Rocky Success Road, Outsourcing Chemistry & Code
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About
Synthia project for Merck is retrosynthesis software that helps find synthesis paths for searched molecules. The user inputs the molecule with all necessary details like stop conditions for search (e.g., molecules the client already has in his inventory), rules, filters, the maximum number of iterations for search algorithms, or just full time spent on search. Read more
CASE STUDY DETAILS
Under MNDA
Enterprise/Corporation
Darmstadt, Germany
Project work
11 - 25 people
4 - 6 years
€1M+
Agile
FOCUS AREA
Challenge, approach, and impact
Synthia™ has witnessed transformative growth over the years, morphing from an academic prototype to a powerhouse commercial product.
A cornerstone in the partnership was a conscious choice by Merck to outsource to Code Poets, a decision driven by our proven competencies and the economic advantage it offered. This strategic move yielded a substantial cost-saving of 56%\* for Merck, with the outsourcing venture fortified by seamless communication despite geographical distances, facilitated through a blend of remote practices and in-person workshops, bringing dynamism and alignment to our collective vision. The relationship superseded the traditional client-vendor dynamic, blossoming into a partnership with agility at its core.
Testimonials
“BACKGROUND Introduce your business and what you do there. I’m the director of the cheminformatics, technologies, and business unit of a pharmaceutical company. I oversee organic chemists, computer scientists, and developers. OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE What challenge were you trying to address with Code Poets? We needed help with our web development, particularly our frontend work. SOLUTION What was the scope of their involvement? Code Poets collaborates with our internal team, translating our vision into actual code. They mainly work on the frontend of our web app, but they’ve also done backend work, like refactoring our code to make it more commercially viable and updated it to support more features. Beyond that, they’ve also built quite a bit of the app’s original architecture. such as tokens for the client-server. In the build, they changed the design and colors to match our brand. What is the team composition? We work with anywhere from 15–20 people, depending on the project load. How did you come to work with Code Poets? The person we bought the software from was already working with Code Poets, so we continued the relationship because their work was good. What is the status of this engagement? We partnered in June 2017, and the work is ongoing. RESULTS & FEEDBACK What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? We’ve continued our partnership with them because the quality of their work has been sufficient. How did Code Poets perform from a project management standpoint? They spend quite a bit of time and effort on project management, which is one of their strengths. They’re organized and meet our specific needs, especially when we were transitioning from a rough startup to a bigger organization. We communicate every day and have a sophisticated system of sharing proofs of concept and mockups. What did you find most impressive about them? They do well compared to other vendors. In general, we’re pleased with their work and see them as a high-value provider. They’ve gone a good job of hiring talented software developers. Are there any areas they could improve? They could do better at bug testing—that causes the biggest bottlenecks at the moment. Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs? Be clear about the deliverables and have a consistent way of sharing documents and communicating. If they know what you want, they’ll be able to deliver it.“ Read more
Anonymous
Director of the cheminformatics, technologies, and business unit at Enterprise/Corporation
VERIFIED
“BACKGROUND Introduce your business and what you do there. I’m the director of the cheminformatics, technologies, and business unit of a pharmaceutical company. I oversee organic chemists, computer scientists, and developers. OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE What challenge were you trying to address with Code Poets? We needed help with our web development, particularly our frontend work. SOLUTION What was the scope of their involvement? Code Poets collaborates with our internal team, translating our vision into actual code. They mainly work on the frontend of our web app, but they’ve also done backend work, like refactoring our code to make it more commercially viable and updated it to support more features. Beyond that, they’ve also built quite a bit of the app’s original architecture. such as tokens for the client-server. In the build, they changed the design and colors to match our brand. What is the team composition? We work with anywhere from 15–20 people, depending on the project load. How did you come to work with Code Poets? The person we bought the software from was already working with Code Poets, so we continued the relationship because their work was good. What is the status of this engagement? We partnered in June 2017, and the work is ongoing. RESULTS & FEEDBACK What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? We’ve continued our partnership with them because the quality of their work has been sufficient. How did Code Poets perform from a project management standpoint? They spend quite a bit of time and effort on project management, which is one of their strengths. They’re organized and meet our specific needs, especially when we were transitioning from a rough startup to a bigger organization. We communicate every day and have a sophisticated system of sharing proofs of concept and mockups. What did you find most impressive about them? They do well compared to other vendors. In general, we’re pleased with their work and see them as a high-value provider. They’ve gone a good job of hiring talented software developers. Are there any areas they could improve? They could do better at bug testing—that causes the biggest bottlenecks at the moment. Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs? Be clear about the deliverables and have a consistent way of sharing documents and communicating. If they know what you want, they’ll be able to deliver it.“ Read more
Anonymous
Director of the cheminformatics, technologies, and business unit at Enterprise/Corporation
VERIFIED
“BACKGROUND Introduce your business and what you do there. I’m the director of the cheminformatics, technologies, and business unit of a pharmaceutical company. I oversee organic chemists, computer scientists, and developers. OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE What challenge were you trying to address with Code Poets? We needed help with our web development, particularly our frontend work. SOLUTION What was the scope of their involvement? Code Poets collaborates with our internal team, translating our vision into actual code. They mainly work on the frontend of our web app, but they’ve also done backend work, like refactoring our code to make it more commercially viable and updated it to support more features. Beyond that, they’ve also built quite a bit of the app’s original architecture. such as tokens for the client-server. In the build, they changed the design and colors to match our brand. What is the team composition? We work with anywhere from 15–20 people, depending on the project load. How did you come to work with Code Poets? The person we bought the software from was already working with Code Poets, so we continued the relationship because their work was good. What is the status of this engagement? We partnered in June 2017, and the work is ongoing. RESULTS & FEEDBACK What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? We’ve continued our partnership with them because the quality of their work has been sufficient. How did Code Poets perform from a project management standpoint? They spend quite a bit of time and effort on project management, which is one of their strengths. They’re organized and meet our specific needs, especially when we were transitioning from a rough startup to a bigger organization. We communicate every day and have a sophisticated system of sharing proofs of concept and mockups. What did you find most impressive about them? They do well compared to other vendors. In general, we’re pleased with their work and see them as a high-value provider. They’ve gone a good job of hiring talented software developers. Are there any areas they could improve? They could do better at bug testing—that causes the biggest bottlenecks at the moment. Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs? Be clear about the deliverables and have a consistent way of sharing documents and communicating. If they know what you want, they’ll be able to deliver it.“ Read more
Anonymous
Director of the cheminformatics, technologies, and business unit at Enterprise/Corporation
VERIFIED
“BACKGROUND Introduce your business and what you do there. I’m the director of the cheminformatics, technologies, and business unit of a pharmaceutical company. I oversee organic chemists, computer scientists, and developers. OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE What challenge were you trying to address with Code Poets? We needed help with our web development, particularly our frontend work. SOLUTION What was the scope of their involvement? Code Poets collaborates with our internal team, translating our vision into actual code. They mainly work on the frontend of our web app, but they’ve also done backend work, like refactoring our code to make it more commercially viable and updated it to support more features. Beyond that, they’ve also built quite a bit of the app’s original architecture. such as tokens for the client-server. In the build, they changed the design and colors to match our brand. What is the team composition? We work with anywhere from 15–20 people, depending on the project load. How did you come to work with Code Poets? The person we bought the software from was already working with Code Poets, so we continued the relationship because their work was good. What is the status of this engagement? We partnered in June 2017, and the work is ongoing. RESULTS & FEEDBACK What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? We’ve continued our partnership with them because the quality of their work has been sufficient. How did Code Poets perform from a project management standpoint? They spend quite a bit of time and effort on project management, which is one of their strengths. They’re organized and meet our specific needs, especially when we were transitioning from a rough startup to a bigger organization. We communicate every day and have a sophisticated system of sharing proofs of concept and mockups. What did you find most impressive about them? They do well compared to other vendors. In general, we’re pleased with their work and see them as a high-value provider. They’ve gone a good job of hiring talented software developers. Are there any areas they could improve? They could do better at bug testing—that causes the biggest bottlenecks at the moment. Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs? Be clear about the deliverables and have a consistent way of sharing documents and communicating. If they know what you want, they’ll be able to deliver it.“ Read more
Anonymous
Director of the cheminformatics, technologies, and business unit at Enterprise/Corporation
VERIFIED
“BACKGROUND Introduce your business and what you do there. I’m the director of the cheminformatics, technologies, and business unit of a pharmaceutical company. I oversee organic chemists, computer scientists, and developers. OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE What challenge were you trying to address with Code Poets? We needed help with our web development, particularly our frontend work. SOLUTION What was the scope of their involvement? Code Poets collaborates with our internal team, translating our vision into actual code. They mainly work on the frontend of our web app, but they’ve also done backend work, like refactoring our code to make it more commercially viable and updated it to support more features. Beyond that, they’ve also built quite a bit of the app’s original architecture. such as tokens for the client-server. In the build, they changed the design and colors to match our brand. What is the team composition? We work with anywhere from 15–20 people, depending on the project load. How did you come to work with Code Poets? The person we bought the software from was already working with Code Poets, so we continued the relationship because their work was good. What is the status of this engagement? We partnered in June 2017, and the work is ongoing. RESULTS & FEEDBACK What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? We’ve continued our partnership with them because the quality of their work has been sufficient. How did Code Poets perform from a project management standpoint? They spend quite a bit of time and effort on project management, which is one of their strengths. They’re organized and meet our specific needs, especially when we were transitioning from a rough startup to a bigger organization. We communicate every day and have a sophisticated system of sharing proofs of concept and mockups. What did you find most impressive about them? They do well compared to other vendors. In general, we’re pleased with their work and see them as a high-value provider. They’ve gone a good job of hiring talented software developers. Are there any areas they could improve? They could do better at bug testing—that causes the biggest bottlenecks at the moment. Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs? Be clear about the deliverables and have a consistent way of sharing documents and communicating. If they know what you want, they’ll be able to deliver it.“ Read more
Anonymous
Director of the cheminformatics, technologies, and business unit at Enterprise/Corporation
VERIFIED
“BACKGROUND Introduce your business and what you do there. I’m the director of the cheminformatics, technologies, and business unit of a pharmaceutical company. I oversee organic chemists, computer scientists, and developers. OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE What challenge were you trying to address with Code Poets? We needed help with our web development, particularly our frontend work. SOLUTION What was the scope of their involvement? Code Poets collaborates with our internal team, translating our vision into actual code. They mainly work on the frontend of our web app, but they’ve also done backend work, like refactoring our code to make it more commercially viable and updated it to support more features. Beyond that, they’ve also built quite a bit of the app’s original architecture. such as tokens for the client-server. In the build, they changed the design and colors to match our brand. What is the team composition? We work with anywhere from 15–20 people, depending on the project load. How did you come to work with Code Poets? The person we bought the software from was already working with Code Poets, so we continued the relationship because their work was good. What is the status of this engagement? We partnered in June 2017, and the work is ongoing. RESULTS & FEEDBACK What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? We’ve continued our partnership with them because the quality of their work has been sufficient. How did Code Poets perform from a project management standpoint? They spend quite a bit of time and effort on project management, which is one of their strengths. They’re organized and meet our specific needs, especially when we were transitioning from a rough startup to a bigger organization. We communicate every day and have a sophisticated system of sharing proofs of concept and mockups. What did you find most impressive about them? They do well compared to other vendors. In general, we’re pleased with their work and see them as a high-value provider. They’ve gone a good job of hiring talented software developers. Are there any areas they could improve? They could do better at bug testing—that causes the biggest bottlenecks at the moment. Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs? Be clear about the deliverables and have a consistent way of sharing documents and communicating. If they know what you want, they’ll be able to deliver it.“ Read more
Anonymous
Director of the cheminformatics, technologies, and business unit at Enterprise/Corporation
VERIFIED
Team Structure
Client Team
Project stakeholder
Director of the cheminformatics, technologies, and business unit
***** *****
The client stakeholders worked closely with the team at Code Poets
Agency Team
Governance
1 x Project Manager
Production
12 x Backend Developer
Production
9 x Frontend Developer
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