Soshace Digital

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We have an online marketplace. I’m managing a team of software developers that is responsible for building the UI of our web service.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Soshace?

We are always looking for new candidates. We have a big team of software engineers, and we are constantly hiring. We exhausted all our usual hiring channels, and we are looking for some alternatives. We approached Soshace and another agency to hire additional permanent workforce members.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’re willing to offer us a developer that can work with our team and be a part of our team. The developer was originally a member of Soshace, but now he is working with us. We have an agreement that if he works for us for a prolonged period of time and everything goes well, we will take this developer from Soshace and he will become a part of our team.

He is proficient with both PHP and JavaScript and all the things you need to know to perform efficiently as a full-stack web developer. This includes JavaScript frameworks, deployment, Jenkins, and whatever else. He has many years of experience, and he’s very efficient in the tasks that we want him to do.

He has done some new features from scratch from backend to frontend to user interaction. He’s compliant with our company practices and requirements that he needs to finish his features.

What is the team dynamic?

I have worked only with the developer that we are using from Soshace. We are considering that maybe we will hire more developers from Soshace for other teams.

Infrequently, I interact with a person named Ivan Rastvorov who is project manager for our communication with the developer.

How did you come to work with Soshace?

They applied to our job listing on Upwork. They responded as an agency offering one of their developers to take up the task.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in March 2017. The developer is still part of our team. We hope he will work with us for years to come.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are completely happy with his work. In comparison to most of the developers I have come across, his quality is good. His work is not completely bug-free, but bugs have never made it to production; they were all resolved before that.

How did Soshace perform from a project management standpoint?

They are completely absent in this interaction because they gave us a developer and we integrated that developer into our team. He works remotely, and we communicate through Upwork.

What did you find most impressive about them?

His dedication and his talents in delivering everything on time are impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think he could benefit greatly if he voiced his opinions more. Sometimes he doesn’t speak up about problems or opportunities for improvements that he sees. If he would be more vocal, it would be better.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a software company creating software for offshore oil and gas well planning. It’s software dominated by a graphical workflow, digitizing a manual process. I’m the CTO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Soshace?

We needed more resources in order to develop faster. We needed more manpower.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

It’s not one complex problem or something that we’re not able to do ourselves. They’re helping us with frontend and backend development using React, React-D3, Node.js, and Mongoose. They provided us with additional manpower for ADI and the database.

They are also helping us with the interface for our geological app. We’re trying to illustrate using charts that geological data and different types of data will pass, etc. It’s touching on all aspects of the frontend and parts of the backend. At least half of the app is in a separate module. The server is the API, whatever is interacting with the database and whatever is exposing endpoints for the frontend. It’s API default, creating, rating, updating, deleting, and logic.

What is the team dynamic?

I interact with 1 great developer who works remotely in Russia.

How did you come to work with Soshace?

We posted on LinkedIn that we needed a developer. Initially, our thought was to hire locally. They approached us, and we decided to work with them. We worked with them through Upwork.

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested $10,000–$49,999.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2017, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The developer we’re working with is very good. He’s producing more than he’s paid to do. He’s made us more productive. The code is reliable and functional. All of the requirements in the defined scope were fulfilled.

How did Soshace perform from a project management standpoint?

I work closely with the consultant. We have meetings every day and talk frequently. We’ve had a good collaboration. They send me an email once in a while with administrative questions, but 99.9% of my communication with the company is through the daily workflow with the consultant. We communicate through Slack and Jira.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The developer is doing more than he’s paid to do. He’s very interested in what he’s doing and is motivated. He’s keeping himself updated on new technologies and trends, which is very important for us being in this industry.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. The developer has been 100%.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Support Logic. We’re a small startup company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Soshace?

We needed somebody proficient in ReactJS Core development. With the budget we had, it was difficult to find a partner in the U.S.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had an existing dashboard product and we wanted to add more features to it. Soshace understood the existing source code and the extended functionalities and features that we wanted. We had to build a middle layer for our product. Soshace build and extend the function into the middle of that layer. They also tightened up security authentication of our product.

We don’t really have a fast approach for our product development. We do a Kanban style of developing. We would write stories for them and then we have a task load and prioritize the stories in order. They pick them up and start executing from all the story list. The features were given on a day to day basis.

What is the team dynamic?

We hired one developer to start with and then we hired one more developer for three months. At this point, we are back to one.

How did you come to work with Soshace?

I put a job posting on Upwork and I got responses from multiple companies. I selected Soshace because the sample work they listed out looked good. The skill set I was looking for was a good match. I interviewed them and gave them markups of what I already had. I showed them the demo of my product and asked them about more technical questions and how they can implement it. I got satisfactory answers and went with them.

One of the key elements we were looking for is being able to communicate complex ideas to our vendors. We want to make sure they understand them, implement them correctly, and then use their judgment when the specs are not complete. We’re looking for somebody who can work the task like an extended employee and not as a contractor who is looking for a tight spec, and also can improvise when the specs are incomplete. That was a very good match with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2017 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’ve worked with contractors in the past and professionalism was lacking especially in the Russian region. They were very reliable for us. If they say they’re going to do something, they do it. If I missed anything, they almost always did it.

How did Soshace perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was done by us. We had a task board where we would write things and they would follow them. Even though there’s a language barrier, it was easy to communicate with them about the technical specs. If I had detailed marks in the specs, he would understand it and we would regularly communicate. If something was missing, he would ask the right questions. Sometimes he would make the improvisation by himself and let us know that we didn’t provide him with the details and would show us what he came up with. Most of the time, he got it right. We were very happy with them because it made us feel like he’s an extended employee and not a contractor.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re extremely professional. If I set a meeting, they are very punctual. Communication was extremely clear.

Are there any areas they could improve?

My impression of this company is mostly based on one employee of their organization. I don’t know how the overall team performs. I hired one other person from them temporarily and he was good but not as good as our main person.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We have developed a custom B2B analytics solution. As the CTO, I have worked with more than 25 developers in the past year.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Soshace?

We are a small company, so everyone's contribution matters and any under-performing developers can hurt us badly. The challenge was to build a sophisticated Angular 2 (version 4) interface. This is a framework made by Google that uses TypeScript for building user interfaces.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The backend was continually in flux. We needed a good-natured, hard-working resource. This resource would be focused entirely on frontend development.

How did you come to work with Soshace?

We found the Soshace team listed on Upwork and decided to check them out. They had strong reviews so we hired their full-time resource in early 2017.

How much have you invested with Soshace?

We have invested over $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have completed our work with Soshace, so we will end the project on July 1.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Unfortunately, I don't have any stats or something concrete to show the quality of Soshace's development work, but I've really enjoyed working with Ivan and the rest of the team at Soshace. My only concern has been flexibility on the wind-down of the project.

Vitalii has been a critical member of our team for almost 4 months. He has seen tens of developers come and go but continues to achieve at very high levels.

Are there any areas Soshace could improve?

Although I understand that it's important to provide customers with dedicated resources, sometimes there is a wind-down period where full-time is too much. We would have preferred to work with one person part-time but couldn't' do that with Soshace. On the other hand, I'm supportive of their approach, as it's better for consultants.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We provide a collaboration platform for YouTube creators. Our product connects them with each other and integrates with their channels, allowing small YouTubers to grow together. They promote each other on their own channels or Instagram to get bigger on social media. I am the COO of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Soshace?

We needed to build our product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Soshace developed our platform from scratch using ReactJS. We are using one full-time developer from their team.

The main functionality is posting collaboration proposals which include descriptions of what the user wants to do. Others can offer to participate, and the starter will receive a notification allowing them to accept or not. Clicking on Participate will take users to a chat in order to contact their new collaborator. Users have their own profiles, and there is a notifications dashboard for participation and chat requests.

How did you come to work with Soshace?

We posted on Upwork, looking for a developer who could build our web platform. Soshace had the highest recommendations and the best reviews out of all the proposals we received. They also seemed to have the most experience with ReactJS development out of the five other companies we reviewed. We talked to them and started working together.

How much have you invested with Soshace?

The cost of Soshace’s work has been above $50,000 and less than $200,000. We have an hourly agreement.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Soshace February 13th, 2017. It’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The app is beautiful and has very fast functionalities, which were the most important things for us. We didn’t identify too many bugs with the first version, and not too many fixes overall.

Users have given us feedback about the personal information we provide to others on the platform. Everyone liked it in general. There were no other tools of this kind for YouTubers to collaborate on. They needed to go to forums or to Facebook groups for this purpose, but we offer a place where they can come together as a community, build a network and become larger on YouTube and other social media.

How did Soshace perform from a project management standpoint?

We had an initial discussion over the platform’s functionality and presented a Word document to Soshace. We also communicated on Trello, where we uploaded all the tasks. We added each other on Skype, had a meeting discussing how those functionalities would be developed, and addressing any questions their team had. We continued to talk on Skype, and, if we needed to set up a meeting around new functionalities, Soshace was there for us. Our group chat includes their project manger and the developers themselves. If the developers aren’t answering, the project manager always will. They were flexible and responsive in their communication.

What did you find most impressive about Soshace?

The product that Soshace has built stands out. We built other platforms using different teams, and it didn’t go that well. Soshace’s team can add features or make recommendations to us about items we hadn’t thought about. This is something we like.

The main structure of the app was built very well. I’m not a coder myself, but our main internal developer confirmed that Soshace’s code was good-quality.

Are there any areas Soshace could improve?

Not that I can think of.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Soshace?

I would recommend Soshace to anyone looking to develop on ReactJS. They create good apps and answer questions fast.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I act as a product manager of a mobile app prototyping platform. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Soshace?

We needed some development help with a UX project that we were working on. The project needed advanced JavaScript and HTML5 Canvas skills.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I used the Upwork platform to find an agency. Soshace had a strong profile, and I liked their portfolio, so I hired them. Their work mostly involved software programming for a UX/UI project. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or impact of the engagement?

All the service requirements were correctly translated to our specifications and were executed within time and budget. The service provider made excellent recommendations on the performance and fine tuning of the project well in advance, which led to great results.

How did Soshace perform from a project management standpoint?

Soshace provided high-quality work with great communication and collaboration. It was like working with an internal team. They have very strong project management skills. I have no improvements to suggest. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder and CEO of a startup company focused on home improvements.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Soshace?

I collaborated with Soshace to launch a solid web application.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Soshace worked on doing responsive web development. I developed the requirements, developed the design, and collaborated with their two developers—one on front-end and one on backend. We used a full stack with them using and Meteor.

How did you come to work with Soshace?

I had multiple interviews with different agencies over Google Hangouts. Through discussions and seeing their previous work, that is where I got the confidence to work with Soshace.

How much have you invested with Soshace?

We have spent over $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together November 1, and this is an ongoing project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Their quality is very good, meaning I rarely find any bugs in the code. When they deliver, they talk the talk and walk the walk. There were certain things they identified as not ideal and proposed better solutions to implement. I appreciate their recommendations and how they collaborate with us.  

The other thing is that even though they are on the other side of the country, they accommodate our meeting schedule which makes it a lot easier for my team to engage with them.

How did Soshace perform from a project management standpoint?

I really believe that they are highly trained, very skilled, very professional, and committed to being a high-quality team. The people I worked with are quite good in communicating, so there is no barrier. Their developers work well together and are straightforward.

What did you find most impressive about Soshace?

I am impressed with how they take constructive feedback. They are not defensive about it. They are very collaborative and eager to do the right thing. They focus on quality, which I appreciate, versus some of the development teams who focus just getting something out the door, deliver suboptimal results, discover many bugs in the code, and then end up frustrated. They also care about time, which is very much aligned with my objective.

Are there any areas Soshace could improve?

I cannot think of any.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Soshace?

You need to have clearly defined ideas or requirements. They do have a lot of good suggestions, and a different perspective of bringing better results to a project so collaborate with them and seek out their recommendations.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a management company for bands. I am the owner of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Soshace?

We've recently branched out to licensing our in-house booking software. In doing so, we've redeveloped the software, also integrating an online search engine into it. This is where Soshace came in.

Our primary market is entertainment. We predominantly service the corporate events, festivals, and weddings industry. The platform itself is generic, but our main initial target will be wedding suppliers. We are looking to offer the booking software for free; it being connected to the search engine, we're going to charge a small price for the connection being made between suppliers and new customers. Every time they appear on results and make a connection with a new customer, a minuscule fee comes off of their balance. We're essentially trying to change the way in which service providers and customers connect, similarly to platforms like Airbnb.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

A different external company handled our design. We've used a prototyping software in order to develop an initial version. We approached Soshace with a functioning prototype and asked them to develop the front-end of the product. We have our own backend person for controlling the database structure.

A member of Soshace, in particular, became quite involved in the development of our product, essentially taking ownership of it. He was dealing directly with our backend specialist in Spain, and made some significant suggestions, changing some of the processes within the booking management system. They were massive improvements which the company we hired specifically for UI didn't spot. Soshace's resource was an incredible part of our project.

How did you come to work with Soshace?

We shortlisted a few companies from Upwork, giving each one a test. We had built out our prototype using Material Design, and I wanted to make sure that I found someone with experience and understanding of how it works. A year ago, when we were looking for a partner, this wasn't especially easy to find, given that Google's Material Design had only been out for 9-10 months. We could tell that Soshace had an understanding of the suite when we started communicating with them. Soshace came out on top during the testing phase. Because the developer who took part in the test became unavailable, we gave Soshace a second test, and the new person also performed well. We were actually impressed with the company in general. Soshace seemed to have a solid network of people who communicated well, even amongst themselves.

How much have you invested with Soshace?

We have a cap of $100,000, but the total cost is looking to be closer to $80,000. Because Soshace is based in Moscow, their rates are significantly better than European ones.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have been working with Soshace for approximately 3 months. I estimate that we have another 3 months of work to go.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

I've had many disappointing experiences in the past, using different companies and developers. This has made finding a good company like Soshace so much more satisfying. We've only shown the product to a minor investor, who was impressed.

How did Soshace perform from a project management standpoint?

We estimate that the project will take around 6 months to complete, but we're actually about 80% done so far. The platform is simply so big that the testing will take much longer than anticipated. We use Teamwork.com as a project management tool.

I'm based in Ireland, while Soshace is in Moscow. No matter what the time of day is, if I send a message, I will get a response straight away. This tells me that Soshace goes above-and-beyond.

What did you find most impressive about Soshace?

We reach a new milestone every week, and I know that Soshace is working more hours than what is on our schedule. The UK companies I've worked with are completely on the clock. If something isn't finished by the end of the allotted hours, then it's tough luck.

Are there any areas Soshace could improve?

I can't really say anything negative about Soshace.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Soshace?

I advise clients to book Soshace. I've gone through 5 different front-end developers over the past 2 years. They all had good skills, but still, they let me down at some stage of the process. In 3 months, Soshace has done what others took 6 months to a year to do, at significantly less cost.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We're a marketing agency. I'm a software developer and quality assurance engineer for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Soshace?

The challenge was to take information from one of our products and send it to our database.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Soshace developed our solution using jQuery and JavaScript. We worked with only one of their developers at any given time. I also kept in touch with Soshace's owner and manager.

How did you come to work with Soshace?

We found Soshace through Upwork. We went through an interview and inquired about the skillsets which we needed.

How much have you invested with Soshace?

It was less than $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Soshace at the beginning of 2016. Our project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We have been satisfied with the work done by Soshace, and it has been mostly bug-free. We use the data from our system for internal modules, so I don't have any metrics.

How did Soshace perform from a project management standpoint?

Soshace delivered the work in time, and stuck to the budget. We communicated through Skype and email.

What did you find most impressive about Soshace?

Soshace is a very professional company, and whenever they told us that they understood a requirement, they actually did, instead of saying yes to everything.

Are there any areas Soshace could improve?

No. Soshace has been pretty good.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Soshace?

No.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a web start-up built around social networking. We’re located in Grenoble, France and have about ten people working on various projects. My role on the current project was to provide technical documentation to the developer and to provide project management, bringing our stakeholders’ objectives to life.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Soshace?

The main business challenge on this project was to make a well-built first version of the app in a short time period, and then evaluate the responses of our users. Once we have developed a marketing strategy and the number of our users grows, we will then implement new features and monetize the project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The goal of the project is to help people find each other. Working through Facebook and Google+ and using Google maps, our users will write their ads or search other users’ adds, then message each other. Our target market is Europe and English speaking countries.

Soshace performed all the development work and support during the first two months of the project; we provided the designs.

How did you come to work with Soshace?

We needed experienced full-stack web developers for this project. We found Soshace on Upwork and decided to work with them because their team writes quality code, their price is competitive, and they are responsive. Their developers have very high ratings on Upwork, and they clearly had the required experience.

What is the status of this engagement?

The overall project duration was about three months, maybe a bit more.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work or the impact of the engagement?

They did a great job, providing all of the features we needed in a timely manner. Soshace was responsive and professional. We are a young and growing startup and have not yet begun to monetize the system, so we don’t have any hard data as yet. As project manager, however, I can tell that the stakeholders are happy with the results so far.

How did Soshace perform from a project management standpoint? 

They covered the agreed scope and deliverables in the agreed schedule and were on budget.

What did you find most impressive about Soshace?

They are working mostly with JavaScript and its frameworks. They know all the best practices and know how to implement them. They work fast and plan their work process to reach their goals on time. Soshace is definitely a great JavaScript specialist.

Are there any areas Soshace could improve?

Since we had no problems during the process, the answer is no.