SmartApp

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Pavel Kharytonau IT Business Development Manager BelITSoft - Software Development & IT Consulting

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We applied the skills of a specialist and expert of SmartApp in our Project to ensure that the project gets delivered on time, within budget, and to the required quality.

SOLUTION

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

This vendor was recommended to us by our another software development company that we regularly cooperate with.

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

SmartApp supplied us with the skills of a qualified PHP(WordPress) Developer for a corporate website with a showcase, resellers, and general information about the company

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

On this specific project we had one PHP (WordPress) Developer who supplemented our own team of developers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The developer did a great job. Our client clearly had no issues with his work, and was quite happy with the developer's performance, productivity, and work ethics. In addition, it was very nice to deal with SmartApp company management.

They acted professionally, and were quite willing to help when their input was needed. The work of the developer, and of his management definitely met my expectations, and helped me to help my customer meet their deliverables.

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

We PMed the project on our side.

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

Highly professional approach, work ethics, efficiency in dealing with requests, flexibility in resolving any potential issues before they appear.

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

Have not identified any yet

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the marketing manager at Rampiq agency. We've decided to develop a new website to present our services. Our main services are Digital Marketing: SEO, Web Analytics, PPC & Content marketing

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire SmartApp?

New website design

SOLUTION

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

Quality & ability to meet deadlines were the major factors. SmartApp grasped our requirements & wishes for the job rather precisely - so after the first call we already understood that SmartApp can “pull off” our project in the way we need it.

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

The main goal of the project was to create a design that positions our marketing agency on the U.S. market. The design project included key pages (such as Home, About, etc.) as well as pages for every specific niche our agency focuses on. First we received overall concepts to choose from, and, after approval of one of those, the team proceeded with the design for the rest of the pages. We would like to mention the graphics & attention to detail the SmartApp team demonstrated. Every image and element was customly made/adjusted to our website’s style, so everything looks organic and smooth. Also SmartApp helped us to create our brands’ UI/UX kit (fonts, colors, styles,etc.) that we will definitely use in our marketing materials.

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

We worked with a client’s manager, project manager & 2 design specialists. They were easy to access, we could organize a call in 15 minutes - it was absolutely no problem for them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Absolutely - you can visit our website rampiq.agency to see the final result.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

As mentioned above - the team’s availability satisfied us to the full extent. We were glad that SmartApp team was available on every step of the project. If we had commentary/feedback/adjustments/questions the team assisted us promptly.

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

As a client we felt that SmartApp’s processes are set up & adjusted perfectly to meet the client’s goal in the designated deadlines.

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

No, everything was perfect. Thanks again!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm CEO of a logistics company. We work enterprise-level clients in the logistics and food space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

SmartApp was hired to help develop and design our company website from scratch.

SOLUTION

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

SmartApp team was recommended to me. In addition, they have invested many hours in designing and discussing details even before signing the contract. They are amazing.

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

We had several meetings where we discussed the details of the project, outlined the stages and the process of work. From there, the team delivered mock-ups and wireframes for our site. After team designed and developed an informational WordPress site. They updated the content to reflect our company's services and created a landing page with a contact form.

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

The team we work with is varied in size depending on the stage of the project. Initially, there were seven people we worked with, including a project manager, marketing specialist, designer, three developers and QA. Periodically the upper administration of SmartApp might sit in on a stand-up or reach out to me directly to see how things were going. Within the last six or seven months, we scaled down to four members of the team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

All deliverables were completed on time and to spec. I would say that even more has been done. SmartApp dived deeply into the details of the business and added several new and good ideas. I am very pleased with the work of the team.

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

We had two-week sprints and we did all the work in Jira. Slack and Zoom were used for communications. This is why I love them. Most importantly, they are always in touch and always have a focus. I was pleasantly surprised.

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

From early on, they bought into the concept of what we were trying to do and wanted us to be successful. It feels like every person on their team is invested in us. To see the knowledge they’ve gained about our specific niche business has been really assuring. It’s not just another project for them.

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

Not that I can think of. It’s been a great relationship.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

An information portal that announces events will allow you to register for them and buy tickets. I am Founder and CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

SmartApp did all the work: business analysis, requirements development, design, development, testing and delivery. I have not encountered anything like this before, so SmartApp helped me a lot with this. I was just minding my own business and they were theirs. I don't have a headache from unnecessary questions, they quickly realized what I needed.

SOLUTION

How did you select SmartApp and what were the deciding factors?

They were recommended to me by colleges who have already worked with them and I don't regret it. I always try to follow the recommendations if I'm not very well versed in the field. So we had an excellent collaboration.

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

All the work took about six months. To be honest, the guys did everything themselves, I don't even know how the work was organized inside. Every week we had a meeting where they showed what they had done and asked me questions, it was comfortable for me. I really wanted the project to be flexible and scalable, and they suggested using Drupal. The project was launched 3 years ago and I think that we are not mistaken with that. It is developing beautifully now and there are no problems adding new features.

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

At first, a business analyst and a designer worked with me, then only a project manager. Sometimes CTO was connected to explain any features in the development. The communication was good.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We quickly launched the project and I started getting registrations and payments. SmartApp helped me with the SEO and in the third month I started getting clients, it was incredible.

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

Basically, I only talked with the project manager. We are in the same city and I preferred to meet once a week. Each meeting they provided a demo and asked questions. For a quick question within a week, we use phone or skype. I received all project statuses by email.

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

The fact that SmartApp spoke the same language to me. They weren't as complex as other IT companies. It was pleasant and easy to work with them. They quickly understood our business and provided a lot of helpful advice.

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

I see them growing rapidly, and I want to wish them to keep the great service that they have.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Located in Minsk, the Zerkalo mall is an enormous three-story complex that offers department stores, smaller shops, and a food court.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire SmartApp?

Together with SmartApp, we developed a website for our shopping center.

What were your goals for this project?

The main goal of the project was to show all the shops that are in our center and provide navigation on them. It was also important to show the services that the shopping center provides and provide information about the free space for tenants.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We were advised to turn to them as a reliable contractor who can handle all aspects of launching a site, from developing business requirements and design to developing and marketing.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

In fact, SmartApp did it all by themselves. They relieved us of a headache and talked to us in an understandable language since we are not very versed in development. They developed requirements, prototypes, design, development, testing, delivery and maintenance. They even helped us with marketing. They are incredible.

What was the team composition?

Honestly, I do not fully know. I talked with CTO and PM mainly. I didn't delve deeply into how they do this, because I completely trusted them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to increase the attendance of the shopping center due to the fact that we were able to provide our customers with all the information about shops and services. We were also able to start launching advertisements and it became easier to look for tenants.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We used Jira, as well as Confluence to coordinate project management tasks. Until this point, our team had no experience with either of these tools, and SmartApp has been wonderful at helping us to understand and maximize our use of these tools.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their professionalism blew us away. SmartApp has been unbelievable to work with. They have really impressed us with their excellent communication, organizational skills, technical knowledge, and willingness to work long hours when needed. They plunged into our business very deeply and we learned a lot ourselves.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I dont know. We were very pleased and we are very grateful to them. Their team is always quick to contact with us if we have questions, and they have really been helpful as they explain situations where we may struggle to grasp some of the more technical concepts of these website projects.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

My name is Tatyana Dragunova. I am a founder and CEO of the OasisStyle store. We are a reseller of women’s clothes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire SmartApp?

We have been working offline for quite a long time. One day we decided that it is the right moment to go online.

What were your goals for this project?

Being on the same page with your clients is extremely important. As our target audience is online, we should have been there as well. Of course, we could create just social network accounts and content ourselves with that but we decided to go beyond and turn to the idea of website development. Our main goal was to create a website for new clothes collection presentations as we renew them every season.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We are a Minsk-based store and work for the local market only. We were looking for a development company with a strong knowledge of the local market nature. An opportunity to discuss all issues face-to-face was also very important for us that’s why office location was one of the criteria. SmartApp meets all our requirements. Besides, they have great recommendations.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The company developed a Drupal-based website for us. They did everything: from web design and prototyping to web development from scratch and its SEO-optimization. They took all our wishes, helped us transform them into technical requirements and then just did their best to fulfill them and deliver a website we like. Now they manage website support and online-promotion for us.

What was the team composition?

It was a team of 5 experts: project manager, web designer, 2 developers and SEO-manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

SmartApp helped us achieve our goal: move online and get more customers. The amount of our online clients is growing weekly and we are very happy about this fact.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project manager responsible for our project was always online and keep us informed of every step of the design and development process. They negotiated every detail. It helped achieve the brilliant result we are fully satisfied with.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

For sure, it is their responsibility and readiness to help and explain everything. They managed the project with respect to our budget and deadlines. We are impressed by the work they’ve done and the level of services they’ve provided.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Our collaboration grows into a long-lasting partnership. We are happy to work together and see SmartApp growing and extending its services. The only thing that we could say is that they are a great vendor to work with and you will be more than lucky to have them for your project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a founder and director of the CertificateService company. We provide businesses with a wide range of services in the area of certification and declaration of products and also confirm their compliance with national standards and legislations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire SmartApp?

We were looking for a reliable technical partner to update a website and turn our idea about automation of certification workflow into reality. We would like to speed up the certification process and make it more clear and transparent for clients.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to keep clients aware of every step and provide them with real-time information on certificate status. We wanted to make all processes from application via contact form to the certification delivery simple.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

As we are based in Minsk, we were searching for a development company nearby. SmartApp has great referral recommendations and the reputation of a reliable development company we could trust. Besides, we were impressed by the time estimation of our project.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

SmartApp helped us a lot with our Drupal website, they did extensive work. Besides virtual hosting migration, website update to the Drupal 7 version and Bitrix24 integration, they created a custom complex system for us. It was created from scratch. The SmartApp team helped us transform our wishes into technical requirements and then they managed prototyping, design, development and testing of the system.

They delivered an automation system where employees could work with the online applications and track their activity on a certain document. Clients, in turn, get an opportunity to login to their account to check the document flow and make payments.

What was the team composition?

The team consisted of 6 people. The project owner was one of our employees. Project manager, business analysis, back end developer, front end developer and QA engineer worked on the SmartApp side.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

SmartApp team helped us streamline and speed up our work. It was important for us to make such a complicated process as certification easy to understand for our customers. What is more, now it is easier for new employees to dive into processes.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

SmartApp was following Scrum methodology. They divided the development process into two-weeks sprints. We used Trello to monitor the progress. The team was always online so we got answers to all questions we had very fast.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

It is our pleasure to work with SmartApp. They are intelligent, experienced, professional developers. We are working together since 2016 and we are still satisfied with this partnership. They always meet our requirements and respect the deadlines.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We are fully satisfied with our experience with the SmartApp team. So we wish them good luck and we hope they will always have resources to work on our project even when they grow into an international corporation.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a freelancer that’s associated with several companies. I have business in digital signal processing and cryptocurrency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SmartApp?

SmartApp developed an advanced web portal.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I had a cryptocurrency project that was an online pooling solution for collecting and managing funds from several sources. SmartApp started from scratch. We sent over what needed to be done, and then their team created a few wireframes for implementation. They initially used PHP, but at our request, the platform was later redone in Vue.js.

Our intended users for the platform were individual traders that wanted to participate in the acquisition of ICO crypto tokens from different startups. It was targeted at a final user with a customer system for tracking and registration, along with the transaction handling portion.

What is the team composition?

While I communicated with three people initially, there were more involved. I was in touch with Sergei (Co-Founder & CTO), one of the programmers, and a designer. Sergei made sure everything was correct, and the programmer answered all of my technical questions.

How did you come to work with SmartApp?

They were recommended to me through several sources. I knew them from some time ago, but I thought that they didn’t specialize in this field. I asked a few other companies for their quotes and what the conditions would be. Ultimately, SmartApp was chosen.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost of the project was $25,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with SmartApp in February or March 2018, and we finished up in August or September of that year. There was some maintenance work after that.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I was very happy that the team could work without my direct involvement. After I specified a few ideas, they worked on those, and then came back to me to ask more questions. They made decisions on UI elements and filled in the blanks when needed, and the end result was excellent.

How did SmartApp perform from a project management standpoint?

We’d normally have Telegram or Skype communication. I’d throw some ideas to Sergei, and he’d make some sketches and come back to me in a few days. I’d discuss things further with him, and when the actual implementation of the details started, I’d receive messages from their programmer directly.

The entire process was comfortable for me. I only interacted with a few people, and always had continuity. They asked relevant questions that made things move forward pretty fast.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve worked with many outsourcing companies where our situations operated similarly. There would just be a few aspects done wrong between the lines. What I really like is the amount of responsibility and ownership on SmartApp’s side.

They have a big picture understanding of what it should look like, and they really owned the process. I didn’t have to correct and pinpoint them to functionality issues. That’s the most precious quality of this collaboration.

Are there any areas they could improve?

As far as my side goes, it went without glitches. The communication was very clear. When something was at the edge of not happening, they’d catch it beforehand and ask questions that notified us of any problems. We paid them a decent amount, but I’d work with them again.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

First of all, I’d say that it’s best to have a set form of communication and tell things as they are. The first thing in working with SmartApp is to have them sign some form of NDA to disclose all of the pieces. We did it this way.

Since they were looking at the bigger picture, they helped us with some things we didn’t ask for and found problems within the system. The important thing is clarity of communication. Whoever hires SmartApp should give all of their trust to the company. If they have an overview of what needs to be done, there’ll be no problems whatsoever.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

My name is Aliaksandr Kot. I am a lead software engineer in IT company providing Web, Mobile and Enterprise software development services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire SmartApp?

We were working on the Drupal 7 website for one of the largest American organic food suppliers, along with our in-house development team. But at a certain point, it became clear that the number of tasks was growing and we needed more resources. Recruiting new developers is never an easy process and it is very time-consuming. That’s why we decided to find a development partner to help us with the project. We reached out to the SmartApp team as we could vouch for their competence

What were your goals for this project?

We were working with one of the largest organic food suppliers from the USA. The company owns a Drupal-based website. We were involved in web and e-commerce development for them. the largest organic food supplier from the USA. The team was involved in e-commerce development based on the Drupal 7 CMS platform.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

SmartApp team are Drupal experts. They helped us mostly with backend and server configuration. The company was involved in e-commerce development for the client. They assisted in new features development and adding. For instance, they enriched the online store with an opportunity to modify the order. They also helped us with landing page development and constant on-call website monitoring.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

SmartApp provided backend development services for the largest organic food supplier from the USA. The team was involved in e-commerce development based on the Drupal 7 CMS platform.

What was the team composition?

We were working with Eugene, a full-stack developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

SmartApp showed itself as a reliable and experienced partner. Their excellent development and communication skills were impressive. They are result-focused and skilful. All the assigned issues were solved just in time. The partner is fully satisfied with the collaboration.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Brilliant, and I am not joking. They were online no matter what and kept us informed on every development stage. We communicate via email, skype, zoom and chime. When working together we did several types of calls: daily status calls for 15 minutes, 1 hour calls for backlog grooming 1 time per week and also sprint planning calls every two weeks. Task management was run in Jira and Mindtree.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

SmartApp team is Drupal know-it-alls. They are experienced, talented and curious. They keep all the latest technologies under the radar and implement them when working on the project. They were always available ready to fix problems, add new features, mentor our developers and share their experience. We were very impressed with the quality and speed of their work.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There is always room for improvement. So we wish SmartApp move forward, grow and extend their experience.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of Alconost, we’re a translation and localization company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SmartApp?

We had a major client that we’d been building a continuous localization process for. However, we needed someone to help us with the infrastructure and full-model development because our team didn’t have any experience with that.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SmartApp deployed and supported the solution’s infrastructure model. They handled the custom development of an API for a Moodle platform that was vital to building the continuous localization process. Their team also built a custom plug-in for Moodle, and we’re planning to opensource it. 

What is the team composition?

There were about five people, including a project manager. We usually collaborated directly with the developers.

How did you come to work with SmartApp?

They're local to our company because they’re located in Minsk as well. I heard of them through word-of-mouth. They fit the project very well, and we had no doubt about their abilities to complete it.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested between $25,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from May 2019–March 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project was successful, and they completed everything our client needed. I give them five out of five stars.

How did SmartApp perform from a project management standpoint?

There were no issues with project management and if there were, they were fixed quickly. We communicated through Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Communication was easy.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, everything was okay.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re a good partner for backend development. I highly recommend using them.