Ekreative

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of software development at Triumph Research Intelligence.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ekreative?

We were trying to rearchitect and rebuild our existing software application so it could handle more data. We brought on Ekreative to build out the frontend of the application.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The new app has the same functionality as the old app but has additional features that support administrative work. It now has UI that helps users set up and manage everything on the app. The original app was built in ASP, but they used React to develop the frontend from scratch. They were involved with just about everything.

What is the team composition?

We started with one developer, but then we expanded the project to three developers. After that, we added a tester. Once we started wrapping everything up, we scaled back down to one developer.

How did you come to work with Ekreative?

Our CFO knows one of the founders of Ekreative, so he recommended that I consider them. I took a look at their previous work and their CEO flew from Ukraine to meet us in our offices. We got along really well and they gave us a good deal. It was really easy to assess their work because they had everything we needed well-documented.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $175,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in February 2020 and it wrapped up in November 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They submitted all of their code to me, I would review it, and then our test team would go over it. Overall, we were really happy with their performance and the quality of their code. For the most part, it was bug-free. There were a few instances when our requirements changed, so they went back and updated it.

The internal team has responded very well to the final product. Our CEO is demoing it in webinars and it’s getting great feedback. Our sales team also loves showing it. The app looks good and works really well.

How did Ekreative perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very organized. They provided accurate estimates of how long the project would take. Throughout the engagement, they kept me updated as well. We were regularly in communication over Slack and email. The project was well-documented and they included screenshots in our emails. Overall, they were very professional.

What did you find most impressive about them?

In addition to being technically strong, they were responsive and easy to communicate with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had one minor issue with one developer whose English wasn’t as strong as the others. It was resolved rather quickly, though. We just named one of their developers as the team lead and she oversaw the project to make sure that everything matched what we were looking for.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They respond well to detailed requirements. We provided them with acceptance criteria and visual designs so it was very easy for them to understand what we were looking for.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’ve got two organizations. The first is an advertising agency, and the second, the project on which Ekreative worked on, is a virtual global agency that we’re building.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ekreative?

We brought on Ekreative to work on the MVP or proof of concept (POC) so that we could test it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Ekreative did project management and development. We gave them the design, and they executed it, building our MVP for our new application. There’s a frontend where people can sign up and log-in, and there’s also a backend CMS where we can do project management and handle communication between members.

They added functionality such as member sign-on, member management, email capabilities, and the ability for project managers to contact some of our creators. They built it in a way that would make it easy for us to add incremental capabilities. It’s a mobile-responsive website, and the team used Angular. 

What is the team composition?

I interacted with Kiril (COO) and Yaroslava (Project Manager).

How did you come to work with Ekreative?

They were recommended to me by someone who knew Kiril. I was looking for someone to execute this project and looked locally, but then I started talking to Ekreative. A friend of mine, who’s a developer and has built enterprise-level applications, looked at Ekreative’s coding and recommended them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $50,000 on this first phase.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from September–December 2020. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It was a simple project, but Ekreative executed it well. The team was easy to work with in terms of making adjustments. Our internal product manager walked me through the backend of the MVP and there were a few minor things that needed to be fixed, but Ekreative jumped on it and fixed them quickly.

How did Ekreative perform from a project management standpoint?

We didn’t want to use email, so I asked them if we could use Slack instead, and the team was very amenable. They adapted our way of working, which was really nice and made it a lot easier for me. Yaroslava was also very precise, polite, and insistent.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Ekreative was on time and on budget. They delivered the product when they said they would, and they kept the deadline in mind the entire time. If anything popped up that they thought would change the scope, they told us our options and how that would affect our time or money. 

We were able to make decisions together because they were upfront about everything. They were also very transparent in terms of their hours, which made everything easy. Another thing that made me feel good about them is their business model. 

They take all of their profits after salary and expenses, and they put it into outreach. They have proof of it on their website. I’d never seen that before and it made me feel good because I felt like I was a part of their outreach by giving them my business.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing jumps to mind right away. They were 10 hours ahead of us, but they were always clear about their office times and their holidays. I’ve worked with other companies across the world, and in terms of making the time difference a non-issue, this team did it the best. The time difference wasn’t a problem at all.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would recommend them because they were upfront about everything. Their rate wasn’t the cheapest, but they delivered the value.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the project manager for the custom web development side of a website development and marketing company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ekreative?

When we originally brought them on, we were trying to update a website and build a mobile app to go along with it. We didn’t have a mobile developer on staff, so we brought their team on as a partner for the project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They started out focused on the mobile development, which we completed successfully. Then, this year, we had two in-house developers who moved to other jobs, so they stepped in and helped us finish up that redesign and are now helping to support that product.

So we’ve worked with them across a few different projects, using languages ranging across both web and mobile, including angular, and doing both design and front- and backend development on the products.

What is the team composition?

We were given a project manager who we worked with a little, as well as three developers, one senior lead and two more junior teammates who worked with him as well.

How did you come to work with Ekreative?

I met their CEO through an acquaintance, and we were just talking about business when the need came up. He offered to take on the project for a much lower rate than anyone else we had talked with was offering, so we decided to take him up on it.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost of the project has been around $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them back in May 2015, and have continued the partnership on and off ever since.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have had this partnership with our client for almost 12 years now, so when our main developers working on the account suddenly left, they were understandably extremely nervous about all the knowledge that was leaving with them.

But after the first few deliverables that we were able to produce for them through our Ukrainian partners at Ekreative, they were completely on board again. They told us how impressed they were and that they had no hesitation continuing the partnership from that point.

How did Ekreative perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is a huge strength of Ekreative’s. They are incredibly on top of updates, and we would have meetings every morning at 9am just to keep me up to date on what they had completed the day before and what they were going to do next.

On top of their consistent updates, they were also able to deliver results exactly when they said they would, so there is never any doubt in my mind about whether or not something that they promise is going to arrive on time and in perfect condition.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The whole team is also extremely proactive, always looking ahead to see if anything they’re doing now might cause problems down the line and asking questions if they ever have any hesitations.

They’re also extremely willing to jump in and fix any issues that they run into and are thinking critically about how everything they do will affect the whole project. Working with them feels like working with one of my developers because of their investment in our success.

Are there any areas they could improve?

On this project, I haven’t found anything that I would change about the collaboration. We had one project a few years ago where they had more difficulty and the final product didn’t quite pan out, but the quality of the code they were trying to fix really was unusually terrible, so it’s not something I blame them for.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

There’s really nothing you need to do to be successful with them. They are so proactive and helpful that you’re sure to have a successful collaboration with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My company has two applications. One is a photo-sharing app, and the other is what we’re building right now with Ekreative. It’s an app that can transform photos of people into print products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ekreative?

We were starting this whole new project and needed developers to help us get the app live. We had two internal developers, but we needed more power. We started looking for external resources to help us get the project done faster.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Ekreative worked on every aspect of the React Native app.

The app allows users to select and upload photos from their phones, but also from our other app. After loading it into the configurator inside the app, users can configure their print products and order them. The whole e-commerce framework and the uploading aspects were all built with the help of Ekreative.

What is the team composition?

We integrated their developers within our team. For the administrative part, I worked with two other points of contact.

How did you come to work with Ekreative?

It was a personal recommendation.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent in the range of $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Ekreative at the beginning of this year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I appreciate their work. I’m not a technical developer myself, but from what I hear from our internal developers, the team is doing a great job. They’re creating high-quality code. They’re going beyond what we hired them for.

I really like that they’re part of our team. I’ve personally had a couple of discussions with them and saw how they get things done quickly. I’ve also heard good things about how they structure their work. They’re quite reliable.

How did Ekreative perform from a project management standpoint?

We all work remotely. The developers participated in all of our standups and meetings. They communicate well. As for collaboration tools, they’re fully integrated into our JIRA, Slack, and other internal tools.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Ekreative gets things done. That’s what we hired them for.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not that I can think of. We all work well together. I’m extremely satisfied.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Fully integrate them into your team. That worked well for us. Just have a quick email or call with their management. They’re easy to work with.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was a co-founder and COO of WhatCharity. It’s a marketplace for charities to find resources, volunteers, and funding.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ekreative?

We had no in-house technical resources, so we needed an external team to help build and implement a platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We did the initial documentation and fact-finding. They did a scope review and handled all things related to technology, including wireframes and feature lists. They developed frontend and backend of the platform and implemented it.

They did testing prior to launch, and provided support for a year post-launch, ensuring there were no performance problems.

What is the team composition?

The core team was four people, but we worked with 10 people in total, depending on the phase of the project.

How did you come to work with Ekreative?

An investor we were talking to had worked with them previously, and committed to investing in our company if we worked with them on the project.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent just over €50,000 (approximately $60,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from October 2017 – January 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They provided solutions that didn’t exist prior, requiring data extraction from a variety of different sources, mainly the charity commission in the UK. They created the script, resulting in a software product that automatically provides that to us monthly. 

We received the UK government's R&D tax credit for innovation. Overall, they provided high-quality products. Their product management was great.

How did Ekreative perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is an area of strength for them. They were available and responsive, even on weekends. Communication was clear. Their project manager ensured our instructions were clearly conveyed to the developers, resulting in satisfactory results. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re friendly and approachable. They’re one of the easiest and best vendors I’ve worked with remotely. This is the best price-quality ratio I’ve experienced.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. There are always issues in these types of projects, but they fixed them quickly.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Visit them in person, and have a workshop to ensure all requirements are documented and clearly understood on both sides for the smoothest project possible.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a web design agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ekreative?

We were looking to add development capacity to our team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We work with Ekreative on an ongoing basis. We embedded several of their developers in our teams to support various projects. They’ve helped us with numerous custom software development projects, WordPress sites, and mobile applications. 

They primarily work with us remotely, but we meet with them in person once or twice per year. 

What is the team composition?

Over the course of the engagement, we’ve worked with a total of 15 people. Typically, we have a team of five developers working on any given project. 

How did you come to work with Ekreative?

I was referred to them by a mutual friend. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $500,000-$999,999. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We first worked with them eight years ago. However, we didn’t begin our ongoing relationship with them until about five years ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re very responsive and take ownership of their work. They help us complete projects on time and on budget. We first brought them on when we were developing a mobile application for a client. We were 75% of the way through the budget, but had only completed 33% of the work. With Ekreative’s help, we completed the work on time and stayed within the client’s budget. 

We get good feedback from clients on our projects in general. None of our projects that they’ve helped with have gotten into the “red zone.” 

How did Ekreative perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been excellent. The team does a great job putting together project timelines and deliverables Since adjusting our QA process, the projects run very smoothly. 

We use Slack and Jira to manage the project in addition to email and video calls. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their commitment to making sure the work is done correctly is impressive. They consistently deliver and can work with limited direction from us. 

Are there any areas they could improve? 

We’d like to bring them to the US to work with us more in person, however, it’s difficult because of immigration laws and logistics. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

It’s helpful to have one project manager that oversees all the work and makes sure that processes are standardized across different projects.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Stream Time. We’re a content aggregator and recommendation tool for video.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ekreative?

We were looking to fill our lack of in-house development capabilities.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Ekreative built our entire system from scratch. This custom software was a high-level specification that I drew based on my vision. Their team advised me on the specification and then delivered the product over the course of 24 months. We did all the design work internally, then they handled the design elements using Zeplin. They extrapolated these elements for the development phase.

They built five products including two mobile apps and a web app. The mobile development was created with iOS app native and Android app native. The web app was built in Ionic and Angular 7, which was later upgraded to 8. Ekreative completed the backend services in PHP 7, which also eventually upgraded to 8. Naturally, we’ve had to work through some bugs — that’s inevitable.

What is the team composition?

It varied over time from about 2–10 people. From the beginning and throughout the entire project, we’ve had a project manager. He’s my main point of contact. We’ve also had a lead backend developer, iOS developer, and Android developer. At another time, we also had a senior frontend developer for JavaScript.

At one point, we had a QA tester who did testing on a manual basis. Then, we had an automated QA tester who was building macros for the testing’s functionality. Then at some point, we had three backend and three fronted developers.

How did you come to work with Ekreative?

I worked with Ekreative during my previous job at a mobile app development agency. When I started my own business, I wanted to make sure they were a good fit in terms of market value. I took the time to speak to a few cross-references, and they confirmed that for me.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around €300,000 (approximately $335,000 USD) so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership began in January 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We went from zero to 6.5 million users in the space of eight months. In terms of speed, design, — which they weren’t in charge of — and technology used, everything was good and acceptable; but it could’ve been better. However, that was due to the planning process. In terms of what they were scoped to deliver, we have no complaints.

How did Ekreative perform from a project management standpoint?

Ekreative performed very well and updated us on a daily or every-other-day basis. We held weekly standups where we reviewed the sprint plan for that week and distributed it among developers. Our teams collaborated project management through a scrum-based methodology.

Sometimes communication wasn’t the best in terms of conveying when things were going to overrun. Ekreative tried their best to get it done as soon as possible, but more open communication would’ve been better. There weren’t any language barriers.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was really impressed with how smoothly they adjusted the team composition. We were able to add, chop, and change people as needed. As I said, we often jumped composition size from two to ten to four, and so on through the entire project. The team members who came in were skilled and always managed to adapt quickly.

I also really appreciated Ekreative’s proactivity. If they found things in the news that were related to our project, they raised that as an issue. Often times they also find a similar product to ours and recommend features we could emulate. Their team is quite invested and hands-on. They didn’t just develop our products because of the sake of doing so, they truly embraced them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could’ve challenged us a bit more. We don’t have an internal CTO or tech team, so Ekreative acted as that role for us. In the initial stages, we would’ve liked a bit more pushback and advice on the best tech to use. The lack of this caused us a couple of problems down the road. However, speed time wasn’t their core objective, so it’s not entirely their fault.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to go ahead and do it. Make sure to have a good relationship with their project manager because they’re hands-on and will run the team for you. Choose to be close to Ekreative and don’t treat them as external relations. I traveled to visit them a couple of times and vice versa. It’s as if they’re part of our team.

In the specification phase, be very concise about what you want and need. If anything is open to interpretation, somethings can be delayed or misinterpreted.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director and CEO of AppShed, an education software provider.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ekreative?

We had recently just launched, as did they as a new startup. We thought they would be a great match to help build our platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Ekreative was our dedicated developer for the duration of the project. They also helped us with other projects including core classroom development.

They worked on payment service providers and building an AJAX-responsive frontend with integration into the app stores. This was in order to be deployment-ready into the app stores. They also were responsible for the UI/UX over the years.

They also built an extensive number of APIs into third party systems. They integrated APIs into the IoT. They also built caching features for offline capabilities. We worked together for nine years — this is just a smidgen of what they did while building our external facing apps for our 900,000 users.

What is the team composition?

Upwards of 30 people touched the project. A few project managers cycled through over the years.

How did you come to work with Ekreative?

We had a recommendation from a work colleague. We chose them because they demonstrated strong technical capabilities that inspired confidence.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent £150,000 a year on average (approximately $196,000 USD a year on average).

What is the status of this engagement?

We began work in January 2011 and finished in December 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As a startup, we don’t have rigorous specific metrics in place. Anecdotally, I can say we were quite happy with the delivery schedule. Projects were delivered on time or it was communicated well before when they would not. Their level of communication and visibility made them stand out from other providers.

How did Ekreative perform from a project management standpoint?

As we matured, they grew as well. We knew about each other's challenges and established trust between the group. They never overpromised nor did they ever underdeliver. They were realistic and trustworthy.

Also, developer fatigue is a real thing, especially with lots of rework as we had. Even though they changed developers over the years, they managed the project very well so that we never felt the consequences of development fatigue. They quickly got new people up to speed, absorbing the cost which ensured productivity and seamlessness.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their integrity stands out in the way they work. In their testing, their communication, their quality of code — in all of these things their integrity shined through.

Are there any areas they could improve?

To complain about costs wouldn’t be fair, as their costs naturally increased as their company grew. I genuinely felt that we were able to work out all issues — we were very happy to keep working with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take the time upfront to define the scope really well. They take the time to understand the scope but be aware of that necessity.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing director at Red C, a mobile app development agency that provides tech solutions for corporations in the UK.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with eKreative?

Since the cost of development in the UK was too high to hire full-time developers, we’ve long relied on eKreative to provide us with a scalable team that delivers creative work on a number of projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Over the course of a ten-year engagement, we’ve had various teams working continuously on different projects. We work closely with their project managers and developers, who are now integrated into our team. Their work includes but isn’t limited to native app development, web development, and cross-platform mobile development.

They utilize Swift and Java for much of their work. They’ve also done Node.js and Angular projects for us. In addition, they’ve built web systems for us using WordPress, Drupal, and Symfony.

What is the team composition?

While it depends on how busy we are, at any one time we might have three project managers and 10–20 developers.

How did you come to work with eKreative?

I was introduced to them via mutual friends.

How much have you invested with them?

In recent years, we’ve spent around $500,000 annually, meaning that we’ve spent somewhere between $3,000,000–$5,000,000 over the course of our engagement.

What is the status of this engagement?

We engaged them in 2010, and it’s an ongoing partnership.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The longevity of our relationship is a testament to the quality of their work. They’re very easy to work with because they’re upfront and honest. We appreciate that they tell it like it is; if there’s an issue, we hear about it early on, so there are no nasty surprises.

They also excel at understanding projects. While some development teams simply do what they’re told without thinking through the implications of their work, eKreative’s project managers are experienced enough that they’ll think outside the box and give you suggestions for alternative solutions.

How did eKreative perform from a project management standpoint?

It’s generally excellent; we’ve been very pleased with their work. We can even trust them to talk to our clients directly, sometimes through JIRA. They’ve always been very professional.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I find their integrity and honesty remarkable. You always know where you stand because they’re so open.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I suppose that they work better on bigger projects. We’ve run into some issues when projects are fragmented when they’ve had to fix something pertaining to an existing project. They always manage to fix it, but it can be a challenge.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d go out and visit them. That’s the best way to get to know them, and their offices and cafes are quite impressive. They’re quite a hospitable bunch.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are an early stage tech investment company, I am one of the founders.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Ekreative?

We have used eKreative for a number of projects over the last 10 years. The one I am reviewing here, The Accelerometer, was a database and website ranking start up Accelerator programmes, in the UK.

What were your goals for this project?

We want to create a source of information for start ups, to help them make the best decisions about how to grow.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We were pre-existing clients of eKreative, having worked with the team since 2010. Originally we were connected to eKreative through a business contact. We have visited eKreative in Cherkassy a number of times (it's worth a visit!)

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The output was a website displaying the results of a series of user surveys. eKreative carried out the surveys by making English languages phone calls to startups in the UK.

What was the team composition?

There was a project manager, two developers, and an English language business analyst, all based in Ukraine.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

This was a good project for us, it generated some publicity and helped us source more investment deals, which was our ultimate goal.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

It was good, we liased with our project manager on a week by week basis, and she managed the developers and took our feedback as we went along.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

It's a professional outfit, and it's here for the long term. There really wasn't a sense that we were working with people who were very far away or disconnected from us. We could email, chat or call our project manager whenever we wanted to.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We are happy with eKreative and continue to use them for new projects.