Binary Studio

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your organization?

I work for the information technology division of a large group in the U.K, and we’ve got more than 200 employees. As a group, we perform repairs and provide IT support to large companies like Argos, Sony Electronic, and LG Electronics.

What is your position?

I’m the director of IT.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges that you were attempting to address when you first approached Binary Studio?

We used Binary Studios for three years to supplement our internal development team. One of the projects we were working on was for Argos, which is the largest retailer in the U.K. We initially sourced two of their developers to build a system from scratch, which would control all the repair requests that they receive across their 750 facilities. That’s only one example, but they’ve been involved in custom development work across several different projects.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail?

They’ve performed systems integrations for us. One of the projects we had them do was a courier integration. A lot of the work we delegate to them revolved around custom development and testing. We provide them with the client’s specifications, and they develop the prototype. We then review it together and make necessary modifications where necessary. 

How did you select Binary Studio as your solution partner?

I’ve used freelance developers before. I’ve been using Russian freelancers for years and they were really good, but they were no longer available. As a result, I went looking around for someone else, and happened upon Binary Studios through some online research. We conducted an online conference call with them, a kind of interview, and exchanged projects specifications. They provided us with a price for a developer, and then I went to see them for a couple of weeks to get the project off the ground. We used Skype, SVN, and Redmine to administer the whole thing remotely, and it worked very well.

How long have you maintained a relationship with Binary Studio?

We’ve been collaborating with them for more than three years now. The most recent project was just completed about a week ago [October of 2014].

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the quality of their performance?

I don’t have any specific metrics to share with you, but we kept using them for three years. We’ve got 750 Argos stores running on a custom application that they’ve written from scratch. In total, there are 3,000 in the call center, so there are probably about 12,000 users on it. That particular deployment was without issue. There were zero go-live issues and the feedback we’ve received from the client has been very positive. They’ve been extremely impressed with its operability and cross-functionality, all of which were developed with Binary.

When working with Binary Studio, is there anything you’d consider unique about their approach or development methodology that distinguish them from other vendors?

They were always more than willing to stay late to get things done, and that sort of thing. They would come in early when we had an important release. They were extremely accommodating with us and very knowledgeable. They’ve got a serious talent pool there, which they’re always able to leverage if and when something emerges that our own developers can’t handle. Having that kind of expertise on hand is a huge value-add.

In retrospect, are there areas in which you think Binary Studio could improve as a service provider?

I would have liked a fixed price contract, rather than the monthly payment system. Obviously, that works much better for them, for their cash flow. But, from a client perspective, I’d have preferred a fixed price.

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your organization?

We provide software development consulting. We have a few proprietary solutions that we offer to clients, but most of our work is service oriented.

What is your position?

I’m a partner and senior engineer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges that you were attempting to address when you first approached Binary Studio?

We had a client with whom we needed to increase our development resources. They had a lot of needs and, at the time, I was the only full-time developer that could service those needs. We didn’t have the resources to hire a developer full time in our area. That’s when I decided that we should look for an offshore development team. I found Binary Studio through some online research, basically looking for different offshore providers. I was impressed with their site and the presentation of work, which seemed to differ quite a bit from some of the other offshore company sites I was checking. I decided I should reach out to them with my project, just to see what kind of proposal they’d come up with. That’s how the relationship began.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail?

It was all C# and .NET development, custom built. I didn’t use them for any of our visual designs. Our firm was overloaded with designers, but we didn’t have enough engineers. The thing that I liked about the Binary approach was not so much that it was a project-by-project basis, or any of the other traditional offshoring models. It was more that we got an employee, somebody who did just our work right alongside us. We paid their salary and that was very attractive.

How did you select Binary Studio as your partner for this endeavor?

I found Binary Studio through some online research [while] looking for different offshore providers. I was impressed with their site and the presentation of work, which seemed to differ quite a bit from some of the other offshore company sites I was checking. I decided I should reach out to them with my project, just to see what kind of proposal they’d come up with.

I’ve done offshoring before with some other companies, and technical expertise was a big deal. We wanted to make sure that we had someone that was very capable. We had very complex software, and it wasn’t something that we felt comfortable just handing off to anybody. We needed a proficient developer, and reasonably priced, but we weren’t looking for budget developers in that sense. They had three tiers of developers: junior, mid-level, and senior. We felt like the senior was the best fit, especially considering the complexity of our needs. It worked out extremely well.

How long have you maintained a relationship with Binary Studio?

Our relationship has remained ongoing for about a year and a half.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the quality of their performance?

At the end of the day, I’m the end user, because I’m the one who has to be responsible for maintaining and looking at the bugs, and also the one that’s keeping track of the code quality. I’m the gatekeeper. I would say that it started out mid-to-high level, and then it got to where the code quality expectations were extremely good. It was a dramatic improvement after I gave them some feedback. As they adapted to my coding style, the quality levels really jumped and I rarely found bugs or defects. It was terrific.

When working with Binary Studio, is there anything you’d consider unique about their strategic approach or development methodology that distinguish them from other vendors?

The senior developer that we worked with, Tatiana, she’s wonderful. I’m still in touch with her, and we’re still close friends. She’s a very intelligent developer. It was definitely more like a friendship than a temporary staff member. It wasn’t a situation in which you have a whole bunch of red tape between you and the person with whom you’re collaborating. They worked around my time schedule, and they were willing to go above and beyond on several occasions.

It was very much like having a full-time employee. We were in constant communication with them. They made the whole process extremely fluid. There was a good vibe throughout the whole deployment process. It didn’t feel like there was a lot of friction. My company ran into some unrelated financial issues, and they were absolutely willing to work with us. They really went the extra mile there. It felt very much like a partnership. It was something that I wasn’t expecting from an offshore company, that’s for sure.

In retrospect, are there areas in which you think Binary Studio could improve as a service provider?

No, not really. There really isn’t anything that they could have done better, from my perspective. We’re very satisfied with their performance.

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your organization?

We’re a bar coding company. We were formed primarily to use bar coding as a technology of mostly inventory control applications. We’ve been doing this since 1985. We develop software, but we also sell hardware.

You’re the owner and founder?

Yes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges that you were attempting to address when you first approached Binary Studio?

We had a need for a proficient Java developer. They offered to do some work for me at no charge for a short time, basically a trial run, and it worked. We were very pleased with that initial deliverable. They hadn’t tendered an invoice because they’d promised that it would be free of charge. But, I felt that, because they’d been commercially useful to me, I should pay for the work. They refused to accept payment for that piece of work, but I was so impressed that it made sense to hire them for additional work.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the business challenges that you were attempting to address when you first approached Binary Studio?

They’re primarily responsible for client end application development work. I have another vendor dedicated to the database side of things. I’ve asked them to develop for mobile, but that so far hasn’t reached commercial use. That’s the next logical step to take with them, since they’ve been great with our Web development initiatives. Having said that, we’re currently in talks with them to determine if we’ll transition the database work to them. It’s likely that this will happen, since our other vendor is phasing out.

How did you select Binary Studio as your partner?

They contacted us about six or seven years ago. In those days, we were using Delphi as a development tool, and we’d had a resignation. So, we had advertised, and they contacted us saying they could assist us. At that time, I had, quite frankly, not really heard of outsourcing for developers, and I politely declined, and said I’d be sourcing locally. Then, exactly 12 months later, they followed up to see how it worked out. By sheer coincidence, the week beforehand, a Java developer that we employed had handed in his notice, so I asked them if they could help us with Java development. That’s basically how the relationship began.

When was this project completed?

Our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback you’ve received that would demonstrate the quality of their performance?

I would rate them extremely highly in the quality of the work, but I don’t carry out any metrics on my end. I’m working with the product every day, testing it in some way or another. I have other members of my team who keep track of the progress and deliverables. I get feedback from my customers, and I pass that along to Binary Studios. I’ll put a priority on it, I’ll give it a time frame, and I expect them to go off and do that, and they generally do. We’ve never had issues with the quality of their code.

When working with Binary Studio, is there anything you’d consider unique about your approach and/or development methodology?

I find them extremely cost effective. I could get a cheaper provider, but you get what you pay for, and I need the quality they deliver. I’ve been very pleased.

The problem is that I give them too much. Because they provide such good service, you really want to overuse them, like a kid in a candy shop. You need to restrain yourself, and I find myself having to do exactly that. That might not sound like a compliment, but it is. It’s rare to find service providers as reliable as they are.

In retrospect, are there areas in which you think they could improve as a service provider?

In the past, we’ve had the odd employee of theirs that hasn’t quite worked out. I’ve discussed it with them directly, and we’ve typically come to an agreement. In the seven years that I’ve used them, that’s only happened on two occasions. It isn’t typical, just a part of the business.

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your organization?

Datalogics is a software tool kit and programming interface supplier. We’re about a 60-person software company, selling primarily to software OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] and large IT [information technology] organizations.

What is your position?

I am the chief technical officer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you first approached Binary Studio?

We originally approached Binary Studio because we were looking for a partner to assume responsibility for ongoing maintenance and support for a specific software product that had ended its long-term support phase.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of work in greater detail?

We were clients for three years and, during that time, the initial engagement that we had envisioned fell through due to legal concerns that emerged. We decided to work with Binary Studio on the maintenance of some software products that were in more active use, in a more active role, that weren’t end of life, and that were complementary to the skills that they had brought on for us.

Binary Studio performs maintenance and enhancements to software tool kits that we offer for resale. We felt they did a strong enough job that we chose to expand their involvement, expand the team size and the role, both in the number of the projects they were working on, and the importance of the tasks they were working on. They had done some design work, but the main part of it was custom development, maintenance and support, and customer issue resolution.

How did you select Binary Studio as your solution partner?

I had discussions with between six and eight other vendors, and Binary Studio was the one we ultimately chose, based on their presentation. We chose them because we really felt we were a good match in terms of compatible corporate sizes, and their willingness to work with us and with what we wanted to do. They had the expertise necessary and we felt comfortable with their past experience.

When was this project completed?

Our engagement is ended in June of this year [2014], but that had nothing to do with their performance, which continued to be very satisfactory. Our company made a decision to divest the team because of their location in eastern Ukraine, and political risks that were seen as part of that. It’s based on geopolitics.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of their work?

I don’t have any metrics readily available to me. Customers whose issues they handled were generally pleased and thankful. I think they did as effective a job at pleasing our end customers as our internal resources here. I don’t have anything qualitative I can share at this point. Anecdotally, our staff and executive team have been wildly impressed by their performance through the years. They’ve added considerable value to our business.

When working with Binary Studio, is there anything you’d consider unique about their approach and/or development methodology that distinguish them from other vendors?

They were certainly more than capable of working independently, and making intelligent decisions about how to handle obstacles and setbacks. There was less time and overhead that we had to invest in spelling out the details, which was a serious boon to us. I’m not sure we’d have had the time or desire to handhold them. We were able to treat them more like collaborators than a bunch of contracted code monkeys. I think that’s pretty unique.

In retrospect, are there areas in which you think Binary Studio could improve as a service provider?

If I were looking for things, I’d have to say user documentation, process documentation, could use some improvement. It would make certain administrative duties much easier for our internal team. That’s really the only area I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Manager Software Engineering of LexisNexis®️ Intellectual Property Solutions

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Strategic patent analysis

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Binary Studio to accomplish?

• Application Development

SOLUTION

How did you find Binary Studio?

Other

Why did you select Binary Studio over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Binary Studio were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Application development of a web client to enable strategic patent analysis. Technologies used:

• SilverLight Version
• HTML5 Version
• React/Typescript Version

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Binary Studio has accompanied us from the garage to the Enterprise. With the help of our highly competent colleagues, we have been able to acquire numerous customers and have also grown to become the leading patent analytics platform.

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

The results were always delivered in a timely manner with the customer and business requirements in mind.

What was your primary form of communication with Binary Studio?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Binary Studio is a very reliable and dependable business partner. The results were extremely satisfactory. The employees became our friends over the years.

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

It's very difficult to be better here.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Operations of a gaming company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

3D Application Developer

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Binary Studio to accomplish?

• Accelerate the development of a web application

SOLUTION

How did you find Binary Studio?

• Referral

Why did you select Binary Studio over others?

• High ratings
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Binary Studio were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Binary helped us design, develop and test a web application frontend.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Closing the gap between our ideas and deliverables was key.

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

Binary's team, especially our excellent project manager, was able to help us set realistic expectations and lead their team to accomplishing our goals.

What was your primary form of communication with Binary Studio?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting

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

I really admired their flexibility on technologies, scope and their ability to pivot quickly when needed.

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

I don't think so!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work as a sub contractor for Office Management, acting as the product owner for the digital archive solution. Office Management is a total solution provider for business, securing "the workplace of tomorrow"

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Binary Studio?

Extension of existing development team.

What were your goals for this project?

Decrease back log. Increase knowledge, scalability, flexibility and get an outside view on the platform.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Online research

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Dev team extension. Laravel/PHP expertise.

What was the team composition?

1 main developer full-time, and one platform expert part-time

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The resources from Binary studio has shown high level of knowledge and been very proactive and solution oriented.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Development and project management has been handled from Office Management directly, not by Binary Studios.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their level of expertise and proactiveness stood out. How they welcomed us at the time of onboarding of the project.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None