nearshorefriends GmbH

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder & CEO of Fram Creative

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

UX/UI Design Services

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire nearshorefriends GmbH to accomplish?

• build a website with a frictionless experience

SOLUTION

How did you find nearshorefriends GmbH?

Referral

Why did you select nearshorefriends GmbH over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from nearshorefriends GmbH were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

A corporate website for an IT company with a homepage that showcases the company's brand and key services. The sections of the website are:

• An About Us section
• Services section with pricing information and testimonials
• Products section, an Industries section with case studies and success stories
• Blog section
• Contact Us section with contact information and a form
• Careers section with job openings and company culture information
• Client Login section.
•  The website should be user-friendly and visually appealing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• User-friendly, informative and visually appealing corporate website, providing all the necessary information that potential clients and partners would need to know about the IT company.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

yes, everything was on time and really well organized by their side

What was your primary form of communication with nearshorefriends GmbH?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Nearshorefriends is a friendly and open-minded company that values innovation and continuous learning, fostering a culture of creativity and growth. Their employees are passionate about their work and are committed to creating technology solutions that help their clients succeed.

 They also value diversity, inclusion, and corporate social responsibility, making it a great place to work for those who want to contribute their skills and ideas to make a positive impact on the world.

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

I like their process and approach.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a manager at a large telecommunications company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with nearshorefriends?

We needed help with custom software development. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

nearshorefriends is helping us gather, organize, and automate our data collection process. 

We distribute cable TV services, and we have numerous content vendors such as broadcast channels, streaming libraries, and video studios. All of these vendors contribute various data that describe the content they are providing on our platform. 

For example, when we receive a TV show, that comes with pictures, a list of actors, and other information. nearshorefriends is consolidating all those data from our different vendors. They make datasets and fill them with information that can be universally applied to all of our users. 

nearshorefriends collates data from our 200 channels and 20 streaming services, and they also gather data from third-party data sources such as IMDb, live sports custom feeds, and more. 

What is the team composition?

We work full-time with five people consisting of a project manager and a team of developers. We also interact with their management team. 

How did you come to work with nearshorefriends?

I knew a manager at nearshorefriends because we previously worked before. 

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent just under €700,000 (approximately $810,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2020, and it’s ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

nearshorefriends’ primary metric is the richness and accuracy of the metadata that they handle. We started with 30 channels, and from that, they’ve taken over our entire spectrum of 200 channels. They’re currently producing about 40,000 data assets per week — that speaks to the level of automation that they’ve implemented. 

nearshorefriends’ work has allowed our business to grow. The dataset they maintain is enormous.

How did nearshorefriends perform from a project management standpoint?

Because we lacked in-house resources, we ended up hiring one of nearshorefriends’ project managers. They’re following agile methodologies, doing sprints, and using Kanban. 

We consider nearshorefriends as part of our team. They set up team-building sessions and activities.

What did you find most impressive about them?

nearshorefriends is a lot more professional than the vendors we’ve worked with. They are precise, and they can get good work done on time. You can count on them to do what they’ve set out to do — they’re trustworthy. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

It takes a while to negotiate contracts with them since they’re very meticulous; they have a long process in commercial negotiations. That said, we don’t have any issues with their day-to-day work. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Challenge them, and give them the entirety of your problem. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our business helps retailers connect digital shoppers with their favorite offline stores, in the core markets of the U.S., France, and Germany. I am the managing director of one of the company’s business units.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Evolvice Team GmbH?

It’s challenging to find the right developers in Berlin, where we have our headquarters. That was one of the main reasons we started looking for remote teams outside of Germany.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Evolvice Team helped find and recruit the remote team who is based in Ukraine. After the recruitment process was completed, they helped with several administrative processes such as paying salaries and providing office space. 

What is the team dynamic? 

They have a team of recruiters and their networks help them find the right people. The recruitment process takes between 4 weeks and 2 months. In my case, putting together the team of 7 developers took 2 and a half months, which is quite fast.

During the recruitment process, I decided which people to onboard and negotiated salaries with the developers directly. We found this to be a transparent approach for us, as a client. We knew that we were not being overcharged as we negotiated salaries with the developers directly.

How did you come to work with Evolvice Team?

Our CTO conducted a couple of interviews, as well as on-site checks with 5 or 6 companies in total.

I had a history with one of Evolvice Team’s founders, as previously I had managed a remote team in Ukraine for another company and that had been a good experience. I think there is a large talent pool of developers in Ukraine. 

Evolvice Team charges their markup in the form of a management or administrative fee, and their transparency in this area was also an important factor. The fact that I knew one of the founders made the decision easier for me

How much have you invested with them?

Confidential.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Evolvice Team in July 2016. The project is ongoing, and we’re actually expanding the teams. At the moment, there are 4 scrum teams working in total, with 4-6 developers each.  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The general feedback is very positive. We’re happy with the teams in Ukraine, and also with Evolvice Team’s help on recruiting them and with the administrative work. 

From a KPI perspective, it’s hard to say, since the process is ongoing. With my team, we have built a viable B2B product which is being sold to a couple of very large retailers. In less than a year, the product went from concept to a Software-as-a-service product being sold to retailers. 

How did Evolvice Team perform from a project management standpoint?

Evolvice Team is very responsive. The situation couldn’t be better. We use Slack internally, with our development teams, and we use Skype, Google Docs, and email for administration.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The speed with which they recruit people is very good. That’s one of the main reasons we’re happy with their performance. If we’re looking for new developers, Evolvice Team is able to deliver fast.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The offices and work environment are good, but they could be better. For example, there could be more team events for the developers.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a developer of mobile games. I am the CEO of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Evolvice team?

We wanted to increase our development resources.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They used Android and iOS native technologies and Java.

What is the team dynamic?

We have a dedicated team of more than 10 developers there, as well as QA engineers.

How did you come to work with Evolvice team?

They were recommended to me by a personal contact.

How much have you invested with them?

$700,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2015 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They have been responsive to issues.

How did Evolvice team perform from a project management standpoint?

We manage the team. We have daily contact through stand-ups and other communication. They are integrated into our project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We select the resources that we want. It’s a dedicated team where we are provided candidates to choose from. Though it’s still our responsibility to pick the right people for the right positions, Evolvice has a very good group of candidates.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We could always have a better selection and a lower cost. We are still in a partnership with them because we are quite satisfied.