Holdapp

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the head of software development area for our web and mobile application. ANSWEAR is a Polish multi-brand online store with clothes, shoes, and accessories from the world’s biggest fashion brands presented in seven countries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Holdapp?

We need stable native applications to take part of mobile web users and reach out to new clients who are looking for a simple shopping app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built native iOS and Android apps from scratch. Holdapp is still working on other improvements, keeping apps stable and open for other markets.

What is the team composition?

We had one Android, one iOS developer, one QA, and a project manager.

How did you come to work with Holdapp?

We received a recommendation from a friend.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work started in April 2017 and it's ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have more orders from the app, which is great because we can increase monetization.

How did Holdapp perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management is great. It’s communicative and organized.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They can adjust. If we want to change something, we can.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not very much.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you know what you want.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of the board for the Tax Guard Group. We offer services in the areas of accounting, HR, IT, real estate projects, and developing buildings. We create a block of flats and sell them.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Holdapp?

We needed someone to develop software for our company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Holdapp created software that European Amazon sellers can use to register to VAT. The team added functionality that allows the software to calculate tax returns from the sales when Amazon sellers use the software. 

Additionally, the software calculates taxes for every European country. The team built the software such that users can log onto it online via mobile devices, tablets, and every type of computer. 

What is the team composition?

The number of people depends on the phase of the project. Sometimes we work with 2–3 teammates, and other times, more. When we need to speed up the process, Holdapp sends more teammates to work on the project. 

How did you come to work with Holdapp?

They were recommended to us by someone in our group who said they were really good with software. After calling the owner, we had a few meetings, and then we decided to work together.

How much have you invested in them?

We have spent about $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work began in about September 2019, and the first part of the product was completed in January 2020. We began selling the product, but we are still working with Holdapp.

We are making amendments to the software, which depends on the VAT laws in every European country. So, if those VAT laws change at all, we need to make changes to the software.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The software is very useful and flexible.

How did Holdapp perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Jira, which allows us to send them requests, ask questions, and check the progress of the project in relation to the deadlines. Additionally, we have weekly conference calls where they always summarize what has happened the previous week and we discuss our expectations for the upcoming week.

The project has gone quite smoothly thus far. Sometimes, deadlines were pushed back but this was mostly because we changed our expectations. During the development, we learned how it works in Amazon and how VAT works in every European country, which is why the deadlines were sometimes pushed back.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I really enjoy working with Holdapp, especially with the owner of the company because he is incredibly involved in our project. Amazon code and source are quite difficult, and the owner spends a lot of time helping us connect our product to Amazon. I am very grateful for this.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They are on the other side of Poland and we mostly meet via Skype or WhatsApp. The most difficult part has been not being able to meet face to face, but that would’ve been really costly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm one of the owners of a foreign language publisher.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Holdapp?

We needed help with mobile app development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided programming services, from designing the first and second apps, to developing them. We provided the content and ideas. It's available on iOS and Android.

What is the team composition?

We had a project manager, but we also worked with several other developers.

How did you come to work with Holdapp?

We found them through an internet search. They were selected after a series of video interviews.

How much have you invested with them?    

We've invested $75,000.        

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in June 2016, and our engagement is ongoing with maintenance.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their quality is very good. It's great they have an in-house testing team because customers are quick to send an app back if there's a bug.

How did Holdapp perform from a project management standpoint?

They've always done well. We always talk through a project manager for updates. We're quite satisfied.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their testing and quality assurance are great. It makes the apps very reliable.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only downside is that they're not very flexible if we need something updated quickly. They just might not be available. If it's a bigger project, things usually go to plan.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You need to know what you want and do all of the planning before contacting them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an account manager for an app developer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Holdapp?

We sometimes need staff to augment our team when we don’t have enough developers in-house. In this case, we needed iOS developers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided iOS development for us. They started the app, which is a 3D sound system, from scratch. Phones can connect to it via Bluetooth.

We sent them all the requirements, the designs, and wireframes. They worked closely with our team. We had created an Android app internally, so all the developers worked together on the iOS project.

What is the team composition?

We collaborated with two members of their team, working in scrum with direct communication with our developers.

How did you come to work with Holdapp?

We’d worked with them before, and I believe our CEO knows someone from their company. We did consider a couple of other companies, but we checked the code they had all created, and Holdapp’s was what we were looking for.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent around $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them on this project from March–June 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We did code reviews on our side and we were really happy with them. The quality of their code was really good, and the client was also very happy with the iOS app. The development went quicker than with the Android app, which was great.

How did Holdapp perform from a project management standpoint?

Both developers had experience with the scrum methodology, so it went very smoothly. From our perspective, it was a huge bonus.

The communication was consistent both in our office and over Slack when they worked remotely. They logged their time transparently, and we could trust them to complete their work.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They told us when they didn't like something or through we could find a better approach. We didn’t feel like we were just a client—it felt like a real partnership, and we learned a lot from them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think so. Everything really went well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be transparent with them. Previously, we’ve not given all the required information to developers and they’ve been misguided due to that. Holdapp has a team of professionals, and they can help you from both an IT and a business perspective. They’ve created a lot of apps and can suggest cool ideas.

BACKGROUND

We manufacture lighting sets, such as street and park lights, of various types and sizes, employing about 250 people, and located in Poland.

I'm an IT [information technology] consultant, responsible for managing a project's financing, and taking part in the designing, production and implementation stages.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

We are trying to increase growth along with decreasing costs. If we can reliably present our products in the correct markets, we can accomplish both goals.

Mobile devices are the perfect medium of implementation of our marketing strategy. If we want to reach new customers, satisfy the current customers and create a modern image of the company, we can't ignore mobile.

SOLUTION

It's always difficult to imagine how lighting sets, composed of many different parts, would look like in real life. [The mobile application] simulates the way of mounting all the elements into one, complete lighting set.

The set can be saved and read from mobile devices whenever it's necessary, it can be rotated and seen from below and above, and can be painted or anodized into many different colors.

It's possible to obtain a bill of materials or pricing list, place the lighting set on your street or park image and to decide whether it fits to the landscape or not. Finally you can print it out, mail to investors or send the order to the manufacturer.

To design the application, it was necessary to mathematically describe all the components, produce 3-D models, and choose the appropriate rendering engine. A lot of data from ERP [enterprise resource planning] systems had to be moved to the mobile device to make the system function. The results were strong.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

The result is better than anyone could expect. All the required functionalities were met, even the really sophisticated features. The application works smoothly, even on iPads of previous generations.

On the other hand, it uses many of the features of mobile devices, such as rendering 3-D models with zooming, rotating, and changing colors – just with a couple of finger taps. The app uses the camera, image resources, mailing possibilities, and so on. Our app could be one of the best examples of how to use mobile devices in your professional life.

Feedback from our clients, sales representatives, and our own sales force is great. This application enables you to see the product before it's going to be manufactured and placed into reality.

I suggest everyone try working with Holdapp.

BACKGROUND

[Our company] is a leading media group in the Nordic countries with activities in 30 countries and 6,300 employees. [We are part of a group that is] a leading magazine publisher in the Nordic countries and commands leading positions in a number of other markets. [Our company] produces more than 700 weekly and monthly magazines as well as children's books, including licensed brands. [My] department is a department under [the main company] designing mobile apps for kids. I'm a lead UX [user experience] designer and product owner [for my department].

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

[Our goal was to] increase revenue and retention in our kids apps in the Nordics, primarily aiming at preschool kids and their parents. 

SOLUTION

[We have] been working with Holdapp on a number of projects since 2011. Holdapp provides iOS and Android app development, preparation implementation of assets like graphics, sound, and animations, and takes care of testing and final submission. Holdapp is an agile company and works with extensive scrum practices.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

We are generally very satisfied with Holdapp's performance regarding service, support, and quality. We believe that the company possesses the right competencies and will to fulfill the project scope.

Holdapp goes beyond the contract to meet special needs and new ideas. It is our experience that they feel committed to our brands and projects.

BACKGROUND

I am the shareholder and the manager of a startup company. [We] had a challenge to build and integrate the mobile application with our existing solution – taxi dispatch software. My role was closely manage planning to the final product.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

The challenge was to integrate a mobile application with the existing solution. The flow of the application on the back-end was complex, but my very first requirement was to have as simple a user interface as possible.

The application is to let customers book their taxis by just a few screen taps. Then, users can follow the car on the map and finally be informed when the car is at the destination address. The plan was to give to my customers (taxi fleet companies) a brand new opportunity to gain some new people booking their cars.

SOLUTION

The solution was chosen with no hesitation. The mobile application dedicated to the main and leading platforms in Poland – Android and iOS. The solution contains both real raw socket and http connections. The application functions properly and can communicate with two types of API [application programming interface]. One API fetches price simulations and real-time car position from the taxi server, and the other is to get user info from the central database.

The engagement lasted about one year total and was completed in the beginning of 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

The software performs well. Now, several thousands of our users book their cars without problems or complaints. The technology used for that was robust and a well-planned choice. To conclude, working with Holdapp was a great decision.

BACKGROUND

We sell presentation software for lawyers to use in courtroom presentations of all kinds. Users can use the application for exhibits and making presentations. This is a paid application available for third-generation iPads.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

We needed a knowledgeable company who does what they say they will do without surprises regarding cost or development. We are a small company with tight budgets.

SOLUTION

We hired the Holdapp team to take over our iPad app and make it more feature competitive within our industry. We needed to offer something special without bugs since this is a paid app with a lot of competition.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

The results were wonderful. I also learned a great deal about iPad app development and the Holdapp team did exactly what they said, and when they said they would do it. Holdapp is a great company to work with even if they are offshore in a different time zone. I look forward to our next update project with the Holdapp team. They earned our business.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We're a design and media company located in north Germany. We're doing everything around the digital presentation of companies, institutions, and organizations starting from Web design, social media campaigns and websites, [along with] SEO [search engine optimization and] e-commerce. 

What is your role and responsibilities?

I'm the founder and CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Holdapp?

We started the work with developing native apps for Apple and Google.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

[We had them develop] Android and iOS mobile apps.

What was your process for selecting Holdapp with which to work?

We just Googled them and we spoke to a few companies, and I think they were the nicest and most service-orientated company that we found, and so we started the work. We got the right feeling. The work was very nice.

Can you give a sense of the size of the initiative in dollar terms or a personnel work-hour figure?

It was less than $10,000

When was the work completed?

We have two of three parts done.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

The main metric is satisfying our end client because these applications are for other firms.

Are you satisfied with their performance?

We were happy with them. The work was very fast, and they are really service-oriented professionals, so they gave us some ideas that we didn't think about. They tried to push the project to a higher level.

Is there anything unique or special about Holdapp that really makes them stand out compared to other business partners?

There's a price difference. That's why we are working with companies in Eastern Europe. That drove the decision to find a company in Poland. After that, we received feedback from our clients that the work is really fast and really good and for a competitive price.

What advice would you give to future clients of theirs?

I suggest talking to the service team, talking to the developers. You must think about what should be done and how it should be done and asking if there are some options that you were not thinking about on your own.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you might do differently?

Of course, the sky is the limit. I think the communication could be a bit more intensive. Answers could be given a bit faster. However, all their work was right, so we were not waiting for weeks, but if something's urgent, you need information in a few hours or a day. There were one or two situations where we were waiting on information. Regarding the deadline, it was no problem.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the General Manager of Amooco Agency

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Creative advertising agency

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• We decided to cooperate with Holdapp because we wanted a mobile app for one of our clients. We wanted to develop a mobile app, and we needed this workshop to create a feasible plan for the MVP

SOLUTION

How did you find Holdapp?

Online Search

Why did you select Holdapp over others?

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

How many teammates from Holdapp were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Holdapp was conducting a product workshop for us and one of our clients. It was divided into several stages: 

• Understanding business and target users 
• Ideation, competitor analysis, and prioritization 
• Technical analysis 
• Final vision of the MVP 

As part of the workshop, we identified unique value propositions and came up with a set of features and requirements for the MVP. Holdapp conducted research on users and competitors, created user personas, and designed the main user flow. They also prepared some initial visualizations for the app and analyzed the product vision from a technical perspective.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We received the estimation of the app development cost and positive feedback from our client.

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

Everything was delivered within the agreed timeframe, without delays. They adjusted the scope to our requirements. The communication was smooth the entire time.

What was your primary form of communication with Holdapp?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Throughout the entire workshop, we could see first-hand that their team has extensive expertise in app development, workshop facilitation, and research execution. They knew how to use their knowledge in practice to come up with innovative ideas and propose alternative approaches adjusted to our needs.

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

No, I was fully satisfied with their work.