ElifTech

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of Refr Sports, a two-sided marketplace that allows sports referees to pick scheduled games by sports organizations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ElifTech?

We needed someone to provide us with mobile app development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’re working with Eliftech to continue the development of our Android and iOS-based MVP product, and they’re mainly utilizing Firebase and Dart as their main development platforms.

What is the team composition?

Our main points of contact are Roman (IT Project Manager), Yuri (Software Developer), a coder, a junior developer, and a QA tester.

How did you come to work with ElifTech?

We came across their team through a referral from a locally-based company in Minneapolis that previously used them for Shopify development.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in April 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve done our own internal testing on the product and so far, we really like what they’ve accomplished for us. We also showed the product to different organizations and it was met with positive reception.

How did ElifTech perform from a project management standpoint?

They perform extremely well from a project management perspective, as they’re very organized and they strictly adhere to the timelines. Apart from that, they allow us to make changes to various aspects of the development we’re not happy about.

We typically use Slack and Google Meet to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed with the skill diversity of their development team. They always have the right resources to provide depending on our needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s a communication barrier between our two companies, but it wasn’t that much of an issue.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise you to prepare your wireframes before engaging with them so you don’t have to spend extra time developing them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of WRKiiT. Our organization is a tech startup company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ElifTech?

We wanted to build out something a level above an MVP that’s functional and can collect revenue and bring up profit. We needed someone to build the foundational tech side of our product, including the database, DevOps, and mobile development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I started by interviewing the engineers ElifTech selected who had the required skills in my scope. After the interviews, we ensured that the person chosen had the set and the energy to learn something new about our products. ElifTech provided a really powerful resource, and they are part of our team.

I wanted to build our platform first for the web as a React site that can be seen on mobile, so the first step was to build out our system on the web and ensure everything was responsive enough to fit mobile devices. I assigned ElifTech to take what we built with the engineers we already have from them and wrap it in a technology called Cordova, which we can deploy to the AppStore and Playstore. With them understanding our product inside out like that from having built out the web platform initially, it was easier to get ready for mobile because they know all the endpoints and the data. 

Overall, they helped build our platform from the ground up. Right now, we're closing up the gaps, meaning certain experiences that we backlog, such as the communication features that bring communication into our platform and allow people to communicate with each other. Once they're done with those gaps, they will ensure everything works for the mobile version wrapped in Cordova.

What is the team composition?

We've worked with various engineers from their team. We started with three, heavily working to build as much as we could to give them feedback as soon as possible from our client base. Later, we went full speed with them to help us get more of the admin portal work done. 

How did you come to work with ElifTech?

Someone who knew about their work recommended them to us. We had had two bad experiences with engineering before ElifTech, so we asked around our network and got a recommendation for them. We decided to do a trial with them for at least 30 days and went with them because they were affordable and put the right talent in. They were able to do more than review our code and helped get us into a more stable area by putting in a few more features that will help us talk to users right away.  Overall, we felt like they rescued us. 

How much have you invested with them?

We initially spent a lot of money trying to beat the clock. Especially with the pandemic, we're just trying to get our stuff out there faster. So we were spending about $4,000–$5,000 a month for the first six months. Once we were more established, we cut our costs to about $2,000 a month for their engineering services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2020, and the engagement is still ongoing.  We will continue with ElifTech until the end of the fall to get our mobile pieces out the door. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We love ElifTech and know that as we build our company internally, we'll always have at least 1–2 engineers for product support. They also have a testing process to ensure their engineers are knowledgeable and willing to learn new things. They have an entire support group, which I needed for our stage as a company.

Overall, their quality depends on their engineering team, and most of them are good.

From the other side, we’ve experienced some bugs, but we record them through QA, and then we log them to define if that bug needs to be immediately addressed, if it keeps the users from doing what they need to do or if it's something that we backlog and take care of later.

Also, I like ElifTech because they will notice the bug and don't wait on me to fix it; they go ahead and take care of it. If it’s a crucial bug, they take the time to understand it and see if it’s affecting anything else. They like reverse engineer things to ensure that the bug doesn’t keep repeating. If it is a bug that keeps repeating, we all take time to look at what's happening — I like their patience ins this sense and how they come up with solutions. 

How did ElifTech perform from a project management standpoint?

I handle project management, but what I like about ElifTech is that they never say no to my process. For each engineer, I wanted them to be able to push their code, test it, and QA it themselves, but also create a Loom video of the feature that they're building and communicate through there. They understand our needs, and it’s easy to share with Loom, especially since I’m an English speaker and they speak Ukrainian, so Loom makes it very visual.

I also provide a lot of visual aids and prototyping that they can follow, and they don’t hesitate to ask questions, which I think that's the nicest thing. In our previous engineering experience, no one asked questions, and they were building and updating the wrong material. With ElifTech, they're constantly communicating; they’re part of our JIRA, Slack, Figma, and sprint processes.

In addition, I know that they can meet deadlines as long as I don’t give them too many tasks at once. I’ve only had one issue with one engineer, and it was because he was spread out too thin and wasn’t communicating it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re a self-funded startup, so being able to pause development when we need to has been the best thing. Their engineers are ready to go when we’re ready to jump back in. It’s easy to get someone from their team on the project working on tasks immediately, which saves us a lot of time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We should’ve talked more with their CTO or a more senior solutions engineer for the scope of our project to have more support on planning and to figure out what third-party services we should use for this product. That’s one of those things that we had to go through to know that it’s not what we should’ve used. There are always growing pains, and now we know what we need to do.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Build your product like a prototype first, like on Figma, and build it all the way through from start to finish. Also, after contacting ElifTech, discuss what should be prioritized with them. If you pass over the entire product to ElifTech to develop, make sure you're involved from a communication perspective.

Additionally, if you hire resources as I did, ensure you have a clear scope of work for each developer. Everything else I agile, and you’ll probably run into instances where you have to pivot. Once we had a functional product, we knew exactly our budget for ElifTech to provide product support. That’s what keeps us going now because the cost is upfront, and we sort of know how much we’re willing to do versus getting a surprise bill at the end, which was our first mistake with the other engineering company.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of FindHotel, a hotel offer comparison website with booking options. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ElifTech?

We wanted to integrate more suppliers into our platform to expand our booking options. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

ElifTech has expanded our capabilities to bring on new suppliers by adding new backend integrations — we have 20–22 integrations. They connected our APIs with third-party partners on our systems. They use web-based APIs and the stack is in Golang. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with four backend developers from ElifTech. 

How did you come to work with ElifTech?

A friend recommended ElifTech to me because they had done work for him. I checked ElifTech’s reviews on Upwork, received several references, and then reached out to them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $150,000 with ElifTech. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with ElifTech began in February 2021, and it’s ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

ElifTech’s quality of work is very high — we’re working directly with their developers to facilitate a successful long-term partnership. ElifTech has made invaluable contributions to our core systems and APIs. 

How did ElifTech perform from a project management standpoint?

ElifTech has delivered faster than we expected — they executed our product designs according to our plans. We use Clubhouse and Slack to communicate; we also have regular Zoom meetings with ElifTech’s team. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

ElifTech’s productivity is very impressive. Their developers don’t sit around waiting to be told what to do — they work to make themselves useful however they can. It’s clear that they want to do a good job. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have nothing for ElifTech to improve. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I think customers should go into the partnership knowing that it will be for the long term. Finding the right developers may take a few months, but that investment ensures that the partnership goes smoothly. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

On Max Academy can STEM students find training exercises with detailed solutions to learn perfectly for their difficult exams. Max Academy is going to be a coach and partner of students for their studies and their job entry. STEM students find free learning materials to get better results and can get job orientation and even perfect fitting job offers from our company partners.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ElifTech?

We needed a redesign of our landing page and a new webdesign for some new features and websites.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We got contacted from eliftech and we liked the offer and pricing. After a small research of other option we decided to try the collaboration with eliftech.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

We already had planned the content and UX of the sites before the project startet. We discussed our ideas and everything what we need together witch a small team from eliftech and just started into execution. During the process the communication was very frequent to keep the designer aligned with our ideas and had every few days a review call.

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

We worked mostly with one UX/UI designer and a project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The result is pretty much what we had in mind before. Therefor we are really happy with their work!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We have review calls often and have worked closely together - this is what made the project so effective.

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

They understood quickly the main challenges we have to solve on our websites and helped us to create a useful solution for our user.

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

There is not much to improve.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of a radio airplay tracking firm. We operate as a subscription service for musical artists and their representatives to track when songs are played on radio stations throughout the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ElifTech?

When we started, we didn’t have a development team. We brought them in to help with developing our solution.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They handle front- and backend development for our client platform and dashboard. The platform is a web-based application that allows our clients to specify what songs they’d like tracked. It also lets us share data on these songs as we track them. They’ve also implemented a rewards system for referrals to the platform. We can also create reports based on information on the platform.

What is the team composition?

They’ve provided us with two developers.

How did you come to work with ElifTech?

The CEO of the company chose to work with them, but I can’t specifically say why he made that choice.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent €1,500 (approximately $1,800 USD) with them each month since the start of the engagement.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since January 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve measured customer complaints and page load times to gauge success on this project, and what they’ve delivered has been amazing. They’re so good at what they do despite the large workload we charge them with. They’ve made sure all our digital services run smoothly.

How did ElifTech perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re responsible and communicative. We communicate via Slack and use Monday for project management purposes.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re eager to help you by adapting to your needs. Because we don’t have a project manager on our side, they’ve been proactive in making sure they’re hitting all our requirements.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have anything. They do a good job providing the service we’ve contracted them to provide.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Work with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief product officer of Media Tool World W AB. We provide a web-based SaaS product to brands and agencies where they can keep track of their marketing spend and the results and plan their marketing activities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ElifTech?

We needed to scale up our development team quite fast to meet some customer requirements.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve mainly used them for developing new integrations into our SaaS product. Typically, they’re connecting third-party marketing and analytics services like LinkedIn marketing, Pinterest marketing, and Twitter marketing. APIs are used to make all these connections.

We may expand the scope moving forward, as we’re happy with what they’ve delivered.

What is the team composition?

We started with one developer from ElifTech and added on more in January.

How did you come to work with ElifTech?

A friend recommended them to us. They’d previously worked with ElifTech.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around €30,000 (approximately $35,000 USD) so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since November 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They deliver on time and according to specifications. It’s good-quality work. One of our developers was the project lead — we have one dedicated person we do standups with every day. The engagement is good.

How did ElifTech perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re involved in our weekly meetings to make them feel like part of the company. We use Slack and Clickup, as well as Google Meet.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They deliver very well and keep on delivering. The project lead from their side is very helpful. If I have any more needs, I feel very comfortable contacting them. They’ll set me up with great developers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not right now. Everything has happened as expected, and we’re moving forward.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear on what type of developer you need and what prior knowledge they should have. ElifTech is able to find anyone you need.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of investments at Feelcapital. We’re a regulated financial advisor that provides a robotic advisor.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ElifTech?

We turned to ElifTech because we had problems with our internal tech resources.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with a side project to our main business case. ElifTech initially developed an API for us. As it was a successful project, we then asked them to refactor our website, which was built using the MEAN stack. Our blog is on WordPress. For some components, ElifTech exchanged Angular.js for Ruby on Rails. All our instances are located on AWS.

What is the team composition?

For different projects, ElifTech creates different development teams. We’re currently working with a developer, a project manager, and a backup developer. We also communicate with their CEO.

How did you come to work with ElifTech?

When searching for an external developer in 2018, ElifTech contacted us. We asked them for a price, and they provided the most cost-competitive option. Their scope of work was also professional.

How much have you invested with them?

W spend on average $2,000 per month on their services. We also worked on separate projects with them that had additional costs.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with ElifTech in February 2018, and they started refactoring the website in November 2018. Since March 2019, their team has been our main tech provider.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As all of their development is on-demand, we don’t have metrics. We continue working with them because we’re happy with them. Before working with them, we worked with three other tech companies. ElifTech is by far the most professional partner we’ve had.

How did ElifTech perform from a project management standpoint?

We started with Jira but moved to Trello to track progress. ElifTech uses tools that make them more efficient. We have weekly calls via Microsoft Teams to review their work and address questions but also communicate through Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re most impressed with the quality of their follow-ups. If there’s an issue with a product or task, ElifTech quickly fixes or redirects them. We’re very pleased with their work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we’re quite happy with ElifTech.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Give them a try. After seeing how ElifTech performs, you’ll probably want to give them more work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and creative director of personalized baby blanket business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ElifTech?

We’re an Australian company that’s expanding into the US market. We needed a solution to help us manage our website in two countries. We also wanted to revamp our site.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created brand new Australian and US Shopify websites for us. The team refreshed a lot of the creative elements and improved backend functionality to improve the experience. Everything is updated through a custom-built backend platform that they built for us.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Iryna (Partnership Executive) and Roman (Project Manager) was our main point of contact. They also had a team of 3–4 working on the project.

How did you come to work with ElifTech?

They were recommended by a friend.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $12,000–$15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2020, and we wrapped up in January 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve gotten feedback that our website is a lot easier to navigate. Users are able to find products a lot easier. It’s still too early to assess the full impact, but we’ve seen a lot of growth. We’re hoping the new US site will help us grow our presence in the States.  

How did ElifTech perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication and project management were unbelievable. They’re very professional and their reporting is top-notch. We communicated via Slack, Email, and a Google Doc.

What did you find most impressive about them?

ElifTech was very flexible and accommodating. They always made sure they found a solution. Shopify can be very restrictive on what’s possible. The team did a lot of research to make sure we got the right functionality.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The time difference was a bit of a challenge. We met at night, which was early in the morning for them. They were very accommodating throughout the process.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s a big project to undertake. Make sure you have a project manager to relay all the information between teams.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder at a UK based start-up.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ElifTech, and what were your goals?

Eliftech helped us develop the specification for our progressive web-app.

SOLUTION

How did you select ElifTech and what were the deciding factors?

I shortlisted a few companies based on reviews then visited their offices in Krakow, Lviv and Kyiv. After visiting all of these companies I decided to begin work with Eliftech because they seemed knowledgeable and professional with a properly equipped and sensibly located office. They made an effort to understand what we were asking for without trying to sell us things we didn't want or need.

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

They helped me put together a detailed specification which has ultimately led on to £24,000 worth of ERDF grant funding towards the projects development. We initially began with face to face meetings in Lviv, then continued with video conferencing from the UK.

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

The project was handle between 4 staff members, though others were occasionally on hand. These were: - Engineer - UI/UX - Developer - Head of business development.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

A detailed product specification and £24,000 of ERDF grant funding

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

Meetings were mostly handled with google hangouts, staff were professional and spoke good English.

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

I don't have a background in coding or web development, they made an effort to understand what I wanted and explain how best to address this. I didn't ever feel that they were trying to exploit my ignorance/inexperience to sell me things I didn't need/want. They spoke good English even though non-native speakers often find me a little difficult to understand. Very professional and reasonably priced.

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

There were some minor delays though these were mostly resulting from 3rd party integrations.