Solidstudio - eMobility Software

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there. 

I’m managing partner of Space Inch. The company began as a mobile games company. We transitioned two and a half years into being a custom software/enterprise software company. We build SaaS software for mostly American clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Solidstudio Software House?

We have web and mobile capabilities, but we use subcontractors to do most of the design, development, and QA work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Solidstudio Software House is doing development and QA for us currently on one of our larger projects. They're updating legacy code for a Fintech company that is trying to be more modern, user-friendly, and intuitive in their enterprise solutions. Solidstudio Software House primarily works in Java. They're doing full-stack work to build new features and make the SaaS product accessible from a Web Content Accessibility Guidelines standpoint. 

What is the team composition? 

We work with a range of senior to junior people that all do Java work. It’s one senior developer and three middle-tier developers, as well as a junior QA resource. 

How did you come to work with Solidstudio Software House? 

We were working with another Polish firm first. We love working with. They recommended Solidstudio Software House to us and we trusted them to make a good recommendation. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $100,000–$150,000. 

What is the status of this engagement? 

Work began in late April 2019, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

While it's difficult to quantify at this early phase, one key indicator of success is a high level of satisfaction from the client. Their level of talent is quite high. Solidstudio Software House is really conscientious, experienced, and self-reliant in their work. 

How did Solidstudio Software House perform from a project management standpoint? 

Their team is excellent. Solidstudio Software House is quick to respond and find solutions. They figure things out on their own. They meet deadlines because they're so focused and organized in their daily work. They're able to do overtime when it's necessary to meet a tight deadline. Their style of work has made it so that we don't ever have to ask them to do extra work because they're so on the ball. 

We typically put an American project manager on similar projects. In this case, we put a project manager in place but then ended up not really using her. We were able to move her to another project because Solidstudio Software House’s team was so independent.

What did you find most impressive about them? 

Their level of professionalism is extremely high. Solidstudio Software House requires less oversight than many of the other vendors we've worked with. We track everything in Jira and they’re able to do a lot on their own without any oversight or guidance. Work that might have taken two days with previous vendors now takes only one day. 

Are there any areas they could improve? 

No, I don't think so. They're one of the best vendors that we've worked with, and we’re very happy with their work. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

Something that we did that’s been successful is we asked for Solidstudio Software House’s input early in the process. They helped us to estimate the work plan. We haven't always done that, but there were some areas of expertise that we didn’t have. We relied on them to be a part of the early engagement. They became fundamental to the process so we've continued to use them for scoping projects.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Concise Software is a development agency headquartered in Berlin, with offices in Poland and Malta. We develop software for clients in different industries across the world. Our services include web and backend development using Java, Node.js, and other technologies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Solidstudio Software House?

We had been mainly providing web frontend and mobile development for our client from Germany in the electric vehicle space. They requested backend development for a solution which required Java Enterprise backend developers. We didn’t have available resources at that time, so we reached out to Solidstudio Software House for help.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Solidstudio Software House worked with us remotely out of their offices in Krakow. Every remote collaboration is difficult to an extent, so we had to address the team and process properly. They maintained communication with our client to understand their needs and provide the proper services.

One of the requirements was holding onsite meetings from time to time on location in Germany, which was never a problem for solid studio. We held at least three workshops, and they always provided a qualified team to work onsite.

The client didn’t have the proper methodology for software development in place for this kind of project. Solidstudio Software House implemented an Agile methodology to the workflow. They managed to perform a transformation within the internal team that was also involved.

What is the team composition? 

We started with a team of two developers and a project coordinator. Since then, we successfully scaled up to 5–6 people.

How did you come to work with Solidstudio Software House?

From what I understand, we received a referral for Solidstudio Software House from another vendor. They’re in the same group of software houses that have locations in Poland, so we approached them through that avenue.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Solidstudio Software House in the October–December period of 2018. The collaboration is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The client was happy with the quality of Solidstudio Software House’s work. They appreciated the Agile methodology they put in place and even increased the team from three to five members from Solidstudio Software House. We didn’t receive a single negative remark about their work. 

Solidstudio Software House also achieved commercial factors of success that pleased our client. Since they’re an external team, it’s difficult to say more about the specific impact they made, especially since we didn’t have many significant interactions.

How did Solidstudio Software House perform from a project management standpoint?

The team has high-level communication skills. They were able to discuss all the details and provide all answers in a timely manner. They provided all the information we needed and maintained full transparency throughout. We used software tools to manage the project. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m sure there will be even more impressive factors we find about Solidstudio Software House once we have additional collaborative projects together.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

Due to the size of their organization, they have limited capabilities. We reached out to them for more services, but they were fully booked. Scaling their operation would be a good next step for them to take. Apart from that, everything was perfect. Solidstudio Software House provided everything we needed.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

The size of the team's operation makes Solidstudio Software House better equipped to handle smaller projects. I don’t know if they’re looking to scale quickly or not.

The team is mostly made up of Java Enterprise developers,  and that main technical capability is their sole focus. They can provide both backend and frontend development including work that relates to the Spring framework. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Local Tours, a small local tour company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Solidstudio software house?

We needed help with the development of our software, which was a reservation system for the business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We told them what we wanted for the reservation system and how we wanted it to look. We had a problem with available and empty places in our system, which they said they could help us with.

The small piece of the program they developed shows us how many places we have in the front. It allows us to know how many people we have booked, how many places there are, and how many more tours we can take. They worked on the system for three months and now we’re working on evolving it, with new features and parts. We’ll continue to work together long-term.

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact is Pawal (Co-Founder, Solidstudio software house).

How did you come to work with Solidstudio software house?

We found them online as we weren’t happy with the cooperation from our previous company.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2018 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The system works very well and helps us a lot. It’s easy, so now we can focus on the development of our company far more than before. Thanks to their work, we can arrange more events because we know exactly how many places we have and how many we can sell.

How did Solidstudio software house perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re always on time. Their way of doing the project was correct and it works really well. Most companies just do what is asked, but Solidstudiowere helpful by giving us ideas for how to do things. We communicate via email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very precise. If they have a problem, they ask. Generally, they ask a lot of questions and make sure they do what we want.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I haven’t seen any problems with them. They know what to do and it’s easy working with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I definitely recommend them. The cooperation with them is very comfortable, and they’re very knowledgeable about what they’re doing.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I own a startup financial consulting firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Solidstudio software house?

I was looking for an IT company that would build my product for me.

What were your goals for this project?

I wanted an app that would connect tutors and students by allowing students to choose between interested tutors based on their profile and reviews. I also wanted the app to be scalable, cross-platform, and have a friendly UX.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I met their founders through networking in Krakow, Poland. I decided to go with them after a few meetings.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Solidstudio delivered a web application, a website, and an Android application. I was involved in the process, but only from a consulting standpoint. To start, I received a draft of the of the design of the landing page and application, and the Solidstudio delivered the functionality in eight weeks. They worked in week-long iterations and presented their progress at the end of each week. In the end, I received access to the codebase and their Amazon Web Services (AWS) production environment. They also supported my application for the next three months.

What was the team composition?

Their project team contained three developers and a UI/UX designer. After initial graphic design work, the team was narrowed down to just the three developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I received an application that met my requirements and helped me gather customer feedback. It’s also helped build a roadmap for the future.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

They did a really good job with transparency. I had access to Trello, which let me track progress, as well as the proper Slack rooms so that I was involved in the development process on a daily basis. The project was finished on time, though we did have to make some changes to finish the MVP quickly.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Two things stood out to me: transparency and a personal touch. I was able to talk with the guys that run the company and plan the next iterations. They always did what they could to go with lean product development principles.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

From my perspective, there isn`t much to improve. I was happy during our cooperation.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CEO of Foodback, a local catering startup in the B2C sector.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Solidstudio software house?

We needed full-stack development for a web application and Android mobile application.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to run a proof of concept and then develop the apps.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I had worked with one of their developers in the past and knew they’d do a good job on this project.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Solidstudio software house built a web app on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform and an Android app.

What was the team composition?

I worked with two developers and one UI/UX designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The apps’ on-time delivery enabled me to move forward with market testing.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We worked in Scrum and I served as project manager. We did sprints planning and reviews, with occasional retrospectives, before each iteration.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were focused on delivering the solution I wanted. With their help, I was able to present the proof of concept in short order.