KITRUM

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Director of Systems for a third-party logistics company (3PL). I oversee all software development, IT, and business systems for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our TMS (transportation management system) was outdated and wasn't able to meet the current business needs. We initially hired another software development firm to re-engineer the system. After the project had a 100% over-run on budget and a 100% over-run on timeline, we sought out other development firms to complete the project and get us back on track.

Our goal was to complete the development work on our TMS, identify and correct bugs/errors, and successfully push the product into production.

SOLUTION

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

We found KitRUM as part of a search for development companies in eastern Europe, as this area seems to be where innovation is coming from currently. I identified 11 firms and scheduled video interviews with each of them. From those 11 interviews, I took detailed notes on the conversation and set follow-up interviews for four firms to talk with our executive team.

Two were selected for in-person interviews. From these two, we selected KitRUM to complete our project. We had two main criteria for selecting our development firm: technical knowledge / execution as well as effective and thorough communication. In both these areas, KitRUM excels.

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

KitRUM completed development of our TMS, migrated existing customer and shipment data, released into production, fixed bugs, made improvements, and continues to support the system on an ongoing basis. They began with a detailed code review and deep-dive into the system requirements, both technical and operational. After identifying the issues and next steps required to bring the product to a production-ready version, the team created user stories in Jira and set up the CI/CD pipeline in GitLab.

Development work began with a two-week sprint cycle. After release to production, we adopted an even more aggressive push cycle and often made 3-4 production pushes each week, during normal business hours, without interruption of service for customers or staff. Our TMS is build in PHP (Laravel framework) and Node JS. We have API integrations with multiple service providers as part of the quoting and booking process.

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

Our team scales up and down as the project needs dictate. It has been as high as nine full-time developers, QA engineers, and project managers and as low as four members. Always present on the team are the Project Manager, the Lead Developer, and a few Mid-level Developers (who are skilled enough to really be Senior Developers). Developers are typically full-stack so that they can work on both front-end and back-end systems.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

KitRUM was able to successfully launch the TMS into production. They fix bugs in an extremely timely manner and we continue to release new features each week. Their work is always high-quality and the QA team catches most issues prior to them occurring in production. The core development team has been on the project for nearly two years so they are very familiar with the code base and are mindful of unintended consequences in other areas of the system.

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

Our Project Manager is fantastic, and is a key part of our project's success. She keeps the team on target and bridges the gap between the customer-side and the technical-side. The development team holds daily stand-up calls. They also have a call with our Senior Developer 2x per week, and a weekly call with the Product Owner once per week. We use Jira for our ticketing system, Slack for our chat messages, and Google Meet for our video conferencing and screen-sharing.

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

Communication. I can't overstate the importance of clear and effective communication with the Project Manager as well as the team. A common concern when working with any offshore development team is worrying that the team is ACTUALLY understanding what you're saying and how things need to work. All of the team member speak fluent English and are able to understand the projects.

If there is ever any concern, our Project Manager steps in to speak Ukrainian or Russian to the team and bridge any gaps in their understanding by explaining the project in their native language.

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

We have been extremely happy with the results KitRUM has achieved for us and can't think of any areas that need to be improved or anything that I'd do different with the project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a Chief Financial Officer at TodayProfit, we’re Crypto trading company based in Texas.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We wanted to build a web application for online trading. We are required to display numerical analytical data about the transactions for our users on the platform.

SOLUTION

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

It was a reference from one of our clients. KITRUM helps them to build complicated banking software. They’ve done their job perfectly and hence - got a new client.

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

It's a UX-perfect web application. Inside the app, you can find interactive charts and diagrams presenting the analytical data on liquidity and transactions. Our approach offers comprehensive trading profiles for customers. Customers could view the info online or download them to use offline.

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

We worked with 3 backend developers, solution architect, 1 DevOp and PM.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The application streamlines trading accounts management by giving around-the-clock control and supervising transactions. Already more than 200 of our clients use this application and are more than happy with the results.

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

I love their project management style. I mentioned that I don't want to be involved in micromanagement, and these guys got me right. I received quick and short updates via email every week and had a monthly call with strategy discussions.

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

I like the way guys keep deadlines. They even exceeded performance expectations, sometimes they finished the scope of code like 2 days before the stipulated deadline.

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

I don’t think so. We were happy with almost everything starting from the management and to the quality of code.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Project Manager at isKey studio, based in California. We provide services for the development and improvement of website positions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

A year ago we decided that we need a mobile application. It's more convenient and comfortable for our clients to track all their performance from a smartphone.  We've delegated the product development ""from scratch"" to KITRUM.

SOLUTION

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

We checked a bunch of their portfolio and reviews on Clutch and on the Internet overall. We also considered few others app development companies. However, after we analyzed and compared it appeared that the cost and runtime realized have convinced us to go ahead with KITRUM.

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

KITRUM created two versions of our application - Android and iPhone - for all categories of users. Both apps are flexible and easy to use.

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

We settle at an hourly rate for each team member, so at the end of the month they just sent us a bill and that's all.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

There are no bugs or anything like that in the mobile app. As far as we see from the analytics we currently have around 2000 users on the app and the system is stable and strong. 

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

It's perfect. They are friendly and easy to work with; they hear us and work very quickly.

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

KITRUM has done a great deal for us. They completed everything quickly, worked hard, and improved the product without increasing the cost.

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

No. We were happy to work with a company that provides good quality work.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

ArtWevKharkov - creation of online stores and sites for small businesses. Position in the company: wordpress expert.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire KitRUM?

It was necessary to redesign the existing site and develop a CRM internal accounting system.

What were your goals for this project?

Facilitation of the system of accounting for internal developments among the existing staff.

SOLUTION

How did you select KitRUM?

The choice fell on KitRum among many companies due to the excellent location of the company in our city.

Describe the project in detail.

Taking into account all our needs, KitRum has developed an excellent automatic accounting system from scratch especially for us. There are no other similar products on the market due to the specific focus of our business. All our requirements were taken into account and everything was done in the best possible way.

What was the team composition?

For the implementation of our project, the KitRum company allocated 4 people to work with us:

• Organizer
• A UI/UX Designer 
• Programmer
• SEO Specialist

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After the implementation of KitRum development, according to our conservative estimates, the task execution time decreased by 23%. At 34% of age, the productivity of the advertising department employees. Consequently, the activity of our clients has increased by about a quarter (25%).

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The team listened to our ideas and literally put everything into practice at the programmatic level. Even our delusional ideas have found application in software.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

KitRum has become an icon of responsiveness, patience and, of course, high professionalism for us.

Are there any areas for improvement?

KitRum and I went so smoothly that I don't even know what to recommend to them ... Just keep it up!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

SKAARHOJ is an electronics manufacturing company for the TV industry and we’re based in Denmark. I’m the CEO, and we have a 30-person team.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with KitRUM?

We wanted to expand and stabilize our software development team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

KitRUM is providing frontend web development, embedded development for electronics software, and hardware development and review as well. KitRUM is engaged with us on an ongoing basis. They’re like part of our software team, moving from project to project within our company.

One of our projects is writing network connectivity drivers for our hardware. They’ve also written drivers to connect our hardware to external equipment like cameras and video switches. Another project is creating web UIs for controlling our electronics.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with three people from KitRUM; two senior developers and one middle developer. We deal directly with them, but our fourth contact would be a delivery manager.

She checks in with us regularly to make sure everything’s good. We generally don’t need to be in touch with her, because the developers are integrated into our team, which does consist of people from other locations than our office. We’re a distributed global team, and KitRUM is a part of that.

How did you come to work with KitRUM?

Someone pitched us KitRUM services via email so we didn’t have to research the market. They were specific in saying that their team members wouldn’t require babysitting, and that sounded great to us because we didn’t want to have strong management for them. They had to be self-reliant and able to go on for periods of time without having to interact with a manager.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $120,000, so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with KitRUM in October 2020, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The success is measured through their ability to establish a good working relationship with their project leaders and other developers, also by how accurately they interpret the tasks they’re given.

We give them informal tasks that aren’t structured with strong descriptions, and I’ve been impressed by their ability to pick those up, interpret them correctly, and deliver results. KitRUM has required little maintenance, and that was a key metric we were looking for.

How did KitRUM perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re skilled and responsible people. The two senior developers are great in terms of communication. Though one is less strong in communicating, their other traits and work ethic make up for it. All three are great at sticking to deadlines.

On the technical side of things, we’re using Jira for project management, and the languages used for embedded systems are C++ and Golang.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re self-driven, and they integrate easily into our team. They’re submissive to the leadership we provide, and they deliver high-quality results. They’re creative even working under someone else’s plans. They propose solutions beyond the scope, so they provide more value than just hard work. KitRUM has a strong skill set, and they’re great team players.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I haven’t thought much about that. If anything, an area to improve would be the language barrier that sometimes exists. In our case, KitRUM is straight-up about it from the beginning, so they aren’t trying to sell us something without making us aware of it.

Nonetheless, the developers we’re working with are proficient enough to not let that be a problem. I don’t have any points of clear improvement to mention; they’ve been very transparent.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

My advice is to give them a chance to prove that they can do what they say. That’s what we did, and we haven’t had negative surprises. KitRUM has done everything they promised to do.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a Chief Product Officer at a product company. We’re building a cloud streaming platform for the gaming and construction industries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We needed to build a mobile app endpoint detection and response (EDR). We provide app publishers with information about end-users’ devices on which their app is running.

SOLUTION

How did you select KitRUM and what were the deciding factors?

I knew Vlad (CTO at KitRUM) personally, and I heard a lot about their expertise and projects they’ve done for other companies. I investigated their case studies, rate cards, etc., and decided to move forward.

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

After we decided on the scope of the project, we signed an NDA and started development. We finished the early product’s version in two months. The KitRUM team developed a cloud streaming platform. Once we learned that the first product was pretty successful, we decided to ask KitRUM for help with the next two projects (a kind of Endpoint Risk Management). Our products have been published for five months, and we’re going to build new features and expand into new markets.

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

Two back end developers, one front end + project manager from KitRUM’s side.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We prepared a requirement document for our product and reached out to a few software companies to do test work. We saw that KitRUM completed it faster and more qualitatively than other vendors. I was also impressed by their communication style and project management.

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

We successfully delivered the product directly to the end-users because of the PM’s endless commitment. He realized our needs and turned them into understandable requirements for the developers. We received regular updates, status, and ideas on how we could improve the current version. He did an incredible job of providing perfect service at a pretty reasonable price.

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

Their biggest strength was their communication and ability to understand our needs. They did their best to finish tasks even before it was specified in the timelines. I truly like the way they did their job. It’s more than just delivering a quality product, it’s about human interaction and support.

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

I would change nothing, guys are definitely great professionals.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder and CEO of the company

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our web site was designed on the Craft CMS years ago. Over the years, many of our design elements were hard-coded, which had the unfortunate side effect of our marketing personnel requiring developers any time we needed to make a change.

Like most companies of our size, developers are constantly backed up and needed on higher priority tasks, which meant that nobody was happy. Marketers weren't able to experiment to the level that they wanted, and developers were constantly getting nagged to work on simple web site projects to the detriment of their real work.

We resolved to overcome this problem by migrating to Wordpress. As with any project of this magnitude, we had several internal pages, and several hundred blog posts to migrate.

SOLUTION

How did you select KitRUM and what were the deciding factors?

KitRUM was able to deliver solid, with a reasonable price, talented people with great English skills to handle the technical back-end as well as project management internally.

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

Before we made other improvements to the site, we first wanted to recreate the look and feel that had existed prior. The problem wasn't the design of the site, it was the maintainability.

So, we first had to create a staging/test environment, then design and code the modules to appear identically to the old design. After that was approved, we began the process of migrating the content and error checking each page. We then went to production, and it all happened flawlessly.

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

We worked primarily with 2 people, the JS/Wordpress developer and the project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We accomplished what we set out to do. The site is now infinitely more maintainable by our marketing team, and not developers. While the benefit has not been calculated from a dollar ROI standpoint, it helps our lead gen and selling ability to run more targeted experiments.

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

We had a weekly check-in with the project team. Each check-in contained demos and checking progress against the deadline. We shared to-do's, credentials, permissions, and progress against JIRA cards.

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

They had great project management, skilled developers, excellent English fluency, and great communication skills. The developers not only were able to execute against our wishes, but also to consult on best practices, resulting in superior, future-proofed site architecture.

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

No. They operate exactly as I would in their position.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We as Document.One GmbH are a sub-company of Braintribe and providing specialised software solutions for our customers. My position: Delivery and Project Management

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire KitRUM?

We got one project from one of our most important customers to transform word documents to html templates which later will be used by our specialised software solution.

What were your goals for this project?

To deliver as fast as possible, provide a perfect service to the customer (also in their language) and also prepare a software solution for future template projects with the customer.

SOLUTION

How did you select KitRUM?

I knew KitRUM from my previous company. Worked together with them and was super satisified.

Describe the project in detail.

Given raw word documents with tables, data, graphics - should be transformed to html files with a logical and reusable structure.

What was the team composition?

We hired two intermediate developers from KitRUM who have been supported from one Senior Architect from our side. Together we are in ongoing communication with the customer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After one onboarding week, the KitRUM team was already providing results not only to us, but also to the customer.

Both, we and customer, have been super satisfied, not only by the quality but also by the quantity, especially because the most intense timespan of the project has been during vacation time (christmas and new years eve).

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The KitRUM team is always available for questions and calls. Not only the two developers we hired, but also their project manager.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The super fast response after my first email and also how fast their management provided developers.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No. Perfect service, nice price, nice qualified people.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a Fonder at a content bureau. We’re a creative team that builds content strategies. As a part of the main concept we write the meaningful text for every kind of business, do branding and brand positioning.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We want KitRUM to help us build a custom-designed website and add connections with the list of internal systems.

SOLUTION

How did you select KitRUM and what were the deciding factors?

Before I hired KITRUM, I worked with an agency that can’t get my idea. I lost time and money for terrible quality and I hadn’t get the final product. I know Vlad personally; he is a CTO of KitRUM, I know a few of their clients and I heard that KitRUM delivers a perfect quality of work.

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

We decided to build a website using PHP and WordPress. The tricky thing was that we had tons of the content (texts, images, videos, films) that we need to put in place on our website. Also, we have a short time frame — I need a website to be ready in 3 months. We considered the range of work in 2 days and in 1 week the designer built a mockup wor the whole website with multiple pages. All the stages were completed by the time we discussed them in the very beginning.

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

It was 3 people: 2 developers and 1 designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website is live now and I’m happy with the quality. It has a perfect clean design and perfect functionality just as I want it to be. KitRUM team does even more than I asked from the beginning. And the most important thing is they never complained about deadlines.

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

We used Hangout to make weekly calls with the team to discuss the process and plans overall. Actually, the team was pretty independent and I like it. They added new ideas and fresh visions all along the way.

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

I was struck by the fact that they are so fast and well-coordinated. I mean their performance is outstanding — the mockups for 10 pages were ready in 1 week. Dima who was our designer on the project had a bunch of brilliant ideas which I’ve never thought about. And we’ve implemented them all. I was also impressed by the development work. Cooperation with KitRUM it’s about quality and comfort.

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

Couldn’t think of any.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Project Manager leading a project related to the development of an education platform. My company participates and develops different software and platforms all related to online education.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our need to increase the technical expertise of the team made us to contact KitRUM. With KitRUM we have been able to increase the technical expertise and knowledge of the team gaining independency and increasing the confidence our client has on us.

SOLUTION

How did you select KitRUM and what were the deciding factors?

We found them through the Interned and based on the nice comments we heard about them. We were considering some other partners too. KitRUM focus on results, the transparency and agility of their employees and the successful results we got from the candidate they provided us were key to select them.

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

They design, develop and provide support to the improvement of our client's online authoring application. The main team they participate is a maintenance team. With KitRUM partnership we have improved the technical knowledge of the team, we have improved client communication and satisfaction. The results we are getting with them have more quality than they had before and we have reduced back and forth with the client.

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

There are two people working with us. One of them has the role of technical lead. The other one is a senior software developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our team is happy with the contribution that KitRUM employees provides to the team. Our client is happy with the results we are giving them after KitRUM employees joined the team. Our velocity has improved and we are able to reduce the support time and get things done quicker.

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

We communicate through Teams. Our communication is fluid and agile. We are meeting every two weeks to share expactations and feedback. The feedback is always listened and actions are taken based on that feedback.

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

Transparency and great results.

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

We are happy enough with KitRUM contribution so far. Every feedback was listened and considered and we saw results quickly.