4soft

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of A4BEE & Head of Growth, a company of creative strategists and engineers. We develop strategies, implement solutions, and train entrepreneurs. We deliver comprehensive solutions covering the entirety of the product creation process.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 4soft, and what were your goals?

We needed additional resources (development & scrum team) to deliver a complex IoT & Blockchain project for a Client (BioPharma Manufacturing company).

SOLUTION

How did you select 4soft and what were the deciding factors?

We needed a strong, self-reliant development team to take care of some aspects of IoT & Blockchain related development and Cloud integration. It wasn’t easy to find a partner with proper IoT and blockchain expertise.

4soft was recommended to me by a Partner that worked with them a year before on a software development project. They were satisfied with their delivery and quality of solutions, so I decided to choose them.

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

The developers provided by 4soft analyzed sensor management solutions with the potential of cloud integrations. They developed custom integration with one of our cloud vendors, and created an application that shares interface for data collected from IoT devices and presents it in a way that is “digestible” for the cloud vendor.

They also created a test infrastructure to manage cloud services, and researched possibilities to enhance the solution with a blockchain ledger.

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

We hired a Senior Software Engineer, Blockchain Senior Developer and a DevOps & Automation Specialist.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

4soft team had a great impact on the project, and technical assets developed and delivered for a Customer. The quality of technical documentation was also very good, prepared according of project methodology. 4Soft team delivered a crucial piece of our IoT solution, and all blockchain related deliverables (networks design, configuration, smart contracts).

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

We worked directly with specialists and they became part of our scrum team. We used agile, SAFe methodology for project delivery and they fit perfectly into that. They were familiar with agile approach for IT solution delivery. The communication was very good, everything was delivered on time.

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

Everything was precise and clear from the start to the end of the project. Contract negotiations, commercial terms and condition met our standard terms. They have great communication skills and we valued a lot their technical expertise, outcome oriented experienced team.

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

I don’t think so, everything was fine.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of Thaumatec Tech Group. We provide chip-to-cloud solutions, covering every layer of product development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 4soft, and what were your goals?

The project under which we had the opportunity to cooperate was an application that combined IoT with web technologies. We are a software development company, and we needed some extra resources to deliver the desktop application for this project. Our goal was to get a proven vendor that will deliver high quality code on time. We had to meet a strict deadline for our client.

SOLUTION

How did you select 4soft and what were the deciding factors?

We had mixed experiences with external vendors. We selected 4soft based on recommendations of partners and an additional background check.

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

The guys were very involved in the development of the desktop application, they also came up with a great idea to possibly save time and decided to build their own library of reusable components.

Both applications used React, but the assumptions for the desktop application were such that it could be installed natively on Windows and Mac systems, then the entire React was wrapped in Electron.

One of the most interesting challenges we faced was the communication of an application written in technologies with a natively written module that supports communication via the Bluetooth protocol with an IoT device.

The developers coped with this challenge without any problems. One of them was to break the backend into microservices that communicate with each other via the JSON RPC protocol and RabbitMQ mechanisms.

As a result, they created a microservice written in NodeJS (NestJS), communicating with the Gatway API written in Python.

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

The team in which the programmers worked consisted of a total of 5 people with a team leader. The team was conducted in the agile methodology (SCRUM). In the framework of cooperation, 4Soft provided us with two front end developers and one full stack developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everything went according to the schedule. An interesting solution proposed by 4soft was the use of the InfluxDB database, which allowed us to count the user's activity during the day.

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

The project management was very good. We had great communication, proper development process, they responded quickly and took ownership for their work.

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

They are good at working with an unknown and constantly changing scope of work. They come out with initiative and ideas for changes and improvements to the system.

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

None that I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of Bio Time Health Inc., a biotech company producing food supplements.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 4soft, and what were your goals?

We decided to leverage blockchain to improve the efficiency of our supply chain management.

SOLUTION

How did you select 4soft and what were the deciding factors?

It was a recommendation from their previous customer.

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

They have used Solidity for a Blockchain Ethereum network. For the frontend, they used React, and Java for the backend.

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

We had three Blockchain developers and a project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

No, it’s strictly confidential.

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

They had a really good PM who understood our needs. He actually tried to understand our business point of view from the beginning. 4soft had a project demo every two weeks, which was a great opportunity for us to see the project progress. They have used: Jira plus add-ons, Google Meet for communication, and Github for the code repository

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

They simply get the job done. It pains me to present it as some unique trait in a review, but working with dozens of IT companies over the years you can see all sorts of incompetence. 4soft performs very well in comparison to the others, we felt that they are in control, and you can simply trust them with your project.

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

From our point of view, everything looks all right.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the COO of IAMBOT INC. We are a company that develops an innovative chatbot platform with advanced natural language processing features. The platform automates the interaction between a business and its clients, utilizing state-of-the-art artificial intelligence and self-learning algorithms based on the latest scientific advances.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 4soft, and what were your goals?

We hired 4soft for the research and development part of our project. They had to analyze various methods of deep learning and find the best algorithms to improve the Polish language understanding of our chatbot. There were a couple of interesting aspects to test, such as sentence building, synonymization, and interference.

SOLUTION

How did you select 4soft and what were the deciding factors?

We interviewed multiple companies for this project. 4soft was chosen based on their experience in building innovative software and R&D. We felt that we understand each other really well.

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

The had was a clear R&D process that started on the refactoring of the solutions that we already had. They worked with Python, Streamlit, and custom solutions. Their work was managed directly by our project manager and resulted in delivering all the elements specified in our agreement.

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

The core of the team was a Senior Developer R&D, with a secondary Python developer to speed up the research.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our natural language processing algorithm is a crucial element to build the competitiveness of a chatbot solution on the market. I believe we got it right.

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

We had daily meetings and communicated mostly through Mattermost and Jira.

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

They stand by their promises and feel really comfortable with new technologies.

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

Everything was fine.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a company from Czech Republic that engages in multi level marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 4soft, and what were your goals?

We hired 4soft to customize our MLM tracking software.

SOLUTION

How did you select 4soft and what were the deciding factors?

We were looking for a company that could create modifications to a MLM tracking software. I knew the CEO of 4soft before, I visited their office a couple of times, and I knew they are able to handle it.

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

After product design workshops we gained a firm mutual understanding. 4soft proposed the solutions to the key features we wanted to have. We worked in agile.

The project went well, and I can say that the team was very effective in early identification of the potential threats and proactive in proposing solutions and alternatives. They designed, delivered, and tested all the features that we agreed on, and the project was delivered within the scheduled deadline.

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

Our team consisted of 1 designer, 1 frontend developer, 2 backend developers, tester and a project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

No.

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

The email contact was very good, and we had a structure of regular standups and calls. I had occasional contact with the PM, and he made a very positive impression. An honest and straightforward man.

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

They are always looking for opportunities to use some new technological tricks and improve the product. That’s a very healthy proactive attitude that you can rarely find in outsourcing companies.

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

I don’t think so. We had one difficult moment, where they had to replace one of the developers, but they handled it very well in my opinion, and it didn’t affect the project at all.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Co-Founder & Head of Sales at Applover, a Full-Stack Digital Agency and 2020 Deloitte Fast 50 Laureate.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 4soft?

We needed a short boost in Blockchain development capacity to deliver a particular element of a bigger project for a client. The task for 4soft was to build a custom DLT ledger based on Hyperledger technology to store financial data.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed to build a bulletproof, secure ledger that will be seamlessly integrated with our platform.

SOLUTION

How did you select 4soft?

We’ve already been working with 4soft a couple of months back. The communication between our teams was excellent, and we were happy to get back to them as soon as we needed their skills.

Describe the project in detail.

We requested for 2 Blockchain developers and a part-time PM, and provided them with all the necessary data. There was a short discussion at the beginning regarding the technology itself, as we briefly considered other options, but decided to settle for Hyperledger anyway.

I have to admit that they were open for discussion and eager to provide us with examples and arguments for certain design choices. We went through a smooth development process, and the blockchain they created met our standards.

What was the team composition?

As I mentioned before, we had 2 mid Blockchain developers and a part-time PM with experience in DLT projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We delivered the solution for the client as planned, and Hyperledger built by 4soft was a substantial part of the platform. I think that we can say that 4soft proved to be an effective partner, and it opens ways for us to deliver projects in technologies that were previously out of our stack.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Smooth. No splitting hairs, they simply knew what they were doing and kept us updated.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are really proactive and friendly.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nope.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Alphamoon is a software house working on Artificial Intelligence and Data Science projects. I’m the CEO there.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 4soft, and what were your goals?

We were tasked by a client to build a complex AI solution to digitize paper-based documents and stored the data on Blockchain. We hired 4soft to deliver a part of this project - a custom Blockchain ledger.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We used to work with 4soft earlier delivering an AI project for them. This time the tables turned - they had expertise in the complimentary area and based on previous positive experiences, as well as positive recommendations, we decided to give it a go. The good chemistry between our teams was definitely the biggest reason for this choice.

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

4soft build a custom Quorum Blockchain component to store the documentation data provided by our AI platform. Luckily, our HQs are in the same city, and we had an opportunity to kickstart the project during a workshop in 4soft offices. They really put an effort to try to walk in our shoes and get a proper perspective on our needs.

The team designed the ledger, and we agreed on the features and integration details. The development process was smooth. We ran into a couple of challenging parts during the integration process, but the team quickly addressed it (kudos to the amazing Project Manager). They would not leave us hanging, and openly communicated and approached all the issues. The project was delivered on time and budget.

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

The team was composed of two Blockchain developers, supported by Project Manager (part-time).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The product we have built for a client has successfully passed their UATs and worked as intended. It surely inforced our relationship with the customer and secured our position as their go-to brand whenever they need additional software services. It let us provide an additional range of software services in the technology, in which we did not have earlier experience

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

We had weekly online meetings. The project manager was competent, proactive and we felt that he has a strong understanding of what we need. The delivery was timely and consistent. I would say that we always knew where we are.

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

We work in innovative software development technologies, and I know how hard it might be to provide the client with a good understanding of what you deliver and how to integrate it with your own parts of code. The communication was very good, and the team was proactive and positive.

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

None that I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of a software startup company. We develop online software and mobile apps for different markets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 4soft?

We were looking to scale up quickly, but didn’t have the capabilities with our internal team. We needed resources in a short amount of time to help us with a particular development project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We engaged 4soft to augment our own inhouse development team. The project in particular was a web-based platform that required specific skills related to blockchain technology. We had all the project management specificities in place, preparing the requirements for the team ahead of time. 

What is the team composition?

We interfaced with two development resources, as well as a project manager who helped us with some organizational aspects. 

How did you come to work with 4soft?

We knew they had a strong reputation in the blockchain industry. After our first talk with them, we gave them a list of requirements, and within a week we realized they would be a good fit for our project. We interviewed the developers, who were both exactly what we needed, so the decision to partner with 4soft was simple.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $50,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project took place from June–December 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our engagement worked really well right from the beginning. 4soft delivered exactly what we asked for. Also, everything they delivered was pretty much production ready once they finished it—there were few bugs and little need for review.

How did 4soft perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management style was excellent. Their communication was perfect; they even spoke German which we appreciated. Even though the engagement has wrapped up, we’re still in contact with our project manager, who checks in from time to time. It’s impressive that they’re still invested in our project. 

To stay in touch, we used Slack as well as some of our other internal tools.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Overall, they were extremely efficient. The time 4soft needed to find the right developers, as well as the time it took for those developers to come up to speed, was very fast. It was clear they were well prepared, organized, and skilled.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We didn’t have any problems. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Deliver a really defined list of your requirements, so you can begin your project very quickly. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing principal for a data solutions developer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Look4App?

We needed a company to help with software development for a couple of customers, as well as a couple of internal products.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve worked with Look4App in a couple of different capacities. We used them as a staffing agency to augment our own development resources. They weren’t on-site, but they were able to provide additional software development resources to build user-facing apps. They developed both the front- and backends of apps in Python and some web solutions in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and React-based JavaScript. 

We also handed two projects off to them entirely. After documenting and developing the requirements ourselves, they were able to manage the rest of the process on their own.

What is the team composition?

The team varies from 4–10 people, depending on the need. There is one project manager, and the rest are developers.

How did you come to work with Look4App?

Look4App had been working with one of our closest partners, who referred them to us. We had an opportunity to interview them on the work they’d done. There was another company we were working with in the Ethereum blockchain space. They had been partnering with Look4App on some work and had good things to say, and we then talked with them about the work we wanted to do.

How much have you invested with them?

My company has spent $250,000–$500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

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

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve been really happy, which is why we look forward to continuing our work with them. In two separate instances, we’ve handed requirements off to them. In one case, the requirements were a bit vague. We were expecting a lot of back and forth, but they were really able to run with it and turn things around very quickly. Our customers and we were able to get good feedback; it went really well. 

In the second scenario, they were once again able to clearly define the requirements and figure out potential issues and conflicts. They accurately assessed the pros and cons and presented those back to my team, so that we could make decisions. We handed over big chunks of work to them, and they were very thoughtful and delivered what was agreed upon. 

When we used them to augment our staff, the challenge was finding quality developers that could integrate well with our team. We had an 80% success rate. In each case, they would propose resumes to us, and we had the opportunity to interview them beforehand. In some instances, it just didn’t work out. They were very professional about it, which was fantastic. The majority of the time, it did work out. The additional developers they provided were available, considerate, worked well, and were happy to use our methods and toolsets. They didn’t resist integrating with our team. Although we’re based in L.A. and they’re in Poland, we were able to work around timing issues pretty well.

How did Look4App perform from a project management standpoint?

They managed their own development staff; they made sure that people showed up, and they checked on their deliverables and code. They were responsive and would always get back to us within the same day. 

For the projects we handed off to them completely, they kept us abreast of everything that was going on, whether they were ahead of or behind schedule. They did a good job keeping the communication lines open. 

They gave us confidence early on, and they’re very professional overall. Their work is on time and as expected. They remain very engaged throughout the process. They’re realistic, which makes for a fantastic working relationship.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Look4App knows how to run a project; that wasn’t something they needed to learn. They were very realistic about what could or couldn’t be done. They were also open about the pros and cons regarding different features they were building out, such as how to manage them. They were very straightforward and professional. They did a great job of integrating into our process and working with our tools and how we manage software development. They’ve been great. Their organization is run well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing that is a cause for concern. Early on, we didn’t realize that when you hire people in Poland, they generally start on the first of the month. They let us know that they required a month’s notice, but it didn’t quite register with us. This created a few hiccups, but they’ve remained professional throughout the process. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear and upfront. At first, we weren’t sure how to handle the relationship and how much to share. Once we got going, we realized that the more straightforward we were with what we were trying to do, both in the short- and long-terms, the better it made the process go.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a project owner at Predica. We implement award-winning technologies and IT systems around the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Look4App?

We needed help to create a simple financial application that would help customers with multiple bank accounts manage them in a simple way. To deliver this project, we needed to hire external UI/UX support to help us design the app.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a simple web and mobile app for both iOS and Android devices. It should allow customers to create goals, wish lists, and notes that are shareable. It also has fields for expenses and loans.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We connected with Bartosz (CEO, Look4App) through LinkedIn as they had good recommendations from trusted companies in our network. We discussed the project with multiple vendors, but finally selected Look4App based on their previous designs and experience.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Look4App is responsible for translating business requirements into the app interface. They created wireframes, visual designs, and interactive prototypes. Based on wireframes, we verified the project assumptions before the final design stage. The application is an aggregate of bank accounts that allows users to access to their accounts wherever they are and from any device, all from one single application.

What was the team composition?

Our internal development team worked with one experienced UX/UI designer from Look4App.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Look4App’s execution was flawless. They helped us deliver the project for a major client, which builds our image as a trusted brand. The app itself will help many people through better and more convenient financial management.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Look4App always takes a proactive approach and uses clear communication. We use Skype and Outlook for communication as well as Sketch, InVision, and Zeplin for design collaboration.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Look4App impresses us with their creativity and problem-solving approach. We could discuss everything from small issues to huge problems, and they were always open-minded and helpful.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I don’t think so. We can fully recommend this vendor. Look4App proved their expertise in this field.