Scopic

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the President of an IT company.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

To get a sense of what Scopic Software is all about, you need only look at their results. That says it all. Scopic billed more than 5,500 hours of work for this cabinet planner. Here is the result of the required software, developed primarily in southern Germany at significantly lower costs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Scopic to accomplish?

• Develop an online or browser based cabinet maker

SOLUTION

How did you find Scopic?

Online Search

Why did you select Scopic over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Scopic were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Scope of Work 
The project aimed to develop a web-based cabinet configurator, including UX/UI design, 3D visualization, and core configuration features (dimensions, components, materials, pricing). However, the implementation fell short of expectations. Core interactions were not intuitive, several features remained incomplete or unclear, and the overall workflow lacked consistency. The interface concept (left/right panels) was not effectively translated into a seamless user experience. 

Key Deliverables 
Basic web configurator with limited usability 3D visualization with restricted and partly unclear interaction (see mockups) Incomplete or simplified feature set (e.g. material logic, exports, workflow) Pricing and finalize process lacking clarity and integration 

Summary 
The result is a functional but immature product. Significant gaps in usability, consistency, and feature completeness indicate that the solution was not fully thought through or properly finalized.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Measurable Outcomes 
No measurable outcomes were achieved. None of the agreed deliverables were implemented in a usable or production-ready state. 
The source code delivered was entirely unusable and had to be completely rewritten from scratch. There were no improvements in user engagement, conversion, or operational efficiency — because the product never reached a viable state. 
The project did not advance the client's goals in any measurable way. The only tangible outcome was the need for a full redevelopment effort to replace what was delivered.

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

Communication was adequate on a surface level, but that is where the positives end. Promises regarding both quality and delivery timelines were consistently not met. Deadlines were missed, and the deliverables that were provided failed to meet the agreed standards.

 Despite ongoing communication, critical issues were not proactively addressed or resolved. Instead, problems only became apparent upon review of the delivered work, requiring repeated clarification and rework cycles that should never have been necessary.

The gap between what was promised and what was actually delivered reflects a fundamental lack of reliable project management and quality control.

What was your primary form of communication with Scopic?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The only process that functioned reliably and on schedule was invoicing.

Payments were tracked meticulously, and if a payment was delayed, development was immediately halted.

The company did not hesitate to threaten withdrawal of their developers if payment deadlines were not met.

In stark contrast to the missed delivery promises and substandard quality, their billing and financial pressure mechanisms worked flawlessly — suggesting that internal priorities were clearly focused on cash collection rather than client outcomes.

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

The most critical issue was the mismatch between the required skill set and the developers actually assigned to the project.

A configurator of this nature required solid expertise in Unity — yet a review of the assigned developers' LinkedIn profiles revealed that virtually none of them listed any explicit Unity experience.

Scopic should have ensured that the team assigned to the project was genuinely qualified for the technology stack involved, rather than deploying developers who apparently lacked the core competencies the project demanded.

Transparent vetting and honest communication about team capabilities upfront would have prevented significant wasted time, cost, and effort on both sides. The fundamental improvement would have been simple: assign developers who can actually deliver what was promised.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Praevolo Ltd

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Helicopter training and aviation consultancy.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Scopic to accomplish?

• Develop aviation instrument procedure design software

SOLUTION

How did you find Scopic?

Referral

Why did you select Scopic over others?

• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Scopic were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Development of aviation instrument procedure design software for the design,development and validation of instrument procedures, enabling aircraft to operate to and from airports and heliports safely, in all weather conditions. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Meeting the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) detailed in ICAO Doc 8168 Volume II - Construction of Visual and Instrument Flight Procedures.

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

From inception, the software development has been conducted in a series of steps, each developing a new tool, or group of tools. Each step is validated by both Scopic before release and by Praevolo on receipt, our feedback on individual tools and potential improvements have always been well received and acted upon in a timely manner.  

What was your primary form of communication with Scopic?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Procedure design is a deeply complex subject involving an understanding of spherical geometry, atmospherics, flight dynamics and instrument procedure construction requirements.  The Scopic team have quickly built up an excellent knowledge and importantly, understanding of all these subjects.

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

No, we're very happy with where we are.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Managing Director of a financial services company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a financial services company regulated by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe that provides credit solutions to Zimbabwean SMEs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Scopic to accomplish?

• The SOW was to "create a multi-currency loan management system with integrated CRM and accounting modules."

SOLUTION

How did you find Scopic?

Online Search

Why did you select Scopic over others?

High ratings

How many teammates from Scopic were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Scope of Work
The project involves the end-to-end design and development of a comprehensive FinTech Credit and Loan Management System. The scope covers everything from initial discovery and UI/UX design to complex financial engineering and DevOps.

Discovery & Technical Planning:

Conducting a full requirements analysis to produce a Feature Specification Document (FSD).
Designing the technical architecture, including tech stack selection and defining the system hierarchy.
Creating a detailed project roadmap with milestones and task breakdowns.
UI/UX Design:

Establishing a unique visual identity and "UI Kit" for the platform.
Developing wireframes and high-fidelity designs for all core modules, including admin dashboards, client management interfaces, and financial product setups.
Core Web Application Development:

Financial Engine: Implementation of complex logic for loan and deposit products, interest calculation methods, repayment strategies (fees, penalties, interest, principal), and moratorium/prepayment handling.
CRM & Client Management: Building detailed client profiles with document management, communication logs, and an audit trail of all system activities.
Loan Lifecycle Management: Development of tools for loan origination, automated repayment schedules, securities/guarantor tracking, and transaction history.
Accounting & General Ledger: Implementation of a robust double-entry accounting system with real-time General Ledger (GL) updates, automated journal entries for transactions, and manual entry overrides.
Security & Integrations:

Advanced Authentication: Secure login with Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and utilizing mobile numbers as unique client IDs.
Integrations: Connecting with third-party APIs for KYC/AML verification (e.g., Xarani) and SMS providers for automated notifications.
Data Security: Implementing end-to-end encryption for data at rest and in transit, alongside real-time activity monitoring for threat detection.
Infrastructure & DevOps:

Setting up cloud infrastructure (Azure Blob Storage, servers) and containerizing the application.
Establishing Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines to ensure seamless updates across development, staging, and production environments.
 
Key Deliverables
Project Blueprints: A comprehensive Feature Specification Document and Technical Architecture Documentation.
Design Assets: A complete UI Kit, interactive wireframes, and final high-fidelity UI designs for all application screens.
Functional Web Platform: A fully operational web application featuring:

Loan & Deposit Modules: Systems to create, manage, and track various financial products.
Automated Calculation Engines: For interest, penalties, and payment schedules.
General Ledger: A double-entry accounting module integrated with all financial activities.
CRM System: A centralized hub for client data, document storage, and communication history.
Customization Tools: A dynamic "Custom Field" system and a Form Builder for generating loan agreements and statements.
Reporting Suite: A module for generating financial reports, analytics dashboards, and data exports.
Integration Layer: Functional APIs for SMS notifications and third-party identity/credit verification services.
Tested & Deployed Environment: A production-ready system with automated unit tests, comprehensive audit logs, and a secure CI/CD pipeline.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Financial Accuracy and Integrity:

• Zero-Error Calculation Rate: 100% accuracy in the automated calculation of interest, penalties, and repayment schedules across different loan products.
• General Ledger (GL) Reconciliation: Real-time, automatic posting of 100% of transactions (loans, repayments, write-offs) to the General Ledger with zero manual intervention required for standard entries.
• Double-Entry Compliance: 100% adherence to double-entry accounting principles, verified by a system audit showing no unbalanced journal entries.

Operational Efficiency:

• Reduced Loan Onboarding Time: A measurable reduction in the time taken from initial client contact to loan disbursement, enabled by the "Digital Onboarding" and "API Integration" for KYC/AML.
• Automated Communication: A high percentage (e.g., >95%) of client notifications (SMS/Email) being triggered and sent automatically by the system based on predefined events (due dates, missed payments).
• Report Generation Speed: The ability to generate complex regulatory or internal financial reports in seconds compared to the hours previously required for manual compilation.

Security and Compliance:

• Audit Trail Completeness: Successful logging of 100% of user activities, including data modifications and system changes, with a "Search & Audit" functionality that allows for the tracing of any transaction to a specific user and timestamp.
• KYC/AML Integration Success: Successful real-time ID verification and AML checks through the Xarani API for all new digital onboards.

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

Our experience with Scopic was one of negligence, exploitaton, and a total lack of professional ethics and integrity:

• Predatory Estimating: Scopic’s management was characterized by "estimate inflation." They secured commitment with a quote that we could manage, then systematically expanded the budget once we were too invested to walk away. The final cost - for an incomplete platform—was a 68% increase with virtually no changes to original scope.
• Zero Accountability: They blew past their own "pessimistic" worst-case estimate without a single pause for reassessment or apology. There was no internal accountability; they simply continued to bill hours past every agreed-upon limit.
• Revenue Over Accountability: Every management decision prioritized their revenue over our system’s functionality. They overstated hours on tickets and pushed for open-ended maintenance to hide the fact that their development and QA teams had failed to catch core architectural lapses before Production.
• Rescinded Commitments: Management showed a total lack of integrity by rescinding a written commitment made in November to absorb overruns. They went back on their word the moment they realized the scale of their own errors.
• Systemic Gaslighting: For months, Scopic's leadership dismissed concerns about ledger drift, ledger mismatch, and data errors as minor issues.  They declared the system "complete" at a time while we were still logging tickets for serious systemic problems, which led us to issue a notice of material breach.  NOTE: We contracted a Laravel Diamond Partner to conduct an independent audit and its 32-page report damningly confirms that these weren't "minor bugs" but fundamental architectural failures.
• Hostage Tactics: After being served the formal notice of material breach for systemic failures, Scopic didn't move to remediate in good faith. Instead, they attempted to leverage the crisis for profit, demanding a 200-hour prepayment before they would even address the critical bugs they had created.  Instead of standing behind their work, they used the system’s instability as a bargaining chip to secure upfront payments.
• Opaque & Defensive: Their entire project management is designed to maximise revenue and protect their billing. They operate behind a wall of gaslighting technical jargon to hide the fact that the system’s plumbing was fundamentally broken.
• Lack of Integrity: The final weeks were characterized by a total lack of professional ethics. They attempted to obstruct a clean transition to new vendors by withholding the code and refusing to acknowledge their liability in the system’s failure.
• Timeline Failure: The project was supposed to be delivered within 5 months but was actually "delivered" (if you can call an incomplete system delivered) 6 months past the original deadline.    

What was your primary form of communication with Scopic?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Nothing at all impressive.  What was unique about them was their appalling level of negligence and their complete lack of integrity and ethics.  

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

Financial Transparency and Ethical Estimating
Scopic needs to move away from what felt like a "rope-in" tactic—low-balling initial discovery estimates to secure a client, only to systematically inflate costs once the client is too deep to exit.  They should have flagged budget overruns before they happened. Blowing past a "pessimistic" worst-case estimate without a single pause for reassessment or a "stop-loss" conversation is a massive failure in client management.

Domain-Specific Competence (FinTech vs. General Dev)
Scopic marketed themselves as having the expertise to build a complex financial system. However, the audit revealed they lacked a fundamental understanding of financial integrity (e.g., atomic transactions and double-entry accounting).  They should have been honest about the limits of their expertise. If a firm is building a General Ledger, they cannot "learn on the job" using the client's money. Their team did not know the basics of accounting principles.  They should have employed a specialized financial systems architect to review the "plumbing" before it reached production.

Rigorous QA and Accountability
Scopic repeatedly delivered features that were functionally broken, forcing us to use our own time (and pay for more of theirs) to find basic bugs.  They needed a robust QA process that didn't rely on the client to do their own QA.  When bugs were identified, they should have acknowledged the lapse instead of gaslighting the client or treating every fix as a "new request" to be billed separately.

Integrity in Crisis Management
When a client serves a notice of material breach due to systemic failures, the correct response is remediation, not an ultimatum.  Demanding a 200-hour prepayment as a condition for fixing their own architectural errors was an ethical low point. A professional firm should stand behind its work and prioritize system stability over securing an immediate cash injection during a crisis. 

Company Responses

The service provider responded on March 20, 2026.

Scopic has been serving clients across many different industries for more 20 years.  We have many clients that have been with us for 10+ years.  Many of us that run businesses know that occasionally you run into a client that is unreasonable and just plain difficult to work with.  This is the case here.  Almost everything written in the review is either not true or taken out of context.  This is unfortunate.  We remain committed to the many happy customers we have and looking forward to serving many more in the future.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder & CEO of StreamerQue LLC

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

StreamerQue is an online platform that connects fans with streamers for one-on-one, paid interactive gaming sessions and personalized experiences.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Scopic to accomplish?

• Design and develop a scalable MVP platform enabling one-on-one paid gaming sessions between streamers and fans.
• Implement core features including user onboarding, scheduling, payments, and real-time communication.
• Provide strategic technical guidance to support long-term growth and future feature expansion.

SOLUTION

How did you find Scopic?

Online Search

Why did you select Scopic over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Scopic were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Scopic was responsible for the end-to-end design and development of StreamerQue, a custom web platform that enables one-on-one, paid gaming sessions between streamers and fans. The engagement covered everything from early technical planning and architecture decisions through MVP delivery and post-launch iteration.

The scope of work included product discovery, technical architecture, and UI/UX collaboration, followed by full-stack development of the platform. Key features delivered included user onboarding and authentication, streamer profile management, session scheduling and availability logic, secure payment processing, and real-time communication functionality. Scopic also supported integrations with third-party services, ensured the platform was scalable and secure, and provided ongoing enhancements as requirements evolved.

Throughout the project, Scopic acted as a strategic partner—offering guidance on best practices, tradeoffs, and future extensibility—rather than simply executing tasks. The result was a stable, scalable MVP that aligned closely with the business goals and provided a strong foundation for continued growth.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project resulted in the successful delivery of a fully functional MVP that met all core requirements and was ready for real-world use. Key platform features, including user onboarding, scheduling, payments, and real-time communication, were implemented and tested, enabling end-to-end one-on-one sessions between streamers and fans.

The platform was built with a scalable architecture, allowing for future feature expansion and increased user volume without requiring major rework. Development milestones were met consistently, and iterative releases allowed for continuous improvement based on feedback and evolving requirements.

As a result, StreamerQue was able to move from concept to a stable, production-ready platform, positioning the business to begin onboarding creators, validating the model, and preparing for growth.

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

Scopic’s project management was well-organized, transparent, and reliable throughout the engagement. Deliverables were planned clearly, progress was tracked consistently, and timelines were communicated upfront with regular updates along the way.

They were responsive to feedback and changing requirements, which is especially important in a startup environment. When adjustments were needed, the team was proactive in discussing options, tradeoffs, and impacts on scope or timing rather than pushing changes blindly.

Overall, items were delivered on schedule or with clear communication when timelines needed to shift, and the team remained flexible and attentive to our needs. Their structured approach combined with responsiveness made the collaboration smooth and low-stress.

What was your primary form of communication with Scopic?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

What stood out most about Scopic was their ability to balance technical execution with strategic thinking. They didn’t just build what was asked, they took the time to understand the business goals behind the product and offered thoughtful recommendations that improved the overall outcome.

Their communication was clear and consistent, and the team genuinely felt invested in the success of the project. Especially as a founder, it was refreshing to work with a partner who could translate complex technical concepts into practical decisions and help guide the product in the right direction.

That combination of strong engineering, transparency, and true partnership is what made Scopic unique.

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

At this stage, there were no significant areas for improvement. Scopic was responsive, transparent, and delivered as expected throughout the engagement

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Estimating of a construction company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a full-service electrical, life safety, and home automation contractor.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Scopic to accomplish?

• Help us create a web presence for the automation portion of our business

SOLUTION

How did you find Scopic?

Online Search

Why did you select Scopic over others?

• High ratings
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Scopic were assigned to this project?

I'm unsure exactly how many people have helped

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

Copy existing site to create a platform for our automation work. Create a landing page to link our (3) primary solutions.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Completed copies of content, drafts of home and landing pages. Improved speed for site. Google Analytics incorporated.

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

Project Management was fantastic and most definitely got back to us promptly. They were extremely helpful in answering our questions; they also had great recommendations for us.

What was your primary form of communication with Scopic?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

We like that Scopic has a wide range of professionals a part of their team. Whatever we encountered within the project, there was always an internal source that project management could reach out to. We also really appreciate the company's transparency and like how we get a weekly report showing where the hours for the projects are being allocated.

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

I can't think of any at this time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing partner of Dissertatione Network. We launched a token a couple of months called DN Meta Token. We’re excited about the prospect of giving educational institutions and individuals opportunities to close financial gaps by investing, holding, and selling our tokens.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Scopic?

Scopic was involved in the token development process starting from the concept all the way through implementation. We worked with them to flesh out the utility and prospects of how this token could create excitement in the education industry. The team helped in the development and deployment of a custom token for us. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Scopic helped us with concept development and the challenges we didn’t consider earlier. They worked on educating us and ensuring we were making the right decisions. This would attract potential investors and make us competitive as a cryptocurrency startup.

From there, we went through the modeling phase and had analytics to determine the token price. On top of that, the Scopic team helped develop white papers containing all the information investors would want to know.  

Regarding features, our token had a buyback feature of 2%. This allowed users to buy back tokens to bring them back in circulation or send them to others. We used those tokens for marketing development costs, lawyer fees, and other expenses. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with Milena (Project Manager), Ruell (Developer), Amresh (Key Account Manager Custom Software), and other developers. 

How did you come to work with Scopic?

This idea came out of a crowdfunding campaign in 2013 on a platform similar to Kickstarter, and it was relegated to the educational market. Fast forward to 2021, we realized there was an opportunity in the cryptocurrency space for the token. As a result, we researched companies that could help us address this opportunity and fix the problem of educational disparities in the US and worldwide. 

Our team sought out vendors for this cause and found Scopic online. I reached out to their sales representative and had several meetings before I felt comfortable using their service. Our teams engaged in more productive talks in March 2022 and finally signed the agreement to get started. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $20,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started searching for companies in October 2021 and selected the vendor in March 2022. From there, we began the development in June 2022 and finally launched the token in March 2023. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have no success metrics since the token’s success is contingent on creating enthusiasm around its usage. Since the SEC has made several lawsuits against Coinbase and Binance, things have been tricky. 

However, we’re telling the world about our great project, and we believe there’s going to be more enthusiasm for it. Overall, we feel more optimistic about it now than we did a few months ago. We’ll hopefully garner our first few token holders in the next couple of weeks. 

How did Scopic perform from a project management standpoint?

Milena was knowledgeable and had great project management skills. She made us feel comfortable. Meanwhile, Ruell was smart. His guidance was instrumental in ensuring we weren’t making mistakes that would cost us a lot of money. They were honest and trustworthy in that respect; they didn’t allow us to go down a path that wasn’t going to work out for us. 

Amresh was also knowledgeable about how cryptocurrency taxes worked and how token prices were set. We interacted with him a number of times — even though he was out of the sales role, he came back to the project and helped us out. 

Moreover, our timeline went longer than expected, but it was the right timing. We could’ve done things sooner, but it would cost more money, and they’d have to put resources toward the project. The timeline ended up being perfect because the project didn’t feel like a burden. It didn’t get in the way of my profession and gave me the opportunity to do something I was passionate about. 

For communication tools, we used Teams, which was fine for document storage and communication accountability. We also had a lot of phone calls and emails. This was perfect for me since I wasn’t on many apps. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team was professional and patient with us even as some of our decisions changed with the developments in the industry over the course of the engagement. All of their members were instrumental in helping us along the way. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We set the budget at roughly $10,000, but we exceeded it. We changed our taxes a couple of times, so the budget increase was partly due to the decisions that we had to change. 

However, I wish there was more transparency regarding Scopic’s pricing. Holding more meetings regarding our budget would’ve been appropriate. That way, we’d have known where we were on our budget and could’ve mitigated increased costs by moving things around. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Set budget meetings, and make sure the scope of work matches the pricing. This is something wish we did more often. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO/President. We support companies across the USA with Labor Management and Time Tracking Solutions

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We were looking for a partner in supplying needed people with skills as demand required. They have been great in fulfilling all our needs.

SOLUTION

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

We found them through guru.com. The deciding factor was the people on their staff and their understanding of our needs and the project.

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

The development of features has been on time and within budget. The ability to pivot quickly to new requirements has been key. The amount of control over the process has been a great help to meeting our needs. The project is on-going in providing tools for Labor Management and Time Tracking, primarily in the entertainment industry.

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

We have worked with 9 people at various times over the years. There are currently 6 people on our current team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After launching we have resulted in doubling our customers every year and this is in line with what our plan is.

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

People. It all comes down to the staff you can provide. They are key to the success of the project.

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

The flexibility of providing for any need we have given them.

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

There was only some confusion with the accounting department, but that has been cleared up long ago.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Frontier Automation develops 3D vision based process automation products. My position is Technology Director

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

C++ 3D image processing, 3D scientific visualization, 3D historic database recording and playback.

SOLUTION

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

Frontier have engaged Scopic developers for the past 6 years, initially for our 3DReclaim product. Our long term Scopic developers have extensive experience with our products and development environment.

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

The team of internal and Scopic developers developed a bulk carrier vessel tracking application, implemented with an array of 36 x 3D LiDAR sensors covering two kilometers of wharf length. The 3D image processing was implemented with custom software using C++ in conjunction with CUDA and OpenCL to achieve the necessary rela time processing requirements.

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

The Scopic team was full time senior developers and additional resources for project management, database development and user interfaces as required at various stages of the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The developers delivered on the design requirements with minimal bugs or rework. Quite outstanding as the real time 3D image processing is inherently complex.

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

Project communications were facilitated via JIRA with regular weekly meetings between the northern European based developers and the Australian project team.

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

Scopic provided world-class C++ developer resources. The Scopic developers undertook complex 3D image processing with excellent results.

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

We have noted a distinct improvement in proficiency in the English language by developers where this is not their first or second language.

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was published on Month Day, Year.

Paul Wighton

Director of Technology, Frontier Automation

Manufacturing

1-10 Employees

Australia

$200,000 to $999,999

Jun 2014 - Ongoing

Project summary: 

Scopic Software provided outsourced C++ developers who worked on image programming for an automation app. Their software processed 3D point clouds from laser systems and updated a data set.

Feedback summary: 

They provided experienced and capable developers who are comfortable programming in various environments. Scopic Software’s resources provide accurate estimates and work largely in a self-directed way.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of Frontier Automation. We develop 3D image-based automation. We’re a small company with a very niche and relatively high-priced product that doesn’t have a large market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Scopic Software?

When we first began doing image-based processing, we recognized that one of our resources lacked expertise in C++ programming. We did queries and advertised in Australia, but were never able to find suitable applicants. We decided to look worldwide for outsourcing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided C++ image programming for automation applications. We have one machine with five lasers. We have 300,000-400,000 point per second lasers and two longer-range 20,000 point-per-second lasers. In order to handle this, we use stockyard machine control with a stacker reclaimer.

It’s generally recognized as the largest semi-autonomous machine in the world because it’s on rails, but totally unmanned. It’s about 10 stories high and sits on a rail track 11 meters wide with a couple of vehicle roadways to pass under it. It’s an extremely large machine with a 60-meter boom and 10-meter diameter buckle wheel. We control that and position a chain within about 100 millimeters.

The software they helped create is an essential part of the application. It actually processes the 3D point clouds from multiple laser systems and updates a data set for stockyard which is 1.2 kilometers wide. We’re currently doing another system that is 20 meters wide. Essentially, we have our new memory data set that has a 40-millimeter horizontal resolution at the stockyard.

We’re currently sitting at around a 500-megabyte internal data set and it will roll up to 1 gig to achieve the functional requirements of the application. We do very high-speed processing with more processing power on our machine than anywhere in the world. We essentially put up a server and they were choosy on processing systems and video co-processes as well.

It’s been a learning exercise for ourselves and Scopic Software. We’re using Nvidia GPU processing that didn’t exist four years ago nor did some of the libraries we’re using. We’ve had to discover the appropriate external libraries to use to provide the performance system. The stockyard, which is the main dataset, is accessed by 9 or 10 processes. It’s quite a unique C++ application in that it’s got a large number of processes accessing a very large data set in real time.

We do our processing and surface reconstruction at the line-hour prime rate of 10Hz.  When the application is running, it will use 100-130 concurrent threads. There are very few developers in the world who can do multi-process C++ including Nvidia GPU. Most of our standard routines have SSE intel vector instruction optimizations and we also have equivalent processes that we bring in a GPU environment for those as well.

What is the team composition?

We currently work with two developers. In the early stages, the maximum number was four developers and a project manager.

How did you come to work with Scopic Software?

We advertised for developers and within 24 hours, we had heard from eight very high-level C++ developers from various countries around the world. We worked with one of them for proof of concept, but that didn’t meet our performance requirements. Even though they were a very large organization, it was the first application that was truly real-time. We went looking for a low-cost option in India. We came across Scopic Software in a web search and we spoke with the owner. We eventually started using developers and most of the developers have been from Northern Europe throughout the whole time.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $250,000-$300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2014 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’m happy with their work and we have no plans to stop working with them. We tried employing multiple C++ programmers but found they didn’t have enough experience. We write half the application in PLC programming and some other processing and they are familiar with that environment as well.

How did Scopic Software perform from a project management standpoint?

They haven’t handled the project management since we were working with four developers. I serve as the project manager and one of the two current developers is a team leader. Their developers are really good at managing their time and their tasks. We don’t have to keep a close eye on them. We give them the task and they give us an estimate of the time, and we’re very aware of the time it should take.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m impressed with their ability to locate three high-quality people on very short notice.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We could have had more video or audio conferencing. I’ve never actually spoken to one of the developers we’ve had for two years.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know the type of person you want. We generally will put someone on trial for two or three weeks and we can judge pretty well if they’re capable within that period.

Star Ratings

Overall rating: 5

Quality: 5

Cost: 5

Schedule: 5

Willing to refer: 5

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of SDS Industries. We create precision temperature controllers for hobby and industrial applications, specifically kilns and ovens.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Scopic?

Initially, we hired them to help in the development of a mobile application for Android.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Scopic has developed our mobile app. After discussing the project with them, we opened up the project to build the app for both Android and iOS. We gave them access to our preexisting app’s code and our server data. Our team also gave them a minimal set of requirements to follow. The team used React Native and C++ to develop the app, which is our core functionality and is linked to our products. Since then, we’ve also pulled them into additional work relative to backend efforts on our server. 

As of 2022, Scopic has been helping us with website development, marketing, and some new product introductions that we’re doing. We gave them access to our existing website and have worked with them to specify a new site map. The team has pulled things from our legacy site while implementing the new design we’ve collaborated on. The website is geared towards information, including product descriptions, a webshop, and user support. 

Additionally, we’ve used Scopic for SEO pre-planning and content generation, including copywriting. The team has been involved in keyword research and backlinking efforts. Currently, they provide continuous development for our mobile app. 

What is the team composition?

When we started, we worked with a small team of a couple of developers and a project manager. Our team has grown with the introduction of new work. For some time, we had simultaneous marketing and app development, and we had two product managers, one focused on development and the other on marketing.

Currently, we work with roughly 19 teammates who hit our project weekly or monthly, ranging from front- and backend developers, C++ and mobile app developers, project managers, and QA teammates. We’ve also met with Scopic’s owner and operations manager. 

How did you come to work with Scopic?

We found them on Guru.com, where I submitted a job request, and they bid on it. We went back and forth with some conversations and ultimately landed on Scopic as our best option. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $300,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2019, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Scopic has met our expectations when it comes to mobile app development; they’ve been very good and responsive. Their developers are wonderful, and their communication has been good. 

However, their website development hasn’t been quite as good. Although we had a strong team when we started, Scopic had a priority shift and relocated resources, so we went from an A-team to more of a B-team. We’ve since gotten to a good place, but it took longer than it should have. Regarding marketing, we never gelled that well with the program manager in charge because they lacked good communication skills. Therefore, we halted all further marketing work with them. 

How did Scopic perform from a project management standpoint?

Their program management has been a bit of a struggle. We’ve gone through four program managers. Our current and previous managers have been excellent. Still, we’ve missed a number of deadlines due to poor planning on both sides. Generally, the commitments from the start of projects don’t pan out. 

We use Teamwork, Jira, Microsoft Teams, and SharePoint for project management, so we have a reasonable set of tools to help us collaborate. As for communication, we use Microsoft Teams.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Scopic has some depth on the bench, which goes a long way. They can respond accordingly if and when people decide to leave their company. The team invests time and energy in training their resources, identifying their talent, and applying it where it needs to be. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They have some room to grow in the marketing and web development sides. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You should use Scopic for their core strength, which is in mobile app development.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of FindUniquelyU.com.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Scopic?

I needed help with developing the MVP of my business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Scopic has developed my platform from scratch using Laravel as the key technology for the backend. Their scope has ranged from web design, wireframe design, web development, and testing to launch and marketing support. Initially, they worked with our sales team to go over our high-level plans. Then, they worked with our branding team to create the designs required for the platform.

My platform is a service-based web app that facilitates workshops with different instructors. It integrates with BigBlueButton to provide the classroom functionality to our membership.

As for our marketing efforts, Scopic’s marketing department has helped us launch a YouTube Ads campaign. Currently, they’re also working on our SEO strategy, and they will continue helping us with our marketing by analyzing data and helping us optimize our efforts. In addition to the platform, they’ve also helped us create a secondary marketing site on WordPress to support those efforts.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with Amresh (Sales & Legal Specialist), Megi (Project Manager), Diego (Intermediate Software Developer), Emilio (Marketing Project Manager), Petra (Marketing Specialist), Luca (Administrative Specialist), Eugene (Web Developer), a lead designer, and a few other people.

How did you come to work with Scopic?

When I was starting the project, I did a Google search and read reviews on different blogs about development partners, and Scopic came up in those listings. I vetted them and five other companies from around the world, and I loved Scopic from the start. Their estimates worked within my budget, and their proposal was the best of all I got by far.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We first talked in April 2021, but we officially started working together in December 2021, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Thanks to Scopic, we’ve successfully launched a product that is now up and running. Their team quickly fixes bugs when we come across them so that the product continues to be a success.

As general feedback, Scopic is an amazing team. They’re talented and responsive, and they always come to the table with brilliant ideas. They’re experts in everything they do, so I intend to have a very long-term relationship with them because I want to add a lot more features to the platform.

How did Scopic perform from a project management standpoint?

Scopic’s project management is incredible; they overperform. They’re very communicative, and they’ve delivered under budget and earlier than expected. Although the project manager is in Albania and the designer is in South Africa, they follow my time and schedule and are very responsive to my needs. The team is always prepared to provide status updates, and their work is phenomenal all around. We communicate via email and Microsoft Teams.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Scopic’s team comprises authentic, kind, and real individuals who don’t try to be something they’re not. They’re great partners and match with us very well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. They’ve gone above and beyond my expectations.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The more information you can provide, the better the outcome will be.