Kaldi

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of HOPALAI d.o.o.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Hopalai invents, designs and develops innovative educational software solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Extend development capacity of internal team
• Improve internal software development process

SOLUTION

How did you find Kaldi?

Referral

Why did you select Kaldi over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Kaldi were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Our collaboration with KALDI has been highly beneficial for our team. Upon their integration with our internal developers, KALDI demonstrated a high level of professionalism and a deep understanding of quality assessment that contributed to enhancing our project standards. Their team proved not only to be compatible with ours but also brought significant expertise and a proactive attitude to the table, making them reliable partners in our ongoing projects. KALDI has been instrumental in refining our project management processes, introducing us to techniques that have streamlined our operations. Their approach to project management was customized to align with our goals, incorporating advanced tools that improved our ability to track and manage projects efficiently. The processes they introduced have brought more discipline to our project timelines, and their consistent communication has helped in maintaining clear and manageable workflows. The technical skill and responsiveness of KALDI's developers have stood out particularly. They are not only extremely skilled but also quick to respond to our needs, which has been critical in addressing challenges promptly and effectively. The overall value KALDI has added to our operations is clear—they have met our expectations in enhancing project output quality and efficiency. Working with KALDI has positively impacted our business, and we appreciate their commitment to our success.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We launch a new app to the market.

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

KALDI's project management was crucial once our collaboration stabilized in terms of resource dedication. Their project manager significantly enhanced our team's ability to meet deadlines and manage deliverables efficiently. This structured approach ensured that items were delivered on time and that our needs were promptly addressed, especially when adjustments were necessary. Their proactive and responsive handling of the project maintained momentum and kept everything on track, demonstrating the critical role of their project management in the project’s success.

What was your primary form of communication with Kaldi?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

What stood out most about KALDI was not only their impeccably executed services but also their straightforward, no-nonsense approach to contract drafting. This transparency made the preliminary stages of our partnership exceptionally smooth and built a foundation of trust from the start. Additionally, the genuine quality of the people within KALDI made a significant impression. Their team was highly professional and sincerely committed to our project's success, which fostered a great working relationship and made collaboration a pleasure.

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

While our experience with KALDI has been largely positive, one area where there could be room for improvement is in their initial handling of client and project overlaps. At the outset of our collaboration, we noticed some challenges related to the allocation of resources among different projects. Although we recognize that managing simultaneous projects efficiently is a complex task and often difficult to perfect, minimizing overlap and ensuring dedicated resources can significantly enhance service delivery and client satisfaction. A more focused approach in this area could further elevate their already impressive service.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Co-founder, CEO of a Linen Rental & Management Company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Linen rent, wash and transport.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Online ordering
• Linen control

SOLUTION

How did you find Kaldi?

Online Search

Why did you select Kaldi over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fits our budget
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Kaldi were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Web-app discovery: Figma prototype of landing page, onboarding and web-app for ordering, returning and controlling the invenotory of linen. Web-app development of ordering, returning and controlling the invenotory of linen. Deliverable is a working product functional on the market.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Most importantly: we finally have a product that can efficiently track and control the linen we rent by region and client. Seemless ordering for clients. Much simplier and much better than we originately pictured.

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

Their response was always prompt and very suited for whatever the situation. The delivery date was accordingly postponed and they have delivered everything on time. The communication was proffesional and clear from each team member. It was a real pleasure working with them.

What was your primary form of communication with Kaldi?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

We (as cofounders) are not tech guys. It was extremely difficult to enter the tech world and communicate our needs to the tech sector. Kaldi was the only company that understood our need and came towards us with each and every aspect of the development. From the execution to the financial side of the project. 
They first help you develop the prototype and lead you to test it on the actual market. Only afterwards the actual development intiates. That saves so much of overdevelopment and overspending for the useless features. The approach is genius and interestingly not so obvious.

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

The reporting. They actually went beyond just for our requested reporting needs. I believe, however that if they would make the detailed reporting as company standard their clients would highly value the transparancy given by the reports.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Senior Product Manager of Loftware Inc.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Loftware  is the world’s largest cloud-based Enterprise Labeling and Artwork Management provider, offering an end-to-end labeling solution platform for companies of all sizes. Maintaining a global presence with offices in US, UK, Germany, Slovenia, China, and Singapore, Loftware boasts over 35 years of expertise in solving labeling challenges. We help companies improve accuracy, traceability and compliance while improving the quality, speed, and efficiency of their labeling.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Subscription management implementation
• Automatic renewals for subscription
• Increase partner experience by offering them fast self service portal

SOLUTION

How did you find Kaldi?

Referral

Why did you select Kaldi over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Kaldi were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Our Subscription Management Platform revolutionizes the way our partners interact with Loftware products, simplifying the entire process: 

• Effortless Ordering: Partners can effortlessly order and provide new instances of Software products to their customers online, eliminating the need for cumbersome purchase orders or the hassle of searching for part numbers. Orders are placed with just a few clicks, and new subscriptions are automatically provisioned.
• Comprehensive Overview: The Subscription Management Platform provides partners with an intuitive interface that grants them full visibility and control over all their subscriptions. This feature offers a comprehensive view of end-users and assets, making management a breeze. 
• Seamless Renewals: Our platform streamlines and automates the renewal process, ensuring that partners and their customers enjoy a hassle-free experience when extending their subscriptions. 
• Integration with Salesforce: We've seamlessly integrated the Subscription Management Platform with Salesforce, enabling data synchronization and centralized control. This integration empowers partners to manage everything efficiently using a common business utility.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Delivery of New Web Application: The timely delivery and deployment of the new web application to our partners, ensuring a seamless transition from the previous system. 
• Partner Onboarding Success: Achievement of a high partner onboarding rate to the new web application, demonstrating effective training and support for a smooth transition. 
• Effective Integration with Salesforce: Measurable success in establishing seamless communication and data synchronization between the new web application and our Salesforce platform, enhancing data accuracy and operational efficiency.

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

Kaldi team always delivered on time, even though we needed to pivot the project in the middle in order to satisfy our business needs. They helped us organize various stakeholders and teams in order to get all the questions answered.

What was your primary form of communication with Kaldi?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The team's remarkable expertise shone brightly throughout our journey towards digitalizing the partner experience. Their unwavering dedication and willingness to dive into the nitty-gritty details whenever assistance was required impressed us. Every step of the way, their friendly demeanor and unwavering commitment to our success provided invaluable support, even during our most challenging moments. Kaldi truly exceeded our expectations.

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

While Kaldi's assistance was precious to our project, we might suggest that expanding their knowledge base to include finance and legal aspects could further enhance their support. This broader expertise could expedite our progress and enable them to anticipate and address potential roadblocks even faster.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our mission is to bring decentralized digital identity to all people — a self-sovereign identity they can use to communicate, transact, and create value within any context. I am an engineering manager (Head of Engineering) for the whole company and help as a product owner for half of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We started working with Kaldi in 2019. We were looking for outsourcing partners for Backend and Web development.

SOLUTION

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

Selection process was done before my time at GlobaliD. I don't have exact information about deciding factors.

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

Kaldi's developers have worked full-time on the GlobaliD project for three years. They are considered GiD team members, and we are working on the same process with the whole team. Kaldi was helping us with NodeJS on our Backend and React on our Frontend.

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

CEO and Team lead are our main points of contact. There were a total of 8 developers working on the GlobaliD project over the last three years. Currently, two full-time developers are working on our project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are currently in product-building mode and have no measurable outcomes yet. Kaldi is our partner through multiple SDLC and is successfully helping us be fast and maintain the best possible quality.

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

We decided to move away from Scrum and start using Kanban a couple of months ago. We worked according to Scrum methodologies for almost three years. Our primary communication tool is Slack; for project management, we use Jira. Our timelines are drawn down in the Jira roadmap.

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

Senior developers are the professional, fast, and perfect addition to our internal team members. They are helping our development team with an architectural definition of the products. We're impressed with the code quality and the team's ability to take one extra step to help us succeed.

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

I don't have any complaints. We are constantly communicating, solving, and improving our processes without issues.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a fintech company dealing with investments. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Kaldi?

We hired Kaldi to be our outsourced development agency. Their task was to help us develop our technology system, along with an iOS app. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started the project with a discovery phase; it was a month-long discovery and preparation. From there, Kaldi started their development work. They did a lot of planning, testing, and adjusting. 

We shared with them our prototype, along with quite a lot of information that we’d already assembled in the run-up to the project. They knew about the potential solutions we had in mind. To create the final product, Kaldi produced a Java-based code and put together the core database in AWS. Then, they worked on API specifications with other financial institutions that were linked to us.

At present, we’re finalizing the MVP. We’ll continue working with Kaldi as we develop things beyond the MVP. For functionality, the deliverable is a viewing app where customers can view their investments. Using it, they can deepen their understanding of their investments. It’s incredibly visual, combining financial and content. 

Apart from developing our technology, Kaldi has also designed our website. They’ve worked on many aspects of our business, going beyond their initial brief. 

What is the team composition?

The team composition has changed based on the nature of our engagement. However, we’ve worked with about 10 people in total. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Kaldi in April 2022, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The product has had a huge impact on our business. It’s our core feature and one of our key differentiators as a company. Given that, we’re truly happy with Kaldi’s output. We’re also happy with the manner in which they work. 

As a woman, I’m impressed that they have a lot of women on their team, which is quite rare in the technology and finance industries. Overall, interacting with them has been wonderful. 

How did Kaldi perform from a project management standpoint?

Everything has been delivered on time and within our budget. They’ve been responsive if there are changes we need to spend time on for whatever reason. All issues are accounted for, and the team is highly communicative. 

Moreover, we communicate with Kaldi in three ways. We have a Slack channel, and our head of engineering attends all their stand-ups, retrospective meetings, and scrum and sprint planning meetings. On top of that, we have a biweekly roadmap meeting, where we discuss the management of the project in addition to technical topics. Overall, we have a continual interaction with them. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Kaldi has a truly unique culture. They’re good and nice people, and it feels like they’re a part of our company. They’ve taken the initiative to immerse themselves in our world, so everybody feels connected — their attitude has been fantastic. 

Another thing I want to commend is that whenever we have a concern or if we feel that the project isn’t going where we want it to go, we can voice our concerns and they’ll react immediately and always surprise us with their work afterward. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. I’ve expected the project to be harder, but the team has been truly responsive — I can’t think of anything material I’d want to change. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Treat Kaldi as a member of your team. Have the same attitude with them as you would if you hired them as an in-house team. From a management and human capital perspective, you’ll achieve enormous results if you do it that way. 

They’re not the kind of team to whom you can give a project and come back three months later. Kaldi has to be a part of your team, and that’s what they say they want to be. They’re a tightly knit, community-based company, and they produce the best results when you engage with them on that level. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am co-owner of fishing app, responsible for business development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Kaldi mainly for frontend and backend development of new features, that will be introduced in our mobile app or in connection with our mobile app.

We were first thinking about hiring our own team for this project, but we finally decided for Kaldi due to their broad set of services (e.g. design, UX & UI, QA, frontend, backend, project management).

SOLUTION

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

Main factor was how well our teams were instantly able to connect. Other factors were the following: Recommendation received from a colleague, responsiveness, action orientated mindset, young team, transparent proposal.

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

Our project was divided into two major parts:

• Development of back-office for editing the content shown in our mobile app
• Development of web-app, that has similar features compared to our mobile app.

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

Two people worked on our project full time (one frontend developer and one backend developer). However, there were several other people involved when needed (project manager, AWS specialist, designer, QA specialist).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We liked the planning phase of the project, where every feature / function was planned in advance in details. This made the development much easier. Deliverables were of expected quality and within the agreed deadlines.

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

We had shorter daily calls and longer weekly calls. Development was divided in sprints using Jira. We used Slack and Zoom for daily communication. Project management was handled very well (future steps were always considered, planning was done on time, Jira was always up to date).

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

Thinking out of the box (not settling on what we had in mind, but trying to upgrade it), relaxed & efficient workflow, owning the mistakes and making sure they do not happen again, strong developers, nice and honest people, and open communication. They are constantly seeking feedback and acting in it, trying to understand what we would like to achieve.

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

Both sides try to improve and act on the feedback received. Maybe responsiveness of the people, that do not work on our project full time could be improved.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a business developer of KALUU, a company that develops and sells smart parking infrastructure for micro-mobility.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Kaldi to help us build a software solution and APP that will offer a customer the best possible UX while renting parking infrastructure for micro-mobility.

SOLUTION

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

We selected Kaldi based on recommendation of our partner that already cooperated with them on a similar project. After the first meeting we very confident about their knowledge and experiences. They also invested a lot of time in preparing the offer that included a lot of technical specifications. This way we really knew they understand what we are looking for.

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

They designed and developed a software solution that consists of backend, admin panel and mobile app (iOS and Android). We have few meeting already before the start of the project. In that phase they helped us a lot with asking the right questions. After the official start we were in a constant contact when needed, and we have weekly meeting.

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

There were 4 people, one project manager, one senior backend developer, one front end developer and one mobile app developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I must admit that Kaldi helped us made a much better solution that we wanted at the first place. They helped us a lot not only in technology matters, but also in UX, admin panel functionalities and other stuff.

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

Project management was great. Their project manager communicated everything in time. Even if there were some small delays he communicated that immediately so we could adjust the timeline and plan everything together. We communicated mostly over Slack and Google meet. In testing stage we also get the access to Jira to report bugs and other issues.

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

The communication was really very good. Also during testing, when the team was not dedicated to our project for a full time the responsiveness was amazing which helped us a lot. I need to point out their team energy, it is a pleasure to work with them.

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

I don't have anything to point out here.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing director at Virtually There. We’re a virtual office and call answering provider.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Kaldi?

We were looking to upgrade our service capabilities and automate a lot of our manual processes.

I came to Kaldi with a project to deliver a bespoke call center for us. We have quite complex requirements for a call center and needed a fully automated self-service onboarding flow for our customers. It would allow users to sign up on our website and figure out the best service for themselves. We also wanted to automate a lot of our back-office processes, such as billing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Kaldi’s work involved building out a bespoke contact center, an onboarding flow, a customer portal, and various backend automation built on AWS. We also use Twilio Flex for the contact center portion, which is a flexible and customizable web app. We also use Form.io integration, as well.

What is the team composition?

I've been in touch with Ales (CEO & Co-Founder).

How did you come to work with Kaldi?

I found Kaldi through a referral. We work with a partner in London who used them. In total, I talked to three companies for this project and chose Kaldi because I was really impressed with their approach. It was very straightforward and they were like-minded to us. They really seemed to listen to what I wanted to do.

I didn’t provide a tight specification for the project but rather needed a company to help me flesh out the idea and build out the specifications for the system with me. I wanted to feel comfortable, and have a good connection and relationship with Kaldi because we were going to be working quite collaboratively together. I also liked the size of their company. They were big enough to have the resources available for what I needed, but not too big to get lost among other clients.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve probably spent £120,000 (approximately $170,500 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in October 2020 and the work is ongoing. The initial phase of the project will end in June 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The system that Kaldi has designed is excellent and we’re really impressed with what they’ve accomplished. As with every tech project, we’ve had several milestones, which has made us miss few deadlines and exceed our budget. However, from a functionality point of view, we’ve figured everything out to achieve our goals. We’ve received positive stakeholder feedback.

How did Kaldi perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate through email and Slack, and we talk  2–3 times a week. Kaldi uses Confluence and Jira, and they’ve given us access to those tools.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Kaldi is incredibly easy to work with and very capable. The team knows how to listen and understand the business challenges. In the past, I struggled with some developers because I needed an analyst between us to translate everything —  I’ve never felt that way with Kaldi. They have an open and transparent way of working and we have direct access to the developers on our project. They’re also involved in all the discussions, which makes things very easy.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Kaldi’s weakest area is probably their reporting. I’ve been very involved on a day-to-day basis, so they don’t feel like they need to report more formally to me.

Any advice for potential customers?

Anyone who wants to work with Kaldi is going to get a similar experience to me; it will be very personal. The person who has an initial meeting with the team will understand what kind of company culture they have. People will also know quickly if Kaldi is a good fit for them or not.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

During this project, I was a project manager and scrum product owner at an engineering firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Kaldi IT?

The agency working for us hired Kaldi to develop a rather complicated product that needed API backend development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Kaldi was brought in to develop a specific component, but they ended up building the whole web platform from the bottom up. It has user profiles and advanced 3D modeling. The design was completed by another party.

They used multiple technologies, including HTML and JavaScript. The site is hosted on Azure.

What is the team composition?

The scrum master and designer were from the agency that hired them. On Kaldi’s side, there was one person in charge of frontend development, a manager and backend developer, and an Azure specialist. 

How did you come to work with Kaldi IT?

We had requirements for a platform to serve data, and our main agency didn't have a solution in place. The agency turned to Kaldi to take over the work.

How much have you invested with them?

I don’t know how much they’re paid by the agency. We just have a contract with the main provider.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Kaldi in July 2019, and it’s ongoing. I believe that our main provider has gotten most of the assistance they needed, and they’ll take over at some point.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The feedback on their work is really great. Any problems that have arisen were on our side, with data quality, and not on the development side. Everything built by Kaldi works perfectly.

How did Kaldi IT perform from a project management standpoint?

We managed the project on our side, but Kaldi IT performed well and was very organized. We had 15-minute daily meetings, and all the changes we talked about were taken into consideration. I got a very good impression of their work from my side. We used Azure DevOps for management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We became really good colleagues, and the conversation was always relaxed. We could have a chat or quick meeting whenever we liked, and they made suggestions for improvements. Kaldi IT truly cares about the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Some things weren’t tested correctly, and I’ve had to do testing on my own. They could do some additional checkups on the code before delivering them to my section, for user-acceptance tests.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

My advice is for clients to be honest and be themselves.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our focus is on telecommunications operators who are eager to offer their users the latest and most creative solutions (IPTV, OTT, HbbTV, and Hybrid). We are proud of being a recognized innovator, who provides innovative solutions to the industry and its clients in 55 countries of the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Kaldi IT?

For developing highly scalable and robust microservices.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal is to move from monolithic to microservice architecture. In doing so, certain already developed functionalities need to be redeveloped as microservices, together with new functionalities to meet customers and market demands.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We had some initial meetings, reference checks with various companies and KaldiIT impressed us with their engagement and knowledge. After presenting the challenge, they put together an architecture proposal and suggested technologies that would be suitable for this challenge.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We decided to move the authentication and messaging functionality from monolith to microservices. KaldiIT has developed two microservices (identity manager and messaging system) and our requirement was that these two microservices need to be highly scalable and robust. Before the actual development began, we had a couple of meetings to discuss the prepared solutions and to agree on the technologies that would be used.

What was the team composition?

We worked with two developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Currently, we are with the first microservices in the testing phase and have no business impact so far.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

They do their best to make the project a success. The team dynamics, relationships and cooperation were very good.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their engagement, willingness and motivation.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The more I think, the more I don't remember anything. :)