GogoApps

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Offline Touchpoints Development Executive

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We needed a time management program and a payroll program for the staff working on our promotional campaigns in the field

SOLUTION

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

We needed a time management program and a payroll program for the staff working on our promotional campaigns in the field

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

The application was needed to settle working time and manage the work of people involved in the promotion of our products in the field (promotional stands). At the first meeting, the subcontractor wanted to know as much of our expectations as possible, our vision of the application, and the functionality to be met. Next meetings were held with the CTO and Head of Design to establish all technical details. Later, we conducted online meetings cyclically every week to discuss the details and next steps. The main languages used to create the backend are K8s and Golang.

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

One product manager, two backend developers, one frontend developer, senior designer, illustrator and occasional QA

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The software helped us a lot in systematizing the hostes' working time and unifying the appearance of the stands. Thanks to this software, we were able to reduce the time spent by our regional managers on checking promotional stands, thanks to which they can spend more time on other important tasks.

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

The management style can be described as "modern and effective". Most of the communication during the project was via messenger (slack).

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

They have a speed of action and an intuitive approach to the project that suited us very well. We relied on their knowledge and experience

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

At first we had to get used to the way developers work, but after a short time we managed to get it right

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

CEO/ Owner

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Creating an application for virtual home furnishing based on the photos taken

SOLUTION

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

Selected on the basis of internet research and opinions collected among companies in the industry

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

Comprehensive application preparation for both computers and mobile devices. Application for placing furniture in photos of rooms with given dimensions, colors and details. The technologies used are mainly golang, kubernetes, as well as frontend and design programs. GogoApps worked on the application from start to finish

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

During the most intensive works: 3 backend developers, 2 front end developers, pm, designer, QA

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The main advantage of the application is that we can show the client in real time how his dream apartment may look like after being furnished. This translates into sales.

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

Very good communication. We discussed everything with PM on an ongoing basis. GogoApps works in SCRUM, which we like very much. Weekly sprints were a very good solution.

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

Pleasant cooperation with young people who know their job. Their full professionalism with good humor was impressive.

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

As always, it could be cheaper, but working with such excellent professionals must come at a price.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a co-owner of a large format printing house. I manage production processes and I am responsible for contact with key clients

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We wanted to create an application to create a quick visualization of the project in a real photo. Car stickers, signage designs and notice boards Goals : Creating an application that will respond to our needs and will be able to quickly visualize the design of a wrapped car on a real photo. This visualization made it very easy to show customers what their car will look like after finishing our work

SOLUTION

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

Word of mouth, positive feedback and ease of contact.

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

Creating an application that will respond to our needs and will be able to quickly visualize the design of a wrapped car on a real photo. This visualization made it very easy to show customers what their car will look like after finishing our work

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

2 Designers ; 1 Backend developer; 1 Frontend developer; ;PM

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The application helped us attract new customers. It is much easier for us to talk about potential projects when we can show the client what the final effect will look like

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

We worked in SCRUM with weekly sprints. We had constant access to materials and progress. PM was at our disposal and communicated the progress of work very well

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

The most impressive things about them are their knowledge of current trends, guidance, professionalism, and positivity.

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

I have no objections

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

The objective of E-bus battery project is the development of a modular battery system capable of using new types of cells of different chemistry for applications in the public transport sector and for re-use in stationary applications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired GogoApps to design an front-end application for monitoring electric vehicles and testing the level of energy recovery from the braking process, the level of energy consumption and general control of processes while driving.

SOLUTION

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

Before starting cooperation, we did extensive research. We chose several options when reading the reviews and asking our friends for opinions. After the first talks, we knew that GogoApps would be the best choice for us.

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

The project consisted in creating UX Design and FrontEnd Development for software supporting electric vehicles and monitoring the work of individual processes while driving.

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

Project Manger; 2 FrontEnd developers; 2 UX Designer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I can't say much, except that everything went as planned and the final product was delivered on time, without errors and in accordance with the contract. We are very pleased with this cooperation

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

We limited our contact to conversations with PM in the form of SCRUM meetings, slack or video calls. All current arrangements were immediately implemented, which gave us a sense of understanding and allowed us to focus on other business matters.

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

Keeping deadlines, the form of communication and the level of experience of the developers was the most impressive in our cooperation

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

As always, the service could be cheaper but at the end of the project we know what we are paying for. The quality of workmanship, the level of communication, and the speed of operation were all worth the price. The level of comfort of working with GogoApps is at the highest world level.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

• Design and implement business strategies, plans and procedures.
• Set comprehensive goals for performance and growth.
• Establish policies that promote company culture and vision.
• Oversee daily operations of the company and the work of executives (IT, Marketing, Sales, Finance etc.)
• Management of a 120-person machine park team

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We needed a company that would comprehensively deal with the creation of software for managing production processes, printing processes and handling many processes necessary for efficient business

SOLUTION

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

The company GogoApps was recommended to us by a friendly entrepreneur. After reviewing the company's portfolio and holding the first talks, we decided to cooperate.

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

The project was comprehensive. From design through frontend, backend and ending with designing a mobile application. Languages used during production are Golang, React, Graph ql, Kubernetes, Kotlin, Obiective C

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

2 Frontend developers; 3 Backend developers ; 3 Designer ; PM

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Simple question :) After implementing the software, many processes in our company run more smoothly, employees are satisfied with the functionality of the software, device operation takes less time and there is less risk of making a mistake. We are very pleased with the cooperation

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

The meetings were conducted in two-week sprints. All of them are very businesslike and understandable by the project manager. We could find out about the advancement of the project at any time. Everything ran smoothly

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

Their professionalism, communication, commitment, knowledge of trends made the greatest positive impression on me

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

With such a complicated project, I am surprised that there were no problems on the way! Everything went great!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

My role as a Business Partner is to prepare, develop, execute and supervise GoNextStage Business Development Strategy. I am responsible also for Sales & Marketing area, cooperating with our Partners and Clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We entrusted GogoApps with comprehensive reworking of our Customer website by going through BackEnd, Frontend and Design. We got a lot of positive opinions from our friends about the company, so we decided to cooperate with them. We wanted to work with great Golang developers. The knowledge of kubernetes was also very important to us. The readability of the website was very important to us. We also paid a lot of attention to the speed of operation and simple navigation. The beautiful design and appearance of the website exceeded our expectations.

SOLUTION

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

Very good reviews, extensive portfolio and specialization in Golang. The way of conducting business talks and work culture were also a big plus. From the first conversation I knew that we will have a successful cooperation ahead of us.

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

We wanted to focus on our business as much as possible, so the model of working in two-week sprints was an invaluable value. We entrusted the entire project to GogoApps and reduced the contact to talks with the project manager

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

Project Manger; 2 Web developers; QA Specialist; UI Designer ; UX Designer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After the website was modernized, we have noticed with Customer almost doubled traffic on the website. Potential customers spend more time on subpages, which largely translates into increases in business.

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

A very transparent and appropriate form of communication. We participated in SCRUM meetings, conversations with the project manager on the slack and verbally were enough to keep us up to date with information about the project

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

I was most impressed by the level of professionalism of the developers. Communication provided us with comfort and allowed us to focus on other topics. Keeping all the deadlines to the day was also impressive

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

I do not see the areas on which our cooperation would require improvement. Everything was perfect :)

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was an Android engineer for a mobile application company. I led their international contracting effort, which involved multiple companies in Poland working on assigned projects for us.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with GogoApps?

We needed GogoApps because resources constrained us, and we needed a lot of software development to happen to enable our product roadmap to stay on schedule. This business problem enabled us to accelerate hiring, and we weren't able to do that locally. We needed to hire a big team of engineers within an affordable budget, and GogoApps came as a solution.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

GogoApps worked on a variety of projects for different departments in our company, mostly over open-source mobile. One of these projects, a massively parallel test runner, needed six mobile engineers to resolve bugs and add new features. I believe they’re still working on providing the company with that support. Another project they’ve worked on is deploying Gradle Enterprise, a commercial software that improves build speeds for the business, which was complicated since it required DevOps engineers. GogoApps provided us with their Ops team, who handled the deployment, and that ended up speeding up our ability. 

They’ve also provided us with a technical program management team that helped us coordinate all the projects that were in flight. Since we had multiple departments involved, that was very helpful. They’ve also helped by outlining expectations and communicating status updates. 

Moreover, their design team has been very helpful, creating Figma prototypes for the websites and internal dashboards we needed to develop. 

Overall, they’ve helped us with the internal development tools and infrastructure. If there have been any pieces of developer productivity engineering that needed to happen, they could come in and optimize it. 

What is the team composition?

There have been probably 20 people from GogoApps involved. We’d organize them by team as the project came in and then set up a team with the appropriate engineers. There have been backend and frontend engineers involved for security projects, and for some of the research that we did into web testing, we had a QA engineer and a couple of web engineers.

How did you come to work with GogoApps?

We did an extensive research project in partnership with our base operations team, and we looked at multiple countries, multiple vendors. They were shortlisted based on feedback that we got from clients who had previously worked with GogoApps. 

I gave all the selected vendors a small test project, and GogoApps’ project had the sense of code quality and communication we were looking for. They did a fantastic job in the pilot, which made us confident in expanding the variety of work that we allocated to GogoApps. They ended up being our most successful partner in Poland. They were multiple levels above other partnerships we had, and their team was able to come in and hit the ground running.

How much have you invested with them?

The company has spent over $2.2 million so far. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in February 2020. I’m no longer with the company, but I know they still work together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We partnered with a company with whom we do team analytics. It was important for us to be able to benchmark the GogoApps team against the internal teams to make sure that they’ve been high performing and analyze the cycle time and throughput, starting in time for individual work and analyze how many requests are they actually delivering per hour and per week each month. Moreover, we’re in the process of publishing a case study on the team specifically to see if there's a little bit more objective data. 

Overall, that was our barometer for the success of these projects to see if they were on schedule and budget and if we are maintaining consistency on cycle time throughput. I believe GogoApps ended up being business-critical for the company, and I know they’re really happy with their work. 

How did GogoApps perform from a project management standpoint?

I provided them with a structured way of working, and we’d typically communicate weekly on Google Meet, just to check on status, review retrospectives, and do planning. During my time in the company, we had weekly sprints, retrospective meetings with planning, and daily stand-ups. Our daily stand-ups are mostly internal for other groups, teams where they are running signatures to ensure they're on track.

We had a structured approach to the software development process as well, which involved getting us to having a backlog stock, where we had two engineers working on it. We introduced a buddy system to ensure that we got to them faster, compared to having one engineer, and they were able to really succeed once I provided that structured way of working, which is how the teams work out. Their lead technical program manager has been fantastic. He was able to rally their engineers and explain the steps into new information whenever their teams haven’t had the experience of doing it before, collaborating at the scale of what they could take. 

I did a point formal structure to have a technical lead, TPM, an engineering manager, and we were thinking of GogoApps as another of our offices. We wanted to build up structure and roll out clarity on giving them a mission to be autonomous, and they would have weekly check-ins on a per-project basis. The company’s processes that I developed, our internal teams, and their productivity were significantly increased after we adopted those measures.

What did you find most impressive about them?

GogoApps did what many other companies couldn't do for us, and they were able to deliver on a couple of key projects that continue to be funded to this day. Their designs were amazing. They sent over their design portfolio, and even though the company has great designers, GogoApps was able to apply their design skills towards internal tools, which was really impressive. The other area that was equally impressive was their engineering talent for architecture, which is why we ended up having to completely rebuild us with the new architecture and new coding patterns. GogoApps was able to deeply understand the project and make some large-scale changes, which was awesome. 

Typically, my experience with consulting firms is they're not able to drive strategic change and only make small changes, so it was good to see they were meeting the bar of our expectations. We were able to get a lot more of them because there was a combination of design and engineering excellence. Their high performance and our company’s development philosophy unlocked the true potential of our collaboration. 

Moreover, they were very affordable. They saved us a fortune compared to other companies. Their team size felt like an entire department that was just solving our developer productivity, which was pretty awesome. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We spent a lot of money trying to find GogoApps, so I’d love it if they did a better job showcasing their skills. Originally, we had a project with the company in GoLand, which is their specialty, but I had to work with them on a marketing message because they have other outstanding services, like high-performing teams, which is what they ended up delivering for us.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be clear and upfront about your project's purpose and mission and what work needs to be done. For our most successful projects, we had to know the requirements in advance, and they did not change the life cycle of the project. We invested a lot of time making sure they were kicking off and they were aligned with the business needs and what the company wanted to build. 

The projects we struggled the most with were those when the other company didn’t know what they wanted or the team didn’t invest or share context. I think it’s important to do all this in order to build a solution.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

TGTH is a new type of consultants: rather problem solvers than abstract thinkers. Our mission is to solve new, emerging challenges brought forth by the Digital Age. We create profitable and innovative solutions cooperating closely with our clients and customers. I'm a co-founder and senior consultant, head of UX.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

As UX experts we engaged GogoApps early in the development process so that all stakeholders are aligned and the UI designers can start developing ideas with us from the early beginning. We want to bring our website to live so that we can achieve our goals of growth by developing a useful and beautiful landing page for marketing campaigns that we were planning to start.

SOLUTION

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

We decided to give a try as we had great, praising referrals from our friends and multiple people in our network. Their portfolio presented very high standards and on top of that lots of referrals in our network pointed us toward GogoApps as the best team of specialists for the job.

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

As our hands are full with our everyday business, we were looking for a partner who can take full responsibility for the project and deliver business increments base on the bi-weekly sprint schedule. That gave us an opportunity to focus on what's important as we were well informed and had one point of contact in the form of a Delivery Manager.

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

Delivery Manager; Two Web developers; QA Specialist

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We nearly double the returns on the marketing campaigns when we compare the results with the website before the redesign.

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

We were taking part in the SCRUM meetings, besides the stand-ups as the asynchronous communication on Slack with our Delivery Manager and developers were more than enough to keep us well informed.

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

The development process was very smooth, we could focus on the business side of the project. The constant communication made us feel safe and comfortable that we are working with the right partner.

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

Yes, we could find more ways to work together! ;)

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I worked for a company at the time, for almost 3 years. I started as an intern and then I became a lead developer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GogoApps?

Nikkei Chart Builder which is a web application where you can generate a chart that is then printed in the world's largest financial newspaper - The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Japan Economics Newspaper.

What were your goals for this project?

Development a new chart type.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Gogo Apps traveled to Tokyo due to a bitcoin-related conference and they sent me the message via Linkedin to meet and talk about the lifestyle in Japan and about the various IT topics. It came out that Gogo Apps hires great developers and are looking for new opportunities. At the same time, WIZE NET was looking for experienced developers to help with the ongoing project. I set up a meeting where we discussed the details.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Nikkei Chart Builder which is a web application where you can generate a chart that is then printed in the world's largest financial newspaper - The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Japan Economics Newspaper. Those charts are written with D3.js, customizable by a journalist (end-user), by using forms and drag and drop features in Angular. The SVG chart is sent to our server (Node.js) where the conversion from SVG to PDF, PNG, JPG is done. Then, the converted file is sent to Nikkei API, which handles the request and displays that file in a system that performs some validations. Ultimately, the file is printed in the newspaper.

What was the team composition?

The team consisted of 4 developers, Me and another developer from WIZE NET, one frontend developer from Gogo Apps and one backend developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We met the deadlines and customer scheduled development of another charts.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Their project management was professional, we were well informed as they kept tracking the progress and making sure we're on schedule with the development.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They produced high-quality code, took care of the product, and proposed improvements. Although we were working in different time zones, it was easy to communicate and sync up for daily standup.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I have no remarks.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I worked with Arizona State University at the time, as lead developer for eight years on an interactive and adaptive digital astrobiology course.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GogoApps?

A key component of my course is interactive simulators that illustrated complex scientific concepts. My group hired Gogo Apps to build some of the simulators required for the course.

What were your goals for this project?

The goals of this project included scientifically rigorous simulators, the capability of being deployed on the web, intuitive and simple user interface, and ability to be integrated into Smart Sparrow's Adaptive e-Learning Platform.

All sims needed to be developed in HTML5 to replace existing Flash sims.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

This vendor was identified by a personal connection of one of the team members. We selected this vendor because of their impressive portfolio and exceptional work on the first test simulator we sent them to work on.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Gogo Apps worked on two sims, a Phases of Water simulator and a Stellar Nursery simulator.

In the Phases of Water simulator, students select solid/liquid/gaseous materials and place them on a 3D globe of the various terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, Mars) and observe whether the phase is stable or transitions.

The simulator also had graphing capabilities for plotting students' observations and drawing tools for grouping like data points for analysis. The graph also plotted the phase diagrams of the materials under investigation (water, carbon dioxide, and methane).

The Stellar Nursery sim allowed students to create stars of varying masses and watch them evolve over time. The data was derived from actual scientific research of a colleague, and the sim rendered the data in a visual format, as well as plotted its various parameters.

This sim was especially challenging considering the large scales of space and time that needed to be represented in a way that was comprehensible to students.

Gogo Apps constructed both sims, starting with my mathematical models and designs, adding a significant amount of functionality above and beyond what was required.

What was the team composition?

The team consisted of the lead designer (myself) who wrote and refined curricula based on eight years of student data, as well as designed the simulators.

A project manager was in weekly contact with Gogo Apps. Two programmers translated my designs and mathematical models into design documents and web accessible data sets. Several learning designers integrated the simulator into existing activities and modified accordingly.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Both simulators are my go-to demos when showing the benefit of sims in a digital science course. We had previously worked with a number of vendors who were problematic, resulting in subpar results.

Gogo Apps was a breath of fresh air, delivering phenomenal products. In observing student usage of these simulators, they were able to intuitively navigate them and absorb the content more easily than with simulators developed by other vendors.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management was very effective, with the team in constant communication with us. Deadlines were met and if there were any difficulties, were communicated well ahead of time.

We were shown frequent builds and allowed input as the projects progressed, allowing us to catch problems early and develop effective solutions. The time difference did not impact the project and worked out well, with our workday beginning as theirs ended.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I found their interest in the science of the simulators most impressive.

While developing the simulators, their developers took several days to review and learn the science behind the concepts that the simulators were to illustrate. Their justification was that they wanted to ensure that the simulators would not have misconceptions built into them as a result of lack of knowledge.

Because of their background work prior to starting work on the simulators, they were in a position to innovate from a place of understanding, often suggesting valuable modifications to help students with misconceptions that they themselves encountered while learning the topic.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not much that can be improved. I'm eager to work with them again on new projects.