Dev2Code

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I have a small company in Denmark that provides accounting services. I’ve had the company for 15 years and have one person working for me right now. I also do a little bit of product development; I’m developing an accounting system.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Dev2Code?

It was many years ago, so it’s hard to say. I think I hired them on Elance for a minor task. I was developing an accounting application and CRM system for my accounting company, and some things were hard for me to fix. For example, Dev2Code created some PHP classes that could communicate with Google.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The collaboration goes back 10 years. Dev2Code has done a lot of things for me, mostly the development of small PHP classes for doing different tasks. I do the main development myself and only outsource the parts that I’m not skilled enough to handle.

Recently, Dev2Code has done some C# development for me on a very small project. I was working on an accounting application that only worked with C#, so I needed to communicate with it in that language. I asked Dev2Code to help me fix that problem with the C# API, and they fixed it. It was something related to multithreading, which was a bit hard for me. They solved the problem pretty well.

What is the team composition?

I usually work with Witold (Co-Founder & CEO). He uses Jacek (Web Developer) on some of the tasks.

How did you come to work with Dev2Code?

I can’t remember the specific task, but I just put it up on Elance, which is now called Upwork. I found Witold and added him on Skype, and we’ve worked together for many years since then.

How much have you invested with them?

The total so far has been $5,000–$10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with Dev2Code around 2014.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Dev2Code delivers fast, and the quality of work is pretty good. I’m a programmer myself, so I know what looks bad. When I receive something from this company, it looks very good. 

How did Dev2Code perform from a project management standpoint?

I don’t really have experience with deadlines because I haven’t sent any urgent tasks to them. However, they usually finish very fast. If I give them a small task of 1–5 hours, they generally complete it within a week. Previously, we were working together over email and Skype, but we’ve also used Trello for the current project. We have good communication, and their English is perfect.

What did you find most impressive about them?

There are companies in Denmark that communicate well and do good quality work; the only problem is that they charge a lot. Dev2Code also has a lower price compared to US companies. I think this is because they’re based in Poland. They have a very good rate, and I think that that’s what did it. If I was willing to pay 10 times as much, I could’ve had a company in Denmark do the same work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They should always use some kind of project management. We’ve started doing it recently, but any development should have some software in place to track the project.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I would try them out with a small project of 5–10 hours, something suitable for testing a new programmer, to see what the quality and communication is like. Hopefully, other clients will be as pleased as I have been.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of interactive at OMG.re. We’re a digital marketing agency that does websites as well as mobile applications for iOS and Android. Mainly, we concentrate on the residential real sector in New York City.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Dev2Code?

We had a major website that needed to be refractured. It existed already, but we wanted to add different languages and technologies. Another big aspect was streamlining some of the platform’s processes.

The platform is a listing of conglomerate websites that take real estate listings from different feeds and sources then puts them directly on the site. This way, people can view all these residential listings in one place. The site handles 16,000 listings, and we wanted to streamline that whole process.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?             

We had another agency that completed the designs for the website. Dev2Code then came in and implemented those designs into the development. The website was refractured, and now we’ve been updating and maintaining it over the years. Dev2Code uses WordPress, Laravel, and Symphony to handle the development.

What is the team composition?

For the first couple of years, we had about 5–6 people working on the project. Now that it’s just maintenance work, there are about 2–3 at any one time. Sometimes, we add new features and that number may increase.

How did you come to work with Dev2Code?

I found them on Upwork. Our team does an extensive search when we’re looking for people. We look for certain qualities such as programming language familiarity, ratings, and reviews. Then we ask some interview questions and look at some of their work. Once we’ve narrowed it down, we move forward with the engagement.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership began in September 2014.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They still maintain the website for us so clearly, we’re very satisfied. They’ve done an excellent job, and the site is very useful. We actually use the platform to feed our listings to a lot of major players in the industry such as Apartments.com, Zillow, and StreetEasy.

How did Dev2Code perform from a project management standpoint?

We typically communicate through Slack and use Jira for tickets. Despite the time zone difference, the Dev2Code team is very responsive. When we’ve had issues, they’ve adjusted their hours to deal with emergency situations. Overall, we’re happy with the way they’ve managed the project on their end.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They do a good job. The Dev2Code team is full of genuinely pleasant, easy, and nice people. That’s a big positive. I’ve found that people don’t emphasize this situation enough.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve always addressed issues and then moved along if they occurred. Dev2Code is good at addressing problems. My only criticism is that their availability on weekends is very light and websites break when they feel like it. It’s not a big problem because when there’s an emergency, their team steps up to the plate.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you’re very clear with your instructions — that’s what we learned. We realized the more detailed and clearer we were with requirements, the better results we got.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an entrepreneur in the USA who founded an automotive video solution company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Dev2Code?

I worked with Dev2Code to develop the first and second generation of my video-based platform.  

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

There were many challenges that had not been faced before. Dev2Code built this thing from scratch, including a MySQL database and a lot of JavaScript and PHP. It’s a backend system so it’s not consumer-facing. It allowed us to play videos on participating websites, collect information about video playback, and create reporting to deliver those websites’ owners.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Witold (Co-Founder & CEO). 

How did you come to work with Dev2Code?

I think we found each other on Upwork or a similar job site.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in April 2013 and ended in April 2018. We still engage and do tasks from time to time in regard to maintenance.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The Dev2Code team was responsive, helpful, not too expensive, and full of ideas, many of which were incorporated into our project. I’m willing to give a positive review, which speaks to how highly I think of their work.

How did Dev2Code perform from a project management standpoint?

They did very well overall, including meeting deadlines. We communicated via email and phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Dev2Code gets my highest recommendation. They set a high standard.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.