Honeycomb Software

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a software consulting firm in the United States. Our specialty is building custom applications for the enterprise or government organizations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Honeycomb Software?

We hired Honeycomb to assist with the development work of a custom SaaS product for one of our clients. We used several resources to help with a range of technologies including .Net Core, React, API development, and QA.

What were your goals for this project?

The solution had to meet all the requirements of a legacy application that it was to replace. Timeline and budget were also important considerations. This application is absolutely core to our client's business. If we failed to deliver, their business would be unable to continue.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We considered several candidates, both individuals and other agencies. Honeycomb was able to consistently provide the most qualified candidates.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We provided project management and overall technical supervision. Honeycomb provided solution engineering support as well as the coding to implement the software.

What was the team composition?

The team consisted of five key individuals: Project manager, Business Analyst, QA Analyst, API developer, and React developer. (It's worth noting that the API developer and React developer are both full stack developers and were able to work very well together.)

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are close to launching the application to the first customer of our client. There are several additional customers waiting in line to use this application. The impact to our client's business is tremendous. Without this application, they would struggle to stay in business at all.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We use a combination of tools for managing a project - Trello, Active Collab, Azure DevOps. We found all the Honeycomb team members to be very conscientious about keeping up with the communication and following our process. Honeycomb is based in the Ukraine, but our team all had very solid English skills and were easy to communicate with. The difference in timezone was rarely a problem as our team had a substantial overlap with our workday.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The most impressive thing is the quality of the developers provided by Honeycomb. All have been highly skilled professionals. Also, the responsiveness of our point of contact has been outstanding. Pavel is a pleasure to work with.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Offhand, I can't think of anything to suggest for improvement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a senior developer at Tracir Financial Services, an analytics company that does business intelligence, scripting, and business analysis.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Honeycomb Software?

We needed a SaaS platform as a catch-all solution for our company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Honeycomb Software created a Gantt chart for development and then built a cloud-based minimal viable product (MVP). The project is still in phase one and we’ve added an additional resource to their team. We plan to roll out the platform by the end of 2018.

What is the team composition?

We work with two developers, one tech lead, and one project lead that serves as a coordinator.

How did you come to work with Honeycomb Software?

We searched for a technical partner that could fulfill our business specifications and technical requirements. We then interviewed Honeycomb Software and liked their proposal. The team was detailed, prompt, and accommodating.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in April 2018 and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The MVP successfully consolidated all of our data. We enjoy working on the project’s subsequent phases and roll out because the team is a great group to work with.

How did Honeycomb Software perform from a project management standpoint?

The team accommodates me because I have to deal with the business end, as well as the technical side of things. Although we’re in different time zones, they work during my regular business hours. Overall, the team is on-point and I cannot complain; I look forward to more collaboration.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m happy with their whole team. The developers are knowledgeable and use state-of-the-art technology, which is necessary for a cloud-based platform like ours.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have lost developers because of vacation days, but that is something that can always be worked around. If we are still working together next year, which I intend to, we would work around that issue a bit better so that progress isn’t hampered.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If the client’s tech specifications aren’t clear, the team may get lost. In addition, since I got less than two weeks’ notice for a few developers’ vacation days, I suggest customers should plan accordingly. I should have asked about breaks at the start.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I do freelance management consulting. I have a customer here in the United States who needed certain developments but they didn't have the time, the resources, or know how to manage an offshore team. So my job was to talk to the customer, gather all their business requirements, turn those into a document, and manage an offshore development team.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Honeycomb Software?

We wanted to make software that would help American servicemen in Japan pay their Japanese utility bills, like rent and electricity, using American credit cards.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The software solution was implemented by Honeycomb. AngularJS and .NETCORE was used to create the frontend. The framework that tied it all together was called ASP.NET Zero.

What is the team composition?

I worked with a few different people. One of them was the chief technology officer and the other person had the job of communicating between me and their development team.

How did you come to work with Honeycomb Software?

I opened a posting on oDesk and looked at ton of different companies. I did trials with a few other companies and after doing one with Honeycomb, I wanted to work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spend $40,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from November 2017–April 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to translate the business requirements into functioning software very efficiently. There wasn't a lot of waste. They would need something, I'd help them flesh out their request, and it would get done.

How did Honeycomb Software perform from a project management standpoint?

They did a good job. It was always clear what they working on and what their time expectations were. There weren't many moments during the project where I felt like things were taking too long- I felt pretty good about everything.

On the communication side, we used visual studio team services. That was used to communicate the work, weekly phone calls, and the occasional email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed with their technical ability. I'm a technical person myself. When I've previously looked at other offshore teams, it almost felt like a scam because they're really bad at doing technical stuff. Honeycombs was really high quality, very educated, and smart staffed. I didn't feel like I was compromising at all when came to using their offshore services.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their English is pretty good but it could always be better. I would give their English a 3.5 out of 5 stars. Their work was good but sometimes during meetings, there was miscommunication because of language. But it wasn’t too often.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that you have detailed requirements beforehand and have planned out at least a month or two worth of work. Don’t just wing it, make sure you’re prepared with a queue of work to give them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I run the online department at a jewelry and giftware manufacturer, which manages e-commerce, social media, and development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Honeycomb Software?

We wanted to launch 2 different e-commerce websites before Black Friday 2017, having never previously sold our products online. I needed an effective team that could accommodate the tight timeframe without exceeding our budget.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team built the website using Shopify and customized the fronted to make check-outs seamless, user-friendly features, and easy-to-use promotional offerings. In addition to an intuitive design, I requested direct integration with my ERP system to produce inventory reports and enhanced interactive user experiences.

During development, I requested services from their team that they did not have in-house. They found other vendors for those projects to stay on deadline. As a result, we launched the websites more than a month ahead of Black Friday.

They will develop business dashboards starting January 2018.

What is the team dynamic?

Their team was comprised of a team leader managing the frontend developer, QA staff, testers, the CEO, and CTO.

How did you come to work with Honeycomb Software?

One of their previous clients referred me to them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $30,000 to date.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started February 2017, and work is on-going.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We launched well ahead of schedule. That metric went from zero to 100.

Next steps include building dashboards and business intelligence tools intended to increase productivity and efficiency.

How did Honeycomb Software perform from a project management standpoint?

They made development seamless. I talked to them every day on Skype to review progress, but they’re almost always ahead of schedule. Their code is clean, organized, and written in a process that’s transparent to the client.

We use Visual Studio to conduct test measurements. The team provides realistic analyses and expectations. They adhere to deadlines and budgetary constraints. I gave them a number early on and they are proactive in keeping costs below my budget.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re fantastic, transparent, and a pleasure to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re a foreign company and the time difference presents some hurdles, but that is not their fault. They adjusted their operating hours to communicate in real time.

Most employees speak English well, but occasionally we need middle-man interpretation.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communicate deadline and budget constraints clearly and right away. They work according to clearly-defined strategies and will accommodate those needs.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the US team lead for an e-commerce company. We have online websites for our internal staff to manage our products. We also have backend services and attempts at artificial intelligence to help manage product deliveries to the public.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Honeycomb Software?

We wanted to deliver front end systems that tied into back end pieces, and we wanted it done as efficiently and quickly as possible.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired Honeycomb for one project, and they’ve provided development work for a variety of things within that project. Many of our front end web pages deliver analytic information from data collected and stored from various sources. Honeycomb aggregated the data in the database and made it available in a timely fashion so that our clients get the information concurrently. They wrote almost all the front end UI work based on UX designer specs. They used React framework for the front end, JavaScript, and they coded in C# for the backend. They also coded in C# for the ASP.NET pages, and C# for the middleware to complete that kind of development. They also have SQL staff to deal with the databases and optimizing queries. Honeycomb has a QA team as well that does some of our work we do in North America.

What is the team dynamic?

We only work directly with a few people, but they manage a bigger team underneath them really well.

How did you come to work with Honeycomb Software?

I came onboard after Honeycomb was hired, and I am not sure how the relationship came about.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Honeycomb in 2015, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Honeycomb basically does the entire frontend UI type work. It completely alleviates us from having to hire people for that job. When we plan out 1—2 months in advance, Honeycomb actually interviews, hires staff and plugs them into our team. It has been an enormous timesaver, and their resources have always been excellent.

How did Honeycomb Software perform from a project management standpoint?

They communicate clearly, meet their deadlines, and do so without problems. We do 2 to 3 week sprints in an Agile methodology, and we observe the progress via specific tools. They regularly stay on top of the Agile process.

What did you find most impressive about them?

For an outsourced company, they’re very quick and professional. We’re a startup company, and we sometimes change direction in the middle of planning. Honeycomb responds to that and picks up the slack with no problems. When there’s miscommunication, they respond quickly, and any outstanding issues are fixed. It’s nice to work with people who get the job done.

The time difference can be a challenge sometimes, but they’ll stay up late to troubleshoot any issues or to answer questions. They’ll apply their multi-years of experience to the problem. It’s like having an expert team that’s local and ready to go. They’re professional, courteous and good at what they do.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’s always a challenge to get developers to spend extra time to test the application or build automated tests. It would be great to see them do more of that.

Advice for potential customers?

Be as detailed as you can with your plans. As long as you can communicate your plans, Honeycomb is willing to be on the phone and listen to your ideas.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a founder of a SaaS-based [software-as-a-service] platform that does analytics on large amounts of data. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Honeycomb Software?

We’re a startup, so we wanted to build a proof of concept. Because we were making something from scratch, we needed to decide which technologies to use, what our architecture would be, and how to lay the groundwork for that proof of concept, which later became our actual product. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us with the architecture and design and facilitated our decision of which technologies to use to implement the features we wanted. They did all the development on our proof of concept. They had to be skilled in Azure, SQL Server, C#, MVC, Entity Framework, and ReactJS.

We did the initial proof of concept and used it to get customers. We rapidly developed the initial proof of concept and then tapered off development for a few months while we showcased that. We ramped up again once we started signing customers because we needed to implement new functions and features. We had an initial set of developers, but we paused a bit. They’d put our developers on other projects, so when we ramped up again, we got a different set of developers.

Since December of 2016, we’ve had 2 Honeycomb developers, but we’ve recently scaled down to 1 resource and started to build out our own team locally. We like having the overseas developer to augment our local team because it gives us almost 24-hour development. We can hand tasks to the Honeycomb developer, and she can work on them overnight while we’re sleeping, come back in the morning, and keep going.

The team they provided included a project manager and a senior developer who oversaw a more junior developer. We got junior developer rates with the oversight of a senior developer to make sure the junior developer was on track. We did the QA ourselves.

How did you come to work with Honeycomb Software?

I found them on Upwork. Our project listing was bombarded with developers that want to work with us. I really liked Alex, who’s a principal at Honeycomb. He was tenacious. They were starting their company at the same time we were, and they seemed eager to get our business. After a few conversations with them, their technical prowess over the other candidates became apparent.

How much have you invested with Honeycomb Software?

We have spent between $200,000 and $1M on the entire project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in October 2015, and the relationship is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or impact of the engagement?

Part of our platform is a dashboard tool that lets users look at their data. It’s customizable by the user, so building that feature wasn’t an easy task. I measure their success by the quality of work they produce, how many bugs we find, and if they’ve followed the specifications that we gave. They have definitely contributed to our company’s success.

How did Honeycomb Software perform from a project management standpoint?

They met deadlines and communicate well. We have daily standup Skype meetings with them. The developer we have now is on our Slack channel, so we chat with her when our days overlap. We use Team Services for project management.

What did you find most impressive about Honeycomb Software?

I think their model is helpful: they provide a senior developer that oversees a junior or intermediate developer. This gives us better quality results than we’d see from a junior resource for less than the cost of hiring a senior resource full-time. Alex acted as our project manager. He’s really good with UX stuff. It wasn’t part of the formal engagement, but he always questioned how things were functioning and whether they could function better. That allowed us to achieve a more user-friendly interface.

Are there any areas Honeycomb Software could improve?

My biggest concern was that their labor pool seemed small because of where they’re located. They’ve opened an office in a larger center, so that’s been addressed already. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a relatively small business consulting firm serving financial advisors during their transitions periods. Basically, when a financial advisor no longer wants to be an employee of a bigger financial advisory house, we help them start an independent business. We help them with anything from office supplies, all the way up to finding real estate, hiring employees, and technology decisions, including employee equipment and internet service setup. We try to help as much as possible to get them a turnkey solution for starting their own business. It’s a lot of technical and operational work.

I am Director of Business Operations, and my role is to manage any custom software development both in-house and for our clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Honeycomb Software?

We had been trying to find a good off-the-shelf package to help us manage all of these client transition projects. We had tried a few different things leading up to the engagement with Honeycomb, including customizations on existing systems like Method and Salesforce, but nothing seemed to work exactly how we needed it to. We made the decision to start building a custom solution in-house, and we were using some independent contractors leading up to that point. Things were going okay, but we knew we needed a little bit more capacity from engineering, and especially the QA side of things. That’s why we started looking for some additional resources. 

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

We were looking for one mid-level .NET engineer with frontend, backend, and database experience, including HTML, Javascript, CSS, and the AngularJS framework specifically.

We were also looking for a dedicated QA person that would actually manage all of the testing aspects of the system. We ended up getting three engineers and one full time QA. A lot of it just had to do with availability, and also quality of the initial people that we had on board. We did not want to just have a freelancer that would take direction, go off and build something, and then be done. I really wanted to find people or an agency that would be more than just staff augmentation. I wanted them to be considered part of this project team, and that’s exactly how it’s been working. They’ve integrated well with our company.

The application is a web-based project management tool that helps keep all of our tasks organized and helps us manage the data being captured. So, we use the system not only for the transition projects that I mentioned, but also for data retention later on. As we’re doing support for these clients, we have this repository of information that we can refer to from a support standpoint. The application had already been started, and a few iterations had been released at the time that we started to engage Honeycomb, but they kind of picked it up and took off with it. It just continues to grow and improve in terms of performance. It’s essentially a project management utility tool, plus a data repository system.

How did you come to work with Honeycomb Software?

We started using Upwork to find independent contractors, which is how we found Honeycomb.

We talked to three or four different agencies, in addition to 10-12 independent guys, and Honeycomb rose to the top pretty quickly just based on their experience and availability. Their attitude and demeanor were very good. They left a positive impression quickly during those searches.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

$10,000-$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them around May or June 2016, and have been working together since.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Because this is considered a mission critical application for us, I would say Honeycomb is contributing heavily to the success. They have not only been involved with helping develop new features, but they’ve also gone back and helped do a full suite of regression tests and locate a large number of bugs that were in the system previously. They’ve helped us not only identify those but also fix them along the way.

They’ve also been contributing heavily to the underlying architecture of the system, which is improving the functionality from a maintainability standpoint as well. It’s really helped us improve the overall stability and long-term maintainability of the application.

How did Honeycomb Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We really wanted someone to come in and be integrated tightly into the team here, instead of just staff augmentation. We dictated to them that we wanted to operate in an Agile way, including a Scrum process every single day.

They’re 7 or 8 hours ahead of us because they’re in Ukraine, but have remained flexible. They have aligned themselves with our project management style pretty easily. That said though, I’d like to think that from a development project standpoint, we are operating on a pretty standard Agile methodology platform. It wasn’t that big of a stretch for them to fit in because they had some experience with Agile and Scrum leading up to this.

Is there anything Honeycomb Software could have improved or done differently?

I don’t have a good answer for that one. I’ve been pretty happy with the cadence so far. They were extremely flexible with fitting into our management style. They’re flexible in the sense that if I have to make changes throughout the course of a given sprint, they don’t hesitate to help out.

Do you have any recommendations for others considering working with Honeycomb Software?

We operate using Agile and Scrum, and I think they fit into that methodology quite well because they are contractors. My advice would be to try using Agile in a very consistent and forceful way because it works very well with them.

I realize there is a time zone difference, which is one of the challenges we typically have here because we are in the Midwest and they’re in Ukraine. Prepare yourself accordingly, and work within that confine, and things will go well.

I think a lot of people are worried about overall communication when working with an offshore firm. I will say that their English has been extremely well, and there hasn’t really been much of a communication issue. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of AyeDu Technologies, an all-in-one wedding planning platform designed for multi-cultural weddings. We focus on tools that help couples plan and curate their vision, collaborate with families, manage guests, and celebrate their cultural heritage while making wedding planning seamless and enjoyable.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Honeycomb Software?

We needed help creating an MVP for our wedding planning platform. Our goal was to achieve speed, cost, intuitive workflows, and efficiency.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Honeycomb Software has designed and developed our mobile-first wedding planning platform for multi-cultural weddings. The team has built an intuitive, feature-rich app that enables couples and families to plan, budget, and collaborate seamlessly. Key features include:

• Personalized onboarding with cultural and event-specific customization
• Multi-day budget, timeline, and itinerary management
• Interactive vision boards and integrated marketplace
• Guest management: RSVPs, seating, evites, and registries
• Collaborative tools for families and planners
• Clean, mobile-optimized UI/UX with cross-platform compatibility

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with 2–5 teammates from Honeycomb Software.

How did you come to work with Honeycomb Software?

I met Olga (Business Development) at an event. We chose Honeycomb Software because they had high ratings, their pricing fit our budget, they offered good value for the cost, and their company values aligned with ours.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Honeycomb Software in May 2025, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Honeycomb Software has delivered a scalable, user-friendly app that simplifies complex wedding planning while preserving cultural authenticity. We measure success by high user engagement, an intuitive and efficient workflow, minimal touchpoints, a visually appealing design, and delivering a complete end-to-end wedding planning solution. The initial response from users has been very encouraging. They like the fact that AyeDu has managed to digitize the unstructured wedding industry.

How did Honeycomb Software perform from a project management standpoint?

Honeycomb Software has been par excellence in communication, follow-up, and project management. We use virtual meetings as our primary form of communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Honeycomb Software’s team is smart, young, and approachable. They handle iterations gracefully, are always open to solving problems, and focus on improving the UX.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’s been fun working with Honeycomb Software’s team. I don’t think they could have done anything better.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the Chief Geek at a compliance services arm of niche employee benefits (ERISA) firm. We use custom technology to automate routine tasks and expert ERISA attorneys for thorough compliance analysis.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Honeycomb Software?

We needed Honeycomb to take over a web application development project from a firm that oversold, under-delivered, and frankly couldn't handle the job in the first place.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Honeycomb Software has been responsible for new feature implementation and application development to replace and update the functionality of an aging Ruby-on-Rails application. The team has also been in charge of CI/CD and end-to-end testing overhaul and UI/UX redesign.

Moreover, the team has been responsible for a lift-and-shift from Heroku to GCP and the development of an entirely new set of functionality. The team has also developed new business productivity and user engagement features for our compliance project management web app.

What is the team composition?

We work with 6–8 teammates from Honeycomb Software.

How did you come to work with Honeycomb Software?

We met Honeycomb Software at The Ion co-working space and innovation center. We chose the team because they had a good blend of high competence, efficiency, flat teams, and cost. Moreover, the team insisted on understanding our business use cases, which helped save us from ourselves.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with the team in August 2024, and the project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We're very satisfied with Honeycomb Software's work. We're still working on measurable outcomes, but our goals are internal efficiency and user satisfaction.

How did Honeycomb Software perform from a project management standpoint?

Honeycomb Software's project manager is as much a business analyst as he is a project manager, and his dual capability has helped produce value. The team generally delivers on time, but sometimes they've been overly ambitious about what can be accomplished in a calendar quarter. Still, they've always responded well to our needs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I'm impressed with Honeycomb Software's capacity for receiving and understanding our business realities, goals, and actual use cases.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honeycomb Software could clarify when and how changes or variances from initial estimates will affect the schedule and budget.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the IT Manager of Vintage Parts, Inc.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Houses and distributes a large number of original OEM parts. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Honeycomb Software to accomplish?

• Magento Website Management

SOLUTION

How did you find Honeycomb Software?

Referral

Why did you select Honeycomb Software over others?

Pricing fit our budget

How many teammates from Honeycomb Software were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Total Magento website redesign for front end, as well as some back end logic changes and ongoing support for the site including software development, project management, and UAT. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Site successfully meets business needs (ie inventory ingestion and order placement) with ongoing support. 

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

Their project management was great, items delivered on time and regular meetings kept communication high and efficient. 

What was your primary form of communication with Honeycomb Software?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Being able to work directly with the team developer has been a huge help. Other orgs tend to limit contact between devs and client, but as a developer, being able to speak directly and regularly to the team's dev has helped speed up understanding and workflow immensely. 

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

No notes, very happy with service.