Sophilabs

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive for a data operations (DataOps) company. We mainly work with dbt Core and Apache Airflow to focus on data transformation and orchestration.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sophilabs?

We were looking for qualified developers and were having a hard time finding qualified engineers with full-time availability, so we decided to go with an outsourcing service.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sophilabs provides staff augmentation services for our company. Sophilabs has provided a team of eight engineers specializing in Python, Django, Go language, and QA that work as part of our core team. We also collaborate with Sophilabs’ management team, including the sales director and staff manager. 

What is the team composition?

We work with eighth engineers from Sophilabs. We also work with Adam (Sales Director), who is our account manager, and Fernando (Staff Manager). 

How did you come to work with Sophilabs?

Although I didn’t work at my company when we started working with Sophilabs, our company had previously worked with the team on a previous project, and we revisited them for this one.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $300,000–$600,000 with Sophilabs.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Sophilabs in 2019, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re happy with Sophilabs’ work from a technical point of view since they provide the technical skills that our project needs. We’re also satisfied from a cultural point of view since Sophilabs has been able to integrate into our core team, although they are an outsourcing team.

How did Sophilabs perform from a project management standpoint?

Adam and Fernando have been great. They’re responsive through Slack and email and take care of even minor issues right away when they come up.

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to shout out to in this review?

I want to shout out Adam’s work. He’s really dedicated and supports us in managing the team. He’s our main point of contact and has taken good care of us throughout the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m impressed with Sophilabs’ combination of highly qualified engineers who are also able to adapt to our team and corporate culture. Sophilabs has been able to adjust to our objectives and unique needs. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything for Sophilabs to improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I really recommend Sophilabs as a company. I recommend potential customers trust them and follow their lead.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at a tech startup with an NFT marketplace.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sophilabs?

We were trying to scale up our development team rapidly and were having trouble hiring resources in the timeframe we needed.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sophilabs provides us with engineers in a staff augmentation capacity. They’ve provided resources with specific domain expertise in using Python, TypeScript, and React Native and experience with Stripe APIs, which we were trying to integrate with. 

We put their engineers through a similar onboarding process as we would our full-time teammates. The team works remotely, helping us with software development integrated into our teams. 

What is the team composition?

Adam (Sales Director) is our account manager, and Facundo (Full Stack Developer) manages the resources Sophilabs provides us. We’ve worked with 10 engineers throughout our engagement, but no more than eight at a time.

How did you come to work with Sophilabs?

We’re a subsidiary, and one of our sister companies was already using Sophilabs, so we found them through a referral. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $500,000–$1 million. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in April 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Sophilabs’ engineers are enthusiastic, high-quality, and receptive to feedback. They’re exceptionally open to becoming a part of our team, especially considering that they’re outsourced talent. 

How did Sophilabs perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re average at meeting deadlines and staying on budget. Like with anybody we hire internally, Sophilabs’ teammates are just as likely to be above or below average. However, by and large, they’re the same quality of engineers that we hire full-time and are open to feedback. 

We use Slack for communication and Linear and Notion for project management. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Sophilabs’ biggest strengths are their engagement and expertise. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Most of the people initially placed on our account were new to Sophilabs, and they had a lower hit rate than more senior teammates. However, this issue was to be expected, especially in 2021, when everyone was trying to hire.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the business manager at thevj.com, an educational website teaching people worldwide how to make a professional video.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sophilabs?

Another developer built our website, but they had already left our company. We needed help in site development and maintenance.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sophilabs has taken over the development and maintenance of our website. They’ve helped us integrate the site to AWS, ensuring it runs smoothly. 

Their team has optimized our site and worked on everything from uploading the site’s pages to refining its UI/UX to renewing and implementing its SSL. They’ve also sorted out our domain names and redirection issues.

What is the team composition?

I work with Martin (Co-Founder). 

How did you come to work with Sophilabs?

My boss found Martin by chance. After our developer left, we had some things that needed to be done with the website. We spoke with different developers, but all of them said they couldn’t work with us because our site was too complicated. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since November 2021, and our partnership is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since working with Sophilabs, our user base has increased by 5%. They’ve fixed our site’s issues and helped us quickly and efficiently. Thanks to them, we have a functional website. 

How did Sophilabs perform from a project management standpoint?

Sophilabs’ project management has been outstanding — the level of service we’ve received from their team has been incredible. Unlike the other companies we’ve worked with, they are responsive.

Sophilabs takes care of technical issues with the utmost urgency, professionalism, and efficiency. We’re blown away by their work. We primarily communicate through Zoom and Google Meet. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Sophilabs’ technical knowledge is impressive. They are knowledgeable, professional, and efficient. I’m positively surprised by the level of care we’re receiving from them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Set your goals as clearly as you can. Work with Sophilabs because they’re very knowledgeable in finding solutions. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of product for a nonprofit organization in the educational fintech world. We provide financial aid counseling for students.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sophilabs?

We needed help with developing a web application.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sophilabs helped us develop and set up two mobile-optimized web apps, one for students and another for counselors who work with students. When we reached out to them, we had already done the design, so they first worked with another contractor of ours who was helping us develop the backend. They helped us integrate that backend and create a frontend for the app.

At a certain point, we recognized that the backend wasn’t working well, so Sophilabs helped us redevelop it. About halfway through the project, we reconfigured everything in Django, and they then helped us add new features.

Among said features, they integrated an administrative function, a system to translate financial documents that uses optical character recognition technology, and a library of classifiers to interpret the standard format of those documents.

This app also has a sign-up/sign-in system, a profile creation capability, and a search engine where users can search for colleges in our database. Within that search engine, we have a lot of data tied to each college, including their graduation rate, cost, location, and the campus’ diversity.

Through our app, students can upload a financial aid document to our service. Then, we translate it in the backend and give them the results in the frontend afterward. If the students decide to share their information, their counselor can also see the result, as well as any other information about the student. Additionally, they can message their students from within the app.

After they developed the application, Sophilabs was in charge of the QA. Currently, they provide maintenance to the app while they continue to add features, so we’re still working together.

What is the team composition?

We work with a team of four people from Sophilabs. We’ve had different people fill the roles throughout our engagement, but we’ve always worked with a QA person, someone who does the classifier work, a frontend CSS developer, and a backend developer who leads the project for us.

How much have you invested with them?

Last year, we spent around $80,000–$90,000, and this year we’ve spent almost $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2020, and we completed the app at the end of 2020, but our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The improvements that Sophilabs made to our app definitely helped fix the things that weren’t working well. However, I can’t share any metrics nor statistics because, as this is a new app, I have nothing to compare it to.

How did Sophilabs perform from a project management standpoint?

Sophilabs is excellent at meeting the milestones that we’ve set for them, and they’re always on budget. As we’ve gotten to work more closely over the last six months, we now have a process where we’re able to set reasonable timelines and expectations. However, this wasn’t the case when we were trying to launch, but it is usual to find issues when launching.

We have a standing meeting with the whole team every day, and we usually communicate through Google Meet.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Sophilabs has excellent quality engineers and very clear processes. They’re also very flexible, and they adapt to what we do. Additionally, they’ve worked closely with us to find the right resources for the project.

We started working with two engineers, and they worked well, but we needed some other skillsets for different parts of the project. The people from Sophilabs did a great job working with us to find the right team for our project, and we now have a team that we really like.

Some of those resources work for us part-time. Even though I know that they have other clients who might need those resources, they’ve also done a very good job respecting the contract and keeping those resources assigned to our project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It took us a while to sign a contract, and I think that Sophilabs is still figuring out how to have the right documentation in place. For example, we recently had a question about security protocols, and I could see them making some improvements to how they communicate those policies on the go.

I trust Sophilabs and their work, but it would be good if they had more standardized protocols and documentation processes around certain key aspects of business engagement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Clearly communicate your needs and be willing to try new things for a couple of months to find the right fit for you. Additionally, have an appropriate scope of work for your project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the general manager of a benefits engagement platform that employers purchase. My team builds and services a business within our company that’s focused on delivering virtual care.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sophilabs?

Our engineering resources were limited, and we needed a team to finish our web application. Sophilabs came in when the app was halfway built to meet our standard for customer readiness.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sophilabs completed the application and added features. At this point, they’ve done the vast majority of the work and been really involved in the project. Also, they’ve worked with our internal engineers on integrations between different apps. They continue to work with us to build out the product.

The team is familiar with a handful of technology. They’ve used React, Node.js, Python, DynamoDB, Lambda, and more.

What is the team composition?

Our steady team is four engineers plus one project manager. At most, we’ve had five engineers to wrap up something in time.

How did you come to work with Sophilabs?

We had a prior team, and they weren’t meeting expectations. We brought in a part-time tech lead, and she needed a team underneath to fill out the application.

We wanted to prioritize someone who we could vouch for. A friend had worked with Sophilabs, and they got me in touch with one of their co-founders. I connected with him, and I liked the way he spoke about the product. I also liked how willing he was to put their first few weeks of work at risk so we could validate the quality of their work.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began our partnership in April 2021, and it’s ongoing. We would love to expand our work with them next year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our main objective was to have a customer-ready application. So far, we’ve been live for a month. Only one person has had a tiny bug, and they fixed it within 30 minutes. Other than that, we’ve been extremely pleased with the quality and stability of the app.

How did Sophilabs perform from a project management standpoint?

During development, we had sprints to complete the functionality and then a month of sprints for stability and testing. If things are breaking, they get the alerts before us.

We use Slack for communication and Trello to track progress.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re great at what they do, but I’m more impressed with their accountability, especially as a supplemental team. Sophilabs takes pride in their work. They arrive at meetings on time, think things through with anticipation, and ask great questions. Their level of engagement is impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I honestly can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Treat them as part of your team and give them information about your business. They’ll be better engineers, and they’ll be able to potentially think of solutions to your problems or ways to improve your larger business context.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Raha, a startup with a meditation app in Arabic.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sophilabs?

We had not built an app before and needed development support to build an audio meditation app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided a design in Figma. Then we collaborated with them to create a storyboard and determine features. From there, they developed the front- and backend of the iOS app.

The app features a Firebase algorithm to track the number of sessions and hours each user spends on the platform. Sophilabs also set up an admin website so we would be able to change the names of sessions, upload audio files, and choose pictures in real-time for the users. The app even allows users to give feedback using a five-star rating system.

We originally created the app in English, but then we translated it into Arabic.
Now Sophilabs provides ongoing maintenance support and we plan to work with them on an Android version in the future.  

What is the team composition?

I worked with Martin (COO) initially. The frontend developer is my main point of contact, but I also work directly with a project manager. I didn’t have much interaction with the backend developers.

How did you come to work with Sophilabs?

A colleague of mine who had worked with them recommended them. I did a lot of research, but I felt most comfortable with Sophilabs when we spoke; they gave clear estimates on the timeframe and scope. Plus, their pricing was quite reasonable.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $6,000­–$7,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together around September 2020, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The visuals were really important to us and Sophilabs implemented them perfectly. The final product looks even better than the Figma design I showed them. Even more importantly, the app plays files quickly and with minimal lag or sound issues, creating a seamless experience.

Sophilabs has responded to feedback throughout the project and is quick to accommodate change requests. For example, I messaged them about making one of the buttons easier to click and they fixed it immediately. Even when we receive feedback from users, they’ve implemented those suggestions as well.

The admin website is extremely easy for me to use; I really appreciate the real-time aspect of it. I am quite satisfied with Sophilabs and the work they’ve done for us. 

How did Sophilabs perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve guided me through the process, which was extremely helpful since I had no experience. They’ve provided accurate timelines by breaking down the hours required for each task. They’ve always delivered on time.

They follow an Agile process and work in two-week sprints. We have meetings to discuss progress, and we communicate via Slack. They are available and responsive.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

They pay attention to detail and make things look the way I want them to. The team is quite product-focused and has an eye for UX. They really listened to me about what I wanted and were willing to make changes.

Are there any areas they could improve?

So far, our engagement has only been positive. I don’t have anything negative to say.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t hesitate to ask questions because they will clarify whatever it is. It always helps to understand how things work. If you’re looking for someone you can trust, this is the team for you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of product at Moneythink. It’s a tech nonprofit that focuses on helping students in the US figure out how to afford college.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sophilabs?

We’ve been developing various applications over the last 5–8 years. We were designing a new web app and enlisted their support.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sophilabs is developing a responsive web application from the ground up. They’ve helped us establish the backend infrastructure using Terraform, Docker, CircleCI. We’re also building a lot in Python and Django.

We’re working in JavaScript, HTML, and CSS for the frontend. We’re also using an API key technology to plug the front- and backend together. Finally, we’re doing a lot of database work using PostgreSQL. Our application is hosted on AWS, and we rely on various AWS services to provide our features.

What is the team composition?

They lend us two of their developers.

How did you come to work with Sophilabs?

They were recommended to us by a fellow entrepreneur.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve structured the pricing in two phases. For the first contract, we budgeted roughly $30,000, and we expect to pay double that amount for the second one.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Sophilabs in May of this year. It’s an ongoing project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve been a very professional and diligent partner. They’re attentive to good process and have a high standard for their work, so there haven’t been too many bugs or obvious problems. We’ve been happy with the quality of their work.

How did Sophilabs perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re integrated into our team, so it’s been a collaborative process between us and their developers. They’re responsive and amazingly communicative.

While we handle most of the project management, we have a good process of setting development goals and communicating whether we’re on track or not. We’re always on Slack, and we use Trello to manage our backlog. Sigma is what we use to design mockups and clarify design specifications. They document technical requirements in Google Docs. Overall, they adhere to our PM system very well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I enjoy sharing a relaxed and friendly working environment with them. We’ve done a good job of being productive and getting work done, but the two teams are also able to joke around and have a good time. We’ve enjoyed how their initial professionalism gradually made way for the growth of a fun relationship. We’re productive, but not too serious.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really. We’re always encouraging Sophilabs to give us more feedback. We’re always trying to see how we, as a client, can improve our processes.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to approach them as a partner in leadership. They’re not only able to build a product, but also to architect a bigger technical strategy.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the managing partner of a business intelligence firm for the entertainment industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sophilabs?

We hired their team to develop a dashboard for our firm.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sophilabs developed the initial architecture for the dashboard and then went on to build out all of the features for both back- and frontend.

What was the team composition?

Directly, I worked with three members of their team, including Martin (COO) as well as a project and their lead engineer. There were two additional support engineers who worked on various aspects of the project behind the scenes as well.

How did you come to work with Sophilabs?

They were recommended to me by a trusted colleague, so I decided to reach out to them and move forward from there.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $12,000 with them so far and are planning to spend another $30,000 within the year.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in April 2020 and is still ongoing. We are just about to complete phase one and begin phase two.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their team has a really great level of expertise to draw from when making decisions with regard to the project, in terms of either specific layout choices or technology stacks to give preference towards. That knowledge also allows them to formulate accurate timelines and stick to them so that we met all of our goals with regard to both quality and budget.

How did Sophilabs perform from a project management standpoint?

As partners, they are very understanding of non-technical communication and are really able to break down what steps need to happen and when in a way that can be understood by everyone. We use slack for day-to-day messaging and hold Google conferences when we need to discuss something more in-depth. Overall, their communication has been quite seamless.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Honestly, everything has been really great so far, but if I had to highlight something it would be their communication and efficiency. They do a great job of making sure that we are always on track and up to date on that progress.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I really don’t have anything negative to say about them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I think it’s always helpful to come into a project with clear end goals and communicate those as much as you can from the start. They have a very helpful onboarding process, but the more of an idea you have ahead of time the greater detail you can go into with them and the faster you’ll be able to hit the ground running.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder at DebateDrills, a leading education services company that provides elite material for students interested in competing in high-level national debate.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sophilabs?

Sophilabs was assigned to help us clean up our web interface, create user guides for us to manage Django CMS, and help us with better utilization of our web front.

What were your goals for this project?

We were hoping to streamline our students through a better system that encouraged customer captivity and were also hoping for a better user experience on the page to create more up-front sales.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found Sophilabs after an extensive vetting process of web developers that we were recommended by friends and fellow professionals. We chose Sophilabs due to their excellent reviews and encouraging performance.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Sophilabs used our guidance through written explanations and regular phone calls to overhaul our website and create user guides for our managers to easily maneuver through Django and make edits themselves. This ranged from making guides on how to add new pages or testimonials to creating brand new interfaces and pages for us to showcase to customers.

What was the team composition?

We were tasked with a developer and a lead manager, who would work with us almost daily to continue our project. Our needs did not require a larger team than this.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have no metrics yet, but we are confident that Sophilabs has made our front-facing services more comprehensive and helpful. It will definitely lead to more sales and customer acquisition!

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Deadlines were always met and communication occurred mostly through google hangouts and email. Sophilabs is an offshore service, but we had zero issues with communication and perfectly understood each other!

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their diligence and genuine interest in helping our company. We felt taken care of and felt like our project was the only project that the Sophilabs team had.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We struggled sometimes with getting deliverables completed, but that's largely due to our having a pressing workload. Sophilabs generally did very well at communicating their needs and communicating improvements. One small improvement point could be a more clear task tracking that we can use to see when/how work is being done.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a software consulting company that develops custom made software in eHealth

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sophilabs?

Software development

What were your goals for this project?

To rewrite an older system for a knowledge base system about off-label presecription of medicial drugs, into a new web-based system. The system is used by all Medical Drug Information Centers in Sweden at major hospitals.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We have worked with them previously.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The project was run as an agile project. Sophilabs provided competence in software architecture, UX, software design, programming and testing. Both frontend and backend.

What was the team composition?

The project consisted of a technical lead, three developers and a couple of pharmacologists and doctors in clinical pharmacology.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project was a success since the older system was quickly replaced and all user reviews were, without exception, great. The newer system increased the use of the system. I have no numbers on this.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management was provided by our company. The developers at Sophilabs where great developers with good communication skills and sense of urgency which made project management easy and efficient.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They have great programmers and communication skills as well as a good sense of urgency and attention to detail. Also good focus on delivery.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There is always room for improvement, but the developers at Sophilabs where both good at listening and also at raising issues and questions about how to improve all aspects of the project and the work we were doing.