Dactyl Group s.r.o.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the service manager for the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia. We provide full logistics services in those countries. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Dactyl Group?

We lacked information from our customers, so we asked Dactyl Group to develop a web application to connect our customers with our existing maintenance software.  

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

At the start of the project, we worked together to determine the best technologies to develop the app. We then provided their team with screenshots of screens from our existing application and laid out our needs. 

Since the app needed to run on mobile devices, we made it clear the design had to be accessible across all devices. Dactyl Group then developed app wireframes. Their team provided design templates for us to approve before starting development. 

Now, Dactyl Group provides us with maintenance services. 

What is the team composition?

I speak mostly with web developers. 

How did you come to work with Dactyl Group?

I found them on LinkedIn; I saw that they’d done similar projects to the one we wanted to be done. They were also located in the same city as our main office. I reached out to them through email and then decided to hire them after meeting in person. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around €20,000 (approximately $20,000 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our project began in February 2022, and it’s ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The application is up and running. It communicates well with our existing management system, providing us with the information we need.  We don’t have any plans to make improvements since it works well. 

How did Dactyl Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Our communication with Dactyl Group is good — we have in-person and online meetings. We also exchange phone calls. They are easy to work with and are proactive about asking if there are any improvements their team needs to make. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team is friendly and experienced. Also, whenever we agree on a scope of work, their team executes it perfectly. Their web developers are experienced. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I think they’re very easy to work with. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Customers need to know what they want. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Chief Economist of Platebni instituce Roger, and also a product owner of the app created by Dactyl Group. We offer P2P factoring services and PSD2 payments to our clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Dactyl Group s.r.o., and what were your goals?

We wanted to develop a mobile app with a challenging and very new PSD2 services (open-banking), in order to lower costs of transferring money both for our clients and our investors on the platform.

SOLUTION

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

Based on a previous successful collaboration with a different mobile app we have.

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

The app underwent major changes as we learned how PSD2 directive works and how the incorporation of the directive into Czech banks changed. We had regular stand-ups, worked with their Jira and collaborated on Slack. The app was first developed for Android only with iOS later. The main features we wanted and received were PSD2 payments, automatic SMS reading, deep-links, push notifications, profile management and links to services where we provide the payments. Dactyl Group helped us with testing and they were available both online and in person, whenever it was needed.

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

One project manager was assigned to our project and we have discussed often directly with two developers and director of the company.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have successfully made a deal with a client who wants to use the app. Dactyl Group helped us to reach this primary goal.

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

We communicate mostly online with regular online calls with both the project manager and the developers whenever they are needed. We communicated both through phone and online tools (Jira, Slack, mail).

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

They have shown impressive flexibility and commitment to the success of the project. This included help in testing, their own ideas about how to make the app better and of course the final app for a very competitive price.

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

Only that it took us some time to navigate among all the tools mentioned above we together use to communicate.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

CIO at BVV Trade Fairs Brno, one of the most prominent trade fairs organizers in Central and Eastern European countries

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Dactyl Group s.r.o., and what were your goals?

We were looking for a developer of a native mobile application with web administration, then the system was supplemented with other parts - a web presentation with a connection to our internal information systems and data sources, other internal mobile applications for tickets control and other. It is thus a complex system with a unified administration. (more information at https://www.dactylgroup.com/en/ibvv )

SOLUTION

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

Web research, references, young flexible local team, costs of development was a factor too.

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

Initial and project meetings, problems description, status quo analyses, solution proposals, time and costs estimation, wireframes, graphics, testing environment, deployment

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

Account manager, project manager / solution manager, UX / UI designers, frontend / backend developer, mobile apps developers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The mobile and web apps are using thousand of users seamlessly, offering them a valuable preparation before visiting our trade fairs

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

On site as well as online meetings, online tools to accept or comment UI, testing environments and helpdesk for after-deployment project support

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

The client is impressed with their flexibility, UI proposals, development skills, and tech know-how. Moreover, their willingness to participate in solution-seeking amazes the client. 

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

There are always other ways to go too but the results we don't know as long as we believe we've chosen the right way

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am customer representing national radio spectrum administration body (state body). My responsibility is radio spectrum issues, innovation, research and development projects in the area of wireless communications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Dactyl Group s.r.o., and what were your goals?

The aim was to develop a portal enabling self-coordination by spectrum users in the licence-exempt bands. The tool comprises i.a. automatic coordination calculation based on traditional spectrum-engineering approaches used by administrations. In addition to that, the project led to development of remote radio-spectrum probes (sensors) capable of automatic measurement of radio spectrum usage (to facilitate national enforcement). The probes fall under Mobile application project.

SOLUTION

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

I called for several companies with the ability (and experience) to develop both website projects and mobile application projects.

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

The company developed three independent website project: first in 2017 was trial with SW and HW pioneering aiming to consider the feasibility of geolocation database approach. In 2017, after successful pilot launch, we presented the outputs i.a. within European conferences (eg. www.cept.org.)

Within next phase, in 2019, we developed new solution fo the 60 GHz band with integrated automatic coordination calculation tool. Afterwards, in 2020, we upgraded the solution to more advanced UX: https://rlan.ctu.cz/en/ Further work is needed in the area of API integration etc. The SW solution has been released under the Open Source: https://gitlab.com/cesky-telekomunikacni-urad/rlan-ctu

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

More than 8 people: CEO, manager, SW developers, UX experts, designers and other advisors.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

See above. It is one of the first projects in Europe on dynamic spectrum access solutions.

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

All member of the Team are great, experienced and friendly.

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

They are capable of doing everything across all issues.

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

NC

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the user experience manager for a company that provides an on-demand bicycle locker system across North America.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Dactyl Group s.r.o.?

We needed a partner to develop a mobile app to allow our customers to start and end rentals on their phones.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Dactyl Group s..r.o. started developing native Android and iOS mobile apps from scratch. We have hardware and firmware that needs to interact with the phone via Bluetooth and near-field communication (NFC), so they also addressed that issue. We gave them high-fidelity mockups from a third-party partner, and they worked with our internal team to create the design. The apps contain numerous features, including sign-in and registration, payment processing and an online wallet, troubleshooting FAQs, a map, and the ability to report issues or bugs.

What is the team composition?

They provide Android and iOS developers and some testers. We rotate between two and four team members, depending on the phase.

How did you come to work with Dactyl Group s.r.o.?

We have a contractor who works on our firmware, and he found Dactyl Group.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since late 2016, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re still in development and testing, so we don’t have any results yet.

How did Dactyl Group s.r.o. perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re okay with project management, but we both expect the other to provide more support management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re willing to work on challenging projects.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could’ve taken more ownership of the design process.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Provide clear definitions for mockups and code, and they’ll do good work.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are an association of winegrowers from Velké Bílovice and our common goal is to continue the more than a century-old tradition of grape processing and wine production in the largest wine-growing village of the Velkopavlovice sub-region. Project manager on the client's side. I helped to create the brief, led the tender for the supplier, supervised the development and managed the acceptance process and issuing of applications to the shops.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Dactyl Group s.r.o., and what were your goals?

We wanted to create a mobile application that would allow wine tourists to easily find open cellars in Velké Bílovice. QR codes for downloading this app are placed on guesthouses, hotels, and various public places in Velké Bílovice, so that the tourist can quickly find open cellars and events in them.

SOLUTION

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

Dactyl Group has experience with a similar type of application in the form of a tourist guide. They are also specialists in developing native mobile applications and interfacing with the web backend where the web administration is located.

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

First, we met with representatives of Dactyl Group to discuss our ideas and expectations. Based on this, Dactyl Group started to create a specification, which we commented on and together we created a brief for further work. The company's designer then created wireframes for us from which the final design was based. After his approval of the design, Dactyl Group set about implementing the applications and administration.

We then tested the application at our site and after testing, we uploaded the sharp data to the production version. This finished app was released on Google Play and the App Store. We continue to work with Dactyl Group and occasionally add some functionality at irregular intervals. The latest innovation is the display of vineyard tracks on the map.The apps are native to iOS and Android and so of the technologies used, it was mainly Swift and Kotlin. The backend was developed in PHP.

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

11 people worked with us.

• 1 salesman
• 1 analyst
• 1 designer
• 1 project manager
• 2 iOS developers
• 2 Android developers
• 2 backend developers
• 1 tester

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

More than half of the winemakers are actively using the app, which is above initial expectations. But mainly the app is fulfilling the goals that were initially set to bring more people visiting Velké Bílovice to the open cellars.

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

Our requirement was that the project should be waterfall managed. After the initial analysis, we wanted to have a fixed price for the entire project. The Dactyl Group therefore required a precise specification to be drawn up, based on which the individual units were broken down into more detailed parts. Along with this, an approximate time schedule was created using a Gantt chart, which the company was ultimately able to meet. Communication was mainly through joint meetings, slack and telephone.

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

They understood the requirements well and built the app tailored for the target audience, without any complications.

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

When developing additional features, there is sometimes a longer waiting time for feature delivery.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the co-founder of Smartsupp, a B2B SaaS company that provides business chat solutions for online shops and websites.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Dactyl Group s.r.o. ?

We needed a mobile app development team.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed a functional mobile application to showcase our service.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We heard about Dactyl Group from a reference and felt that they provided great pricing for the services they offer.

Describe the project in detail.

Dactyl Group built mobile applications for Android and iOS.

What was the team composition?

We worked with a project manager and two mobile app developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The application is now live for both platforms.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had an efficient working relationship with Dactyl Group.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their development speed was fast and produced results quickly. Dactyl Group was flexible and provided an excellent deal at a reasonable price.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, nothing during our engagement.