DB1 Global Software

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and CTO of Avenue Securities, a multinational fintech company based in the US and Brazil.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DB1 Global Software?

We’re focused on offering international investments for Brazillian people, and we hired DB1to to help develop our trading platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

DB1 provides us with development services. We have a hybrid team; half of it is internal, and for the other half, we use DB1's services. They're currently running a product for managing trading accounts. The team is also handling the integration and routing between our departments in the front- and backend. 

They're also working on our Brazilian brokerage dealer operation, which involves integrating with Brazil's financial system. In the past, we've worked with services providers, and now we're internalizing that operation. DB1 has been working with us to build an integration between the Central Bank of Brazil and us. They've built gateways and transfer systems for this project. 

The products they help us with are a web app and a mobile app. They use Golang for the backend, React for the frontend, and Flutter for the mobile app. We've expanded our business with them during the time we've worked together. In some projects, we provide them with wireframes, and in others, we go side by side developing and gathering the requirements. They've also helped with web design. 

What is the team composition?

We've worked with many teammates; we started with one team and now work with four teams from DB1. The teams include project managers, tech leaders, backend developers, frontend developers, and web designers. 

How did you come to work with DB1 Global Software?

Our HR director had worked with them on a past engagement. When we were searching for a vendor for this project, she brought DB1 to the table. 

How much have you invested with them?

Currently, we're spending $250,000 a month with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We're seeing the number of active users on our platform grow thanks to the integrations DB1 has developed. They've been able to handle complex projects on tight deadlines. The team provides support and delivers exactly what we expect from them. 

How did DB1 Global Software perform from a project management standpoint?

They have solid project management. They're transparent about the risks and their planning. When an issue needs addressing, the team is very forthcoming and proactive. We have weekly calls where they go over the projects' status and completed and pending tasks. Additionally, they've mostly provided accurate cost estimations. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I'm impressed with DB1's ability to retain their talent and provide us with very stable teams. They're very reliable when it comes to team allocation and project-steering. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There have been some teammates that haven't fit our expectations, and we've had to do some cultural training. However, this has been a minor issue. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You should work with a complete team from DB1; that's how you'll get the most out of their skills and your investment. This way, they can manage the backlog and tasks. I would recommend going with a classic workshop experience with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CIO of Kyani, a direct sales company. We do business in 55 countries around the world. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DB1 Global Software LLC?

We were looking for a partner to help us build our tools for our sales team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

DB1 is developing analytics, training, and tracking capabilities on our platform. They’re also adding functionality that allows our sales team to log and track the progress of their business. The platform is built on Vue.js and Angular, and it has a layer of microservices in Go. Aside from development, they’re also doing design work. 

What is the team composition?

I have a direct team of three developers, a QA specialist, a business analyst, a part-time project manager, and a part-time designer. 

How did you come to work with DB1 Global Software LLC?

We found them through Accelerance, a vendor referral platform. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $500,000–$1 million. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2020, and it’s ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We measure the project’s success in terms of speed and rework rate to ensure we’re headed in the right direction. They’ve met our expectations so far. 

How did DB1 Global Software LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

DB1 is doing well in project management. They are following agile methodologies, and we have biweekly meetings where we review the metrics and do business planning and backlog management.

At the beginning of each sprint, we do retrospectives and demos and move into sprint planning. After each sprint, we look at the deliverables, story points, and rates of rework and defect. 

Since we’re following agile processes, we’re constantly evolving, going through retrospectives, and identifying areas where we can improve. As a team, we can identify places where small, incremental improvements will affect the overall execution of the project. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They balance cost, expertise, and quality of work. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Utilize their resources as an extension of your team, and don’t treat them as a third party. If you do that, they’re going to be loyal to you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a project manager at my company, so I am responsible for our payments process and technical solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DB1 Global Software?

We were looking for a development partner to help us with a big software project that we needed to complete.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

There were several specific upgrades that we needed to implement in order to meet requirements for our payment systems, and we don’t have a team inside our company with the capabilities to do that. They primarily worked in PHP to develop the system architecture.

What is the team composition?

We work about six people from their team.

How did you come to work with DB1 Global Software?

I had worked with several outsourcing companies in the past and had not had very good experiences. Because of that, we started this process by visiting our potential partners and getting to know their processes and team. We really liked what we saw with them, especially the personal touch that they bring to their work, so we decided to go with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $50,000 with them in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in November 2019 and is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

There weren’t a lot of metric outcomes with which we could measure the results of the project, but we have been very pleased with the outcome so far. We were able to significantly increase our operational risk mitigation in the payment process that they developed for us. Beyond that, the quality of the code and the structure of our site architecture are really impressive.

How did DB1 Global Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We used a suite of programs to manage our work and communication with them, including JIRA, which worked very well. They collaborated within our processes for requirement documentation, as well as Microsoft programs to make sure that we were always up to date on their progress.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They conduct their business with transparency, professionalism, and integrity. That level of service makes it very easy to work with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If anything, they could stand to be a little bit less formal in how they communicate with their client. We appreciated how polite they always were, but there is some room for being a little bit more easy-going at times.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a manager at a software development company based in Brazil.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DB1?

We were seeking an outsourced development partner because our current project was outside the scope of our expertise, which is PHP and cloud computing infrastructures. We needed help in creating a web app that would facilitate payments across Brazil and Latin America.  

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They focused on integrating the systems of different international companies in creating this functional payment application. They needed to implement an API to connect the different databases. Since we’re only familiar with cloud-computing infrastructure (and not on-premise infrastructure,) DB1 provided support on this front, as well.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager and 3­–4 developers. They worked with our 50 or so in-house developers.

How did you come to work with DB1 Global Software?

I’m not qualified to answer this question, because the collaboration pre-dated my onboarding at my company. I imagine they were selected for their technical expertise and the flexibility of their contracts.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend roughly $20,000 every month, so we’ve spent close to $500,000 at this point.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in September 2017, and it’s an ongoing collaboration

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They offer a unique skill set that has been a great asset in terms of development. Their methodology of quality assurance and continuous integration has been very effective. They’ve improved the quality of our software.

How did DB1 Global Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We used our own tools and project management model, so that was mostly on us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their strong technical skills and their flexible contractual offering are both great advantages to working with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re a little too laser-focused on getting the job done, instead of widening the scope of technology they could bring to the table. Our company could benefit from the complete scope of their skills and suggestions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the team manager at a digital banking platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DB1 Global Software?

We needed someone to develop our mobile and web app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

DB1 Global Software developed our app for iOS and Android. They also developed the web version of the app using Java. We asked them to create a purchase solution for tokens that we use in our digital bank solution. They developed a similar platform to work with the tokens, which is embedded in our applications.

What is the team composition?

We worked with around seven people from their team.

How did you come to work with DB1 Global Software?

When I started working here, they were already a supplier. We still work with them because they’re very close to us and highly collaborative.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2019, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re satisfied with the results. The other IT manager who works with them also has good feedback. As we continue to grow our IT projects, we’re expanding the number of resources from DB1 Global Software.

How did DB1 Global Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We use agile methodology, working in sprints, and tracking our project using Jira. DB1 Global Software has a Scrum master. They attend all the daily meetings and inform us about the status of the project. They ask us for any recommendations or improvements we want. They feel like a part of our company.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

We have a very challenging scenario here in Brazil, with things changing quite rapidly. I appreciate that as soon as we receive any urgent demands, they understand the urgency and work fast to provide the outcome.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’re implementing a tool to check the quality of software. While there are no issues in terms of their software, they just need to follow our new standard in terms of software quality.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm COO/CFO of a Newspaper Software Company

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire DB1 Global Software LLC, and what were your goals?

We had two projects that we weren't able to complete and needed extra resources to finish.

SOLUTION

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

We found them online and interviewed them and two others. We liked the people and thought we could best work with them.

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

We provided detailed development items with timelines. DB1 assigned appropriate resources to meet our needs.

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

The team varied in size depending on each projects' needs. At times 8 resources were assigned to our projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One project was ahead of schedule, the second project is on schedule even after major changes to scope.

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

Project management was good. Good communications between us and DB1.

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

Generally we had a good team assigned to us and if we had any issues, they are addressed quickly and efficiently.

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

Only minor things not worth mentioning.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Madeira Madeira, an e-commerce platform of household articles that mixes products of their own with a marketplace operation. As a Product Manager, I'm responsible for the whole Contact Center Solutions and The payments process.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire DB1 Global Software?

The project whose foment the hire of DB1 was Adyen Integration.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal of DB1 Squads have been developing the whole integration process with Adyen acquirement.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Professionalism, integrity, defined process and quality of service.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They provide us, the whole development process. Such as requirements analysis, process analysis, tech analysis and development itself.

What was the team composition?

We have a multidisciplinary team, with Business analysts, QA analysts, Developers and Project managers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The outcomes that we have been with this project are very wide. Operational risk mitigation and payment routing processes bring us the flexibility that we need.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project management process has been very close between the two parts. With tools such as Atlassian suite, we have been the opportunities to follow the progress, blockers and the whole evolution of the project with details.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Definitely the transparency of the working process.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I believe that they must be less polite and more relax with the relationship with the customer. But it's just my way of work.