Sunscrapers

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I lead the data engineering and data visualization teams for a financial services company that focuses on investing in several asset classes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sunscrapers?

We needed help building a platform for data engineering and data science, including desktop and cloud components.

What were your goals for this project?

Our initial goal was to develop a robust data science / data engineering toolset.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I’d worked with Sunscrapers at previous jobs. We liked the flexibility of contracting this work out combined with having a full-time, dedicated resource to join as a member of the team.

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

Since our company uses Windows as the primary desktop, Sunscrapers developed a data science / data engineering toolset on top of Windows using Vagrant and VMs. Sunscrapers then helped us develop a data lake and data warehouse solution to extend this to the cloud (AWS).

The work is ongoing, with a full-time engineer from Sunscrapers fully incorporated into our team. Most of the development work is in Python, which is their specialty. There’s a fair amount of DevOps work as well, including bash scripting for Vagrant provisioning and Terraform for cloud infrastructure development.

What was the team composition?

We work with the one engineer. We also receive periodic assistance from his manager (CTO, Sunscrapers) as well as the CEO.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

This project has enabled us to launch a new data initiative while keeping costs down.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

They’re fully incorporated into our project management system, which is a lightweight form of agile. We do two-week sprints, staying in close contact via email, Jira, Confluence, Gitlab, Slack, and Zoom for video conferences. While there is a time zone difference, we’re able to have a good amount of overlap during our mornings.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Sunscrapers’ high-quality engineers are sharp and know how to get things done. They’re flexible and easy to work with, and their management team is communicative and helpful. They don't get distracted or flustered, and they focus on delivery. Plus, their knowledge of Python is extensive and deep. They are true professionals.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

As a small but growing company, it can be difficult for them to work with large enterprises such as our firm. We have a longer and more detailed procurement process compared to startups and midsize firms. However, they are aware of this and working on it. I think they will definitely improve over time and with more experience.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing director for an online marketing startup. We do data enrichment, which involves providing our customers with information about their online sales.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sunscrapers?

We were struggling with resources. We had some big customers that had a large number of tasks to be done at the same time, so we needed more developers to augment our team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have a tool that works with dashboards, and we have a large database where we store all the sales information. Sunscrapers has been working both on the structure of the database and also on the frontend for the dashboard where we present this information.

Their frontend developer is implementing a new design for the dashboards, which is the face of our company’s product. He mainly works with Django, Postgres, and Go, although they use a variety of technologies. For example, the frontend and backend are connected via Elasticsearch.

We already had our design finished when we hired Sunscrapers. They have a great UX team, though, and we hope to start some consultancy with them in the near future.

What is the team composition?

Sunscrapers currently provides one frontend developer who works with our in-house team.

How did you come to work with Sunscrapers?

We found them on Google, gave them a call, and had a few online meetings. They were professional, and we liked their approach, so we partnered.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in November 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have any data yet, but their work is great. Some of our people have looked at what they’re doing and are extremely happy with the quality so far.

How did Sunscrapers perform from a project management standpoint?

They work hard. We have an in-house project manager who works with Sunscraper's project manager, and that has been useful. We use Trello to track tasks and Slack for inside communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re transparent and work fast. We can always know what they’re doing, and they usually deliver on time.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

They're serious, professional, friendly, and easy to approach. I would recommend to just contact them and see where it takes you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’ve created a platform that acts as a shortcut for online product search. Users can find items tailored to their needs after answering a few questions on our platform. We currently focus on PC games, but plan to enter other markets and products on our site.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sunscrapers?

I wanted to find a professional company that could take care of my business’ software development. I was looking for someone better than previous suppliers we’d worked with in order to deliver a higher-quality solution. We had a working website, but we needed to rewrite the code.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially thought we could use the original code, but discovered that there were too many errors. Sunscrapers is completely rewriting the code and also working on the product’s UI/UX design. I told them what I liked about other sites and systems, and they gave me different options and feedback.

They’re using Python on the backend and React.js on the frontend. We’re using Amazon Web Services and DigitalOcean for hosting.

What is the team composition?

They’ve assigned two senior developers and a project manager. I also receive support from their CEO and CTO.

How did you come to work with Sunscrapers?

A friend who was familiar with the Polish development community recommend them. Sunscrapers was actually the only company he recommended. I had a call with the CEO of the company, and we started the collaboration.

I considered quite a few companies, but found Sunscrapers trustworthy after speaking with them. It felt like they were keeping my business in mind even when they were making the initial project plan. They cared about what they would deliver and what the results would be. If they felt like something wouldn’t work, they were honest about it from the very beginning.

There were both cheaper and more expensive options than Sunscrapers. However, Sunscrapers put a lot of effort into organizing the proposal and explaining where the numbers came from. The team was very professional when it came to planning, which is something that other companies didn’t have. I was impressed and confident that this approach would continue.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $50,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in September 2017. We’ve finished the initial phase, which equates to 70% of the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don’t have any actual metrics, but I’ve used a couple of senior developers who are also company advisors to review the code quality. They said the code is good and that Sunscrapers implemented best practices. They also didn’t identify any bugs.

Sunscrapers has always thoroughly went over their work to ensure that everything works properly for the demo.

How did Sunscrapers perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is one of their strengths. I’m not a programmer, so I can’t speak to their coding skills, but I do know that we have great communication. I’ve also been impressed with their planning skills.

We did have a situation where we were calculating two sprints and they tried to fit everything into one. I don’t doubt their ability to meet deadlines.

We use Trello for project management and Slack, email, and phone for everyday communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Sunscrapers treats my product as their own. It is helpful to hear what their developers’ think about how we can work with the available budget in order to deliver the best solution at different stages of the project. They are supportive and analytical.

Not every software house has this type of attitude. Many of them just want to deliver whatever they’re told without taking the product’s potential success into consideration. Sunscrapers questions my decisions about the product and makes me feel like I’m not alone. We’ve worked together to create the best solution.

Our engagement is something special for me as a company owner looking for trustworthy partners. I don’t have to think twice with them because I trust that they’ll deliver the best work possible. We’re able to openly discuss problems.

The kind of responsibility they’ve taken as co-owners of the product is impressive. I don’t feel like I’m working with people who just want to get the job done. Sunscrapers is a strategic as well as product- and business-oriented company. They are always open to implementing new functionalities but also willing to point out possible issues. The feedback is great and saves a lot of money.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m sure there are many things to point out, but nothing big comes to mind.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a full-service marketing and design agency servicing the automated IT and venture markets. We deal with a wide variety of clients, and have been in operation for 23 years. I’m the managing director and owner of the agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sunscrapers?

We’ve tried to find a broad variety of talent which can deliver solutions to different clients. Ten years ago, we had 3 in-house developers, but we didn’t have specialists for every framework. Normally, when talking about expanding a brand’s reach via different marketing techniques, the requirements can be diverse. We faced the challenge of employing multi-skilled people who were able to offer top-level services in very diverse areas.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sunscrapers is heavily involved in 1 of our core services, service design, which involves development of bespoke digital assets for either the facilitation or increase of communication.

We have an IT client who we’ve serviced as their lead agency across 23 different markets. All of the marketing is done centrally, and then we share it with each individual country or sales region. When dealing with large companies, one of the biggest challenges we face is that the existing IT setup doesn’t necessarily help the communication or distribution of information.

Over 3–4 years ago, Sunscrapers developed a language-specific download site which helps us share centrally-created assets with individual countries, each of which has its own login. We distribute all key marketing communication and design materials via that portal.

After initial development, they helped run and maintain the platform. They’ve used Python, WordPress, and HTML to provide ongoing development and support over a period of time

What is the team composition?

We currently employ key members of Sunscrapers’ team for predetermined amounts of time every month. We give a definite commitment to 1 core member, and, depending on project requirements, we utilize Lukasz’s [CEO, Sunscrapers] network. Afterwards, we and our base person offer a solution for the client’s brief.

We used 3–4 different developers within their team for the portal project. The requirements for that particular site were relatively broad, and although the end-solution is seamless, the scoping, coding, testing, and delivering required slightly different skill sets.

We’ve had 3 technical leads over the past 7 years who’ve managed work for us, and the handover between the people involved in our account has been relatively straightforward.

We’ve met Lukasz’s team, but we haven’t felt the need to do formal interviews. When we initially get a job, we scope the project, and then talk to Lukasz about the requirements. Afterwards, he comes back with recommendations on how to make the project possible, what skill sets are needed, and what the timing will be. It’s a fluid and friendly working relationship.

How did you come to work with Sunscrapers?

Lukasz worked for me in London as a full-time developer on a broad variety of tasks before deciding to start his own company. He pooled numerous people who could offer best-in-class solutions across a wide range of services.

How much have you invested with them?

In a typical year, we spend anywhere from £20,000–£70,000 [U.S. $25,000–$95,000]. We’re currently onboarding some prominent clients, which could potentially increase the budget. We have many big things planned across different markets for which we plan to utilize Sunscrapers’ services. The overall cost has been around £500,000. [U.S. $650,000].

What is the status of this engagement?

Lukasz formed Sunscrapers in 2010, but I’d been employing him 3 years prior to that.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are consistently able to rely on Lukasz to utilize his resources and make them available to us. We are now more cost effective, agile, and skilled in what we are able to offer to our clients. All are positive elements for us, and they lead to a degree of stability regarding our long-term relationship with Sunscrapers.

Sunscrapers’ services are incredibly well-made and reliable. We put our names on these products, so being able to trust them to present high-quality deliverables has pleased me time and time again. We’ve gotten to a point in our relationship where larger projects seem less daunting, and I’m comfortable that Lukasz can deliver accurately. This trust empowers me to expand the company and offer services I may have struggled with otherwise.

The feedback on the microsites, backend systems, and platforms which manage reporting and approval processes around marketing development funds have all been incredibly positive. The acclaim we’ve gotten from clients is resounding proof of Sunscrapers’ dedication.

How did Sunscrapers perform from a project management standpoint?

Having a full-time relationship with Lukasz has helped him better understand how we work with our clients, the approach we’re taking, and why we’re taking it. It gives us some degree of consistency, and enables us to start on projects faster. The working relationship is far more streamlined and aligned due to interacting with each other on a daily basis. It suits our model to have 1 full-time commitment through which we can acquire skilled resources.

I’m able to communicate with Lukasz directly if I’m dissatisfied with anything, and he’s taken the time to come to London in order to track progress and inquire about future needs as well.

We’ve certainly encountered frustrating elements throughout our engagement, but it’s always been remedied relatively quickly. Lukasz’s responsiveness has definitely made our relationship stronger. If we don’t understand something, there is a party available who can provide some kind of understanding. Overall, Sunscrapers’ service is unparalleled. I have no plans to change anything, and they’re an important part of my business.

We’ve successfully used Slack to manage all of our work. I have no issues with the distance between our teams, and the service we offer to our clients, along with our relationship with Sunscrapers, are both seamless.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Lukasz offers unrivaled flexibility as a business. I could find more skilled people in certain areas, but I’ve never come across a company with the ability to service us so broadly, all while doing it our expected quality level. We have a cost-effective, friendly, and resourced solution for our business and our clients’. We have no plans of changing it at any point in the future.

In any developmental relationship, things are constantly changing, and being able to acquire new resources increases the energy in our offered services and relationship with them. Lukasz keeps us up-to-date on a monthly basis, and we take half an hour per month to listen to that input. Our communication is very good.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Lukasz could benefit from improving his reaction time to unexpected tasks, but we realize that acquiring this sort of support without notice is incredibly difficult. I perceive no great flaws in Lukasz’s model, and it’s certainly cost-effective.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

The key is understanding how a company works, and then investing a lot of time in order to allow the digital partner to gain the same appreciation. Our commitment to Lukasz ensures that we are more aligned and have a better understanding of our projects. Clients need to invest their own time in making their expectations clear to partners. It’s a matter of easing into a relationship and getting to know each other before taking massive steps in a project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a travel business running a social community platform for personal journies. I am the founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sunscrapers?

We are a purely online business and needed to develop the idea from the ground up and create an MVP [minimum viable product]. We have no technical skills here so it was going to be necessary to find a partner. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sunscrapers acted as a startup service for our company. We handled most of the skeleton work in terms of creating a business model, as well as the design. Sunscrapers helped us test our points and define the model further.

We worked with a designer from Sunscrapers' team who expanded my initial sketches. There were also different software engineers, mostly frontend and backend Python developers, brought in when we needed the services. Sunscrapers' team was efficiently resourced. We mainly interacted with their principal and our designer, but I could reach out to anyone else. I'm not a web developer by trade, so Sunscrapers' contact was helpful in acting as an intermediary in our conversations.

How did you come to work with Sunscrapers?

I needed to find the right web developers for a slightly unusual idea. I researched companies through Google. Sunscrapers mentioned that they had a startup focus and the right business acumen for this. We had an initial contact and went from there.

How much have you invested with Sunscrapers?

The cost of Sunscrapers' services has been between £10,000 and £ 15,000 [US$12,000 and $18,000].

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Sunscrapers in August 2016. The relationship is ongoing, although it's been put on the backburner a few times. Sunscrapers leaves it to me to evaluate what needs to be done next.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Sunscrapers has been able to build a functional backend, almost beyond what I thought was possible. That in itself is a big achievement. The design is spot-on and perfectly linked to the actual functionalities of the site. I'm overall amazed at how close Sunscrapers' work is to my initial designs. I was expecting to hear "no" for the entire project run, but Sunscrapers found solutions, even though the work cost slightly more than I was anticipating.

How did Sunscrapers perform from a project management standpoint?

Sunscrapers uses Trello, Google Drive, and various other systems which have helped our collaboration. I can see everything being worked on using Trello, as well as a breakdown of the cost. I have the same access as Sunscrapers, so I can intervene when I need to. Someone in my team is actually a project manager by trade, and she has been using the same systems as Sunscrapers. That was quite comforting to know.

What did you find most impressive about Sunscrapers?

What makes them stand out amongst others is that they can share a business vision, instead of simply selling a flat service. They've understood my need to pivot, get to the MVP stage, evaluate, test, and maintain that loop. Sunscrapers' principal has an entrepreneurial mind, so the whole company feeds from that.

Are there any areas Sunscrapers could improve?

Not particularly. Anyone working in the startup business will want to know about maximum costs outright. This is hard for a development team to estimate, but Sunscrapers could become more transparent about the process. Having looked at the end result, I should have understood that it would require more money, but I was trigger-happy in the beginning.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

15Five provides communication tools between employees and managers, for different-sized companies. We do this by asking employees questions on a weekly basis, which are used as feedback for managers. I'm one of the co-founders and the acting CTO of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sunscrapers?

As our team grew, we've needed to hire additional people to help cope with increasing demand and a whole slew of priorities. We were looking for a very specific skill set, namely experience with Django/Python. This is what Sunscrapers specializes in, so it was easy to make a decision on them.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sunscrapers was initially involved with technical support, solving the bugs we were logging in GitHub. It was the best way in which we could introduce Sunscrapers to our system and have the team gain knowledge fast. This was done for 3 months, during which Sunscrapers mainly interacted with our customer support team. After 1–2 months, Sunscrapers demonstrated that they'd learned our system and were able to navigate around issues. As a result, we also involved Sunscrapers in new feature development. Throughout this experience, Sunscrapers continued to help us with support issues, but the biggest benefit we've seen from them is developing new features.

All of the features built by Sunscrapers have been successful. I was surprised by the level of attention to detail shown by their team, and by how much Sunscrapers cared about our project and the product itself. Sunscrapers has come back with suggestions for alternative approaches, trying to make our product better and more successful.

Sunscrapers implemented a custom user dashboard that became popular with almost all of our customers. It allows people to give high-fives to co-workers in order to show appreciation for help given. Objectives was another feature built in part by Sunscrapers. It has also been a successful addition to our platform.

Sunscrapers assigned two resources to us. They've acted as our own developers, communicating with us directly. I only hear from Sunscrapers' owners when we receive invoices and during routine check-ups; otherwise, the communication is the same as with our full-time employees. This removes any third-party or man-in-the-middle miscommunications. Even though Sunscrapers is 6 hours ahead of us, they've been willing to stay in late from time to time for important conference calls.

How did you come to work with Sunscrapers?

We interviewed around seven companies in total, each offering engineers with different skill sets. Some of them couldn't demonstrate their English proficiency, which made it difficult to demonstrate their Python skills.

One of my lead developers is from Poland. He found Sunscrapers at a Django conference in Warsaw, talked to them, and introduced me to the team. After a thorough interview with the developers, we felt that Sunscrapers would be the right fit for us. One of the reasons for picking Sunscrapers was that we were already working with a person in Sunscrapers, which made communication easier. Secondly, the team's level of English knowledge was very good, compared to some others we had used. Lastly, Sunscrapers demonstrated very good Django Python skills.

How much have you invested with Sunscrapers?

The cost of Sunscrapers services has been around $80,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Sunscrapers in June 2015. We're still working together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Sunscrapers is a part of the team which is building new elements and fixing issues. It would probably be impossible for me to point out any stats which directly resulted from Sunscrapers' work, other than the features which they built exclusively. Those features make up our product, and they've contributed to its expansion, as well as to our ability to gain new customers.

How did Sunscrapers perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication with Sunscrapers is frictionless and easy, even though the team is 6 hours ahead of our office. I've never had an issue getting in touch with Sunscrapers and clarifying requirements; they also reach out to us if something is not clear or if the team has improvement suggestions.

Sunscrapers puts in around 30 hours of work per week on average. Based on the weekly reports from Sunscrapers, I've seen that those hours are well spent. They are very efficient with their time, and I've never had a question regarding why so much attention was put into a specific part of the project. Sunscrapers is efficient, transparent, and provides exceptional communication, making ours an easy and successful partnership.

Our general communication happens on Slack, with daily check-ins discussing issues and anything else that doesn't require face time. Every week, we have a Zoom conference call with all developers. For specific sprint planning and ticket assignment, we use Trello. GitHub is also a big part of the work. We use it as our main repository for bug tracking and code review. Our requirements state that at least one other developer needs to review a full request, with 2 people being required for billing-related matters or changes in critical functionality. Sunscrapers' team is a part of that review process. They also take care of issues logged in GitHub.

What did you find most impressive about Sunscrapers?

Something that definitely stands out is their knowledge and passion for Python/Django. I've talked to other groups which offered Python specialists, but Sunscrapers' developers were top-notch. They were also down-to-earth, despite being technically knowledgeable and smart. Sunscrapers' resources make it easy for the rest of our team to work with them.

The communication is easy, Sunscrapers has been flexible in meeting hours, and they generally seem to be happy with the product we're working on. It's important for us to know that Sunscrapers' team enjoys the work and that they want to be a part of our team.

Are there any areas Sunscrapers could improve?

Sunscrapers is one of the most expensive developers we're using, out of all the other teams. Based on the value we've gotten, it still makes sense to use Sunscrapers.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the owner of a software-as-a-service provider that caters to law firms, delivering an online practice management solution. We operate in our home market in The Netherlands and abroad, in various European countries and elsewhere.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sunscrapers?

We'd had some experience with Polish nearshore developers and were looking for a new team to help us grow our development team. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sunscrapers has been involved in new feature development, maintenance, and bug fixes. We are continually improving our product; some of the features built by Sunscrapers include email billing and billing reminders. Sunscrapers also built an iOS app for time recording.

At the moment, we are working with 3 full-time developers from Sunscrapers, but the original team was made up of 2 resources. We work directly with them, but one of Sunscrapers' founders is also involved in team management. That direct involvement is important for us as it helps the long-term relationship.

How did you come to work with Sunscrapers?

Sunscrapers was recommended to us by a previous partner. We considered other companies, but Sunscrapers was the first one we tested and we were happy with the results.

How much have you invested with Sunscrapers?

The cost of Sunscrapers' work has been around $200,000 per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Sunscrapers at the beginning of 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have had a hard time finding developers in our niche, but Sunscrapers has a good team that helps us out. We are working on a continuous basis with the company and rely on Sunscrapers' overall expertise and their ability to provide quality programmers. Individuals can come and go, but Sunscrapers has developed a good business relationship with us. They're an extension of our own team, which is valuable to our company.

One of the developers working with Sunscrapers left 6 months ago, but this is normal for the industry. Sunscrapers replaced him right away, but it did involve a small learning curve for the new person. New developers usually get up to speed within a couple of weeks. It does help that Sunscrapers' founder remains involved in our work. Not only is he able to bring people up to speed, but he is also knowledgeable about our product. Currently, there's a lot of demand for programmers, so we are happy with Sunscrapers’ pool of engineers.

How did Sunscrapers perform from a project management standpoint?

Sunscrapers is a part of our team and Slack is our team communication tool. We've integrated them into a number of Agile tools for planning and version control.

What did you find most impressive about Sunscrapers?

Sunscrapers' team maintains a personal relationship, which is important for this type of work. Programmers are not always the most sociable people and it's important that they're aware of what we're trying to communicate, especially in an offshore relationship. We have visited their office and Sunscrapers has also visited us. We've tried to set up the team in such a way that it is a part of our company.

For a company the size of Sunscrapers, it's unique that they try to keep relationships on a personal level. They invest in people and find quality programmers who don’t only care about being paid a lot. We are glad we found Sunscrapers as a partner.

Are there any areas Sunscrapers could improve?

Sunscrapers shouldn't generally let its programmers deal with customers on their own. Instead of assigning us a developer and letting us figure things out, the company should be aware of what's going on and how individuals are performing. Sunscrapers needs to stay involved with project management and HR components. We have tried different scenarios with them and this has definitely improved in the past period. They are more involved with the productivity and quality of their engineers.

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

Clients always need to define their expectations, especially if there's distance between them and the development team. It's important to make sure that people understand what is being asked, instead of simply sending out ideas and wireframes over, then expecting the team to fully understand them. I've always preferred trying a partner relationship out for a few weeks, with a small task and at some kind of discounted rate. The provider needs to prove to the customer that they will be able to do the job.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director/ad manager at digital product agency. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sunscrapers?

We had a hard time finding any talent in the United States and needed to keep the momentum moving on the product that we're building, which was a dynamic content management platform for display ads.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had one developer from Sunscrapers working on this project.

How did you come to work with Sunscrapers?

I don't know how we first found them, but they were chosen because of their skill set. We were looking for a full stack developer who could do both Python and frontend code.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in summer 2016, and it is ongoing. We're getting closer to launch, and after that, we plan to continue the engagement, adding new pieces to the product and potentially doing another product.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The feedback that we've had from both the technical and business side has been terrific, which is why we continue to extend the relationship. We have committed to keeping the resource on for at least the remainder of the year, if not longer. In terms of productivity, they’re meeting all of our service standards in terms of how fast and how good the code is. We have a lot of regular reviews weekly of the code, and the quality is exactly where we want it to be for the work that we're doing.

How did Sunscrapers perform from a project management standpoint?

Everything has been really outstanding. The communication, both written and verbal, has been fantastic. They follow test-driven development, so that's really fantastic. For the code reviews, a standard pull request gets made, and then our team will review it and provide feedback. Once everything looks good, we'll deploy it. Bugs, if they're small, can be fixed within a day; if it's larger, like a structural issue, that can take days or a week, but it's all fully in line with our expectations.

They're very available. We use Hangouts for doing video conferences every day for our stand ups, JIRA for ticket management, and Slack for asynchronous communication—they're just phenomenal at all that. There is a big time zone difference; the end of their day is the beginning of our day, but we've been able to think up with our team at a specific time with them and have had zero problems with communications, which is super effective in making progress.

What did you find most impressive about Sunscrapers?

The biggest benefit of working with the person that we are currently is that they're not just implementing requirements as they’re laid out: they're bringing a lot of strategic thinking to it. The benefit of that is that it allows us to have less concrete requirements. We're able to spend less time building perfect wireframes and really detailed requirements, and we're able to work through problems with them. They do a lot of problem-solving at a strategic level, which means that they've done a good job in understanding the application and business needs and translating that into solutions that are brought to them really only half-thought-out, taking them all the way to code.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder of a web design agency based in London. We work with small businesses, creating their branding and web presence. In the latter case, we work with external companies in building web applications rather than building them ourselves. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sunscrapers?

We needed to build a website for one of our own clients. We had been working with an SEO company and together we were building a custom PHP-based platform. However, we needed to move it to a more efficient technology to allow for future improvements, both from a usability and SEO standpoint. We went exploring what we could do with other technologies and other suppliers. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have worked with Sunscrapers on developing a Python website, an advanced platform that is a mixture of e-commerce and social media. The site is aimed at pet owners looking for alternatives to using pet hotels. With the platform, pet owners can find people who can look after their pets and apartments while they're away. The platform works through a monthly or yearly subscription, and it also has messaging functionalities. We worked with a 5-person team from Sunscrapers. Together, we rebuilt the backend of the platform from scratch using the client's technical specifications. The frontend remained as it was. They had no hand in that. 

How did you come to work with Sunscrapers?

I was familiar with Sunscrapers and approached them. We didn't have a specific requirement for the Python language, but, because they provided a competitive quote, we decided to work together. We considered 2–3 other companies.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Sunscrapers in the beginning of 2013. The project had a 3- to 4-month duration. Because we have changed our business model, we've started to concentrate on building and designing small websites using open-source technologies like WordPress and Magento. As such, we don't require a lot of custom work. If we ever have a Python platform to build in the future, I will definitely approach Sunscrapers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website was initially built using PHP so it lacked more advanced functionalities. Its performance speed was an issue and it was not a scalable solution. Our aim was to improve the user experience as well as to make administrators' lives easier. There was also an SEO factor to consider. All of these things have been improved, making for a more reliable and effective site experience.

How did Sunscrapers perform from a project management standpoint?

Sunscrapers delivered on time and within budget. We used Basecamp for our collaboration.

What did you find most impressive about Sunscrapers?

An aspect I liked about them is that we were also able to speak directly with the developers themselves. I find this important when building a website; it ensures that nothing is lost in translation. Sunscrapers has made sure that the English level of each resource is near-perfect, making it easy for us to communicate. Sunscrapers' team was responsive in replying to emails.

Are there any areas Sunscrapers could improve?

None, at least based on my experience. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We provide broad software and analytics services, mostly for startup companies. We build web applications for companies looking to get their first product out of the door, or for bigger ones looking to build internal tools. I am the founder and president of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sunscrapers?

I was working with a media company in New York City, helping them work through the transitioning of their vice president of engineering. While they were looking for a new person to take over, I was in charge of the internal tech team. We were supporting 2 main products but didn't have the technical resources for 1 of them. Since they were already putting considerable effort into searching for a permanent technical lead, it didn't really make sense to increase the burden for only one more resource. I made the call to outsource it and we began to look for a partner that could help us with these products. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sunscrapers assigned one of their developers to our work, embedding him into our team. He came in and did a fantastic job of following my guidance and adding value to the product. The solution is using Django Python, JavaScript, AngularJS, a PostgreSQL database and Elasticsearch. The deployment is done on Heroku. We are using Amazon Web Services S3 for asset deliveries. We have a small team, and there has been some attrition within it. Sunscrapers' resource is the only person working on the product at the time, handling all significant tasks.

How did you come to work with Sunscrapers?

I met one of the founders of Sunscrapers at PyCon in Montreal, in the spring of 2015. We started chatting and I realized that I wanted to have Sunscrapers in my Rolodex of partners. It was only a matter of the right project coming up from then. I considered 2 other options for the current project but chose Sunscrapers after looking at factors like expertise, price, and location. Sunscrapers had the best price, but they actually had the least convenient location. Our other options were in New York and Brazil, so they were closer to our time zone. We found a way to make the difference work, so it hasn't been a problem. The cultural fit was another issue; Sunscrapers was happy and enthusiastic to become embedded within our team. Other agencies had more resistance to adapting.

How much have you invested with Sunscrapers?

The cost of Sunscrapers' work has been $75,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Sunscrapers in February 2016. The engagement has been ongoing since then.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our developer has been amazing. We've been able to accomplish all of our major milestones. Our product had some serious bugs. After tackling all of those, we increased test coverage, implementing automated testing for the first time for about 65% of cases. This was a major accomplishment in terms of improving general stability. We migrated the application from Python 2 to Python 3, which was a big maintenance win. We have reduced unneeded dependencies on old or irrelevant Python packages, cleaning up the stack on the backend.

We were introducing corporate accounts, which required a lot of backend work refactoring the existing code base. Sunscrapers' resource was very good at keeping the work on track.

How did Sunscrapers perform from a project management standpoint?

Sunscrapers' developer is one of the best I've worked with in this regard. We used Jira for sprint climbing and user stories, as well as GitHub for code reviews.

What did you find most impressive about Sunscrapers?

Sunscrapers is a very friendly and easy-to-work-with company. I never felt like I was fighting egos, which can be a reality in this industry. Sunscrapers was working with me, as opposed to working for me.

Are there any areas Sunscrapers could improve?

Sunscrapers is one of the best options when it comes to Python/Django, but I'd like to see them improve front-end technical capabilities.

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

I recommend setting expectations as clearly as possible. The good news is that this is easy to do with Sunscrapers. They're also very flexible in either working on a project or retainer basis.