Customer Story: Wirepas
Wirepas is an IT company that specializes in connecting IoT devices. They wanted to automate their backend testing, and to do this, they needed very specific expertise. Our consultant had what they were looking for, and that’s how our collaboration began!
Below you can find our interview with Jouni Mikkonen from Wirepas, where he tells us more about Wirepas and the project — and in what situations it makes sense to hire a consultant.
Wirepas’ customer experience of working with Marvel Consulting
“If our solution isn’t reliable, we don’t have customers.”
Could you introduce yourself in a few words?
“I’m Jouni Mikkonen, I’ve been at Wirepas for just under seven years now, and I’m responsible for product development here. Most of our R&D is based in Finland, with a small part of it done in Grenoble, France. Our work covers a broad range, from embedded development to backend development. Personally, I’ve previously worked at a couple of other startups and at Nokia.”
How did you end up at Wirepas?
“By coincidence, really. The operations of my previous company had to be shut down in Finland, and I happened to run into Teppo, who was leading Wirepas. I was applying for other jobs as well, and we didn’t start working together right away, but later Teppo came back to me and said he’d like to offer me a position. That’s how I ended up joining Wirepas in 2019.”
How would you describe Wirepas to someone who hasn’t heard of you before?
“We’re a company that connects IoT devices that others haven’t been able to connect so far. Our motto is “connect the unconnected,” which really captures what we do. And when people ask what kind of devices those might be, the answer is: all sorts.
We have a wide range of customers. For example, here in Tampere, where I live, Wirepas technology is used in quite a few places. The streetlights in Nekala are controlled using our technology, and Posti’s parcel lockers as well as Lindström’s smart restrooms communicate via our wireless network. We’re present in many places, typically solving problems that others haven’t been able to. Our core is providing the wireless mesh solution that allows IoT devices to connect reliably to the network.”
I think I can guess the answer, but how important are software products and digitalization in general to your company?
“That is our core product. Our offerings come in many forms, but what we provide is the wireless layer, the software.”
Would you say it’s important to you that your software is in good shape and handled by skilled developers?
“Absolutely. If our solution isn’t reliable, we don’t have customers.”
Why did you decide to bring in a consultant for your project instead of, say, hiring an employee or choosing some other approach? Why a consultant specifically?
“We were looking for a very specific type of expertise. In this case, the consultant in question had exactly the skill set we needed. So it wasn’t that we were specifically looking for a consultant, rather, we were looking for that expertise, which happened to come through a consultant.”
In what kinds of situations would you recommend getting a consultant to other companies?
“When you need expertise that’s hard to find, and you can get it through a consulting company. In that case, it’s quite an obvious choice. It also gives you time to see whether that expertise can be developed in-house or found through recruitment later. In our case, we needed to move forward quickly with product development and didn’t have time for a long hiring process.”
What was your process like when you started looking for a consultant or the needed specialist?
“Usually, we document our needs, select around three companies, collect their responses, and have discussions. Based on that, we decide which company to move forward with.”
Why did you choose this particular consultant and company?
“In this case, the choice wasn’t really about the company but about this specific person who had the right expertise. The skills were the key factor.”
What kind of problem did you bring the consultant in to solve?
“We wanted to automate the testing of our backend and needed someone with robotics know-how, especially architectural expertise in designing robot test cases. The goal was to generalize and reuse structures so we wouldn’t have to create each test separately.”
Did the consultant solve the problem you had?
“Yes, absolutely. The consultant solved the problem for which they were originally brought in a few years ago. Now we’ve found an internal employee who will continue that work moving forward.”
Do you feel that bringing in a consultant was the right choice in this situation?
“Yes, without the consultant we would’ve been in quite a tough spot.”
What aspects of the collaboration worked well?
“We wanted value for money and a skilled consultant. That’s exactly what we got!”
Would you recommend getting a consultant to others, and why?
“Definitely – especially if, like us, you’re looking for very specific expertise that you don’t have in-house. It’s a great way to move forward, for example, without accumulating testing debt. It also gives you time to calmly consider longer-term options, like upskilling your team or hiring new talent.
The consultant has blended well into our team. Both technically and as a person!”
Thank you, Jouni, for answering our questions!
And if you’re looking for a software consultant to help you with your project, visit our contact-page and let’s chat more!