Magora

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the COO at Casual - a video production company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Magora to build us a web app to consolidate all our systems and processes developed over 16 years. The goal was to create a one stop show for both our staff and clients that allowed for end to end project management for our productions.

SOLUTION

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

We hired Magora due to a really strong discovery session. The really grasped what we were trying to do, and provided great insights into how we could approach the project.

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

Discovery was followed by 13 individual sprints, each focussed on a different part of the build. Each sprint involved planning, development, testing and quality assurance.

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

Product Owner Account Manager Developers x 4

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

A really positive response from staff and clients alike. Having a centralized system for all project information has increased efficiency and cut down on errors and omissions.

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

Always available through Slack with super fast response times. Our product owner went to great lengths to speak over the phone any time it was required.

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

Magora's dedication to finished the job was very impressive. As with any development there were several roadblocks, but Magora went to great lengths to fix them, without adding additional hours to the scope.

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

Slightly more QA would have been useful in places.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior digital project manager at a digital transformation company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Magora Systems?

We hired Magora Systems to help us develop a healthcare product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Magora Systems developed the MVP of an iOS and Android mobile app focused on telemedicine. It helps manage information about diseases, surgeries, dental interventions, and hospitals. Users can log in to the app to book appointments and search for services, hospitals, and general practitioners (GP). It is also integrated into GP surgeons' and hospitals’ data so that people can track their medical records. Additionally, it helps users find the medicine they need.

Initially, we provided Magora Systems with the client’s briefs regarding the required design, branding, and functionality of the app. Then, they developed the app from scratch.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a core team of five developers from Magora Systems, including a technical lead, senior developers, and mid-level developers. We also communicated with the account director.

How did you come to work with Magora Systems?

One of our internal product managers recommended them. I checked their reviews on Clutch, and they were great, so we contacted them and started working with them.

How much have you invested with them?

The original project cost $300,000, but the client requested additional features, so the total was around $350,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked from November 2021–April 2022; it was a six-month project. Still, I would hire Magora Systems again for further development and future projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our client was happy with the MVP developed by Magora Systems, and they’re now trying to get more investors interested in the product.

How did Magora Systems perform from a project management standpoint?

Magora Systems delivered everything on time on the first iteration, so we experienced no delays. We managed the project using Jira and YouTrack, where they shared reports. Their team constantly shared information about the project and tracked their work hours.

We worked using a scrum methodology, so we had daily calls via Zoom and communicated via Slack and email very clearly. Additionally, Magora Systems is based in London, so we met in their office twice.

What did you find most impressive about them?

A really good aspect about working with Magora Systems — and one of the reasons I would go with them for our next development project — was that they had a really well-established process. Although I didn’t meet this person, they had a product owner involved who helped with the scope and documentation, allowing developers to kick off the project faster and understand everything.

Usually, other providers don’t bring product owners unless the client pays extra. Of course, the cost of this resource surely was included in the project cost, but Magora Systems’ approach in including support from the start was excellent. They didn’t simply take our requirements and run with them; they truly made an effort to understand everything by doing research and asking the right questions.

Additionally, Magora Systems was very transparent. Whenever we requested changes, they never took a hard stand. Instead, we had good, transparent, and honest conversations about what they could and couldn’t do, never overestimating themselves and always delivering on time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. Everything was good.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a developer at a small travel company located in Norway and is the project owner of the project. Our company has 10 employees and sells trips to beautiful locations in Norway.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Magora?

Norway is a complex geographic country, with a lot of fjords and mountains. A lot of trips offered by the company is therefore complicated with a lot of train, bus and boat connections.

To be able to offer the best experience for the customers of the company, we wanted to develop a virtual guide, to make the trip easier and more delightful for the tourist.

As the internal developers of the company did not have the capacity to do this work an external company was needed to help out with the development of the application.

What were your goals for this project?

Create a mobile application to engage travellers and diversify their experience when booking a trip at our company

SOLUTION

How did you select Magora?

We found Magora by searching online. We contacted a few different companies, but Magora seemed to be the most professional and easiest to communicate with.

Describe the project in detail.

We started off the project with a lot of initials meetings. Discussing the scope and mapping all the ideas. The result of this was a detailed BPMN and user stories that could be estimated and evaluated by the developers.

By creating this, the scope of the project was clear and ready to start the development. After each development phase both our company and Magora did a QA on the current work. When the QA was completed the project was deployed and released.

What was the team composition?

We were assigned a project manager to support us and serve as the main point of contact throughout the project. We also had a business analyst as well as a designer that came up with the initial design of the application. The company also provided a QA team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app was launched early june 2020. It is still yet hard to see if the app was a success or not because of the impact of the Covid-19 situation affecting the world at this time. Resulting in very few, if any, travellers. The app with expected content was delivered in time, and we are pleased with the result that was delivered. Hopefully we will be able to test the app in more detail 2021.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The project manager that we were assigned was easy to communicate with and provided us with detailed updated. We had regular meetings to ensure we all were on the same page. Overall impressed with the people we worked with.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their planning skills and business analyzing skills have been extraordinary and detailed. The common understanding on what should be delivered or not was perfectly clear during the entire corporation.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The development process slowed pretty heavily when bugs were found in their own QA process. But they always delivered in the end. Overall pleased with the process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a company that supplies software to car leasing brokers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Magora?

My team is composed of product managers and designers, without any development skills in-house. They helped us on the development front.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They handled all of the backend and frontend development for the project. We were looking to build a web platform along with a backend CMS and CRM tool. 

What is the team composition?

I work directly with a project manager.

How did you come to work with Magora?

One of my co-workers had worked with them before in a successful partnership, so they were one of three companies that we asked for proposals from. Their proposal was by far the best in terms of what we were aiming to achieve and showed strong attention to detail.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $40,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2019, and our teams are still collaborating. The project will likely be complete by July 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re still mid-way through the project, so I can’t comment much on the quality of the code. However, they show attention to detail in their work and have been hitting milestones at the general pace we’re looking for.  

How did Magora perform from a project management standpoint?

We set very detailed requirements from the beginning and documented milestones. In the end, we’re doing more than initially expected, so sometimes there was a bit of scope creep. We communicate via Slack and have a very skilled project manager. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Broader than just the code itself, the team strived to understand the entire project. Their attention to detail impressed us. They’ve proven to be understanding of some pretty complex code requirements and data sets. The breadth of their skills and processes is very impressive. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve addressed how we’re going to work around issues with scope creep, and they’ve adapted to our needs. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Share as much about our needed deliverables and context early. That way, you’ll get the most out of their services. They’ve been a great team overall for us.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a lawyer, and the company I represent is a startup that works in education.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Magora?

We developed an application for iOS and iPad that allows users to write in Altai, a language in a region of southern Russia, using a downloadable custom keyboard.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our team is not very familiar with the process of developing an application, so the Magora team worked with us from the beginning to the end to help scope out the technical requirements of the project and then to build out the entire thing.

What was the team composition?

They provided a project manager as well as a couple developers, so 2–3 people in total.

How did you come to work with Magora?

From our first meetings with them, they were friendly and incredibly helpful, so we knew that we wanted to move forward with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent a total of a little over $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from around July–December 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The application that they helped us to develop is incredibly useful. We have people using it every day already, and many of them often thank us for much the app has improved their ability to type in Altai. We are totally satisfied with the usability that Magora enabled, and it goes a long way in helping to save our culture and language for a little while longer.

How did Magora perform from a project management standpoint?

We were not a particularly easy customer to work with, because we were often guilty of procrastinating and causing delays, but they were always tolerant and helpful to us. I learned to communicate more effectively because of the professionalism with which their team operated.

We primarily used email, WhatsApp, and phone calls to interact with their team. They were very adaptable to the means of communication that was easiest for us to use, which we appreciated.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their whole team is highly professional, from their project managers to the implementation of all the technical requirements. They worked hard to ensure we were satisfied with every aspect of their work with us, and it really paid off.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If anything, I could have improved with my communication and meeting deadlines, so I certainly don’t think there was anything that they needed to do differently.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It is easy to work with them because they are eager to communicate and find a way to help no matter what you do.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and co-founder of a tech company that was created to transform the way that products are developed by pharmaceutical companies and activate sites that allow patients to participate in research wherever they receive care.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Magora?

We wanted to develop apps on our platform to support the management of our research network. It was intended to bring research sites and positions together to support the conduct of clinical trials while increasing access to investigational products for patients in need.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They were responsible for creating the functionality to support a network environment for participants in the clinical research process. It was essential that they put together a clean UI for effective communication with various stakeholders in the clinical research process. They built the product from scratch, using Microsoft Azure. 

What is the team composition?

We were working with project managers. Once the project was initiated, we were handed over to the business development department and had a single lead project manager that coordinated with the development and analyst teams. 

How did you come to work with Magora?

I was referred to them by someone who had worked with them previously. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $250,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2018, and our teams are still collaborating.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve improved our client volume and engagement across the industry. Our plan has remained flexible enough to allow us to change requirements as need through the development process. Their work is consistently high-quality. 

How did Magora perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication and reporting have been frequent in our weekly calls and progress reports and priorities discussions. That allowed us to get the key functionality that we needed. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their flexibility and ability to move through processes quickly were impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We were one of the first clients in our industry to partner with them. While that would have made me nervous, they were easily able to pick up on our requirements and regulations.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of easyGuide. We enable locals and tourists alike to discover and book tickets to over 1,000 attractions, activities, experiences, tours, and theatre shows in cities around the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Magora?

We needed to produce a mobile-optimized e-commerce website that connected with multiple APIs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They have been in charge of building our e-commerce website, basically from scratch. It’s a custom-built platform connected with APIs. They do full-stack development; frontend and backend. They also manage the entire project.

What is the team composition?

There are 4–6 people working, depending on the scope of the project, including a project manager and account manager.

How did you come to work with Magora?

I found Magora after conducting extensive research online. After meeting in person and discussing the project further, they spent time putting together a compelling pitch with great concepts and ideas for us to see.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in August 2019, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have seen an increase in site speed, leading to better bounce rates and higher conversion rates. The site looks good and functions properly.

How did Magora perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication is always on point. We use various technologies to keep track of things. The sprints are defined in detail before starting. They are responsive, and always on time. We speak daily via Skype and have weekly, or bi-weekly calls scheduled as well. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are friendly, yet professional. They have good planning and execution of sprints. They are quick to assemble the team and produce what we need, when we need it.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing really comes to mind. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be sure you have time to work with them and identify what you’re looking for.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a part-time advisor of a technology startup. We have several products, one of which is a data marketplace.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Magora?

Magora’s task was to build our MVP. The main challenge was that the idea for the project was just in our heads, and we wanted them to do pretty much everything.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Magora provided design and full-stack web app development services. One of the challenges was connecting different APIs to our marketplace from different data sources. Their team defined the scope and determined which data sources we could start with. They combined all of those in one place and gave us a nice UI.

We gave them flexibility but defined what coding languages and technologies to use. Some suggestions came from them and some from us, such as using React on the frontend. The first phase of our project was research and development. Now, they're working on the development phase.

What is the team composition?

I communicate with one of their salespeople and a project manager. Sometimes, two developers join our conversations.

How did you come to work with Magora?

I googled some companies and found their landing page. Magora had a promising expertise level, and we were looking for a London-based company. They have development teams in other countries, but their headquarters are in London. We also picked them because of their price.

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested around £70,000 (approximately $85,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Magora in January 2020, and the work is ongoing. They’re finishing our MVP development, and we’ll decide whether to continue our collaboration after we’ve worked on sales and marketing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re still working on customer engagement so I don’t have any metrics so far. Magora’s work looks good overall. We had some issues with design in the beginning, but they sorted those out. A highlight is that they did a good job of understanding the market and gave us a lot of suggestions and options on the data process.

How did Magora perform from a project management standpoint?

This is one of their strongest points. They have everything in a well-structured manner. We use Trello to outline the project scope, provide timelines, and track feedback from my side.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The way they structure sprints within their project management is their most impressive skill. This has given me a good feeling about them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything. I’m pretty happy.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I don’t have any specific advice. They’re flexible and immediately change anything we don’t like.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a restaurant app startup. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Magora?

I needed to develop a mobile app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Magora did full stack development of the mobile app. Built for iOS and Android, the app is for consumers to use to improve their experience, increasing comfort in any bar or restaurant they visit. There are several complex features, including maps and reviews. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with Alex (iOS Developer) and a project manager.

How did you come to work with Magora?

I searched for vendors that spoke Russian, as this is my native language. I’m very comfortable with their team, and we communicated easily with each other.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in February 2020. We have taken a break due to the pandemic situation, but plan to resume the project once things reopen. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app hasn’t launched yet. We only worked together a few weeks prior to COVID-19 causing restaurants to close everywhere.

How did Magora perform from a project management standpoint?

The project manager is productive and professional. We communicate mostly via phone and email. We spoke often, discussing each point of the project. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team is professional. They communicate well, understanding our vision for the app. Magora are like partners, or a part of the team, rather than a hired vendor. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, but it would always be nice to have it done cheaper.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Respondent 1: I’m the founder of Ayadi, a mental health application startup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Magora?

R1: My target audience was people in the Gulf region that have mental health problems. The app was supposed to be a platform that connected clinicians with patients. I wanted to provide a professional service for the region because there’s a lack of therapists there.

Because reputation is a big thing there, people didn’t really want to go to clinics. I felt like having an app would be a great idea. I’m monetizing the app by taking a percentage from each session cost. I need to do that in order to keep the service going.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

R1: They first gave me a price, then put me in touch with the Managing Director and we had a meeting. I just wanted to close the deal, but he seemed to be going back and forth. As someone who’d never done this before, I didn’t know the process. Of course, I needed an in-depth explanation, and I feel like they just wanted to close the deal, and didn’t really care about what I was trying to do. 

I wanted to build the app for iOS, Android, and the web. The mobile versions were native.

What is the team dynamic?

R1: I worked with a project manager and a business analyst.

How did you come to work with Magora?

R1: I found them on Clutch, where they had really good reviews. I reviewed three companies in total, and I felt I wanted to go with Magora. At the end of the day, my background is in psychology, and I wouldn’t say I’m amazing on the business side.

What is the status of this engagement?

R1: The project started in late-November 2018. They kept telling me that we’re going to launch, and, at the end, I told them we’re not going to do this anymore. I think I reached my limit and moved by October 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Describe the impact this engagement has had on your business.

R1: They told us that the app was done and we should do UAT testing. During that time, if the core functionalities of the app were not working, then they’d revaluate UAT testing. The two core functionalities of the app were video and tests, and they weren’t working during UAT testing. When we told them this, they said that it was working, and we should try it another way. I remember going crazy at the time, thinking that I was doing it wrong. I just didn’t understand what was going on.

I’m not a techie; I just have a passion for mental health, psychology, and helping people. I don’t really know these things, and I doubted myself. I told them to just be honest with me and tell me if they’re having issues. I used that approach more than anything, and I think that that’s why they felt it was okay to continue this. They told us that it was because of our devices, and I kind of believed that.

R2: We got a very bad deal from Magora. Right from the beginning, the verbal agreements were never executed properly. For example, we were never told that it would be a bunch of freelancers working on our projects, and not Magora’s staff. Basically, Magora was doing nothing but subcontracting the whole project to a bunch of freelancers, which wasn’t good for us in any way.

R1: They were charging us something like $60 or £60 per hour. I remember that the name of one of the freelance developers came up during a conference call. I looked him up, and he was charging $20 per hour. I asked them why they were charging us this much and asked for a discount, given that the quality was so low, but they told us that that was the usual price of development. I told him I looked him up on Upwork and he was $20, and he told me he had nothing to say about that.

R2: The core problem was that we were promised a lot and nothing was delivered they committed to deliver. I don’t know how, but they have a very good reputation and reviews, and we were carried away by that. It was a very bad experience. An app that should’ve taken around six months to complete took more than a year and still wasn’t completed. We’ve had to rework a lot of functionalities.

The architecture was a mess because, since it was made by freelancers, they weren’t coordinating between themselves very well. Different pieces of code were written by different people in different ways.

How was project management handled?

R1: Sometimes, people who are in higher positions, especially men, tend to pressure you in a way, when you’re younger and you don’t understand. It’s been two years and a half, and I feel I understand the business better, and I’ve learned a lot of things.

I just felt like they took advantage of the situation. They saw me as someone that’s vulnerable, and they took advantage of that.

It’s been two years, and I’m still kind of traumatized. I just moved to another application company, and they’re great. Comparing the two of them, I think everyone should have the same kind of experience I’m having with the new application company.

Is there anything that the vendor did well or that you would consider a strength?

R1: Valentine (Senior Product Manager) was the only person I really liked, and who I felt was suffering with us and didn’t know what to do.

In what specific areas can they improve?

R2: The freelancer structure was the root cause of all our problems. Neither did the quality come out well, nor were our requirements plotted out and executed in a fashion that we wanted. Everything went haywire because they weren’t committed to delivering what was promised. Everything was a mess.

What advice do you have for clients with similar needs to yours?

R2: We also took proactive measures in finding solutions, rather than breaking off. What happened was that many of the issues happened toward the end of the project, and the time and cost for fixing them went beyond any acceptable means.

We were running out of time, and each change request would increase the cost. We were trying our best from our side to proactively help out, but it really didn’t work. The last six months was just trying to work out things, but it never happened.