Kernelics

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the creator of the application "Witness".

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

I had a mobile project in mind, and I wanted to accelerate the speed of development vs just doing it myself. I hired Kernelics for their design, mobile & web development. They were with me pretty much from the start of the project through two different versions.

SOLUTION

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

I was introduced to them through a referral. I decided to go with them based on their flexibility and thoughtfulness in listening to my project requirements.

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

I provided them a project brief, and we had an introductory call to describe the project. I provided product specifications and they provided a development team along with a project manager and business analyst to help break down the requirements. We used a Java backend, and we implemented an iOS and Android application.

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

At the end of the project, I was mainly interacting with the project manager and business analyst. However, throughout the course of the project I probably worked with 10 different developers (across iOS, Android, Web, Backend), and they ranged from senior to junior developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I was able to launch a first version of the application about 5 months after the first conversation with them. Subsequent versions were faster and more streamlined as we pegged down the process, so we ended up shipping two more versions in the following 5 months.

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

We use Slack, JIRA, Google Docs. They were generally very timely, and had good project management skills.

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

I found them very accommodating and competent teammates. Their quality was generally pretty high-- versions shipped were well made, minus a few follow-ups which they were quick to fix. I think their adaptability and engagement with the project can set them apart-- even the developers cared about what they were making. Also, when I looked at the infrastructure they set up, it was professionally done.

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

This was my fault, but probably helping clients think through the cost of what scale they want. I probably implemented more infrastructure than I needed initially.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a music community company building an application that provides audio streaming and vertical social network experiences. I am the Engineering Lead on the project. Initially I was the sole frontend developer building the React Native app and managing our builds, but I have progressively taken on several managerial duties including project management, feature roadmapping, and hiring.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We required additional hands on both frontend and backend, beginning with a full-time React Native engineer who continues to exceed expectations, followed by a full-time backend engineer a few months later. Along the way we have also utilized Kernelics developers for temporary work in Swift, Unity, and DevOps. Our goal is simply to create the best product possible within our chosen timeframe.

SOLUTION

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

After having a negative experience with an agency located elsewhere in the world, we were drawn to Eastern Europe due to the quality of engineering work and the greater value offered for what we were paying for previously. We soon found Kernelics, and haven't looked back!

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

The scope of work is quite expansive for both frontend and backend. On the React Native side, we have had a stellar Kernelics engineer working on audio chats, direct messaging, authentication, payments, notifications, UI updating, and general refactoring. A number of third party services have been used for these features, some of the more well-known ones being Firebase, Sendbird, and Stripe. 

On the backend side, we initially relied on AWS Lambdas, S3, and Cloudfront as a quick serverless solution, but ultimately needed something more robust; our Kernelics engineers are currently working on an entire overhaul of not only our API's, but also the security and scalability of our entire infrastructure. Some of the frameworks and technologies being used include FastAPI, Postgres, SQLAlchemy, Pytest, Docker, Kubernetes, Jenkins, and Amazon RDS. 

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

We currently have two full-time engineers -- one React Native, one Python -- and one temporary DevOps engineer who is helping us with our AWS architecture. In the past we have also had two temporary engineers who were helping with frontend R&D work in Swift and Unity.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Not at the moment, since we have not yet deployed a public version of our application. 

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

We chose to manage our chosen Kernelics developers ourselves, which has allowed for our small, flat-structured team to iterate very quickly. Communication and timeliness of delivery have been satisfactory.

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

Kernelics is lightning fast in attending to client needs. Anytime we've required a new or different resource, they have responded with excellent options very quickly. And the quality of work by the engineers speaks for itself.

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

None that come to mind currently!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CTO at Trusty (https://trustyco.com). We are a Real Estate listing portal that offers multiple options on listings from expert local real estate agents.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Kernelics?

We hired Kernelics for node.js, react and general full stack web development.

What were your goals for this project?

Kernelics was part of our very early team, meaning our only engineer was the CTO. Kernelics helped us with early prototyping and completing our proof of concept. Next the project evolved into the product web application. Kernelics was integral in architecting and building our early product. The Kernelics team also flowed nicely into our org as we added full-time engineers and grew the engineering team.

SOLUTION

How did you select Kernelics?

We found Kernelics through word of mouth and are so glad we found them. We considered many companies and took many meetings, but we liked what Kernelics had to offer.

Describe the project in detail.

First building our POC and then our production product. https://trustyco.com is a real estate portal with listing of home for sale combined with opinions from local expert real estate agents. The project include lots of of node, api, react, google maps.

What was the team composition?

Kernelics provided full stack engineers and architects to help build our POC and early product.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Our POC allowed us to validate our idea and answer many questions. Kernelics allowed us to move quickly and had a super fast turn around. Our production product has evolved so much in just a few months. Code quality and collaboration is great with Kernelics.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Kernelics was always available, never missed meetings and were great communicators. We brought them into our slack and project tracker and daily standup.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They could easily find talented developers to fit our needs. The developers we worked with were great.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not much, I had a really great experience and have Kernelics at the top of our list when we want to flex and add more resources.