Relevant Software

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CEO of Sensor Innovation. We develop industrial IoT solutions that monitor building constructions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Relevant Software?

Our product targets roofing companies, industrial fabric locations, and property owners. We needed a web-based platform for end users to monitor sensor data in real time and get notification alerts.

What were your goals for this project?

The architecture needed to be reliable, fast, and scalable. Also, we wanted a high-quality UI for pitches to prospective clients and investors.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I met the Relevant Software’s CEO on a business trip to Ukraine. Their experience, relevant experience, and level of trust impressed me.

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

We held a series of calls with the business analyst during the discovery phase. The team gathered the requirements and prepared the project documentation and wireframes. Relevant Software then developed the frontend and backend. We’re now doing QA before user testing.

What was the team composition?

We worked with one project manager, one business analyst, one frontend developer, two backend developers, and one QA specialist. The project manager was our main point of contact.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s too early to have metrics. We plan to do internal testing in late 2018 and subsequently gather user feedback. Once we have that information, we’ll re-engage Relevant Software to complete development.

[Update on 11/9/2021]: We now have a fully functional and scalable web app that meets our expectations.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The team’s iterative workflow included thorough discussions, a demo meeting, and well-executed implementations.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Relevant Software’s dedicated approach and clear communication made them a productive partner. They stayed within our budget and scope, and their deliverables met our expectations.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

I was happy with the collaboration. Although their technical questions created sight delays, I understood the need to prioritize quality over speed.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CTO of OnApp. We deliver software solutions that enable telecommunication companies and hosting providers to build infrastructure as a service platforms such as private and public clouds. As CTO, I manage R&D activities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Relevant Software?

We needed one more PHP developer to join our team to meet our project deadline

What were your goals for this project?

We were overhauling an outdated part of one of our products using updated technologies and architecture.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We contacted a local matchmaking platform to help us with the search. Relevant Software developers had good rates and detailed profiles but the key factors were their great communication during the interview stage and the possibility for temporary relocation, so the developer could work from our office.

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

The Relevant Software resource provided PHP development while we were rebuilding a major part of our solution’s backend.

What was the team composition?

We worked with one backend developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their developer completed all tasks and fulfilled our quality and time expectations.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The resource was involved in daily standups featuring a quick discussion of task status and progress. We had no issues with them.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The developer we worked with was well organized, independent, and professional. They demonstrated both great communication skills and an understanding of our goals. I was happy with our cooperation.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

Nothing comes to mind.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company produces devices for measuring indoor air quality and I'm the head of our cloud and web software team.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Relevant Software?

We were launching a new web platform for people to log in and see their sensor values. We were getting ready for a conference, so we were looking for a company to help us finish the development process on time.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They were part of our team, so we worked alongside each other. They used JavaScript, React, HTML, and CSS to manage frontend development and design for us.

What is the team composition?

We were working with two consultants and our project manager.

How did you come to work with them?

We worked with them previously on a similar project and we liked their work. We considered a few other companies, but they couldn't work with our timeline. Relevant Software had the right developers available instantly. Besides, they had affordable rates and the expertise we were looking for.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about 50,000 EUR ($60,700 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in May 2017 and the project was completed in April 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The platform looks amazing. We used it at the conference and got positive feedback both from our internal team and from our users.

How did they perform from a project management standpoint?

We used agile methodology and had daily standups. They were great at following up and always made sure we were happy with the team they assigned to us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

When we went to visit them before the project started, they were very welcoming and gave us a tour of the city.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were some language difficulties because some of their team members don’t speak good English.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a host at Radio SKOVORODA, an online traveling radio station.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Relevant Software?

Since we don’t have our own studio, we travel to different locations and broadcast from restaurants or public spaces. Our audience loves never knowing where we’d be next. We needed a website that reflected our unique set up.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built a Chrome browser extension for the site.

What is the team composition?

The CTO and co-founder was my main point of contact. He assembled a team for us.

How did you come to work with Relevant Software?

We liked their proposal for the website and potential accompanying iOS and Android applications. Their suggestions for web performance were great as well.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them between July–September 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After the launch, the number of unique listeners increased from 50,000 to 130,000. They made a great player that distinguishes us from other Ukrainian sites.

How did Relevant Software perform from a project management standpoint?

The team was young ambitious, easygoing, and efficient. We communicated via Skype, in-person meetings, and Messenger. They were a pleasure to work with.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They created a unique and user-friendly site in an incredibly short timeframe. Embedded players on each page enhanced the user experience. They had a clear vision and executed great solutions; we would definitely re-engage them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

BOOMCAST is a social media platform dedicated to positive change. I’m the CEO and co-founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Relevant Software?

We needed a mobile and desktop app built.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Relevant Software has done the frontend, backend and testing for the iOS app and the development of the desktop version. They did some business analysis and helped with the product management as well.

How did you come to work with Relevant Software?

Our CTO had done some work with the Relevant team in the past and had a great experience with them. Our tech team was in San Francisco checking out firms and there was no one near as motivated, efficient or communicative as the team from Relevant Software. The San Francisco firms were a lot more expensive too.

How much have you invested with Relevant Software?

So far, we’ve spent 30,000 Euros working with their team.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in September 2016, and 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?

The app is 99% crash free which speaks to the quality of their engineering skills. We’ve been able to reach our deadlines quickly.

How did Relevant Software perform from a project management standpoint?

I’ve been incredibly impressed with their communication. We spoke every day, and they updated us on what they were doing each day. If we had any questions, they would be sure to answer. We use JIRA for our project management.

What did you find most impressive about Relevant Software?

Their communication is key when working with an offshore team. Their attention to detail is great, and they question us if they think it might be better to solve the issue in a different way. They care about the product they’re building.

Are there any areas Relevant Software could improve?

We would have preferred a quote upfront rather than a monthly bill. We spent a little more than we had hoped for.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We develop our own products for local Norwegian media markets. I am the technical director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Relevant Software?

We were building our products for media.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sometimes we get assignments that are not relevant to us because we're doing our own projects. This assignment was from a customer we have a relationship with, so we were willing to help them by working with a company like Relevant Software to deliver on their projects. We've been buying quite a lot of WordPress, pure PHP, and front-end development from Relevant.

How did you come to work with Relevant Software?

People from my network recommended them.

How much have you invested with Relevant Software?

We have spent up to $90,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Relevant Software in the winter of 2015 and our work with them is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did Relevant Software perform from a project management standpoint?

The greatest thing was that it was very easy to integrate them into our teams. I'm satisfied with everything. We hired the developer directly without the project management. The developers were quite organized, and it was easy to work with them. Communication was good.

What did you find most impressive about Relevant Software?

They're organized and always available to start new projects. We never had to wait a long time, and that's quite different from other providers.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Directinvent is a company that develops time-tracking and project management software for the construction industry. We are working on a system that allows the user to track their time and do projects online and on a mobile phone. I am the CTO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Relevant Software?

We have a software right now, but it’s old.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Relevant is making a brand-new application for us. They are doing both the Android and the iOS versions. Also, they are developing the platform on the web, so they are doing the whole process.

How did you come to work with Relevant Software?

We had a pretty large screening process. We went on Upwork, and we posted the project. We were contacted by 10 or 20 companies. We did a quick screening. There were five companies that we wanted to speak with. We did interviews where I would talk to the teams. Then we did programming tests. The test wasn’t to qualify their programming skills but evaluate more how they communicate and if they were delivering on time. Then we were between Relevant and another Russian company. We decided to go for Relevant because we went down to Ukraine and spoke to the team. We liked them and saw that everything was fine. They were really good in communication, so we decided to go with them.

How much have you invested with Relevant Software?

We have spent around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Relevant Software in May 2016, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We're in beta; we haven't published the app. We're doing some UI [user interface] testing. They are looking good so far.

How did Relevant Software perform from a project management standpoint?

Relevant is very good. Every time we speak on Skype, they are sending us notes, and we also have full access to JIRA. The whole process is transparent. We have access to everything we want to have access to. They’re following up each day on Scrum. We do the Agile method, so we’re really happy with the project.

What did you find most impressive about Relevant Software?

I would say it would be the transparency. They’re really open and helpful. We also are working with Norwegian providers. You could think that we would have a faster response from the regions that are close by, but Relevant is more available via Skype, email, and so on. The communication, I would say, is by far the best.

Are there any areas Relevant Software could improve?

I would like for them to get into more of the details on the specs we are giving. The way we work is that we have some thoughts on development and they do some estimates. We would have liked more in-depth details of the estimates.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our organization runs a large game server network. We are a small team of about 10 software developers and marketing guys. I am the CEO and founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Relevant Software?

We were looking for a development partner to take care of a project. It was a little bit stuck because we didn’t have enough in-house resources.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We used Relevant Software to develop applications for us. With one of their business analysts, we defined the goal of the project and what we needed to do. Then we organized sprints in project management software like Jira. They created documentation and gave us frequent updates.

How did you come to work with Relevant Software?

We checked out a few companies through Google. The reason we worked with Relevant Software is because they were very proactive about getting information from us. They worked on structuring everything and told us what they needed so we could provide it to them. Other companies move slowly, but these guys move fast which is what we liked about them. Before we even kicked off the project, we would go into a lot of detail. That was quite impressive for us.

How much have you invested with Relevant Software?

The financial investment is around $20,000 to $50,000 for one project.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project duration was from August to November of 2015. Our engagement is ongoing. We have been working with them for almost two years now.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are happy with the applications that Relevant Software provided us. Even after the deployment, they always helped us out if we needed something fixed. We’ve worked with other companies that gave us a product that was completely unusable afterward because a lot of details were overlooked or the code quality was poor. What we like about Relevant Software is that we actually use their software because it works.

How did Relevant Software perform from a project management standpoint?

The project manager overall was very professional. Their whole team worked on our project. That meant that we could be really hands-off as soon as they understood the scope and where we were trying to go. They were very proactive. We communicated via email, instant messenger, and project management software like Jira.

What did you find most impressive about Relative Software?

They provide attention to detail and have an increased level of ownership of a project. When they take on a project, they do it like it’s their own.

Are there any areas Relevant Software could improve?

Communication is always an issue when you work remotely. We had some miscommunication that caused delays of a few days. Improved communication could have helped, but overall I think they did a pretty good job.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our organization is GameIQ. We develop mobile software in the rewards and loyalty space. I am the CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Relevant Software?

We had a need for a consumer-facing web portal for our mobile app. We selected Relevant Software to help us build it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did all the development on our backend systems, including database development and PHP application development. All our technology is hosted on the Amazon cloud, and it's based on PHP with MySQL database backend. We started by architecting the solution with Relevant Software based on the specifications that we had put together. They helped us put together the database schemes and structure. They've coded the PHP middleware, and they assisted with creating and implementing the design. We provided them with our corporate look and feel; then they helped us translate that into HTML to create a complete frontend solution.

How did you come to work with Relevant Software?

It was simply through a web search. We interviewed 15 different companies and ended up selecting them for a couple of reasons. Their pricing was very reasonable, and their technology knowledge was a good fit. They could provide several different people with the expertise that we were looking for, which included the business analysis and architecture of our solution, as well as the coding, software development, keyway services and infrastructure management.

How much have you invested with Relevant Software?

We have spent around $190,000 to date.

What is the status of this engagement?

We hired Relevant Software in June 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The feedback has been very good. With Relevant Software's help, we could create a web portal for our customers that's easy to use, performs well and covers many devices. The portal is very responsive and gives us the combination of usability and power that we were looking for.

How did Relevant Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We've had a very good close relationship with them. We meet over Skype on a regular basis, and they're always available on demand. Whenever we needed them, they were always there for us. They've had a dedicated person to manage the project, both from a deliverable standpoint as well as a business analytics standpoint, to make sure that we are working on the things that are most relevant to us and that we're spending our money correctly. Then they have always been accountable with detailed progress reports that we can track in real time, as well as monthly granular reports of how we spent the money so we always have complete visibility of the entire project scope and progress.

What did you find most impressive about Relevant Software?

We've been able to build a personal relationship with them from the get-go. Relevant Software could adjust to our needs and provide the services that we needed in a way that they became part of our group very quickly. Even though they're outside the country, it's been a very easy process to work with them.

Are there any areas Relevant Software could improve?

I don't have anything that comes to mind.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of Poncho

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Personal financial management software

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Relevant Software to accomplish?

• Implement a UX design
• Build an MVP

SOLUTION

How did you find Relevant Software?

Online Search

Why did you select Relevant Software over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Relevant Software were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We had a rough design but needed to establish a basic functional capability. Given our fixed budget, we wanted to go as far as possible and have a "live demo" to show to prospective customers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to establish the core functionality that we needed to demonstrate the feasibility of the project. We had 4 modules to develop and were able to establish capability in each one.

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

Delivery was timely and complete. While the PM was available any day, our weekly checkins were efficient and useful. When needed, the developers and UX designer would participate too if there was a specific question.

What was your primary form of communication with Relevant Software?

Virtual Meeting

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

The team bench was deep and skilled professionals who excelled as communicators.

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

The challenges on the engagement were on our end: building an MVP raises a lot of questions we hadn't anticipated. They were helpful throughout.