Forma Pro

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CTO for my company

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Forma-pro, and what were your goals?

We hired Forma-Pro to help with our bespoke CRM using a PHP Framework

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

I did a search for people that had worked using the Symfony framework and that had open source project on Github. I needed proof that they could indeed work in this field.

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

They help with the backend development. It is a continual type of work so there are no “key project steps” nor “key deliverables”.  The technologies used are: JS (ReactJS), PHP using the Symfony framework and of course HTML/CSS

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

We have used about 4 maybe 5 developers over the lifetime, but normally we just hire one developer at a time

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Forma Pro have been our partners for a few years now and have played an important part in helping with our web development. I would happily recommend them for anyone considering using their services.

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

We use Redmine and Skype. I did try Teams but they haven’t been able to really make use of it fully yet.  Hopefully that will change though going forward.

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

Their knowledge of Symfony and the best practises they used was impressive.

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

Communication using more modern tools such as Teams would help

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Monsterful is a VR company that is focused on providing best in class vr baseball training system that has applicatuion in all levels of baseball from youth to professional

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Forma-pro?

To improve our software architecture with a detailed implementation that improved our VR interface

What were your goals for this project?

Scope was to create an API that ran through our VR application and an administrative interface that allows coaches to plan and interact with the VR system

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

One of our team members has a history with Forma pro

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Team was provided with functional requirements and were asked to design and implement a system that accomplished our objectives in a highly iterative fashion. Outcome was to produce an API that ran through our VR application and an administrative interface that allows coaches to plan and interact with the VR system.

What was the team composition?

Team consisted of 3-4 individuals depending on scope of work each month.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Execution on code and software delivery was completed in a highly efficient manner which was our expectation.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project was offshore and we did not experience any communication or productivity issues

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They went above and beyond when it came to producing UX critical thinking skills and in there ability to push back on requirements that were not defined well or that could be improved.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No suggestions for improvement

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a marketing agency that builds and promotes websites, SaaS applications, and other products and marketing assets for clients around the world. Founded in 1998, we are based in the Chicagoland area in the United States. I am the Founder and CEO of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Forma-pro?

We hired Forma-Pro to help us build several SaaS applications. These apps had a variety of complex functionality that needed to be planned, coordinated, implemented and tested. We needed to hire a team that is skilled at working on complex projects, is easy to work with, and maintains good communication.

What were your goals for this project?

We designed innovative SaaS applications and needed programmers who could take our vision and turn it into reality. We knew many of the features would be tricky to implement, and we needed programmers who were willing to implement complex functionality as well as propose clever ideas on how to modify the designed functionality whenever a better solution was possible from a programming perspective. In other words, we needed programmers that understood the projects well enough to offer valuable input and be willing to implement difficult solutions. The programming needed to be done in PHP (Symfony framework) as well as other related technologies. The finished products needed to be both feature-rich and high-performance, which required unique caching solutions.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We did an extensive online search for potential vendors, and interviewed several leading candidates. We were impressed by Forma-Pro's professionalism, communication level, and understanding of the technology and development process required for our projects.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We were assigned programmers that we could directly communicate with, as well as a project manager who supervised the overall projects and was available to address any potential issues that may come up. The programmers communicated regularly about their progress, asked questions to clarify specs whenever needed (but only when needed -- for the most part they understood the specs right away and took responsibility for the implementation), and were available for discussion and advice whenever we had a particularly difficult feature to design and needed feedback from the programmers. The programmers were very accommodating and flexible when it came to following our preferred administrative procedures for communicating specs, reporting progress, and deploying completed work. Timelines were adhered to and work was always completed in a timely manner.

What was the team composition?

Forma-Pro provided a stable project manager and assigned dedicated full-time programmers who worked with me directly as well as several other members of my team (graphic designer, frontend programmer, etc.).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

With Forma-Pro's help, we have built several applications that have impressed our clients and customer base. Forma-Pro was responsive and able to keep up with needed updates as we ran beta tests with our clients, which made the development process go smoothly. We always felt like we had Forma-Pro's full support backing us up. They went out of their way to assist us as much as possible.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We were assigned a project manager who managed the overall project and handled any issues that came up during the development process. However, we mostly worked directly with the programmers who were very responsible and capable. The programmers managed the projects very well on their own, so we rarely needed to work with the project manager. The programmers were skilled and professional, and easy to work with. They worked with minimal supervision and did excellent work, always delivered on time. Communication was good throughout the entire process.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

There were two things that really stood out about this company: 1. They seemed to genuinely care about our projects and the success of our company. It felt more like working with a partner than hiring an independent vendor. 2. The skill and responsibility level of the programmers was impressive. They worked with minimal supervision and delivered excellent work. We always felt confident that the work was being done efficiently without wasted time, and that it would be done right. It is rare to find this level of responsibility and competence, and we felt very fortunate to be working with them on our projects.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Another great thing about working with Forma-Pro was their flexibility and willingness to work with our needs. They had their own internal workflow processes established, but were willing to make adjustments in that workflow to accommodate our needs. Whenever we felt there may be room for improvement on some aspect of the development process, we discussed it with our project manager and they went out of their way to make adjustments to meet our needs. Any time we weren't 100% happy with something, they would take responsibility and handle it for us.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former CTO of e-butik.se. It’s one of the largest e-commerce platforms in Scandinavia. We sold the business in 2013.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Forma-pro?

We needed more developers. We built a new platform in PHP. We previously worked with Microsoft Classic ASP.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

One developer initially worked with isolated tasks, but the team and tasks were extended. They helped switch our platform from CodeIgniter to Symfony.

What is the team composition?

Initially, we hired one developer. That increased to four once we were comfortable that they could handle the tasks. Alex (CEO & Founder) and Eugene (PHP Developer) were the main points of contact early on, but we had more direct contact with the developers later in the project.

How did you come to work with Forma-pro?

We used a recruitment company to find developers locally without much success. I found Alex on Upwork. I chose his company because they specialized in Symfony and one of their coders had experience with e-commerce work.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested roughly $300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from June 2011 to December 2013.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their developers are partially responsible for the company attracting the offer it did. If we didn’t have them on board, we wouldn’t have been able to sell the company for the same profit.

How did Forma-pro perform from a project management standpoint?

We had morning stand-up meetings. We started with a different project management tool but ended up using Jira as it was more suitable. I worked on-site with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication and skills set them apart from other providers. English isn’t my first language, nor was it the developers’ first language, but they got help and were able to communicate well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were none.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

With all business or development relationships, it’s important to be close to get things done.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there. 

I'm the director of software engineering. We provide an online payment portal for renters. As they pay their rent through us, we report the payments to the credit bureaus so that renters can build credit.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Forma-pro?

Forma-pro has actually been with us since our inception. They pretty much built our entire backend infrastructure, and we've been working with them ever since.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Forma-pro focuses on the backend as we do most of the frontend work in-house. We have a classic stack. We use Linux, Nginx, PHP with Symfony, and a MySQL database. They put together a strong architecture from the ground up. They architected our entire backend based on a Symfony framework. In terms of process, we focus on making the technical specifications. From there, they produce stories that they use to implement a tech stack. We'll review it to make sure that everything is being communicated correctly. We either verify their designs, or we do the design work ahead of time and give it to them for implementation. They also make many architectural decisions themselves, or give us input based on what the backend is supposed to do. 

We employ a scrum agile process. I lead standups with the entire team every morning. We usually start with the tech stack. Forma-pro looks at the tech spec, writes Jira tickets, and provides estimations. Our sprints go an entire month because of our workflow. They spend a week or so estimating stories and then about two weeks on development. We do have a dedicated QA engineer who does QA throughout the sprint. Everyone works on QA in the week before the release. Then the process starts over again. Their manager works with us every Tuesday and Thursday for about two hours in order to make sure everything's getting put together correctly. 

What is the team composition? 

Our main point of contact is the manager. We do work directly with everyone on the team, but she does most of the project coordination. 

How did you come to work with Forma-pro? 

We gave them a trial task and they performed better than the other companies we considered. Their test-driven philosophy was attractive. That’s something we believe our product should have in order to maintain itself going forward and as a strong foundation for our company. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $1.5 million to date.

What is the status of this engagement? 

Work started in August 2012 and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our portal has been live for 5–6 years. It’s continually evolving as the marketplace is changing and we bring on new integrations and features. If anything, Forma-pro’s contribution has increased over the years. The team has grown on their side and will continue to grow. We plan to use them for the foreseeable future. I honestly don't see us ever ending our relationship.

Forma-pro are experts when it comes to Symfony and PHP. They also do a really good job of staffing. They can move someone off the team if we have any issues. When we need to grow the team, they bring us people who are super competent. They've always been able to meet our expectations. 

How did Forma-pro perform from a project management standpoint?

Our sprints are largely successful every month. Forma-pro is quite good at setting accurate expectations, which is impressive for a team of their size and for this long of a sprint. It shows that they put in the work on the front end in order to make sure they get the estimation correct. If there is ever any slip ups or if we need extra manpower, they're always able to provide that as well. They never sugarcoat anything or over promise. That allows me to give accurate information to our product managers and CTO, which helps move the product forward. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team is so professional. They strive to be experts in their field. They always staff us with professional people who are respectful. Sometimes they don't agree with the directions we want to go, but in the end they always provide the work they promised. Forma-pro’s communication is also stellar. We have very open communication between our teams. That helps provide a nice work environment both for us and for them. 

Are there any areas they could improve? 

No, I don't really have anything they can improve. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

Have a clear idea of what you need and be able to give them an accurate specification. Be prepared for them to overhaul your code base. They're very exact on their coding standards and methodologies. They're not willing to work with a subpar code base or legacy tech stacks that they don't think are the right way to go. Be prepared to invest in the best, and then they’ll create a product that you'll be happy to move forward with.