10Clouds

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Baker EDM Lab, a scientific consultancy.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 10Clouds?

I needed someone to help me develop software to handle automated detection for online learning. I wanted to make more sophisticated models of student knowledge.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Using the scientifically developed models we already had prepared, 10Clouds helped create a version that was deployment ready and more widely and quickly accessible. After I gave them the requirements and models, they built out the software.

10Clouds designed the software to help nonprofits provide educational services to students. It implements a sophisticated algorithm in real time and connects to the learning system through an API. The learning system interacts with the model live to function as needed. The team developed the software used Java. For this project, we handled all of the UI/UX internally.

What is the team composition? 

10Clouds assigned one developer to our project. He also acted as the project manager.

How did you come to work with 10Clouds?

A colleague of mine recommended 10Clouds and told me they performed good work. I found that assessment to be accurate in my experience.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $8,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from December 2017–July 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

10Clouds successfully completed the software we requested. It works as designed and intended. My client was happy with the results. 10Clouds delivered a perfectly reliable product. We haven’t had any problems with it.

How did 10Clouds perform from a project management standpoint?

10Clouds was very efficient to work with, and our communication was great. We coordinated with weekly updates using Google Hangouts and email updates when feasible.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The developer we worked with from 10Clouds was impressively confident and picked up on concepts quickly. He put in a substantial effort and performed very high-quality work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There wasn’t a great payment system set up, so I had to spend a lot of time figuring out how to compensate the team for their work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

No, I don’t have any advice.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a mobile investment platform for cryptocurrencies. Through our application, users can invest in a collection of cryptocurrencies, rather than buying a single asset.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 10Clouds?

We wanted to simplify the investment process by creating the most fluid in-app experience using feedback gathered from UX/UI research. Ideally, the app needed a simple look, but something more than just a basic white-background application with minimal functionality.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started by assembling the app’s design. After we collaborated on designs for every page in the application, 10Clouds created the wireframes using Sketch and InVision. They implemented strategies that prioritized user experience, creating a unique and sharp platform that’s accessible for all of our users. Once we mapped each interface and the app’s operation flow, we transitioned into the development phase.

Currently, 10Clouds is using native coding languages to build both an iOS and Android version of the platform. Once it’s finished and launched, users can download the app then begin our extensive sign-up process. Because we’re a financial service, our users have to verify their identity by uploading a picture of their license and inputting personal information. After registering, users are prompted to connect their bank account and make purchases from our base fund, which is populated by 20 different cryptocurrencies. Basically, users can translate their U.S. dollars to cryptocurrency, but instead of investing in one coin, they invest in 20 in one transaction.

What is the team composition?

We work with a scrum master, who heads up the project, an iOS developer, an Android developer, two backend developers, a part-time DevOps developer, a part-time QA developer, and two UX/UI designers.

How did you come to work with 10Clouds?

I found some of their design work on Dribbble and hired them to design my product. In that process, I realized that their team is very technically strong and transparent in their work. With that in mind, I also asked them to develop the application.

How much have you invested with them?

We started working together in February 2018.

What is the status of this engagement?

So far, we’ve spent $85,000, but I estimate the entire project will total over $300,000.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Because we haven’t launched yet, we don’t have any solid data. In terms of quality, our app’s user experience stands out among our industry competitors. The three-month period we spent on conceptualizing the aesthetic and operative flow was definitely worth it. We’re really impressed with the results so far.

As we move through development, 10Clouds is quick to address any issues or bugs we encounter. They’re the most agile team of developers that I’ve ever worked with. They adjust quickly, communicate responsively, and work diligently.

How did 10Clouds perform from a project management standpoint?

In the beginning, I mainly communicated with a project manager via Skype. Now I interact with my full team via Slack. We schedule a 15-minute group video call every day, with additional communication as necessary. We use Jira to manage our backlog and plan our schedules.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are very skilled in terms of communication, agility, and technical ability. Through their work, we can tell that their team is fully engaged and invested in our vision. They continue to work very hard to assure they meet our standards.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve the accuracy of their time estimates. Development work is hard to predict, so sometimes we go a little over the initial deadline. I’ll also take some responsibility for this because we often make changes to the development schedule.

Any advice for potential customers?

No matter what stage a company is in, 10Clouds offers beneficial solutions. Including both design and development, they cover every aspect needed to create a product. Their team’s agile approach and extensive skill range set them up to properly execute any project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of Cereal Gaming, which hosts gaming tournaments and competitive gaming matchups.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 10Clouds?

With 10Clouds, we set out to design and develop a competitive gaming app that users can use to accept challenges and matchups against other gamers around the world.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

At the moment, it’s a mobile application only available for iOS and for users over 18 years old. I provided them with some semblance of wireframe sketches, but they had a more thorough knowledge of the software that I needed so that we could move forward. They broke down the specific features available within my budget. PayPal was incorporated into the initial build, but it later needed to be removed, which necessitated a second development phase.

What is the team composition?

At the peak of the project, we worked with a team of five people.

How did you come to work with 10Clouds?

A friend recommended them to me. I spoke with a few local firms, but they weren’t appropriate fits. 10Clouds was the best option because of the team they had available.

How much have you invested with them?

To this point, I have spent a little more than $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The first phase of development lasted from July-November 2017. The second phase lasted from May-June 2018. We have plans to develop an Android iteration next year, if not at the end of this year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When we began this project, there was no prominent app available for competitive gaming, but I believe we have addressed that need in the gaming community. The overall quality of the platform is excellent, and we’ve received very positive feedback from users, specifically about the design. It is not the biggest app, but it runs very smoothly.

How did 10Clouds perform from a project management standpoint?

Because they are located in Poland and I’m in the UK, we anticipated an international or language barrier. We mitigated those concerns by discussing all details several times. My communication through Slack with the project manager and the development team was hassle-free.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They understood my financial limitations with this project. There is no large funding stream behind me, but they worked with me to develop what I wanted. I appreciated their flexibility.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Our opening brief needed to be a bit clearer as to the scope of the project.

Any advice for potential customers?

Especially if it is somebody’s first time making an app, it is important to make sure the development process is clearly specified.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the technical project manager for an audit and tax advisory company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 10Clouds?

Because we don’t have the necessary in-house developers, we needed a near shore development team to help us implement a novel B2B web application and platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We came to 10Clouds with a concept of the product and a rough draft of the key features we wanted. It’s a B2B web application for tax professionals that helps large organizations establish and streamline their tax processes. Users keep track of deadlines, milestones, and delegate tasks across different tax offices.

We worked together to decide on the technology stack. 10Clouds supported us during the development phase by using Angular on the frontend, and Node.js with a PostgreSQL database for the backend. Additionally, there were a few integration points, such as our email systems, that they had to authenticate against our existing active directory or user databases.

Currently, we are working on the second version of the application. They are providing coding and design work to help make the application more user-friendly.

What is the team composition?

Our team has three developers, one designer, one QA tester, and a project manager.

How did you come to work with 10Clouds?

We were looking for Eastern or Central European companies to support us and used Clutch.co to help in the vendor selection process. We compared eight or nine competitors but ultimately went with 10Clouds because of their technical capabilities, reasonable pricing, and how easily we worked together during the proposal stage.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $150,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2017, and are currently in the development phase for the second major release of the web app, which we expect to continue for the next few months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have quantifiable metrics, but the web application has been well received by our clients, and we have a strong pipeline of sales. We are continuing to improve the design and UX, but users have been satisfied so far. Most of the problems in coding came from minor bugs, and 10Clouds fixed those quickly.

How did 10Clouds perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Jira to organize our projects with scrum-based project management methods, which have worked well for us. We have calls on at least a weekly basis, and use Slack for daily communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They deliver on what they promise, and we’ve been impressed with the high quality of their work. The product is consistently on time and within budget, which has built our confidence in what they can do.

Are there any areas they could improve?

At the beginning of the project, there were a few issues with communication around billing and a few features. However, after that initial learning stage of figuring each other out, those issues were ironed out quickly.

There was an instance where they underestimated the complexity of a feature, so it took longer than expected to develop it. However, they didn’t bill us more for that work, which we were happy about.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Software development projects require being flexible as requirements change. Because of that, it’s necessary to stay in close communication with the development team. Be open and transparent about your priorities, what the most important features to implement, and how strict your timeline is.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the project manager of a social gaming startup called Royals App. Our company is located in Poland, and we currently have eight employees. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We decided to cooperate with 10Clouds company in order to develop our minimum viable product (MVP). 10Clouds handled both the design and the development of the app. We’re still working with an iOS developer and a backend developer from 10Clouds to maintain the app and develop new features.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed to translate our idea into an iOS app that could validate our business model in the Polish market. We also wanted to reach 5,000 downloads of our app within three months after the launch. 

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

First, we researched the best Polish software houses. We contacted five companies and narrowed our options to two companies after receiving their offers. We also looked at each team’s portfolio and valuation, and we contacted the CEOs of businesses who’d cooperated with each software house. In the end, selecting 10Clouds was a hard but good decision.

Describe the project in detail.

We gave 10Clouds an initial brief, which included a short description of our social gaming app, user stories, and a summary of our work on personas. We started with a scoping meeting in which the whole team took part, including the backend developer, designer, iOS developer, and project manager. In the meeting, we created the scope of the MVP and scheduled four sprints. During each sprint, we held daily meetings to make sure we were staying within our timeline.

What was the team composition?

We worked with a project manager, a designer, a senior iOS developer, and a backend developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We achieved both of our primary goals. Three months after the app launched, we reached 5,000 downloads. Users shared great feedback, and we successfully validated our business model and earned our first $1,000 from in-app purchases.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communicating with their team is easy. Even when some bugs appeared, we knew we could fully rely on their support. All in all, we’ve set up a great workflow together.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

10Clouds has an experienced team that engages fully in each project.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Having more experienced developers would help expedite the work in certain cases.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We provide cloud-based software for natural language processing and speech recognition.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Initially, we hired 10Clouds for two different projects: one on speech recognition and one on natural language processing.

What were your goals for this project?

All of the solutions have to be hosted on Amazon Web Services. They have to be scalable, reliable, intuitive, and easy to maintain.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were recommended by friends.

Describe the project in detail.

Together, we’ve completed two small projects and continue working on two bigger ones. Initially, we would write the core artificial intelligence algorithms and leave the rest to 10Clouds. They’ve helped us with UX/UI design, code development, continuous integration and deployment, launching, and maintenance. We’ve also determined the best developers and stack, wrote user stories, ran sprints, and measured productivity.

What was the team composition?

For each project, we had one UX designer, one UI designer, one frontend developer, 1–2 backend developers, two or more full-stack developers, one DevOps, and one QA.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We successfully launched the speech project on time. Since then, it has become one of the best solutions on the market, with more than 30,000 users to date. Developers just love our product.

How effective was the project management?

We have weekly meetings to measure project progress, do demos, and plan future sprints. They speak excellent English, so we’ve never had problems with communication. We use Slack and Jira to discuss goals and issues.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

10Clouds can always find the best developer for a project. I'm often impressed by the quality of work they deliver. I appreciate their knowledge, discipline, code of conduct, and creativity. So far, 10Clouds has been the best engineering development company I have used. I've learned so much from them.

What tips or recommendations do you have?

I would recommend them to everyone.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder of Nordskar Kommunikasjon AS, a marketing consultancy firm in Norway, run solely by me.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 10Clouds?

I use freelancers for implementations and work that I do for my clients.
My idea was to develop a mobile application which makes it easier for the user to pitch in for a friend who is having a difficult time. It would create a circle around that person of their common friends that will follow up on them in that hard period.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

10Clouds took care of everything that connected with the design, wireframing, cost, evaluations, and then the development of the application.

They started off with workshops to analyze the idea I had. They then went through the design process. Once that was finished, we went into wireframing and more workshops to dive deeper into how things work. The application was developed as an MVP [minimum viable product] for iOS to begin with. That was to test it in Norwegian and English, and see how it works. If successful, we’ll continue on with Android development as well.

What is the team composition?

We had a key account manager who took care of everything. Whenever there was a larger supervisory issue, I would call him. We also had a day to day project manager and people from different departments, such as two designers and four or five people from the development side.

How did you come to work with 10Clouds?

I needed to find a partner who understood my business idea and my product. I also wanted a company that I could discuss things with and would follow through with the development data. I searched for several places in Poland and other European countries, as well as back home in Norway.

I surveyed four companies that I found on Clutch and 10Clouds won the contest with a clear margin. One of the reasons was our chemistry and the good atmosphere in their company. Some of the other companies were distributors with no physical building, and wouldn’t be able to do the work that 10Clouds could provide with 70 or 80 people on their team. The size of their team felt safe for me, as they weren’t just a small setup with three or four people.

How much have you invested in them?

I spent around $75,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2017 and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The MVP is basically finished. We are now only dealing with release materials for the App Store and some discussions on what text to use.

We had a test period in the local market in Oslo, using some friends and family as well as some professionals. During that time, there were a couple features that we had to change dramatically in the middle of the development period, and they did that.

I have a lot of experience in design and advertising, and in my opinion, the team is top quality in its field. I couldn’t be happier with their way of communicating as well as their designs, and how they handled my comments when I disagreed with them. It was a very comfortable and professional process.

How did 10Clouds perform from a project management standpoint?

There were no bumps that needed to be fixed or problems along the way. We followed the schedule they set up and the project manager ran things just fine. There were no issues with tracking time and making sure that everything was completed.

They invited me to Jira, but most of the time we communicated through Slack and email, in addition to Hangouts on Google, where we had messages going back and forth.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most impressive thing about them is that they are always very precise. They are very exact about things. When the meeting starts at 10 o’clock in the morning, it always starts on time. They’re very accurate in the way they treated the process and the way that they treated me. We made several agreements that we followed and everything always happened in the correct manner.

I have never worked with any company that has been so precise and accurate in the way they follow up. There are no delays and they have been absolutely magnificent. I was very impressed, and it was surprising — I was not prepared for that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t know enough about their skills when it comes to business evaluation, business management, or the process of going deep into my business idea to see how it works and how to monetize it. However, I can’t say anything negative about that either because that little piece of the puzzle was so small in my particular project.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

As a client, respond quickly and give the developers clear and precise briefs. Also communicate clearly. One of the reasons I am so happy with them is because I do my best to be a clear and understandable client. Using that as a tool to keep them motivated to do their best is a good strategy.

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?

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 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?

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 provided. We also like the UX.

How did 10Clouds 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?

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 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 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?

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 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.

How did you come to work with 10Clouds?

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 made it work. We are really happy with them.

How did 10Clouds 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 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 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.