Project Eaden uses deeploi to cut time spent on IT admin by 90%

Overview

• Project Eaden is an innovative startup in the food tech industry, making plant-based meat with cutting-edge technology that mimics the texture of real meat

• Data is the company’s main asset: stellar cybersecurity therefore is a must

• Serial founder Hubertus Bessau learned the hard way what happens in the absence of streamlined IT – and wanted to do it right this time

When IT isn’t in your job description

It’s an honourable mission involving great minds from food science and biomaterials. But in crafting state-of-the-art meat replacements, IT is not the focus. “This isn’t a tech company,” says Jonathan Wright, data engineer at Project Eaden, “it’s food tech. We’re a bit light on the ground when it comes to people with in-depth IT administration knowledge.”

He joined Project Eaden shortly before they started using deeploi. As is often the case in non-technical companies, Jonathan found himself taking on IT tasks as the closest replacement for an actual IT admin. “I was not hired as an IT professional. It’s just something that fell into my realm of influence.”  

Without the skills of a dedicated IT specialist, things that should otherwise be simple tasks can become cumbersome time sinks. “It takes me away from actually doing the work that I’m supposed to be doing,” Jonathan explains – a common complaint from people who find themselves lumped with IT tasks that don’t fit their job description.

Though his time without deeploi was short, Jonathan describes it as “painful” – “there's a huge drain on time just because I am not an IT professional, I'm a data engineer.” This meant that internal IT admin tasks were taking up five or ten hours of his week. “Part of that time drain was potentially directly related to my lack of knowledge or experience in the field.”  

Founder of Project Eaden, Hubertus Bessau, “learnt the pitfalls of IT the hard way.” He previously founded mymuesli and scaled the company from three to 600 employees. It was during this process that he encountered a myriad of IT issues. It did teach him something useful, though: when it comes to IT, leave it to the pros.

Meat-ing their needs

And so they decided upon deeploi. Nowadays, Jonathan says, “I spend maximum an hour doing IT related stuff” each week. That’s a 5-10x reduction in his IT tasks.

More recently Jonathan has come to love the onboarding feature of deeploi. “I fill out that one form and then welcome emails go out, emails are set up, all that kind of stuff, which is fantastic.” This alone has cut onboarding-related IT tasks down from 2-3 hours to 30 just minutes per employee, and that includes any troubleshooting or extra tasks that occur in the weeks following the onboarding session itself. “Onboarding became a non-issue.”

That wasn’t the only concern they were juggling: as with many companies, “there was a worry that people would fall into these pitfalls that involved cybersecurity issues.” Those worries have now been put to rest: deeploi makes it “easier to sleep at night,” according to Jonathan. Without deeploi, he jokes that there was sure to be “a potential disaster at some point down the line,” as his colleagues simply don’t have the cybersecurity smarts to navigate the online landscape safely. Protecting their top-secret meatless meat recipe is of utmost importance: working in a highly technological field means data is their main asset.  

The cherry on top: Jonathan tells us that during his own onboarding phase on deeploi, “the customer service was excellent.” He had multiple calls with IT operations, and “it was always a pleasant conversation” and “super helpful.” All round when considering implementing and using deeploi, he concludes, “the service has been fantastic.”  

The steaks are high

That’s a standard deeploi will uphold going forward. Project Eaden’s first product, a steak made from thin, thread-like fibres, has already been wowing audiences at taste tests. At this exciting juncture for the plant-based meat sector, streamlining Project Eaden’s internal processes is paramount to let them focus on what’s important: saving the planet, one bite at a time.

Welcome to the garden of Project Eaden: about the company

Maybe you heard it in a documentary, on the news or at a protest: by now, pretty much everyone knows the negative effects our carnivorous diets have on the planet. While some try and feign blissful ignorance, others have resigned themselves to “meat” replacements that fall short of the mark. At the same time, the climate-conscious meat lovers out there are left wondering whether there isn’t some better alternative that doesn’t compromise on taste.

This is where Project Eaden comes in. Their vision: to continue enjoying the tastes they love without damaging the planet or animals. With the help of pioneering technology, they’re cooking up new plant-based alternatives that are so close to the real thing, you can’t tell the difference. Complete with muscle fibre, connective tissue and all – just made from plants.

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