Snotor

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO&Head of Sales of Imago

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Producer and supplier of paper products in Ukraine

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Development of the ERP-system for the warehouse, payment, and customer management. We had a need to create a platform where customers could independently create their orders

SOLUTION

How did you find Snotor?

Referral

Why did you select Snotor over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Snotor were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

• data synchronization between our software solution and the client's needs 
• an automatic division of applications to available sales managers, or based on the customer level and its geographic, and financial features 
• fixation on the time and scope of completed applications, tracking the managers' efficiency 
• Order management with synchronization of commodities by warehouses in different cities, countries 
• The ability to manage priorities for the implementation of commodities, manage the priority of orders (if the commodity is not enough for all orders, then to be able to adjust who exactly will receive this commodity) 
• The hierarchy of the sales department: Sales manager, Head of the sales department, Head of the region, Sales director
• Setting targets (including individual goals) for the sales office, regional department, the entire sales department 
• Pre-orders generation for a group of commodities and its management in different cities, regions 
• Internal credit score management system (debts). Their settings for individual regions, and customers. 
• Promotions & Sales for different regions, customers 
• track the status, adjust, manage, and have specific conditions of cooperation. 
• Synchronized the system with other providers the client worked with (delivery, notifications, payments, etc). 
• Connected the existing client's system with the new one in online mode, so the client had no need to disrupt its company's processes.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• ERP system is needed for automation of the warehouse, payment, and customer management, and it should be aligned with our business processes. The implementation of the system will reduce our logistic and operational costs by 15-17% for the first year, and will increase the number of processed transactions by nearly 28-30% in 2023. This will significantly raise our income and profit already in the first quarter after the introduction

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

They are very transparent, proactive and always have a few proposals for every issue or block of work. The team has given day-to-day updates, made sum-up letters after meetings. We had very productive meetings and brainstormings. There was an ability to see our progress via an online graphic in the online Gantt system. Everything was delivered on time, despiting the fact, that we have one delay on the first milestone

What was your primary form of communication with Snotor?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting

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

Their approach is very comprehensive. They’re not only a tech team, but also they provide great recommendations for the system from the business point of view. Every member of the team is involved in the process and tried to do the extra mile for the end result. And as wee see, it gives a results

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

They could improve their estimation procces, but it's hard to say that there is something that needs to be upgrated a lot. In general, we are satisfied with the process and the result.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We have created a company that provides an app (iOs & Android) that brings together mini gym studio privatizable for personal trainers and solo athletes. The latter can also book a personal trainer. I am the co-founder and Chief Product Officer

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We don't have an internal technical team, so we hired Snotor for all our technical part (App and backoffice) We wanted to be able to test our market, our product and our target in a fast and flexible way

SOLUTION

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

They were very professional, they knew their part perfectly, were very responsive and flexible.

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

We asked them to design the app, develop it in reactnative on Android and iOs and integrate a Laravel backoffice.

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

We have in contact a project manager and two people from the "technical/product" part, they were all very reactive

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

For the moment we are still in the testing phase, we have asked them for a V2. We are very satisfied with V1 because it allowed us to have 300 personal trainers on the app

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

Very easy, fast, transparent and they adapt to what the customer wants. If you want Slack, they're ok, if you want Trello, they're ok, if you want through Whatsapp, they're ok too! And if they think of more efficient ways, they take the time to propose and explain

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

I appreciated the ease of working with them and the speed and quality of their work. Thanks to them I almost don't want to have an in-house technical team anymore!

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

No, please don't change anything

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director at Diospatial, a company that provides infrastructure inspection surveys and digital modeling.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Snotor?

We needed a software solution for our company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We devised a conceptional solution of what we wanted our software application to look like. We briefed Snotor on what our objectives for the application were and its minimum requirements. After that, they developed a software specification and put together a brief on what they could make.

They did everything, including UI/UX design, developing the specifications, briefing us, and executing the front- and backend of an AWS web-based application.

The project is complete, but we still engage with them for customer support.

What is the team composition?

We have one main point of contact, but 7–8 other people are working on the project.

How did you come to work with Snotor?

We found them through a project brief we put on Upwork.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent $40,000 AUD (approximately $28,000 USD) with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The work has been well received, and the application exceeds our expectations — it functions great. They've also been very responsive about any bugs we identified; users are reporting high satisfaction levels in using the application.

The product has also streamlined the process of delivering and reviewing the data. Our clients can utilize the data that we capture much more effectively, and through that, it improves the safety and reliability of the rail operation.

How did Snotor perform from a project management standpoint?

They've delivered everything on time and within budget. Regarding tools, we communicate with the entire team through Slack and Jira.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They can interpret our objectives and needs and convert that into an actionable plan and specification that encompasses all aspects of the application development from UI/UX, frontend development, and backend development.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't think there's anything they can improve on — we're very satisfied with the process. The only challenge we faced during the process was a very low level of maturity and understanding of software development. We had trouble understanding how the project should run, but Snotor was the perfect partner because they made the process so easy.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Define and figure out what you need from your project and provide that information to Snotor as clearly as possible. They will find a way to execute whatever you ask of them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Dance Planet, a dance apparel store.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MassMedia Group?

I needed to expand our target audience, so I hired MassMedia to help me with my e-commerce platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

MassMedia first provided consultancy services, advising me on the best solutions for my e-commerce business. They then did custom web design and development using PHP and MySQL. They oversaw the layout and content, dividing the website into directories and pages to make it easier for clients to search and purchase my products. A signup and registration feature was integrated as well.

The team also helped me with the UI/UX, creating a bucket of goods that could get our customers more involved in our special offers. They designed my website in such a way that users could see all of the information about an item — like sizes and colors available — by simply hovering their mouse over the product.

The website was ready in four months, but the team continued to make improvements and include new features. We’re now making a new version that will be ready in July.

What is the team composition?

There are three backend coders, two frontend developers, a UI/UX designer, and a tester.

How did you come to work with MassMedia Group?

MassMedia was recommended by friends of mine who had worked with them. I was told that they do a great job. I checked out their website, liked what I saw, and decided to work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2019 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

MassMedia has made it easier for my clients to navigate through pages and make purchases by ensuring that our site works well, loads at a good speed, and has zero bugs. I have more clients now as a result. There’s been a 10–15% increase in my sales last autumn due to children going back to school, and we’ve experienced no less than 5% growth per month through our website. 

How did MassMedia Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re really organized. We have brainstorm meetings when discussing how to increase our results. We use email, Skype, and Telegram.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The MassMedia team has a great attitude. When you work with them, you feel you’re the center of their attention. They really go the extra mile to overcome your expectations. Their code work is great.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t say anything bad about them. They’ve shown that they care about my store and have really helped my business.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you want to work with someone who cares about your product and your profits, MassMedia is the team for you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Talent-Tier. We are a marketplace and platform where individuals can register and get an opportunity to work for large enterprises.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MassMedia Group?

We were unhappy working with a previous developer. Therefore, we hired MassMedia to redevelop our platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

MassMedia provides front- and backend, as well as UI/UX development. We did the rebranding ourselves, but they had a hand in its implementation and making suggestions in terms of how things should operate.

The features of the platform are used for different types of user roles — one for the company, one for a job seeker, and one for a contractor. There’s also this one feature called “The Bench”, where technology or consulting companies upload their unutilized resources into our platform for short-term contracts. This is so clients don’t have to pay their salary when they’re not being utilized to avoid making a loss.

In terms of each individual profile, the company can hire within the organization by uploading their internal resources. They can also hire from our database, as well as from the 4000 specialist recruiters that we have in specific geographic locations and niches.

Additionally, they can also find people on the platform itself through that bench for certain projects. The jobseeker’s profile has features like working rights, working history, experience, expertise, testimonials, delivered projects, availability, rates, two-minute snapshot videos of themselves, and what they do outside of work. These are visible for contractors, job seekers, and recruiters.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Alex (Salesperson), Ihor (Business Analyst), Lana (Project Manager), Angelina (Executing Board), and Alexander (Marketing Manager).

How did you come to work with MassMedia Group?

They reached out to us via LinkedIn at the time when we were searching for a partner to help us — the timing could not have been more perfect. We had a chat and I was impressed with what they proposed.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The ongoing partnership started in August 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The partnership has been successful overall. They’re very expensive, but the quality is very good in comparison to our previous vendor. I’m very impressed with the quality that comes through.

The majority of ideas, operations, and how everything should work into the process come from the partnership. We're really impressed with some of their ideas.

How did MassMedia Group perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication tools that we use are email and Slack. The project management tool we use is more like an Excel format. Hence the reason why I suggested we start using something like Trello or Monday to manage the projects a bit better for the future.

We have this thing called the annexes. During the development phase, they finished the project, but they didn’t put in the deadline as discussed. Initially, they said that the project would finish in December, so it would take them a couple of months to develop the whole system.

We developed it, deployed it, and then all of a sudden the project manager called and said the deadline is now in February–March. This was unacceptable and it resulted in us losing a couple of projects. We were expecting it to be finished in December or early January, but we negotiated that it had to be done in early February.

That was a bit of an annoyance, but I understand that in IT, anything can happen. However, we had to put our foot forward and said that if they finish it in March, they might as well forget about us as a client. It doesn’t work and it has already cost our business a lot of money.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s really impressive how they get back to you in a timely manner. The quality of their deliverables is also remarkable. I’m particularly impressed with Ihor, the business analyst, and Alex. She goes out of her sales roles to help the customer.

Are there any areas they could improve?

From a project management standpoint, they shouldn’t think that the customer has an endless pocket. They need to look at their price. 

Although there have been improvements in their approach with the management of the project, they still made some mistakes and they’re not accepting the costs from their end. We’re looking to renegotiate everything, including how the project should be managed for a company like us — we need a proper structure.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

When they tell you something on the phone, don’t take their word for it. Always make sure to get it in writing.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Myscore AS, is a newly established company in Norway. That will work out to business Norway with relevant data for all players in all industries. I have been active in the development process and am the chairman of the board of the company Myscore AS.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire MassMedia Group?

Myscore has used MassMedia Group to plan everything from A-Z in connection with the start-up of an entirely new company with website development and product development. Here they have assisted with design and many good suggestions along the way. We at Myscore look forward to a long and good collaboration with the MassMedia Group.

What were your goals for this project?

Create relevant information in a new design, making it easy and clear for all types of people towards B2B and B2C.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Our business associates and some of our partners have used them in their second project and recommended us to apply and use MassMedia Group.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The project has been to look at all the data we have available and create a template for how we can use it towards our customers. We have collected all relevant data from closed and open records and pass on credit information to our customers for both national and international conditions in business

What was the team composition?

Mass Media Group, is a fantastic company that spent a lot of time planning and launching projects with us. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

All the people we have been in contact with have performed to the best of their ability and have provided good input and alternatives in difficult situations. They're service-minded people who spend time understanding the customer and the product.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Our project was divided into 3 parts:

1. discussing alternatives
2. website design and development
3. product design and product development
4. permanent contacts with each area of responsibility.

This type of collaboration has made it easy to carry out a fairly heavy project in general

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We have made many changes along the way and the team has met our expectations without any sort of hassle. Very understanding who really looks for and tries and understand the value of customer's products and piety.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I personally would not say that there are any areas for improvement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Defero, a website that provides individuals with their private credit reports. Based on that data, we give users tailored offers on financial services that will save them money.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MassMedia Group?

We hired Snotor (formerly MassMedia Group) to develop our website from scratch.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

MassMedia Group was responsible for our Laravel website from start to finish. They’re a full-service provider with developing, maintaining, and servicing our website. We discussed ideas, functionalities, user interface, and design with them.

We collect the data from Experian via their API. Since there are strict rules in Norway regarding personal data, our challenge is collecting that data and neatly presenting it. We need to encrypt the information and also securely identify private individuals. They’ve handled a lot of IT security related questions from us.

What is the team composition?

I work with a front- and backend developer, a designer, and a project manager.

How did you come to work with MassMedia Group?

I was working with one of the co-founders on a consultancy basis. He told me about MassMedia Group, and we started the onboarding process.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $70,000–$80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with MassMedia Group started in November 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

MassMedia Group delivered on time for all sprints. Their prices are competitive, and they’ve always completed work as expected in a high-quality manner.

How did MassMedia Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management style was quite good. There were some challenges because the project manager wasn’t that familiar with our project, but they’ve shown a lot of initiative to improve that. They’ve spent a fair level of time on their own to research certain aspects of the solution. It’s been constantly improving.

What did you find most impressive about them?

MassMedia Group excels at understanding our business. We have an open dialogue. Even being offshore, they speak English quite well. They’re honest and let me know if their team disagrees, which is something I appreciate and value.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’ve handled the small speed bumps we’ve had. They even put in place a few project managers to improve their communication. After that, we were extremely satisfied.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Before you start, spend a lot of time explaining the project well. Make sure to agree upon milestones that’ll be reached along the way.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CTO of a financial management company for sororities and fraternities in North America. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MassMedia Group?

We were looking for an additional freelancer to add to the development of our SaaS platform. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

MassMedia provides development services for our single-page app on AWS, using React Native on the frontend and Ruby on Rails on the backend. Features they helped implement include social elements and payment collection capabilities. 

What is the team composition? 

I have one main point of contact, but others join in on the projects and conference calls as needed.

How did you come to work with MassMedia Group?

We found them on Upwork after trialling different freelancers from all over. They were immediately more productive, valuable team players than others we'd worked with, which is why our relationship has lasted so long. 

How much have you invested with them?

They bill us by the hour, and we've probably invested over $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them since September 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

MassMedia's team requires very little oversight once given technical requirements, so I'm able to hand a lot off to their team without worry. They produce very high quality code that rarely has any issues. They're one of the most reliable freelancers we work with. 

How did MassMedia Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Our main developer's expertise is very impressive; he's touched practically everything within our app and I wouldn't hesitate to give him full access to make changes as needed. We communicate mostly through Slack, and their team is always timely with tasks even though we don't set hard deadlines. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're able to provide clean first versions of a solution, maximizing the amount of value I'm able to get from their work, whereas other vendors may require more iterations or redirection. Based on their track record over the last year, we're able to hand over projects to them with a high level of confidence that they'll be done well and in a timely manner. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I'd just love to get more of their time, but I recognize they're a growing business with other clients.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I suggest fleshing out specifications and pain points in the beginning for the most streamlined onboarding. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CMO of Pentroy, a letter sender platform. It will send handwritten mail in Germany and Europe.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MassMedia Group?

We needed a reliable team of developers to build the platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

MassMedia Group is developing our platform using PHP. It’s similar to MailChimp, but with specialty handwritten emails.

What is the team composition?

We work with a project manager and three developers.

How did you come to work with MassMedia Group?

We found MassMedia Group on Upwork. After several discussions, we felt that they were the right choice for our project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with MassMedia Group in March 2018, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re hoping to launch the beta phase within the next month. There’s been some testing, and there were a few bugs, which is normal. MassMedia Group is proactive about addressing our concerns. We’re pleased with the results so far.

How did MassMedia Group perform from a project management standpoint?

MassMedia Group always communicates with our team. If we have any issues, Andriy (CEO, MassMedia Group) is available to talk. We use Slack and Trello. They’re responsive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

MassMedia strives to understand what we want for our customers, putting themselves in our shoes. This makes the process move efficiently. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There have been a few disagreements, but we’ve always worked together to find a solution. MassMedia’s team is helpful and cooperative.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

There is nothing that I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing director and founder of SKET, a legal tech platform that combines a number of building blocks so that users can create their own client-facing solution. It’s a reinvention of how legal services are delivered.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MassMedia Group?

I started by making the prototypes myself, but I reached out as I needed to outsource specific features.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve gradually picked up more responsibilities throughout the evolution of my startup. I was closely involved with the technicalities and they started by following clear instructions for implementation. Over time, they’ve helped define user stories for me. I’ll give them a couple of general concepts and a couple days later, they will give me a clear user story with everything ready to start development. They’ve facilitated the continued development of the solution and they actively stepped in when I moved onto different roles and priorities.

They implemented the original specifications of the foundations of the platform. I had a very specific view on data models and they started building the features around it, using Ruby on Rails with PostgreSQL. They’re also helping to implement components on the frontend and working on integrations with external APIs. They have a clear understanding of what I’m trying to achieve. They’re in charge of further expansion of the functionalities of the platform.

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact is Serhii (CEO/CTO, MassMedia Group). There's also another senior developer and a project manager. The project manager puts the user stories on paper and helps me combine all the tasks I have. Without that full-service approach, I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the evolution of the software.

How did you come to work with MassMedia Group?

I found them through a freelancing platform when I was looking for a very specific job that I needed help with. I got to know Serhii and I thought he did a really good job from the start. It was only logical to continue with them. It evolved over two years to become much more than the original scope.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2016 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I am where I am today because of their support in the partnership. I didn’t make it easy for them at the beginning. I had a very abstract data model that I insisted on maintaining for strategic reasons. It made everything around it much more difficult to work with. I really appreciated that they looked at it, saw the reasons that I had for insisting on it, and they ran with it. They took a challenge and implemented it. They’ve really been helpful in fulfilling the development tasks I need.

How did MassMedia Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Originally, I stayed in contact with Serhii through Trello. We migrated to Clubhouse to improve clarity and detail on our work. I also traveled to meet them and flush out, in detail, the next big step in the architectural change. It was a super team to meet and we had a fun and very productive meeting.

We track the time generally spent on user stories and we have regular check-ins to review the progress. They have consistently kept an eye on the value they’re providing me depending on the budget. Some things with specific complexity take longer than expected, and they’ve shown a willingness to provide value pricing.

A year ago, they proposed adding a project manager to the team. It was a really good idea to take that additional, very modest expense to really have one of their experienced project managers involved. It maximizes the value and helps their developers to be more productive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

There’s genuine confidence that they have my back. When I’m out promising stuff to potential clients and coming up with new, crazy ideas, I know MassMedia Group will challenge me a little bit and then get on with it and make it a reality.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we’re completely satisfied.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Clients should keep an open mind about their feedback. They often have come up with some really good ideas and pushed back a little bit in a needed way. They know about building software, so give them an opportunity to share their ideas.