ONLINICO

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the VP of development for Lamantine Software a.s. We offer a password management program with over 2 million users worldwide.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ONLINICO?

The development of the iOS version of our password software was delayed because of various reasons, so we needed to wrap it up.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a modern, fresh-looking, bug-free iOS app—we already knew of several. 

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Because of our short-term needs, we wanted to partially outsource the development, avoiding hiring new developers to our internal team. We needed someone we could communicate rapidly with, so we looked for developers in our area.

I’ve known the CEO of ONLINICO personally for many years, and I respect his technical skills, so I asked him for help. Fortunately, he had iOS developers available and I received their details quickly. I discussed their proposed team’s skills and qualities with my CEO and CTO and we decided to hire them.

Describe the project in detail.

When ONLINICO entered the project in the middle of development, we provided them with mockups, business requirements, and access to our bug-tracking database. We had several meetings and empowered them to communicate directly with our developers.

What was the team composition?

We had two iOS developers assigned to our project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We successfully implemented all missing business requirements within a few weeks, so they helped us fixed known bugs for the remaining time. Their quality was great and I can't recall any negative feedback from our QA.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had a few meetings at the beginning where we described the idea and logic of our product, but, from then on, they communicated with our team members directly, either through Skype or a bug-tracking system. It was an easy and friendly process.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

ONLINICO’S team easily understood ideas and concepts in our product, including UI behavior. We got exactly what we were looking for.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I was completely satisfied with our cooperation.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We created an application for Philips Hue that provides additional functionality to bulbs. I started the project, created the idea and design, and communicate with the clients, customers, and users.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ONLINICO?

We needed an iOS app developed plus work on the server side and scripting.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

ONLINICO did the coding and the technical part of the app. For iOS, there are not many choices in technology when building an app. They were forced to use Xcode which is obligatory from Apple. From there, you have two options—Objective-C or Swift. We used a mixture of both. For the server, we used to work with Parse but had to switch to Firebase because Facebook decided to shut the service down. They connected to an analytics API called Mixpanel. We also tried Google, Twitter, and Facebook ads, and they connected to an API for tracking how many people saw the ads, how many clicked the ads, and how many led to downloads and eventually opening up the app. They didn’t help with other services like marketing and strategy. ONLINICO was mostly focused on the development part.

I have one main developer, but there was one time where he had to leave for a tech conference. In his absence, I worked with another developer for a short time. They also had a project manager that I talked to, along with another business developer and the CEO.

How did you come to work with ONLINICO?

I found ONLINICO on Upwork. My criteria before I found them was that somebody who I work with should be professional in every sense and provide high-quality code, but even more important than that to me was the reliability. The first one I found was a German developer, and I thought he would be precise and reliable. I couldn’t be further from the truth—he was very irresponsible and irresponsive. He just stopped working on the project and didn’t even bother to let me know. I had to force the answer from him that he just decided not to work on it anymore. Then I really urgently needed someone else, so I started to be very picky.

I found 3–5 developers that seemed to be good candidates, and that’s how I found ONLINICO who was willing to provide an initial demo for free. If I liked what they did, they would charge for it at the end. They were transparent with the code and showed me for how many hours they did this or that. That was a big sign of reliability, they had nothing to hide, and they did whatever they promised to do.

How much have you invested with ONLINICO?

We did many milestones for a total of $33,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with ONLINICO in October 2015. We completed all the work in March 2017, but we are still in touch.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The app for the last six months had a growth rate from 40% to 80% of actual users, month over month. That’s a nice metric. As for the feedback, what users appreciate and write about is the cleanness of the user interface, its intuitiveness, its reliability, and its fastness. It almost never crashes. It only crashed one time, but that was when we changed the server infrastructure. It’s impossible to do so without any hiccups happening.

How did ONLINICO perform from a project management standpoint?

I was very surprised I had no issues with ONLINICO regarding project management. They told me in advance when my developer was going to go for the conference. They made sure there would be another developer working with me. If there were some unknown or difficult issues that he was not sure how to handle, they always had other developers that he could talk to. He also used his creativity and imagination for solving issues or researched online and asked in forums.

Everything was on time. What ONLINICO promised to deliver, they delivered. Even if something was a little bit delayed, they let me know in advance. I was rather stressed on my side because they were just working like clockwork, and I wanted to get every material ready for them before they started working.

If there was something really urgent or unexpected, I was even able to call them at 11 p.m., and they had no problem working on it and solving the urgent issue. They gave me the number of the developer, and it was not a problem. I remember one time when we were finishing something, and the developer was working until 4 a.m. He didn’t complain at all and was nice about it. I even told him that I’m sorry that we have to do it that night, and he said: “No, it’s work.”

What did you find most impressive about ONLINICO?

I like ONLINICO's reliability, professionalism, quality of the code, and the project management. They’re also nice people, so that’s a good bonus. The value of what they provide is really nice when you know how much they cost. If you paid somebody for that amount and quality of work in the US, Canada, or Western Europe, they would charge you much more.

Are there any areas ONLINICO could improve?

They are not native English speakers. I know that ONLINICO's employees take English classes, so that’s nice. It wasn’t a huge issue because we could always understand each other. If there were times that we didn’t understand each other, they used a dictionary or just took a little bit longer to respond, but it didn’t cause any issues.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I lead the development team at Brain Bites Creative. We’re a digital marketing and web development agency, and we are getting into the process of product development as well.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ONLINICO?

We have a great staff at Brain Bites. However, we’re very focused on our clients, so when we wanted to grow and venture into the product space, we needed a partner who was going to be focused on the product so that we could continue to focus on our clients. ONLINICO is presently developing a web-based application for us called Crawlity.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

As a digital agency, we often find that our clients make the same sort of mistakes on their websites over and over again, especially our newer clients who we haven't had a chance to optimize. So what we wanted to do, and what ONLINICO is building for us, is a product that will automatically identify those sorts of common issues.

We brought a prototype to ONLINICO that we had created. We had some ideas about the technology the project should use, as well as the general architecture of the product. ONLINICO took that and improved it in ways that we feel are going to significantly reduce the timeline as well as our ongoing overhead because their solution is hooked into the cloud. The product is built on the .NET framework and will be deploying to Azure.

We use Agile and Scrum. The project is pretty collaborative, and we check in with their team regularly. It’s important for my company to understand the technical solution, so while ONLINICO writes approximately 95% of the code, we review it regularly to make sure that we understand it because we want ownership of the product. I wouldn't say we use strict Scrum methodologies, but we do work well together and have regular check-ins and reviews to always know where the project is.

How did you come to work with ONLINICO?

I have known ONLINICO’s CEO for 10 years or so. He has always been exceptionally competent and is an all-around great guy. They were the first people I thought of when we needed to partner.

How much have you invested with ONLINICO?

We’ve probably invested between $50,000 and $100,000 with ONLINICO.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our project with ONLINICO is ongoing. We’re essentially trying to get it to an MVP [minimum viable product]. With ONLINICO’s help, we’ve already made our first sale. Of course, we have to finish the MVP before we collect the money, but it’s promising. We began the current project this year, but we’ve used ONLINICO for minor consulting-type things since early 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

ONLINICO is certainly cost-effective. We’re probably saving 55% to 65% on cost compared to hiring an equivalent local team to do what ONLINICO does. I feel like we’re getting value there. Primarily, ONLINICO has helped us reduce our infrastructure costs. We’re developing in Azure, and they’ve found ways to do it better. We’ve also managed to cut out some services that we were paying for because the architectural work that they did is better than what we had come up with ourselves. It’s pretty rare that we discover actual defects in their work. Their products usually just need some polishing.

How did ONLINICO perform from a project management standpoint?

So far, everything has been delivered in the time frame and budget we discussed. They’ve been pretty much accurate with everything.

I think we have three people from ONLINICO on the project at the moment. They produce status reports in the formats and with the cadence that we desire. We have a primary point of contact there who reaches out to us at least once a day. I don't want to put them on the hook for something that they might be doing extra nice for us, but I kind of wonder when their project manager sleeps because she’s always in contact.

We’ve experienced some issues because of the language barrier and time difference, but I would say that’s to be expected. I have worked with a lot of similar companies, and it has been far less of an issue with ONLINICO than with anyone else I've worked with. They’re willing to stay up a little late to accommodate my team’s schedules. Our main point of contact speaks wonderful English, so there’s not a barrier there. However, sometimes when we talk with the other developers who aren’t typically client-facing, we might have to ask them to repeat themselves. However, they’re intelligent and competent people, so that’s a pretty minor concern.

We use a variety of tools to communicate. Our primary communication tool is Slack. For voice and video, we mostly use Skype, but we’ll occasionally use Google Hangouts. ONLINICO usually delivers status reports using JIRA and Confluence. We don't use JIRA and Confluence at my company, but we’ve worked with ONLINICO through their system because it doesn’t create any real overhead for us; they just send us the links. If a feature is in the last few phases and we just need to interact really fast and collaboratively, we’ll set up a Trello board. Trello’s a nice tool that everybody on both sides of the world seems to like.

What did you find most impressive about ONLINICO?

We’re impressed by all of the little things ONLINICO does for us. I don't doubt that there are other companies with similar skill sets and price ranges, but ONLINICO has great attention to detail, the projects are on time, and their team is insightful and helpful. I wouldn't say that there’s one thing about them that stands out; it’s more of an overall great experience. I feel less worried about my budget and my timelines because I trust them and I know they’ll handle everything well. If I had to pick one way in which they impress us, it would be their trustworthiness.

Are there any areas ONLINICO could improve?

ONLINICO does pretty well overall. I know they have an English teacher on their staff, so it would be good if their developers keep attending those English classes. Honestly though, it’s really not that big of a deal, and frankly, I probably ought to learn a little Russian. I don’t have any major criticisms or improvement suggestions for ONLINICO. I’ve been pretty happy.

UPDATED REVIEW

Interview with Jason Sirotin (Owner, Brian Bytes Creative) on 08/17/2018.

Ratings: Overall - 5, Quality - 5, Schedule- 5, Cost - 4, NPS - 5. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the owner of Brain Bytes Creative, which is a digital marketing agency in Atlanta, Georgia.

What challenge were you trying to address with ONLINICO?

We were looking for a reliable development partner to help us with various projects.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They manage a lot of our software development projects. Mostly, they work with .NET, but we also use them for WordPress and Java. In addition, they're currently helping us with a few apps for CEDC and work collaboratively with our internal team on more complex functionalities and code repositories.

What is the team composition?

They have a team in Ukraine as well as a local team here, in Georgia, so we've been in contact with both. We've worked with project managers, developers, scrum masters, and their owner. 

How did you come to work with them?

Our CTO knew their owners.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent about $700,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2013 and the relationship is ongoing.

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

They help us provide a better experience for our clients because they deliver everything on time and know how to talk to people. Since we can work more efficiently, we get higher profits and the ROI for the clients is also much higher.

How did they perform from a project management standpoint?

They're easy to work with, deliver on time, and solve problems quickly. They stay on top of everything despite the time difference. We use Jira, Slack, and email to communicate and they always respond quickly, even when it's night in Ukraine.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re transparent and do great work. Also, their project managers are very organized.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. When they make a mistake, they fix it quickly and make sure it doesn't happen again.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be detailed, organized, and kind.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the owner of several organizations, including a small company in Geneva working with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). I also run other companies doing work in the harmonization of health standards all over the world. We work with groups in Brazil, Russia, and the US. We have adopted Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards for work inside other countries. We have a seven-person team for content production and other related work.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ONLINICO?

We were looking for developers who could help build an application for humanitarian HIV work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

ONLINICO has developed three versions of the same app, including a web portal and iOS and Android apps aimed at council doctors. We have also developed a small desktop application for an aid center. I explained my idea and received help from ONLINICO on establishing the project. In the beginning, they provided a lot of work free of charge in order to demonstrate that they could handle the project. They developed some very nice solutions. ONLINICO had a 13-person team working on my project, which made it easy for them to come up with creative ideas around my challenge.

The product was released on January 31st, 2017. We have gone through five or six new versions since that time and have started work on integrating the system with the health systems of Estonia, Russia, and several African countries. ONLINICO has worked on this, establishing connections between our servers and those from the respective countries.

How did you come to work with ONLINICO?

Since developers in Switzerland are very expensive, it was important that I found a partner with a good price. I received some recommendations from friends, so I didn't put together a request for proposal or have a long search on the market. There are many developers available, but I had a good initial conversation with ONLINICO. They went through a project establishment process, which gave me something to show UNAIDS. ONLINICO gave me a proposal for how I could solve my problem, which is something that I couldn't do myself.

How much have you invested with ONLINICO?

Our budget until the end of 2017 is $100,000, and we have spent around $62,500 already. We're planning to spend an additional $10,000 for a new version, which will be released in May 2017.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the initial conversations in April 2016, and the contract was signed in September. The project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We have just launched the apps, so we still need to collect data around them. It's important that we reach patients and doctors around the world. We have had discussions with the governments of Uzbekistan, Armenia, Russia, and Estonia. They are interested in buying licenses for our solution. The app is available in 156 countries through the UNAIDS program. Because of data protection issues, we didn't want to log any personal information through the app but did want to have a way for doctors and patients to connect. ONLINICO provided a good solution in this regard. Initially, I had some hesitations since the cost of the apps was a lot of money for a company like mine, but I've been happy with ONLINICO's work.

How did ONLINICO perform from a project management standpoint?

ONLINICO's team is available online 24 hours a week, so I can write them a message whenever I have an issue and receive a reply instantly. We communicated through JIRA, and I also kept in touch with ONLINICO's project manager. They have handled everything internally. ONLINICO has put in a lot of effort to release early, working on weekends even when I was fine with having a small delay. This was good from my perspective, but I can also understand that their team is made up of people and it can be hard. I've never pushed my own coworkers to work on weekends, but ONLINICO was okay with this.

What did you find most impressive about ONLINICO?

The price was important for me, and I appreciated ONLINICO's creativity. I was able to explain my idea and go through a brainstorming process. ONLINICO made it seem that it was more their project than mine at times.

Are there any areas ONLINICO could improve?

None.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a chef-driven bakery and coffee shop that specializes in European desserts as well as low-carb alternatives to traditional desserts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ONLINICO?

We needed web development.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to create an attractive website quickly and within our limited budget as we’re a startup.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were highly recommended by our network of contacts.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

They developed our website within the budget and timeframe requested and were very responsive to our direction and vision. They were able to add creativity and make the website very functional and attractive without veering away from our desired messaging and vision.

What was the team composition?

We were assigned a central point of contact who handled the team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t opened yet, but we’ve received positive feedback on the website.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Our point of contact was responsible for the project and was instrumental in making the communication easy and effective.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

ONLINICO’s ability to execute on our vision and create an attractive project was remarkable. We look forward to working with them again.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

Generally, they were very responsive, but they didn’t respond within 24 hours to a voicemail or email on some occasions. It would be a good practice to institute the 24-hour rule.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CEO of In-Depth, Inc. We offer software as a service (SaaS) for marketing and sales.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ONLINICO?

We needed to develop a web app and an iOS app.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to showcase our AI-powered platform on mobile and web platforms.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We interviewed several teams during our consideration process.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

They provided software and iOS development services and introduced cloud and Salesforce integrations.

What was the team composition?

We worked with two web developers, an iOS developer, a designer, and a team leader.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I trusted ONLINICO to develop our flagship product and they delivered, greatly impacting our business.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Their team conducted themselves in an honest and professional way throughout development. Their communicated about tasks, time estimates, and any changes that might develop clearly.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I’m happy with their expertise, skills, adaptability, and demeanor. They're agile, quick to respond, and they adopt new skills rapidly.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

Learning is a continuous activity for any IT company due to the industry's fast growth and development.