Mbicycle

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the COO of Geomotiv Holdings Inc., a software development company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Mbicycle?

We work with a well-known media streaming service. Due to the large number of tasks that arose during the development and maintenance of this software project, we decided to augment our development department.

Eventually, we've included 20+ software engineers from Mbicycle with different skill levels, from middle to senior, in our team.

SOLUTION

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

First, we sent RFPs to several field-specific agencies and got their offers. Second, we looked through several CVs and case studies. The Mbicycle company caught our attention because of the way they introduced their offering and the CVs of their specialists.

They also conducted an onboarding stage before the work started. As a result, we chose this agency among others, as they had the relevant skillset and met our technical requirements.

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

During the entire cooperation, we followed Scrum development methodology with daily sessions, backlog review, and sprint planning. One part of the Mbicycle engineers focused on the mobile app development, while the other part worked on the UI and UX of the client's branded app. The task scope for the Mbicycle employees included: Working on the core services, including content storage and processing, as well as searching through a large amount of data: media, user preferences, real-time updates. Integration with several Google services, such as home screen recommendations for Android TV, Google Assistant, and remote control.

Making the AndroidTV app personalized and convenient for every user via audio navigation, highlighting the selected item, adjusting the font size and color temperature of the screen, and other features.

Describe the recruitment process in detail.

During the recruitment process, our company checked several offers from different development companies before choosing a team from Mbicycle. An assignee from Mbicycle offered to conduct a set-up phase for their specialists to get acquainted with the current project we were working on.

After the discovery phase was completed successfully, we held a few interviews involving Mbicycle's engineers, experts from our company, and representatives of our main client.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

For two years of our collaboration with experts from Mbicycle, we have successfully and timely implemented every task on improving our client's streaming app. Our client has already planned a set of features to implement in the short run. We think it's an indicator of the good outcome of our cooperation with Mbicycle.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Since the entire project team was quite large and mostly located on the client’s side, we had a project manager to communicate with the Mbicycle engineers and organize their work. The communication process was smooth and efficient. We held daily sessions within the development team for tracking task progress and sprint planning.

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

We hired the Mbicycle engineers to augment our development department for an already launched project we were working on at that moment. In this situation, we were amazed by how quickly and easily their team learned the project and dived into the process of implementing tasks from our client.

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

While working with the Mbicycle engineers, both we and our client are satisfied with the results. This is evidenced also by the new task scope, which is already planned for the next sprint. The only improvement in our cooperation that we may be planning shortly will be the involvement of a few more developers from Mbicycle to perform new tasks for our client.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

That was a car rental/delivery logistic company project with the main feature to split bills on everyday commutes for coworkers, students, friends, and other groups of people.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired all management/development, including a Team Lead and Project Manager on their side. The main task for Mbicycle was to integrate their Cloud backend developers into our current team and close all related tasks

SOLUTION

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

Initially, we hired Mbicycle to implement a Cloud-based backend along with the appropriate infrastructure for a car rental/logistic application. Then they also helped us with adding a few relevant features to the app.

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

All operational and management processes were on our side, while experts from Mbicycle worked on the Cloud-backend part of the software solution, including payments processing and chat functionality. To assure payments security, Mbicycle's developers added a data encryption layer with Microsoft Azure providing safe interaction with the backend

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

from the Mbicycle were allocated 4 developers to our needs+ analytic

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

During our cooperation with Mbicycle, we especially specified their proactivity, responsibility, social skills, high level of technical expertise, as well as strict adherence to the project deadlines.

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

Nothing comes to mind. The project development process was smooth and our client was satisfied with the final solution we delivered together.

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

They just did everything great, was some delay with milestones but not critical, all was done Intime

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

as we think possible some things could be improved to move some sections of applications to stand alone, and optimize some sorting algorithms, but it's not critical- the main goal is achieved!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of Chefly Australia - a marketplace connecting diners and food lovers directly to culinary professionals for at-home dining experiences and deliveries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

The key USP of the solution was that the Diners don’t order takeaway food but invite chefs/cooks or caterers to cook restaurant-quality meals right in the Diners’ kitchens, holiday pad or office.

The goal was to create a convenient mobile application that would connect diners directly with a variety of culinary professionals on iOS and Android devices with a backend administration panel for order and account management. The user roles were split into Chefs & Diners, each having a separate log in solution.

SOLUTION

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

Our requirements were likely to change as a startup, and we needed a team that could accommodate this. Company with experience with startup businesses, from MVP stages to ready-made solutions, was necessary. Mbicycle understood our business goals and were interested in the idea.

Their references were strong and had a large number of case studies that we could explore. They had full-cycle software development specialists under one roof with up-to-date technologies and modern solutions.

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

Mbicycle proposed the Agile methodology for the project, namely the DSDM. The scope of tasks was divided into iterations (such as user registration, profile editing, map, filters, etc.) and outlined the roadmap with possible changes in each iteration. After each iteration, MBisycle would deliver a demo session, showing the new functionality in real-time and discussing further updates.

The change implementation was very swift with regular meetings with the project team members. Programming languages Java, Kotlin, Swift Frontend React Architecture MVVM Database Reddis, PostgreSQL Third-party libraries & frameworks Spring, Hibernate, Apache SOLR, AWS, AndroidX, LiveData, DataBinding, Dagger2, Android Jetpack, Kotlin Coroutines, Android SDK, Glide, Constraint Layout, Retrofit, Crashlytics, Alamofire, StompClientLib, Kingfisher

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

A project manager and lead business analyst were assigned as our main point of contact throughout the project—both were highly knowledgable and professional. We also inerected with the main project team lead, designer and developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within the first month of launch, we saw over 200 app downloads with a 5-star rating in app stores and excellent user experience feedback.

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

All of the meetings were hosted online and were very well organized. Each session had a plan, and the project manager would start by updating on the status and go through each segment of the app development, explaining each stage. As a start-up, this was incredibly useful.

During the last stages of development and launch, they were in touch daily (via Telegraph), answering all possible inquiries from our side. We received ample warning if a deadline wasn't going to be met, and they always offered options for solutions.

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

The communication, response time and quality of work have been impressive throughout the workflow.

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

No, very happy with the result.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CEO & Founder of Dektry, a product development company

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Mbicycle to develop a web medical platform and 2 mobile apps (IOS, Android) using React Native. We were in need of several qualified developers with experience working on medical projects.

SOLUTION

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

We were looking for a reliable partner with extensive experience, high professional level and excellent reputation. Mbicycle met all these criteria.

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

The project was a web platform for doctors that allows them to manage patient appointments, view their medical history and prescribe medications. The second was a mobile app for patients that allows them to make appointments to doctors, ask questions and get health advice from professionals.

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

We hired 1 full-stack developer and 1 React Native developer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are extremely happy working with Mbicycle developers. They are reliable, resultative and easy to communicate with.

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

The workflow was truly wonderful. Their team was organized, reached out whenever a question needed answering, and they worked fast. We used Slack for text communication and Skype for video calls.

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

They were very easy to work with. Daily communication with them was a pleasure as they always came up with unique solutions and perfect ideas. The team's timeliness, quick work, and efficiency were impressive.

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

We like working with Mbicycle and don’t have any complaints.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the Head of Marketing at Yellow

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Mbicycle?

We hired Mbicycle to create a smart home infrastructure, configure the precise interaction of devices and mobile apps, read and transmit sensor data, as well as configure the Cloud backend.

SOLUTION

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

We’ve already had experience in working together on a few past projects and were well acquainted with their technical skills.

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

Our mobile developers worked on a software project for managing a smart home ecosystem, but when it came to fine-tuning the IoT sensors, we felt a lack of expertise in this area. That’s why we decided to hire a few experts from Mbicycle for assistance.

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

A project manager from Yellow communicated with two developers from Mbicycle.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Every time we got in touch with the Mbicycle, our communication was easy, swift, and very resultative. They offered us a few game-changing features to implement in the final solution which satisfied our client and their audience further.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We arranged our daily text communication via Skype along with video meetings every week. As we had cooperation experience before, both our teams had no issues with communicating, assigning, and tracking task progress.

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

Our team was really impressed by the level of Mbicycle's technical expertise in the part of implementing and maintaining IoT development features. We were also pleased with the attitude of Mbicycle employees to meeting the project deadlines. Due to this fact, our company managed to provide a ready-made solution to our client when scheduled exactly.

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

No, we were completely satisfied with the services they provided.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the CEO and co-founder of a startup called the Door of Club, which we already sold. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Mbicycle?

We needed cheap and reliable software creation services from Mbicycle.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Mbicycle’s leaders initially convened with our leaders to come up with the scope of work for the project’s goals. Then, those leaders assigned a project manager on Mbicycle’s side and another project manager on our end. After that, we executed the goals and created the software that we needed. 

The purpose of the software was to create a database of college student organizations and associations that employers can access and contact. In terms of tech stack, we used PHP and Laravel. Mbicycle was involved in both the front- and backend development of the project.

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact was Mike (Founding Partner). 

How did you come to work with Mbicycle?

We were introduced to their managing director through a mutual contact person, who was an investor of ours. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested about $120,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from April 2018–July 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Mbicycle hosted and delivered the contacts of more than 200,000 emails. Users also had the ability to access those emails in an instant by category. Anecdotally, the team was friendly, personable, and reasonable. They had good and timely customer service, and they were willing to work extra hours if needed. 

How did Mbicycle perform from a project management standpoint?

We used a time-tracking tool and JIRA for project management. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

What distinguished Mbicycle from other providers was their personal approach to custom software development and their willingness to work extra hours to make their customers happy.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve on all the challenges that come with remote software development. When it came to tech and software, we needed to track, constrain, and standardize so many variables. With that in mind, they could focus more on the mass standardization of those challenges. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear goal that will provide clarity for you and their team, and Mbicycle will work with you to achieve that goal.