LITSLINK

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a founder of a startup venture.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

I have started creating a state-of-the-art, SaaS recruiting platform based on a unique logic. The challenge is to implement custom ML solutions to accommodate the special logic around text parsing and analysis.

SOLUTION

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

I have selected this vendor based on their experience in the area, their flexibility and ability to implement custom solutions within a favorable price-range.

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

Firstly we went over the project details, roadmap, identified key milestones and agreed deliverables. We have used several different technologies to build up the supporting database (Django), UI and Machine Learning algorithms (Python).

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

• 1 Account Manager
• 2 Python Developers
• 1 DB Developer
• 2 PMs

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Outcomes were up to the standards identified at the project start. With ML algorithms which are not "battle tested" and not easy to predict, we were able to achieve a strong success ratio upon user testing.

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

Communication and timeliness was always punctual, reliable and detailed.

Tools used:

• Upwork
• Drive
• Jira
• Trello

Regarding Business Analysis there were some gaps at the beginning in terms of thoroughness, however the company made up for it with flexibility throughout the development phase.

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

Flexibility, great communication, timeliness, ability to provide custom solutions in a timely manner.

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

More thorough product analysis at the beginning and better project progress tracking.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the COO/Co-Founder of a startup company, based out of Silicon Valley.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire LITSLINK?

Our AI taxonomy consists of an algorithm that puts together outfits based on a user’s activity style, local trends and climate.

SOLUTION

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

Shortlisted 5 companies, and picked them due to their extensive experience with startups & AI

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Trained with quality and quantity data, our AI analyzes social feeds for past fashion data, checks out the customer demand and preferences to identify market trends.

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

We worked with 3 AI engineers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After processing the data, the AI tool gives accurate details on trendy styles and outfits within seconds for accurate local fashion. (Normally this would otherwise take days or even months, and require many stylists.)

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very reliable team of experts, and amazing communication

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

They have worked hard to produce high quality of work. fast turn-around

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

We are super happy with them, and definitely continue working!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the co-founder and CEO of a digital solutions company. We provide digital experience solutions for warehouses, and particularly for companies who use Systems Applications and Products in Data Processing (SAP) ERP.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with LITSLINK?

Companies that implement SAP or ERP use SAP tools to manage transactions in their warehouse do it on their own computer and total the different transactions that go in the warehouse. That takes a lot of time.

The SAP system is not user-friendly, and the interface is very difficult to use. Staff who are in charge can also make quite a lot of mistakes since they're typing a lot of data manually into the system on a desktop. As such, we thought of creating a mobile app that can make the process seamless. 

We had another company that created the proof of concept (POC). Then, when we got approval from the customers, we started developing the solution.Since we didn't have in-house developers yet, we contacted LITSLINK to do all the development for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

LITSLINK developed our mobile app, and the team was in charge for both the backend and frontend solution. They built a digital experience solution for the warehouse which was composed of two components. The mobile app also had the ability to communicate with the SAP ERP system. 

In the solution they created, end-users who were doing the processes in the warehouse could do their work without using a desktop. This time, they could do their work processes in the warehouse using our app. 

Another very important aspect that we dealt a lot with was barcode scanning. We developed full support for barcode scanning, and the reason our customers used our solution was to minimize shipping mistakes which could be very costly.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 4–5 developers. It really depended on how many resources we needed. Sometimes we needed two full-time resources or only part-time resources. We also worked with some project managers.

How did you come to work with LITSLINK?

I did some research on the internet. Initially, I started searching on Upwork. However, since I wanted to get some additional data, I looked at Clutch and two other review sites. I made a decision based on the reviews I saw. In the end, we chose to work with LITSLINK.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our partnership in January 2020, and the app was finished in April 2020. We completed that scope and delivered it to the customer.

We're still working with them on a part-time basis just for smaller requests. Based on the requirements of our customers, we're considering which scope to continue further.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The deliverables were of good quality. We had very good developers working with us, and we had direct access to them. They also remained flexible with our requirements, especially on the people resources that we needed. We also had the help of project managers along the way.

End users saved a lot of time because they didn't have to manually enter data into the system. The app made it easy for external stakeholders to update their ERP systems. Overall, LITSLINK's impact was very meaningful to our customer.

How did LITSLINK perform from a project management standpoint?

Everything was great from a project management standpoint. The communication was good. When we had a larger team and full-time employees, we also had a project manager, and everything went very well. They were very familiar with different project management methodologies like Agile and Kanban.

What did you find most impressive about them?

There were two impressive things about LITSLINK: their high-quality development and flexibility. Those were very important to us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have a criticism about LITSLINK because everything flowed well during the engagement. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I'd definitely recommend working with them. Before starting our partnership, I spoke to other companies who had worked with them. I haven’t used all of their services, but they have good project managers and a development team. I'm sure that they have different methods of work on how they manage their projects. 

They're open to letting you work with their own developers, and they can even give you a dedicated developer. Overall, you just need to be clear on your requirements. In our case, companies like mine work with outsourcing mostly because we want flexibility; we don’t want to hire internally. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the co-founder and CEO of a video interview platform. We provide the software that allows recruiters to conduct video interviews with their candidates.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with LITSLINK?

We were trying to build our MVP so we hired LITSLINK as our long-term software development partner.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with a kickoff call with LITSLINK’s project manager, who oversees the entire relationship. At that point, they listened and made note of our requirements and then put together a 25-page scope that explained the project in detail. The brief was good and contained exactly what we wanted. 

I had done my own research about the implementation of a video capture on different mobile devices and operating systems, but they supplemented it with knowledge on how to make the entire system seamless for the user. LITSLINK even answered some of our additional questions, and we eventually worked out the quotes and the wireframes. 

When we signed it all off, we then got introduced to the team that would be working on the project and went into development about two months later. 

What is the team composition?

We’re working with seven people, and our main point of contact is Oleksandr (Product Manager).

How did you come to work with LITSLINK?

I put the project on Upwork and narrowed our choices down to three companies, to whom I gave the same pitch and brief. We chose LITSLINK because they understood the project the best. I’m quite a technical person, so I appreciated that their team spent a lot of time doing research to understand the complexities of the challenges. We felt that they could deliver a long-term solution that would give us a viable business.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We first reached out to LITSLINK back in April 2019. This project is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Generally, we’re looking at the success of a business based on the secured investment from the previous year, and we’re doing really well. It wouldn’t have been possible without LITSLINK’s extremely high-quality work. Their team is pretty much an extension of our own and it has been really important that we’ve been able to keep working with the same key individuals throughout the whole relationship. 

What I really like about them is their solutions. They're always exploring the most cost-effective way to do things. I’ve worked with partners in the past that will find any old solution, but LITSLINK never gave up to provide something better. It was nice to see that they shared that mindset.

How did LITSLINK perform from a project management standpoint?

The first six months of our partnership were quite difficult, but teething issues are to be expected with a new project. After that, everything has been awesome. They’ve gotten really good at managing both their team and our expectations. We have a stand-up call every Thursday and release new features every two weeks. 

We use Trello, Slack, and Jira, but email the team if we need to scope out a big project or need to send invoices. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

LITSLINK has a really strong understanding of the different aspects of running business. They’ll bend over backwards to make sure that it is commercially viable for us to continue working with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there is anything for them to improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that you give LITSLINK everything they will need to fully understand your business, not only what you’re trying to do, but also why you’re trying to do it. The most important part is setting the foundations and letting the team come back to you with a full understanding of the project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Managing Director of a web development agency. We design build and support websites for a range of clients across various industries, B2B & B2C.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Due to our team being fully resourced, we needed a competent developer to take on the support and maintenance of one of our clients websites. The ambition was for them to seamlessly integrate into our team get up to speed on the project quickly and then take ownership of the project in terms of all support and change requests directly from the client.

SOLUTION

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

I found LITSLINK from an online resource as the requirements for the role were quite specific. The reason we chose to go with them was the comfort of having another agency rather than an individual who's circumstances may change. We needed a guarantee of continuity from the chosen developer and the backup of a full development team should the need arise.

From talking with the LITSLINK team it become clear that they were fully capable of taking on the project and in a good position to deliver to a high standard. The development skillset is to a high standard and the initial tasks set were delivered quickly and competently.

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

The project that we hired LITSLINK for is a legacy website that has been running for a number of years, so the main goal for this project was the improvement and maintenance of the codebase. It is built on Ruby on Rails with a Vue.js frontend, Kentico Kontent and hosted with AWS.

We had a couple of initial calls to discuss the structure of the websites, how they fit in with one another, the technologies used and what our expectation of the chosen developer would be. We have a set number of days per week that the developer works on this project and this is on-going.

We have an open and transparent line of communication with the client and the developer works with the client to manage deliverables, gain further detail on tasks and also manage the delivery pipeline through to testing and deployments.

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

I have worked with two people from LITSLINK, a project coordinator and a developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

To date we have received positive feedback from the client on the level of tickets that have been resolved month on month, the level of communication from the developer and the quality of code being implemented.

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

I opted to take on the project management of this particular engagement due to my relationship with the client. The LITSLINK developer has integrated into our ways of working, communicating with the client through Trello and our internal team through Slack. They have been a very positive addition to the team and have integrated seamlessly. He is pro-active in providing solutions and alternative fixes.

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

They have taken on a complex website and portal that has had many different developers working on it over the years and got themselves up to speed quickly to start producing fixes and updates. There is a good line of communication and they are always willing to help out where needed and go the extra mile. They have provided stability to what has been previously and unstable website.

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

I have no complaints to date.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company is an IoT company looking to limit muscular-skeletal injuries in the industrial workspace through our proprietary hardware and data analytics. I am as the lead software engineer for this company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire LITSLINK?

We hired LitsLink to help us build our IoT data pipeline and setup our infrastructure on AWS

What were your goals for this project?

The goals for our project were to build a scalable and reliable data broker application that could handle incoming data from our wearable devices and store it on AWS.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We were referred to LitsLink and picked them because they were able to quickly and efficiently layout a project plan for us and work with us.

Describe the project in detail.

We contracted LitsLink to build a Ruby Application for us that could control our bluetooth based devices and bluetooth routers at scale, as well as receive the incoming data from our devices. They also needed to help deploy this using CI/CD to our Kubernetes Cluster, as well as helped us setup CI/CD for another ruby app and a python based app. They helped us setup our Kinesis streams, S3 buckets, and Elasticsearch clusters for our data pipeline on AWS. Lastly they helped with further setup and deployment of our Kubernetes Cluster, as well as a third party application.

What was the team composition?

We were assigned a project manager, a lead developer, a dev ops engineer, and a ruby developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to fully test our end to end software architecture with the work that they had and present demos to bring in further venture capital and help sign new customers.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was very effective they quickly and reliably answered our questions and concerns, and were able to have biweekly update calls with us.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I found it impressive how knowledgeable they were on AWS and their communication skills.

Are there any areas for improvement?

N/A

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the international operations manager at EcoBioTech Ukraine. We produce and supply sunflower oil and related products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire LITSLINK?

We needed to rework our mobile and web applications because the legacy technologies they were built with were slow and contained many bugs. This was affecting the market analysis we were doing.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to rework our applications, introducing best practices and the newest technologies. This would help us feel comfortable working with the apps every day.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

LITSLINK seemed to be the most reliable, successful, and client-oriented company.

Describe the project in detail.

We had several initial meetings with LITSLINK where we met their teammates and learned about possible technologies for our application. We decided to move forward with a React development, and their team began rewriting the app, using the old version as an example. There were no crises or breaks during development, and they delivered every stage on time. Before finishing, we asked LitsLink to bring in a QA resource

What was the team composition?

LITSLINK's team consisted of a mobile developer, a web developer, a project manager, a QA resource, and a DevOps resource.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After two months, we received a fast, quality product containing many of the new features we wanted to implement. Our employers were excited to work with the app and try out its new functionality because it will help them make their money easier and faster. Users have given us only positive feedback.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We communicated well with their team. The project manager was in-touch 24/7, and we had weekly meetings with the entire team. There was daily communication during the final QA phase. It was frank and effective.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

LITSLINK is an impressive company with a unique atmosphere and approach to work. They have specialists in different areas that can provide you with whatever you need for mobile and web app development.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We’re fully satisfied with LITSLINK’s team and can’t add anything.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of a cryptocurrency company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with LITSLINK?

We were looking for a development house that could supplement our internal team as we built out the new version of our cryptocurrency app. LITSLINK came on board to help us with the design and development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

LITSLINK helped us build a complex web app for users to trade various cryptocurrencies. Rather than starting from scratch, we looked at our previous iteration to identify core functionalities and plan additional features. We then discussed the different screens we’d need, and their team created and implemented all of our UI designs.

They also worked closely with us to develop a gateway that consolidated several blockchain demands from about 100 cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. It’s essentially an interface that connects our platform with the different cryptocurrencies, which allows users to deposit and withdraw coins.

The technical stack includes MySQL 4 and MongoDB for the database and Redis for the caching. Although we’ve recently launched the app, they continue to work with us on new features.

What is the team composition?

We’re currently contracting two developers and two designers, but there were also two additional developers in the past.

How did you come to work with LITSLINK?

I found LITSLINK on Upwork and reached out to them. After working with one of their freelancers, I ended up asking for more resources to augment our project. They provided a list of candidates, and I assessed their technical skills with small tasks. So far, most of them have done well.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about €100,000 (approximately $114,700 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

Their work started in January 2018, and we launched the app in November 2018. Currently, we’re collaborating on new features.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They supplemented our development team and helped us launch a functional app.

How did LITSLINK perform from a project management standpoint?

I handle most of the project management over Slack, and they respond to our needs. There have been some delays throughout the project, but that’s because we'd underestimated the amount of time needed to complete the project. Regardless, everything has been great so far. Whenever we encounter any issues, they’re proactive about discussing the problem and finding a solution.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The developers are good, and we’re happy with how they manage their team. I recently visited them in November, and they were all in good spirits.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CTO of Codec, a company that uses AI and machine learning to discover and track relevant cultural networks so that consumers can unlock new growth opportunities for their brands.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire LITSLINK?

We contracted with LITSLINK for mobile application and web development services.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found LITSLINK through Upwork, and we selected them based on reviews of their work.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

LITSLINK created a cross-platform mobile application utilizing blockchain technologies. They also created a complementary marketing website.

What was the team composition?

We worked with 3–4 developers at different times throughout the engagement.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The products were delivered successfully and have remained functional.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

There was very little for LITSLINK to oversee. We carried out most of the project management internally.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The developers were very responsive.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, there are no areas for improvement.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m product owner at BuyBay, which handles returned products for online retailers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire LITSLINK?

We needed external resources to help with our internal software development.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to increase capacity on our scrum teams.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were selected was before I was involved in the project.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

LITSLINK provided engineers to join our scrum teams. Working remotely, they worked on user stories alongside our other engineers. They worked in Ruby on Rails, as well as front- and backend development.

What was the team composition?

We worked with up to 5 developers. The number varied depending on the amount of work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The LITSLINK developers helped us to create our new applications more quickly.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The developers took part in scrum planning and standup meetings. They contributed their expertise in planning and developing stories.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their support allowed us to scale up and down easily. They were able to supply new front- and backend developers for us at short notice.

Are there any areas for improvement?

They were more focused on coding rather than providing solutions. We were required to provide precise instructions in order for the development to go well. A solutions-driven approach would be an improvement.