Waverley Software

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of an insurtech startup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Waverley Software?

We were trying to start a new business line, so we needed someone to help build our code base from scratch.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started the custom software development project with a discovery phase where we talked about our requirements, the language we wanted to use, and the frameworks to implement.

We wanted a code that other engineers could seamlessly pick up, and we were able to put together the specifications of the software we wanted to develop. The final deliverable was an API endpoint that provides metrics from an internal database in various locations around the world.

What is the team composition?

We mainly interfaced with a project manager, junior engineer, and senior manager.

How did you come to work with Waverley Software?

We came across their company through our main funder, who they had some success partnering with.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from August 2020–August 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They did exactly what we asked them to do at a reasonable time.

How did Waverley Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We met with each other on a weekly basis and effectively put together a couple of sprints. The team was highly communicative and straightforward throughout the project.

We managed the project through Trello and communicated using Google Meet, Slack, and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were impressed with their friendliness, honesty, streamlined process, and ability to cleanly provide what was needed for the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their approach to developing timelines should be a bit more efficient.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d advise you to have a well-defined product specification for what you want to build to make the partnership more seamless.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of engineering for a fast software development company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Waverley Software?

I was looking to scale my engineering team quickly, as we were still a new business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Waverley Software serves as our primary staff augmentation partner, providing us with highly-qualified software engineers to scale for our projects. We’ve hired a maximum of 15 professionals specializing in Python, Django, and TypeScript.

They’ve mostly worked on customer-centric and various product development projects utilizing a completely new set of technologies.

What is the team composition?

We work with a project manager, a QA specialist, and 15 software engineers.

How did you come to work with Waverley Software?

Waverley Software was referred to us by one of our investors.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $2 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in December 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don’t have any specific metrics, but the software engineers are performing on a level relative to their benchmarks, so they’ve been able to hold their own. We’ve been exceptionally pleased with the quality of their work and the speed at which they achieve them.

How did Waverley Software perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very easy to partner with from a project management perspective, and we mainly use JIRA across all our teams.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re very impressed with their ability to take accountability for the process.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve been really satisfied with them as a provider, so I don’t have any constructive feedback. I’ve worked with other software developers in the past, and Waverley Software is head and shoulders above the rest.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a digital sales engineer for a live events production company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Waverley Software?

We needed a company that could help us rebuild one of our existing digital tools.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Waverly initially was brought in to do a complete re-platform and redesign of one of the existing digital tools that we offer our clients. This software allows our association clients, whom we engage with in a B2C model, to manage and sell exhibit space for their events by providing potential buyers a way to view and purchase booth space online.

Waverley Software currently helps monitor, manage, and maintain the software by providing remote IT support.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with around 10 people from Waverley Software, including a project manager, a quality assurance lead, an account manager, and three developers.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2019, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Waverley Software has been a very professional team. Their releases and sprint cycles have all been as expected. 

How did Waverley Software perform from a project management standpoint?

Waverley Software has performed well in terms of project management. They react in an appropriate time-sensitive fashion, and they’re incredibly responsive to questions and inquiries. They work remotely and in a different timezone, but that has never affected our day-to-day operations.

We use Jira and Trello for project management, and we manage release notes, work bugs, fix requests, and general communication through Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re most impressed with Waverley Software’s excellent communication skills. Sometimes, with offshore developers, communication and language barriers can be very difficult. With Waverley Software, we have not experienced that at all. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I have no complaints.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to have a structured meeting schedule for communication updates and requirements.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the project manager at Credolab, a B2B fintech company. We mainly work for countries in East Asia due to the lack of good credit history for citizens. We’ve built a solution for banks and any financial institutions that provide citizens with credit, and our services are helpful to them. Our data scientist team makes their scorecards, and we have a web portal and Android and iOS apps. Also, we have software development kits (SDK) that are very popular among our clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Waverley Software?

Our company had existed for six years, and we had a simple app that almost no one used. We also had an iOS SDK, but we primarily focused on Android. We realized we needed to build a solid iOS application and a good SDK model for our clients. Therefore, we hired a third-party company to collaborate with an iOS developer.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Waverley Software built an iOS app for demonstration purposes for our sales managers. We hired them to create an iOS SDK for us. The purpose of the SDK was data collection from a mobile device. It was anonymized data, and we worked according to DTPR and other policies, so everything was legal. With the help of this application, our sales managers can show our clients, who can customize the app according to their expectations. 

They also built a behavioral model SDK. This SDK collected user behavior on the phone and the number of clicks and swipes from iOS devices. Before, we only had an SDK for Android. Now, if our client has their own app, they can embed our SDK into their application, which will allow us to collect the data from the clients’ devices. Also, clients can request to receive the data from their server.

Since we developed the Android version, our Android developer communicated with them. They collaborated — we shared all the information on how our Android architecture looked, which gave them a vision of how everything should work. 

What is the team composition?

We had one iOS developer.

How did you come to work with Waverley Software?

We were searching for a developer. Somebody from our top management said she had received an email from Waverley Software. I emailed them, and we conducted a call. They seemed very professional, and the price was pretty fair for a US developer.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $3,800 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from July 2021–February 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The developer from Waverley Software showed himself as a professional. We didn’t collect any metrics; we only gave them some deadlines. They provided reasonable estimates and delivered everything on time.

Moreover, the quality of work was good. We didn't find many bugs, so our Android developer was satisfied. Additionally, the feedback was good.

How did Waverley Software perform from a project management standpoint?

Our business didn’t give us any deadlines for the project; they told us to take our time. However, Waverley Software delivered within the estimation they gave. We only communicated at the beginning. After that, the whole process was managed by our Android developer.

We created the tasks for them in our task management system. They tracked the time there and put their estimations. Based on those estimations, we built some content diagrams to see when we’d complete each task.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The communication skills of the management team were pretty high. Also, they were very responsible for what they did. In general, Waverley Software cared about whether we were satisfied with the progress and development work. Overall, we were more than satisfied. If we ever need more development work, we’ll return to them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there wasn’t anything to improve. It was a smooth collaboration.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you pay your bills on time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior QA manager at Invicro, a biotech software company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Waverley Software?

Our main focus was to add more development resources to test our software across three major product areas.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Waverley Software provides us with software development and customer support. They have resources for two of our products; iPACS and VivoQuant, as well as for professional services involving customizations for our customers.

For each of those areas, their team is responsible for coordinating with developers, understanding the requirements of the software, testing the software, and creating further test plans — they also run regression testing for releases.

They typically use a screenshot software for testing purposes and JIRA with the S3 plugin as their primary management tool.

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact is Alexey (Senior QA Engineer).

How did you come to work with Waverley Software?

I came on board the same day that the Waverley Software team members were joining, so I wasn’t actually involved in the decision-making process.

How much have you invested with them?

Over the course of our engagement, I believe we’ve spent around $500,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in September 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When they started working with us, there was an extremely large backlog of tasks for the testing team that the development team was also participating in.

Within the first couple of weeks, the development team has shifted entirely from testing, as Waverley Software substantially reduced the number of testing tasks in our backlog.

As a result, we’ve been able to release around 15 versions of our product lines from having a dedicated testing team in place.

How did Waverley Software perform from a project management standpoint?

Each team member from Waverley Software is largely self-sufficient. There aren’t really any surprises when we have our daily stand-ups and weekly check-ins, because everyone performs their tasks accordingly once they have everything they need.

Furthermore, they have the initiative to talk to the team themselves in order to come up with their own solutions, so managing their large team is relatively easy.

We typically communicate through Slack and Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

One trait I would like to highlight is their communication skills. They do a good job of being consistently responsive, especially in this remote environment where keeping in touch is essential.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There isn’t anything to improve on because when we do experience any kind of issue or concern, they make sure to resolve and optimize it as quickly as possible.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise communicating your needs and expectations in great detail before moving forward with the project, and make sure you’re well-equipped to address any of their questions.

It’s important for the partnership that they’re able to feel that they can voice their opinion, so make sure you provide them with everything that they need.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive of an electronic software company. We focus on providing electronic management solutions to financial services companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Waverley Software?

We wanted to develop a web-based application version of our current document management tool.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Waverley Software replicates the on-premise version of our office tech system into a web-based platform as a service app. They’re using web technology to build a product that will allow us to move our clients into a civilized environment. 

What is the team composition?

We’re currently working with 5–6 people from their team; a consultant supervisor in our weekly meetings, a QA controller, and three developers.

How did you come to work with Waverley Software?

We found them on the internet; we interviewed them and told them the approach we wanted to give to this project. We decided to give them a one-month trial, they did a good proof of concept for us, and we decided to go with them for this project.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $200,000 AUD (approximately $150,000 USD) with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2020, and the project is ongoing. We’re launching at the end of July, and we’ll go into a change and update phase after the release of the product.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve met all the milestones that we’ve set so far, and the app is launching on time. 

How did Waverley Software perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re great; it’s a great team to work with. In terms of communication, we use Jura and have weekly meetings. Those meetings have been increasing as we get closer to the release date, so we’ve been able to communicate well — their team has been responsive, proactive, and professional.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their commitment to the project is good. We started a difficult task with Waverley Software, and they understood the complexity of what we wanted to do. Also, they put the extra effort to meet deadlines, ensuring a positive and amiable experience.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They can improve on allocating the resources; I had to ask them to change things back to where they were because their alterations were causing a significant impact on the project that I didn’t expect.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be upfront with them on your project expectations so you can convey them. They’re open to understanding your comments and frustrations and are agile to change those things.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Freeman is an integrated, full-service event solution that leverages a 100-year legacy in event management as well as new technologies to deliver moments that matter.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Waverley Software, and what were your goals?

Blueprint by Freeman is a cloud-based floor planning tool for exhibition organizers.

SOLUTION

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

This is an ongoing project that forms part of a product in Freeman's digital portfolio

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

The team size changed as priorities changed but most recently we have had the following as part of the project:

• Engineers
• Manual and Automated QA
• Designer
• DevOps BA

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

I have had the pleasure of working with Waverley for 2 years, however the team has been supporting our project for the past 5 years. They always supply top-class talent that suit the requirements of the project. During the most recent turbulent times of Covid, there were a lot of uncertainty within our industry that included management changes, reduction budgets, departments closing. Our project team from Waverley stays consistent, dedicated, professional, and always positive. Most recently we have worked on a challenging project with tight deadlines and a lot of risk factors that included some team members leaving the project and introducing new members’ mid-project.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

The team attend daily-stand ups, weekly architecture meetings and most of the communication happens on Slack The projects are managed on Jira with 2-weeks Sprints

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

I would like to say a huge thank you to the following people that worked tirelessly to ensure the success of our projects:

• Jaroslav – This man is a genius! His dedication and commitment to our project ensured that we could push forward and go-live with confidence. With his out-the-box thinking and can-do-attitude any project will be a success. He is meticulous, patient, and hard-working.
• Maksym – Do not under-estimate Maksym, a true dark horse! He might be quiet, but with his powerful mind he is always processing information and try to find the most efficient solution. Nothing is ever too much trouble and has a wide skill-set range which is so valuable when you have limited resources.
• Illia - inquisitive young mind! He has showed a real interest in what we do as a company and not only focussing on the task at hand, but always looking at the bigger picture. He is not scared to ask questions or challenge something when he feels there’s a different way of approaching something.
• Dmitry - a true creative super-star. Our projects have a unique user-base with specific requirements. He took the time to research and understand their requirements and created compelling journeys and experiences. With his strong creativity, technical and problem-solving skills he is a must have on any project.
• Marina – Always ensuring perfection! Marina is a master in defining priorities and even when we are facing challenging times, she will overcome these with the biggest smile on her face. She understands the end-user experience and flexible as priorities change.
• Alexander – Not all heroes fight on the front-line! Alexander works behind the scenes reviewing, analysing specifications and executing test scripts and reviewing results. He plays a pivotal role in the team to identify, review, resolve and implement solutions.
• Alla – I think Alla owns a magic wand! Alla is the glue that holds it all together with her incredible attention to detail, high-level of accuracy, organizational skills, impeccable problems solving skills and confidence to push back.
• Mike and Roman – most recent super stars to join our team. It’s never easy joining a new project, especially when it’s in full swing and not much time to get to grips with the product and requirements. They jumped in head first and got their hands dirty!

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

No.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Emotional Intelligence, a school at Yale University. Our work centers on research, educational and content programming, and special emotional learning.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Waverley Software?

We needed their team to help us design tools that will allow us to assess school environments and the students’ emotional experiences.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Waverley Software was part of the design and development of the tools that my team devised for our institution — a web-based application and a native app that was downloadable on mobile devices.

Each of the tools that we conceptualized was meant to help us deliver surveys, and Waverly Software helped us make them more interactive since our target respondents were students. Their team improved our UX so that the students could easily swipe through the questionnaire and move from one panel to the next. 

On one of our apps, they integrated a feature that allowed our users to click on keywords that are specially generated until the user is satisfied with the search results. Additionally, they created a dashboard that made the school data downloadable via the web source, allowing users to record data on their own instead of having to check the platform every time they needed to.

Waverley Software continues to support us by implementing site and app changes now and then. We’re also in the process of completing our second project with their team.

What is the team composition?

We work with about seven people from Waverley Software, including one project manager and their tech resources.

How did you come to work with Waverley Software?

Waverley Software was recommended to us by our director, who hired them to develop another website for our center.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $180,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement started in April 2020, and it’s ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Waverley Software works effectively to deliver perfect results for us — we’ve had about 20 schools sign up for our survey, which equates to thousands of students. We’ve successfully fulfilled our goal of reaching out to middle- and high school students and our platforms have gotten positive user reviews as well.

I’ve heard from our users that the apps are very user-friendly and interactive, and it matters to us that our target users feel that way. Teachers have also pointed out how helpful they’ve found the download and record features of the apps. Waverley Software’s team has implemented changes and solutions that transformed our platforms for the better.

How did Waverley Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly used Google Teams to collaborate with their team. Waverley Software has been utterly professional — they set up our meetings with clear agendas, and they always show up on time. They keep all their communication channels open despite our huge timezone differences.

Apart from being responsive, they’re also a very straightforward team — it’s refreshing to work with a company that simply gives us the solutions we need, without the hassle or drama.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We don’t think our end product would’ve turned out that greatly had it not been for Waverley Software’s design efforts. They’ve delivered more than what we expected of them, and we’ve seen how knowledgeable and professional they are as a team. We always trust that they’ll give us high-quality deliverables at a justifiable price.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any concerns in terms of the quality of their work. Waverley Software is always keen on laying out timelines clearly for us, so while I wish the process could go faster, I understand that projects like this really take time.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be as upfront as possible from the get-go — it’s easier for their team to deliver when they are aware of what you specifically want them to build. Sometimes, even small details that are overlooked could lead to delays and inconveniences.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a computer software company. We have a strong specialization in transport mobility, with several clients in public transport.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Waverley Software?

We were looking for a partner to support us with development work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had an existing SaaS platform that allowed us to handle the complexity of our product, price, and fleet management, which included an omnichannel sales solution. We did the initial product development, but it has grown and evolved through the years, so we needed to upgrade it. Waverley Software is involved in every project phase except architecture, which is handled by our in-house team.

Waverley Software's team has created a multi-channel sales module for us — it's a webshop with an entire CRM on the backend for product management. The CRM was already partially there, but they created APIs to connect it to different channels, such as point of sales and digital billboards. As a Microsoft Partner, we use Microsoft technologies. Additionally, their team's developers discuss which specific technologies to use with our in-house architect.

What is the team composition?

We currently work with five resources from Waverley Software's team, including four offshore developers and a project manager. 

How did you come to work with Waverley Software?

We found their team online. Upon having several conversations with Waverley Software, we realized that our companies share the same mindset and work approach.  We initially hired one developer from their team — we were so pleased with the quick adaption and high-quality work that we decided to onboard their team for the whole project.

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested $50,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in March 2021, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their team has taken on a huge deal of poorly done work by our previous developers — they've assessed all these issues and fixed them within the challenging timeline that we've had to comply with. Waverley Software's high-volume and high-quality work for us certainly guarantee a long-term engagement.  They build feasible solutions and deliver great results.

How did Waverley Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly communicate via Microsoft Teams. Waverley Software does well in assessing our needs and priorities, providing realistic timeline estimates, and committing to meeting them. Their team determined the ideal way of working, discussed it with us, and dove in — they don't hesitate to work long hours to accomplish all their tasks.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Waverley Software highly cares about our business needs. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There is a language barrier with some of their team members, and it sometimes hinders the flow of our meetings.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be well prepared with your goals and projections — this will help both parties to come up with productive solutions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of SensorMedia Inc., a retail display management software system. We develop software solutions that run on tablets, phones, and Android boxes that run digital signage to display pricing and marketing materials. We assemble this media in playlists and campaigns and disseminate it through our mobile apps, as well as our web frontend as a management backend. This way, our customers, which are dominantly telcos and in some cases retailers, can successfully merchandise their products in the brick-and-mortar retail space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Waverley Software?

We needed Waverley Software to help us with the 2.0 version of our existing product called Smart Circle. It needed to be modernized and streamlined and required performance improvements, not just in the behaviors but also the workflow, which we needed to redesign for the contemporary customer. We also needed to update the market shift, since it was created on a much older framework. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started out with Waverley Software to develop and design what we called the frontend prototype for the MVP. It was a mock-up with a variety of user flows and user stories with UI. This allowed the solution to look and feel like a real website, but it wasn’t running anything yet. The mock-up or prototype was made to help us define the product, but it also sought validation from the customers for a variety of reasons. They were the designers and the co-developers, and I was the product lead with them, facilitating their design back and forth with the QA and the project management.

They used different technologies for the design and development of the mock-up and for the final product. For the mock-up, they recommended Miro as an intermediate way to communicate design concepts and basic ideas, which we already had, so I was glad. Ultimately, they suggested that the prototype be developed on Figma, which allowed us to transition into a live or close to live design style once we eventually developed it as a frontend UI. 

They gave us some recommendations related to infrastructure, data management, and certain tools and modules were outside the scope because it was too early, and we were looking at workflows and views. However, they did make a recommendation for Material-UI versus a few others, and we agreed to Material-UI, React.js, and JavaScript in general. We signed off on these recommendations because we needed to make that decision to know how the frontend would be. 

What is the team composition?

This varied depending on the capabilities we needed at different times. On average, I saw 9–10 people at any given point. I met the business analysts, the frontend designers, the project lead, the backend support person, and an auditor. 

Overall, I met with a lot of their teammates. In some cases, we had three frontend designers; some are in leadership positions, and others are just learning, working with the project, and watching. They built a mentorship program into our contract, but they didn’t charge us for it. This was very good for redundancy if we lost somebody, but also because it's good that they mentor their people and get them to grow.

How did you come to work with Waverley Software?

We started looking for vendors, and we went through Clutch and a variety of other sources, solicited a feeler, and described the project to a number of companies, most of which responded.

We found Waverley Software’s Clutch profile in November 2020. We were able to discern they had the best understanding of our requirements and meet in their response to us as well based on the quote size and our judgment. We also based our criteria on the site, their contract size, geography, and the reviews they had — which were beyond excellent and spoke volumes about them. Moreover, their quote was very much on the lower side.

Once you select the vendor, you want to stay with the vendor and keep the same team for both design and development, otherwise you lose the benefits of that momentum on the design process. That’s why we wanted to make sure that whoever we selected for the design, even though it was a relatively small project, we’d make sure they’d be there for the long haul. We were targeting the full project turnkey to be developed, but the first phase was to develop the frontend as one of our assessment criteria. We’d use this project as a test to know if we’d be able to trust them in the long term. 

Waverley Software had the right recipe, meaning they weren't crazy on budget, and they knew what they were talking about. That allowed us to start with them on a basic project, which is what we called the frontend prototype for the MVP.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from January 2021–March 2021, and we did some final tweaks and modifications after.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They always responded to my questions within a few hours. They assembled documentation and created journals for us to sign off on and ask questions in a very regimented and organized way. That allowed us to have traceability. Our project handoff and history were very clear and easy to understand. 

I think the best way I can measure their performance is by their high level of professionalism. The team was deferential and clearly indicated how they spent their time and resources, and they stayed within the budget. They were also clear on how each task was assigned and how long they’d spend on it. They never went ahead without either soft or formal approval. This allowed us to have a lot of control and make sure that we weren't developing in the wrong direction. 

Furthermore, Waverley Software’s team conducted themselves respectfully, scheduling their time effectively and working with ours despite the time difference. The team recommended resources when and if appropriate, and didn't gouge. They didn't use the project to hold us at ransom, which I've seen happen before midway through other projects.

Their performance was good. It was a big project with a lot of scope creep, but they handled it in stride, and they didn’t complain. They worked really well with the kind of dynamic scope we had. I really want to tip my hat to that, because that's not easy to do. I think people overlook how hard it is to manage scope. 

Due to this performance, we've also engaged them for other projects unrelated to this. We've had them work with us on DevOps as well as an iOS mobile app.

How did Waverley Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We had video calls, regular weekly calls on design, and Slack for typical stuff. We also had Figma, Miro, and their comment system to communicate on various little topics. They’d ask about the look and feel of one thing in the comment area, and we’d respond there, so it stayed in the medium of the tool. All of these tools were used and leveraged to allow ourselves to get the design across the finish line.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

I don’t really have a comparison point. I never liked third parties because I had terrible experiences before. I was hesitant to use third parties again, but Waverley Software changed my mind. With this project, I was pleasantly surprised. I wish I had met Waverly before, which I think says enough about the competition versus them. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Waverley Software did excellently, but if we have to look at the negatives and improvements, I’d like to see more confidence from them and less dependency on my vision of the product. I’d love to see more of them sharing with me their way or making me consider the best way to work based on their experience as a company that had done a hundred projects a week for a decade. 

I would’ve liked them to bring their knowledge in instead of asking me what I thought because the truth is that when you hire a team or an employee, you’re hiring them because they’re smarter than you, and you want them to explain how it should be and challenge your way of thinking. I’d love to have more, and I told them this before, too. 

Any advice for potential customers?

It’s the standard advice — know your project and the boundaries of your project and set a ceiling on the deliverables. Waverly Software, just like anybody else, understands goals; they understand your vision, and it’s their job to get you there, so know your project and what you want to get it done. 

Specific to working with Waverly Software, the best thing to do is to challenge them on how much they copy and paste from prior project proposals. Sometimes, it’s common. It takes a lot of time to spec out a customer and assess whether they're going to go to them, so it's easy to copy and paste and use the last project's template. It’s fine to do that, but they must be careful. You have to notice if it’s a standard boilerplate template. You need to actually embed the hard specific questions to your product and your goals. You might have to go through 1–3 iterations with the proposal before you get to a place where you feel perfectly understood.