CodeIT

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of a concierge service for insurance products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CodeIT?

We needed help with developing the web- and cloud-based platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Around 95% of our development was done by CodeIT. They use AngularJS to built the frontend and Node.js to build some of the backend. They also have provided QA. We work together daily. Our internal team handles the designs that CodeIT then implements. 

What is the team composition?

We have three frontend developers, one backend developer, and a part-time QA person.

How did you come to work with CodeIT?

A company that had worked with them for many years recommended their team to us. I talked with them to get some information about their pricing and workflow. We didn’t have much time to do thorough research and look at other vendors, so we went with CodeIT based on that initial recommendation.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2018, and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

CodeIT is delivering work on a regular basis. However, we’ve seen a lot of churn when it comes to bugs, and we’ve had to rewrite their code as a result. As long as we have no issues, their work remains satisfactory.

How did CodeIT perform from a project management standpoint?

I manage their team and give them direction. Our communication is through Slack; we use it to answer questions, clarify tasks, and address blockers using different channels. We use GitHub for management and Jira to document items and assign tasks. Confluence is our design tool.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I haven’t tried other providers, so I can’t compare them. However, they consistently produce work on a daily basis and operate as an extension of our team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve had to work with them on communication. CodeIT doesn’t always tell us whenever they run into issues or hit stumbling blocks. We’re behind schedule, and I’ve haven’t received reasons why from CodeIT along the way. As a result, they’ve missed some of our expectations. We’ve been working with their team over the past year or so to improve their communication.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be active in managing their day-to-day operations, and you’ll see good results.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of a software development company specializing in PHP, and we’ve been in the business for nine years.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CodeIT?

We needed to bring more developers onto our team and also create a QA department.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started out working with a couple of PHP developers who we hired to work on our team. We had a great experience in terms of their coding and English capabilities, and from there, we expanded the number of developers they provided for us to closer to six.

What is the team composition?

We have six of their team members employed full time with us, and they have a business manager that we interact with on their side as well.

How did you come to work with CodeIT?

We had a few negative experiences with other teams not meeting expectations and not delivering on code for us, so we interviewed several companies and tried to be very strict with laying out our requirements up front. Someone recommended CodeIT to me, so we reached out, and all of our interactions with them were very pleasant, so we decided to move forward with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve probably spent about $300,000–$400,000 with them in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around 2015 and are continuing the engagement.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It was definitely significantly more cost-effective to source resources through CodeIT than it would ever have been to hire in-house. Probably at least half of what we would have had to spend without them.

How did CodeIT perform from a project management standpoint?

They do a great job of independently managing their requirements. We don’t have a lot of time to be monitoring them for that kind of stuff, so it was a critical factor for us that they be able to deliver on deadlines and quality requirements, so we’ve been satisfied in that regard. They’re in charge of company cultural development and everything, but I believe that they do a good job of providing that.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are always completely aligned with our business expectations, and they follow through with everything they say they will do. It seems like that might be common sense but it can really be a rare quality with out-of-house developers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If they could find us more people faster, that would be amazing, because all of the people they provide are excellent. I don’t have any gripes with the work that they do.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Compare a few other companies when you are looking for a company to source from so that you can ensure that you are making an educated decision. I’m confident anyone will realize that CodeIT is a superior option in pretty much every regard.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a healthcare software company. I'm the CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CodeIT?

Our main challenge was our limited developer bandwidth. We wanted to increase our development capabilities to make our application more robust and enterprise-ready.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did both staff augmentation and offshore development for us. When I started working with them, I had primary developers in the U.S., but we've moved toward more of a hybrid model since then.

We've rolled out a variety of features, and we recently created a version two of one of our free applications. We have scanning and inventory management features, among others. We had a large backlog that they've helped with, and they identified some areas for infrastructure improvements. We're moving forward on a large project now to upgrade the backend and modernize the frontend of our web application.

What is the team composition?

We consistently work with about eight people. That includes an iOS developer, an Angular frontend developer, two Java developers, a project manager, a graphic designer, and one or two QA specialists.

How did you come to work with CodeIT?

One of their business development people contacted me. I knew I was reaching a choke point with my existing development resources, so I took a meeting with them. I met with their CEO and the business development executive I work with, and I like what I heard. They had competitive rates, so I decided to engage them for a pilot engagement. They did a version two of the scanning app I mentioned. After that initial project, I decided it would be worth working with them for the long-term.

How much have you invested with them?

We pay them hourly per resource. The hourly scale is anywhere between $28-$45, which is extremely competitive, especially given the quality of their work.

What is the status of this engagement?

The initial engagement started in December 2018, and we established a long-term relationship in January 2019. The collaboration is ongoing, and I consider them a part of my team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've seen performance improvements in the application, and our customers are very pleased with the speed of the feature rollout. We've seen positive impacts on the overall customer experience.

How did CodeIT perform from a project management standpoint?

We use an Agile methodology, and we communicate with them multiple times a day. We use Slack and Skype, and we have a standing weekly meeting with the project manager and a flexible weekly standup with the team. I can reach them any time I need them, and their English skills are very good.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are talented, business-oriented developers and behave as any internal team member would. Their focus on the success of our business is impressive. They try to understand the use cases we address as a company, and they make suggestions and recommendations for our internal workflows and roadmaps.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Attrition or team changes are normal for this kind of project. Other than that, I've seen only a positive performance from their team as a whole.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a chief architect or an application owner on your side. Don't deliver specifications to them and hope that they can deliver exactly what you want. You will always understand your business pains better than anybody else, so it's important to collaborate and stay engaged.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the assistant to someone wanting to develop an app to help people take care of elderly loved ones.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CodeIT?

We wanted an app that could comprehensively track the healthcare-related data of an elderly person, such as symptoms, medication, doses, appointments, etc.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided CodeIT with the creative direction, and they spearheaded the rest of the project. They created their own schedule and developed both the backend and frontend from scratch. It’s not necessarily meant for the senior but more for the caretakers (like their adult children). The backend maintains data and has a protocol for what to do if a user forgets their password.

The app has numerous features, including an alerting system, tutorials, and exportable recordkeeping modules. Information can be organized by data or medication type, and it can be shared with doctors or other family members. The app creates a hub that the family and physicians can reference whenever needed. The app is currently only for iOS but, after user feedback, we plan to develop it for Android, as well.

What is the team composition? 

We interact with the UX/UI designer, frontend developer, and backend developer virtually, and we meet with a company representative in person.

How did you come to work with CodeIT?

We’d worked with them before. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started this project in May 2018, and it’s ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve received positive feedback so far, and we’ll do our first release soon.

How did CodeIT perform from a project management standpoint?

Every week, they provide an updated goal spreadsheet on what we plan to accomplish. During our weekly video conferences, the company representative takes detailed notes about what we want and after the meeting sends a breakdown of when each task will get finished. We never have to follow up or request information; they’re always on top of their work.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Each team member is incredibly skilled in their respective fields. The designer is great at understanding what we want and translating that into the flow and design of the app. It’s often difficult to find a partner who listens to and applies your ideas.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Communication can sometimes be difficult, but that’s only because they’re overseas.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Schedule video conferences with them as often as you need. They’re incredibly flexible and generous with their time, so keep in touch to optimize the partnership.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief marketing officer of a clothing startup that makes long johns with zippers on the side. It’s grown into a full-fledged underwear company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CodeIT?

We needed to develop a website and email system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed our WordPress website, set up our email addresses, and configured the backend editing of our email servers. The platform continues to evolve.

What is the team composition?

I’ve only contacted them through customer service.

How did you come to work with CodeIT?

I’m assuming it was by word of mouth.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $8,000 last year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2014 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’ve only heard good things about them. The general feedback from customers has been good. I reach out to them through customer service when something is wrong with the email server, and they’ve been super helpful.

How did CodeIT perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great. Everything I’ve heard and seen has been superb. We communicate through email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their 24/7 customer support works great. They’re very responsive, accessible, and friendly. They try their best to address the issues we send to them.

We do most things in-house, but we can’t do some things because of lack of coding skill. They always have the right skills to get things done. We trust them to not use more time than they need since we pay them on an hourly basis.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They only have one WordPress developer, which makes their responsiveness suffer a bit.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Because we have one contact person, it was the best experience we’ve had. He’s super nice and helpful. Getting to know that one liaison well is the best advice I have.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-founder and CTO of an e-commerce business focused on clothing, shoes, and beauty products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire CodeIT?

CodeIT redeveloped our e-commerce website to improve its performance.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to create a reliable and fast e-commerce site. It needed to cope with a heavy load of traffic without downtime.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

After interviewing a number of different vendors, we were impressed with CodeIT's technical knowledge, English skills, and enthusiasm for our project.

Describe the project in detail.

A website was developed using PHP, Zend Framework 2.0, and MySQL. We also used Memcached and later added Apache Solr to power our search engine. After the initial development, CodeIT added new features as we requested them. They also created a mobile-friendly version of the website.

What was the team composition?

We worked with one main developer and someone for quality assurance. Later, we worked with other developers when additional features were needed. There was also a system admin who helped with the maintenance of our servers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website was built within three months at a very reasonable cost. So far, the website has been bug-free. It has performed reliably and can cope with a heavy load of traffic without effects on its performance.

How effective was the project management?

The project managers were highly competent and efficient, with excellent communication skills.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were impressed with their efficiency and technical knowledge.

What tips or recommendations do you have?

There is nothing I can think of that needs to be improved.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director of Ludos Interactive Ltd. We market games on the Internet. Some you can play for free or some for cash. We build and market websites.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CodeIT?

We hired them to build a slot machine game for desktop and mobile browsers. We were happy with the results of that project so their work became ongoing work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

There have been a variety of projects. Some projects are backend and database work, and some are frontend website work. Some of the more complex ones are functions such as SMS messaging from a database and back office, including the segmentation and sending the actual messages. There's also a variety of work around analytics, collecting and displaying data and building business intelligence tools, and organizing our customer database functions and statistics on the gameplay that we have on the website.

We have built a variety of free-to-play games. Through the backend functions, we can see the gameplay, see the people’s scores and various leaderboards, and also view automated email campaigns based on the results of monthly games or daily gameplay. All the work on the frontend has been web-based.

We already had a framework, and they made recommendations for upgrading it. When our systems were built five years ago, we used a coding writer, which is like a PHP framework, and we still continue using it because we haven't had the resources to do a full upgrade of the system. They build the best they can on top of dated framework. Most of the work has been PHP, MySQL for the database, HTML5 and JavaScript for the frontend, some HTML5 canvas, and CSS3.

What is the team composition?

We've worked with 4–5 people. There's a lead developer who helped with the backend and frontend. There's also a systems administrator updating the server side, including email messages and website data backups. There have been a few other developers who've done specific projects.

How did you come to work with CodeIT?

We first found them through Elance (now Upwork). I read reviews, looked at costs and initial quotes, and had conversations with a number of suppliers for development services. Based on previous reviews, they have professionalism. I picked them and started working with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent around $200,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them since May 2013. At the moment, we don't have a developer working full-time, so their work is more on an ad hoc basis. We still have a system admin responsible for the emails and services.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They played a big part in developing the technology that we have. As a result of their work on our platform, we have had interest from other companies in acquiring our business.

How did CodeIT perform from a project management standpoint?

When we initially started working with them, we had a project manager on their side. In the end, we decided to not have a project manager and instead, we coordinated from our side and I worked with the developers directly. They're based in Ukraine, but their English is really good, and they're quite communicative for developers. They're really easy to deal with.

We contact them daily through Skype chats and calls. There's also a ticketing tool called Redmine that we use for project management. We occasionally use email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They've always been very easy to deal with and very personable all the way to the C-Suite. They've always been helpful and accommodating. Their quality of work is very high. Their professionalism is very high. For those reasons, I've recommended them to other businesses. Other companies ask where we get these services from, and I've always forwarded their contact information. They're highly recommended.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They are based in Ukraine. There's a high level of professionalism, but improving the communication skills across the business would be useful. It's already at a good level, but they could do better.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

When booking freelancers or contractors for development work, it's important to agree specifically what they're meant to deliver and determine whether it will be an hourly rate or project basis. These details need to be very carefully and specifically defined so that there are no disappointments with either the quality of work or the time it takes to complete a project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of Rankly, a social media website based on lists. Rankly, formerly known as Listnerd, allows people to create and rank interactive lists. These lists can then be shared on social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Rankly attracts more than 300,000 unique visitors per month and continues to grow rapidly.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire CodeIT?

In 2012, we hired CodeIT to develop Rankly from scratch. The site is based on the Zend/Zend 2 platform, with extensive use of advanced JS [JavaScript] in the frontend. The project's main part was done between 2012–2014.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to develop a fully-fledged social media website capable of scaling to millions of users. The site needed to look beautiful while being quick, secure, and optimized for viral growth.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We searched several places before ending up with CodeIT. We looked through online portfolios and listed projects on various freelancer websites. In the end, we met CodeIT on Elance.com, which is now Upwork. We put them through an extensive round of interviews, with follow-up questions and a diligent screening process. In the end, they won the bid ahead of approximately 40 other companies.

Describe the project in detail.

We had the initial concept for most of the site, including detailed sketches on some of the main pages such as the list detail page. In cooperation with CodeIT, we then developed this into a working mockup. When we agreed on the final desired functionality, their crew did an amazing job of delivering the final, working website.

What was the team composition?

The team consisted of 3 people based in Norway—their CEO, the head of design, and 1 project manager. In Ukraine, we had 1 technical project manager and 2 developers. We also had access to 1 designer and 1 lead QA [quality assurance] staff.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within 3 months of release, the website was attracting upwards of 100,000 unique visitors per month. Since there, the traffic has just grown. Users are happy and respond well to the site.

Overall, we are extremely pleased with how the collaboration turned out. CodeIT understood our needs and always tried their best to meet our demands.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our project manager was fantastic. Yura is actually one of the bosses of CodeIT. He is creative, Western-oriented, and intelligent. He had a good feel for small details and understood our quality needs, working diligently to meet them.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

CodeIT is not the biggest IT company in Ukraine, but it is one of the best. It’s a great company founded on the principle that they want to be the best. Together with Alexey [CEO, CodeIT], Yura leads a super team of developers, designers, project managers, QA people, and data analysts. They all did their best to help their clients achieve success. I can't recommend them enough.

Are there any areas for improvement?

While everything can always be done faster and better, everything is also a process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder of a web-based sales software platform, which will be available through both desktop browsers and a mobile app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CodeIT?

I worked with a different company for three years, and they developed the core functionality of our application. But the interface was messy, their team was not responsive, and I had no control over the process. When I tried a second company, their work was equally unsatisfactory. Then I found CodeIT, and I engaged them to fix the original code and make our product useable. Once they finish up the last of their work on cleaning up the code and making it functional, they will provide ongoing maintenance and support.

The goal of our platform is to allow a salesperson or a marketer to tailor a personal portal to an individual prospect so that everything they see is relevant to their specific needs and interests rather than being generic marketing content. We had to build complete marketing systems— including a marketing engine and campaign automation—in order to adequately engage those people. This way, sales reps can use our product to put together multi-touch campaigns that involve e-mail, calls, follow-up tasks, and things of that nature. CodeIT made that concept a reality.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

CodeIT were willing to use and fix the code that I already had developed with the previous team, which is rare in the dev space. I had invested over a hundred thousand dollars developing the original code; the last thing I wanted to do was to start again. The fact that they were willing to work within someone else’s code was vital to the continuation of the project. They took very sloppy, messy code without a framework and turned it into something really useable. Their work was primarily in PHP, MySQL, Ajax, and related tools. CodeIT has supported every aspect of the application, from the frontend development to the payment gateway. After four years of work, they have allowed me to actually build the product I wanted.

What is the team composition?

My main contact is the project manager. She coordinates internal resources at CodeIT, which includes a full-time developer dedicated to my product as well as someone who is specifically involved in frontend work.

What is the status of this engagement?

I engaged them in April 2013, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As the project is ongoing, we do not yet have concrete metrics concerning the impact of CodeIT’s work. That being said, they have completed over 250 discrete tasks during our collaboration.

How did CodeIT perform from a project management standpoint?

CodeIT is just reliable. If they say something is going to take two weeks, that’s how long it takes. If they ever diverge from their initial schedule, there is always a good reason as to why. We are in touch every day, which is the most important part of a working relationship for me. If I reach out to them, they provide timely responses. We used Basecamp to do all of our collaborative work. Our process involves me providing the project manager with the day’s task, she allocates the work, she gets back to me with the completed task, and then we move on to the next one. I appreciate not having to deal with multiple people doing multiple things. Having everything go through the project manager makes my life much easier.

What did you find most impressive about them?

This business is all about responsiveness and predictability. In starting this project, I did not have the capital to hire a U.S.-based firm, and my prior experiences with outsourcing proved the endeavor to be very risky. However, I found that CodeIT was responsive and helpful despite the distance between where I am and the Ukraine. My previous development teams never challenged me, even though I was not the most knowledgeable on how to successfully develop products as complex as this. CodeIT was willing to tell me when something I suggested was not a best practice or wouldn’t work, and then would suggest alternatives. I feel like I have control over the process, and for me that is the most important thing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could be even more blunt in their feedback to me. Sometimes it feels like they do not want to give me bad news.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

When outsourcing any work, you have to be very clear with your expectations and your needs. Do not assume that they know what you want or that they know what you mean.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Red Apple Reading. We provide online resources and apps to help young children learn how to read American English through videos and games. We're currently available all across the United States and in 30 other countries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CodeIT?

The quality and time management of our previous dev teams were severely lacking, so we needed a new agency. We wanted them to build our website, handle backend user database and sales statistics, and manage the user interface and program with all the videos and games.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Because of our poor previous experiences, we had several pages of specs that we provided to CodeIT. They gave us their feedback, asked some questions, and then began working. They built the site in HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript. They used Apple software to build the iOS app, and they did some Android dev before discontinuing that service. Now, we need to find another company for that.

Once we’ve signed off on a project, the manager divvies the work up between the developers who upload it to a temporary server where we can do quality control and provide feedback. When everything’s finished, they copy it over to the live server through a git system, and then it's live for our customers to use.

What is the team dynamic?

We always have a project manager, but the rest of the team depends on the project size. At times, we’ve had up to four developers.

How did you come to work with CodeIT?

We originally found them on Elance. I requested a project quote and got about a dozen responses from different agencies. CodeIT had quite a good reputation, their prices were low, and they were excellent communicators, so we hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in the beginning of 2012, and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don't keep track of anything specifically related to them. We have lots of happy customers and hundreds of testimonials from schools, teachers, and parents, and they’re basically using a product created by CodeIT. The fact that everything works consistently across apps, PCs, and Macs is a testament of their high-quality coding.

How did CodeIT perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Basecamp to keep everyone updated and on the same page, and we communicate through email and Skype.

Our project manager is amazing and speaks great English. She's extremely professional, honest, trustworthy, and cares about helping us. She’s in charge of scope, quality, cost, and schedules, so she provides quotes on the bigger tasks and suggests adjustments so the price is within our budget.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're some of the nicest and most honest people I’ve met. They don’t try to sell you services you don’t need or inflate their hours to charge you more. Their work is high-quality, and you get more than what you paid for.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We would love if they started doing Android dev again. I think there’s a demand for it, and I don’t know why they stopped.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take full advantage of Basecamp and Skype. Being in different time zones can make communicating difficult, and those technologies help everyone stay on the same page. You’ll probably have to wake up early and work Sundays because of the time difference, so be prepared for that.