higroup

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Xentral ERP Software GmbH is a series B SaaS company. I am the marketing lead and responsible for the areas marketing operations, strategy and nurturing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Moving form a hard coded website to a CMS. Building and launching the new website on HyGraph CMS.

SOLUTION

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

HiGroup was referred to us directly from Hygraph

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

• scoping all pages, sections, components
• Building a component library in Figma with all components which should be used for the website including variations, language etc. the component library was then being used to create wireframes and simulate the content
• building all components, page layouts and the complete infrastructure in HyGraph
• working with our infrastructure team to ensure that the launch and move to HyGraph works technically ..and so many more things which are involved in an website launch

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

4-5, senior web developer, project manager, CEO

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

You can see the beautiful result here on www.xentral.com We launched the website after 4 months with only 1 week delay. And we are very happy with the result as it gives us much more flexibility and let’s us scale.

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

It was very easy to communicate with Higroup via slack and email.

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

The communication and the motivation for the project were really impressive.

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

We could have scoped the project a bit better and in more detail from our side.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a company that sells household appliances, kitchens and other custom-made furniture. My job is marketing manager and I am responsible for online sales, among other things.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired the company Higroup to set up a new online store ga.si. Our old online store was based on the magento 2 platform and was exposed to security risks.

We decided that Higroup would develop a new online store on the Bigcommerce platform. Our online store covers more than 5,000 items and is connected to the internal CRM system.

SOLUTION

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

We hired Higroup based on recommendations. We decided between three providers. In the end, Higroup convinced us with its responsiveness and professionalism.

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

The development of the online store took place on the BigCommerce platform. Many things had to be reprogrammed mainly due to our business requirements and our data import. The project took place in three milestones. First the planning and design of the online store, then technical programming and finally corrections and extensive testing of the online store.

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

We mostly worked with three or four employees of Higroup. Account manager who connected our requirements and wishes with colleagues, programmers with whom we had regular meetings and company management at each completed milestone.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The conversion of the new online store has increased and so has the speed and responsiveness itself. The customers gave a positive opinion and we are satisfied with the whole store.

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

Every week we met on a certain day to review the work done and set out for the current week. When we were at the last milestone, ie testing the online store, we shared a table in which we wrote notes and corrections. The communication went smoothly throughout the renovation process and we are very satisfied with the final product and the implementation of the project.

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

We were impressed with their responsiveness, reliability and flexibility.

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

No, we are very happy so far and would not change anything.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and CEO of Jump.co, a Web 3 NFT crypto platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with HiGroup?

We needed someone to provide us with front- and backend development and design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired HiGroup for front- and backend development services to supplement our efforts in building an MVP.

We started with a small engagement for the discovery phase and backend development and from there, we slowly amped the process up to them providing us with frontend design to basically define the product with different code elements.

What they’re essentially helping us build is a full and fractional NFT platform that’s specifically tied to our physically-backed products and assets. Moreover, they utilize React Native, PostgreSQL, JavaScript, NestJS, and GitHub.

What is the team composition?

We initially interfaced with their CFO and CEO, but we’ve been working mostly with their engineering and design teams.

How did you come to work with HiGroup?

I was specifically looking for developers in the Balkans or Eastern Europe and came up with a target list of 100 agencies.

HiGroup happened to be part of the list so we tried them out along with a couple of agencies — the other agencies couldn’t pass the initial engagement, so we decided to stay with HiGroup full time. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested somewhere between $35,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in September 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their team delivers their tasks in a timely manner and they’ve also integrated well into our toolchain of GitHub and Shortcut. We’ve yet to miss a deadline or encounter a problem with them, as they continue to accomplish the most important aspects of this project.

How did HiGroup perform from a project management standpoint?

They consistently adhere to our budget and timelines, and it’s really easy to communicate with them.

We use Shortcut for all our iterations and story planning and typically communicate through Zoom, Google Meet, email, and Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re not a typical agency that solves our problems as we lay them out, they put in the work to identify our problems and come back with phenomenally creative solutions for us to implement.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They need to hire more people.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you’re really clear about what you want and set your expectations. If you could also do a two or four-week engagement before committing, the project will likely be more successful.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the lead developer and product manager for a small technology consulting firm that exclusively serves public libraries. We provide multiple web applications to libraries on a SaaS basis.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We were planning a rebuild of our existing line-of-business tool in a new-to-us development framework. We hired HiGroup to provide high-level application development architecture consulting, as well as mentorship for our development team at the code level. Our goal was to keep all development in-house for knowledge retention purposes while leveraging HiGroup's extensive experience to ensure we were following best practices during the rebuild.

SOLUTION

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

We issued an RFP on HackerNews and evaluated a number of shops from around the US, Europe, and Canada. We interviewed representatives of a couple of shops, including HiGroup, and eventually decided they would be a perfect match (we were correct! :-) HiGroup has certified Laravel experience, and a proven portfolio of sites. Their team has been incredibly supportive of our project.

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

We started by completely on-boarding their consultants on our existing application, the requirements for the rebuild, and a full accounting of our tech stack and skills. Since then, we've essentially paired me with two of their consultants, doing a kind of async pair programming in Laravel, with checkins multiple times a week in Slack.

HiGroup staff reviews all of our code in Github for compliance with best practices. They also answer issues and discussion questions directly in Github for our staff. They've also *excelled* at providing a mentorship role as our team learns the ins and outs of Laravel from them.

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

We worked directly with Timotej, who is a patient and talented communicator as well as a fantastic Laravel developer. In addition, I know that David from the team contributed in the Github issue queue with advice and code samples. (I'm sorry that I don't know their exact titles.)

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Subjectively, the HiGroup folks have been absolutely fantastic. Every single issue that I've assigned in Github and every single question that I've asked in Slack has been answered thoroughly and expertly, and they've gone above and beyond to work with us on time zone scheduling and other issues.

I literally can not think of a single instance in the past couple of months where I'd want them to have done something differently. I hate to jinx myself here after 20+ years of technology project management, but this project is going amazingly well and it's in no small part thanks to them :-)

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

I've dictated the PM style but they have been great about working like our team does: both real-time and async conversations in Slack and then Issues and Discussions in our Github project.

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

Not sure how applicable this is to anyone else, but their work style and general vibe meshed pretty well with ours. We get along great.

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

As I mentioned earlier... nope! :-)

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the head of product at a consulting company introducing transparency solutions for bio-based value chains.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our solution needed an upgrade to address the data collection and destination issues in the value chains as well as improvements on the user experience of onboarding to the system. The goal was to create a more user-friendly solution that is more powerful in t4ems of data aggregation and communication.

SOLUTION

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

We got a referral from a company that worked with them on development projects earlier.

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

the project was to upgrade our existing SaaS solution. The team worked on improving the data collection within the tool and the user experience of the onboarding. They also transferred the project to a new cloud infrastructure.

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

There are 2 HiGroup team members working on our project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The goals of the project were achieved with very few delays. After the update went live, there were very few bugs. Bugs were fixed quickly.

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

We had weekly meetings to see the progress and talk over the issues that arise during the week. We used slack for daily communication.

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

The dedication to go beyond checking off the list of the requirements for the project. The team delivered a product better than what we envisioned at the start of the project.

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

They can improve on the project timeline management and communication of the project plan.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a personal finance application.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with HiGroup d.o.o.?

We needed help with app development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

HiGroup first helped us with the initial design for our mobile app by creating mock-ups of the UI/UX. They then proceeded to develop the app for iOS and Android. It’s integrated with financial aggregators like Plaid. The app provides users an overview of their financial information, including transaction details and cash flow graphs. Although the app is mostly finished, the team continues to work on getting it ready for its launch.

The HiGroup team has also designed and developed a landing page for the app using React. We gave them copy, and they organized it into different sections of the page. Additionally, they helped us set up our newsletter by building an email collection form.

What is the team composition?

We work with four people: a co-founder, a project manager, a developer, and a designer.

How did you come to work with HiGroup d.o.o.?

They posted a listing seeking out new clients, so I researched them. I was impressed by the work they’d done and reached out to them. They had a great approach and seemed excited to work with me, so I hired them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $25,000–$30,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in November 2020, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

HiGroup doesn’t stop working until we’re satisfied. The design they’ve created for our landing page is interactive, fast, and stable. Everything looks perfect — HiGroup works really hard to help us get to where we want. Furthermore, I’m pleased with the conversions we’ve gotten since they launched the landing page.

How did HiGroup d.o.o. perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is excellent. HiGroup has never missed a deadline or a meeting. Communication is also so easy — they’re always available and responsive despite the time difference. They’ve never made me wait for anything. We primarily communicate through Slack and share a task list.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Aside from their outstanding technical skills, they also have the best attitude. Their excitement and upbeat demeanor are super contagious. Working with such an enthusiastic team is just great.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything they could improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have clear objectives and communicate well with the HiGroup team to help them achieve these goals.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO and founder of digital marketing agency specialising in lead generation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire HiGroup d.o.o., and what were your goals?

We hired HiGroup to develop an inetrnal CRM web application whose purpose is to handle all sales communication for our sales efforts as well as to automate parts of our marketing activities.

SOLUTION

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

We found them through refferal. The main deciding factor for us was that similar to our team - They are young, skilled, and highly driven. They were able to pivot quickly and will proactively solve any issues that occur.

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

They designed wireframes, structure and the overall look of the web development. After that, they presented us with key activities, deadlines to meet, timetable and all the other aspects of the work. We assigned one person on our team to be of help if needed but luckily, majority of the things they were able to solve without involving us too much so our main job was to approve what they sent our way.

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

We worked and communicated with 3 people, one of them being project manager and two full stack developers. I believe at least one more person was working on the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to launch the web app sooner than expected which helped us automate certain processes such as sales and marketing activities for both ourselves and our clients which in turn helped us scale faster and also we were able to increase the revenue per employee

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

They work in a setup called Scrum. Although we weren't that engaged in it, our communication was mainly driven through either e-mail or JIra.

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

We had access directly to lead web developer which made fixing any bugs or improving the web app way faster.

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

I believe the only thing they could improve is that at some occasions I believe they could be a little more perfectionist as a whole.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Facuty for mechanical Engineering Ljubljana. My position is researcher and assistan professor.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire HiGroup d.o.o., and what were your goals?

The project is aimed to guide manual assembly workers through their operations ste-by-step over PC, tablet computers or smartwatches, tackle their problems, and enable them to submit process jams and errors if they occur.

SOLUTION

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

The two main reasons for choosing this company was their portfolio of developed applications and understandig that this is developent project that needs out of the box thinking.

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

1. step: definirtion of appication main functions: guiding workes and, enable process jam/error sumbittion, admin overview of assembly processes status, communication with digital twin and ERP via APPI.
2. step: Development of WEB aplication with communication to Digital Twin and ERP via API with jam reporting function that includes PDF notation on asssemmbly blueprint
3. step: Development of WEAR OS aplication when workers cant use PC or tablet.
4. step: Testing on development server on real production line an collecting update suggestions from production workers.
5. step: Updating aplication and installation on production server in company.
6. Final testing, debugging.

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

There were 4 team members: 2 backend progrmmers, 1 frontend programmer and one senior developer for project management.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

All defined functionalities were delivered ontime. Even more, the project will continue to further develop and update current software since the manual production line where is implemented cant work wthout it any more.

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

• Meeteng every week to check the project status and progress.
• Using trello and slack to define detected problems or additional futures needed for optimal working of developed application.
• Every month the progrmmer team visited the production line to check the application in real time and solve detected bugs or defined updates.

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

They are prepared to work on unique projects that have different logic than standard web applications. They can do this becouse they have a hard-working team that takes their time to understands what we need, why we need it, and how to achieve this.

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

They should whatch aut not to grow too fast and loose this commando pagramming team that they have (if too many average programmers join the team).

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an Executive of Industri

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Building a GenAi software 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Software PoC
• Branding

SOLUTION

How did you find higroup?

Online Search

Why did you select higroup over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from higroup were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

• Workshops to understand product vision and requirements 
• Product value definition and technical requirements 
• POC development 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Workshops to ensure Higroup is aligned with my vision and understanding of the product 
• Regular communication and highly responsive 
• Working towards timeline, and respecting it 
• High execution 

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

• HiGroup assigned a project manager to be my point of contact 
• Highly responsive 
• Ensured regular communication 

What was your primary form of communication with higroup?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

All team members were strong in their own areas of work and understood what was required to make a project successful. 

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

Genuinly nothing comes to mind. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of zero2one ltd.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Gpx track marketplace.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Create marketplace website
• Friendly UX and beautiful UI

SOLUTION

How did you find higroup?

Referral

Why did you select higroup over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from higroup were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

The vendor had to: 

• create UX and UI for gxp marketplace, 
• choose appropriate framework and establish a website/ application. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• The requested work was performed on time,
• HiGroup provided valuable feedback from previous projects regarding the business plan, which impacted the UX, 
• The marketplace was successfully launched with only 1 month after the day for which we initially planned, which is huge success in IT projects in our experience.

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

All items were delivered on time and PM agreed to communicate with us on channels of our choice. 

What was your primary form of communication with higroup?

Email or Messaging App

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

The team is very driven, and it feels like a startup; people are motivated to help the client even if they have to perform the tasks not initially expected of them.

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

I think that sometimes it would be better if the client could communicate directly with their design team as the exchange of opinions/ proposals would be faster.