions, follow-up and eventually closing the account. Sales associates who work with multiple clients were facing problems of keeping track of their customer interactions, and often these details were handled in excel sheets. Salesforce, the world’s leading SaaS player today, started developing and selling CRM software that is hosted on the Cloud. Businesses need not have dedicated servers, network monitors in their office space. The property can be used to grow their business. This revolutionary idea in Cloud computing gave birth to the SaaS marketplace. While IT services in India were still growing in the early 1990s, a young Princeton PhD Sridhar Vembu started his career at Qualcomm in the United States. He says that . He started AdventNet Inc headquartered in Chennai, Tamilnadu in 1996. AdeventNet started selling software for telecom operators in the Bay Area. AdventNet Inc was later renamed after its successful CRM product, Zoho, as Zoho Corporation. he could not find a single product in the US that was manufactured in India, while products from China, Taiwan were common Girish Mathrubootham, a product manager at Zoho Corporation, faced a problem with his . He approached the shipping company’s customer service and months went by without any viable solution. He realized that their customer service software was ancient and broken. Later on the hackernews website, he saw frustrated comments from customers of the software about its high price. He quit his job at Zoho and started developing Freshdesk, a support desk software. Freshdesk, launched in 2010, was rebranded into Freshworks in 2017 after adding an array of SaaS products to its portfolio. television getting broken in transit in 2009 Freshworks has raised $400 million and has surpassed $200 million in annual recurring revenue. After the advent of Cloud computing, starting a business became very easy. Registering an office space and running the company from the comfort of the laptop became very common. However, only a handful of companies become big. Everyday tools that businesses need vary based on their scale of operations and the complexity of the sector. Traditional SaaS companies develop the software by understanding the problem of big enterprises—the software becomes heavy, comes with many features, and eventually, the price is very high. A small business might not need many of these features. For example, let us assume a help desk software is required for a company operating on the scale of Amazon. The software should be able to withstand the complexities of a global e-commerce giant. It will need support to be available in hundreds of languages, process queries from tens of channels. Whereas, a small boutique shop in the corner street, running their business through a Facebook page might not need the sophisticated features of the support software used by Amazon. They would also not be able to afford it. This is where Zoho and Freshworks operate - focusing on small and medium scale businesses who seek affordable software to run their business hassle-free. IT service management (ITSM) is another problem faced by companies of small and medium-size. As the companies grow, they accumulate assets in the form of laptops, monitors and other accessories. They should be protected and audited frequently for any mishap or misuse. ITSM software helps them manage assets in the company. Affordability issues can be viewed in two ways. Firstly, the high price paid to the software that is financially not viable to most businesses. Secondly, the licensing deal. Many companies work on very thin , and they cannot afford to pay for licensing fees for a lifetime. Monthly, yearly flexible subscription plans will benefit these companies. and offer them a free trial for the first month. The free trial helps the customers to audit the software for their needs and if they deem fit, proceed to purchase. bottom-line Zoho Freshworks : Editor's Note On Freshworks' request, we'd like to clarify that they offer a 14-day trial. Prof. Saral Mukherjee says, “strategy is all about closing doors”. At any moment, a business will face multiple opportunities to choose. The strategy of the company depends on the occasions they say no to—hence closed doors. Let us analyze the strategy of the two firms. Both Freshworks and Zoho are privately owned companies. Zoho was bootstrapped from Sridhar Vembu’s own money, and he has refused to take any investor funding. He says that investor funding will force the company to focus on high growth, and the company might lose focus on its values and objectives. He further says, “Beyond money, there is also a mission and purpose in life.” Zoho is a family owned business that has not prioritised aggressive growth. Yet, three of the five billionaires (in dollar terms) from Tamil Nadu are namely Sridhar Vembu, Sekar Vembu and Radha Vembu. Freshworks is a VC friendly company. Accel Partners, Tiger Global, CapitalG and Sequoia are some of the investors in Freshworks. The focus of Freshworks is to grow and grow faster. The company has delivered 61% average annual growth over the years. Zoho has said no to the conventional marketing techniques. It has positioned itself as a company that brings out products from rural Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh. shows Sridhar Vembu walking in the paddy fields of Tenkasi. He talks about how a world-class software product is made in the fields of southern-rural Tamilnadu. , aired during the GST rollout, discusses the Zoho software that integrates the GST feature into the auditing module. Sridhar Vembu localizes his positioning. An Advertisement seen recently Another Zoho ad Freshworks is an aspirational company. Even though they started their relationship with small business customers, they wanted to grow big. Salesforce, one of the market leaders of the SaaS industry, conducts a conference every year called Dreamforce in San Francisco, California. . Last year, . Freshworks’ positioning is its user interface and affordability. It targets customers who are annoyed with high priced, less user-friendly products. Freshworks advertises its products on the shuttle buses running between the conference venue and train stations it went a step further to trend #FailsForce in a blimp around the conference venue #Failsforce campaign. Credits: Bizjournals Zoho primarily drives its recruitment through campus and hires at entry-level. . Engineering students in Chennai look up at Zoho as the place to start their career. The attrition rate of Zoho is high as SaaS companies are coming up in the urban part of Chennai with competitive salaries. Around 20% of the employees come via Zoho University route Freshworks founder Girish Mathrubootham studied at SASTRA University. More than half of the workforce in Freshworks are SASTRA alumnus. Freshworks is strategically a poster brand for aspiring software engineers in Chennai. Amazon, Cisco and Paypal are the only sizable multinational companies in the city. Freshworks, which has been enjoying the soft spot from the press, is the place to be for Chennai software engineers. Freshworks also poaches talent from Zoho corporation and top technology companies. Girish Mathrubootham and his co-founder Shan Krishnasamy were Zoho employees. Spotting  ex-Googlers, Amazonians is very common in Freshworks office. Everyone in Zoho joins with the position ‘Member Technical Staff’. All the managers start with ‘Member Leadership Staff’ designation. The promoted ones get to be Team Leaders. All Team Leaders report to one of Sridhar, Sekar, Manikandan or Radha Vembu. Zoho has a flat hierarchy. CEO Sridhar Vembu sits with other engineers in an open workspace. Sridhar Vembu at his desk in Zoho Office. Credits: Tech in Asia Freshworks follow traditional multilevel reporting system which ranges from an entry-level software engineer, business development executive, customer support executive to CxOs who report to CEO Girish Mathrubootham. Variety is a key area where both companies differ. Freshworks, initially named the same as its first product Freshdesk, at the time of writing the essay, . Over half of them were launched within the last two years. Freshworks focuses on building capability on its core product Freshdesk and  expanding it to the other products in the portfolio. For example, help desk software such as Freshdesk has incidents reported as tickets. A support agent will be assigned a ticket with a Service Level Agreement. Once it is resolved, feedback is taken from the customer to improve their experience. Freshservice, ITSM tool treats all the service incidents as tickets with IT experts as agents. Freshsales, CRM software operates all the prospects as a ticket, sales representatives as agents. Likewise, Freshrelease tracks engineering tasks as tickets and respective engineers as agents. It may appear from the outset, Freshworks has multiple successful products. But, all of them have one common identity as a workflow tool. It has been tested and mastered and is quite successful too. had ten products in its portfolio Freshworks Universe If we see Zoho’s product portfolio, it tells a different story. AdventNet started with , a tool for telecom operators. Once it became successful, Zoho Office Suite was simply with the existing consumers. In 2007, , IT operations and Service Management software was launched. Since the majority of Zoho’s customers are small businesses, it has multiple products supporting mail operations, financial accounting, customer relationship management, help desk, IT support, security, operations management. It also has a separate suite of products to support the Internet of Things (IoT) for small and medium businesses. The critical success of Zoho platform lies with the product which seamlessly integrates the data across the above mentioned Zoho products. With over forty five products, Zoho aspires to create one unified experience for its customers. Combining all the products, it has created , one subscription plan to use products to empower sales, operations, support, HR, marketing and operations. Zoho is focused on portraying itself as a one-stop solution provider for small businesses, whereas Freshworks aspires to be a multi-successful-product brand. WebNMS upsold ManageEngine Zoho Flow Zoho One Zoho Universe The closed doors discussed above will lead us to understand the functioning system and strategies of Zoho and Freshworks. Traditional SaaS companies focus on Fortune 500 clients. The deal size of the sales is enormous. Consider , which operates at a high level and upper mid-level customer segment. They will typically hire a sales executive in their California office with around 100,000 USD salary. With an average deal size of 5000 USD, the sales executive is expected to close at least 20 deals every year to meet the cost to the company. The large deals will take lot of time to follow-up and close the account. Whereas, Zoho or Freshworks, operating from Chennai office can hire a fresh out of college grad for around 35000 INR per month. They target small businesses with relatively small deal sizes ( ) but work on a high-volume basis. Zendesk as low as 50 USD The start-up ecosystem has made it easy to start a business. Therefore, there is plenty of demand. Traditional SaaS companies, based out of the United States, cannot operate in this space due to the high cost incurred with employee compensation to the company. A considerable segment of small and mid-size businesses is available for grab, taking advantage of labour arbitrage — the key benefit of IT service companies, Zoho and Freshworks are building world-class software products from India. Even though their business strategy is the same, Freshworks and Zoho have two different souls. Freshworks is burning cash of its investors in aggressively expanding the operations. 60% annual growth rate is a voluntary standard for the company. and will be the first Indian product company if he manages to do that. Girish is looking to list Freshworks in NASDAQ stock exchange Sridhar Vembu is not interested in raising money. His business is self sustainable. With an entirely bootstrapped company, he believes that he has the freedom to choose the way the company operates. Zoho believes in the public good. “ “, says Sridhar Vembu. We are a state-of-the-art tech company with a very old-fashioned approach to company building. Zoho has said no to aggressive growth, focuses on its strengths and moves slowly. It has got an array of products, but there is no strategic focus on moving up the pyramid. Zoho is a risk-averse company; they serve small businesses and operate at volume. Freshworks is a fast growing company aspiring to be a market leader. When Freshdesk was started, they acquired customers quickly with prompt service and delivering delightful moments. If they diversify their portfolio and replicate the same success, they will become one of the market leader. They are also trying to expand into high-end customers. This is a fundamental shift to its core strength of labour arbitrage-business model. From the analysis and the current market scenario, it is understood that Freshworks is undergoing a transition in their strategy.

The Essence of The Zoho vs. Freshworks [Deep Dive]

Most companies today are technology companies. They aim at digitizing their back-office and frontline operations, which requires extensive IT assistance. However, trying to pursue agile methods, many businesses choose to outsource their digital transformation to external consultants’ IT teams as the alternative to running their own. At the moment, the software development market offers the services of thousands of companies for all kinds of needs. To shortlist the candidates who will turn software into an enabler instead of a roadblock, you need to compile your list of business requirements first and take your time to carefully revise the players corresponding to these requirements. Here are the key criteria to consider: in order to evaluate your project budget Cost per hour to understand whether the vendor has experience in your industry or with similar solutions Portfolio and major customers on trustworthy platforms and recommendations from past clients Reviews to make sure the vendor’s team has worked with the platforms and tools you aim at Tech stack that prove the company has access to the required technological resources and up-to-date competencies Official partnerships and certifications if it’s of significance to the project Location If you need your software development partner to be based in a certain location, it significantly narrows down available options but doesn’t make the choice easier in any way as it still requires the same rigorous level of evaluation and verification. In case you need an onshore software partner based in Denver, Colorado, Explority has compiled a list of the top software engineering companies in Denver to prepare the ground for your further research. To pick the most prominent vendors among Denver software companies, we have scored them against five criteria: Portfolio Major customers Tech stack Pricing Reviews As a result, we have shortlisted 30 best companies, each with its own strengths, competencies and industry focus. Now it’s your turn to choose a partner fit for your project’s scope and requirements. 30 Best Software Companies in Denver 1. Iflexion Launched in 1999, Iflexion has grown to a team of 850+ professionals who have completed software development projects for more than 500 customers across different industries, with the focus on solutions for ISVs, media and entertainment, ecommerce, finance, education, and healthcare. Its key customers are PayPal, Philips, Expedia, Toyota, eBay, adidas, Shell, and more. With its ample development stack ranging from programming languages (.NET, Java, PHP, etc.) to platforms (Salesforce, SharePoint, Magento, etc.), Iflexion has delivered enterprise web and mobile apps, portals, intranets as well as BI, AI, and IoT solutions. Iflexion is listed as one of the top custom software development companies by Clutch and one of the best engineering firms in Denver by GoodFirms. 2. Gorilla Logic Since 2002, Gorilla Logic has been delivering nearshore software development and consulting services. The company has grown to 500+ employees who specialize in Java, Ruby, Python, .NET, Angular, React, iOS and Android development. They build enterprise web and mobile apps and deliver UI/UX development, DevOps, data science, IoT and QA services. Gorilla Logic is listed as a top app development company by Clutch and is a certified AWS and Microsoft partner. 3. MojoTech MojoTech was founded in 2008 and completed 150+ projects. The company combines engineering, design and product management competences and delivered software solutions for such customers as Shell, Schneider Electric, Pivotal, and more. MojoTech is proficient in full-stack engineering, mobile and web development, legacy upgrades, and cloud migration. The company was featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and TechCrunch. 4. Computer Enterprises Computer Enterprises is a software development company that has been providing consulting and engineering services since 1992. It specializes in strategy roadmaps, tech enablement planning, UI/UX design, custom web and mobile apps, app maintenance, cloud solutions, DevOps, AI, big data, and BI. The company is certified by Microsoft, Google Cloud, Sitecore, Cloudera, Redgate, and AWS. 5. Woodridge Software Woodridge Software is an award-winning Colorado-based software development agency that specializes in bespoke web and mobile apps and custom integrations for startups and Fortune 500 enterprises. Since its launch in 2012, the company has been focusing on projects in finance, cybersecurity, education, and healthcare. It pays special attention to software security, runs rigorous security testing, and ensures their solutions’ compliance with major security standards. 6. Skookum Skookum and its team of designers and developers have been solving digital challenges and helping businesses modernize their technologies since 2005. The company focuses on design, software development, digital strategy, and innovative solutions such as web and mobile apps, APIs, IoT and cloud-based software. Skookum also has hands-on experience in launching R&D labs and environments from scratch to let customers explore emerging technologies, build prototypes, and accelerate time-to-market. 7. Bayshore Solutions Bayshore Solutions is a Denver software development agency founded in 1996. Its cross-functional teams have provided tailored web development, ecommerce, and hosting solutions for 2,600 customers across different domains, such as insurance, banking, logistics, and retail. The company offers full-cycle services, from digital strategy and web design and development to marketing, content management, and web hosting. Bayshore Solutions is a certified partner of nopCommerce, Sitefinity, HubSpot, and Google. 8. Chromedia Chromedia is a custom software development vendor in Denver that partners with companies of any scale, be it early-stage startups or large corporations. Founded in 2011, the company has delivered hundreds of projects, from customizing CRM and CMS platforms to building SaaS platforms and mobile apps from scratch. It also offers team augmentation services. Chromedia is a certified AWS partner; they are also experienced in PHP, .NET, C#, Ruby on Rails, Python, React, Angular, Swift, and more. 9. Cuttlesoft Launched in 2011, Cuttlesoft is a creative product development agency with a track record of hundreds of completed projects. The company mainly partners with small businesses to develop web, mobile, cloud and IoT solutions in IT, entertainment and business services domains, with a special focus on data security compliance. Cuttlesoft also specializes in DevOps enablement, data analysis, and visual design. Its tech stack includes Python, Ruby, JavaScript, React, iOS, Android, and more. 10. Electrifying Design Electrifying Design is a full-service software development agency in Denver founded in 2011. It specializes in web and mobile app engineering, database development, API integration, CRM and CMS implementation. Using its proficiency in PHP, Python, SQL, JavaScript, .NET, Django, Docker, and C#, the company delivered hundreds of projects including medical software, AI, big data and blockchain solutions, real estate apps, education platforms, and more. Electrifying Design has been recognized by Clutch and GoodFirms. 11. Techtonic Techtonic is an onshore software developer located in Denver. The company was established in 2006 and focuses on tailored software development, cloud-based app development, and solutions for delivery automation and workforce transformation. Its senior-level engineers are experienced in .NET, C#, AngularJS, React, JavaScript, Ruby on Rails, and more. Techtonic has found an efficient way to close the talent gap by launching a software development training program, accredited by the US Department of Labor, which helps source, train, and hire top-tier software engineers. 12. Rogue Wave Software Founded in 1989, Rogue Wave Software is one of the oldest and largest Colorado software companies that has partnered with thousands of global enterprises, including universities and organizations all over the world. It offers a wide range of services, from native apps to cloud solutions, across finance, healthcare, telecom, education, government, and other industries. The company’s expertise covers different languages, codebases, and platforms. Rogue Wave Software also has a portfolio of its own products. 13. Spire Digital Spire Digital is a Denver-based digital transformation firm established in 1998. It offers technology consulting, UI/UX design, custom software development, DevOps, digital marketing, and team augmentation. It’s skilled in engineering web, mobile, IoT, embedded, AR/VR, AI, and blockchain solutions using .NET, JavaScript, PHP, React, and more. Spire has partnered with hundreds of companies, 400+ technology startups included. Its key customers are Western Union, Berkshire Hathaway, Navy, Volkswagen, Experian, Lockheed Martin, MillerCoors, US Navy, and more. 14. Neon Rain Interactive Since its launch in 2002, Neon Rain Interactive has grown into a team of designers and developers who specialize in custom software, web and mobile apps as well as Drupal, WordPress, ERP and ecommerce sites. It has completed hundreds of projects for startups, SMBs, enterprises, educational and non-profit organizations, including such customers as United Way, YOLO Deals, Sprint, ACE Scholarships, and more. Denver Business Journal and Clutch have recognized Neon Rain Interactive as a top web designer and software developer. 15. Cardinal Peak Cardinal Peak is a software engineering firm that since 2002 has partnered with 800+ companies, from emerging leaders to Fortune 500 enterprises. Among them are Fujitsu, Samsung, Culligan, CableLabs, Clip Interactive, and more. Its team of engineers and designers specializes in hardware development, embedded software, security integrations, cloud and mobile solutions, and connected product design. The company also has hands-on experience in audio, video, voice and signal processing technologies and completed numerous projects using Amazon Alexa, AWS, Analog Devices, Audinate, NXP, etc. Top Software Engineering Companies in Denver: Runners-up 16. JetSoftPro JetSoftPro is a software development agency in Denver that has completed 270+ projects since 2014 across more than a dozen industries. It focuses on tailored web and mobile development, integration, R&D, UI/UX design, DevOps, security, QA, and maintenance. Its tech stack comprises .NET, C/C++, Python, Xamarin, Ruby, PHP, AngularJS, and Java. Recognized by the likes of Clutch, TechReviewer, and DQ, the company also expertly deals with innovative technologies, such as machine learning, chatbot development, blockchain, IoT, AR/VR. Its key customers feature Prezzo, bvblogic, Consolidate, innocode. 17. Devetry Devetry is a Denver-based software development firm launched in 2015. It’s skilled in planning and strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, custom mobile and SaaS development as well as data science, machine learning, and chatbots. The company has delivered projects for SMBs and large organizations from industries such as energy, education, digital marketing, wellness, and cybersecurity. Devetry works with a wide range of technologies including React, Vue, AngularJS, Python, Ruby on Rails, .NET, and Flutter. Devetry has been recognized as a top developer by Clutch and UpCity. 18. 303 Software 303 Software was founded in 2006 to deliver consulting, design, development, testing and maintenance services for startups, enterprises, non-profits, and government organizations. It has built dozens of web and mobile apps and launched three B2B SaaS startups so far. It specializes in custom-developed apps that help automate processes of any complexity for a wide range of industries, such as healthcare, telecom, agriculture, and finance. 303 Software is a proven adept of agile planning and project management. 19. Brainspire Solutions Brainspire Solutions is an onshore technology consultancy that focuses on custom web and mobile app development, app integration, data and BI consulting, portals, IoT and cloud development for Colorado-based commercial customers and non-profits. It completed numerous projects across different verticals, such as construction, information technologies, energy, ecommerce, healthcare, and more. The company is an expert in .NET, Java, Xamarin, Ionic as well as NetSuite, SAP, Oracle, Salesforce, and Microsoft Dynamics 365. 20. Credera Founded in 1999, Credera has grown to become one of the largest consulting and software development companies in Colorado, with customers ranging from Fortune 500 companies to emerging startups. Its services cover planning and strategy, product design and development, technology enablement, commerce solutions, cloud implementation, and innovation acceleration. The company is an expert in PHP, JavaScript, C#, Python as well as SharePoint, Oracle, WordPress, Drupal, Magento, and Shopify. 21. Fruition Fruition is a digital marketing and technological consultancy that specializes in design, web development, and digital marketing for SMBs, with a focus on healthcare, travel, and retail. Its expertise encompass implementation and customization of open-source platforms, such as Drupal, WordPress, and Magento. Fruition has also developed its own tools, such as an enterprise-level SEO platform and a Google penalty checker. Fruition has been recognized as a top developer by Inc. 5000 and Clutch. 22. FortyAU FortyAU is a technology consulting company in Denver where you can find first-class local developers for devising strategies, developing websites, and engineering CMS-based or custom apps based on the latest technologies, such as AI and big data. The company delivers projects of any scale for entrepreneurs and Fortune 100 companies alike, with a special focus on healthcare and finance. It successfully delivered a basketball analytics app, a healthcare facilities collaboration app, an online patient scheduling app, and more projects. 23. Flyoutsourcing Flyoutsourcing is a custom software development company that was founded in 2016. It offers extensive onshore and offshore team augmentation services for startups and SMBs. It specializes in developing tailored web and mobile apps, cloud solutions, and enterprise software as well as DevOps enablement and software maintenance. Flyoutsourcing’s team has a good command of frontend (AngularJS, React), backend (Java, Python, PHP, .NET) and cloud (AWS, Heroku, Microsoft Azure) technologies. 24. Obsidian Global Since its inception in 2013, Obsidian Global has been specializing in cybersecurity technologies and DevSecOps, with a focus on the government and defense sectors. Its customers include the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, and Federal Civilian Departments. The company is also an expert in cloud services, mobile development, and ERP implementation based on agile planning and development. Obsidian Global is a certified partner of Amazon, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft. 25. 27Global Since 2008, 27Global has grown into a team of 300+ engineers developing custom software for businesses of different sizes, providing local quality at offshore prices. Following the Agile methodology, the company offers the services of custom web and mobile development, microservices engineering, DevOps enablement, and innovative transformation. 27Global is experienced in Java, .NET, Angular, Node.js, React as well as AWS, Docker, Microsoft Azure, and Salesforce. 26. Neudesic Neudesic is a technology company founded in 2002. It specializes in cutting-edge technologies and offers the services of cloud modernization, data asset management, workplace automation, intelligent platform development, and DevOps enablement. Neudesic mostly focuses on healthcare, food and beverages, energy, and hospitality industries. The company has its own products, for example, apps for knowledge management and business collaboration. Neudesic is a Microsoft and Nintex partner. 27. Dev IQ Dev IQ is a consulting and custom software development firm that is driven by the principles of Agile, design thinking, and empathic design. It specializes in UI/UX design, web and mobile app development, IoT ecosystems, and cloud-native solutions. It has hands-on experience with such cloud providers as AWS, ClearDATA, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure. The company’s key customers are Visa, DaVita, Patagonia, Kiehl’s, Denver Health, Collective Goods, and more. 28. Denovo Denovo is a full-service software development firm that has specialized in product design, engineering, and maintenance since 2003. It mostly focuses on cloud hosting and infrastructure, managed services, and disaster recovery. Denovo is an AWS Partner and Oracle Platinum Partner. It successfully completed 2,400+ implementation projects based on Oracle ERP and Oracle Cloud for commercial and public-sector customers, such as Thule, Qualtek, Sunrise Medical, Phoenix, and more. 29. Precision Solutions Precision Solutions is a software development firm that has partnered with dozens of companies since 2012, from the largest Fortune 100 defense contractors to small businesses. Its key customers are Griffin, Singer, MDC, Talley, Rare Coin, and more. The company’s range of services covers custom software development, cloud migration, and integration. Precision Solutions also released its own products, such as Odoo apps. 30. Paralect Paralect is a custom software engineering agency founded in 2009. With the main focus on mobile app development and integration, it has launched 25 products with 12 million end users. Its products include an intelligent messaging platform, automotive workshop software, a freelance platform, and real estate lead management software. The company also specializes in MVPs for startups and innovative businesses, delivered in 12 weeks. Time to pick your Denver software developer We hope this list will become a good place to start for your further research. Match it with your project requirements, collect references, listen to your gut feeling, and choose your future software development partner.

Top 30 Software Development Companies in Denver

Hey Hackers, ejendom.com has been nominated in HackerNoon's annual Startup of the Year awards in Copenhagen, Denmark. Please vote for us here: [ ]. https://hackernoon.com/startups/europe/europe-copenhagen-denmark Read more about us below to understand why we deserve your vote. Are you also participating in SOTY 2023? If so, click here to fill out this interview. Meet ejendom.com ejendom.com is a SaaS platform for the operations and maintenance of properties. With ejendom.com all stakeholders can gain valuable insights into operation, maintenance, renovation, and energy optimization to make informed, sustainable, and cost-effective decisions regarding their properties. We are a young team of ambitious individuals working towards transforming the building industry through digitalization. My Role Hi, I'm Henrik, I have a PBA in web development from the Copenhagen School of Design and Technology. I've previously worked as a software developer for different startup companies as well as a freelance consultant. Since April 2022 I have been serving as the CTO at ejendom.com. I'm responsible for our development strategy and roadmap and making sure that we're a good fit for tech talents who wants to grow their skills both professionally and personally. One of the toughest challenges I've faced was transitioning our stack, development team, and knowledge in-house after previously relying on an external provider. However, I'm proud to share that after a year of hard work, we have successfully completed 99% of the transition. Additionally, being new to both the PropTech industry and my current role has presented a steep learning curve. Nevertheless, it has been an immensely rewarding experience. At the moment my main focus is towards developing and shipping some new tools on our SaaS platform in the sustainability category. Around 30% of Denmark’s carbon footprint can be attributed to the construction and building trade. We can drastically help improve that. How we’re disrupting the industry Traditionally, building surveyor reports and maintenance plans have been delivered in lengthy PDFs and Excel spreadsheets. By both getting data from professional engineers as well as public APIs we’re consolidating all the data onto a single digital platform and enhancing collaboration among stakeholders, streamlining data transfers, and providing a comprehensive portfolio overview. When a property changes hands all the data follow the property instead of the new owners having to start from scratch. This time-saving aspect is particularly beneficial, allowing them to allocate their resources more efficiently. Standing Out from The Crowd ejendom.com is a SaaS platform that optimizes cooperation and communication between engineering consultants, customers, and partners. By making it possible for all stakeholders to access their properties data the platform enables direct and efficient communication. This helps engineering consultants address technical concerns promptly. Changing property access during sales or administration transitions is as easy as a button press, simplifying data transfer compared to spreadsheets and PDFs. The platform also stores comprehensive historical data which saves time by providing a complete overview of prior maintenance work without relying on previous owners’ knowledge or paperwork. The platform is co-designed with the help of industry experts in order to deliver the best possible UX. Construction engineers use the platform as a tool to document and deliver data to their clients. Even though we’re targeting a professional user segment, we put emphasis on translating complicated technical data so that property owners easily can understand the recommended actions and make more informed decisions regarding the maintenance and service of their property. Another strong focus on ejendom.com is enhancing sustainability in the industry by integrating energy consumption data, CO₂ footprint from materials, and energy performance reports. As sustainability becomes increasingly crucial these features strengthen the ability of engineering consultants to develop reliable CO₂ accounts and recommendations. Again we try to simplify complex data into easily interpretable tasks, making it more effortless for engineers to communicate sustainability improvements. Our predictions on the building industry and PropTech in 2023 ejendom.com aims to become a forerunner in digitizing properties in Denmark and beyond. Due to the complexity and long history of properties, the industry has had slow progress in adopting digital technologies. But there are signs that the market is maturing, with many new and old players in the PropTech segment making noise. The green agenda and the need for reporting is a contributing factor to this development. We believe our platform is emerging with the right product at the right time. We anticipate that in 2023 and the coming years that even larger companies and players will be forced to take responsibility for the data handling and impact of their properties. One of the driving forces behind our anticipation is the surge of property data and a need to visualize and communicate actions based on the data. Data without any conclusions or actions has no value in itself. As the building industry evolves, the ability to gather and analyze vast amounts of data will become increasingly crucial for informed decision-making. We understand this need and are committed to providing cutting-edge tools that leverage the data in a user-friendly way, enabling industry professionals to make data-driven decisions and optimize their operations. Another driving force is as previously noted sustainability, carbon footprint, and LCA analysis.  The property industry has a massive carbon footprint and there are increasing institutional and legal pressures pushing for improvement. We predict that sustainability will remain a critical focus in 2023 and beyond. To facilitate this transition, we are dedicated to developing top-tier sustainability tools that empower the industry to adopt green practices seamlessly. By providing innovative solutions that promote energy efficiency, eco-friendly renovation materials, and sustainable building practices, ejendom.com aims to support the industry in meeting its sustainability goals. Through our platform, we aspire to empower industry professionals with the necessary tools and insights to thrive in an increasingly digital and sustainable future. What word defines the state of the building industry in 2023? The building industry in 2023 can be best described as "embracing" rather than just "accepting" when it comes to data and digital tools. This once conservative industry has recognized the immense potential and advantages that digitalization brings and is actively embracing this transformative wave. Instead of merely accepting it as a necessary change, industry professionals are actively seeking out digital tools and solutions to leverage the benefits they offer. Why we decided to participate in HackerNoon's Startup of the Year awards We actively participate in the global start-up community as it holds immense value for us. We recognize the importance of engaging in competitions and events to establish connections and network with other start-ups. Hackernoon’s community, in particular, has been an exceptional source of inspiration for us. The platform's comprehensive coverage of emerging trends and advancements in the tech industry keeps us informed and at the forefront of new start-ups and innovative developments. Additionally, our participation in the Startup of the Year Awards allows us to contribute our knowledge and showcase our product. Final Thoughts ejendom.com is thrilled to be nominated in HackerNoon's Startup of the Year awards in Copenhagen, Denmark. We believe our platform is at the forefront of transforming building maintenance with data-driven tools that drive forward better-informed decision-making and more optimal workflows. Our high-quality UX, comprehensive data consolidation, and emphasis on sustainability set us apart from our competitors and position us as a leader in the PropTech sector. We invite everyone to vote for ejendom.com in HackerNoon's Startup of the Year awards and join us in revolutionizing this once-conservative industry. Vote for us today! [ ] https://hackernoon.com/startups/europe/europe-copenhagen-denmark Read more (in Danish) on our website: https://ejendom.com/

Maintenance and Operations in One Place - Interview with Startups of the Year Nominee, ejendom

Mantenimiento y Operaciones en un Solo Lugar - Entrevista con el Nominado a Startups del Año, ejendom

Maintenance et opérations en un seul endroit - Entretien avec le nominé des startups de l'année, ejendom

एक ही स्थान पर रखरखाव और संचालन - वर्ष के नामांकित व्यक्ति, ईजेंडोम के स्टार्टअप के साथ साक्षात्कार

メンテナンスと運用を 1 か所で - スタートアップ オブ ザ イヤーにノミネートされた ejendom 氏へのインタビュー

Manutenção e operações em um só lugar - entrevista com o candidato a startups do ano, ejendom

Bảo trì và Vận hành tại một nơi - Phỏng vấn Ứng cử viên Khởi nghiệp của Năm, ejendom

集中维护和运营 - 采访年度初创公司提名者 ejendom

You've spent months learning to code and you’ve finally landed your first job. You made it; you put in the hard work and changed your career. Now it’s your first week in the job, you’re staring at your screen, and you don’t understand a thing. You get that sinking feeling: did I not learn the right things? Am I not intelligent enough to do this job? What on earth is a SimpleBeanFactoryAwareAspectInstanceFactory?? Don’t worry: it’s not your fault, and I’m here to help. My Story I taught myself to code in my early thirties. I went part-time at my job and spent the rest of the time learning programming and computer science; from and learning about data structures and algorithms, to making my own games in for my new portfolio website and blog. programming in C JavaScript Nine months later I got my first job as a Software Developer. Since then I’ve worked as a Senior Developer for startups and huge companies, I’ve been a Senior Consultant for multinational banks, and I’ve designed distributed systems that scale to millions of users all over the world. But when I started that first job I was staring at the screen with no idea how to get my work done. Impostor Syndrome A few weeks later it wasn’t much better, and I seriously considered quitting and going back to my old job. I thought maybe programming wasn’t for me. I thought I’d learned the right things. I knew how to program in C, I knew about data structures, and I knew how many bits were in an integer. I knew what an object was, and how, say, a Car could inherit from a Vehicle. But there wasn’t any of that here. I would sit with a pen and paper, trying to work out step by step what the code did. “ ” and then after about five levels of abstraction it would fall out of my head and I’d have to start again. All this, just to show a login form on a web page?? So that calls that function, then that passes that to the UserController, then the UserController calls the DocumentFactoryImpl to get an XmlDocument, whose functions are in AbstractDocument… Step One: understand that it’s not you The truth is: even now. The difference is that I know now that it’s not my fault. The truth is: . I still feel exactly the same every time I start a new job, software is a complete mess I still look at a new codebase and have no idea what any of it does. I still can’t trace a path through the codebase to see exactly what it does. . Nobody can I still have my head in my hands trying to work out what the hell an or an is. AbstractSingletonProxyFactoryBean AbstractAnnotationConfigDispatcherServletInitializer The only difference between me and you is that I’ve learned ways to cope with it and get things done despite it. Step Two: Understand that developers love complexity All developers will tell you that complexity is bad and that our job is to reduce it. But the truth is that most of them complexity. love If you’ve landed in the Java world, or C#, you will meet people who will argue all day long that a simple because it “ . AbstractAnnotationConfigDispatcherServletInitializer is does exactly what it says” Or the guy who comes up with the most ridiculously complex network of classes, with some clever “design pattern” thrown in, just to show how clever they are, when ten lines of procedural code would have been fine. understand the code - of course, they do, they wrote it - and secretly they love the fact that nobody else understands it and that everyone has to come to them to have it explained to them. It’s their own little kingdom. They There’s complexity in the sheer amount of tools and frameworks you have to use. Someone adds a framework to fix the problems caused by the last framework, and now you have more problems so you add yet another one. This is a huge problem in software development and it happens everywhere. Our job should be to , not to . But most developers love to add. It makes them feel clever, it gets new “technologies” on their CV, and it makes them harder to replace. reduce add Step Three: don’t try to understand everything Your instinct to try to understand everything the code is doing is a good one, but it’s just not realistic. You’re probably used to writing your own small programs and understanding exactly what it all does. It’s probably the most beautiful code anyone has ever written. But it’s not realistic in a huge complicated codebase. Over time you will understand more and more of how the codebase works, but for today you just need to get your work done. Step Four: learn how to write good tests I’m not here to advocate or any other religion, but an understanding of how to write good tests will help you a lot. It’ll help you focus on just the piece of code or functionality that you’re working on, and it’ll reassure you that you haven’t broken any of the tangled mess that is the rest of the codebase. Test Driven Development You should make it a priority to learn your particular test framework.  And you should learn to write readable tests that define the behavior of your code. For example, if you’re writing code like this: class Whatever {
    public function doTheThing() {
        // does The Thing
    }
} ..don’t do what most people do and write a test like this: class WhateverTests {
    void testDoTheThing() {
        // ..
    }
} ..where the test simply runs through the method and asserts something arbitrary. People doing this tend to be obsessed with “code coverage”, and they simply want a test that “covers” every code path, without ever thinking “ ” What am I actually testing for? Instead, do this: class WhateverTests {

    void throwsAnExceptionWhenArgumentIsNull() {}

    void returnsZeroWhenListIsEmpty() {}

    void returnsSortedListWhenValidListIsPassed() {}

} Use your tests to define exactly what your code should do. Step Five: learn how to get things done in small chunks This follows on from writing good tests. In a messy codebase, it’s very easy to break things. You can’t just spew out code all over it like you can on your own projects. Break your task down into the smallest possible sub-task. Write a failing test for it, then write code that makes your test and all the other tests pass. Do not disturb the beasts that lurk in the codebase. Commit. Move the JIRA ticket. Make a coffee. Today is a good day. Again, I’m not advocating TDD and I fully agree with all the arguments against it. But our task for today is to survive. Step Six: don’t become cynical When I reached this point myself, I got cynical and demotivated. “ ” This is all such a mess…if we just wrote a few lines of simple code it’d all be so much better…I could re-do this entire project myself in a few weeks! If you’ve reached this stage I have some advice for you: you don’t get to have an opinion on how software should be made until you’ve made something yourself, with real users, in the real world. I don’t mean a little JavaScript game that you learned as part of a tutorial, I mean something substantial that is out there in the world being used. real When you do that, you’ll realise how hard it is and how long it takes, and that you have to make some compromises if you want to get things done. Add multiple developers with different skills and different opinions, different departments of the business all wanting different things, and you can see how hard it is to keep a lid on that complexity. You need to learn Object Oriented Programming properly. And . You can’t have an opinion something if you don’t understand it properly in the first place. Design Patterns against Final step: but don’t make things worse If you want to survive as a Junior Developer you simply have to embrace the craziness. You can’t beat them, so you have to join them. But always keep in the back of your mind that this crazy. It’s crazy to have 1000 classes to render some text on a screen. It’s crazy that to deploy your code to the test environment you have to merge three branches, start five Jenkins jobs, manually edit a config file, do the hokey cokey and turn around. is Learn to deal with it for now, but later in your career you should aspire to inject some sanity into things. For now, you just need to survive your first job. Also published here. For more posts on surviving your early programming career, follow me on Twitter.

Seven Steps for Surviving Your First Programming Job

Machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies can hardly be called emerging in 2019. For the last decade, domains of all sorts have been leveraging them, and speaks to the fact. Today, ML and AI create value for organizations across Consumer Services, Automotive, Agriculture, Retail, Healthcare, and other major industries. the visualization by McKinsey Global Institute As businesses realize these technologies are a boon, the demand for machine learning consulting companies is skyrocketing, which predictably influences the supply. In such a way, today’s IT market is literally larded with ML vendors tackling projects of any scope and budget. To help you make your way through this enormous and diverse offering, we assembled a list of today’s most trustworthy vendors of machine learning consulting and development services. Our IT market analysts assessed an extensive range of companies according to the following objective criteria: Proven machine learning expertise Prior projects: size and complexity Diversity of business domains served Client references Speed and quality of customer service As a result, we got a list of 30 companies worthy of attention. For readers’ convenience, we present the vendors in descending order. 1. Itransition A recognized custom software development company, Itransition has delivered 1,500 projects over the span of its 20-year market presence. With more than 2,000 IT experts on board, the company has served 810 clients from 30 countries. Among the ML services the company provides there are data mining, natural language processing, computer vision, robotic process automation, and machine learning consulting. To deliver its ML solutions, Itransition uses such technologies as Python, R, Azure, Google Cloud, and AWS. Location: Denver, CO Established: 1998 Project budgets start at: $10,000 Key clients: Expedia, Xerox, Toyota, eBay, PayPal, Shell, adidas Other, non-ML services: custom software development, CRM consulting, ecommerce development Website: https://www.itransition.com/ 2. Tooploox EU-based Tooploox has around 100 skilled experts on board. For seven years of the company’s operation, they delivered 150+ successful projects. Tooploox is a machine learning consulting company using this technology to deliver computer and 3D vision, sensor fusion, deep learning, natural language processing, reinforcement learning, and other ML-related services. The company has expertise with other emerging technologies, such as blockchain. Location: Wrocław, Poland Established: 2012 Project budgets start at: $25,000 Key clients: CoinDesk, DTS, ING, Spire Health, Group Nine Other, non-ML services: mobile app development, product design Website: https://www.tooploox.com/ 3. Skim Technologies London-based Skim Technologies is an internationally recognized machine learning consulting company delivering a wide range of related services. The company’s data scientists offer chatbot development, custom ML model creation, and NLP engineering. Skim Technologies also delivers AI workshops as well as ML and AI consulting services. Location: London, United Kingdom Established: 2014 Project budgets start at: $10,000 Key clients: Jones Lang-Lasalle, Breast Cancer Care, Quant Insight Other, non-ML services: business intelligence consulting, custom software development Website: https://www.skimtechnologies.com/ 4. ThirdEye Data US-based ThirdEye Data has been delivering its ML development services for nine years. The company specializes in chatbot development, custom ML algorithms, and machine learning consulting. Among the data science technologies the company works with, there are Spark, TensorFlow, Caffe, and others. Location: Santa Clara, CA Established: 2010 Project budgets start at: $25,000 Key clients: Microsoft, Amazon, Nokia, Ford Direct, Getty Images, Amgen Other, non-ML services: business intelligence consulting, cloud consulting Website: https://thirdeyedata.io/ 5. Chatbots.Studio As its name implies, Chatbots.Studio is a company focusing on AI-powered chatbot development. It builds multichannel conversational platforms, automates business processes, and designs conversations. The company’s technology stack includes React, Redux, Angular 6, Node.js, Express.js, Botkit, and others. Location: Lviv, Ukraine Established: 2016 Project budgets start at: $5,000 Key clients: Visa, Unibot, Aldi, Digital Flex Other, non-ML services: custom software development Website: https://chatbots.studio/ 6. Azati Software Since 2001, Azati's experts have cooperated with 330 clients globally. Among the ML competencies of the company there are supervised and unsupervised learning, distributed computing, natural language processing, digital signal processing, and machine learning consulting. Azati’s tech toolkit includes CuDNN, Scikit Learn for Python, and Tensor Flow. The company mainly targets clients in the Insurance domain. Location: Livingston, NJ Established: 2001 Project budgets start at: $1,000 Key clients: MedPro Group, SequenceBase, Casio, Thomson Reuters Other, non-ML services: mobile app development, web development Website: https://azati.ai/ 7. Hidden Brains Since its foundation in 2003, Hidden Brains has cooperated with clients from 107 countries. The company delivers AI, ML, deep learning, and data science services. It also specializes in developing natural language processing software. Hidden Brains also delivers chatbots, including those for Facebook, Telegram, WhatsApp, and Slack. Location: Ahmedabad, India Established: 2003 Project budgets start at: $10,000 Key clients: McAfee, Raymond, Maxtor, SanDisk Other, non-ML services: mobile app development, web development Website: https://www.hiddenbrains.com/ 8. InData Labs Established in 2014, InData Labs houses 50+ data scientists, engineers, and analysts. The company develops ML algorithms and natural language processing solutions. Besides, InData Labs specializes in computer vision and predictive modeling. The company's stack includes Python, SpaCy, TensorFlow, Keras, and more proven languages and frameworks. Location: Minsk, Belarus Established: 2014 Project budgets start at: $5,000 Key clients: Captiv8, Flo Health, Wargaming Other, non-ML services: business intelligence consulting Website: https://indatalabs.com/ 9. Arcanys Since 2010, Philippines-based Arcanys has been delivering its ML and AI services to clients from all over the world. The company specializes in sentiment analysis, recommender systems, and image recognition. As one of its cooperation models, the company provides dedicated teams of highly experienced data scientists and developers. Location: Cebu City, Philippines Established: 2010 Project budgets start at: $100,000 Key clients: General Electric Korea, Enfo, Payment Logic, L’Oreal, Spinetix Other, non-ML services: custom software development, mobile app development Website: https://www.arcanys.com/ 10. MobiDev Since 2009, MobiDev’s IT experts have delivered 350+ software solutions. While headquartered in the US, the company provides its services globally. MobiDev uses the following machine learning technologies: Python, R, C++, Go, TensorFlow, ONNX, and Keras. MobiDev’s mobile ML toolkit includes Core ML, TensorFlow Lite, and Cafe2Go. On top of that, the company provides machine learning consulting. Location: Atlanta, GA Established: 2009 Project budgets start at: $10,000 Key clients: Verizon Media, Comcash, Quality Bridge, SmartTab, SMS Group Other, non-ML services: IoT development, web development Website: https://mobidev.biz 11. Spire Digital For over 20 years that Spire Digital has been providing IT services, it has cooperated with 600+ global customers. Among the ML and AI development services the company offers, there are natural language processing, supervised and unsupervised learning, and sentiment analysis. Also, Spire Digital creates chatbots for Facebook Messenger, Slack, Skype, and Cisco WebEx. Location: Denver, CO Established: 1998 Project budgets start at: Undisclosed Key clients: TomTom, Lockheed Martin, US Navy, USDA, Western Union Other, non-ML services: custom software development, mobile app development Website: https://www.spiredigital.com/ 12. Icreon New York-based Icreon is a digital innovation agency mostly targeting medium-sized businesses. The company uses AI and ML technologies to create innovative applications, platforms, and ecosystems. The company’s technological expertise in ML includes Amazon Web Services, Azure, Caffe2, Google Cloud, Keras, and more. Location: New York, NY Established: 2000 Project budgets start at: $25,000 Key clients: National Geographic Channel, FOX Movies, Harry Winston, Nokia Other, non-ML services: custom software development Website: https://www.icreon.us/ 13. Miquido For eight years, Miquido's team has successfully completed more than 100 projects, including in machine learning. The company offers solutions for AI-based personalization, predictive and behavioral analytics, and churn prediction. Miquido also develops chatbots. Recognized by Deloitte as one the fastest growing companies in Europe, Miquido also offers UI/UX design creation and mobile apps development. Location: Kraków, Poland Established: 2011 Project budgets start at: $25,000 Key clients: Skyscanner, Abbey Road Studios, HelloFresh Other, non-ML services: mobile app development, web development Website: https://www.miquido.com/ 14. Neoteriс Founded in 2005, Europe-based Neoteric offers a wide range of ML solutions, including predictive analytics, recommendation engines, NLP, robotic process automation, and machine learning consulting. The company also specializes in such AI platforms as SaaS Manager, SoapBox, AppOrchid, and RapidSOS. Location: Gdańsk, Poland Established: 2005 Project budgets start at: $10,000 Key clients: LunchBadger, Arvata, IT Trans Other, non-ML services: custom software development, web development Website: https://neoteric.eu/ 15. Unicsoft Established in 2005, Unicsoft employs more than 100 specialists in emerging technologies and software development. Within its ML tech stack, the company offers development of predictive and behavioral analytics solutions, neural networks, and recommendation engines, among other ML applications. The company also delivers consulting services, and maintenance of existing ML platforms. Location: Kiev, Ukraine Established: 2005 Project budgets start at: $5,000 Key Clients: Hoodifood, Executive Eye, GOFORIT, Intellica Group Other, non-ML services: blockchain Website: https://unicsoft.com/ 16. Abto Software With 12 years of its market presence, Abto Software’s has worked with 200+ global customers. Specializing in AI and ML, the company offers custom enterprise solutions for advanced and predictive analytics, virtual assistants, recommendation systems, and intelligent business process automation. Abto Software works with the following tools and frameworks, among others: TensorFlow, Keras, Caffe, OpenCV, and AWS. Location: New York, NY Established: 2007 Project budgets start at: Undisclosed Key clients: Just Answer, Skybow, Medikit, Up Great Other, non-ML services: web development, enterprise app modernization Website: https://www.abtosoftware.com/ 17. Accubits Technologies, Inc. US-located Accubits started in 2012 and has already cooperated with 140+ clients. The company’s ML capabilities include development of conversational and classification tools, video, image and text analytics solutions, as well as predictive analytics software. Besides, Accubits offers machine learning consulting. The company’s experts work with NumPy, PHP, Python, SpaCy, Spark, and several other platforms. Location: Vienna, VA Established: 2012 Project budgets start at: $5,000 Key сlients: Dubai Land Department, Smart Dubai, Eduvalue, Landmark Other, non-ML services: blockchain, custom software development Website: https://accubits.com/ 18. BotsCrew Established in 2016, BotsCrew is a global leader in chatbot development, delivering to mid-sized companies and startups. BotsCrew has its own enterprise chatbot platform that is ready to be customized and optimized according to customers' needs. Besides the proprietary platform, the company offers development of voice assistants and IoT bots. Location: London, United Kingdom Established: 2016 Project budgets start at: $10,000 Key clients: Ailira, IVA, ReVA, Dr. Dean Other, non-ML services: None Website: https://botscrew.com/ 19. STX Next Founded in 2005, STX Next is a custom software development company that specializes in streamlining IT solutions with AI and ML technologies. The company’s main technological advantage is in its exceptionally skilled Python developers. For 14 years on the market, STX Next has delivered over 250 successful projects. Location: Poznań, Poland Established: 2005 Project budgets start at: $25,000 Key clients: Seerene, Verve, Hogarth WW, Pixomondo, Unity Technologies Other, non-ML services: web development, custom software development Website: https://stxnext.com/ 20. Dogtown Media California-based Dogtown Media specializes in delivering mobile applications, enhanced with ML and AI technologies. Besides ML-powered mobile apps, the company provides machine learning consulting. For the last eight years, Dogtown Media has brought to life at least 200 applications. Location: Venice Beach, CA Established: 2011 Project budgets start at: $25,000 Key clients: Google, Lexus, United Nations, Citibank, Red Bull, YouTube Other, non-ML services: mobile app development, IoT development Website: https://www.dogtownmedia.com/ 21. Sigmoidal Sigmoidal is a New-York-based consultancy specializing in machine learning and data science, mostly for companies in Finance, Trading, and Pharma. The company integrates these technologies into web and mobile applications and APIs. It also offers solutions for NLP, computer vision, and predictive analytics. Location: New York, NY Established: 2016 Project budgets start at: $1,000 Key clients: Undisclosed Other, non-ML services: business intelligence consulting Website: https://sigmoidal.io/ 22. Cyber Infrastructure Established in 2003, Cyber Infrastructure is a custom software development company with 100+ clients worldwide. Its ML expertise includes development of virtual assistants and chatbots for a variety of domains. Cyber Infrastructure also provides machine learning consulting and employs Python, Java, C++, Lisp, and R as its primary ML and AI stack. Location: San Francisco, CA Established: 2003 Project budgets start at: $5,000 Key clients: Mannatech, Bell Other, non-ML services: custom software development, web development Website: https://www.cisin.com/ 23. Azilen Technologies US-headquartered Azilen Technologies has 250+ IT experts on board distributed across four offices worldwide. They employ ML technologies to deliver customer service, survey, and informational bots. On top of that, the company delivers facial recognition and predictive analytics solutions. Location: West Bloomfield, MI Established: 2009 Project budgets start at: $25,000 Key clients: Samsung, Pizza Hut, Sodexo, ICICI Bank Other, non-ML services: custom software development Website: https://www.azilen.com/ 24. Stermedia Stermedia has been delivering its ML and data science services since 2007. The company’s dedicated teams of data scientists and software architects design ML algorithms and models for extracting knowledge from big data sets. The company also provides NLP solutions and uses such technologies as TensorFlow and Keras, to name just a few. Location: Wroclaw, Poland Established: 2007 Project budgets start at: $10,000 Key Clients: Family Fabric, WorkService, ISOK Other, non-ML services: custom software development, web development Website: https://stermedia.ai/ 25. Belatrix Having five offices with 600+ professionals all around the world, Belatrix is one of the most fast-evolving machine learning consulting companies on the market today. Its machine learning experts have a proven track record of building various solutions, from predictive modeling to communication automation. Location: Mendoza, Argentina Established: 2003 Project budgets start at: $5,000 Key clients: Disney, Adobe, AOL, FIS, Chatman Financial Other, non-ML services: custom software development, mobile app development Website: https://www.belatrixsf.com/ 26. DataRoot Labs DataRoot Labs is an agency focusing on ML and AI development. It delivers full-cycle ML software development, including project evaluation, machine learning consulting, strategy development, architecture, integration, and support. Besides, DataRoot Labs helps enterprises with digital transformation with AI at the core. Location: Kiev, Ukraine Established: 2016 Project budgets start at: $5,000 Key clients: Servers.com, Everad, ABM Cloud, Cargofy Other, non-ML services: custom software development, mobile app development Website: https://datarootlabs.com/ 27. Softengi Since 1995, Softengi has completed 900+ projects for clients across six continents. The company’s ML services include chatbot engineering and NLP algorithms. For these purposes, Softengi uses R, Hadoop, and Python, among other tools. Location: Kiev, Ukraine Established: 1995 Project budgets start at: $10,000 Key clients: Boeing, Zeppelin, Enviance, OneRoof Energy Other, non-ML services: custom software development, AR/VR development, IoT development Website: http://softengi.com/ 28. Waverley With 27 years of software development experience, Waverley is a company housing 370K talented engineers. Among other services, they offer ML-centric solutions such as data clustering and unsupervised algorithms. On top of that, the company offers NLP and computer vision solutions and chatbots. To deliver ML products, Waverley’s engineers use Java, Python, Scala, and R. Location: Palo Alto, CA Established: 1992 Project budgets start at: $50,000 Key clients: Mozilla, Qualcomm, Swisscom, American Express Other, non-ML services: custom software development, mobile app development, IoT development Website: https://waverleysoftware.com/ 29. Imaginovation Founded in 2011, Imaginovation is a software development agency that has successfully completed 300+ IT projects of various complexity. As for ML and AI, the company develops recommendation and effectiveness assessment engines as well as solutions for speech and text processing automation. Location: Cary, NC Established: 2011 Project budgets start at: $10,000 Key clients: MetLife, Nestle, UNC Pembroke, Contractor Score Other, non-ML services: custom software development, mobile app development, web development Website: https://www.imaginovation.net/ 30. E2logy Established in 2005, E2logy has delivered 300+ projects to businesses of various sizes. Being a leading Amazon Web Services and Azure AI vendor, the company develops ML algorithms and chatbots. They also offer machine learning consulting. In addition to their ML services, E2Logy brings custom IoT solutions to its global customers. Location: Ahmedabad, India Established: 2005 Project budgets start at: $5,000 Key clients: McMillan Publishers, Polaris Industries, Vodafone Other, non-ML services: custom software development, web development Website: https://e2logy.com/ This was a full list of the top 30 machine learning consulting companies in 2019. If you cooperated with any of the presented vendors, please do get in touch and share your story.

ASPIRE SOFTWARE CONSULTANCY

aspiresoftwareconsultancy.com

11-50 employees

Since 2007

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ASPIRE SOFTWARE CONSULTANCY

aspiresoftwareconsultancy.com

11-50 employees

Since 2007

COMPANY RANKING

ASPIRE SOFTWARE CONSULTANCY

EVERGREEN INDEX #925

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