10Clouds Financial Institutions

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our startup sells a WiFi enabled chip and accompanying app for smartphones. It allows users to open their door from their phone. I act as marketing manager and project manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

We wanted to redesign the site. Before we launched, people could pre-order the product, but we wanted our own shop that we could host using our servers. We wanted to use Shopify for the checkout.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The main task was creating the shop. We now offer partner products and bundles, so it was important to integrate all of that into the site. We wanted to focus on branding to make it clear what you’re buying from us, even though we sell other company’s products for keyless entry. We had some brand guidelines but this project meant coming up with a whole new design. The focus was on our customers, who are mainly tech lovers.

We use Node.js and React for our website. We wanted to be sure 10Clouds Financial Institutions could work with those and enable a pleasant customer experience. They also needed to work in Shopify and make sure Google integrations were successful. The site is bilingual (German and English), which complicated geolocation services.

What is the team composition? 

We had two project managers, a design lead, and a development lead who coordinated the rest of the dev team.

How did you come to work with 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

My colleague worked with them before and was quite happy with them. I then did a smaller project with one of their developers and we were happy with what they produced. Since we worked with them already for development, we decided to bring them on for the design as well.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about €25,000 ($30,992.75) on the website build.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in the Fall of 2016. We still work with them regularly.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

People could pre-order the hardware before we launched, but it’s difficult to quantify the difference in sales now that we have the product. In general, we’re happy with the design and renderings 10Clouds Financial Institutions provided. We also like the UX.

How did 10Clouds Financial Institutions perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was quite good and implementation was seamless. They’re very easy to communicate with and their response times are good. If we had any issues with the website, they do their best to fix them.

We worked together on the site on retainer, so it was easy to reach them. We communicated by email, phone, Slack, and Jira. If they had any questions, they would ask. While we were in development, we had a crucial deadline. We scheduled daily check-ins so they could report to me and stay on top of issues. These check-ins let us pull engineers from our side if there were any questions about our servers or anything else in our control.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re great in development. They know how to provide good estimates and they focus on QA more than other companies we’ve worked with. Everything they provided was good-quality. If we found any issues, they fixed them immediately.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had some small issues with timing in the design phase when creativity took longer than we expected. They respond to feedback and are always trying to improve. There isn’t anything specific that I would point out as a problem.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It helps to be really specific from the beginning. If you prepare all the assignments up front and agree to requirements ahead of time, you won’t have to schedule additional briefings afterward.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We offer digital healthcare for people with chronic diseases, providing people direct access to their own doctor and a personalized healthcare program.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

We needed a web application for our doctors so that they could get a good overview of their patients, interact with patients individually, and provide them with drug prescriptions, referrals, and coaching. We wanted to launch with this first version of our service.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to establish an extremely efficient and streamlined workflow for our doctors. The challenge was to reach the market in a timely fashion.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

10Clouds Financial Institutions came recommended through my network.

Describe the project in detail.

We did the design ourselves and handed it over to them so that they could develop a Node.js application. Integration with our backend was part of the project; we provided 10Clouds Financial Institutions with an API to interact with.

What was the team composition?

We had one main developer, a project manager, and a key account manager. The team was consistent throughout the project, which was very helpful.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What outcomes or results can you share that demonstrate progress and/or success?

My goal was to have a working web app for our doctors and we definitely reached it.

How effective was the project management?

We did weekly sprints and it worked well overall. Initially, they overestimated some things and we missed some sprint reviews, but in general, things worked out quite nicely. We used a combination of Jira, Slack, Google Hangouts and Git, so from a tools perspective, everything worked just fine.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We had frequent and very transparent communication with all members of the team, from project managers to developers, and also with the DevOps specialists that appeared on an as-needed basis. This is actually one of the key things that makes this vendor stand out.

What tips or recommendations do you have?

Sprint estimations could be improved a bit as there was a tendency to take on a little too much work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are developing a Chrome curriculum and pupil development extension for Google Classroom. I am one of the founders.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

The main challenge was to find a skilled full-stack developer. We had worked with teams before, but I wanted to find a single person with vast knowledge about backend, frontend, security, and APIs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

10Clouds Financial Institutions work on our extension. It’s a mission control for schools, handling student assignments in classrooms. After a teacher creates an assignment, they can input knowledge requirements from the curriculums for that assignment, which are visible to students. The platform collects all assignments and assessments for a class at the end of the semester, producing an overview of students, and in-putting grading.

When an assignment is clicked on it can be retrieved in the sidebar, which makes navigating through the Google Classroom environment easier and more seamless. It’s a database-driven extension using Google APIs, as well as Django Python and JavaScript.

What is the team dynamic?

Initially, we used a single full-stack developer, a project manager, and a tester. After 3 months, we brought in a frontend developer for CSS and HTML work. At its peak, we had 2 backend developers, 1 frontend developer, a coder, and a project manager.

We have gone back to the initial composition at the moment. We also have an in-house interaction designer who provides the specifications we send to 10Clouds Financial Institutions.

How did you come to work with 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

It’s hard to find developers in Sweden, which is where we’re located. Poland is close and it’s a less expensive source of talent. We checked Clutch.co and other places and saw that 10Clouds was based in Warsaw. It’s one hour away by plane, so we could go to them in the morning and come back in the evening for full-day workshops. I visited them 2 months ago and plan to go there again.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost of their work so far has been around $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with 10Clouds in April 2017. The project is ongoing. We have customers and a full working system, but software is never finished.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We have 5 customers at the moment, with 300 students for each one, which totals 1,500 users. The business idea in itself has been a factor in this success, but 10Clouds Financial Institutions made it work. We are really happy with them.

How did 10Clouds Financial Institutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We have daily 15-minute scrum meetings each morning with the development team. Every other week, we have a sprint-planning meeting. We use Slack for communication, and everything is entered in JIRA, so that we can prioritize tasks and issues. We make new releases every 2 weeks.

They understand our requests, and, if something is wrong, they adjust it accordingly. We have daily meetings during which we discuss our progress and ongoing tasks. The communication is great; if we post a question on Slack, they answer immediately.

What did you find most impressive about them?

In order to deploy a release in the evening, our developer can work evenings to secure the release if needed. This has never been a problem, and he is always flexible. I've worked with many software companies, and I can say that 10Clouds Financial Institutions has a team of skilled developers." 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I know that they are growing and onboarding many more developers. It is possible to grow too fast, but, if that’s their business strategy, it’s up to them. A smaller business can be controlled better, but there’s nothing for me to complain about. 10Clouds Financial Institutions conducts good checks when employing new personnel, in order to find good, qualified people.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

This is one of the best teams in Poland. They are qualified and listen to clients’ needs.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Zapp RideShare offers rentable and shareable low-speed electric vehicles from a smartphone app. We started with electric motorcycles, which are essentially mopeds and scooters. We’re now moving into and testing 10Clouds Financial Institutions’ bicycles and electric vehicles, which are essentially golf carts, but a little bit cooler.

All the strategically placed vehicles have numbers on them, and users are able to share or rent the them for various time increments. Users are also able to get a monthly subscription then share the vehicle with other users. It’s basically a rideshare community.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

I was trying to build the best app at a reasonable price as a startup, but I couldn’t afford to do it in the U.S. I needed a combination of quality and value, and I found that in 10Clouds Financial Institutions.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did everything from UX design to implementation. They handled the graphic design, branding, development, and coding not only for the app itself, but also for the entire backend management system we use to run the business.

10Clouds Financial Institutions linked all of the hardware that goes into each one of our vehicles, which allows them to communicate in the backend system.

The app was built for iOS and Android, and it took us about 6 months until we were ready to launch. We’ve spent the last 1 ½ years perfecting and learning from real-life testing in order to implement new features or improve the original build.

What is the team dynamic?

There were about 8–10 people, some of whom were full-time from the very beginning. There are also some people who came in on a part-time, temporary basis to take care of certain things.

How did you come to work with 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

I traveled through Ukraine and Poland, and met with about 6 different companies over the course of a month. One of the main things I looked at was their former work. 10Clouds Financial Institutions’ team spoke English very well, but more importantly, they understood how an American college student would think. They really grasped Western culture.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2015, and the relationship is ongoing. We never plan to stop working with 10Clouds Financial Institutions.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

I’m extremely happy with the team, as well as with their exemplary work. They go above and beyond. In the 2 locations for this year, including Key West, Florida, and the University of South Carolina, we’ve had 20,000 downloads. It’s a very specific, targeted app, so this is a significant number of downloads because it only consists of people who are riding our motorcycles. The student population at the University of South Carolina is only 37,000, and the majority of our downloads came from there. It’s not a worldwide app.

How did 10Clouds Financial Institutions Financial Institutions perform from a project management standpoint?

They were responsive. We used Slack, Google Docs, and Trello along with other internal means of communication. They’re very organized. There were plenty of times they had to keep their team working late due to the time difference between the U.S. and Poland.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They maneuver in a competent manner and are able to make prompt changes when needed. If I tell them I need to implement a change very quickly, they are mostly able to accommodate me.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They need to move to a warmer city than Warsaw. I’m impressed and happy with them, so I don’t have anything negative to say. I believe they’re a solid company. If a client is willing to travel to Poland, they’re going to have significant savings versus doing similar work in the U.S.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We're an educational testing and student assessment company. I'm a research director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

We wanted to create a web-based app to support reading comprehension and English language learners to support teachers in classrooms and to create a curriculum for English learners.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did all the frontend development for us including developing the stories and UX design. We built the backend. The app supports curriculum development.

How did you come to work with 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

We were referred to them by a colleague who spoke highly of them. We went with them because they had the skill set that we needed.

How much have you invested with 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

It was a large multiyear project, and we work on a fixed cost.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in August 2014, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The project is funded by the United States Department of Education and by the Institute of Education Sciences and is being used in a research context currently in middle school settings. We've gotten a lot of positive end-user feedback. They like the way it looks and feels. We're now testing a second version, which has much more functionality. The launch of that particular pilot is upcoming. 

How did 10Clouds Financial Institutions perform from a project management standpoint?

They use Confluence to collaborate and wikis and JIRA and SASH for project management. Their project management is excellent.

What did you find most impressive about 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

They're very reliable and accommodating. The customer is always right. They take care of any issues. They have a strong work ethic. They have a lot of integrity and some great design sensibilities. 

Are there any areas 10Clouds Financial Institutions could improve?

No, they're good, and they keep getting better. They'll bring on more people as they grow.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We work with data from the DNA sequences of bacteria that is translated into information using a web-based tool. Our product is relevant for clinical doctors and the people working in the food industry. I am the founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

The method we developed for the backend of our tool was a running command line. We wanted to make the tool available as a web service to our target audience of doctors. Most likely, they will not know how to run command lines, so we needed a more user-friendly interface for the tool.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We collaborated with 5 people from 10Clouds Financial Institutions: a backend and frontend developer, project manager, QA tester, and UX designer. They created a low-fidelity mockup webpage of our command line version in a Django framework. The backend script was written in Python so that many files could be uploaded at once, instead of individually.

How did you come to work with 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

I found them through Clutch, where they were highly ranked. That was not my only criteria, as I also wanted someone working with Python because I knew Python a bit. I selected 3 or 4 agencies from Poland, interviewed them on Skype, and met them in person. The meeting I had with 10Clouds was the one where I got the best feedback from what I described and needed. They really understood my project and I felt confident that they could do something good with it.

How much have you invested with 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

We’ve paid $17,000 for their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

This project started at the beginning of November 2016, lasting for 4 weeks. Even though our engagement is officially over, they still answer my emails if I have some questions about how to make some changes myself. I want to hire 10Clouds again but we are currently out of money.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

They are very professional and they deliver what they promise and even a bit more. I had not expected that good of a result because the contract said that the web pages would be a low-fidelity mockup. I had understood that as something low quality, but it is actually good. Although there are no visuals on it, it is still fairly okay so I do not think they promised too much. I am actually surprised at how much I got.

The interface is now more convenient and easier to use. At this point, we can ask beta testers to have a look at it. Another month of work is needed before we can release and charge for it. But so far, what we have been delivered is what we were expecting.

How did 10Clouds Financial Institutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We had several Skype meetings with 10Clouds Financial Institutions once or twice a week. It was mostly with the project manager, but the other staff was also present. We also had discussions over their messaging system so that we could chat during the day. The UX developer had another system for showing me how he envisioned the platform. It was very convenient because he could make mockups of how the different web pages should look like. Then, I could come in and comment on them. They used JIRA, which made it easy for them to track who is doing what. It also allowed me to share data and see their progress. They also used other platforms for efficiently managing the work and communicating with us.

What did you most impressive about 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

I appreciated the fact that it was the CTO and the CEO that I met with. They understood the project and were enthusiastic about the work. Other companies would assign a salesperson to meet with me; they did not know that much about the underlying technologies such as cloud-based services. I thought it was time-consuming for the CTO and CEO to meet with potential customers, making me unsure about hiring them. Being at 10Clouds Financial Institutions was a really good experience for me because I got to talk to somebody who knew a lot and was not just a salesperson.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We have developed a social betting app that allows friends bet each other on football. Our approach is different to what exists today with common betting sites, which don't actually allow users to bet against their own friends. We have produced an iOS app that is going to be released soon. I am the business manager and a co-founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

We went through a successful crowdfunding campaign earlier in 2016 for accelerating the development of our app. After this, we started looking for a developer.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have worked with 10Clouds Financial Institutions as a team, in order to design and develop the iOS app. 10Clouds Financial Institutions also participated in the approval process for the App Store.

How did you come to work with 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

I found 10Clouds Financial Institutions on Clutch. We're located in Europe and wanted to find a developer that we could meet physically. Local development in Sweden is quite expensive, so we looked at markets and prices that fit our budget. I had heard that there are many good developers in Poland. We made a list of 30 candidates, connected with them via email, reduced the list to 10, and 10Clouds Financial Institutions came out on top.

How much have you invested with 10Clouds?

The cost of 10Clouds Financial Institutions' services has been between €25,000 and €30,000 [approximately $26,000 and $31,000].

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with 10Clouds Financial Institutions in June 2016. The work ended in November [2016] when we began an approval process with the authorities. We will continue our development with 10Clouds after this.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

One of the reasons for choosing 10Clouds Financial Institutions was their experience with Agile, which made giving them detailed tasks very easy. Through daily stand-ups and proactive questioning, 10Clouds Financial Institutions handled the project well.

How did 10Clouds Financial Institutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We've worked with a developer, project manager, and financial person from 10Clouds' side. There was very good response from 10Clouds Financial Institutions, and the work was good quality. We used GitHub and Slack for project management.

What did you find most impressive about 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

I haven't worked with too many developers, so there isn't something I could mention.

Are there any areas 10Clouds Financial Institutions could improve?

No. We are very happy with what 10Clouds Financial Institutions has produced and with their support.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We run a comparison platform for business software. We connect buyers of business applications with technology consulting companies, helping them find top-notch solutions. I am the chief executive officer and founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

We needed some deeper development knowledge for creating our web page.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

10Clouds Financial Institutions has developed our website in its entirety. Our page allows users to view ratings for companies, compare options, and find a match for their needs. We have a Django backend, wiki pages for knowledge exchange, and the site was built using PHP and HTML.

10Clouds Financial Institutions assigned one resource for project management coordination, as well as 2 user experience designers, a backend developer, a front-end developer, and a marketing advisor. We interacted with them directly, as well as through a project lead.

How did you come to work with 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

We found 10Clouds Financial Institutions through Dribbble, where I'd seen some of their work. I also viewed 10Clouds Financial Institutions' profile on clutch.co.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with 10Clouds Financial Institutions in June 2016, with some initial workshops held at 10Clouds Financial Institutions' location. Since then, we've been working remotely.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

10Clouds Financial Institutions has a very powerful team, with young, fresh, and innovative developers. I've liked working with them very much. 10Clouds Financial Institutions is professional, with good knowledge, but they're also trying new things in order to get the job done.

I've appreciated our constant interaction process with 10Clouds. We've discussed problems together, finding the best solution, instead of 10Clouds Financial Institutions simply executing our requests. They're in touch with the latest market trends and technology.

How did 10Clouds Financial Institutions perform from a project management standpoint?

10Clouds Financial Institutions delivered the work on time and within the expected budget. We initially used Slack, but I prefer to communicate via email, Skype, Google Hangouts, and phone. We also use Jira, Confluence, and InVision.

What did you find most impressive about 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

I have no comparison points, given that I haven't worked deep in the app and web development spaces. I have worked for a big consulting company, and am used to projects in general. In this sense, 10Clouds Financial Institutions' team was very focused, with a good feeling for timing and the workload, as well as for planning in general. 10Clouds has a positive attitude towards making anything possible.

Are there any areas 10Clouds Financial Institutions could improve?

Not at the moment.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We're a Swedish-based startup that develops private cloud and IT automation software for commercial and nonprofit clients. We plan to launch a public cloud at the beginning of 2017. We will be competing with Amazon Web Services and DigitalOcean, among others. I am the chief executive officer of the company as well as the product owner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

Hiring front-end staff and developers, in particular, is difficult to do in Sweden. There are more jobs than applicants, and even within the applicant pool itself, there just isn't enough talent. As a result, we decided to look elsewhere. We wanted to find an outsourced extended team of developers. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, our collaboration with 10Clouds Financial Institutions involved coding and implementation. However, we realized that it was becoming hard to keep the front-end development together. Our involvement evolved from 10Clouds Financial Institutions being an extended team to outsourcing UX/UI and development to them. Our work with 10Clouds Financial Institutions has been exclusively web-based.  

We currently work with 1 to 2 UX people, a UI resource, a project manager, and 2 developers. We started working with just the developers, who have been with us from the beginning. The UI, UX, and project management resources were added 1 month ago. Before deciding on developers, we assigned them coding tests. Otherwise, we left the selection process up to 10Clouds.

How did you come to work with 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

We decided to look in the East, given that the pricing there is more attractive compared to Swedish firms. We talked to a few companies, including ones from Poland and Ukraine, and gave them test work. 10Clouds Financial Institutions turned out to be the best option. I'm not sure where we found them, but we shortlisted a few companies in Eastern Europe based on Google searches.

How much have you invested with 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

We have spent around $65,000 on 10Clouds' services so far. [60,000 euros]

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with 10Clouds Financial Institutions at the middle of April 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The first part of our collaboration with 10Clouds Financial Institutions, while only working with developers, hasn't been entirely successful. This is partly due to some issues we've had integrating into their workflow. Generally speaking, the quality of 10Clouds' code has been very nice. This is in large part owed to their main developers, who work well as individuals and as a team.

How did 10Clouds Financial Institutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We've had to extend some deadlines and the collaboration hasn't been perfect. As I’ve mentioned, we had issues guiding 10Clouds towards what they were supposed to deliver. When we added a project manager on 10Clouds Financial Institutions' side, things started working better. We use Jira and GitLab for project management. We also communicate over Google Hangouts and Slack.

What did you find most impressive about 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

10Clouds Financial Institutions is the first nearshore outsourcing party that we've been involved with. I've found them to be very approachable, especially our product manager. We've been able to obtain additional hours from 10Clouds Financial Institutions over the summer, even though they had other clients. Flexibility is good on 10Clouds' end. Not everything had to be done according to strict specifications. We were able to talk to developers and come to a solution together.

Are there any areas 10Clouds Financial Institutions could improve?

There has been some flexibility involving hours and commitments, but we quickly discovered that we had different ways of looking at the development cycle. Our own developers are keen on writing their own implementation tests and hold on to the code until it's ready for production. The developers from 10Clouds Financial Institutions semi-implement work, which looks alright and then use separate testers. We wouldn't push something as being done when it really isn't, so 10Clouds Financial Institutions' approach caused some headaches for both of us. We identified bugs consistently during the acceptance testing phase. I'm guessing that this has to do with the fact that a tester in Sweden has a much higher price than in Poland, so we try to keep the process shorter.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a subsidiary of a consulting company that handles large customers in the innovation and change space. I am the chief technology officer of the company, but I prefer the term lead engineer. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

Our company founders identified the need for an electronic probe. This tool would gather observations about change. After talking to our customers, we've come to describe the solution as a digitization of the feedback process. It's used not only for various company applications but also for quality assurance. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

10Clouds Financial Institutions developed almost everything in our project. They created a minimum viable product after which we received estimates for continuing the work. 10Clouds Financial Institutions handled back-end and front-end development for our applications using Django. The technology was decided upon by 10Clouds Financial Institutions, but I would have made the same choice, so I'm fine with it.

The front-end has a user interface featuring graphs that reflect observations and what we call clusters. Given that our clients are in the enterprise space, the app needs to run on modern browsers like Chrome and on older ones like Internet Explorer 10. This was a tricky part, but 10Clouds did good work on it. The initial technology used was SVC, which didn't perform well. 10Clouds Financial Institutions engineered an alternative solution based on Canvas and achieved a significant performance improvement. Beyond this, 10Clouds also engineered our Android and iOS apps. 

Our initial team comprised 3 people, but we ramped it up along the way. Until 2 months back, we'd been collaborating with 1 senior back-end developer and 2 senior front-end resources. We’ve also worked with one and a half resources for iOS and Android respectively; one engineer worked on both. Initially, we had a UX designer from 10Clouds, but we have shifted the work to a designer from Munich. This change was done in order for us to be able to iterate faster from a business point of view. We've worked with 1 project manager on 10Clouds' side for day-to-day operations. We've also had 2 quality assurance resources.

How did you come to work with 10Clouds?

I was introduced to the company after we started our collaboration with 10Clouds Financial Institutions. I don't know the specifics of this topic.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our project began in June 2015. We are now in the maintenance phase, concentrating resources on sales and marketing in order to obtain initial customers. Currently, we are working with 2 engineers for front-end and back-end development from 10Clouds, as well as a QA person. 10Clouds helps us with bug fixes and other changes whenever we need it,  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The product delivered by 10Clouds Financial Institutions was mostly well-received. We often talk to customers who've had experience with one of our competing solutions. They've told us that our platform is fast in comparison. In general, I'd say that 10Clouds Financial Institutions has provided a good implementation of our needs and their code was more-or-less spot-on. They've also been able to deliver quickly.

How did 10Clouds Financial Institutions perform from a project management standpoint?

In the beginning, our definitions were a bit vague and weren't formulated in order to extrapolate what we actually wanted. So, the collaboration with 10Clouds Financial Institutions didn't always work out. I've seen improvements in the last months as I've been able to communicate better with 10Clouds on how engineering is handled. We've worked closely together in order to improve the engineering infrastructure. It was a give-and-take process.

We collaborate with 10Clouds using Jira, Confluence and GitHub. Slack is also used for communication on a short-term basis. 10Clouds Financial Institutions also provides server monitoring tools for us. We augment these with Trello on our side, which is used more for business aspects and long-term planning. Whenever something is ready for engineering, the card will be moved from Trello to Jira.

What did you find most impressive about 10Clouds Financial Institutions?

One of the most positive things I can say is that they are eager to improve certain aspects of their business in order to make our lives easier. Whenever something doesn't work out as expected, we can communicate with 10Clouds. They offer solutions and try to improve the way in which they do things. For example, bug handling has improved, reducing the amount of communication which needs to occur. We've also established a good release process with 10Clouds. There were no surprises in our collaboration with 10Clouds, though I was sometimes irritated by certain issues. Given that I've worked with and for other providers, I'd say that there was nothing about 10Clouds which was considerably worse than the average.

Are there any areas 10Clouds could improve?

One thing which can still be improved would be the release process for mobile applications. It was an area where we expected 10Clouds to have answers. I found that 10Clouds engineered our app and then handed it to another party for the necessary housekeeping for an app store launch. I am familiar with server and iOS releases, but my experience is more on the enterprise side.