Introduce your business and what you do there.
I'm the founder and managing partner of a real estate-oriented AI deep-learning platform that basically handles hundreds of different document types for large institutional clients. I have two partners responsible for business development. I single-handedly built this company, and I've been working with external companies to fill the gap.
What challenge were you trying to address with Innowise?
We're a small company, so we don't have staff in DevOps. Therefore, we outsource our DevOps. Innowise is my third DevOps partner. The first company lost their engineer to the Ukrainian army, and the second one lost their engineer due to turnover. Therefore, I was trying to reduce the turnover risk and work with a company that had more than two engineers who did what I needed.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Innowise is my DevOps partner. Initially, they reviewed our DevOps profile. I gave them access to our configuration files, whether they were Helm or Terraform, and they reviewed them to identify weaknesses and bring them up to date with the environment. Besides that, I also provided them with a couple of "Read Me" files.Since then, Innowise has provided ongoing part-time support for our DevOps maintenance and upgrades according to my schedule. The team particularly helps us manage our cloud deployment, which has included configuring AWS and helping us follow code deployment best practices. They've also helped me revise several security profiles.
What is the team composition?
We work directly with one senior engineer from their team.
How did you come to work with Innowise?
I used a variety of sources like Clutch and Google to find Innowise. After this process, I shortlisted eight companies that I wanted to interview. I interviewed each of them and ultimately selected Innowise for a couple of reasons. Firstly, they were already in Ukraine, so they were not subject to the geopolitical risk. Secondly, they were flexible and willing to work with us, such a small company.Thirdly, Innowise's prices were fair. Fourthly, I was able to interview their engineers, so I was comfortable that I would get someone I could work with. Finally, I selected them because they're a large company with a large footprint.
How much have you invested with them?
The initial fee was around $8,000, and the ongoing monthly fee is a fraction of that. Our annualized spending will be around $20,000 for this year.
What is the status of this engagement?
Our engagement started in June 2024 and is ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Innowise's support has helped me save time. I wouldn't be able to do this without spending months of my life trying to come up to speed. Before working with them, I had no resources. Therefore, Innowise has saved me from possible failure by jumping in quickly and helping me address a gap in my capabilities.Moreover, Innowise has reduced risks by cleaning up my infrastructure. My key man risk has also been reduced, and they've saved me at least $300 per month by rapidly upgrading components in my infrastructure that were becoming obsolete and required extended maintenance charges. That amount sounds small, but it's not small for a startup.As a business owner earning my own money with Innowise's help, the fact that I'm continuing to use them is solid proof of their success.
How did Innowise perform from a project management standpoint?
Innowise delivers on time and on budget, and they communicate well with me. We generally communicate via Google Chat and emails. We also have periodic video calls via Google Meet or Zoom. They use Google Meet, and I prefer Zoom.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Innowise's communication and flexibility have been very important to me. As a small company, I can't hire a team of five people like many of Innowise clients probably do. Still, they're accommodating my size with the hope on both sides that, as I grow, I'll ultimately consume more of their services.I really appreciate that Innowise has given me access to a senior engineer, providing ample flexibility on how much I use them each month. This is invaluable to me because I can't afford to hire a full-time engineer. Therefore, having a partner who works with me like this is instrumental, but having a large company like them do so is unusual.
Are there any areas they could improve?
There's nothing Innowise could improve on. Although I could always wish for more flexibility on certain pricing or to pay half the price for my engineer, that wouldn't be fair. The deal we have right now is very fair, so I have no constructive criticism.
Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?
Assess your needs and interview them thoroughly. I've only worked with one small part of Innowise — I've worked with only one engineer — and it has been successful. However, I can't extrapolate that into detailed advice. I can only recommend to talk to them.Innowise serves big and small clients and is an unusual firm among the other technology firms. They have ISO certifications for financial services clients, which might be palatable to internal compliance. Therefore, they're worth a conversation.
