SHALB

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of ImmoScout24, a management technology company for landlords.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SHALB?

We needed IT and cloud services. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SHALB managed our cloud services needs and worked offsite. The team helped us migrate a few things for our long-term projects. Moreover, they helped us do our due diligence when selling our company, giving us a presentation of how things would work. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with four people, each specializing in different areas of cloud computing. However, we mainly spoke with only two teammates. 

How did you come to work with SHALB?

SHALB was a recommendation to me. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $140,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership lasted from January 2019–March 2022. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project was done well, and SHALB worked well with our engineers. We had zero downtime in the deployment, so everything was great. 

How did SHALB perform from a project management standpoint?

SHALB’s project management was great. We used Jira to manage tasks. The team fixed problems and reacted fast whenever something happened to our cloud infrastructure. Moreover, their members were available  24/7 and always delivered on time. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They set everything up so we could develop our system efficiently and quickly. This was our biggest requirement since our system was distributed — it was a complex product with dozens of microservices. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could be more proactive in what they could do.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a VP of Architecture, responsible for technology innovation and Developer Experience at Spryker Systems GmbH. Spryker is a Cloud Commerce Operating System that provides platforms for mid-size and large enterprises building Amazon and eBay challengers in B2C, B2B, and Marketplace business verticals.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We were onboarding customer projects to a newly designed Platform for distributed applications (Package Business Capabilities, Microservices) and required multi-level support: - cloud architecture using the most recent Cloud-native practices (not every SI/TP is familiar with them) with high focus on performance, scalability and security; - consulting on technical solutions in AWS - developing some of the sub-systems of the Composition Platform.

By the end, the goal was to refine, stabilize, and handover a ready-to-operate Composition Platform to an Operational Team.

SOLUTION

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

We interviewed multiple potential partners. Then SHALB could show not only their technical skills in Cloud-native and Cloud platform development but also a great collaboration attitude on technical terms and commercials.

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

They heavily improved the design of Event Platform (a subsystem of the overall Composition Platform) and also built it as a part of a joined team. This included sub-systems responsible for network and service layer connectivity on AWS. Shalb engineers also designed and built testing processes for distributed Apps on the Spryker Composition Platform following the highest security standards.

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

From 5 to 10 people were working during the project timeline in the following roles: Cloud Architect, Cloud Engineer, Cloud Monitoring Architect, Backend Engineer, and Project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The program team was able to achieve major milestones, and continue customer project onboarding. Designed by Shalb Cloud testing process ensured 100% of releases following high code, architecture, and Security standards set in Spryker organization. The designed system was able to process 3BLN events for 200 initial consumer Apps on daily basis.

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

The project management was great, timely, and reliable. We could establish a joined working group where teammates didn't feel Vendor vs System Integrator relations but operated as a joined collaborative team with common goals and targets. Big Kudos for that!

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

Shalb does not only provide high-quality engineering service but is able to bring its own expertise to solve and design even the most demanding innovative projects (most of its engineers have passed AWS or other certifications), but also evangelizes Cloud-native and DevOps mindset. So when a project is finished, you can expect that the best practices will remain within your team for a long time.

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

It took some time, to get the IP commercials aligned. So I think that would be great that Shalb team will look into different types of collaboration and consider tailoring service packages for complex and innovation projects, where IP is one of the most important selling factors. This feedback was already shared at the beginning of our collaboration and that was fixed in our case.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the developer team lead at AIR Media-Tech. We're an official partner of YouTube, and we work with international-based bloggers. My department works on FinTech projects to develop various products that can help extend the ecosystem for our partners.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SHALB?

We have an internal IT team, but we have no team members for infrastructure, so we hired SHALB to manage our IT infrastructure.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We needed to organize professional infrastructure that can be secure and scalable for a large number of users and potential attempts of cyberattacks. We first discussed the different approaches to be used and the budget before moving to the development stage.

We had different team members involved remotely. We provided them with some documentation and a presentation of the financial system to be developed. Then, we met several times to discuss potential appropriate solutions for our needs.

We needed infrastructure on Amazon, and we needed it to be automatically deployed for continuous integration and delivery. SHALB set up materials for system monitoring. They used the approaches of Terraform, GitLab, and Kubernetes together. We also had a mobile application developed for both iOS and Android.

What is the team composition?

In general, we worked with about 10 people from their end, but only four people were actively involved.

How did you come to work with SHALB?

I met SHALB at an IT conference in Kyiv, and liked the approaches they used. We only have a few DevOps companies in Ukraine, and they are among the few. We looked for some other options, but they were a good solution for us. We talked to them, came to an agreement about the price, and we went to work.

How much have you invested with them?

Our budget was between $25,000–$50,000 for the project.

What is the status of the engagement?

The partnership started in January 2022, and the project was delivered in August 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We see our infrastructure running. It is continuously integrated and deployed to test if it is working. We haven't publicly launched, but we're looking forward to that. We accepted their work step-by-step until it was complete.

We are trying to maintain it and learn to extend it if we need it. We see that we have good approaches and a base to work with them. They were able to achieve the goal we set for them for the project. They diligently fulfilled the commitments they made to complete the project. 

How did SHALB perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed well in terms of project management. There was one person that was dedicated to us the whole time, and she responded to all of our questions. She connected us with the necessary specialists every step of the way and regularly participated in our weekly and ad-hoc synchronizations. We mostly used Slack and email to communicate. We also used Jira as our primary project management tool.

There was some improvement in compliance with the project deadline. They did a good job, but there is still some space to grow and be more proactive about observing deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were a great team, and I appreciated their professionalism in a range of areas because different specialists were involved in the project. I also loved their approach and the infrastructure they used.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wish they were more detailed and had spent more time on the project. We underestimated the difficulty of the project, and we had to sacrifice some things.

Any advice for potential customers?

I think it depends on the scale of your project, but don’t underestimate the difficulty of IT infrastructure and DevOps tasks in general. It is quite difficult and doesn't happen very fast unless you invest a lot and have a big team working with you. Be patient and think in advance about the future of maintaining the system.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a co-founder and CEO of International Sourcing Agency, a software development company that connects suppliers with their clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SHALB?

We had a DevOps team that didn’t deliver on time or within scope. Therefore, we hired SHALB to provide DevOps services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SHALB provides us with DevOps services. They took over the project from the previous team. Currently, they work remotely and offer monthly maintenance services. 

What is the team composition?

My main contact person is the CEO. We generally work with at least 4–5 teammates from SHALB. 

How did you come to work with SHALB?

We found them through a recommendation by a friend.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent approximately $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around January 2022, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Specialists from the bank side of our business and my partners’ side have rated the quality of SHALB’s work as pretty high. Since we started working together, we’ve only had one issue. 

How did SHALB perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re always active and responsive and deliver everything on time. We use Jira for project management, and our communication is typically through Slack, Telegram, emails, phone calls, and many meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m impressed with SHALB’s professionalism and the high quality of their work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They need more senior people or to start education programs to help their newcomers grow faster. 

Any advice for potential customers?

If you’re looking for real professionals and are ready to pay for value, then SHALB is the right partner for you — they bring value.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder and CEO of a saas platform for creating online stores.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire SHALB?

We were engaged in the development of a box CMS (Content Managament System). The tasks we set for Shalb:

1. to build a server architecture to convert a box-based CMS into a SaaS platform.
2. maintain and develop this architecture

SOLUTION

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

The specialists of the Shalb company did not just fulfill our task. They studied our business and understood our needs better than we did. And they offered their proposal on how best to solve our problem.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Shalb built us a cluster of bare metal servers managed by Docker Swarm. They set up a system for releasing new versions of the platform and updating all client sites. They built analytics and monitoring of all server metrics and events generated by our platform using Grafana and Kibana. Shalb also provided operational support for all issues 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Over the course of 5 years, our server cluster has gone through 2 global architecture upgrades with no downtime of our platform.

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

We worked with one project manager, two devops and one sysops.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The solutions proposed by Shalb have proven their quality over time. The built cluster turned out to be easy and cheap to scale. Using it, we easily increased the number of clients we can serve at the same time by 10 times, without proportionally increasing the size of our team.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Cooperation was effective enough to quickly resolve operational issues. It is very close to cooperation in the middle of one team.

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

They are a stable team. We have been working with the same specialists for all 5 years, who already know our project very well.

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

More flexible terms of cooperation are possible. Haha) In fact, the terms were very flexible for us and took into account some of our working conditions. For example, limited but free support during the Russian Invasion.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO and founder of Corefy, a payment orchestration platform that allows merchants and payment providers to run their businesses on other platforms. We have around 200 clients, and we give them tools to manage their payment flow.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SHALB?

We needed to migrate our infrastructure to a new platform because the one we were using had many problems and was not scalable. Thus, we hired SHALB to take care of this project for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Before working with them, we had an inadequate infrastructure with low-cost coverage and abysmal documentation, but SHALB provided us with consulting on how to build our new infrastructure using new technologies to cover our needs. Initially, they took our vision and gave us excellent recommendations for databases, and we decided to go with Kubernetes.

What is the team composition?

We worked with five people from SHALB, including Rita (Business Development Manager), who was our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with SHALB?

We had worked with them around eight years ago, and we had a good working experience. When this project arose, we contacted them again, and they were glad to help us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent over $50,000.

What is the status of the engagement?

For this project, we began our partnership in January 2021, and we had to end our partnership in February 2022 due to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Currently, we’re implementing the new infrastructure using the intelligence and knowledge that SHALB provided us with. After their intervention, we’ve seen a decrease in bugs in our system.

How did SHALB perform from a project management standpoint?

SHALB’s services were offsite, and we worked on a sprint-planning basis with fixed timelines. Whenever we gave them additional work, we would have to cover the additional costs. As for communication, we mainly communicated via Zoom and Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

SHALB is an expert in building software architecture; they did an excellent job.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They need to work on their problem-solving skills.

Any advice for potential customers?

Communicate with their engineers so that you can understand what you are getting into. Additionally, if you want to succeed, you need a team leader to be actively involved in the process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of product engineering at Spryker Systems. We build commerce platforms for clients to purchase and use. I'm involved in product development, leading managers and the delivery efforts around parts of products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SHALB?

We were building a functionality that required some expertise, knowledge, and resources related to cloud engineering, especially around AWS. We lacked those resources internally, so we had to use external resources to help us implement the product and features.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SHALB built a newer part of our architecture for Spryker commerce. A part required some basic implementation of the complex part of the platform in AWS; they were involved in that process. Overall, the engagement was more augmenting our team. We worked together with SHALB to achieve the results we wanted. We shared our business and technical requirements, some of our guidelines, and our standards. We also had a design, but they reviewed it and challenged it. Basically, they helped us implement it and ensure it was of good quality.

What is the team composition?

We worked with about four people in total.

How did you come to work with SHALB?

I wasn’t involved in selecting the vendor, but it might have been an internal recommendation. We were looking for certified AWS experts, and they checked all the boxes.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership lasted for about two months, from March–May 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It was a complex project that required a lot of collaboration, but they did an excellent job and understood what we wanted to achieve. We need further development, but they reached the overall goal by mid-May.

How did SHALB perform from a project management standpoint?

They understood the timelines and worked towards them, delivering on time and within the budget. We collaborated daily and were in touch constantly to discuss the project’s goals. For project management, we used Jira to track tasks and progress and Confluence for documentation. We also used Slack for discussions and planning. For reporting, we had a shared spreadsheet to provide information on who locked what and how much time they spent.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We didn’t have to push them. SHALB understood the goal we wanted to achieve and worked towards it.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think some of them weren't super comfortable communicating in English, but it worked out well. Overall, they did a pretty good job.

Any advice for potential customers?

Explain your goals clearly; tell them what you want to achieve. List your business and technical goals. They’re highly capable of validating those goals or the path to achieve them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of Airbeem. We offer over-the-top (OTT) software as a service to people acquiring video distribution on websites, mobile applications, and set-top boxes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SHALB?

Our infrastructure is based entirely in the cloud on Amazon Web Services (AWS). We also use a variety of third-party services from online video platforms (OVPs) and content delivery systems. We reached out to SHALAB for application support and 24/7 operational support for our cloud-based systems.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built and continually manage half of our Terraform infrastructure as code (IaC). This technology works with our AWS intense continuance integration and facilitates a scalable business. They also manage half of our AWS systems that have been rolled out in the last year.

What is the team composition?

I work solely with Volodymyr (CTO & Co-founder, SHALB).

How did you come to work with SHALB?

I’m not sure. We were advertising in Kiev, which is where they’re located, and got connected somehow. We have a development resource in Kiev, so maybe that was it.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2016 and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’m very happy with SHALB’s services and the work they’ve done for us. They’re reliable and very responsive. Volodymyr is a talented guy and his team is reliable.

How did SHALB perform from a project management standpoint?

I’m not aware of how Volodymer manages his team. We communicate via email and Slack. Initially, we put our Jira systems together and that integration has been beneficial to our internal processes.

What did you find most impressive about them?

SHALB has specific expertise in the business of OVPs, AWS, and content delivery networks. I expect the relationship to prosper going forward.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a mobile and API services platform. We provide an online platform that enables software developers with server-side capabilities for mobile and web applications. Our tools allow developers to focus on UX and their client-side logic.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SHALB?

We needed someone to provide continuous monitoring and support for our infrastructure, both from a development perspective and for our production servers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

As a development organization, our product lifecycle goes from development to testing, staging, and eventually production. It is an iterative process that needs support from their system administration team. Because it’s a large system, our software is deployed for both development and production.

They oversee the system for updates and configuration changes. They also monitor installations and support us if the system goes down. We have developers in different time zones for continuous coverage.

What is the team composition?

We don’t have dedicated resources assigned as account managers. There is a team of about 10 people, with a few at the helm of the company. We mostly interact with a large team of engineers and system administrators who answer in rotation. We have 24-hour coverage.

How did you come to work with SHALB?

We posted vacancies on a few job search sites for a system administrator. They reached out to us and introduced us to their outsource model. They were very proactive and seemed very knowledgeable. They had experience with systems and architecture similar to ours and injected the whole process with a level of confidence.

How much have you invested with them?

We pay a monthly retainer. The arrangement is scalable, so the retainer can grow with the size of the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2015. They still provide support.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They are a very important part of our business as we grow. They serve an extremely important function and we wouldn’t be where we are without their partnership.

How did SHALB perform from a project management standpoint?

We don’t have a dedicated account manager, so we communicate with whoever happens to be on-call. They’re pretty involved in day-to-day tasks and are fairly disciplined. We communicate via chat or email with multiple people to resolve issues.

There is a tracking system in place, but it’s not the most effective. Sometimes, we submit requests that aren’t acknowledged very quickly. We aren’t always sure our issues are being addressed, which is something they could improve. They do listen to us, and I’m satisfied with them overall.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They offer a unique model for outsourced system administration and functionality. I don’t know of anyone in the field who does something similar, especially for SaaS companies. Coupled with their technical acumen, they provide powerful value.

Are there any areas they could improve

Switching to a better tracking system like Jira would be fantastic. The current system has poor visibility. We don’t get notifications that our requests have been received and are in queue. They could kind of improve communication and their management of customer expectations. Even just giving timing estimates would go a long way.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure there is a clear understanding of responsibilities on both sides. Establish policies in your agreement, including daily operations and strategies for those critical times when there are system issues. If you are looking for basic assistance in support and system administration, I would recommend them. We would not be where we are today without them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the editor-in-chief of Sasa Post, a journalism platform. We’re introducing opensource investigations, reports, and videos.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SHALB?

We needed help with managed IT services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SHALB provided off-site maintenance for the technical problems of our website.

What is the team composition?

I worked with two members of their team, including Oleksandr (CEO)

How did you come to work with SHALB?

Someone referred them to us, and we decided to work with them after several meetings.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $16,000–$17,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from July 2020–August 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were satisfied with their work, and there weren't any issues we faced that they couldn't solve.

How did SHALB perform from a project management standpoint?

They met deadlines and stayed within budget. Regarding tools and communication, we used Basecamp, phone calls, WhatsApp, Zoom, and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They replied and solved any problems immediately, which was outstanding.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I didn't think they could improve anything — I was happy with them, and they resolved all of my technical problems.