CSHARK

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a co-founder and the CTO of Meta Bytes, a Swedish tech company. We become companies’ strategic partner for planning, development, and delivery. 

We’ve been around for about four-and-a-half years. We have many international clients, and we’re getting more traction in Sweden with smaller production companies. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CSHARK?

We’ve been using them to augment our development and architecture teams. In some cases, we’ve had to scale our team significantly and on short notice, so it was more convenient to partner with CSHARK and find the needed resources in a quick manner.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

My company and our clients act as the product owners, and we work in an agile sprint-based manner with CSHARK’s development team.

We develop a lot of cloud-based microservices, so aside from the tech stack itself, there’s a lot of architecture work involved. Most microservices are on AWS, but it depends on the client’s needs. We develop various solutions in Golang, including relational and document databases.

We do CI/CD/CD (continuous integration, continuous delivery, and continuous deployment) work in a DevOps fashion. We give the developers as much access as they need to deliver on the stories they’re working on. We use various technologies related to the DevOps lifecycle.

What is the team composition?

We have different account managers from CSHARK who help us find the correct resources. They’re brilliant at finding the right teammates for what we need, both in terms of tech stack and experience, but also in terms of fitting in with our team.

We work with their account managers to nail out the requirements for the team member we need, and they go do their thing. They’re usually quick in coming back with relevant candidates. We then have a short interview and onboard the new person.

How did you come to work with CSHARK?

We Googled around and found them. CSHARK had a very professional website. We sent them an email and had a call after that. We realized that they were very professional, so we onboarded a developer from them.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost so far is in the region of $500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with CSHARK in October 2019, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve worked and are working with other partners, and CSHARK has been one of our most positive experiences. They’re very good at coming up with relevant people with the correct skills. Working with CSHARK has allowed us to scale up and deliver quicker in response to client demand.

All of our teammates are very pleased with working with CSHARK. They’re very professional and skilled. They offer a good mix of competency and professionalism with regard to how they deliver. They also balance doing everything in a gold-standard way and actually delivering. Many developers and architects can become set on doing things perfectly, but that’s not applicable in all scenarios. There has to be a middle ground in how we deliver while still delivering quality, and we’ve seen that with CSHARK.

How did CSHARK perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very good with project management. Their developers manage expectations very well. The resources we have are very experienced. They come up with timelines and stick to them. Depending on the requirements, it can be hard to come up with timelines, but we’ve had a very good experience with this overall.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality of the team members is very high, and they find them in a rapid manner. CSHARK has found 3–5 very relevant candidates within just a couple of weeks. They’re usually very experienced and have worked on similar projects, so onboarding them is much easier than in other scenarios.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I haven’t found anything negative that I’d like them to be better at. CSHARK has become better-prepared to meet our demands. The challenge is that they have to bring in people who are ready to work with us. This didn’t need much improvement before, and it’s nice to see that they’re improving in all of the areas we’re giving them feedback in.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Having clear requirements can speed up the process. One of the errors I initially made was asking CSHARK if they had available resources, without providing specifics on the project and how long it would be. Had I better specified, I think the process would’ve been quicker. This goes for all projects.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Chief Technology Officer at Mindset Innovation, Inc. We develop a hardware/software platform that leverages brain date from a wearable to deliver productivity and mental health benefits.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired CShark to support in the development of our Desktop application and cloud infrastructure. Our goal was to complete the development of our first official version of the application on Windows and MacOS.

SOLUTION

How did you select CSHARK and what were the deciding factors?

We were introduced by CShark through other clients.

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

After our initial meetings, we opened up two separate projects with them: - Bluetooth API with our wearable - CI/CD - Cloud infrastructure Afterwards, we integrated their team with ours to help support the infrastructure development and feature development.

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

A project manager was our point of contact for project related affairs. We also had two backend/dev-ops/cloud developers with whom we do weekly meetings. An additional two backend/cloud developers are involved as well, but do not directly interface with our company. Total of 5 people from CShark are involved at this time with our project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The team has achieved work of great quality, with some robust Bluetooth functions, fully functional CI/CD and cloud infrastructure. The new bluetooth API has allowed us to greatly improve the user experience by ensuring our device data streaming works seamlessly on all platforms.

The implementation of CI/CD has saved our internal team countless hours of manually packaging the application, resulting in increased productivity on our side. The quality of the work is evidenced by the fact that we now continue working with them and scaling their efforts as needed.

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

Initially, we interfaced with their project manager more closely as we setup the project scope. Their manager will typically join the weekly meeting, but will not participate in the technical conversations.

We interface directly with their developers within our company's Microsoft Teams channels, and use Monday.com and Gitlab to collaborate on development. We normally set weekly goals together, and follow-up as necessary in the week to try and remove and obstacles for them.

Generally, unless for planning or brainstorm, we only ever meet once a week. They are very easy to manage and do not require a lot of effort on our side. They are all well disciplined and hard working.

While the level of communications is not as high as with an internal development team, it is appropriate for the type of relationship we are having at the moment. The team at CShark is very competent and typically do not require much input from our side to complete their project.

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

The company is able to meet the requirements without much input from our side, and require very little management. They are able to scale the # of hours very easily by adding more developers on their side, as necessary. We do not need to manage most of the resources on their side.

Their team is also providing solutions and suggestions outside of the scope of their work to help us improve the product beyond the requirements we provide them. This all happens organically without us asking.

Because of their multi-disciplinary expertise, they are able to pin-point possible areas of concerns we did not anticipate, and suggest corrective measures or improvements as necessary. Their level of interest and professionalism makes them the ideal candidate for long-term business relationship, and it is made obvious through their actions.

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

The biggest hurdle to offloading development efforts to contractors is about communication. At the beginning, the amount of communication was too low, and we had to learn how to properly manage their team to get the most out of them, while ensuring we meet our requirements.

This involved internal adjustments on our side and the use of different tools. In addition, it would be good to have better visibility into the hours spent. As far as I know, they do a great job at tracking their time, but it would be preferable to get more frequent updates -- as it would allow us to ensure we are spending all the resources allocated, and moving at the fastest pace possible.

Because we do not work as intimately together, it is not always clear whether the amount of work allocated is sufficient to meet our # of work hours/month target. In the cases where not enough work is dispatched, it will result in a month with much less hours billed, and therefore slower development.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

The main activity of Petromex is wholesale and retail sale of fuels and heating diesel oils. We have been operating on the fuel market for nearly 30 years. We buy fuels on domestic markets only from reliable suppliers.

The offer is supplemented by the sale of fuel tanks and used oil tanks, tank service services, purchase of used oil.

As the co-owner of the company and the person responsible for the sales and marketing department, I am looking for solutions that will allow us to stand out from the competition.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire CSHARK?

Our cooperation included designing and implementing an application for notifying customers about the approximate delivery time and creating a B2B platform supporting the sales and customer service process.

What were your goals for this project?

The primary goal of the project was to modernize and automatize crucial parts of company-client communication and speed up processes which help clients keep track of their orders.

We were able to substantially limit the amount of direct communication with our clients and enable our administrative staff to concentrate on other tasks. Moreover, we gave our delivery personnel the tools to inform clients about the status of their shipment.

SOLUTION

How did you select CSHARK?

Cshark has been recommended to us by an IT service company cooperating with us. The predictor to start cooperation with a new service provider is not only the knowledge and portfolio of a given company, but also the ability to build relationships and efficient communication.

The team with whom we had the pleasure to work showed a high level of professional and interpersonal competences. This is how trust is created, the most valuable value for us.

Describe the project in detail.

The Petromex app is a delivery tracking system for petrol station owners, which enables our clients to know, ahead of time, the precise time their order will appear at their doorstep. It serves two purposed.

On one hand it gives our clients the ability to conduct their business in a more organized way, on the other, from the administrative perspective, it helps substantially minimize the needed communication with both drivers and clients.

The delivery routes and delivery times are automatically generated while establishing orders in our ERP. The drivers receive a list of drop-off points and each client is informed about the time of delivery.

What was the team composition?

1 x Back End Developer - .NET CORE + MySQL 1 x Front End Developer with React JS, Redux, Styled components, react-hook-form, material-ui 1 x DevOps 1 x UX/UI designer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Currently, we are still testing and improving some functionalities. However, interest among customers can be noticed, which gives us the belief that further development of the customer panel will be beneficial for both parties.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication went smoothly. We managed to find a common language and understanding for the work of both parties, which in the course of creating the application certainly allowed us to avoid possible misunderstandings.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

A particularly important advantage of the project team is openness and a matter-of-fact approach to the subject.

The experience of team members allowed us to systematize individual elements of the project, set priorities, thanks to which we were able to quickly build the basis of the application and implement it in the company, and over time to introduce new solutions improving its functionality.

We also value commitment and individual approach.

Are there any areas for improvement?

When designing the application, together with the CSHARK team, we tried to think ahead, so that the implementation of new functionalities did not require extensive rebuilding, but adding new modules.

Over time, we will try to implement new solutions that will extend communication with customers, process automation and data exchange.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the co-founder of Pixel Guru, an innovative photo solution for dealerships in Canada.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We were editing photos with our "in-house" tool but there was still manual labor to be done. C-Shark helped developed a solution to work faster and with fewer employees!

SOLUTION

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

This vendor was referred to us.

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

They developed a machine learning tool to help our employees edit pictures better and faster.

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

They were 5 people working and helping us find the right solution, graphic designer, engineer, project manager, etc. They were a well-organized team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The deliverables were always on point and exactly what we were told it would be.

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

The communication was amazing, Slack, email, and telco were used to keep in touch every week.

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

They gave and proposed solutions. Usually, other companies we worked with, we needed to give them exactly what we needed and they were not proposing new solutions, technology, or alternative. They brought us where we needed to go technology-wise.

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

None.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

OmegaLambdaTec offers tailored-made data science solutions and services for customers and our partners. I am the COO & CISO and Head of the R&D department of OmegaLambdaTec.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire CSHARK?

Currently we do not have any in-house mobile app developers and engineers. Therefore, we needed to outscoure the app development and app design.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed a fast, fexible and professional app development to fulfil other commitments within a larger project. We also needed a mobile app that can the updated an improved on our end.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We already were in contact with several vendors that concentrate on mobile app development. Based on their pitch and proposal we were convinced that Cshark is the right choice for us, both in terms of fast delivery, flexible agile development process and price.

Describe the project in detail.

Once we selected the vendor, we had a series of several online meetings to get to know each other, discuss our goals and objectives and setup the timeline of the project. We were impressed by the fast and agile development process and transparent project management. In addition, new change requests could be included in a fast and flexible way, according to our needs.

What was the team composition?

We were assigned a project manager and developer to support us on a technical level. In addition, a manager was serving as a main point of contact throughout the project. I spoke to all three contacts and was involved both in the technical and project management level processes.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within a short time of approximaltely one months of the project we already saw a fast progress of our first objectives and goals. During the next months significant progress has been made to develop the full mobile app including all requirements and features. In the end, the design of the app was improved. We are very happy with the results, the usability and fast development that was fulfiled within the defined goals and delivery deadlines.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

All team members that were assigned to us were easy to communicate, helpful and prodived us with fast and transparent updates and feedback. We cummunicated over the phone, online webinars and slack. Overall, we were impressed by the quick response and commitment by the whole team.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were impressed by the knowledge and experience of the vendor on the mobile app development. We very much appreciated their quick communication, work ethic and fast delivery of objectives and overall commitment by the whole team. We were very satisfied with their delivery of the final high quality product.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Their project management and process management can be done in a more transparent way for the customer. We did not know that the developer was away on vacations and therefore we needed to wait until he was available again.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

HTP J-1 Visa Programs places exchange visitors from all over the world in internships, training programs and teaching opportunities in the US. We carefully screen exchange visitors, interview them, review documents and make sure they meet all regulatory requirements. We help them prepare for their stay in the US, and provide ongoing support while they’re here.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CSHARK?

Since there isn't an off-the-shelf software application that meets our needs, we wanted to build that system from the ground up and that’s why we hired CSHARK.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They use C# to develop the software. There are four main user groups that use the application: our team members, the exchange visitors, host organizations and agents.

The application has a number of modules that store information about the exchange visitors, one has all the information about the host organizations, one is for agents, and one is for reporting daily information about the status of all of our applications and a number of other reports. The final module is the admin module that allows us to do administrative functions behind the scenes. The application also has various user dashboards as well as a number of registration wizards for the various user groups.

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact is a project manager who oversees a team of developers.

How did you come to work with CSHARK?

I wasn't happy with the company I was previously working with, so I started searching for other nearshoring software developers. I read a lot about quality developers in Poland, so I researched developers in Poland. CSHARK was a company that consistently ranked high in various review sites. I reached out to the CEO and from there the conversation started. I considered two other companies as well during my vetting process but opted for CSHARK.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $60,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in November 2019 and the relationship is currently ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Extremely pleasant to work with, all the way from initial contact with CEO, through business development and onboarding. Excellent transition and knowledge transfer process from the previous developer. CSHARK has strong, detailed operating processes for managing the project. This includes a heavy focus on QA. Our strong project manager ensures that the project stays on track. The developers are detailed, knowledgeable and think three steps ahead. The impact of the engagement is the accelerated progress of project.

How did CSHARK perform from a project management standpoint?

They've been excellent. We have biweekly refinement meetings where we discuss items in the backlog and prioritize them. The devs want to ensure that they completely understand a backlog issue before addressing it. During biweekly delivery meetings, they demo the previous sprints before releasing them to a staging environment for testing. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality of the processes that they have in place and the internal controls to make sure the project stays on track.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing at this time.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Fenergo is a global provider of suite of technologies that transform how financial institutions manage digital client journey from initial onboarding, to regulatory compliance and data management, to ongoing lifecycle KYC reviews and refreshes.

Fenergo works for Tier 1 and 2 financial institutions across Corporate & Institutional Banking, Commercial, Business & Retail Banking, Private Banking and Asset Management. As Chief Technology Officer for Fenergo, Niall has responsibility for technical strategy, design and architecture. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire CSHARK?

CSHARK provides us with software engineering services across various technologies, helping us to deliver market-leading software solutions for financial services firms all over the world. 

What were your goals for this project?

The aim is to build, develop and maintain Fenergo’s software solutions. We cooperate with CSHARK continuously; we ran more than 50 projects in the last 5 years. Our cooperation is ongoing.

The goal of each project is to assure that software co-developed with CSHARK meets the standards of compliance law and our clients – banks and financial institutions, can smoothly run their business activities.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Deep domain knowledge and technical expertise, compared with communication skills and project management, convinced us. We have been continuously working with CSHARK for the past 5 years, and I believe it to be the best recommendation.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

CSHARK engineers work on platform design and development, product customization, product delivery and integration with Fenergo’s Project Managers and technical staff, the end-client system, and customer support.

Created solutions help financial institutions to efficiently manage the regulatory onboarding and client data management processes. Solutions ensure compliance with multiple regulatory frameworks, supports the data collection and accessibility across the institution.

Examples of Fenergo systems that we work on include: Anti-Money Laundering, Know Your Customer, Client Risk Rating, Client Life Cycle Management, Regulatory Onboarding, Tax Compliance, Risk Assessment. 

What was the team composition?

For each project CSHARK supports us with an team of 5-10 software developers working based on Agile principles.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Due to the large number of projects it’s safe to say that CSHARK has played and will play a significant role in working with Fenergo. CSHARK supports us technologically and software-wise and is a stable, ongoing partner.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Each time we talk with CSHARK about our software challenges and needs of different clients. Many of the projects are for different banks and financial institutions, so the scope varies. CSHARK developers are flexible enough to jump from one project to the other.

Cooperation is smooth and effective, CSHARK knows how to handle different technical requirements and advanced market demands. Additionally CSHARK developers are free to work on site in the remote localisations like Singapore, Sydney or Toronto. 

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The ability to adapt and run multiple projects with growing scope of complexity and market demand. FinTech and RegTech industry is very demanding and the pressure to deliver quality software for Tier 1 and Tier 2 global banks and financial institutions is constant.

CSHARK understands our challenges and the industry, therefore can provide reliable software solutions in a highly competitive timeframe. 

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, cooperation with CSHARK is a very positive experience.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO and founder of VecCtor GmbH, which provides security-related telematics for digital transformation and IoT integration of additional networks. In recent years, our company has grown due to transit monitoring, which is very complicated and includes 120-150 alarm lines per vehicle.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CSHARK?

We had an app that used a legacy system, but it wasn’t addressing able to address several of the challenges that we were facing in transit monitoring because it was a new market. As a result, we needed to create a new version of the app that was cloud-based.

Additionally, we had always focused on configuration rather than hardcoding so that the app could easily be shared. The developer we were working with was no longer delivering, so we needed to find another company that was more experienced in designing user-friendly interfaces.   

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The market expertise came from us, but CSHARK had specific knowledge of big data management. They collaborated with our team to create a product that complied with our needs and made future maintenance easy. As a solution, they designed a trifold database concept. Through this database, we can quickly migrate to an elastic environment, which is required for predictive maintenance.

They also designed a microservices system using Docker that would enable data exchanges through the cloud. We have offices around the globe and we like to receive feedback from Associated Strategic Partners (ASP). In response, CSHARK created a communication platform for us, which allows us to distribute limited information to specific partners. To ensure that the transition to the new version of the app is smooth, they have a team of engineers working on the frontend of our database. They emphasized the importance of UX and designed a GUI within the app.

What is the team composition?

We have several teams of different sizes with CSHARK. While a team of 3-4 engineers works on cloud capabilities and our environment, there is another team of 8-12 engineers that work on the frontend.

How did you come to work with CSHARK?

We were deciding between CSHARK and another company, but I had great chemistry with the CSHARK team. They were somewhat unfamiliar with our industry, but quickly grasped our project’s concept. By the second time I met them, they were completing my sentences.

While listening to what I had to say, they would make remarks on how to optimize certain aspects of the project. I chose them because I was impressed by their work and knew that we would collaborate well together.

How much have you invested with them?

Between investors and CSHARK’s own investment, their team has a dual budget totaling over $950,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with CSHARK in October 2018, and the collaboration is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app has received a lot of positive feedback from customers and third parties. One of our partners was impressed and commented that the platform was exactly what they needed. We’ve made some ergonomic improvements that have enhanced UX and workflows. Overall, the platform’s architecture exceeded our expectations.

How did CSHARK perform from a project management standpoint?

We agreed not to use a waterfall methodology, and instead, opted for the agility associated with scrum development.

Their business analyst, product manager, and development team are excellent. They are extremely punctual and I know that they will call at exactly two o’clock in the afternoon when we have a sprint meeting. When we have questions, they respond in a few hours. Every once in a while, they say they need to investigate further and ask when we need an answer.

From the beginning of our project, they guided our decisions on which tools to use and eventually chose Jira.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are exceptionally reliable. However, they aren’t afraid to suggest new ways to approach challenges. They’re willing to adapt to our requirements, but they won’t continue to work on something that won’t be effective. I’ve been in the business for 25 years, and I’ve never worked with a company with this level of professionalism.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The platform can be improved, but CSHARK is driving those changes themselves. Due to the dynamic nature of the project and new requests, their estimations were a little off. However, they’re always striving to be better and learn from their mistakes.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Remain open-minded and accept that CSHARK might have a better idea. We had to change some of our views during our process, and eventually, we gained a lot from listening to CSHARK.