AnvilEight

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of oddFlex Games, Inc.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Develops mobile and web-based gaming applications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire AnvilEight to accomplish?

• Help us build our backend infrastructure from the ground up
• Take over for frontend development following initial work from other group

SOLUTION

How did you find AnvilEight?

Clutch Site

Why did you select AnvilEight over others?

Pricing first our budget, Referred to me

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

AnvilEight was originally leveraged to help build our backend infrastructure, including the components necessary to handle a live data feed from a third party source, running a variety of internal services, and managing data stores accessed by our mobile application.

Eventually, we also then added a frontend developer to help complete the user-facing portion of our product, with refinements to existing features and building completely new features.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• A completed MVP of our product

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

I was ultimatley responsible for project management, but they were able to execute our requirementsin a timely manner when they were well defined. We used a scrum process, with user stories written by myself and other team members, and through weekly meetings and communication via Slack, we would clarify the requirements, set expectations, and the AnvilEight developers were generally pretty good at executing without much need for revision.

What was your primary form of communication with AnvilEight?

Virtual Meeting, Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Good communication over Slack. They're incredibly easy to talk to, which makes for an easier, smoother development process. When building a product from scratch, good communication is one of the most important things to getting the work done correctly.

Are there any areas for improvement or something AnvilEight could have done differently?

We had no real issues while working with AnvilEight. The only times we struggled on the development side was if the work wasn't defined well enough for the developer to understand the exact requirements. Any kind of remote relationship for a complex task, where there are time zone differences that make communication difficult, can mean that work that isn't well defined can go through multiple rounds of review sometimes due to basic issues. I don't think that's an issue with AnvilEight, just a general issue with remote developer work.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CTO of a UK based tech start-up.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire AnvilEight, and what were your goals?

We hire AnvilEight to bring our prototypes to life which involved:

• implementing our in-house research into a web app, making it work at scale
• create a solid back-end
• reate a front-end following our instructions to make the web app available to our users
• iterate over time to improve on the web app and data handling.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We came across AnvilEight on Clutch and selected them after interviewing a bunch of other agencies. The deciding factors was the fact that AnvilEight worked on similar data heavy projects in the past, giving us confidence they would be able to work towards the solutions we wanted to create.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

They developed a Django (Python) web app. Whilst we conducted the data science and research part internally, we needed a team to implement our algorithm at scale.

AnvilEight delivered by:

• creating a solid back-end, able to handle a large amount of data whilst keeping the quality in line with our expectations
• created a front-end following our instructions, and improving on it with additional suggestions
• iterate on the web app over time to improve on data and front-end

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

I interacted with close to 10 team members over time, the main team members being:

• project manager
• agency owner
• lead developers 
• front-end developer
• designer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We are able to launch the original project on time, allowing us to deliver on important stakeholder. Over time, the web app became key to our startup and is now our main product which is used by very large companies (household names).

Since then and with the help of AnvilEight we have completely re-written the front-end for a better user experience. Whilst we are still an early stage startup, the feedback from our client on the web app is already excellent and we look forward to developing the web app further.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Project management is done via direct messaging and development tools (GitLab, YouTrack). The team has been extremely supportive and quick to respond.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

I like their dedication to our project and commitment to finding solutions when facing challenges. A great, supporting team. Good communication through chat and project management apps

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I think QA should be done by a separate team for best results.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the product manager and owner of NewInBridge, which is a bidding application. We’re a small team of about five people.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AnvilEight?

 We wanted to partner with a company that could work on our iOS and Android platform. The Android version was unstable. We also needed a company to support our servers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

AnvilEight used Django and Python to make our iOS and Android app more sophisticated. As the platform involved the game of bridge, they learned about the complex domain. Their team integrated many features into the product. On occasion, they also manage AWS operations.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with five people from AnvilEight. I primarily communicate with their CEO and iOS developer.

How did you come to work with AnvilEight?

It was a long time ago but AnvilEight encouraged us to develop use cases and requirements. From the beginning, their team focused on uses cases. They also had iOS and Android development knowledge.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent about €100,000 (approximately $117,600 USD) on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership began around 2016, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

AnvilEight delivers on all of the requirements. As they focus on technology, their team knows a lot and delivers high-quality work.

How did AnvilEight perform from a project management standpoint?

AnvilEight follows an Agile methodology, which I adopted. After discussing the requirements, their team votes on the effort. The sprints have fixed prices rather than fixed timelines, which is helpful. Their team’s flexible and adapts in between sprints when necessary.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed by their smart database development.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The greatest challenge involves the client’s side of the development. It’s a moving target as Apple and Google implement changes.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make clear use cases following industry standards. It’s important to put effort into the project. It’s often the customer’s side where problems arise.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the owner of Simfoni LTD, a SaaS company that improves business procurement through spending management programs and other features.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AnvilEight?

We want to scale our application and hire a more professional software development team. With more developers, we can build features faster and have more organized project management.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team primarily provided all kinds of software development, including backend work, DevOps, and iOS apps. Our applications are based on a Python Django stack, so a few AnvilEight members are specialists in that.

We hired them in a software development package deal where they provide DevOps, design support, and other services. After we do an internal evaluation, we pass the work we want to AnvilEight. I do the initial requirement documentation and provide wireframes. They come back with an initial prototype, and we go from there. Because we are a smaller team, the speed of development is not fixed. Though we work in two-week sprints, our releases are quite frequent.

What is the team composition?

AnvilEight supplies a project manager who discusses the larger tasks and a team of developers that I work with directly. We hired senior engineers, junior-to-mid developers, and senior developers.

How did you come to work with AnvilEight?

We went through a typical procurement process. Our team evaluated 3–4 companies. We had them do certain development tests and AnvilEight did the best job.

How much have you invested with them?

It’s a monthly contract depending on the usage rate. If we have a busy month, it goes up. Usually, it’s within $8,000–$16,000 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement began in May 2018 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

AnvilEight’s team has been very receptive to our rapid pace of development. Their team has done a phenomenal job getting things right the first time, which is key for a startup. When we release something, it works. They participate in open discussions on which clients we are onboarding and are flexible in understanding the business side of the company. I am very happy with the work they’ve done so far.

How did AnvilEight perform from a project management standpoint?

On a day-to-day basis, I call and talk to the developers. I work with the project manager, who discusses larger tasks and manages workflow. We use a software called YouTrack to manage all the ongoing projects.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I like that it’s a package, so you do not need to have a full-time specialist or developer. For a small company, that helps tremendously. They’re quite customer-centric and take into account what our clients want.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think one small challenge is being able to find a correct replacement. We had to change a developer, and finding the second developer has taken some time. I think that’s also related to their availability of resources and the market.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a consulting firm that works with early-stage private companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AnvilEight?

I reached out to AnvilEight to help me design and build Python-based web applications capable of financial planning and data analysis tasks.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I had a shell of an application made with some Python libraries that are commonly used for data analysis. Therefore, building the web apps with those technologies was a requirement. AnvilEight didn’t have a problem with that, but they were somewhat inexperienced with a few of the libraries. After working with each technology, they were able to quickly overcome challenges that proved difficult to solve for other developers. Specifically, they utilized the Dash to create frontend data visualizations, filtering functionalities, and performed some UI work. Additional work is being done using pandas, SQLAlchemy, and Flask.

What is the team composition?

I work directly with an account manager and several Python developers.

How did you come to work with AnvilEight?

Someone recommended them on Quora, so I checked out their website. They were working in the areas that I was most interested. We did a small test project and it went well, so I’ve done more work with them over time.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent $10,000–$15,000 thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2017 and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve created software that works. If I didn’t have functioning software tools, the work would have to be manually by me or someone at my firm. Software can always be improved, but I’m very happy with what they’ve developed so far. They’re my first choice for Python web applications.

How did AnvilEight perform from a project management standpoint?

I work with the account manager on the scoping of individual sprints and interact with the individual developers on what’s being developed. They’ve been amenable to using the tools that I use most, which is GitHub and Trello for project management, and Heroku for the deployment platform. Working with the tools I already employ is a great convenience.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most important thing is that they're Python specialists. I've worked with a lot of different Python developers over the years and have learned Python myself because I find it useful. As a result, I know how difficult it is to write clean and concise python code in open-source libraries. AnvilEight possesses a lot of skill in Python and it definitely shows.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Within software development, there's always a push and pull between how much can really get done within a particular timeframe and how much actually gets done. Everyone can improve on what’s in the scope of a specific sprint. That being said, they’re better than most developers.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the managing director or CEO of Agricision. We make affordable smart farming technology. Precision farming technology is very beneficial to farmers but it tends to be expensive. We are making a much more affordable and simple version so more farmers can have access.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AnvilEight?

I had an in house developer create the original version of the iOS app which is integrated with our GPS hardware product, onTrak. This developer did a good job considering where we were at the time and the budget. However, after we launched, it became clear that there were fundamental issues that needed to be solved.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

AnvilEight took on the legacy code. The app is native iOS in Objective C. They worked to fix some of the fundamental problems we were having. We were facing a lot of RAM memory issues and we were experiencing a lot of crashes after a prolonged use period. The SceneKit that we were using was also causing us problems.

What is the team dynamic?

We have one developer who works with me and our CTO. We communicate daily via Slack. We are project managing the app, but our developer does have the support of the rest of AnvilEight developers. If she has difficult specs that she's working on, she can always ask other people in her office for ideas which is helpful.

How did you come to work with AnvilEight?

I found them through Google searching for iOS developers. Originally, I was looking for a UK based company and AnvilEight’s site was all in English and they had a London address. As it happens their team is predominately based in the Ukraine but the CEO is regularly in London so we're able to catch up on stuff. They seemed to be efficient so I allowed them to quote and discuss the project further. It turned out well even though I was originally skeptical about using an offshore company.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around ‎£17,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

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

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Before AnvilEight came on the average session length of the app was short, indicating that the app was crashing. The Crashlytics showed that there were regular crashes. Now we are almost 100% crash-free. We haven't had a single call from our customer about problems since we released the latest version.

How did AnvilEight perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication is very good. We do the project management, so day-to-day direction of the developer is done through us. Our developer is really good. She speaks English well and communicates with us all the time on Slack. She is there every day, and I just talk to her when I need to.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are very straightforward. They do what they say they're going to do and don't make themselves out to be too big and too clever. Individuals from other companies I've worked with have been told that they're the best thing since sliced bread and really they're completely hopeless.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The creative direction is always coming from us. Generally, it's us that come up with ideas which they implement very well. It might be handy if they could come up with a couple of ideas. But I think that would be different if they were project managing, so I can't really complain.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the product manager of e-commerce at a luxury homes rental company from May 2014 until May 2017. We curate a portfolio of homes all over the world and take care of all the logistics in order to prepare the home before the guest arrives.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AnvilEight?

At the time we were going through a phase of continuous improvement for booking flow and landing pages on the website. This is really important because the site is how people will discover, inquire about, and book homes. We needed to improve the checkout flow significantly with a single page web app. Additionally, when people come to stay on one of our homes they're given an iPhone which contains an app that will tell them about activities around the home or city where they are staying. We wanted to modernize this technology.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

For the geolocations app, the team migrated the data set and then put it behind a new set of software functions that would allow people to query to see what's around them for specific categories, such as restaurants or children's activities and so on. Andrey [Founder, AnvilEight] used Amazon landers which functions so the code is not run if it's it's not needed. This means that you can save a lot of money in infrastructure but also make the code very easy to maintain and very modular. This was very useful and is something that the company benefited greatly because the previous engine was very very archaic.

On the website side, we revamped a Django application and the data was managed in Python. The front end was created using HTML, Javascript , and CSS. We migrated this over to a set of single page apps that would fit as static files in the S3 Amazon bucket server which could be pre rendered and deployed. We were working with a hybrid solution of old code and new code with the page apps. The team was working at the very forefront of the latest website technology and AWS infrastructure.

What is the team dynamic?

We had an intermediary company provide us with two full-time, front-end developers and Andrey was one of them. The whole team was composed of about six developers with one in the lead. All developers, except for two were located in London, and one of those two was Andrey.

How did you come to work with AnvilEight?

We contracted out some of our work, but we were not particularly happy with some of the people the contractor brought in. The contractor suggested Andrey as a replacement and it turns out that they had already been subcontracting with AnvilEight. We decided it was better to speak directly with AnvilEight.

How much have you invested with them?

Andrey’s estimate of $20,000 seems about right.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together probably for the third and fourth quarter of 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Recently, a larger company acquired us along with several other luxury rental companies. There was long discussions about how to unify and merge all of these services. It was recently announced that all services would be hosted under the umbrella of our company's website. This is is quite telling about the quality of our tech. If it hadn't been for the improvements and the modernization that the team worked on, maybe the outcome would have been different.

How did AnvilEight perform from a project management standpoint?

I can only speak to Andrey, but I am quite confident that AnvilEight as a whole would be able to do a good job because Andrey was very good at reporting and very disciplined. Communication was very good. We used Zoom, HeadChat and slack. Andrey was always on time and expressed himself well. He was also very frank and specific which meant that if he had a question, concern, or comment it was and direct and effective. I have worked with several other people from Ukraine before, but he is the best in terms of English and this way of thinking about communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I can speak for Andrey. I knew things would be taken care of quickly and with a high level of confidence. He would give you a detailed plan of his work, rather than just a high level plan or one liner. He was very good at communication and was always happy to jump on a phone call rather than hide behind the Slack.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of any other moment and I normally quite picky. I recently moved jobs and if wasn't for the fact that we already have a full team here I would be bringing him on to pick up some other work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of the Unoapp which provides end to end digital marketing solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AnvilEight?

One of our clients was trying to establish a peer to peer lending platform. They wanted to build their own origination credit and launch into other markets. They wanted an application to run internal checks and balances for their own risk adjudication and risk assessment of clients and through third parties.

How did you come to work with AnvilEight?

A colleague recommended them me to them as Python developers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

AnvilEight worked on the backend, mostly on the loan calculation and risk in cash flow. So it was all the Python side of things. There was a large degree of complicated calculations and some of them involved using existing Python libraries. They made sure that the calculations ran and then did checks and balances to make sure that the results were coming back correctly. We had a financial data scientist on our who specializes in loans, so he was figuring out the actual math. From that point, we would transfer to the project manager who would work with AnvilEight to integrate it in the application.

What is the team dynamic?

There were two people on the team. Originally it started with one person. The project managers would manage everything and would connect, daily, on progress.

How much have you invested with them?

While it was one person it cost about $5,000 – $6,000 a month. And while there were two people it cost about $10000 a month.

What is the status of this engagement?

Anvil Eight started in the Python development in the summer of 2016 and in October they added another person to the project. It lasted for about eight to ten months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Ultimately our client decided against launching their own platform. They decided to focus on the existing market for reasons that were more related to US dollar fluctuations rather than anything to do with the actual product itself. In the end, our client felt that the cost-benefit of having AnvilEight in the Ukraine and not locally was not sufficient enough to justify outsourcing the role.

How did AnvilEight perform from a project management standpoint?

The project managers would manage everything across a trello board and then they would connect daily on progress as far as cards. We didn't have a sprint process because they were communication every day. Instead, we used agile daily sprints so it was a very close working relationship.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I think Andrey is great to work with and very on top of things and good about following up with me. When there were frustrations reported by the project managers in terms of progress AnvilEight was very quick to react. They are very solution oriented and figured out how to make things work for everyone as opposed to pointing fingers and deflecting.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The big reason people outsources is for cost efficiency. In the end, the savings weren't there for the client to justify outsourcing anymore.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Rule5 Media is an online marketing agency I started with a focus on the casino space. We also delve into binary options and taxes in the United Kingdom.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

How did you come to work with AnvilEight?

I found them through an online search of Python developers and saw that they rank quite highly. I had a colleague who was familiar with python speak to them and he vouched that they were really switched on. I also had a number of skype conversations with Andrey and he was absolutely adamant that AnvilEight could deliver on everything that I was looking for, which impressed me immediately.

What challenge were you trying to address with AnvilEight?

I started off with a Python developer prior to AnvilEight who built the initial framework of my endeavor in this new business. After a while, he began pushing back saying he was unable to meet some of my requirements. But I'd was far enough down the road with the Python development that I then needed to find other Python developers to finish the project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

AnvilEight did a number of development projects for me. They took over a large website that I had built and ensured its full functionality. They also ensured that all my websites could communicate to an off-the-shelf tracking software through an API integration and incorporated a mobile text messaging tool through another API.  AnvilEight also built a full CMS and an entire database of every lead I have acquired through all of my websites.

What is the team dynamic?

Andrey is the main director. He is involved in the high-level understanding of the deliverables. There initially were four developers involved in the rollout of what was required. I had all of them available and responding in the first six to eight weeks. After that, I had a developer whose time was dedicated solely to the project. He was available so he could rectify any issues or take on any new development needs.

How much have you invested with them?

They were on a retainer of about £2,500 ($3218). It has been about £30,000 ($38,618) in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have been working together since June of 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

All of my sites have been live and working since the day that I started driving traffic to them. In the event that there has been any downtime whatsoever, AnvilEight sorted it out immediately, within minutes.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed with the can-do attitude of the developers. AnvilEight has always said yes to anything that I've requested. I've never had an issue where they've pushed back and said, "No, we can't do that." It's just a matter of time and understanding. This has been an absolute feather in Andre's cap and in the developers’ ca.  Andrey's English is impeccable. The developers that he works with also have very, very good English. There was never an issue in understanding the requirements. Overall I just think their work is excellent. They pride themselves in ensuring that their deliverables have clean code. They take a time to test things end to end. I would recommend them 100%

Are there any areas they could improve?

There weren’t any situations where I felt that there was room for improvement needed.