SpdLoad

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a peer-to-peer international delivery platform connecting travelers with people who wish to order products or send packages abroad. If someone from the US wants to order a product from Vietnam, for example, they can connect to a person from the country, who will be traveling to the US. Essentially we're an Uber for international parcel delivery.

The company is made up of myself and my partner. We also have outsourced designers, and my brother has helped on the MVP over the last two years. We're located in Vietnam.

What is your position?

I am the founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with SpdLoad?

I needed to find a responsive partner who could build the platform for me. I had a two-month collaboration with another team and saw some bad results, so I needed to find another option. There was no other platform similar to mine to use as an example, so I needed to plan everything and work together with the developer.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

I had an MVP solution and a user base, but the platform itself did not exist. SpdLoad adapted my concept into the actual technology. We initially developed a responsive web application using Angular and Laravel.

SpdLoad was flexible around the features we'd be building, and advised me on how to build a product that could evolve over time. SpdLoad assigned a Russian-speaking team for my project, which made it easier for me to work with them. They understood my business concepts and adapted the platform to best suit those. Even after the specifications were set, it was easy to change and adapt them. My US partner reviewed SpdLoad's work and approved it.

I was in contact with SpdLoad's head developer, who consulted me on every aspect of the project. He put together the rest of the three-person development team. At one point, we introduced an additional resource.

How did you come to work with SpdLoad?

SpdLoad was recommended to me by my partner and mentor, who was using them for an AI project. I saw their portfolio, liked it, and contracted SpdLoad.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The cost of SpdLoad's work has been $8,000 for our initial phase. With the changes I requested, the total has gone up to $11,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I have been working with SpdLoad since August 2016. The backend has been completed, but we've needed to make a lot of changes and adapt the design accordingly. We estimate that the app will be ready in three weeks, at which point we will start beta testing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

SpdLoad did everything I asked for. My mentor looked at their work and approved most of what SpdLoad was doing. Everything has been fine on their side, even though the app hasn't launched yet.

How did SpdLoad perform from a project management standpoint?

One of our developers left the project, and it took SpdLoad some time to find a replacement. They did adjust the billable hours accordingly, which I respected. From a project management perspective, this still shouldn't have happened. I expected SpdLoad to have some ongoing contracts with developers in order to prevent incidents like this one.

What distinguishes SpdLoad from other providers?

What I like about working with SpdLoad is that I can call them anytime I have an issue and receive a quick response.

Is there anything SpdLoad could have improved or done differently?

The only drawback was our developer leaving, but I was compensated for this by SpdLoad. Bad things will happen, but I am satisfied with my collaboration with SpdLoad.

Do you have any recommendations for others considering working with SpdLoad?

Don't be shy in asking questions; SpdLoad will answer them. It's also best for customers to have some understanding of the technology. I had to address technical issues with my partner since I don't have a background in IT. It was hard to find a common language with SpdLoad's team in the beginning because of this, but they've adapted to my lack of knowledge and are now using language that I can understand.

BACKGROUND

Please introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company's name is the Impacto Group, a communications and market research firm. We are currently representing several brands in Ukraine, one in Spain, and one in Great Britain. We are exclusive distributors for those countries, and we are starting a consulting business for companies who want to enter China. I am the owner of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SpdLoad?

We developed our online store with another company, and it was very expensive. But, when we wanted to add some additional features, we very quickly realized that what we bought was very limited. The company that was developing the site was very expensive and not very responsive. They were putting us on a waiting list of something like two or three weeks. Today, that is an unacceptable waiting period, particularly for something online.

While I was trying to figure out a solution to this problem, SpdLoad contacted me. There are, of course, many companies that offer their kind of service, but the way they contacted us, and the way the email was written, they just caught my attention, so I gave them a chance to present themselves.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The first thing we did was a mobile adaptation for the website because our website was not set up for mobile. This was the first work they did for our site. They were quick, they were very professional, and the price was very good. Slowly, we stopped working with the first company, and we have now entirely stopped working with them on the current project.

We've been working with SpdLoad for more than a year now. They have provided all the support and done all the new modules for us on the first project. Then, we started a second project from scratch called OpenCart. It's another Internet website, an Internet shop. We haven't launched as yet, but compared to the first site it's bigger, more expensive and has much more features. Essentially, we now have two projects with SpdLoad.

The first website was on MODX. When we contacted SpdLoad for additional modules for the website, they didn't have a manager working with MODX, but they found a very good programmer very quickly. I am happy with the person they found because the first company had programmed the platform in a way that made it very complicated for their clients to leave them. It was challenging to find someone who could take their place in our store. SpdLoad found this person, and we are very happy with him.

How did you come to work with SpdLoad?

They contacted us, and I gave them a try with the mobile application for the first website. They did everything great, so step-by-step, I started to give them more tasks. That was how we started to work with them.

How much have you invested with SpdLoad?

We have invested around $6,000 with the mobile application for the existing website. We've already invested around $4,000 in the current project, and it is not yet finished. I think in total it will come in at about $7,000 to the moment of launch. Then, monthly support requires some expenses.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with SpdLoad in June or July 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have both wholesale and retail customers using the site, and we are receiving very good feedback. First of all, people were complaining that the site was not mobile-friendly; now it is and is being used at a very good rate. Then, we have our own managers who are working with the site, and they are very happy with what we did with SpdLoad. Some modules were created from scratch to help us manage the warehouse, something we invented ourselves that is very easy for us to work with. Our company employees and managers are very happy with the site.

How did SpdLoad perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is very simple and easy for me to use. We are using Google Docs. There is a spreadsheet where we input what needs to be done. SpdLoad works very quickly and updates the status of the project frequently. When I need to clarify something, they respond very quickly. They're always online.

The other company that we had been working with was just not reachable, which was very tough, especially when the site was not working. Since we began working with SpdLoad, the site is always working, and if I need something – weekends or weekdays – there is always someone taking care of us.

What did you find most impressive about SpdLoad?

They are very client-oriented. They are very quick. They give good advice in terms of design and general approach since they work with foreign markets. That was one thing I liked about them – they know the latest trends, and they give great advice. If I say let's do this, they might point out what is trending now and suggest a different way. I am very glad they gave that kind of advice. In a couple of cases, I had some reservations but, in time, came to understand that they were right.

They give very good professional advice in a way that is not offensive. Even if I have a stupid idea, they never tell me that directly. They know how to communicate and give good advice to avoid mistakes. SpdLoad is not just a company who is doing what you tell them to do and doesn't care about your business. They do care, and that's very important. I feel like they are a part of our team.

Are there any areas SpdLoad could improve?

This is only the third vendor I've worked with, and compared to the first two, I can't suggest anything. Maybe there is always something that could be done better, but I just don't have the experience to say. Everything is good for me now.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the owner of a social media website that features a mix of travel and events.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SpdLoad?

Our company needed a responsive design built on Bootstrap. We hired SpdLoad because we needed a designer that could implement a design quickly.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SpdLoad handled a large project for our company, and they performed very well. Our main requirement was that all of their designs should be responsive on web and mobile. SpdLoad had to create hundreds of layouts to explain to the coders how the transitions would happen. I believe they used Adobe Illustrator for this project. They had to follow specific color schemes and other specifications. SpdLoad also worked on the mapping, chat rooms, and blogs. We started off wireframing using moqups.com. Then, SpdLoad submitted two to three mockups per page as specified in our contract. It was fairly involved from a design standpoint and the project was very iterative.

How did you come to work with SpdLoad?

SpdLoad was recommended by our contract coders who worked with them before. Matt and his team were just starting SpdLoad at the time. We asked them to submit some examples and a mockup. We decided to hire them because we liked their style.

How much have you invested with SpdLoad ?

We have invested a little less than $10,000 in our engagement with SpdLoad.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement probably ran from January to March of this year [2016]. I call them when I need smaller jobs involving landing pages. These contracts would require an average of four to five days. SpdLoad had designed other small websites and icons for my clients, but nothing the size of the social media site.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Surprisingly, I did not have any revisions in mind when I viewed SpdLoad's output. Usually, I'm very picky about page layout. Since there were 200 pages of framing, I was expecting to review mockups forever. They were able to get the ideas and themes down very quickly. I agreed with their designs 100 percent of the time – that's why I still call on them. Their designers have excellent ideas and did a fantastic job of reading my mind.

How did SpdLoad perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated pretty well with SpdLoad, using Skype and other technologies for coordination. Margarita was our project intermediary, and she was pretty fluent. We talked around four to five times a day to make sure everything was organized correctly. They adapted pretty well to the latest software, especially the ones that we use, so no problems there. We used Bitbucket as a repository for our designs. We also went back and forth through Google Drive or Dropbox for screenshots, using JPEG or Adobe files.

What did you find most impressive about SpdLoad?

The SpdLoad team is made up of very creative and easygoing people. I was also amazed at the speed with which they finished the project. I think they're fairly resilient folk, and we enjoyed working with them.

Are there any areas SpdLoad could improve?

The SpdLoad team is from Ukraine, which affected our communication. Things got lost in translation sometimes, but we were able to work it out. That was the only issue we had, and it improved the more we had back-and-forth communication.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a law firm based in Ukraine. We have been in the market for 4 years in our current shape and form. We used to be partnered with one of the largest law firms in Vienna. By Ukrainian standards, we are a mid-sized law firm working within a wide area, including regulatory issues, taxes, etc.

I am one of the founding partners.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SpdLoad?

We had been in the process of revamping our web page. Our existing one was slightly outdated, being more than 4 years old. Our firm had gone through many changes as well since 2012, so we decided to reshape our website, using updated elements like sliders, banners, and so on. We started looking around for people that could do that.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SpdLoad rebuilt our site from scratch. We purchased a template to use as a basis for the work, but at the end of the day, we ended up reshaping it by more than 40%.

We didn't use a WordPress template. We had some discussions with SpdLoad as well as our current service provider on this subject, and we ultimately decided that WordPress did not fulfill our needs. Our web page won't be changed frequently. We only plan to add news and descriptions for the practice, including lawyer CVs. WordPress would have given us many options, but we wouldn't have used most of them. One of the jobs of our current service provider was to make an administration panel for the website in order for it to be as user-friendly as possible, allowing non-technical people to make changes with it.

We have worked on online marketing at a very basic level, but we haven't yet used off-site specialists to run this for us yet. SpdLoad has worked on on-site SEO [search engine optimization] as part of our deal, and they optimized our site for mobile devices. This was a big part of SpdLoad's work and I'm generally happy about the results.

We are based in a different city from SpdLoad. I had doubts about how convenient our collaboration would be. Having had a previous bad experience with a remote project, I was skeptical, but working with SpdLoad was okay, even over the phone. They understood my needs, even though I'm not an IT person and don't possess a large vocabulary in this sense.

How did you come to work with SpdLoad?

We considered a number of companies that could do this kind of work, as well as freelancers. At the end of the day, we arrived at SpdLoad through a referral from a friend who had worked with them. We received 3-4 recommendations in total and sent our request for proposal to each one. We talked to the candidates and made our choice based on SpdLoad's past work and cost. Prices were more or less in the same range, so communication and how SpdLoad presented its portfolio were the deciding factors. We didn't have many compulsory procuring requirements, so we were able to choose freely.

Many IT services providers involve too many business people in the negotiation, instead of technical ones. One of the reasons for not choosing another provider was that when we talked to their marketing person, we got the constant feeling of being sold more than what we wanted to buy. As a client, we got a very bad feeling. The clear difference with SpdLoad was that they didn't attempt to do this. There was a target for our project and an understanding of how to get there. SpdLoad simply gave us options for getting from point A to point B, with no suggestions of a point C. As a client, I appreciated this, and it was a pleasant difference from larger IT firms, which worked as commercial entities.

How much have you invested with SpdLoad?

SpdLoad's cost was reasonable within the market. Our project was altogether around $1,000, which included creative designs for banners. SpdLoad always suggested the simplest approaches for our result, taking cost into consideration.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the communication process with SpdLoad 2 months ago, putting together the technical assignments. The work itself started one month ago. We are at the edge of launching our new website, with only final touches left.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I stopped using larger firms after noticing an over-commercialized approach from them. SpdLoad is a rather new firm on the market. There were certain risks in dealing with them, but in general terms, I'm satisfied with the results of the work. Our site has been live on the testing environment. There were some glitches with it, which is inevitable. At the end of the day, I'm satisfied with the quality of SpdLoad's work, compared to our previous provider. Any bugs were removed quickly and there was never a case in which I wanted to change something and SpdLoad refused it. They did their best to produce a site in line with our expectations, offering us alternative approaches.

How did SpdLoad perform from a project management standpoint?

There were no significant delays on SpdLoad's end. They are trying hard to be accessible.

What did you find most impressive about SpdLoad?

Responsiveness was better with SpdLoad than with other similar firms that I've dealt with. SpdLoad also worked 30-40% faster than other vendors. I don't have a large experience with IT firms, but I have worked with 2-3 of them over the last 10 years. SpdLoad is a young firm with good potential. They definitely have a friendly approach, and with some effort, SpdLoad could develop into a larger company.

Is there anything SpdLoad could have improved or done differently?

The only improvement on SpdLoad's quality of service would be in terms of internal communication and double-checking if everything was addressed. SpdLoad sometimes skipped or missed comments from us. Once they were directed to those issues, they fixed them. There is also some room for improvement in terms of internal quoted estimates, on SpdLoad's side.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I am a freelancer working on private, small business projects.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with SpdLoad?

I needed development resources for my projects.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

I have worked with SpdLoad on building a web-based system for a technical organization. We have used a variety of back-end and front-end technologies, including PHP and HTML.

How did you come to work with SpdLoad?

I found SpdLoad on the LinkedIn network. I got in touch with their owner [and CEO, Maksym Babych,] and discussed the resources that they could offer for my project. SpdLoad has a variety of capabilities, including JavaScript, HTML and other web technologies. I have been impressed with their speed and way of working.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The total cost of SpdLoad's development services has been less than $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I have been working with SpdLoad for six months [since January 2016] and have an ongoing relationship with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

SpdLoad has a very diversified and skilled team that covered every need that I had in terms of technology and project management. They always assumed responsibility for the work, and I enjoyed working with SpdLoad.

How did SpdLoad perform from a project management standpoint?

Our collaboration was divided into design, programming, quality assurance, and relationship management. There were many people involved in the process, so SpdLoad provided project management services. I was impressed with them in this regard.

What distinguishes SpdLoad from other providers?

SpdLoad assumed accountability for their work and they gave me a very good pricing.

Is there anything SpdLoad could have improved or done differently?

Some designs created by SpdLoad were not good enough for me, so we had to rework them during the second phase of development. Overall, I was satisfied, and this shortcoming was due to insufficient details on my part. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Product Marketer of Middleware

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Middleware is a unified cloud observability platform

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• initial business analysis
• technical documentation

SOLUTION

How did you find SpdLoad?

Referral

Why did you select SpdLoad over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from SpdLoad were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

SpdLoad handled everything from initial business analysis and technical documentation to UI/UX design, backend development and QA. The solution included a real-time dashboard, API integrations with AWS, Azure and Prometheus and a customisable alert system.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since we launched the tool we’ve reduced infrastructure downtime by 37% and our engineering team spends 40% less time on manual monitoring. The real-time alerts have improved our SLAs and customer satisfaction metrics.

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

Project management was good. They used Jira and Slack for daily communication, biweekly sprints and demos. The PM was proactive and we always had visibility on progress, blockers and roadmap priorities.

What was your primary form of communication with SpdLoad?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their business focused approach. They didn’t just build features — they asked the right questions, suggested improvements and truly acted as a technical partner. Their ability to turn a complex infrastructure into a user-friendly product is impressive. 

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

They are constantly improving their product and I didnt find any flaws in it

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Marketing Specialist of a software company.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Call center software

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Help with API

SOLUTION

How did you find SpdLoad?

Online Search

Why did you select SpdLoad over others?

Company values aligned

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

SpdLoad delivered a fully tested and deployment-ready solution. The team managed the project well, delivered tasks on time, communicated clearly, and proactively responded to our needs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

A ready for deployment solution, which received positive stakeholder feedback.

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

The team communicated clearly, delivered on time, and proactively responded to updates.

What was your primary form of communication with SpdLoad?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Proactive to eager to deleiver a well-tailored result

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

everything was ok

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Product Owner of Commercio

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Provide digital products that helps US customers prepare payroll and tax documents for their business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Fast Web Development Resources Availability
• Good UX Designers
• Symfony Framework Experts Hiring

SOLUTION

How did you find SpdLoad?

• Online Search
• Referral

Why did you select SpdLoad over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from SpdLoad were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Have expert Symfony developers join our agile team quickly, alongside UX and Frontend people as well.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The implementation and delivery of features promptly. The quality of the UX work on our projects and attention to detail. The ability to flexibly adjust the needed resources to future company needs. The positive vibes from the SPDLoad people.

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

Always available and responsive. Great project management overall.

What was your primary form of communication with SpdLoad?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their network of people. They were able to find a solution for any of our problems, especially with recruiting and staffing.

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

Processes are already good, but could be improved slightly to be more standardized.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Project Manager of Tela Contractor

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Tela Contractor is a way to get services by the touch of your fingertips. We want to provide fast and easy communication between the client and professional.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Grab the attention for the clients/professional
• Company growth

SOLUTION

How did you find SpdLoad?

Upwork

Why did you select SpdLoad over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from SpdLoad were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Have client sign up for particular service that includes professionals and engineers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The design definitely catches the users attention and the platform is easy to work around. I expect a good outcome

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

Yes we started by communicating through slack which was helpful then we proceeded by doing weekly meeting via Webex where most of our communication came along.

What was your primary form of communication with SpdLoad?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

What impressed me the most was if one designer couldn't finish the project they will find another person the very next day which didn't slow down the process one bit

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

Everything flowed smoothly, as I expected.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of Verbins LLC

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a b2b platform where we match small fashion brands to specialty woman apparel boutique retail stores

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

design and build the b2b platform

SOLUTION

How did you find SpdLoad?

Online Search

Why did you select SpdLoad over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from SpdLoad were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

SPDLoad had to design and build the whole platform, do the testing and deliver a website that works well.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

we had a very clear timeline about what had to be accomplished and when. it was well organized and the deadlines were relatively respected.

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

yes delivered items on time. they always answered promptly to my concerns. they are a serious team

What was your primary form of communication with SpdLoad?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Ilike their method of working and organizing the work. website development is a long and tedious process and its important to have clear steps along the way and clear deadlines. and they were able to do that. although they had the war and many difficulties , they still managed to work as best as they could.

Are there any areas for improvement or something {provider_name} could have done differently?

after I tested the website, there were some corrections and changes that I asked that were not done properly but these were few and they were corrected afterwards.