Moqod | Software Development

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder / CEO of a startup in The Netherlands

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Moqod | Software Development, and what were your goals?

With our startup, we are trying to disrupt the email market by building an email client app that's fully tailored to your personal life. Our goal for Moqod was to help us create an iOS app to launch / scale in the App Store.

SOLUTION

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

People from Moqod were present at many tech & startup events in Amsterdam. To see that they were fully absorbed in this tech ecosystem felt very comfortable. Also since they were aware of all the challenges that startups face. Besides this good feeling, their wide talent pool was also a deciding factor. This allows us to scale more easily and build a solid platform.

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

They helped us set up the entire backend of our email app in Google Firebase. Subsequently they worked on push notifications and several API implementations. On the frontend, they developed the entire iOS app in Swift. We provided them with the designs and it was great to work with the Scrum method together with them every single day as a true team.

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

A full stack iOS developer worked full time on our project. Simultaneously, a backend developer worked on setting up the entire project in Google Cloud. In the earlier stages, he almost worked full time and in more recent times he works on individual features and tasks when necessary. During our launch, we also received PR support from their PR department.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

All the deliverables in terms of technical requirements were achieved in a very positive way. So far we have a 5-star rating in the App Store and are on the road to obtaining the first 1000 downloads later this month.

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

Since this app is the core of our startup, we wanted to lead the entire team ourselves. Everyday we've had a standup with the team members and once every two weeks we had a longer sprint planning session. In the meantime, all the communication happened via Slack and Jira. This was perfect so all the information was at a central location.

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

Their flexibility and skills to adjust the goals along the way. Sometimes we wanted to implement different features and they always looked for solutions. Even if that meant doing something from scratch again. This allowed us to have an app that's fully aligned to our vision.

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

No, we are truly very positive and grateful for this journey so far.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a company specialized in delivering smart mobility solutions
 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Moqod | Software Development?

We agreed on a co-production with Moqod in the development of the ScenarioVerkenner. The goal is to automate the manual creation and editing of Scenario's for Rijkswaterstaat (Dutch Highway Agency)

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We worked out the concept. Moqod made the design and they are responsible for the development of the application using Java and Angular.

What is the team dynamic?

The development was managed by a project manager. The development team consists of an architecture, back-end, front-end developers and tester.

How did you come to work with Moqod | Software Development?

We meet Moqod and know them from the development of a mobile app. They made a nice mobile app with limited budget. Later, I decided to hire them for the developmen to the ScenarioVerkenner

How much have you invested with them?

about €100,000 (approximately $114,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We completed a Minimum Viable Product and have different road-shows and demonstrators for different launching customers.
 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did your relationship with the vendor evolve?

We start a small project for developing a mobile app. I was impressed by the team of Slava and their effort to make the demonstrator work within budget and time.

Later, I asked them to join another larger project for developing the ScenarioVerkenner.

How did Moqod | Software Development address the challenges that arose?

They show that they can learn the domain quite fast. The team of developers are professional. More direct communication with the developers will probably improve their feeling on how the product is going to be used by the end-users.

Describe the impact this engagement has had on your business.

We learned how to work with scrum and development sprints. 

How was project management handled?

The project could have been more successful if Slava or his technical partner managed the project on their own.

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

Slava and his team are very patient and willing to collaborate in a constructive way.

In what specific areas can they improve?

The project leader should be replaced by someone who is more pragmatic and more customer oriented.

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

Moqod has a professional team. A more direct communication with the developers can help to provide more context for them when developing the software.
 

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was published on January 26, 2022

Kin Fai Chan

CEO, Traffic Management Company

Transportation

1-10 Employees

Gouda, Netherlands (18267)

$50,000 to $199,999

Mar 2016 - Apr 2018

Project summary:

A traffic management company hired Moqod | Software Development to develop custom software. The goals were to automate the platform's manual creation and editing.

Feedback summary:

Moqod | Software Development initially delivered a robust platform during the first stage. However, the app became too complicated and unstable as customers demanded additional functionalities. The point of contact assigned wasn't able to properly manage the project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of Scenwise.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Moqod | Software Development, and what were your goals?

We agreed on a co-production with Moqod on the development of the ScenarioVerkenner. The goal is to automate the manual creation and editing of Scenario's for Rijkswaterstaat (Highway Agency).

SOLUTION

How did you select Moqod | Software Development and what were the deciding factors?

We meet Moqod and know them from the development of a mobile app. Later, we agreed to start the co-production of the ScenarioVerkenner.

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

We share the concept with Moqod. They made the design. Then start the development using Java, Angular.

How many people from the Moqod | Software Development team worked with you, and what were their positions?

I only have contact with the technical person from Moqod. He managed the developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In the beginning stage, the product looked promising. The customers demands more functionalities. Unfortunately, the application became more and more complicated. The software became less stable. Some bugs were fixed, but then the bugs came back in latere updates.

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

The development was managed by the technical manager. At certain moment, the application became complicated. It turned that there is not enough domain knowledge to achieve the optimal use-interactions. Moqod used slack for the communication, but I was not on the channel.

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

From the first project I did with Moqod, I noticed that Moqod has skilled and professional developers. But for my project ScenarioVerkenner, the contact person I have is not the right person to manage this project. The project is too innovative and too large for him.

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

I believed the team was good and professional developers. However, the contact person I had was not de right person for this project.

Star Ratings

Overall: 2

Quality: 3

Cost: 2.5

Schedule: 2

Willing to refer: 2

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a PLC (programmable logic controllers) company. Our platform supports both malfunctions or software issues for PLCs and HMIs (human-machine interface) and so on. It’s all online, and the whole process is fully automated, including the subscription of both experts and clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Moqod | Software Development?

We needed website development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Moqod | Software Development helped with the entire B2B platform and website design and development of our B2B platform, including the back and frontend. They also took care of the platform's modifications because our demands grew, and we had to change many things. The website was developed from scratch because there was nothing like it before; t’s a worldwide knowledge exchange platform with automated contracts and automated billing and payments. 

We continue working with them to add features and improve the platform.

What is the team composition?

We work with their team on a lean Scrum basis, so the team size constantly fluctuates. Sometimes we have three, and sometimes five depending on the sprint size.

How did you come to work with Moqod | Software Development?

A colleague from my network mentioned that they were doing great work, so I decided to try them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2017, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of their work is outstanding; they've met our agreements, and if one of their solutions isn’t the best for a specific problem, they'll think it through with us and propose something different. They won’t just deliver what we ask them to do; they do more, and that’s why I’m still working with them. Afterward, I set up a support contract for any crashes and problems, which has helped me because we’ve done changes and updates on the platform.

How did Moqod | Software Development perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re good at meeting deadlines, but they could do a bit better. I know they have a lot of work on their hands, but in the beginning, it was 100%, and afterward, it has taken them a bit longer to deliver. This is due to the availability of the particular people that we need on a project, and at other times, it’s been because our expectations weren’t entirely clear.

In terms of communication, we have constant online meetings and Microsoft Projects to keep everything on track.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to find solutions for things that aren’t standard is impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Communication could be better sometimes, but this works from both sides.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Think twice when you define the project and talk with them to use their knowledge to shape the project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm founder of Whoomp, a startup that helps in saving the environment, energy and money by reverting the core principle of trade.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Moqod | Software Development, and what were your goals?

Whoomp is a platform for trading new/unsold consumer goods. Moqod assists us in building the platform.

SOLUTION

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

After a deep dive we found Moqod to have the required knowledge and "track record" to help us out. Besides this they offer a very competitive rate of costs.

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

We had a kickoff meeting and were placed in the good hands of their project manager. Through calls, emails and the aid of a visible Jira board we could follow the builds and iterations as they were made. No surprise there.

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

We are in contact with their CEO, our designated project manager and few of their developers and designers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The outcome of the project is our current (MVP) basis of the platform, a working webapp in which consumers can easily state their wishes.

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

We communicated through email, video-calls and could follow the development through Jira.I can describe their fashion of communication as informal but both helpful and professional.

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

Most impressive to me has been the trust we share.

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

It would be great (!) to see Moqod develop their own accelerator and incubator program.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a fintech company. We developed a software that helps people make better financial decisions, which we sell to banks and insurance companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Moqod?

We hired them to build our first MVP. We had already identified what problem we were going to solve and just needed to devise a solution. They provided the flexibility and availability necessary to build the solution we needed at that stage.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their scope of involvement has changed over time. When we started with them, they actually took care of all aspects regarding development. I functioned as a product owner, initially, so I defined what needed to be built. We gave them very specific instructions for what we wanted, especially in the beginning. The technical choices were made by them, such as hosting on AWS or Azure. On the functionality side, we were very much involved.

As we grew as a company, we got our own CTO onboard, and we’ve taken the more strategic elements of development in-house. For the execution, of especially the frontend, they’re still involved.

It’s basically a frontend and backend solution. For the backend, we connect our system to the bank accounts of our end users so we can load transaction data, based on categorization and recognition of subscriptions. The frontend, the portion which Moqod is really involved in, is a mobile app and UI. End users can go through their transactions, create their accounts, and see how their transactions have been categorized.

Currently, our CTO determines anything regarding infrastructure, as well as technical stacks.

What is the team composition?

Everyone wasn’t always working on a full-time basis, but in terms of developers, we had one backend, one Android, one iOS, one general developer. We also had one person in charge of QA and project management.

How did you come to work with Moqod?

We were looking for teams with eastern European prices, as Dutch companies are much more expensive. Moqod is an agency that’s located in The Netherlands, but with development teams in Eastern Europe. After making contact with them, they seemed fit for the project. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in September 2017 and the project was finished in August 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Moqod is fast and flexible. We’ve been changing requirements, as needed, for the release, and they were good about working late to get things ready for deployment. The flexibility and commitment on their side has been great.

On the visual design side, the product is good and functional. Although they’re not a UX or UI agency, the user interface is clear. People often say it looks neat, which is definitely good.

How did Moqod perform from a project management standpoint?

In general, they performed well from a project management standpoint. Since I don’t have a technical background, I’m only able to give functional requirements; I’m not equipped to manage the developers, which is why Moqod took on that role. They translated the functional requirements into technical ones and managed the team from those.

Communication with them is sometimes a bit difficult because we can only talk over Skype, most times, which isn’t the most efficient medium. Generally speaking, they’ve always managed to deliver.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We found their inventiveness most impressive. We’ve asked them for strange and difficult things, and they’ve managed to produce a solution on a limited budget. Overall, they’re inventive and flexible, which I was pleasantly surprised about.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their communication is a good place to improve upon. They also need clearer reporting for hours, as that is a problem we ran into with them.

Additionally, sometimes their willingness to produce leads them to make choices that are not necessarily approved by us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to really be on top of things; they are able to deliver what they promise, but you should be involved in the process to make sure that it happens.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Full Service Digital Agency - We develop digital products that make life easier. My role is CXO. With Moqod we engaged to execute this community platform project.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Moqod | Software Development, and what were your goals?

Native app and backend development for a volunteering platform.

SOLUTION

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

Skills, People, Culture, Pricing

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

• Concept phase – user centered concept with focus on usability and enduser UX
• Development phase – high quality custom software development for frontends (iOS, Android) and Backend

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

• QA/Testers,
• iOS Dev
• Android Dev
• Backend Dev

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Very high quality code (about 0 support requests), more than 100k downloads and users, in time and quality delivery, also supportive after the go live.

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

Open, direct, transparent, proactive, good communication skills in general, in time and quality delivery.

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

They had extremely experienced and skilled frontend developers and proactive and motivated backend developers.

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

Nope, all good