Exoft

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the COO of wellsUP, an organization that sells SaaS for the oil and gas industry. We do monitoring and surveillance, as well as diagnostics and optimization of artificial lift systems.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Exoft?

We needed to apply the latest technologies and use some out-of-the-box thinking. I had a team in India that worked for the company and they were a direct-hire, but they lacked creativity. I wanted a partner who had unique ideas, using some of the latest technologies, Microservices, distributed systems, as well as cloud-based elasticity.

There were a lot of concerns from a SaaS perspective. We wanted someone who had experience on that side, offered good ideas, and was willing to do the research and give us recommendations before they commenced the work. 

We didn't want it to simply provide them with the specs and then have them just carry out the development; wanted someone to help us and steer us in the right direction.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started by giving them an overview of our intention without providing them with written documents and specs. We worked on multiple quick prototypes or proof of concepts (POC) of elements that might be in line with what we were thinking of until we finally agreed on something to move forward with. 

Exoft then helped us write and define complete specs for the software. They did the proof of concept and brainstormed with us to properly define what we wanted. The team also did the development, testing, and validation by hosting the initial product. 

They used C#, Microservices, containers for virtualization technologies, MongoDB, and Cassandra. We used certain types of databases for certain tasks and also structured and unstructured in a different database. The team ported C++ code into it as well. Now, they take care of maintenance. 

What is the team composition?

It varied. My main contact was Ivan (Co-Founder), and he assigned us a project manager who did most of the conference calls and weekly updates.

How did you come to work with Exoft?

Initially, we found them after conducting a search. We sold my old company to a large multinational organization, and Exoft continued to do a lot of work for us. After we sold the company, I stayed there for two years and then when I started my own business, I contacted them.

How much have you invested in them?

We have spent around $300,000–$350,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them on this project in 2015, and the work is still ongoing. They still provide maintenance and support, and they’re adding new features as well.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Anytime I have an issue, Exoft jumps on it immediately. They support my team, and if we need something urgently but it’s still in the approval process, they get me the proof of concept (POC) quickly so that we can validate the idea. Their support is top-notch and that is really the main motivation I have.

How did Exoft perform from a project management standpoint?

They provided us with progress reports during the development phase. All of the team members can communicate in English, but, occasionally, some of them had a tough time understanding. Nevertheless, it all worked out in the end. 

As far as communicating the progress and the project schedules, their communication is peer-to-peer and prompt. They are always aware of our deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

One thing that stood out was that anytime we wanted to do something, they were so quick to give me a proof of concept (POC). Other vendors would want you to go engage with them on a long-term contract, overcomplicating the POC. 

When you tell Exoft what you want, they do it quickly. You validate what you want and they go ahead and put meat on the bones.

Are there any areas they could improve?

When you need resources, they might be engaged in other projects. At some points, they had more projects than they could handle. To be fair, when we gave them a heads up, they did provide the resources. 

Sometimes, I selfishly want things to be done faster. However, Exoft isn’t always able to provide me those resources due to their scheduling, workload, and other commitments. Additionally, they all write well in English, but not all of them are fluent in spoken English.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you give them a heads up on any project you want to get done. You will get the right resources for your needs. The best way to leverage them is when you have ideas and want to be creative, engage them early on, and they will come up with a quick proof of concept (POC). 

The team will also help you come up with ideas. If you have any ambiguity about what you want to do, they are a great team to help, and that is what sets them apart.

If you have a project with written specs, there are a million companies that can do it, including them. But if you have out-of-the-box ideas and want to come up with the best and latest and greatest for your environment and your development, they are head and shoulders above a lot of other companies I have worked with.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a software company. We provide software development services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Exoft?

We needed high-quality software engineers at a rate that was affordable to my customers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve been working on a software platform for a customer of mine. In that time, they've been writing the code for the solution. They have a very good understanding of Microservices for the domain-driven design. Their experience with .NET and .NET Core is excellent.

They were building high-scale features for a platform for tens of thousands of people concurrently with appointment scheduling, building custom reports from scratch, etc.

The use event sourcing on CQRS. They use ESB as a service bus. They use Cosmos DB in Azure and much of the Azure Cloud infrastructure all deployed in docker containers inside Kubernetes.

Their team uses SQL server as well as some CI/CD tools. They use Azure DevOps like Octopus Deploy along with various frameworks.

What is the team composition?

I have two teams from Exoft.

How did you come to work with Exoft?

I interviewed about 15 different providers and I went with two. Exoft was one of them. They seemed like an established, professional business in Ukraine, which was what I was looking for. They came in at the right price. They had very high-quality engineers.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2019, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The Exoft teams delivered twice the number of features than the customer’s internal development team delivered every two weeks. They’ve done very well, performing beyond my expectations.

How did Exoft perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very good. I’m the product owner from my customers, and they provide custom software development services for my customers. This involves daily conference calls with myself and my customers. Exoft is very professional and good at what they do. They're impressive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Relationship management was one of the things that separate them from other providers that I’ve used. They have a really good understanding of continuous deployment and continuous delivery.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we have a very good working relationship with them. They delivered what I asked of them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Work with them. They’re very good. I’ll be using them again.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am CEO of a Legaltech Startup. We are developing software that lets lawyers build legal expert systems.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Exoft ?

We had a simple prototype of our solution developed inhouse. We needed to create a minimum viable product of our solution. We hired Exoft to build an MVP using modern Microsoft technologies.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal of the project was to develop a fully functional MVP that could be presented to investors and potential clients. The solution had to be built using Angular, ASP.NET Core and hosted on Azure.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were recommended to us by another company. After conducting an interview with Exoft, we decided to try their services.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Exoft received our requirements and specifications, they determined the scope of the project and provided a talented developer to work on the project. We used Scrum framework to manage the project with two-week sprints.

What was the team composition?

The team consisted of one project manager from our side and one full stack developer from Exoft. Exoft changed a developer during the project but the transition went smoothly.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Exoft succeded in completing development of our solution on time and according to specification.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We used Scrum framework for project management, where we had daily scrum meetings through Skype. Azure DevOps was used for planning and tracking the progress. It was easy to communicate with developers since they are fluent in English, it helped also that our project manager is fluent in Ukrainian.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were impressed by the skill level and talent of the developers as well as their attitude towards the project. They are not afraid to express their ideas and propose solutions that can benefit the project.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There is always something one can improve but there have not been any major issues.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a leading electric car charging service provider. I am the head of engineering.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Exoft ?

Our company hired Exoft for the following projects: development of B2C user portals, portals for B2B partners and a public website.

What were your goals for this project?

Extend and improve functionality, incorporate designs developed by UX.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Via an online freelancer platform.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Fleet portal: an online tool for registration and management of fleets. CPO portal: an online tool for registration and management of CPO partners. White label portals: an online tool for registration and management of OEM customers. POC: an operations centre for internal administration processes. Public website

What was the team composition?

The two frontend engineers worked underneath the product owner and UX specialist.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The projects were important for more efficient, streamlined management of B2B and B2C customer relationships.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The two frontend engineers worked underneath the product owner and UX specialist. The project timeframe was managed following best practices of Agile/SCRUM framework.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Company provided services as requested! We did not have to use resources to recruit or administer for these roles.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We found the services provided to be adequate.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director of marketing at an event planning platform. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Exoft?

We were in the process of moving to a new platform and we needed additional development resources. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Exoft mainly helps us with Angular web development. We usually give them the wireframes and they implement our requirements. Their backend developer joined us pretty late in two development projects, but they picked it up very quickly. We were happy with the work, so we ended up bringing on a frontend developer as well. 

What is the team composition? 

We mostly work with a backend Angular developer and a frontend developer. 

How did you come to work with Exoft?

We found them on Upwork. We needed a team that was fluent in Russian, because that's where our team is set up. We gave Exoft a sample project and they did a great job, so the relationship grew from there.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent about $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement? 

We started working with Exoft in April 2019, and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Exoft has definitely demonstrated a strong level of understanding and attention to details. If we have any feedback, they're always willing to implement it.

How did Exoft perform from a project management standpoint? 

We use Skype to keep in touch, and they have daily scrum meetings. They're fluent in both English and Russian, which makes it easy to work with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Overall, we're happy with the quality of their work. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a customer service professional at BIS consulting, which is an IT consulting company serving tax offices and appraisal districts in Texas and a few other states. Our goal is to create apps to make people’s lives easier.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Exoft?

We needed help in development after our senior developer left the company. At that point, we were only left with one developer, so we had to find some additional support.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Exoft has been working alongside our in-house team of developers. They’ve learned our apps and code, so they can upgrade and fix them when needed. We’ve been able to give them requests for changes or fixes throughout our partnership. We provide all the information they need to get started, and then they get things done.

So far, we’ve tackled several big projects with them and continue to keep three of their developers on full-time.

What is the team composition?

We work with about 7–8 members of their team, including an account manager and a project lead.

How did you come to work with Exoft?

After our senior developer left the company, our CEO did a web search for contract developers and came across Exoft. From there, he looked at their Facebook page. It was important to us that our company cultures matched—we wanted someone with our same casual, fun approach. Our CEO saw that on their Facebook, which was refreshing. We hired them from there, and it’s been a really fun experience, even when we’re facing stressful time crunches.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $100,00–$250,000 over the course of our many projects together.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2019, and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Across the board, everyone here who has worked with them has found it to be a great experience. They’re able to really focus on the task at hand without the same kind of interruptions we experience in-house. We’re able to move through assignments quickly that way.

We appreciate that they never jump onto a project or give any estimates until they understand exactly what we need from them.

How did Exoft perform from a project management standpoint?

Every project so far has come in ahead of the original deadline, which has been excellent. Communication has been easy despite the time zone difference. They use all of our internal tools: Slack, email, DevOps ticketing system, and Zoom. They have a great attitude and get projects done quickly.

Since our holidays are different, they’ve readjusted their schedules at times to fit our needs, which is going above and beyond.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve been able to interact with the whole team directly, and they’re all responsive and great to work with. Their sense of humor really stands out and speaks to our team. Their culture completely matches ours, which is important to us. It feels like we’re working with an extension of our own company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I just wish we’d known about them sooner.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CTO of LogiPlan. We are a company that specializes in logistics solutions for construction firms.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Exoft?

We did some of the design and development work in-house for a software solution, but we needed some extra help so that we could launch our product faster.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We currently have a software application which helps our customers plan their logistics on a construction site. Typically, our users are construction companies, logistics firms, or sometimes a self-contractor.

Our team decided on the specifications and requirements before starting on the design and development work. We relied on Exoft to expand our team so that we could expedite that process and develop with Microsoft Azure, Angular, and REST APIs created with ASP.NET. They added more architectural work, analysis, and implementation, as well as support from a project manager.

We charged Exoft with setting up a team to determine the scope. We needed help initially because the project was just starting, and Exoft maned to put together some basic functionalities. As our confidence grew in them, we expanded their team with more developers to continue helping on the next phase of development and testing.

What is the team composition?

We work directly with a team of around five people, including project management support. 

How did you come to work with Exoft?

I found their profile on Upwork and contacted them. We began with a smaller assignment, and they proved their worth for a more prolonged engagement.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them on this project in January 2019, and the work is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They have dedicated people and several very talented developers on the team, which is why we continue working with them. Sometimes it is hard to find a smaller company that has the right people for the job. With Exoft, we have been happy with their experience, talent, and dedication. We fully trust them and believe we can meet our hard deadline with their help.

How did Exoft perform from a project management standpoint?

We work more in an agile way. We adjusted the scope and details along the way according to the time we had left to meet deadlines. There is a lot of project management from our side, but they do a lot of managing the team. We have one person that is always in contact with us through Slack, emails, and Skype.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a great team of people. We met them this year, and they are great people to be in contact with and to work with. Communication has been very good, and nothing has been misunderstood.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We have very high requirements for all of our products, and we ask their developers to be mindful of that every day. Because they have other customers as well, I think it was a bit harder for them to determine what quality means for us. Largely, though, I think they have adjusted to what we need, and we’ve worked well together.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m an engineer for a Ukrainian engineering company that develops software solutions for truck and train scales.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Exoft?
We hired Exoft because we had a factory agreement to test a concept for a logistics software product, but we didn’t have the resources to build it.

We were building software that could automatically follow trucks across loading processes within a factory. It would control the entire process of loading and scaling, ultimately producing reports for the customers. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?
Our company produced the hardware, while Exoft built the software. We’re currently at the third and final phase. The team is finishing the last tasks, including creating a dashboard. So far, the project has amounted to around 3,000 work hours for Exoft. 

After giving them a project concept, they gave me a range of technologies to choose from, explaining the pros and cons of each one. Then, we made a decision together on how to proceed with the project. The software was built on ASP.NET, and the database was on the factory’s Microsoft SQL Server. The frontend of the solution was built with Bootstrap.

What is the team composition?
I’ve worked with three software engineers from Exoft. Since we’re currently working on the final tasks, we’ve reduced the team size to just one engineer.

How did you come to work with Exoft?
I was referred to Oleg (Co-Founder & CEO, Exoft) by a mutual friend I trust.

What is the status of this engagement?
We began working together in September 2018 and the partnership is ongoing. The solution will launch on a website within a couple of months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
The team’s expertise filled a resource gap for us. We can always rely on them to do a good job. We can go to them whenever we have an appropriate client project, and they will give us a quote and handle the entire job for us.

How did Exoft perform from a project management standpoint?
They were excellent at adjusting their resources to fit our needs. Our product required a lot of testing, and Exoft agreed to assign specialists to the task on a 24-hour basis. 

They’ve been keeping me updated throughout each step of the process. They are a responsive team that likes to view the impact of their work firsthand. They even came to the factory with me. 

What did you find most impressive about them?
They were willing to work longer hours when we needed something urgently. They’re always thinking about how our projects can be improved, and they always perform research before executing a task. 

Are there any areas they could improve?
I’ll be able to speak more about possible improvements after the software has launched. Exoft has handled all the tasks I’ve given them very well. As I haven’t worked with other software developers, I’m not sure where they could improve. 

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?
Customers looking to work with Exoft should focus on communicating with the team because they have insightful ideas. They are always looking for better ways to complete a task. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the co-founders of a young marketing campaign company. We provide mobile outdoor advertising on bicycles. Companies can pay to advertise with us, and we pay people to host advertisements on their bicycles.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Exoft?

We had an IT resource who was responsible for constructing the first version of our website, but our needs expanded and we realized we needed a higher-level resource. This launched our search for a partner with the requisite knowledge.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

While our functionalities were fairly well developed, Exoft has been working to improve them, including allowing us to filter drivers by name and city. Their work is complete for now, but we have them on standby if another project comes up. Their past work has mostly been done using .NET Core 2.1, Angular 5, Azure, C#, and an in-house database. We handle all our own design work.

What is the team composition?

Initially, we had one frontend developer and one backend developer. Our needs changed in the middle of the project, however, and we began working with one supervisor and his apprentice.

How did you come to work with Exoft?

Our previous IT resource put together a job description that received significant engagement from different developers. He was also familiar with Exoft. Their transparency convinced us to work with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from June 2018 until February 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website and its functionalities are much better than they were before.

How did Exoft perform from a project management standpoint?

We managed the project with Jira, and they were responsive to all my questions, answering me within an hour. Their time and cost estimates were quite accurate, too. They were accessible and transparent throughout.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication and flexibility stood out to us, as did their ability to comprehend our needs rapidly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I would have appreciated if they had translated IT-speak into more accessible language for us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you have someone with IT knowledge on your team. Otherwise, working with a company like Exoft can be challenging.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the VP of innovation and development for a healthcare software solutions provider.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Exoft?

We were looking to augment our internal development staff with additional resources in order to turn around projects more quickly. We were struggling to keep up with development, testing, and execution of sprint cycles. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Most of the work they do revolves around Responsive Web & API builds on .NET stack and integrating the application with other healthcare ancillary applications.

What is the team composition?

We have a project manager and some developers on our end who collaborate with eight developers and two testers from their team.

How did you come to work with Exoft?

Although I was reluctant to work with an offshore company at first, a good friend of mine recommended Exoft based on his experience with them. After he introduced me to their team and we started working with them, I was very pleased with their performance and decided to establish a long-term partnership.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent $527,000 to date.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them since May 2017 and we plan to continue the relationship for at least a couple more years.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When I joined the company, we had about 11 consultants in-house, but now that we work with Exoft we've been able to offload most of our work and save on costs. They've successfully taken a lot of our workload off our plate and helped us improve our sprint cycles significantly. Due to the time difference, I can rest easy knowing that they're watching our servers while our offices are closed.

Exoft provides a tremendous amount of value, which is why we plan on working with them for a long time. They've been able to quickly understand our standards and protocols, producing very good results in the process.

How did Exoft perform from a project management standpoint?

At first, they seemed a little nervous about communicating with our team due to some language barriers, but after a few months, we've all become very comfortable with each other. I can't tell the difference from when I'm speaking to my on-site employees versus a developer from Exoft.

Our project manager collaborates well with their team members, tracking everything through Visual Studio. Someone on their end always takes the lead on projects, which helps to maintain a certain level of consistency. They're also quite good from a technology perspective, providing valuable input where they see potential to improve outcomes of a project. In that sense, they've been able to often deliver over and above what we've asked of them. The resources they offer really set them apart in that way—they take their work very seriously.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their attention to detail and ability to deliver more than what's expected of them within our timelines sets them apart. They also take ownership in their work, and always make sure it's done correctly and on time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think it would help them to focus on developing the knowledge and skills of their internal staff, rather than focus too much on hiring additional resources to fill any gaps.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Give them at least a few weeks to select the right resources for your project. Once you're set up with the right team of people, I'm positive that they'll be able to produce quality outcomes for your company with a level of ownership that will surprise you. I also recommend going into the relationship with a detailed idea of what you're hoping to achieve, providing thorough job requirements if possible.