Sidnet

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a marketing agency. We have been testing, creating and monetising digital products and services since 2008. We work with corporations looking for new sources of income as well as Venture Capital and Private Equity funds. The list of our clients includes Kruszwica (a Bunge company), Bonduelle, Business Insider, CNBC and Kolbe Corp among others. At Iconaris, I hold the position of Product Owner. I am responsible for product development and ensuring effective project implementation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sidnet?

In 2008, the Iconaris team (at that time still under a different name and without my presence) began working on a culinary blog aggregator for ZT Kruszwica. The client wanted our agency to handle the entire project, even though our team lacked the programming expertise required. We thus needed a subcontractor to take over the part of the project related to programming the web application.

What were your goals for this project?

ZT Kruszwica (part of the Bunge group) is our long-time client and is the largest oilseed processor in Poland. The company owns many well-known consumer brands, such as Kujawski, Oliwier, Masmix, Smakowita and others.

Working with Sidnet, we support the online presence of our client’s brands and we have created a number of websites and applications with their assistance, the goal of which is to strengthen brand recognition and consumer involvement.

Examples:

• Blogi z pierwszego tłoczenia (‘First-pressed blogs’)
• a culinary blog aggregator used to promote the client’s brands (Kujawski, Palma), as well as partner brands (e.g. Bonduelle).
• Fooder - a website and a mobile applications for Android and iOS users. It is a platform for saving internet recipes which is used to promote the client’s brands (Kujawski, Oliwier) and partner brands (e.g. Bonduelle). - Smakowity Chleb (‘Delicious bread’) - a website dedicated to baking homemade bread, used to promote the Smakowita brand.
• Pomagamy pszczołom (‘We help the bees’)
• a website for a social educational initiative that strengthens Kujawski's image as an environmentally-responsible brand. These individual projects required the implementation of specific functions, such as external website content processing, search engines, mass newsletter sending, as well as integration with social media services and Google Analytics. In addition, the Fooder application was supposed to make A/B tests possible.

Such tests involve several versions of application builds with different functionalities, which are then tested to find which version is better suited to the client’s needs.

Over the years, Sidnet developers have consistently indicated the most appropriate technologies (e.g. Perl language for the web scraping functionality in ‘Blogi z pierwszego tłoczenia’) and have adapted flawlessly both to the solutions already in place (e.g. PHP and Laravel in Fooder) and to client’s new requirements (e.g. WordPress as the engine for the ‘Smakowity Chleb’ website).

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Over 10 years ago, our technological partner at the time invited Sidnet to collaborate on an online content aggregator - ‘Blogi z pierwszego tłoczenia’. That partner had already worked with them on implementing several smaller projects and was pleased with the results.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We work with Sidnet based on the Time & Material model. The developers rely on the specification, graphic design and mock-ups that they receive. Apart from the solution itself, they also provide an accurate description of how it works and how it is made. We have tested various work methodologies during our longstanding business relationship. We can thus confirm that Sidnet developers perfectly understand Agile methods and effective remote work principles. Whenever we needed on-site support, they would come to our office to work from there. Not only do they create software for us, but they also play the role of technological advisors.

The Sidnet team has proven many times that they are perfectly familiar with content aggregation and web scraping technologies. For our client, they built dedicated mechanisms for automatic downloading and processing Internet content. Fooder and ‘Blogi z pierwszego tłoczenia’ allow users to save recipes from external websites on their accounts in a unified, standardised form. The developers always respond to the current needs of our client. 

They added search and newsletter functions to the clients’ websites and applications and made conducting A/B tests possible as well. We worked with Sidnet both on websites built from scratch and projects taken over from other development teams. Such an example of a successful takeover of an existing project is Fooder.

Sidnet specialists updated the website and replaced two native mobile applications with a single one, written in React Native. A majority of the joint projects for ZT Kruszwica are still being maintained and developed by Sidnet programmers.

What was the team composition?

We typically employ the support of 3-5 Sidnet developers at a time, including a dedicated contact person. The team’s size and composition is flexible, and changes based on the current needs of our clients.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Sidnet developers released several updates for the Fooder mobile app, making it work faster and optimising the database query performance as well as caching mechanisms. Fooder rignt now has well over 500,000 registered users.

Reliability and speed of both the web app and mobile apps are crucial for our business metrics. Sidnet makes it possible for our clients to get exactly what they expect - solutions ready for A/B testing, custom mechanisms facilitating analytics and notifications about user activity (or inactivity). The developers also assist us in responding to the needs of end-users, for example by introducing a search engine.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The Sidnet team are true professionals. They remain in constant contact with us and do all they can to meet the deadlines. There is no need to convince them to report on their own work. This transparent process reassures us that individual tasks last exactly as long as they should.

The Sidnet team handles pricing for programming works as well as planning programming-related tasks and allocate the resources needed to perform them. Other organizational matters as well as communicating with the client is the responsibility of our agency. Although we occasionally meet with the Sidnet team in person, we primarily work on our joint projects using remote tools like Asana, Slack and Skype.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The guys at Sidnet understand the needs of a marketing agency very well. They are great at remote collaboration on projects. We have always valued Sidnet for a professional and responsible approach to their work as well as transparency in our collaboration, effective communication and attention to detail. The mere length of our business relationship may well serve as the best recommendation to choose them.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We have never had any reservations as to the functionality of the product. Nonetheless, in some instances, there were slight discrepancies between the approved design and the final appearance of the website itself. Resolving this problem was as simple as pointing this fact out and they have been putting a stronger emphasis on visual coherence ever since.

And although the implementation deadline may occasionally shift, it never exceeds the acceptable project standards. The latter is, of course, due to many factors, which are not necessarily Sidnet’s fault. Whenever any improvements can be made (e.g. better feedback collection or planning), the Sidnet specialists always propose an implementation plan out of their own accord. We always receive information on the causes behind any delays as well.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I represent the ‘Sarcoma’ Association - a non-profit organisation established in 2007. Our primary goals are supporting cancer treatment and promoting prevention and good health practices.

As a member of the board of the association, I handle the building of relationships with partners and creating fundraising channels.

In addition, in September of each year we organise a charity run in Warsaw called the ‘Oncorun - together for health!’. It is the oldest oncology themed charity running event in Poland. The last event saw us collect a total of PLN 118,000. These funds will certainly prove useful in supporting cancer patients and promoting a healthy lifestyle.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sidnet?

As a non-profit organisation, we strive to keep all of our activities transparent and spend any acquired funds as efficiently as possible. We manage numerous areas of our operations on our own, which allows us to reduce expenses to a necessary minimum.

However, when considering any sort of successful future operation in today’s digital world, it is clear that at some point it is simply impossible to go any further without having a proven technology partner. It is preferable to have a partner who will ensure the most efficient use of all available resources.

Therefore, we have commissioned Sidnet web developers to create an event registration website.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed to streamline and simplify the participant registration process. Since there are approximately 2000 people who participate in our event every year, we understand that a responsive website would greatly benefit the entire procedure for the runners themselves.

With such a system in place, the participants would be able to register online anywhere, anytime, and using any appropriate device. We had no specific technical requirements. We entrusted the Sidnet specialists with the task of choosing the appropriate solutions.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We had worked with Sidnet before, as their team was responsible for creating the ‘Sarcoma’ Association website. As a result, we had seen first-hand that Sidnet was reliable and trustworthy.

Yet, our final choice was primarily determined by the strong commitment of Sidnet to supporting charity. Each month, they provide financial support to people in need as part of the #SidnetDonations action.

The further development of our association and the activities we conduct would not be possible without the involvement and expertise of Sidnet specialists. These include all of our activities dedicated to supporting patients and the promotion of preventive healthcare practices.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

It took Sidnet just 16 weeks to build the backend and frontend of a responsive PHP-based website. They adapted the CRM and CMS to the specific needs of a charity run registration platform.

The website itself is so convenient to use that we already update the content and photos available there largely on our own. It allows us to organise the next editions of the event and manage participant data without the help of the programmers.

The Sidnet team implemented all of the technological solutions that we expected. This included an integrated PayU payment system and an automatic generation of the starting cards containing participants' data.

In addition to this, they also introduced basic accessibility improvements for participants with disabilities, such as a special version of the website with a contrasting colour scheme.

But Sidnet specialises in much more than just technical solutions. This year, their marketing department helped us determine the strengths of the Oncorun event and designed some of the website's content.

In addition to this, they improved User Experience (UX) of the registration process.The project is ongoing and the Sidnet developers still maintain our website.

Since 2017, they have helped us update the website’s technical solutions and implement further improvements before each edition of the event. We usually work remotely, but the guidelines regarding these changes are established during meetings held at their office in Warsaw.

What was the team composition?

Up to five people from Sidnet are involved in the project at all times. These include the lead developer, programmers, graphic designers and quality assurance personnel. The composition of this team changes based on our needs at the time.We communicate with the team via the lead developer, a person who always has extensive communication competencies and who is aware of our relatively basic IT knowledge.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Despite our limited budget, the Sidnet team performed very well in their task. The registration website was created within the agreed deadline. It was something that we really needed.

During the previous editions of the Oncorun, only 50% of runners would sign up online. Other participants had to sign up with the help of volunteers just before the event.

Conducting the registration online turned out to be so much of an improvement, that in 2019 100% of the entries were registered through our website.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Sidnet is excellent at project management. They help us understand many complex processes and provide advice concerning our current activities. They suggested conducting project communication in Redmine and allowed us to access their system.

A friendly team of experts who always quickly and professionally respond to any of our queries. They do not use IT jargon, but rather explain technological solutions in a succinct manner. Thanks to this, we save a lot of time and can focus on our true mission.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I truly admire Sidnet’s proactive attitude, social responsibility and the solutions they create. The Sidnet team always remains vigilant, and as a result, can assist both with conceptual work and advanced processes. They suggest possible changes, updates and further improvements.

They are great at communicating with clients like us - people with very basic knowledge of technology. They explain the way individual solutions work in detail and they describe all arguments for and against choosing a particular option.

Time and time again they have proven to be a reliable and committed partner. Quite frankly, the best proof of this is the fact that they regularly participate in our charity run. The presence of the Sidnet team at the start and the finish line of Oncorun is the best symbol of our cooperation.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We are very satisfied with our work with Sidnet.