BairesDev

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO at Swordpoint Services LLC. We work out of Atlanta, Georgia.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BairesDev?

We were looking for app developers who could enhance an existing app we have in the field.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

For the bulk of the project, we were working with one of their developers who were responsible for app and API development for our iOS and Android product. To complete the project, they used Xamarin and C#. 

What is the team composition?

At some points, we had 2–3 developers working on the project, but we typically had a single developer at our disposal.

How did you come to work with BairesDev?

I received their information from a friend and colleague who used their services before.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $110,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The collaboration lasted from October 2018–August 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since our work started with them, we’ve been able to implement about eight minor version upgrades and one major upgrade to the app.

How did BairesDev perform from a project management standpoint?

They used Trello to manage the development work, and that was great for us. Their team improved our code source management system, so collaborating with multiple developers is simple. The work they’ve done has been outstanding from the beginning. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The project management team was aggressive in contacting us to make sure we were happy with the services we were receiving. That was quite refreshing. Additionally, the developer they assigned us was very bright, able to refine and improve upon the process. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re pretty expensive compared to other offshore developers I’ve seen, but the quality of work is much better. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Tackzee, a mobile app for taxis on the island of Nantucket.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BairesDev?

We hired BairesDev to build mobile applications for the drivers and consumers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They used a .NET framework, developing the iOS and Android apps using Xamarin and a SQL server.

What is the team composition?

At the height of the engagement, we had five developers, a project manager, and a couple of QA testers.

How did you come to work with BairesDev?

I used them previously at another company, so I knew what to expect when engaging with their team.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent roughly $400,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with BairesDev from October 2017–2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Overall, BairesDev did a good job. There are issues to be expected during projects like this. Some quality issues could be fixed. For example, someone recently was double charged. We expedited some of the work and may have cut corners to get it finished as fast as possible, so I wouldn’t necessarily blame them. I pushed them pretty hard. There are some things I expect any developer could find during a simple testing phase, so that was a little disappointing, but I was happy with them.

How did BairesDev perform from a project management standpoint?

Our project management tools were Jira and Flowdock. The assigned project manager was the strongest one I’ve ever worked within the last 20 years. She was phenomenal, doing her best to meet my expectations. I had no problems with the management aspect.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I previously mentioned their excellent project management style, but ultimately, BairesDev delivered what I had asked them to build. Their team is tech-savvy, meeting all of the requirements. I’m delighted with their work product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Some of the communications we had with the tech lead could’ve been better. If I report an issue, I expect that the person would go in and not go into all the work that they have to do. I understand that it takes time to investigate it, so I don’t need to be told that. I expect a tech lead to go beyond the core specifications and fill in the gaps. That would be my only critique.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the product and R&D manager for Rolls-Royce Process Automation and Monitoring Systems (PAMS). Our primary business area is the installation and maintenance of plant process computer systems at nuclear power plants.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BairesDev? 

Primarily driven by cybersecurity concerns within the nuclear industry, we have significantly changed the architecture of our system over the past 5-6 years. Implementing some of the requirements to comply with new regulations required us to isolate our systems even further. In practice, this made data availability for support staff members at nuclear sites either impossible or highly restricted. 

In early 2018, I began the process of determining whether we could build the mobile app in-house or if we needed external support. After investigating the capabilities within our organization for a couple of months, I determined we could manage the backend and web service. We needed help with the frontend because we lack those development skills internally.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We modified our architecture with the added capability of delivering real-time data we collect in the plant to support staff. Employees included within the envelope of secure users can access data on safe operations of the plant and environmental protection through a mobile app to help the operational staff produce power. Our team’s engineers built a RESTful-based API and used JSON to transfer information back and forth from the web service. 

I brought BairesDev on to help us build the frontend of a mobile app that consumes data sent from our web service. We’re developing it to support both Android and iOS. There is a relatively small amount of native code for each platform. The bulk of the app runs on a progressive web app (PWA) with a common code baseline for both platforms

We started with a discovery kickoff that lasted two weeks. When they came to our offices, we sat down together to hash out the project. I provided exact requirements. We discussed the functionality and mapped each feature back to the scoping document I had created. After we broke the project down, we entered each aspect into Jira.

Our biggest technical challenge was deploying push notifications built using Firebase under the iOS platform. Apple is very particular and restrictive about how they allow companies to send users notifications to their devices.

What is the team composition? 

The team includes a lead developer, a supporting developer, a scrum master, a UX designer, and a QA person. I also interact with a business development manager on a regular basis and speak with other marketing resources periodically as well.

How did you come to work with BairesDev?

I conducted various Google searches and asked my contacts in the industry which kinds of resources they had used to build mobile apps. For a while, I couldn’t find any companies that fit the bill for us until the CEO of BairesDev sent me a very timely email.

Another company contacted me and I found two other potential candidates around the same time. During a two-month evaluation process, I wrote out scoping document to send to the four vendors. I held various phone conversations with each one and quickly eliminated two.

Based on our discussions and their references, BairesDev was clearly the most experienced in the areas that I wanted to build the frontend to address. They were more competent than the other companies and had already built an enterprise-scale mobile app. I wanted to leverage the expertise that they brought to the table and liked their overall approach. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $125,000-$150,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2019, and the work is ongoing.  Our current plan is to continue using BairesDev for version two of our mobile app. We are already in negotiations about a follow-on project with another group in our organization that I’ll be helping to facilitate. We hope to kick that off sometime this fall.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

BairesDev has helped us make a lot of progress in a short amount of time. We’ve worked really well together as a cohesive group. Every member of their team has been extremely professional and fully met my expectations. 

The quality of everyone they’ve assigned to our project has met or exceeded my expectations. In particular, the lead developer is awesome. He’s a great person and is highly knowledgeable. Both developers are skilled and have deep knowledge in our primary areas of interest. 

The UX designer did an amazing job of getting us started with the wireframes. He was very easy to work with and receptive to all my feedback. The QA representative excelled in their role, as well. He has been my primary contact for every issue I found or technical concern I've had.

How did BairesDev perform from a project management standpoint?

BairesDev has implemented a top-down agile methodology flawlessly. Their solid understanding of the process really shows in the results. We hold daily standups and use Slack for team communication. They helped us ensure we set everything up during the discovery phase as we planned out the entire project.

The project consisted of six sprints, and BairesDev has worked extremely hard to complete all the assigned tasks in each one. The final sprint was for user acceptance testing. As simulator we run of the nuclear plant provides the data from the web service we use for the mobile app development. Eventually, we will use Jenkins and a production-like environment to deploy our product to customers.

The toolset they introduced me to has been phenomenal. We use Jira to track all the epics and user stories, then break everything down into sub-tasks. They also use an estimation tool. We’re using GitHub to store all our code. They’ve done a great job of keeping the latest and greatest code in the repositories I set up, and they’re very knowledgeable about accessing VMs. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

BairesDev is a team of hard workers. Their level of responsiveness has been outstanding. Every time I have a question, they answer me instantly. Their attention to detail has exceeded my expectations. 

They’ve listened carefully and been very receptive during our discussions.  BairesDev helps us find out the most important aspects to emphasize so we could allocate our attention appropriately.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

The language barrier had posed some minor difficulties since we speak different languages natively. We’ve had some difficulty around technical concepts at times, but communication has been great overall. Exchanging ideas in Slack seems to come across more clearly than in verbal conversations.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work for an advertising agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire BairesDev?

We needed outsourced development for various websites that may be brand-new or may need ongoing maintenance.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted the development on time and on budget.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found them through a partnering firm that matches needs.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They worked on Drupal development, PHP development, and container-based operations solution engineering.

What was the team composition?

We worked with a developer and an account manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

They’ve kept our projects on track without much direction from our end.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We have our own project manager in-house, but their account manager ensured that we received satisfactory customer service.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They offer top-tier talent that's better than anyone we've interviewed domestically.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, we’re very satisfied.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director of people operations at my company, Sidetracker. We have a project and asset management platform and software solution.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BairesDev?

BairesDev helps us find development talent, primarily in Mexico. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

BairesDev helped us fill two roles for a developer and QA tester on very short notice. The mobile developer they found for us has worked as a regular part of our team for the better part of 18 months. We didn't hire them for a specific project. Instead, they have contributed to our team's efforts on a daily basis. 

From the QA side, we had some challenges filling roles here in the US because it's such a competitive market. BairesDev was able to source people who had our desired skills and background within a matter of a week or two. The quick turnaround so far has been a strong positive.

What is the team composition?

BairesDev helped us augment our staff with two contracted specialists, one for development and the other for QA testing. 

How did you come to work with BairesDev?

The CTO started the initial conversation, so I don't know what evaluation criteria he used. From my perspective, we had success with the initial hire for mobile development work. Since we were happy with that engagement, we went to them again to try to find someone who could fit our QA role.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working together since the fall of 2017 and have an active ongoing collaboration.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The resources BairesDev sourced for us have made significant contributions both from a development and expertise standpoint. Their skill level and experience have really raised the level of knowledge on our team.

BairesDev has helped us augment our onshore development capabilities. Both of the resources they found us have been great assets to the team. We had a hard time trying to fill these roles ourselves. It would have taken us much longer to get our mobile app out the door without their help.

How did BairesDev perform from a project management standpoint?

The engineering team had direct interaction with the resources BairesDev assigned us, so I can't speak to the project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

BairesDev was a flexible company to work with. We appreciate their ability to jump in and find people quickly for us. We asked them to accommodate us when a few things happened, and they were happy to. We would definitely go back to them again if we were looking for additional help.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not at this time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work in business development at PatraCompany, a digital marketing and video firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BairesDev?

We wanted to streamline one of our client’s complex and time-consuming bidding process by building a submittal system. More specifically, whenever client bid for large-scale jobs, they had to provide all physical supporting documents for the products that they were bidding to sell. This included technical documentation, specs, safety information, and other supporting documentation. My company needed to outsource development talent to build the submittal system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

At the start of the project, a database engineer from BairesDev conducted comparative performance testing. The engineer tested a few different models and storage types. Once we chose the database type and architecture, BairesDev’s developer implemented the structure. The system quickly pulls data from the JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) database. The system then assembles the data into a PDF document, which contains only the required information and company branding.

BairesDev has also built an administrative database. They have proposed potential applications for other ways to deploy this easily accessible data in our client’s business. The vendor continues to perform testing and bug fixes.

What is the team composition?

My team has worked with a database engineer and a developer.

How did you come to work with BairesDev?

I had previously communicated with BairesDev about other projects that never panned out. For this project, we considered a few different vendors. We chose BairesDev based on their high-level technical knowledge and good reviews. Other determining factors were that they communicated in fluent English, were within the same time zone, and treated their employees with respect. We also wanted to build a long-term, as-needed partnership, and BairesDev seemed like the right offshore vendor for this.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in July 2017 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Because BairesDev has been developing a custom product, there are not many comparative metrics available. However, the quality of the product and their work has been excellent. For instance, their comparative performance testing guided us toward the optimal database type and architecture, which has reduced server overhead and increased document production rates.

The project is in the testing phase, but we have continued to engage BairesDev because we are so satisfied with their development work. Customer feedback has been outstanding.

How did BairesDev perform from a project management standpoint?

We have a few different in-house systems that we track notes in, but we have not implemented a specific project management software. BairesDev has been very flexible about how we manage the workflow between our teams. An appointed account manager checks in often. They meet deadlines and communicate effectively. Their team is professional, responsive, and qualified.

What did you find most impressive about them?

My company had a very specific dataset that we needed to work the project around, but the scope of the project was undefined. In my experience, developers and engineers generally want a clearly defined set of requirements and expectations. BairesDev has been incredibly accommodating of the project’s broad and often unclear attributes. They have provided critical counsel that has guided the whole project. This level of commitment is remarkable and hard to come by. Overall, BairesDev has been dedicated to producing the highest-quality work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not in this particular case. I have no complaints about either of the BairesDev team members we worked with.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the director of platform engineering for Celmatix, we combine data science and genomics to create solutions focused on fertility potential.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire BairesDev?

We hired BairesDev to support our internal team’s development efforts. We were building a product called Polaris, which is a SaaS platform.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a team to provide support in creating our primary product.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

My company had been working with BairesDev before I was hired.

Describe the project in detail.

BairesDev supported our team in developing our SaaS platform. Within the product, they built the ability for data collection and predictive analytics. In addition to this, their team helped us create other platforms for our various business needs. They created a site to help us collect patient’s consent as part of a research study and built an internal tool to improve our testing workflow.

What was the team composition?

Initially, they provided two engineers to augment our team of eight. Later in the project, the number reduced to one teammate to fit our needs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our platform is highly improved thanks to BairesDev’s support. They successfully built systems that enhance our company.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They were available over Slack at all times. We had regular meetings and they fully integrated themselves with our team. They had an exemplary approach to the work.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

BairesDev provided a team of hardworking, skilled engineers and they were critical for our success. The level of their insight was superior to others in the market.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Occasionally, around holidays or time-off, there were minor miscommunications between our teams. This wasn’t a significant issue since we had direct contact with the engineers, but those specific instances could have been improved.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a QA and release manager at an online education and certification company for the outdoor gaming industry. We provide hunting, fishing, and boating education as well as certification in many outdoor recreational activities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BairesDev?

We were using another offshore testing company, but we weren't getting the quality that we needed. We started looking for a new vendor to provide QA services for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us build out some of our automation test suites and our performance testing. They're currently working on web-based testing. They look at user stories and develop tests based on the expectations defined in the stories, so they handle the full end-to-end functional testing for us. We use SQL and agile methodology, but all of BairesDev’s resources are highly experienced with various types of testing.

What is the team composition?

We work with three members of their team.

How did you come to work with BairesDev?

We were specifically looking for a Latin American company because they're in the same time zone as we are. We work with agile methodology and need instant communication between our QA team and our development team, so having somebody in the same time zone works a lot better. I talked to their sales representative and liked their approach, so I decided to give them a chance.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in December 2017 and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've seen a lot better coverage on the tests and defect capture rate has increased. It's a collaborative effort from the QA team as a whole, but the majority of the team is with BairesDev.  

How did BairesDev perform from a project management standpoint?

We replaced a team of five with a team of two people from BairesDev and they manage the same workload very effectively. They're in the same time zone, so they're able to respond almost instantly. Also, they've met all of our deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're willing to go above and beyond the contracted hours to meet our needs. Besides, they're very knowledgeable and turn things around quickly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They're a smaller company and it might take them some time to find the available resource. But they've always found the resources that we requested and met our needs.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear about your requirements and what you're looking for, and they’ll do high-quality work for you. Some less expensive companies rarely provide the same quality and value in return on investment. South American market is slightly more expensive than some other offshore markets, but don't rule them out because of that.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CTO of Exscribe Incorporated, a medical records software vendor. Our company is based in the US and has been in business since about 2001. The flagship product we offer is an electronic health records application that we market to orthopedic practices nationwide. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BairesDev?

Our primary goal was staff augmentation. We wanted to be able to work on a larger number of projects at the same time. Unfortunately, we’d tried working with multiple teams beforehand that proved ineffective. As a small company, we needed a capable partner who could scale our development resources up and out when necessary. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Feeling wary initially based on our experiences with other contractors, we started our off with a proof of concept project to make sure we felt comfortable working with BairesDev. During this initial endeavor, they proved their merit. Both their company itself and the engineers they provided were the right matches for us. 

This particular collaboration focused on web development. Angular and Node.js were the primary technical skills we requested, but BairesDev can find resources for any type of development we need. 

At this point, we're expanding our partnership for the next quarter. We will source a greater number of resources through BairesDev including QA engineers who can perform web-based automated end-to-end testing. 

What is the team composition? 

BairesDev assigned three resources to our project. We work with a developer, an account manager, and a project manager who checks in every two weeks from their team. 

How did you come to work with BairesDev?

After working with several unsuccessful vendors in the past, we really wanted to find the right fit this time. BairesDev was quick to find and turn around high-quality candidates. They were very flexible about our collaboration and offered several options for the developers we contracted. 

How much have you invested with them?

Many intangible factors aren't included in the cost, including the time we spent in meetings and my personal working hours. Since we purposefully integrated BairesDev within our team, certain variables are difficult to capture. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We first came across a sales representative from BairesDev earlier this year. Based on our email correspondence, we started working together in August 2018. We have an ongoing partnership. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were fully satisfied with both BairesDev as a development firm and the individual resources they provided. They enable us to further our goals by increasing the number of projects we can tackle simultaneously. We've been impressed by the timeliness and reliability we've seen from the individuals on their team. 

BairesDev helps us accomplish more work within a shorter timeframe than we ever could before. The caliber of their work has been consistently great. Since poor quality was a problem we frequently had with previous vendors, this was an important strength. As we move forward, we’re continuing to scale up our efforts together.

How did BairesDev perform from a project management standpoint?

BairesDev is very flexible about the way we work together. We found it more effective to integrate their resources into our internal teams rather than send them specifications to build alone and show us a few weeks later. 

The developers participate in our daily standups as part of an Agile process. We used Zoom for communication and meetings with the account manager and project manager. The language discrepancy didn’t pose any challenges.

BairesDev has met all of our expectations and stuck to the deadlines. The developers were open to using whatever technology we use. Once we set them up on our Microsoft Teams account, they quickly adapted to our internal processes. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

BairesDev performed especially well with identifying the exact type of candidates we wanted instead of sending us irrelevant options. They zeroed in on the specific resources we needed and always proposed people who were a good fit. Additionally, we appreciated their flexibility and quick pace. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't have any criticisms at this time. There are always areas for improvement, but we've been very pleased with our engagement and interactions with BairesDev. In fact, we're expanding our partnership as a result. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director of operations at a software consulting firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BairesDev?

We were working on the projects that required many creative and engineering solutions, so we needed more developers to staff our teams.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They're using React, .NET Framework, Angular, Sitecore, and other technologies to help us build customer software. They always understand exactly what we're asking of them and provide valuable recommendations, especially when we leave gaps in our requirements. Also, they've helped us optimize some of our practices, such as QA.

What is the team composition?

They've assigned about 20 developers to our projects.

How did you come to work with BairesDev?

They were referred to us. It's convenient for us to work with a company in Latin America because we share the same hours and have the ability to talk to their team during the business hours.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2016 and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their developers are able to integrate quickly and efficiently into any project as if they've always been a part of our team. We can spend less time building detailed requirements and getting them on board with the project, which makes the process more effective.

How did BairesDev perform from a project management standpoint?

We don't use them for project management, but they're doing a great job from a communications standpoint. We use Slack, Jira, and email to stay in touch. They're very responsive and understand exactly what we need.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're able to provide the resources we need–whether it's a React developer or a Sitecore developer–as soon as we ask them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Their team members are able to work as an integral part of your team. If you're looking for someone to work with a very limited set of requirements, you won't be taking full advantage of their capacity. They can recommend the things that are beyond the specifics that you request and their ideas will occasionally be better than yours.