10 Years of Remote Work With Calamari: How Netguru Built an HR System That Scales With the Company

When Your Team Is Remote, Your HR Tools Have to Be Too

Netguru was built as a remote company long before distributed work became the norm in tech. In that kind of organization, managing time off had to work entirely online from day one — no paper forms, no hallway conversations.

"Calamari is an important part of our HR processes. We've always been a remote company, so handling time-off requests through a dedicated system was essential for us."

For a company of roughly 360 people spread across multiple locations, having a single, centralized tool for time-off management isn't a nice-to-have — it's an operational necessity. Calamari has filled that role continuously since 2016.

What Keeps a Partnership Going for a Decade

Sticking with one HR tool for over 10 years is unusual in tech. Companies in this industry constantly re-evaluate their tooling, test alternatives, and optimize. If a tool has lasted a decade, it's not inertia - it's because it keeps delivering real value.

"What makes Calamari unique is how it combines ease of use with a genuine fit for HR and payroll needs. The system is intuitive for both employees and managers, while still giving us the flexibility to customize structures, contract types, and approval flows to match how our company actually works."

A long-lasting partnership also comes down to people. Netguru rates the Calamari Customer Support team as reliable, helpful, and fast to respond.

"We find the Customer Support team reliable and very responsive. Issues are handled efficiently, and communication is always clear and to the point. We also appreciate the continuous product development and the team's openness to our feedback."

Requesting Restrictions in Time Off: Structure Instead of Manual Oversight

Netguru uses 7 types of requesting restrictions within the Calamari Time Off module. These rules automatically enforce policies — entitlement limits, request sequencing, and form validation — taking that burden off the HR team and managers.

"Requesting restrictions bring order to our processes and take a significant amount of manual validation off the plates of HR and managers. Employees submit requests that already comply with company rules, which means fewer errors, fewer corrections, and a faster approval cycle."

The Netguru team takes a pragmatic view of this feature — they see both the benefits and the trade-offs:

"This feature has its pros and cons. If you need to correct a mistaken absence entry, it requires an administrator to step in. That said, the time savings and data consistency it provides clearly outweigh that, and for employees, it means clear, predictable rules for how time off works."

API as the Connective Tissue Between Systems

Many companies use Calamari as a standalone tool. Netguru went further - they use the Calamari API to build custom integrations that connect HR processes to the rest of their internal infrastructure.

"We use the Calamari API to integrate with our HR and payroll systems. This lets us automate data flows instead of relying on manual exports and imports."

Here's how Netguru puts the API to work:

• Payroll sync: time-off data flows automatically into the payroll system
• Reporting tools: real-time access to team availability data
• Resource planning: assigning people to projects based on up-to-date absence data

For a software company or consultancy owner, this is a key detail: Calamari isn't a closed box. You can integrate it with your existing systems and automate the workflows that technology companies deal with every day.

What We'd Tell Another Tech Company

Netguru has been using Calamari for over a decade. What advice does the team have for companies just getting started?

"It's worth defining your rules (time-off policies, entitlement limits, approval flows) before you go live, and mapping them as closely as possible to what you set up in the system. It's also essential to involve HR, payroll, and IT during configuration, and to test scenarios with a pilot group. This speeds up adoption significantly and prevents corrections down the line."

And what about return on investment after 10 years?

"The time saved by HR and payroll teams, fewer errors, automation, and integrations with other systems quickly offset the cost of the tool. On top of that, the added transparency in processes and the better day-to-day experience for employees make it a worthwhile investment."

Summary

Netguru and Calamari have been working together for over 10 years. It's a story that shows a well-chosen HR tool doesn't need to be revolutionary, it needs to be reliable and ready to grow alongside the company. 

From managing time-off requests across a distributed team, through automated requesting restrictions that bring order to processes, to an API connecting leave data with payroll and resource planning — Calamari has been a steady operational pillar for Netguru.

"Calamari has been and continues to be one of our core HR tools. It's a constant foundation for how we manage time off."