About OpenCraft

Since 2013, OpenCraft has designed, built, and supported countless reliable, large-scale education projects on the Open edX® platform.

Meet OpenCraft

Approach
Since it was founded in 2013, OpenCraft has created and maintained a diverse array of successful education projects on the Open edX® platform. Our approach is based on technical excellence, building strong relationships, and iterative development. This makes it easy to execute your education project with custom development, product design, hosting, and unparalleled support.
Experience
Our founder, Xavier Antoviaque, made the first outside open source contribution when Open edX® went public. Since then, we have focused on delivering high quality open-source code and hosting with an emphasis on long-term sustainability. As a flat organization with minimal overhead, you work directly with skilled designers and developers instead of endless layers of middle management.
Track Record
For over 10 years, we have collaborated with academic institutions, businesses, and government entities across the globe. Our extensive experience has enabled us to build strong partnerships with clients such as Arizona State University, Axim Collaborative, Australia National University, UC Berkeley, Cloudera, Duke University, edX, Harvard, MIT, Notre Dame and many others.

Our Approach

Do Things Differently
OpenCraft was founded in 2013. At the time, its organizational model was innovative, to say the least - and it still is! Our team is 100% remote, allowing us to support a diverse array of clients from all corners of the globe.
Build a Passionate Team
Build a global team of highly skilled professionals who are united by a passion for open source software. By harnessing diverse expertise and perspectives, we are able to drive innovation in the education field.
Support Remote Work
Provide a remote and mostly asynchronous workspace with minimal meetings and no mandatory timezone. This frees developers to focus on what they do best - write reliable and innovative code for our clients.
Minimize Bureaucracy
Minimize bureaucracy with a flat, decentralized organization. This means clients work directly with highly-skilled programmers with the autonomy to make decisions for your project without paying extra for overhead.
Promote Open Source
Write code that is almost exclusively open source and contribute it upstream. This propels online education through the Open edX® project while benefiting clients by drawing from the latest innovations.
Uphold Our Values
At OpenCraft, our four core values are openness, quality, commitment, and empathy. We strive to embody these values daily, integrating them into our work and nurturing our relationships within the team and with our clients.

Our Expertise

We have a diverse team with a wide array of knowledge and experience

Skilled Team

All our developers are senior developers with extensive experience in Python, Javascript, and most of the technologies used by the Open edX® project. Our fully decentralized team spans every continent except Antarctica (for now!), allowing us to recruit top talent regardless of location. We believe it’s easier for our clients to work with us due to our developers’ higher level of skill and collaboration. We offer superior customer service, better communication, and more effective project coordination. We’re the serious choice, trusted by large institutions worldwide.

Valued Open edX® Partners

Our engineers and designers are frequently tasked with adding major features to the Open edX® platform. We have more individual members in the Open edX® Core Contributor program than any other organization. This gives us unique insight and a deep understanding into the platform, its code, and the extensive community which surrounds it. This unique positioning and deep knowledge means quicker time to delivery and fewer iterations to build and launch a successful project.

Trusted Contributors

OpenCraft contributes regularly to open source projects and has been an Open edX® platform contributor since the very first day the project was released as open source in 2013. In fact, OpenCraft has made thousands of code contributions to the Open edX® platform master repository. We work closely with edX and Axim Collaborative, both in the governance of the open source project and as a major development partner.

Decision Makers

From the beginning, we have been part of the team that makes decisions about the Open edX® product and what should go into the Open edX® Roadmap. This has given us more influence over the direction of the project as a whole and we are working closely with Axim to deliver upgrades to the Open edX® platform (eg. Modular Learning and Content Tagging) and are developers and custodians of open sourced extensions, APIs, plugins, and Xblocks for the platform.

Deeply Rooted in the Community

We are very involved in the various Open edX® Working Groups and have earned the trust of the project’s main product and UX teams, including edX/2U and Axim. This ensures we have early and exclusive knowledge into which features, enhancements, and changes are in development.

Accomplishments

  • Thousands of code contributions to the Open edX® platform master repository
  • Greatest number of inducted members in the Open edX® Core Contributors program
  • Active contributor to the mission of localizing the platform into different languages
  • Creation and maintenance of Open Source extensions, APIs, plugins, and Xblocks for the Open edX® platform

How we work

Iterative Process

Our clients say that our iterative process and the quality of the relationships we build with them are what make working with OpenCraft special. We continually identify the technical risks and opportunities related to the development work clients need without asking them to become technical experts. We deliver quality from the outset and continue to update and improve your project as your needs evolve.

Strategic Thinking

Hiring OpenCraft is like wearing goggles that allow clients to more clearly see the road ahead and make better decisions on technical matters. Our clients confirm that our architectural capabilities and strategic insights are more robust than other firms. In fact, many of our clients come to us when a big project outgrows the capability of a smaller provider, and they require our strategic insights for large-scale architectural changes.

All-in-one Service

OpenCraft provides an all-in-one service approach from design to development. This service includes advice from a product, UX, and UI perspective which enhances platform user-friendliness, engagement, and user retention.

Community Integration

We are serious about open source software. The code we write matches the highest standards of quality. Our approach is to "upstream everything." The majority of features we develop are contributed ("upstreamed") to the public version of the Open edX® platform ensuring the sustainability of the Open edX® project.

Benefits for Clients

How does this help clients? Our close ties to the Open edX® project means that our clients benefit from innovations sourced from the community. This also dramatically reduces maintenance costs in the long term. Having their software changes plugged into the community also gives our clients the peace of mind that comes from smooth upgrades, minimal maintenance, and maximized quality and ease of integrating Open edX® with other systems and initiatives.

OpenCraft's Values

We work according to our core values: openness, quality, commitment and empathy.

Academic Institutions

Openness
We believe in transparency, honesty, and open source. Our aim is to share our work with the community, ensuring it benefits both our clients and humanity. Radical honesty guides the way we work.

Academic Institutions

Quality
Our team of senior professionals delivers high-quality code and expert support. With deep expertise in Python, JavaScript, and Open edX® technologies, we ensure top-tier results for every project.

Academic Institutions

Commitment
We do what we say, and do it on time. We are committed to keeping our promises and delivering on time, consistently meeting deadlines and exceeding expectations. This is how we foster trust and reliability.

Academic Institutions

Empathy
We pay close attention to how our actions affect others, aiming to be kind and considerate. When tough decisions are required, we handle them with care and respect for everyone involved.

Let's Work Together!

Contact us to discover how we can customize Open edX® to meet your unique needs and enhance your students' learning experience.
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© OpenCraft 2024
edX and Open edX® are trademarks of edX Inc
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