YND

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO at RaceChip Chiptuning. We produce small systems that increase the power output of any car and truck. I’m responsible for all the software development, which includes our mobile apps that help people to fine tune the product to their car.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with YND?

We previously had a partner that handled several modifications and changes to the system during the lifecycle of our products. Over time, the app, as well as the API to our product, became very unstable and hard to maintain.

The agency wasn’t able to keep up with the development, which caused the software to malfunction. The mobile app had been in the market for several years, and every new version of our hardware and every additional change to the app made it worse and worse until there were too many problems with it. We needed another vendor’s help.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

YND identified the problems in our app and made it usable. The product is still in the market, with multiple releases on both iOS and Android. They wanted to develop a new product from scratch, so that’s currently in plans, but as of now, we’re discussing the details for the newest version of the app.

On the current version, both applications are native, written in C and Java. They’ve handled changes and continuous integration very nicely. According to our wishes, everything is running on our premises; it was remotely set up and they’ve included testing frameworks. They also incorporated New Relic as a warning system, so whenever apps are crashing or not installing properly, we get statistics. We can also see if any new versions of iOS or Android are causing problems somewhere in the world.

We have one standard piece of hardware that plugs into a car’s computer. The hardware gets fine-tuned to each specific car, motor, and year. The application contacts our server and the server then sends the specifics to the device through the mobile app, which is all very well encrypted. Once the initial setup is done, the app turns into a feature that allows people to update our tuning chip over the internet. It connects through Bluetooth and can change the drive settings. If it’s set to race mode, the car will have 30% more horsepower, or if the car owner is a bit short on cash, then it can be switched to eco-mode for saving fuel while cruising.

YND has incorporated all these configurations. They’ve managed the connections on all sides to the servers and to the Bluetooth. The challenge is mostly for it to be compatible with all Android and iOS devices that we support.

 What is the team composition?

They have a project manager assigned to us and several developers, including lead developers on Android and iOS.

How did you come to work with YND?

We have a common acquaintance who recommended YND. We challenged them to take over from our previous partner to resolve the issues we faced and to improve the codebase so that it’s maintainable. After our preliminary conversations with them, we realized how good they were. We had a test run and everything went great.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2016 and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app is free and supplementary to our products. It wasn’t working when they started, but they fixed it. They also solved the many problems that came along when Android devices updated, such as the security on the Bluetooth stack which came from Android 6 updating to Android 7. This pretty much broke our app on all mobile devices. They warned us beforehand when changes were coming and said that they were willing to look into it and go beyond the normal maintenance contract, which has been very helpful.

Overall, YND has taken full responsibility for the app and our metrics are now much better. Whenever something’s not working, I don’t have to explain it to them; they’ll actually apologize for not noticing it on their own. They’ve done a really good job.

How did YND perform from a project management standpoint?

They manage their own sprints and software lifecycle, but they include me in the whole process, keeping me up-to-date on things. Project management, planning, and internal structuring are all done by YND.

All project management is done in Germany, and it’s all very accurate and well planned ahead. There’s a bit of a communication gap between the office in Berlin and the office in Poland, which handles the development, but it doesn’t affect us. Deadlines aren’t always completed as planned, but they’re always transparent and deliver great quality. I know ahead of time if they aren’t going to make it thanks to their quick feedback.

Phone calls are their preferred way of communication, but since I like email, they’ve adjusted to my preferences.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They do everything from project management to hardware development, which makes them completely reliable. Out of the many mobile development companies I’ve worked with, they are certainly the most experienced developers. There’s so much internal knowledge at their disposal. Their staff includes specialists and architects, and their senior staff is as sharp as they come.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The communication issue can be slightly frustrating when things get lost in the forwarding process. We now have a communication triangle where I can contact the developers in Poland directly just to make sure this doesn’t happen. It would be nicer to get everything physically from one person that keeps you updated all the time, though.

Furthermore, if it was my company, I’d try to advertise myself a bit more. I know they’re great, but none of my fellow CTOs here in Munich have heard of them. They’re actually surprised when I tell them they’re really good and that they have big clients.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to trust them. I came to them with burnt fingers from the last agency, so I tried to micromanage, control them way too much, and be restrictive on what they can and should do. YND knows their stuff, probably better than anyone does when it comes to mobile development.