Ronas IT

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the CEO of an information technology company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We help companies know more about their customers by applying AI-based analytics to their call center recordings.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Ronas IT to accomplish?

• Branding
• Frontend Design and Development
• Landing Page Design and Development

SOLUTION

How did you find Ronas IT?

Online Search

Why did you select Ronas IT over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Ronas IT were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

The scope of Ronas' work was:

• To come up with a branding concept for our company, given an existing name
• To design an application frontend based on our very rudimentary wireframes
• To implement the application frontend working together with our own backend API
• To add unit tests for the application frontend's functionality
• To design and develop a simple corporate landing page, based on our desired sections and content

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• High product quality
• Sophisticated software development techniques
• Time-conscious delivery
• Ability to adapt to our own technical decisions/infrastructure

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

Project management was excellent. We had direct contact with their project manager, who was always open to discuss open points in the requirements, gaps in our infrastructure, and to quickly onboard new features into the execution pipeline.

What was your primary form of communication with Ronas IT?

Email or Messaging App

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

• PM response times and openness to discuss
• Developed software engineering tools

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

Minor things. In my opinion:

• Methods for sharing of secrets/keys/configs needs to be improved
• Unit testing should be part of their standard offerings

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the founder. We help people discover unique stays across the UK

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

I’m the founder of UK Retreats which helps people discover unique stays across the UK whilst saving money, time & effort. I had the idea of creating a club to go an extra step in providing value. This would also help me monetise my social media following. The project was called UKR Club and we created a map with filters and a section for exclusive deals.

SOLUTION

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

I‘m able to think of creative ideas but I don’t have the knowledge or experience with building websites. I went to multiple web agencies with my vision and the response I had was; confusion, this will cost a lot of money, we can’t do it. After being a call with Ronas IT for 30 minutes, they understood exactly what I needed and even went as far to say ‘this is simple’. This put me at ease instantly and I knew they were the perfect fit for my project.

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

We had a zoom meeting to discuss our goals and objectives. From there, Ronas IT delivered mock-ups and wireframes for our club. After a few iterations, their team designed and developed a web app based off our vision.

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

A project manager was our main point of contact throughout the process. There were also 2 developers and a designer working behind the scenes.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had 850+ signs up with the first month which has enabled us to take on more clients and increased our revenue.

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

Throughout the design and development process, the communication was excellent. The results were exactly what I had in mind. What I also loved was how the team contributed when I was on the fence about a particular website feature. Their understanding of how users typically interact with websites was extremely reassuring and this experience saves so much time in terms of decision making. After the project had finished, communication continues to be excellent and they’re always on hand if you have any issues or questions.

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

Their expert input during decision-making eased any nerves about adding website features.The communication was way above expectation. The team were even there to answer on over the weekend when I had a small emergency Their attention to detail is immaculate and they back it up with the quality of their work

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

The project took slightly longer than anticipated but it was partly due to me adding new features as the design / development occurred

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of tech and development for an online marketplace.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ronas IT?

We were looking to develop a mobile application.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We presented our business and what we wanted to create. We gave Ronas IT written requirements, and they gave feedback on it.

They helped us build the mobile application for iOS and Android, as well as a web-based backend for producers and us to manage everything. Additionally, they did some research into solutions to integrate Stripe, Firebase, and other platforms.

The app is a marketplace that allows buyers to buy directly from farmers. We use Stripe with the Stripe Connect platform, which allows money to go directly to the farmers, minus our commission.

What is the team composition?

We work with a project manager as the main point of contact, and there are 10–12 people on the team, including iOS, Android, and backend developers.

How did you come to work with Ronas IT?

We found them on Upwork. They had multiple people in each position to help minimize delays and an English-speaking project manager.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together around July 2019, and it’s an ongoing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve launched in a pilot market, so it’s difficult to share any metrics. Their code has good quality; a third party looked over it for me and said it’s well-written and structured. They've been able to accommodate the changing requirements throughout the project, as well. 

How did Ronas IT perform from a project management standpoint?

As with any long-term project, there are ups and downs. However, the project is going well overall. They have a project management platform where we can enter issues and follow progress. We communicate mainly via Skype, email, and occasionally through Upwork.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They want to understand our business challenges and work to come up with solutions to help us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They underestimated some costs early on, and there were some small issues. We weren’t getting all the hours we needed from them because they had too much work to do.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a software deployment company, and we help government and private organizations maximize their revenues. We have a mobile app with a robust backend and we use that software to provide crowdsourced information. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ronas IT?

We started working with Ronas IT from the ground up to develop our app while we were looking to secure contracts with the government. We’re now in the pilot stage. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed an Android app. The key features and functionalities include having the ability to scale and manage a lot of users from the public. We also wanted the platform to be integrated with an automatic license plate reader (ALPR). 

The app also has a wallet that works with a mobile payment platform that can transfer payments into actual cash in bank accounts. The mobile app also has an electronic billing system, mapping service, and global positioning system (GPS). Overall, the team ensures that everything is integrated with public services and that apps work very well together.

In the future, their work will involve maintenance, developing new features, and troubleshooting on an almost daily basis.

What is the team composition?

We have a project manager. Additionally, we work with 4–8 developers. Our team structure largely depends on the feature we're working on and what we'll be able to complete over a short period of time.

How did you come to work with Ronas IT?

We searched online and found Ronas IT. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $140,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2020 and the project is still ongoing.  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The mobile app that Ronas IT has developed for us is fundamental towards securing the government contract. We’ve had a very minimal number of app crashes as compared to the number of successful bills that we’ve generated. The low number of crashes indicates the stability of the app. 

Based on a quality standpoint, we’ve done a high-quality build. They’re good at following instructions and we’ve had minimal incidences when our requests have not been fully executed or understood.

How did Ronas IT perform from a project management standpoint?

Ronas IT continues to perform well. With regards to providing instructions, we use a combination of email and Jira. We also have weekly Google Meet calls to discuss project progress. During our calls, we iron out issues or provide more context or explanation to what has been communicated via email. Our internal technical staff communicates frequently with the project manager on Skype.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We appreciate that they’re timely and communicative. They always give status updates.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve had weekly calls, but we’ve had some difficulties communicating with each other since most of them don’t speak English. It can help a lot if they demo the outputs and features they develop during the week. Then, we can comment and take it from them. However, what normally happens is they release a new deal and send us a text. After that, we provide them with feedback.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be clear in the scope of work you want them to do. Put everything in written form as much as possible to avoid miscommunication or ambiguity in terms of what is required.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a project manager at Lainnapi, an early startup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ronas IT?

We had no IT or software development knowledge on the coding side, and we wanted Ronas IT to help us build an Android and iOS app. The app aims to enable customers and business consumers to rent household items.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The app was developed using Laravel and React Native. In creating the app, the team ensured that we could look at what people were interested in renting. That way, we could convert prospective clients into paying customers.

To sign in, the customer could register using their email, Facebook, or Apple ID. Once they were in, they only have to choose their preferred payment method and input their payment details. Once registered, an end-user could either post their own items for rent or rent items from other users.

We're still working with the team to fix some minor issues and to apply enhancements to the app.

What is the team composition?

Our main contact person is Evgeny (CTO). We communicate with him, and he relays what we discuss to his software development team which is composed of 2–3 people.  Two of them are in charge of the coding, and the last one takes care of the app’s design aspect.

How did you come to work with Ronas IT?

As an early startup, we had a limited amount of money, and that was the reason why we couldn’t find a company in our own country. When Ronas IT was referred to us by one of our friends who had done business with them, we immediately reached out to them.

We asked Ronas IT if they were interested in developing a mobile app. During our consultation call, we told them all the functions that we wanted for the app. They also gave an estimated cost and timeline required to finish the project. When we compared their offered price to what we have in our own country, Ronas IT’s estimated cost was more affordable.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $24,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing work began in October 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve been fast in coming up with different kinds of registration solutions and integrating other software into the app. With their work, our app has been secured and offers a great customer experience. Moreover, their price estimation has been very accurate. Overall, we’ve been very satisfied with Ronas IT’s work.

How did Ronas IT perform from a project management standpoint?

We have weekly meetings every Wednesday where we discuss the work that needs to be done. We also receive updates from them, and they check in with us to make sure that they’re doing the right thing. Furthermore, we also like that they have an app distribution software where we can have more hands-on experience on the platform. 

For the development phase, we have a shared platform called GitHub, and we use Figma so we can see what they’re doing. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their speed has been impressive. When we reach out to them for questions, they always answer promptly with a logical explanation. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Since both of our companies are not native English speakers, communication needs a bit of repeating at times. As such, they need to overcome the impact of language barriers.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take a look good at what you want to develop and all the essential features you want in it, not only from the customer side but from the backend of the app. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a forex trading company where we try to help our customers automate their trading strategies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ronas IT?

We wanted a tech-free solution for all our customers because they have trouble installing our software. We also wanted a mobile app, but realized we don’t have any expertise in mobile app development. I was looking for someone that can do it all, but it didn’t work out until I found Ronas IT. They have all the expertise in-house to work on all parts of the system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Ronas IT are building and developing a mobile app for our company. In the beginning, I wrote up a design document for them to know what I was looking for, and they provided me with a wide range of design diagrams to choose from. They then told me an estimate of the costs and how many hours it would take to finish.

We went ahead with the MVP version which took them a couple of months to build. I communicate with them through Skype almost every day.

As of right now, we’re still working together and continuing to improve the application. We do one-week sprints where we do production and testing — which they handle by themselves. I’m more on checking if everything works and reporting feedback from users. We use GitLab for testing and to keep track of our tasks. We built the application for the Android and iOS platforms.

What is the team composition?

I don’t Skype the developer directly, I talk to the project manager most of the time. He’s the one I work closely with.

How did you come to work with Ronas IT?

They were a referral from an online forum.

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested about $100,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

The ongoing partnership started in April 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They save me a lot of time finding individual developers and help my application grow. This application is licensed-based, and we've issued over 100 licenses so far and we’re still growing.

How did Ronas IT perform from a project management standpoint?

When I talk to them they’re very responsive and helpful. When we do a test, I put in all the details of my report and the developer will pick it up. If they have any questions, they will ask me so it actually works out in a different way. 

Each week, I assign a task and let the manager know about the priority, and set it very clear for each sprint. This is so we’ll know what to do and if they can’t do it, they’ll let me know.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most impressive part is they have all the talent that I need — I don’t need to go anywhere else. Additionally, they are really quick to respond. The other agencies that I tried before asked us to go through all these processes that were unnecessary. These processes could cost you your time and money, and they don’t reply as fast as I want them to be.

Ronas comes back to you within the day. During the development phase, they cut out a lot of the wireframe so they are able to finish their tasks in a short amount of time. They showed me what the UI would look like without having to go through a couple of types of wireframes. They saved a lot of time and money during that process alone.

Are there any areas they could improve?

One thing I would suggest to them is to add a customer or technical support team. That would be really crucial for their company. The team doesn't necessarily need to be a team of developers, they just need to know the service level of the process. If they offer customer or technical support, that would be super awesome because that way, I don’t have to build another team to talk to the developers.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear with what you want and be specific about the timeline. With any agency, they rely on us to give them the full requirements. The more detailed you are, the better the outcome will be. It also helps to not expect a perfect product, because you can take an MVP, ship it out and get some feedback.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of a cleaning services app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ronas IT?

Initially, we needed help with app development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired them to build our app. Then, they built two Android apps. Currently, we’re working on a web app. On one of the apps, people can create their order for laundry and dry cleaning. Currently, we’re using Swift and Angular.JS.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager, a graphic designer, and several developers, including Dmitry (Frontend Developer).

How did you come to work with Ronas IT?

I found them on Upwork. They had the most projects of the companies we evaluated. They weren’t the cheapest but they were the most experienced. They had a good team and their project manager was very professional. We learned a lot from him and he was always very responsive.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2016, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve doubled in users year over year. Per day, we have 30 people registered from their app. Over five years, we’ve only stopped using them for four months because our budget was tight.

If there was ever something that we didn’t like, it’s because we failed to explain needs clearly. Anything that we’ve requested, they’ve done. They have a high bar for development and our platform is very stable.

How did Ronas IT perform from a project management standpoint?

95% of the time they meet our deadlines. There was one project manager that didn’t understand our needs well, but we switched to a better one. Our current project manager is always very responsive and meets deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have someone available to work anytime we need something. We never have to look for partners elsewhere.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to make sure the project manager is aligned with their vision. They have a lot of project managers to choose from, so make sure everyone is aligned.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the owner of a bespoke software company providing integrations in the construction industry space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

I needed expert help in connecting two systems to ensure they had real time data updates reflected in each. The goal was to ensure that no updates in either system were missed and that it was easy to see the data flow.

SOLUTION

How did you select Ronas IT and what were the deciding factors?

Ronas IT was recommended by another company as being reliable and very proficient. The deciding factor was that the company recommending had been working with them for over a year so had good experience of their work methods and outcomes.

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

We had a kick off meeting where we went through the project scope, deliverables and general architecture for the system. We worked closely together to get the necessary components in place for the architecture and a deadline due date. Everything was setup on Gitlab so that I had full visibility on what was being worked on and could update the team on any changes or more granular information.

We opted for AWS and devops got everything in place very quickly. The whole team were very good at communicating if there was any issues with the scope or technical specification and didn't leave anything to chance. As there was no UI with the integration there was a necessary leap of faith in the work being produced but I was confident that the project would be successful and it was.

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

I worked with a project manager on the day to day issues, devops and an experienced senior back end developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The system has been very successful in capturing the data it needs to and passing it along to the other system as well as receiving their data and processing it. Both system sponsors are very happy with the result and it has meant that admin has been significantly reduced by having the integration is place.

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

Timelines were adhered to but it was a fairly fluid arrangement given the nature of the work. The project manager gave me regular updates.

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

I was impressed by how quickly they understood the requirements of two different systems APIs. There was never an issue with the quality of work, in fact the only changes and fixes we needed to make were mostly because one of the systems didn't work as reported so we had to make adjustments to accommodate that.

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

Probably the usual gripe as a client for more emphasis on estimation to ensure that costs don't spiral and more clarity on how bug development would be charged. Neither of which was excessive or unreasonable.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I was heading product and strategy for a real estate company. We developed several software applications to automate daily productivity.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Ronas IT?

We used Ronas IT for extensive product development and ran more than 5 projects with him. Our main products was a mobile application and web dashboard called snagreport. It allows us to remotely maintain our buildings.

What were your goals for this project?

To create a tool that will help us generate a wealth of data that can be used to improve the living experience of the residents in the building.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I had worked with many vendors with small projects. Ronas performed the best with our small project so we decided to make them our exclusive partners.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The provided software development services including design, devops, mobile phone applications and consulting.

What was the team composition?

There were a senior and junior designer many back and front end developers and one mobile developer and one tester. As well as a dedicated accounts manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The software allowed us to cut back on 100% of our onsite visits building visits and audits. Saving us the salaries of many specialized staff. The ROI on the project was 1 year and 6 months.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

There was a dedicated Project manager who was also the accounts manager.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their flexibility, they worked in a very agile way and are willing to make rapid changes.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Mostly none, I visited their offices in russia and they are a good bunch of dedicated people. I enjoy working with them and will be working with them in the future as well.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of a startup in the travel industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ronas IT?

We wanted to develop a property management system and a channel manager. This would manage our sales channel and integrate them with the property management system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The solution has a Django framework and is written in JavaScript. They also provided graphic design and UX design. They’re our exclusive development partner on this project. They were involved in the technical discussions as well as the functional discussions of the features. The solution runs on desktops, phones, and tablets and updates in real-time. The app is based on the web for now, since we haven’t done a mobile app.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with about six people, including a project manager/analyst. I mostly interact with the latter.

How did you come to work with Ronas IT?

I found them online. They seemed quite competent and they agreed to a staggered payment structure. Rather than just accept everything about the solution, they questioned things that didn’t make sense to them, which made me feel that we’d have a good working relationship.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $128,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since May 2018 and are close to completion. We’re integrating a final service and are hoping to launch soon. We’re also planning on integrating with other international accommodation booking services.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s mainly been the functionality that they’ve delivered. So far, they’ve given us everything, and we’ve worked on anything that required changes.

How did Ronas IT perform from a project management standpoint?

Delivery is good, but the project management hasn’t been good. They didn’t provide designs initially, which I didn’t like because I’d rather look at a design first before we actually started. We communicate over Skype, Telegram, GitLab, and Upwork.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality of their work stands out the most. They’re knowledgeable and provide useful feedback. They wouldn’t let us end up with a bad product because we asked for it. They’ll ask questions and help us come up with a better solution.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Getting an initial design would let them easily discuss with the client what they want.