abz.agency®

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a financial services company from Switzerland. I am a product manager at this company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire abz agency, and what were your goals?

For our financial services we needed a web application tool that supported our legal team. The goal was to create an MVP, that could be used by clients as well as by our own legal department. It should be a online collaboration tool to work on regulatory documents.

SOLUTION

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

Our decision factors were based on skill and cost

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

We provided wireframes and a generic project descriptions with user stories, and a given tech stack (node.js, react.js, heroku). ABZ took this and created a more detailed specification.

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

We had a project manager, and four developers that were working with us on this project

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After completing the MVP we could use the app to gather client feedback and use it in a first project.

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

We used a Google Docs sheet for our documentation, and Skype for daily communication. Unfortunately due to lacking English skills, we could not have calls, and therefore standups. However, communication via Skype also worked for the majority of times.

Code was kept in ABZ's BitBucket repository and was migrated to our repo only after project completion. Despite not using standard tools, the project management worked fairly well.

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

The quality of work was good, it was a good MVP that worked as intended. Also the testing and QA on their end was done very well. We rarely found any bugs. The design has been implemented quite nicely, considering the very simple wireframes that we provided.

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

In hindsight we would have wished to have a project manager that speaks well English, so that we could have in person calls and stand-ups. Communication via Skype only goes so far.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder of a startup building an anti-scam application that helps people protect themselves against all sorts of e-commerce scams.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire abz agency, and what were your goals?

We hired ABZ to develop our project made of a browser extension, mobile application and website, with the goal of improving the quality of our development and improving it's process and costs.

SOLUTION

How did you select abz agency and what were the deciding factors?

We interviewed different IT vendors, but ABZ stood out instantly compared to others with their clear rules and processes that they proudly advertise on their website. Coming from another company where communication was a bit chaotic (complex topics discussed on the phone), the rules of ABZ seemed very attractive to us and like they could solve our problems.

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

ABZ has re-built the entire system they inherited, it's made of : - backend : built on NodeJS/Nest and python for AI algorithms - frontend : browser extensions and website built with React, mobile apps built with ReactNative They delivered bug-free and well tested builds every step of the way.

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

2 full stack developers, 1 designer, 1 project manager

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

With ABZ we were finally able to launch a bug-free application and we are at over 1000 users already after only 1 week live! We and our users couldn't be happier about the quality and stability of the browser extension.

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

ABZ is VERY different from any other vendor we ever experienced. Everything is done in written through Slack and google doc, they are very clear on the timelines for each deliverable and take the time to clarify all the requirements.

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

They have a few strict rules that seem scary at first, but that we now love and wouldn't change for anything! - No calls : this rule is amazing ! Scary, but amazing! We were anxious that it would be an issue but we haven't had any problems, on the contrary, all the miscommunication that was happening with previous IT company due to lack of writing things down, is now gone! Everything is written, clarified, and findable again for later reference. - No coding before requirements are clear : they ask a lot of questions, and when I see how clean their delivrables are, I am thankful for all their questions. - Frontend starts in Figma : again, a great rule to avoid rework, design needs to be done 100% (for every single change) before frontend devs integrate it, there are no approximations, and the result is pixel perfect integrations!

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

I wouldn't change anything, we're very happy with our current collaboration structure with them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of an award-winning events company in the UK.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire abz agency, and what were your goals?

We hired abz agency to conduct a discovery phase of some software we wanted to be built for our events company. Given the issues that the events industry has faced in 2020, we felt it would be a good time to do some discovery for development in 2021.

SOLUTION

How did you select abz agency and what were the deciding factors?

We selected them based on interviews and understanding of what we wanted to achieve.

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

They were to write a document with their discovery outlining how the system needed to be developed and also wireframes.

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

Two people. Ihor the owner and one other gentleman who was in charge of the discovery and worked as a project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project was not completed as there was a minor disagreement about what the project should have as part of it. Ihor completely changed his attitude in a second, closed down the project, and withheld the information and work that we had already done.

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

We used Slack and Google Docs for the main part of the project which was totally fine.

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

The work of the project manager was good.

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

Ihor has been one of the most disappointing company owners I have encountered. I contracted Ihor's company to do two product requirement documents for us. Ihor is obviously very smart and has some great members of his team. However as soon as we disagreed on one technical aspect of the development, Ihor's character very quickly changed, he became extremely defensive and aggressive and shut down the contract straight away.

He then removed access to all of the work that had been done and that I and my team had spent hours collaborating on. I've been very disappointed by this. However, I am somewhat relieved that this happened during the discovery stage and not during development.

In Ihor's words, he said explicitly, "Sorry. Maybe I'm harsh, I have such a character". He also proceeded to tell me how busy his company was and that they could pick and choose who to work with.

This is obviously a fantastic situation for Ihor's agency. However, his attitude of "We don't need you and can ditch you at any time mid-project" is not very satisfactory for the client and has left us in somewhat a difficult situation.

Again, I really don't appreciate it when a contractor brags and shows off about how well they are doing, especially during a time when so many around the world have suffered.

I believe in the importance of listening to both sides of every story. Most of the feedback I give to freelancers is five stars and I am sure that Ihor will have his version of events. However, I have spent over $7000 with abz agency and to have a situation where the contractor pulls the plug over a minor differing of views is absurd.

I was willing to spend another $100k with them for future projects. However, I am glad I didn't, given that he feels it's not enough for him.