Sombra

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of engineering at Womply. We help small businesses across North America thrive in the digital world by providing them tools to manage and engage with their customers, improve their own client reputations, and get business insights. We provide additional solutions, including bill payment and money transfers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sombra?

We wanted to build a client management tool for one of our partners. We didn’t have internal developers available for the project, and it was a big revenue-generating opportunity for us. We hired Sombra for this work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sombra developed a tool that allows our partner to manage their clients, business profiles, and subscription information.

We follow our own architecture standards and made sure that whatever solution Sombra provided fit into our stack. We use AWS, and all our services are dockerized. We had collaborative discussions on the solution, and we reviewed Sombra’s designs and provided recommendations. They deployed the solution onto our AWS environment along with our DevOps team.

After this assignment, we decided to augment our team with Sombra engineers.

What is the team composition?

We worked primarily with Yuriy (Co-Founder & CTO), who worked with one frontend and two backend engineers on this project. They worked with our business development team.

How did you come to work with Sombra?

We posted an RFP on Upwork, and they were the only ones that responded. Sombra was confident that they could provide a solution within the requested timeframe.

How much have you invested with them?

The initial assignment cost $40,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Sombra in April 2019, the first phase was done by May or June, and we got the tool out by July 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Sombra was pretty fast in delivering the solution, and it was a big revenue-generation opportunity for us. It gave us monthly recurring revenue.

How did Sombra perform from a project management standpoint?

The turnaround time was pretty good, and their project management team is great. We had daily sync-up meetings with them.

There was plenty of feedback for them once the first phase was delivered, and they took ownership in making sure that the quality met our standards. They worked with their engineers to produce quality code.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The engineers are dynamic, learn quickly, and assimilate into teams very well. A few of their engineers are leading some of our projects today. They’re working alongside our tech leads to create solutions for our clients.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve had communication challenges with some of the engineers in the past, but Sombra’s project management team has been very open in taking our feedback and working on plans for necessary replacements.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Clients should make Sombra aware of the top company initiatives so they understand what they’re working on. Beyond outsourcing, if we involve them more with our daily strategy discussions, it’ll give them exposure to our priorities.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I head one of the departments at a bank.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sombra?

We needed help with custom software development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve been working with them on custom software development for a web application. We define what we want to build, and then we work with them on the implementation and execution of the project. They do front- and backend work. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with up to 35 teammates, mostly developers.

How did you come to work with Sombra?

We found them on Upwork. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in Q2 2017, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They provide excellent service, delivery, and technical support.

How did Sombra perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re reliable in terms of getting work done and meeting the budget that we’ve agreed on. Sombra is also very flexible, especially when it comes to working in an agile manner with people who aren’t sitting right next to you.

The team is responsive, and we communicate frequently. We have them on Slack channels, and it’s been a seamless process.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are a very strong development shop from a front- and backend technology perspective. They’re smart developers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind. They’re a very good shop. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Their strength is on the backend, and they’ve started to build more frontend capability. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a business that sells staffing software, and I’m the technical director. It’s a small venture that was acquired last year.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sombra?

They enhanced our team with additional developers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Working offsite, they augmented our team with additional developers. Through them, we’ve attached front- and back-end developers to our team. We’ll be doing QA through their resources as well. They’ve also provided assistance with design.  

We manage the project, calling on them as a flexible offshore resource that can scale up or down according to our needs. 

What is the team composition?

There are three developers that currently work with us. I met with the CEO and CTO in our initial discussions. We also communicate with an account manager. 

How did you come to work with Sombra?

We were cold-called by their marketing team and met in person. While we didn’t have the need for their services immediately, they were first on our list when we required additional developers. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about £140,000 (approximately $186,000 USD).  

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since January 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We evaluate each of their developers on an individual basis as if they were a part of our team. The feedback loop is closed via my interactions with their account manager. We examine the velocity of development and how effectively they contribute to our goals. We’ve had a positive experience so far. They’ve been a pleasure to work with overall.  

How did Sombra perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated primarily through Slack and had a scheduled, weekly phone call. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve been flexible in the onboarding process, allowing to bring in a developer for a few weeks on a trial basis. From there, we’re able to commit to additional months of work with an individual developer. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would be great for them to expand their development capacity. They may need some more people on the bench. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make them part of your team.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Remindee is a CRO solution (Conversion Rate Optimization). Our solution is a combination of a popup builder and automatic emails for websites. I'm the founder & CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sombra?

I created specifications and mockups and hired Sombra to develop the SaaS solution. I previously hired 2 dev agencies before Sombra which did poor work. So I reaaly needed to choose the right to start again and build the solution.

What were your goals for this project?

To have in a few months a sellable solution, working fine, with all main features and no bugs. So I needed a dedicated team of a few developers quickly and only for a few months.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I spent literally 2 days on Clutch to compare development companies. I filtered companies based on their technologies, location (I was looking for companies based in Eastern Europe), price range, reviews, price range of the projects listed on clutch (reviews). I shortlisted 4 companies on Clutch and Sombra was definitely the one I felt was the best. I even decided to change my stack for Java (the technology they master the most) instead of NodeJs because I wanted to work with them.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They developed the SaaS project I specified. They had to spend time on specifications and mockups I provided and existing code from previous agencies so they could commit on a budget for developing the end solution. Then they developed it, and committed on the price that was defined.

Even if some aspects of the projects that weren't perfectly specified took them more time than their estimate. I have no tech employees (I personally have an important web experience but I'm not a tech profile), so the success of the development fo the solution was really on their shoulders!

What was the team composition?

The team included 3 full-time devs (1 front dev1 back, 1 lead dev) & a part-time project manager. Since launch, I have just 1 Sombra's developer, because it's a maintenance phase.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They built the solution that I asked. I was able to start the commercialization quite quiclky and the product, after fixing some bugs during the first months, was working really fine. Now I have a solution which is working fine without any issues on my side or on my clients side.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

A project manager was dedicated to the project and it worked perfectly fine. Since I'm in maintenance phase, i'm directly managing the relation with the remaining developer.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They deliver good work and they have your satisfaction in mind.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Sprints were too long (maybe because what was included in each sprint was too much for 1 sprint?). Tests of each sprint with the client should allow client to test and check more aspects of the project/sprint.

I eventually found too much bugs (that they fixed after) when they delivered the project supposed to be fully-functional and almost bug-free.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of a SaaS software company. We have a video platform that provides data-driven personalized video scaling to the millions.

We also have a services area where we customize software applications for financial services. The company is a combination of a SaaS proprietary software as well as a custom software solution. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sombra?

We came up with a project that was a bit outside of the box of the common things that we had been doing. We didn’t want to apply our internal resources and take them off the platform we were developing. 

We needed outsourced help with custom project development. We wanted someone who was innovative and could be an extension of our team, and we had tight deadlines associated with the project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a few ideas but Sombra provided a tremendous amount of help in terms of putting the technical requirements together. This was a new piece and we didn’t have a lot of resources. We had two resources on our side who worked with their team. 

Sombra provided even more than just the actual development. They made suggestions in terms of how we could approach it and what the best way to build was. We talked about issues related to security and even the need to have software scans which are more required these days. 

The team fulfilled a lot of functions and were thorough partners from the beginning as to how we would approach this. We worked with them on two projects simultaneously. We’ve started the second phase of the project now.

What is the team composition?

We started off working with two project managers. Eventually, they were able to consolidate down to one. 

How did you come to work with Sombra?

Our CTO had somehow been contacted by them. He vetted them and saw that they may be worthwhile. A number of other people also spoke to them as well, including me. 

We put Sombra through a lot of screening and technical questions to determine how up to speed they were on PII and if they were able to provide industry enterprise software that would pass the test. We fully vetted them and felt very good about them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $500,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2019 and the work is ongoing. The first phase of the project was completed at the end of 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project went brilliantly, and Sombra delivered on time. They bring a lot of insight, innovation, and suggestions. It’s been a very personal and positive experience. Our client was shocked that they actually got it delivered when we said they would. 

They were happy with the quality delivered. Both projects were a very big success. We are very happy and impressed with their work and our client is as well.

How did Sombra perform from a project management standpoint?

Our project manager works tremendously with us. They have been thorough, empathetic, and over communicative in the sense that we know what is going on. We also have regular calls with them. 

In fact, we are on the phone with the project manager almost every day. The team is right on track, and we’ve made everything work. When there have been problems, they’ve fixed them. They are great to work with, and their English is excellent.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Sombra is beyond being order takers. They take on the additional role of being a thought partner in terms of figuring out how we can get the project done and how we might think of building it for future needs. There is no language barrier.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was a point where there was a project manager change, but it ended up working out better having only one project manager. It was something we thought would be an issue but it wasn’t.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Get their input and suggestions on how to make the project better. They can do this from a design point of view or a technical infrastructure point of view. Sombra really approaches software development from all facets and from a long-term perspective. Don’t just use them as an order taker; use them as a thought partner as well.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Vesmir Inc. We provide geospatial business intelligence primarily for the oil and gas industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sombra?

We worked with Sombra to help us with frontend development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team is using JavaScript, React, and Redux to help us with frontend development. Sombra is adding new controllers to our mapping product, which will allow clients to use new capabilities. They are also doing bug fixes on existing products.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager from their side for the first couple of days.

How did you come to work with Sombra?

We came across them on LinkedIn. They do work in the Denver area so they visited us on-site. After looking for different service providers, Sombra seemed like the best fit.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent more than $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement began in August 2019, and we’re still working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We wouldn’t be able to do our work without their help. We’ve been very pleased with their work, and we feel that Sombra is very capable. 

When we give them a new project, Sombra is very good about first understanding what we want before proceeding, which had been very important. We’ve been impressed with the way they analyze problems and give solutions.

How did Sombra perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve done most of the project management, but they’ve done well with meeting our deadlines. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We have a unique stack. We use OpenLayers, so it was tricky for us to find a development group that could work with the whole suite. But Sombra does that very well, which makes them easy to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Our only problem is that we’re in Denver and they’re in Ukraine, so the time difference is usually a challenge. It’s hard to find enough overlapping time for us to keep the project going. Other than that, we’ve been happy with their help.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you can work out having enough overlap and that communication is clear.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of Legal Monkeys, a technology company in the legal industry that builds software products and provides industry-specific services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sombra?

We hired Sombra to do some integration work. We had a platform that we built and we hired them to build the integration between our platform and the ones that law offices use which are called case management systems.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sombra uses serverless technologies based on Amazon’s cloud platform. The architecture they used is API-based. The team built software just for our company to allow us to connect with other systems.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with up to seven developers and one account representative. Now, we work with four developers.

How did you come to work with Sombra?

Sombra contacted me through LinkedIn and the timing just happened to be right. I then met with Viktor (CEO) and talked about the services they offered as well as their niche. The team had a lot of expertise in Java. What they had to offer and what we needed were well-aligned. 

For example, when I first talked to them, they explained to me that there were two project management models that they offered. The first was that we’d give them the requirements and they’d manage the project.

The second option was that we’d do more of a staff augmentation system in which we would manage the project and they would only provide us with developers. The second option is exactly what I wanted, which is why they were a great fit. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in May 2019, and our engagement is ongoing. The project is transitioning to more of a maintenance role because the bulk of the functionality has been implemented.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Every company has its own way of building software. One thing that I was pleased with was that Sombra was able to adapt to and learn our approach to software development. They adopted our best practices and were productive within that development methodology. Overall, the quality of their work is above average.

How did Sombra perform from a project management standpoint?

As I mentioned earlier, I managed the project. The account representative served in more of and HR and accounting capacity. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve appreciated their focus on doing the work and not on bureaucracy. The administrative side of the work was kept to a minimum, which is something that tends to be quite complicated with other companies.

Sombra keeps everything simple and prioritizes getting the work done as opposed to strictly adhering to the contracts.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were a few times where there was some miscommunication. But we were able to resolve it, so it wasn’t too big a deal. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

What worked well for me was teaching them. Their developers are intelligent and are willing to learn, so don’t be afraid to help them understand new technology or a new way to build software. That’s something that paid off for me. 

If you’re on a two-month contract, this wouldn’t make sense. But if you plan to keep them on for a longer time period, investing in them really pays off.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My company is Play Consulting. We have two halves: one part is a software agency, and the other is an internal product. We focus on building playful experiences that inspire, mainly for B2B products. I’m the head of consulting.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sombra?

We have a scaling challenge. Trying to forecast demand is really hard, and managing how many people we hire and how many developers we need isn’t very clear for more than a month or two out. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sombra provides staff expansion services, scaling up or down as needed to match the projects we have coming in. A typical project has three developers on it, with one from our team and two from Sombra.

We’ve done a lot of projects with Sombra. We do a wide range of work with them, but it typically revolves around web apps. My company has a good relationship with a multinational professional services firm, and Sombra helps us deliver projects for them. We do a bunch of internal tools for them, everything from a maturity assessment tool to a document repository search to habit tracking and gamified apps.

What is the team composition?

One of the benefits of working with them is that they can flex the number of people we work with as needed. We never go with less than four people, and then on the high side, it can get up to twenty.

How did you come to work with Sombra?

I’m not sure; I wasn’t with my current company when they brought Sombra on. I think it was just a case of looking around. I know they tried a few different agencies and ultimately settled on Sombra. 

How much have you invested with them?

It’s a lasting relationship that predates me. It was all very much established by the time I came. The work with them is ongoing.

What is the status of this engagement?

Costs vary each month. Some of our bigger months have been around $50,000–$60,000, and some of the smaller ones around $30,000. We do around $250,000–$500,000 each year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve enabled us to scale in a way that we couldn’t have otherwise. If I didn’t have Sombra, I’d have to turn away a bunch of business. They’ve empowered us to take on larger projects and more of them. We can also get projects done faster. They’re a pretty critical part of our equation in that I know I can say yes to new projects.

How did Sombra perform from a project management standpoint?

I speak to the manager weekly, and we have a spreadsheet that we go through to see what projects we have coming up and how many people we need from their side. They fill the spots that we need, and then we get them all set up. The people that they provide are embedded in our team, so they join our Slack channel and standup meetings. It’s super integrated. We treat them as part of the team.

The longer we work with them, the more comfortable everybody gets, so it’s really fluid. We have very open communication with the managers and the resources; we’ll slack, email, or jump on a call with them. People from my office have gone to meet Sombra’s team, and some of their people have come here. They’ve been super flexible as well; at one point at the end of last year, we basically maxed them out, and they started to source more people for us and managed it all on our behalf. I don’t think I have anything bad to say. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re always flexible and willing to help. We had a project recently that didn’t go so well, which had nothing to do with them, but they offered to put people on at reduced costs to help build that relationship. Those kinds of things speak to their commitment; they don’t need to do that stuff, but they do. They’re in it with us. It feels like a partnership and a lot less transactional than my work with other companies like them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only potentially negative thing is around their English levels, which are still quite good. There is also a cultural element that we need to coach their resources on a bit, just around speaking up and raising problems rather than just trying to solve everything themselves. However, as they get to know us and understand how we work, it’s not a problem in the end. We’ve had a couple of instances where it didn’t work out with somebody because the communication was too hard, but it’s not even a problem then; they find somebody and swap them out.

Any advice for potential customers?

To get the most out of the partnership, I’d say just be friendly and open up a bit. Let them know what you’re doing and why. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CTO of a San Diego-based website and marketing company. We provide exposure and support services to facilitate all aspects of cannabis tourism in the US.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sombra?

We needed to launch a new site in 2019 coincident with mobile app development. The app and website contain a lot of dynamic information, and so they needed to work well with our internally developed backend.

What were your goals for this project?

Our primary goal was to develop all front and back end portions simultaneously to coordinate a successful platform launch in a relatively short period of time.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I have worked with Sombra on other projects in the past. Their communication skills, their develop skillset, and their drive to impress made them an easy choice on this project.

Describe the project in detail.

Their mission was to simultaneously develop hybrid Android and iOS apps, as well as a website, using a single codebase, to minimize development time. We provided mobile wireframes and ask them develop with a mobile-first strategy, and we responded with change requests as needed to scale up to larger screen sizes. They were also very helpful in signing up for and implementing the various geolocation and mapping APIs that were needed for the project.

What was the team composition?

We started with a project manager, two Angular developers and an HTML/CSS developer. Once the designs finished up we replaced the HTML person with a QA person, who was very helpful in meticulously checking all aspects of the projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We went from the beginning to the initial launch in just 5 months with all three products. Everyone is very happy with the look and feel of everything, and our sales have been boosted by this effort.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was one of the best parts of the experience. They tracked all the initial development in their JIRA, we made use of a shared Trello to stay on top of change requests, We had daily phone meetings with updates from all team members, and they were very receptive to all feedback. Their English skills were excellent, and they made every effort to operate within our timezone, shifting their hours as needed.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their overall process, communication skills, and accountability impressed us.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There is always room for improvement in everything we do but I cannot say they were lacking in any specific area.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of My Pain Sensei, a healthcare startup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sombra?

We hired Sombra to develop our desktop and mobile apps.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sombra developed the web app first. They used a whole tech stack, which included React Native. Then, they developed a mobile app for iOS and Android.

What is the team composition?

My team works with Ivan (Developer, Sombra). We have other developers on the project, but just one developer from Sombra.

How did you come to work with Sombra?

My friend had used Sombra in the past and spoke highly of them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent on the higher end of $25,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work with Sombra began in April 2019, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve been tremendous. Based on what I hear from our engineering lead, the quality of Ivan’s work is really solid. He also has a great work ethic and is always trying to do over and above what is required of him. We’re very happy with the pace and quality of their work, as well as the amount they’re getting done. 

How did Sombra perform from a project management standpoint?

Ivan has been very good. We communicate over Slack and use a tool like Trello or GitHub to assign tasks.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to jump right in and move very quickly has been the most impressive thing about them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind. 

Any advice for potential customers?

With any offshore team, be very clear as to what you’re looking for and ensure you maintain strong communication when you’re working with them. Once you’ve got that nailed down, it works quite well.