ElifTech

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Recreogo.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ElifTech?

We struggled to find enough resource time within our development team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, ElifTech was involved in building design-type features, which acclimated their team to our codebase. They continued to take on larger roles.

Now, their team creates code and new features for our dot net, cloud-based web app. As well, they help architect and administer the codebase. Their team promotes products to our staging environment and our live environment. ElifTech has become a strategic partner as our resources have continued to scale down locally.

What is the team composition?

We have a proposal in place that allows us to grow by bringing in different resources on their team and hiring for the projects. When we started, my initial contact was their business development manager who put together a proposal based on our needs. We decided that we needed two individuals to work on our project part-time. Then, we scaled down to the single developer who has since been my direct point of contact. We had a project manager for a short period of time. Now, I work with a new project manager.

How did you come to work with ElifTech?

I looked at different solutions and connected with ElifTech through Upwork.

How much have you invested with them?

Since starting our work together, we’ve spent $35,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began our collaboration in December 2018, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Having them as a partner has allowed us to continue getting good, quality code written in a timely fashion. They’ve continued to show that they’re capable and creative. It’s been an awesome relationship. We’ve received a high level of value at a fair price.

Going into this, I was concerned about not having direct control of our platform’s development, but their team has helped to expand our product to meet our customers’ needs. Everything has been a success. They’ve been a great partner all around in helping to evolve our technical platform inside the business.

How did ElifTech perform from a project management standpoint?

Since day one, their communication has been one of their strongest attributes. Generally, I’m working with the developer directly. We communicate through Slack and have calls weekly. For more critical tasks, I talk with the business development manager or product manager to come up with a solution.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It was a bit scary going into a situation where you’re working with somebody who you’ve never met face-to-face. ElifTech has done a nice job of building a relationship. They’ve really helped move this process along as their team has worked with many customers that aren’t in their local area. That has provided me with a level of comfort in addition to their general performance.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, everything has been good. I’m really pleased with what they’re doing. I’ve become a partner who they use as a reference check for other businesses that they’re trying to onboard.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Set clear expectations from the get-go. They are straight shooters and are willing to work with you in any capacity but definitely throw everything on the table in regard to what your needs are. Let them come up with a solution that’s going to meet or exceed your needs. Keep the lines of communication open. That’s really what a partnership’s about.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The business is called Memoria. I'm the business owner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ElifTech?

We hired them to develop new webpages and work on other IT projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed our frontend, backend, and worked on our UX design. The technology we're developing will be a one-stop shop for weddings. As of now, it's a web application.

What is the team composition?

I work with a project manager, two backend developers, one frontend, a QA specialist, and a UX designer on occasion.

How did you come to work with ElifTech?

Another company recommended them, and we decided to hire them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent roughly $35,000 USD.

What is the status of this engagement?

We signed the contract in May 2019 and started development in June. We've launched version one, which was built by another team, and we're currently increasing page speed and working on some bug fixes. We plan to upgrade to version two shortly.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We're currently in the test stage, so we don't have any hard results yet. We plan to go live in a couple of weeks, and we'll have more feedback from our users after we launch. We expect to see a huge change in our users, as the CRM will be much better for our vendor partners.

How did ElifTech perform from a project management standpoint?

We worked with a few other companies, but this is the first time a development team has asked questions. We have constructive conversations through Slack, Jira, email, and have one or two standups each week.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are down to earth, and they listen to our needs. They work hard to understand our local market, and they are even more involved than we expected.

Are there any areas they could improve?

At the moment, I don't have any areas they should improve. I will have information after the launch, but I'm currently quite satisfied.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communicate with them and share what you are doing in your business.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

TrenDemon empowers marketers with AI-based web personalization and content insights, accelerating their revenue & pipeline. i am the head of Engineering.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ElifTech?

We had some obsolete legacy system that had to evolve and support massive traffic, we hired Eliftech to increase our development capacity to push this project forward

What were your goals for this project?

Timing, and support massive throughput f our back end services,

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

recommendation from friends in the industry.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They joined architecture meetings, developed and help us in the devops including the cloud management.

What was the team composition?

the team was 4 developers in our base camp. and 1 Eliftech employee

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

the project was mission critical in terms of our big customers retention. it definitely had enormous impact on our sales and marketing abilities and opened for us new markets.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

project management was done mainly in the headquarters, Eliftech joined our "SCRUM" ceremonies and took major part in the Team.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their dedication is highly impressive for temporary development work. also relation to the product and production attentive.

Are there any areas for improvement?

i think that ELiftech developers can consult one another more about technical stuff, even though they work on different projects for different customers.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of TPH.CO, a marketplace for local vintage stores.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ElifTech?

We had an important legacy platform from a former developer. We were looking for developers who could refactor our web platform and maintain it in the future. We needed someone with a lot of experience who could reduce the technical debt within our platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They refactored our code and made it more scalable for the future. They came in to do more of the maintenance and to restructure the code. We didn’t hire them for new features, but now that they’ve been a good partner to us, they keep us moving forward. Our platform is a marketplace—it has different sides and is the storefront for different vendors. We have an admin panel and the marketplace itself.

What is the team composition?

We started with two resources, and now have one senior full stack developer and two who are a bit less experienced. We’re also taking on a project manager.

How did you come to work with ElifTech?

When you’re a startup starting to get some press, you get regular emails from development agencies. ElifTech was the only one who offered to meet in Stockholm where we’re based. They put in the effort to build a good relationship. Since we’ve worked with them, it’s been proven as well.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2017 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve been really happy with their work. It’s hard for companies like us to find developers in-house with their level of experience. It’s definitely had an impact on how fast our company has been able to grow and develop.

How did ElifTech perform from a project management standpoint?

They feel like they’re part of the team. We worked together with them on project management, using sprints and we use Jira. We have weekly meetings and talk about deadlines. The communication is good.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their work ethic is really good. The senior developer has been incredible since day one. He’s really fast at understanding our needs. We had a good communication with the CEO and other people on the team we had to talk to from time to time. They've proven that it's possible to work with and trust development agencies from different countries. They’re really good developers and a really good team.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Working with people remotely, you have to be even more specific about what you want. Otherwise, things can be a little delayed.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of HTC. We’re a technology consulting company that provides technology product design and implementation services to all types of businesses, but those based in the U.S.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ElifTech?

We needed to augment our team to speed up product development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They used PostgreSQL as well as React on the frontend, and Golang on the backend. It involved several Amazon Web Services (AWS) including the container repository, EC2 CloudFormation, and Route 53. They also used Heroku and all the typical players for an HTML5 app, such as JavaScript and CSS.

What is the team composition?

We had one or two engineers working on the project. We also interacted with a graphic designer, one of their QA engineers, and their CTO. Early on, I also interacted with their initial business development people.

How did you come to work with ElifTech?

They were referred by a friend who knew of them. I reached out and I liked how responsive and communicative they were, not only in their response time to questions but also by being proactive in reaching out to me. They weren’t pushy, always listened really well, and responded to my needs in a manner that I found easy to manage. I liked their style and demeanor, as well as the fact that they were knowledgeable about technology and actively working on relevant projects. I liked the way they conducted themselves from our first meeting. For those reasons, I kept on going and ultimately decided to do a project with them.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent $30,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in June 2017 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to successfully augment our team and speed up the development and the time to market. We gained exposure to Golang in a production environment that was new to me. I requested the stack we used, and they were ready to use whatever we needed them to. In addition to gaining a relationship with a quality organization, we accomplished what we set out to, which was to get the product done, done right, and more quickly.

How did ElifTech perform from a project management standpoint?

I like that they will use whatever the client prefers. They use the same tools that most good organizations do, such as Atlassian products, Trello, and Slack. As far as their project management style goes, I like it a lot.

They always did what they said they were going to do, in the time they said they would do it. They would communicate if they had any questions. They’re all bright, easy to get along with, and have good language skills. I see team augmentation as a management tool—even though they are managing themselves, you also have to manage that relationship.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to design and develop quality software from conflicting and complicated product requirements was impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I think they did a great job and I would use them again because they did well.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We're an online boutique web services agency, providing UX/UI, design, and development services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ElifTech?

We needed to find a quality development partner capable of facilitating development of products rapidly, while providing valuable feedback and transparency.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

ElifTech built a crowdsourcing MVP platform for our client, including frontend and backend services using HTML and other languages. We provided them with clear requirements, including payment gateway integration, in order for them to architecture the project and outline the scope and cost. After development, we went through a testing period and iterated in collaboration with clients before launching it.

What is the team composition?

I worked with a project manager and a team of developers, including a frontend and backend developer.

How did you come to work with ElfiTech?

They were referred to me by another software vendor we were working with. We weren't actively searching for a vendor, but I trusted the direction and recommendation that I received.

I have a lot of experience with outsourcing—it's basically my whole career. Finding top quality people isn't an issue for me, but I know to hold onto good vendors like ElfiTech when I come across them.

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested well over $25,000 in total. The most recent project came out to about $12,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our last project started in February or March 2016 and lasted about 6 months. We're still working on other projects with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our client is very happy with ElifTech's work. They've exceed expectations and delivered the platform without any bugs. Thus far, user feedback has all been positive.

How did ElifTech perform from a project management standpoint?

They're responsive and I never have issues to report back on. Everything moves along according to schedule.

I'd talk to the project manager once every couple weeks to get an update on the progress of everything. We used Asana to track projects at first, but have since moved over to Wrike. We also use Harvest for time tracking.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciate their transparency and willingness to provide instant feedback on requests or pushback if necessary.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear understanding of what you want to do and make sure that your concepts are laid out before you begin any project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CTO of a financial management company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ElifTech?

We wanted to update our legacy application into a full-size JavaScript application. To do this, we needed a team of full-stack developers experienced in modern technologies.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed multiple financial management applications using Node.js, MongoDB, npm, and ReactJS. I work with the developers to set up milestones that have to be completed within two- to three-week intervals.

Specifically, they created different functionalities that make our custom authentication module work properly. Our customers rely on different types of financial reports so when there are new requirements for financial reporting, I'll reach out to ElifTech. We'll talk through the technical aspects, and they'll develop new financial reporting applications for us. Additionally, they’ve developed an e-commerce payment platform that handles credit card, bank, and ACH transactions.

What is the team dynamic?

We work with two full-stack JavaScript developers. On bigger projects in that past, we have worked with four total developers.

How did you come to work with ElifTech?

I found them through Elance, which is now Upwork. We interviewed another provider, but ElifTech’s knowledge and desire to do more modern JavaScript development made them stand out.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $460,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2015, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve helped bring our application to where it is now. We're starting to manage a lot more customers and more money. The quality of their work is high. They’ve brought new ideas and technology to the company that’s allowed us to grow. The partnership has been quite successful.

How did ElifTech perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Jira as our product management and bug tracking software. Their communication and English skills were great, especially for an offshore team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They met my requirements for full-stack JavaScript developers. Not all service providers have that level of experience.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve had some bugs get through in the past where it seemed like they didn’t test thoroughly because the function didn’t work. I would recommend they look at their code carefully and leave enough time to properly test everything so bugs don’t get through.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder of Jam Tag. Our business essentially matches musicians together based on certain attributes, such as what instrument they play versus what instrument they want to play with. We use those attributes in a way that allows us to match musicians and show them who we recommend jamming with.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ElifTech?

We wanted to be able to make musicians interact with each other. The way musicians currently reach out to each other is very message forum-based, which is very archaic. I had a concept and a prototype ready to go and wanted it to be delivered from a development standpoint.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I created my prototype through mock-ups put together using hotspots on a service called Marvel App. We needed ElifTech to develop the web application, which is based on React. After I sent them the prototype, I had a call with their CTO in which they walked me through all the different options for delivering what I was asking for.

Their entire task was to get things into a workable state, as close to the prototype I provided, which they did. From there, they just had to make sure that everything they did matched the vision I had. I also wanted to have notifications for relevancy as soon as someone joins the platform.

ElifTech did all the backend development and took the design I gave them and created it. Within about four weeks, we had the working MVP but there are no mobile native applications for the project at the moment.

What is the team dynamic?

They assigned a developer who was dedicated to me full-time.

How did you come to work with ElifTech?

I was referred to ElifTech through a colleague I had previously worked with. She met them at a React conference and gave me their contact information.

How much have you invested in them?

We have invested around £5,000– £7,000 [U.S.$6,638–$9,293].

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2016 and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are hooked up to a Firebase database. The current user base is 396 and we get about five to six new users on a daily basis. Based on the activities of these users, I believe that 40% are active users. I’m currently doing all the marketing myself as it’s a self-financed project, mainly using pay-per-click targeted through the London region.

One thing I will say about ElifTech is that they are very responsive. As soon as I notice an issue, they are quick to fix it. We have a very good, stable product that none of my users have any issues with. We sometimes get feedback regarding what could be added to it, but never anything regarding the functionality. I'm very happy with the quality of the finished product.

They're also excellent at sticking to deadlines but budget-wise, the costs did expand once the research and development phase was complete. Despite this, 90% of the time, they are very good at delivering something I can test and give them feedback on quickly. It's a very healthy working relationship and I can contact them whenever I need iterations to be worked on.

How did ElifTech perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate mostly through Slack. They like to do demonstrations when they deliver a feature that may not be completely tested but developed enough for me to see the progress that is being made. We’ve shared screenshots as well and then make our questions through Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What I find most impressive about them is not only their attention and willingness to resolve issues but also their way of understanding and viewing the work as something more than just another project. It’s the main reason I keep going back to them. They also make recommendations on more efficient ways to do things, which could also be better for our user base.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not really. I love working with them and I wish I had a bigger budget to be able to have one of their developers full-time. Timelines occasionally get a little lost because the developers are working based on a timeline that is submitted to their superiors, so it slips a bit sometimes. Other than that, they have been extremely helpful, and I would totally use them again.

Do you have any advice for potential clients of theirs?

The only advice I would have for someone potentially working with them is to be very clear in your requirements. If you have good, clear requirements on what you are trying to achieve, they will be able to help and guide you in the most efficient way of delivering that.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a software company in Belgium. I provide services for other companies, but I also design and implement my own products and IT solutions. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ElifTech?

I’d worked with a lot of other companies from India, China, Russia, and Ukraine. I needed a reliable, scalable team for multiple projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve done various projects in the past on different technologies, from mobile technologies to web development. When I ask ElifTech for people with a specific degree of knowledge—senior, mid-level, or junior—they know what I need and provide the right people for my projects.

ElifTech said in the beginning that they were specialized in Node.js and MEAN.io web development. One of my biggest projects using that technology is still ongoing after more than 2 ½ years. Right now, 3–4 guys are working on that project for me from ElifTech.

The project is a track-and-trace and service management platform written in Node.js, Angular, and all the latest mobile development technology. I have 2 medium guys, 1 senior, and 1 junior guy doing the development. The medium resource is temporary because I needed somebody on short notice to finish a part of the project. ElifTech can easily and quickly scale their team.

Over the past few years, I’ve gotten to know the CEO of ElifTech. He knows what level of knowledge I need and finds a couple of resumes for me to review. I get to talk to the developers themselves. Once I agree with the selection, they start working. If I need 2 people, I usually get 4 or 5 resumes to choose from.

How did you come to work with ElifTech?

I was looking for freelancers online and stumbled upon ElifTech in Ukraine. I hired ElifTech because I knew the owner fairly well. I’m satisfied with their services. The employees have better English knowledge than the other the companies I’ve worked with from Ukraine. For me it’s very important to be able to communicate with my developers because I like to discuss our development goals, instead of just writing down some requirements, handing them off, and hoping that they’re met. Every day, we have hours of Skype calls. All of their developers are smart and know enough English to have a normal conversation about the project.

How much have you invested with ElifTech?

We have spent more than $100,000 over the past 2 years.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in August 2015, and the work is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The track and trace and the service management platform—maptrack.io—is online. Because of this platform, my company is about to get bought. I’m pretty happy with the work that we’ve done together. There’s no way around bugs. The developers deliver the code and test their delivered code. But, when the code gets into production, somebody always uses the module or the code in a way that was not foreseen and breaks it.

For now, I haven’t hired any testers because ElifTech can provide that service. Right now, the developers are doing the first line of testing, I’m doing the second line, and my customers are also doing some testing themselves. I’ve worked with other companies before, and ElifTech has shown a huge difference in delivery. They actually test what they deliver beforehand; they don’t just publish the code and hope that I never come across issues. I’m pretty happy about that.

How did ElifTech perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Skype and Google Hangouts to communicate. They send me the timesheets for each developer via Google Sheets. We use BitBucket, and they have Atlassian JIRA. ElifTech offers their own repositories and task management systems, but if clients have their own, they are more than willing to train their people in a new way of working. They’re not rigid.

Sticking to the schedule is harder at the beginning of a project. The team has to learn about the project setup. If it’s a huge project, ramping up to that level of knowledge may take 1–2 weeks. But, as soon as they get up to speed, they usually deliver on time. I have a senior developer who’s doing code review and also making sure that we’re on the same page with the other resources.

What did you find most impressive about ElifTech?

I insist that my developers are able to communicate well and are specialized in MEAN.io, Node.js, and the JavaScript web technology that’s growing in popularity. Everyone on ElifTech’s team meets these requirements—not just 1 senior resource. Everybody who is hired by ElifTech is supposed to have these technical skills.

Also, whenever I need to ramp up development, I can double or triple the number of developers within a few weeks. So far, all of the resources are enthusiastic and want to learn about my goals. They work even after-hours so that the next day, they can move on to the next step correctly.

Are there any areas ElifTech could improve?

I don’t have anything negative to say. I’ve been working with a lot of freelancers and companies who hire freelancers, and I’ve stuck with ElifTech because they have all the qualities I need. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Executive of Recomiend.app

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Reeno is a sservice-as-software startup in Madrid serving SMB renovators and running their commercial front-desks

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire ElifTech to accomplish?

• Build a 1st version of our internal operative system

SOLUTION

How did you find ElifTech?

Online Search

Why did you select ElifTech over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from ElifTech were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Define structure and implement the 1st versión.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Yes, 1st functional version delivered + documentation.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

They delivered all items on time and were flexible and attentive.

What was your primary form of communication with ElifTech?

Virtual Meeting

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

Flexibility and perfect fit for the engineer we needes in terms of skillset and personality/work ethic/values.

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

No