DevTeamSpace

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company is focused on creating educational experiences for students in the field of STEM. We strive to produce exceptional content by leveraging a network of graduate students and subject matter experts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire DevTeam.Space?

DevTeam.Space helped us with the design and development of a mobile application to augment the web experience. They supported us and our engineering team at every step of the software development lifecycle. Our project manager was able to spin up resources quickly as we progressed through each stage of development, from designers to backend and mobile developers.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to design and develop a mobile iOS app that would extend the functionality of our web app. There were critical user behaviors that we wanted to capture on mobile that weren't possible or practical to do on the web. Ultimately, the mobile app served as a bridge between offline and online user experiences.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

DevTeam.Space had a great body of work to show, as well as solid differentiator. They are able to complete high-quality software products at significantly lower costs. We considered roughly half a dozen or so companies, but the quotes were often out of budget and the competency was tenuous.

Describe the project in detail.

Because our engineering team was already fully committed to a large backlog, we did not have much bandwidth to do much of the initial stages of product development.

DevTeam was immensely helpful in crafting the project requirements, and working with ambiguity. The app they built was in iOS, and used state-of-the-art libraries and components to ensure future proofing.

What was the team composition?

We had a project manager, developer and designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The end product was a very polished app that was well designed and bug free. Our users were impressed with the product, despite it being a v1.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Typically workflows for outside teams can be difficult due to communication breaks. Luckily Devteamspace has a dedicated project manager who is available at any time zone needed. Communication was seamless between our organizations.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were impressed by the code quality, speed of delivery, and cost. They have been able to figure out to deliver top shelf code at a fraction of the process.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Overall we were very satisfied with their work. Only hiccup that we had during the process was the downloading of programs necessary to view the work, though this was quickly resolved.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a Legal Tech Startup and I manage the build and initial development of my company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire DevTeam.Space?

I hired DevTeam because we needed a high quality team that could produce high quality wireframes and develop a top-notch backend to scale for our SaaS platform.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal were to achieve a mvp that we could directly go to market. We wanted to clean up the data feed that we had from a leading legal research company.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We identified and interviewed a number of different bidders and had an outside consultant review costs for a basic budget to build out our product. We found that DevTeam’s bid competitive and liked working with them.

Describe the project in detail.

Our overall scope was developing a user centered, easy to navigate data base of court docket data that includes analytical parsing based on the meta-data of the project.

What was the team composition?

Our initial team was composed of a project manager, a UX designer and a number of data scientist and backend programmers to build out the product’s functionality.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We, of course, had hiccups, but we achieved product development targets within our two-week build. We had a strong scope of work and spent little time on products we didn’t need.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The team was amazing we using Figma for the product and used the agile process to manage the build

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was blown away by the professionalism and the ability to manage and tackle large scale complex products.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I had to learn a lot to be capable for the team. Once I got better in managing a product build we got better as a team

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a hedge fund that provides algorithmic trading using quantum data strategies and automation. We trade 24 hours a day, basing all of our decisions on numbers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DevTeam.Space?

As one can imagine, with a technical- and development-based venture, the smallest error could result in substantial financial losses. It was important for us to find the right partner to work with.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

DevTeam.Space initially developed a fully custom web portal from scratch. It’s a central nexus that acts as a dashboard by accessing data from all over the world. It also functions as a control panel. On our end, we can change the parameters of our algorithms and control the automated features. The main coding language was Python for the logic components, along with HTML and Java. The work was pretty straightforward, and our team had a low tolerance for mistakes. They managed to translate all of our complex financial mathematics into Python script.

What is the team composition?

They assigned a team of 8–10 people, including a project manager, two frontend developers, and two backend developers.

How did you come to work with DevTeam.Space?

I was new to the field and wasn’t even aware that there were development teams for hire. I would’ve hired my own in-house team, but that is a difficult interviewing process. An associate informed me about DevTeam.Space, which she used previously. I started working with them, and the rest is history.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent about $100,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with DevTeam.Space began in November 2018. We expect to finish in three months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The portal is live and being used internally, 24 hours a day, by our company. I’m the primary user. While there will always be bugs in development, the critical aspect is that their developers are always on the ball when it comes to issues. They’ve handled any type of bug well.

DevTeam.Space helped us realize our mission. Their team was professional in terms of understanding our needs and developing a plan. For example, if we created a new feature, they would put it into a development server for testing before deploying it onto our main platform.

Every business has its challenges, but DevTeam.Space is adept at understanding the needs of every project and catering to the client.

How did DevTeam.Space perform from a project management standpoint?

They excel at project management. Their fulltime project manager handles everything on the IT side. All I had to do was figure out what I wanted to create and write the blueprints. It was a complex endeavor that they were willing to tackle. It is clear what they’re expected to do each week.

What did you find most impressive about them?

DevTeam.Space employs organized workers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I hadn’t thought of that, but that’s a good thing. I’m happy with them.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

DevTeam.Space is the right provider for clients with complex requirements that require custom solutions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there. 

I’m the managing partner of Bowery Capital, a venture capital firm based in New York. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DevTeam.Space? 

We needed to hire an external resource to redesign our website and provide ongoing maintenance. We also wanted a firm that could work with our SaaS portfolio companies on a contract basis.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

DevTeam.Space initially worked with us for two weeks to agree on the exact workflow and project specs. Then they went away and spent 6–12 weeks on design and development. Then together we did another two weeks looking at the new site on a staging server to make sure everything was right.

They shifted our website from Drupal to WordPress, and changed our hosting provider over to WP Engine. From a design standpoint, DevTeam.Space enabled the new site to be mobile responsive. They provide ongoing site maintenance and make changes as needed. They also worked with about six of our portfolio companies on web design, some of which are still active.

What is the team composition? 

Alex (VP of Account Management, DevTeam.Space) was our project manager. 

How did you come to work with DevTeam.Space?

They were referred to us by a close friend. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $15,000–$20,000 for the website. Our portfolio companies pay a flat fee between $5,000–$10,000 depending on the site design.

What is the status of this engagement? 

We worked together in 2016 work for approximately 15 weeks.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our site load time has increased substantially, which results in a decreased bounce rate. Our blog is much improved and easier to read. We're able to host a podcast and use a lot of different multimedia formats. DevTeam.Space created an editor on the backend, which has been quite helpful as we’re constantly updating information about our portfolio companies.

How did DevTeam.Space perform from a project management standpoint? 

Their team was really good. Alex and Alexey (CEO, DevTeam.Space) were our primary communication channels. We’d unsuccessfully used outsource firms in Ukraine, India, and Russia for development work. It was wonderful to find a team that’s so effective. That’s a key reason we keep working with DevTeam.Space. 

What did you find most impressive about them? 

Their speed and communication skills made them stand out from other providers. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don't think there’s anything they could improve. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

Spend the time upfront to think through your needs and requirements. Use that stage to make sure they understand what you want from the beginning. That was where we’d failed with other firms, but DevTeam.Space did a really good job making sure that we were moving in the right direction.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CIO of an e-commerce marketplace platform for cybersecurity products and services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DevTeam.Space?

A previous contractor worked with us to establish our marketplace platform. However, we weren’t pleased by the work and wanted to reassess how we did things. We engaged with DevTeam.Space to develop strategic approaches as we moved forward.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

After consulting with them about our project requirements, they connected us with relevant resources who could meet our needs. So far, they’ve advised us on our UX/UI as well as backend optimization. Throughout the engagement, they’ve also kept track of their suggestions and provided us with documentation. We’re currently at the consulting stage but are working to proceed to development and implementation.

What is the team composition?

We’ve primarily worked with a project manager as the main point of contact who directs us to the right resources. However, depending on the project and the field needed, we’ve collaborated with 3–5 people.

How did you come to work with DevTeam.Space?

Not only did they have great testimonials and notably good reviews, they leveraged their global network of developers to diversify their expertise, which distinguished them from competitors. This allowed them to function as a one-stop shop.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $50,000 thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

Work began in January 2018 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We appreciated their ability to critically analyze our company’s project goals to provide constructive feedback. Initially, we thought we knew what our needs were and how we wanted to grow our business as an e-commerce platform. However, we didn’t realize that we couldn’t address those needs in our current direction. By dissecting our business model and customer base, DevTeam.Space helped us refine our efforts to see if they aligned with our ventures. This helped us strategically both in the short and long term.

How did DevTeam.Space perform from a project management standpoint?

They used Pivotal Tracker to manage development activities, modifying the timelines to accommodate our progress. In terms of communication, we spoke mostly through email and Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

As we mentioned before, they’re a one-stop shop with access to multiple development teams with different fields of expertise. This facilitates a holistic conversation about potential solutions rather than limiting ourselves to what their available resources. They help us identify what we really need and then work to achieve our goals.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. They’re probably the best contractor we’ve had so far.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

To get the most out of the partnership, customers should be receptive to their advice. DevTeam.Space excels at establishing benchmarks to achieve the clients’ goals. By remaining open-minded, customers can identify things that they might not have considered previously.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO at Sidekick Education, a one-year-old startup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DevTeamSpace?

Our company’s web application moved from R&D to a pilot phase. We wanted an MVP to share with customers. We partially coded the backend, but needed an external team to develop the frontend.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The engagement focused on frontend development; they used React. The team also built out the backend in Node. The process resembled a MERN stack, but with minor differences in our ArangoDB database. DevTeamSpace then integrated the application into our office system.

The project followed Scrum and included 12 sprints. We populated two backlog plans for most sprints. They delivered reports at the end of each sprint to gauge metrics for testing, productivity, and communication. The engagement ended last month when we started testing.

What is the team composition?

Our dedicated project manager compiled the three-to-four-person team. We only interacted with those members at certain meetings.

How did you come to work with DevTeamSpace?

We searched for startup vendors that were also innovators in their field. We found DevTeamSpace through their advertising for a professional co-working space.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $4,000 for each of the 12 sprints.

What is the status of this engagement?

Work started in September 2017 and ended in February 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Development progressed further than we expected. In a couple instances, the team completed the second backlog only halfway through the sprint. They were efficient, but not recklessly ambitious. The code was functional and accessible. We’re happy with the software; beta users responded favorably to it. Our pilot customers haven’t experienced any bugs in the UI.

How did DevTeamSpace perform from a project management standpoint?

They used a global sourcing business model. The project manager was in Chicago, but most resources were in Europe. The time difference slowed progress slightly. DevTeamSpace held sprint kickoffs and planning sessions. We used Pivotal Tracker for project management and Slack for day-to-day communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Although I can’t compare them to other service providers, I find DevTeamSpace productive. They work incredibly fast without sacrificing code quality. However, the engagement wasn’t long enough to take advantage of all their offerings.

In addition, they wrote captivating reports that enhanced transparent communication between teams. That honesty maintained a sense of accountability. We’ll likely re-engage them after testing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their business model targets ongoing relationships, but as a startup, we preferred non-continuous help. DevTeamSpace may want to pursue established companies for a better fit.

They should also limit their services to core competences. During development, I spent considerable time teaching a new hire how to interact with our database. It may benefit them to refine the technologies they target.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO [chief technology officer] of Leadsmarket.com. We do internet marketing buying and selling leads.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DevTeam.Space?

We didn’t have enough resources to build our client facing and internal website. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed the frontend of our website. It's a website for managing PPC advertising [pay-per-click]. They developed an administration management panel for the website. The users are our internal team. It will eventually be client facing, as well, where clients can manage their advertisements through our company. The site is built on ASP.NET Core. Our internal team handled the backend development so it was a collaborative effort.

What is the team composition? 

There was a frontend developer and a backend developer. They only worked with me directly for about 10 hours out of the 100 hours that they worked for us.

How did you come to work with DevTeam.Space?

I personally know some of the people at in their team. We didn’t consider any other companies, we just selected them based on what we knew about them. 

How much have you invested with them?

$10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November and finished in 3 weeks.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The addition of their developers allowed us to complete our project faster. 

How did DevTeam.Space perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management was good. Some of our team members worked with them directly. They were exceptional. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They deliver what they promise. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm an owner at Generation Machine Tools in Bradenton, Florida. Our company buys and sell used metalworking manufacturing equipment.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DevTeam.Space?

As we started a new company, we aimed for a new level of technological engagement our previous business lacked. We hoped to use cloud based software to integrate daily tasks and simplify our operation.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Providing critical support to start our new company, they planned and organized all facets of development. DevTeam.Space designed both a new website and a dashboard from scratch. The latter allows us to upload and remove material stored in a central database.

To maintain communication with our contacts, they integrated our old and new email systems. Regularly soliciting our approval, they forwarded screenshots of layout and structural options. Facets of design work ranged from color and placement to designing a new logo for universal use.

From the new site, I can manage our eBay account and easily list products for sale. With integrated videos and improved SEO, the structure met my step-by-step specifications. Their comprehensive work helped brand and scale our business.

What is the team dynamic?

Our project manager oversaw the work and led a team of specialists for the website and dashboard. All developers reported to our point of contact, with whom we’d discuss input.

How did you come to work with DevTeam.Space?

I found DevTeam.Space after conducting a web search. Reading reviews of their work and analyzing websites they’d built for other clients convinced me they were the best choice.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $35,000 and $40,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?
We began our ongoing work in May of 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

My industry uses very specialized equipment, which does not translate well to standard metrics. The platform they created has significantly improved my efficiency in listing products on the open market. I’ve already had some good sales, which would usually take much longer.

Their work in-house has exemplified my exact requests. They experimented with tweaks I suggested until I was satisfied with the final version. I’m very pleased with the website. It’s very user friendly, mobile responsive, and easy to navigate.

How did DevTeam.Space perform from a project management standpoint?

Their work was very organized and I received prompt answers to my questions. Overall communication was 90% via email. We occasionally touched base on the phone for more in-depth or detailed discussions. They developed a clear understanding of our goals, and took the necessary measures to accomplish them. Voice conferences and scheduled fixed always took place within specified timeframes.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciate the array of resources and talent in one team. Their abilities span email, logos, database, cloud based integration. Developers at our old company assisted with the existing site’s SEO and web marketing, but lacked the full integration I’ve experienced with DevTeam.Space.

Are there any areas they could improve?

As a business owner, I wish the pace could be faster. Website development takes time, however, and I can't say the timeframe was out of line.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take advantage of the numerous service offerings, extensive skills, and thorough base of experience and knowledge. They are a good choice for any business that needs assistance reaching the next par, whether that's cloud base, website or email development. Clearly expressing your needs will maximize their utility.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the vice president of products at Fracta Inc. We specialize in machine learning solutions for water utilities companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DevTeam.Space?

We wanted to update our website and refresh our content.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had an existing site which we wanted to enhance by adding more sections and changing things with design. We had several rounds of back-and-forth during the design phase, then continued with implementation.

We had a logo and color scheme in place, then chose a WordPress template based on the inspirative designs. We provided wireframes and content to them, then they worked through multiple iterations on the graphics part.

What is the team dynamic?

I’ve mainly worked with a total of 3 people, including their project manager, designer, and the web development project lead.

How did you come to work with DevTeam.Space?

Our marketing and communications agency identified a couple of developers we could use. We had interviews with some of them, then decided to go with DevTeam.Space based on their design, WordPress experience, price, and overall process.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $6,300.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in mid-September 2017. The website was completed, but we might do further work with their team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t yet launched the site publicly, but the feedback from our internal marketing and communications team has been positive.

How did DevTeam.Space perform from a project management standpoint?

I’ve liked their way of working. DevTeam.Space used modern communication tools like Slack, and also provided daily email reports on what was happening, and whether there were any roadblocks. We also received a monthly report. The project was relatively short, so we haven’t benefited from it as much.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I don’t have many comparison points in terms of doing similar projects with other groups, but DevTeam.Space performed well and provided good communication. Overall, I’m very happy with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not at the moment. They’ve done a good job.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

The more clearly-defined the vision and structure is at the start, the less back-and-forth on details there will be. If there is existing graphic design work, it needs to be included in the brief.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a consumer electronics manufacturer. We make a voice-activated product similar to the Amazon Echo.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DevTeam.Space?

We were a startup company going through an acquisition that fell through, so we ran out of money. As a result, we had to replace some key players on our team to reduce cost. Afterward, another partner came in and wanted to do a licensing deal with us. While we got some funding, it wasn’t exciting enough to bring the old team back on board to support it. Instead, we decided to hire consultants.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

DevTeam.Space was responsible for backend and mobile development as well as a little bit of firmware. All our code was written in Python in a MongoDB database. We used AWS, Docker, Linux, Gevent, and Git for the server. The mobile app was developed on Cordova using the Ionic framework. We did some user testing but no bug tracking.

How did you come to work with DevTeam.Space?

Because we’re a startup, we looked for options through the accelerator that we went through. We were considering vendors in the US, but they were all very expensive. We would have never been able to afford those options. When we found DevTeamSpace, they just seemed more reasonable and appropriate for this project. The thing I liked about them was that they were very sensitive to our situation. During our initial call, we talked with their team. Their lead developer reviewed the technology that we used and was confident about it. They reviewed it without charging us anything, just to make sure that they were qualified to do the job. After the review, we handed the job off to them. Within a week, they had it up and running.

How much have you invested with DevTeam.Space?

We paid $10,000 for their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together to complete the project for about six months. The project wrapped up naturally, and it stopped for business-related reasons. It had nothing to do with the quality of their work, though. Their work was sufficient, and I would definitely use them again.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We heard positive stuff from users. The product worked as well as it was able to. Alexey’s [Alexey Semeney, CEO] company took over the project very quickly. We managed to successfully migrate the project and leverage their team. They did everything that they were supposed to do. Developers like to develop stuff from scratch. For a developer to pick up a legacy system code, understand it, and run with it that quickly was pretty impressive. It says something about the way that we developed it and about their capabilities.

How did DevTeam.Space perform from a project management standpoint?

I really liked their system. We got an update every day from the developers about what they worked on. They are honest and truthful about their capabilities. Alexey has a really great vision for his web-based platform, DevTeam.Space. He introduced me to Trello, which I’ve never used before. I really thought it was a great tool. We were using Slack, Trello, and their DevTeam platform. It was great and very transparent.

The other thing that’s great is that Alexey is in the US. I remember we had an issue where something happened on a Friday afternoon. He’s got a great network of teams over there. He had to pull in someone else from another team. He really cared about the project and wanted to do a great job.

What did you find most impressive about DevTeam.Space?

One of the things that really surprised me is that we used an unusual framework called Cordova. It’s not the first thing that comes to mind when developing a mobile app. You could develop a mobile app, and Cordova allows you to run it on Android or iPhone. It’s a weird system. We were surprised when they said, “Our team has used that before.” Sure enough, they actually did use it before, and the development was pretty straightforward.

Are there any areas DevTeam.Space could improve?

Any new company has challenges. The only issue we had with them was their system for tracking billing. We thought we had closed out a portion of the project, and he sent an invoice for a small amount of money. It turned out that we had paid for it already. It was a little bit off, and I mentioned to Alexey that it needed to be fixed. I recommended that they add an hour tracker on his platform so that developers could hit start or stop, or they could use a logging system. It was an error on their part for tracking the billing, but that was the only issue. It was minor, and he corrected it.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with DevTeam.Space?

Keep doing what they’re doing. They have a good natural approach to getting people on board. They’re not very pushy with needing money up front before starting to dig in. They’re pretty generous with their time when building the relationship and gaining the trust of their clients. They’re moving in the right direction.