Develonica Inc.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of marketing for a high-end purveyor of lamb for restaurants, grocery stores, markets, and individual consumers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Aplana Software Services?

Our process is patented; we can individually trace all animals in our program to their original source. Before, we managed all information via handwritten documents and manual tagging. We needed help with digitizing that process.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Aplana provided tech consulting and thought leadership behind the implementation and development of this digital platform. They reconstructed our production process digitally, guiding us along the way to help make proper decisions. They’re currently implementing the platform in our production process and once it's complete, we will truly see the effectiveness of Aplana’s involvement with our organization.

At every step, our side was very involved. Aplana was always willing to hear our team out, and we would go back and forth, mocking up the wireframes and determining the best way to digitize our systems. They always guided us in the right direction, whether that was accepting our idea or providing suggestions to improve it.

What is the team composition?

Dmitriy (Project Manager) and Anatoly (Technology Director) are the most involved members of the team. We’ve also worked with Sergey (VP of US Operations) and individual developers.

How did you come to work with Aplana Software Services?

I found them on Clutch. We lacked the in-house capabilities to custom-code and build a robust system, so I was casting a very wide net and searching for appropriate technology development firms. Aplana's website made it very helpful to make a decision. They had worked in our industry before. Their familiarity with our space and ideas for the project were big selling points for me.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $45,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in June 2018 and is ongoing. There were some long pause periods imposed by us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are still implementing the program in our production and data management processes. At a high level, though, the system has been very successful in helping our team work more efficiently and effectively. It’s helping us maintain a continuous data flow and access to all data across three different office and production facilities. We are excited to fully implement Aplana's work in our production facility over the next couple of months to truly see its impact.

How did Aplana Software Services perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication has always been stellar. The Aplana team is quick to respond and seemingly always on, which we appreciate. They ask very detailed, thoughtful questions and are quick to comment any time more clarification is needed. That ensures we’re all on the same page. I think things move more quickly because of their fast communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I really appreciate Aplana’s willingness and flexibility to work with us. As a small business, things change constantly, and they are nimble enough to work with our needs. Moreover, they’ve been able to internalize the unique requirements for our patented, highly-customized system.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’s hard to think of anything because any time there’s been an issue, they’ve corrected it. They always communicate and make sure we’re on track, even addressing problems before we notice them. 

Any advice for potential customers?

Be open and receptive to ideas. Don’t go into your project feeling like you have all the answers. They truly have your business’s best interests in mind when they make suggestions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.      

I am the CTO of an AgTech startup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Aplana Software Services?

We engaged Aplana Software Services to develop the mobile apps and web portal that we’ve designed to manage the distribution system for water given to dairy cows.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had previously been working with an unsatisfactory offshore team, so I reopened the search for a quality partner. Upon finding Aplana Software Services, I transferred all of the development responsibilities to them.

They built Android and iOS applications using React Native and developed a web portal with a Google cloud backend. The product allows farmers to monitor their water distribution systems from anywhere. Instead of driving to a specific meter, our product is intended to make the process of reviewing water levels and other metrics more convenient.

What is the team composition?

Their CTO leads a team of 4–5 other employees, a group that includes frontend and backend developers and various designers.

How did you come to work with Aplana Software Services?

I contacted an old friend in the industry to ask if he had any good experiences with an offshore team. He recommended Aplana Software Services after having a successful project with them several years ago. We requested a tender and a price estimate and ultimately elected to hire them. I felt confident in our decision to choose them, and I’ve never regretted it.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about €70,000 to this point (approximately $78,700 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement began in October 2018 and remains ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The cloud backend is complete, but the apps need some final adjustments before we begin advertising their presence in the app stores. We’re thrilled with the products they’ve delivered. We’ve conducted some beta testing with about 10 customers in the field, and we’ve received a lot of positive feedback.

How did Aplana Software Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We adopted an agile methodology featuring two-week sprints during the development process. We still have a couple of stand-up Skype calls per week, and we use a Jira-type board to monitor the backlog of tasks. We operate mostly through emails and Skype, and we’ve never had much trouble communicating that way.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their attention to detail is second to none. Their focus is so refined because they put themselves in the client’s shoes and try to think like the user. In our weekly meetings, they go above and beyond what I’ve asked of them. They regularly come up with new ideas, and I appreciate that passion and willingness to contribute.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’m quite happy with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s natural for us as clients to have a clear path and an idea of how we’d like the product to be, but we found it valuable to be open to new ideas. We liked that Aplana Software Services challenged us a little bit in the development process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the Director of Innovation for Europe with a company that provides traffic information to automotive manufacturers and public-sector agencies. This includes routing and parking information, fuel prices, accident analytics, and the origin/destination statistics of drivers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Aplana Software?

Our web development facility in Israel had become too expensive, so we needed a new outsourcing partner.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

With Aplana, we’ve developed innovative and important solutions for our business.

Our largest project was the creation of our core, web-based incident platform, which is used to capture, curate, and publish our data to a variety of customers. It’s a complicated platform that ingests data from multiple sources (XML and CSV feeds, as well as Twitter), some of which produce contradictory information about the same real-life phenomena.

The chief functionality is to merge these reports into a clear, unified picture of a single event. The system automatically generates textual descriptions of these events in over 12 different languages, though we also have complete flexibility to make edits.

Because much of the data is processed manually by our operators, we needed an intuitive UI to ensure a smooth workflow and cut down on operating costs.

What is the team composition?

The size of the team fluctuates depending on the amount of work we need each year, but generally ranges between 8–15 individuals. Aplana is flexible, allowing us to shrink or expand the team as necessary.

How did you come to work with Aplana Software?

They reached out to my boss during a conference.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $4 million over the course of our ten-year partnership.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Aplana in September 2007 and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The platform they built is currently responsible for the successful ingestion of over 100 different feeds. We asses our client satisfaction on a quarterly basis, and they’re consistently pleased with the data our platform provides.

They also manage to integrate themselves into the team of any new project we assign, working collaboratively to produce the best results.

How did Aplana Software perform from a project management standpoint?

They use Agile methodology. We work in two-week sprints, and they plan extensively through testing and review before implementing the actual functionalities. All work is managed through JIRA, and we have Skype calls at least twice a week.

Problems sometimes arise, but Aplana responds immediately and works to identify how the issue occurred to avoid it in the future.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a tight-knit, capable team, and those personal relationships have a positive impact on their efficiency. Because their team is personally invested in the project, they ensure it meets a very high standard.

In addition to their technical skills, they’re also very creative in their designs and work methodologies.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the former EVP of a software development firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Aplana?

We were having trouble sourcing qualified personnel in the U.S., particularly where we’re located. We needed to quickly finish a project to scale, so we decided to offshore to Russia.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did some prototyping on architectural aspects. They had input into the architectural design of the application, and they ultimately created the database architecture, services architecture, and the application’s UX. They also handled project management.   

The app is a workflow automation and guest service management tool for hotels. We were a very early multi-tenant SaaS [software as a service] solution.

What is the team dynamic?

Our team members worked with their team members on a daily basis.

How did you come to work with Aplana?

I was introduced to Aplana through an employee who was originally based in Moscow and worked with them in the past. We ultimately decided to work with them after interviewing other companies. We chose them because they were small and nimble as a team, yet part of a much larger organization, which gave them stability. We started with a small project and then moved onto a larger one.  

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $5,000,000–$6,000,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in 2002, and the engagement ended in 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We won Microsoft awards early on for the work we did with Aplana. The architecture is still functioning today and is serving thousands of users on the databases. Everything is based on the foundational work which Aplana implemented in 2002. It has multiple clients, including web and mobile, on multiple platforms.

How did Aplana perform from a project management standpoint?

They were excellent with adhering to timelines and budget. We’ve had them working with other teams from other organizations and parts of the business, and they’re all excellent team members. They collaborate well with other groups. We had some self-supported solutions pieces in Salesforce that we worked on together as well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were very proactive in regards to the technology. They had great consistency with team members, and we had little turnover in the group. Their team functions through a combination of stability and forward-thinking.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had some missteps in cost reduction. We looked at growing some markets, and we were very progressive with them, but they weren’t able to scale those markets.