Andersen Inc.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a project manager at a company that provides training for unemployed people.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Andersen?

Although we have an internal development team, we hired Andersen to support us as we built out a software product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Andersen provides resources to help develop our ERP app. So far, they’ve developed architecture guidelines for next-generation software so that our app will be stable in the upcoming years. Other responsibilities include developing, roll-out, and analysis support.

What is the team composition? 

They have a team of six that consists of a Scrum master and five developers. I mostly interact with the Scrum master and the tech lead of the development team.

How did you come to work with Andersen?

My department lead and our advisory board did the market analysis and selected Andersen. I’m not sure about the details beyond that.

How much have you invested with them?

It’s about €30,000 (approximately $36,400 USD) a month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since September 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In general, they’ve provided good service, and the collaboration is of high quality. We communicate in English, which isn’t my nor their first language, so I’m happy to report that there are only minor misunderstandings. Despite the time zone differences, they’re nearly always reachable and reply to our requests.

The team itself consists of professionals with different seniority. That wasn’t the case in the beginning, so we’ve had to sort out previous individuals to meet our needs. Now, it’s a stable group. There’s still some room to improve around using Scrum for our project, but we’re not sure if that should be something on our end.

How did Andersen perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly use Slack to communicate, following a Scrum approach. Each day, there’s a morning scrum, and then there’s a retrospective planning review after every two weeks as well as refinement meetings. If something comes up, we can have on-demand meetings, too.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve maintained a good mood throughout the project. Even though we only use Slack and a webcam to communicate, they keep a cool demeanor and do their best to build mutual understanding. From our side, we know what they need to do their services. And, on their side, they know about our business and ask questions so that they can provide the right solutions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing that I can name at the moment.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My main advice would be to set up a stable working environment so that you can communicate. That means creating a delivery chain that allows for an exchange of tasks, collaboration, and final delivery/review.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Holistify. We’re building an online marketplace for practitioners of holistic therapy to enable appointment booking and offer information about the services offered.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Andersen?

Andersen is developing our platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Andersen created user journeys, functional requirements, and mockups based on my specifications. We moved into the development phase from there, which we’re currently in.

They recommended all of the technologies that are being put in place. We’re using Stripe as a payment provider, and the rest of the platform is custom-built.

What is the team composition?

To start with, I had a sales contact who helped me through the quoting and estimating period. He fully onboarded us, and he continues to check in with me.

Then, I worked with a project manager, a business analyst, and a UX designer. I currently have a project manager, a solution architect, three backend and three frontend developers, and two QA testers.

How did you come to work with Andersen?

I was initially looking for white label, off-the-shelf marketplace solutions like Arcadier, and Andersen was recommended as a development partner for that platform. I found a few companies, and I chose Andersen because they had a good understanding of the high-level requirements and could provide me with advice and guidance on what we were trying to do. Because they really understood what I was doing, they could also provide a reliable quote.

I took three development companies through a more detailed review, where I gave them some granular business requirements. Andersen was by far the best in asking clarifying questions, and they had a detailed and transparent pricing model. Where they found things that might not have been best practice or correct, they told me about it and gave me recommendations. They just became the natural leader in my procurement journey.

Their sales contact checked in with me and made sure I was comfortable before we went into a contractual agreement. Their whole approach of quoting for new business was spot on.

How much have you invested with them?

By the time we finish, the cost will be around $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started contacting people in early-March 2020, and I signed the contract with Andersen in April. The design phase ran until late-May, and they gave me a detailed development quote on the back of the design. The project is expected to finish in February 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I measure the success in terms of inclusion of scope, or making sure that everything I ask for is there. We’re on a fixed-price agreement, so cost doesn’t come into it, but I’m measuring their adherence to the time scale. I’m also measuring the quality of work and their ability to collaborate with me. Once I have a live platform, I’ll measure various user test cases.

How did Andersen perform from a project management standpoint?

We’re working in agile with sprint cycles, and they’ve been very efficient. We predominantly use Jira for planning, scoping out each release, and reporting. We have fortnightly sessions after a sprint closes to review the good and bad parts and to scope out the next sprint.

I felt they were lacking on the project management side during the design phase. They were great at taking my business requirements, but not as good at translating them into functional designs. We had a bit of an issue there in that I didn’t have full transparency on how they were completing the functional designs. I raise that concern with them, and they put some actions in place to make sure it didn’t happen again.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve always told them that this is a two-way engagement: if there’s ever something that they can recommend or propose to me, I’m happy to take it onboard. If we maintain two-way communication and both work toward a vision, it’ll make for a successful partnership.

Andersen has really embraced that, and they’ve been leaders in communication. It’s made the experience go easily, even when I had the small issue with control during the design phase.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Everything ran smoothly after we went into the development phase. They were ahead of schedule, and they made internal quality checks on how the project was being delivered, along with the usual code testing. I’m incredibly happy with the development phase, but I would’ve liked to see the same rigor during the design phase.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I advise treating them like a partner. I’ve been open and direct in my communication, whether it was good feedback, constructive criticism, or a request. As long as they know what I want, they’re more than capable of delivering it over and above the standard.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Project PRACTICA Group has been working in the project management market for over 25 years and is a leading team of professionals in the field of project management. It was formed as a result of the merger of companies specializing in various areas of project management. I am a project manager at the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Andersen?

Implementation of a mobile application with functionalities similar to our product.

What were your goals for this project?

We had a set of FTs that needed to be implemented in the application.

SOLUTION

How did you select Andersen?

We consulted with partner companies, studied the market. They were chosen because the cost and qualification of the staff met the requirements.

Describe the project in detail.

Based on the FT, the analyst formed the tasks in Jira and assigned them to the developer. The tasks were related only to the system's functionality, not to the business part. Skype statuses were performed based on the work results. Tasks concerned the application design, page and chart formation, as well as the application structure and API.

What was the team composition?

On the part of the client (us) PM, the analyst and architect. On the part of the Executor (Andersen): RM architect, developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

This mobile application is a significant factor that affects the purchase of our product by customers. Since we did not have our own resources for product development, we could not compete on the market with similar products.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Project management was organized efficiently. Regular status meetings allowed to promptly solve a number of problems at the start of the project. Advice: Create clear product requirements for the team to work effectively.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Willingness to solve problems quickly and allocate resources. Initially, the project terms were reduced, but Andersen found additional resources and allocated them to us for another two months. The level of planning in the organization is excellent.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Everything was great.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

System Analyst, Product Owner at Management Events. Management events is an international business matchmaking service that covers over 15 markets in Europe and Asia.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Development of an inhouse designed custom ERP system for events business, a web application for our customers to manage their participation in our events including meeting booking, a web application for our staff for being in contact with the delegates in our events, a web application for our Sales to be in contact with our customers and a common API throughout the projects. Andersen team helped with realization of 5-6 main features, QA & AQA increased coverage, etc.

SOLUTION

How did you select Andersen and what were the deciding factors?

Through the commercial proposal with the best conditions.

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

Qualified resources using best practices (Development, QA and AQA Engineers), Reporting. Andersen team helped with realization of 5-6 main features, QA & AQA increased coverage, etc.

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

During more than 4 years of cooperation with Andresen the team was changing from 2 to 16 people. As the tech stack we had PHP, Yii, Angular mainly, also we had QA team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Satisfied users, users growth, App tech update for actual stack, etc.

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

The management was mainly on Management Event's side, however I can say that during the times when we had a PM from Andersen it was effective.

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

The transparency and speed of providing high-qualified resources.

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

Nothing stands out.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO for a startup in business planning. We use AI and advanced analytics to help businesses plan better.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Andersen?

I was in touch with Andersen for the frontend development of our MVP.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did some high-level planning of the resources needed and provided an estimation of the cost of the project. They helped design, frontend development, and did some testing. Throughout development, they used HTML 5.

What is the team composition?

We worked with one designer, one full-time frontend developer, tester, and project manager. Occasionally, they had support from DevOps.

How did you come to work with Andersen?

We found them on Clutch. I read their reviews online and did a vendor briefing. We reviewed ten different vendors for our solution. After providing our project detailers and receiving their estimations, we chose Andersen because the price was competitive. They also were proficient and offered great services. Overall, it was a great deal.

How much have you invested with them?

We paid €15,000 (approximately $18,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from May­–June 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It was state of the art. The cooperation was very flexible and they were open to changes. When we asked from changes, we had several rounds with the designer. They were very fast incorporating those changes into the concept as well. Usually, the changes were implemented the same day or the next day.

During development, we had a great frontend developer who was very proactive and proposed multiple approaches to make sure we found the right fit.

How did Andersen perform from a project management standpoint?

There was one project manager who was in charge of communication. We had daily standups, bi-weekly sprint reviews and sprint planning sessions. We were integrated into their Jira board, on which they tracked all the tasks there. We also worked closely with their development team because our CTO was watching over the development process.

What did you find most impressive about them?

In their reviews, they were very honest about what worked and what didn’t work. They were clearly eager to improve the product and determine a better way to do things.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had one hiccup in which a developer asked for a more detailed description, we were charged additional fees. However, we’ve talked it over with them and those fees were removed.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It was quite easy for us because we are also in SaaS. We had a ready plan and clear description of what we wanted, which resulted in a very smooth process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of Choicely.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Andersen?

We hired them to do development work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Andersen has been helping us build an administration portal for our customers, which is an extension of our current platform. The team is using React and JavaScript, as well as basic HTML and CSS.

What is the team composition?

I work with a web developer, and I interact with Andersen’s management team occasionally. 

How did you come to work with Andersen?

They were recommended to us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend about $5,000 per month, so we’ve spent $120,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in the middle of 2018, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Andersen has provided good quality service.

How did Andersen perform from a project management standpoint?

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to communicate what I need to the developer. We communicate via Slack, and we also use Google Docs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I get what I ask for and I’m in control of the process. I manage the project, and I prefer this direct approach to the process because is it’s easy to manage. The team has also been good at listening to my needs and meeting them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I have no criticism.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Andersen is worth a try. As with any software service, it’s about the customer’s ability to do the work that’s required to complete the project. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Freakologics AB.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Andersen?

I was looking for development resources for a project with a Norwegian online gaming company focused on sports betting and casino websites.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Andersen has provided developers for React.js, GraphQL, and Node.js. They were responsible for putting together the frontend of an online gaming website.

What is the team composition?

They have a team of two developers, one QA tester, and one project coordinator.

How did you come to work with Andersen?

I was scouting for different development agencies, especially in Eastern Europe, and I got some good references for a couple of companies in Kiev. I interviewed eight different companies, out of which Andersen was the most suitable.

They were a mid-sized company that allowed me to easily scale the teams up and down, and they also had the competencies we needed.

How much have you invested with them?

We’re paying an average of $15,000 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Andersen in August 2019, and our engagement is ongoing. We finished development, and we’re entering the support phase. We plan to finalize the project in November 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Andersen’s customer support service is fantastic. We’ve had some hiccups mid-project, but the account managers were able to accommodate our needs and readjust the contract.

They’re willing to help make our engagement successful. From a technical perspective, the developers they assigned were high-caliber, and they delivered really good work. I only have good things to say about the technical skills of the engineers. 

We’ve gone to their offices in Kiev three times, and they were super nice and made us feel at home. We were there for a week to meet the developers, and the facilities were great. This was one of the criteria I took into consideration when selecting a service provider.

How did Andersen perform from a project management standpoint?

I’m responsible for managing the project and making sure we reach the deadlines. It’s a pleasant experience to work with their account managers, and they’re always willing to help and accommodate our needs. 

They were willing to work extra hours in order to meet our deadline. We didn’t meet that deadline, but it was because of another company, unrelated to Andersen. So far, they’ve delivered what we've asked for, and everything was done properly from a project management perspective.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They always have open communication channels, and they ask us for feedback on the performance of their developers. They also consult with us on improving different parts of the platform. 

The communication is always friendly and professional, and it’s very pleasant to work with them. They’re not only technically-capable but also very nice people. They have a friendly and warm approach to discussions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their prices need to be a bit more competitive. I’ve compared them to other agencies in the region, and I’ve realized that Andersen is a bit more expensive. 

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Their office in Kiev is a really good environment, and all their people are hardworking and skilled from a technical perspective. I’ve seen junior developers go to intermediate skills very quickly there, so I’d say that people looking to develop their technical skills shouldn’t hesitate to work there.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

A system integrator who develops IT systems for the benefit of commercial and government organizations. Project manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Organization of testing an IT product that has developed in accordance with the Agile ideology. Andersen employees were tasked with organizing the joint use of automated and manual testing with the formation of a detailed general report on the test results in each iteration on a regular basis.

SOLUTION

How did you select Andersen and what were the deciding factors?

The company was selected based on the results of cooperation on previously successfully completed projects

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

Based on the results of several workshops, a product stack (Selenium, TestRail) was selected and approaches were developed for organizing testing processes. 

As a result of the work carried out, it became possible to conduct product testing with various sets of checks with the possibility of receiving a detailed and visual report with the test results by the Project Manager and technical managers

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

A team of 4 QA engineers was involved in the project

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The time spent on testing and evaluating its results has been reduced by at least two times. The process has become much clearer

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

YouTrack is used to manage the project. Regular Skype conferences are held

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

The qualifications of their employees and the degree of their involvement in the project set them apart.

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 senior software engineer at Greenwald Industries. We create coin and phone vending devices for automatic laundry rooms. Our company works with customers throughout the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Andersen?

We’re starting to move into the mobile app space, so we hired Andersen to build our Android app. They’ll soon be the provider for our iOS app as well.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

They created a laundry payment app that allows users to start washing machines and dryers from their phones and pay for the vend. 

In the beginning, we presented them with mock-ups of how we wanted the app to look, and their team enhanced them. Once we approved the designs to use for Android and iOS, they went off to build it.

They’ve assigned a project manager who leads the development team on their side. Since I work on the backend side to create the end points that the apps are interacting with, they work closely with me to ensure everything is functional.

What is the team composition? 

There are three members currently — soon to be four. I talk to Olga (Project Manager) daily, and then there’s Vladimir (Chief Resource Officer). There’s also a tester, and we’ll be onboarding an additional iOS resource.

What is the status of this engagement?

They’ve done a couple of projects with us. The latest one started in January 2020 and will wrap up in August. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve had lots of good feedback on the app. Our clients and their users are happy with it, which means they buy more from us. In that sense, the app is a gateway to sell additional products. And, we’ve had some large orders directly related to the app, which is huge.

As far as functionality, we haven’t gotten any complaints. They have a good eye for UI design and flow. Often, we’ll ask for one thing, and they’ll suggest something different that would be better — and, they’re usually right!

How did Andersen perform from a project management standpoint?

I’ve had a great experience working with Andersen. They’re always on top of things, bending over backward and working on weekends to help meet deadlines. We talk over Skype probably close to 6–7 times per day. Time zones can be tricky, so it’s really helpful that they answer at all hours of the day.

The general process is that I will get a request and create a ticket for them using their built-in system. Then, I walk them through it over Skype to make sure that they understand what we need and answer any questions. They’ll assign the ticket to a developer to process before giving me an updated version of the app to test.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s two things — the first is meeting very tight deadlines. They’re comfortable with putting resources on a task to make sure that we hit the turnaround that we need for our clients. 

The other is the quality of work. They usually get things right the first time, so I don’t have to keep retesting a build and sending it back for another version. That cuts down the time I spend redoing work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they provide exactly what we need. Obviously, we like them and will increase our usage with them. We’re actually moving everything from an old development firm to them as of next week.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Voxxify. We survey employees of large companies to help their management to find issues with IT.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Andersen?

I didn’t have a strong development team and I needed to move from my MVP to a scalable, enterprise-grade platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, it was business analysis and UX design. They captured the overall business flow and process and set up the project backlog. Then they designed the UX for different navigable elements of the platform. Now they’re working on development. The first part will have enough features to demo to customers and the second part will be a fully functioning platform.

What is the team composition?

Initially it was a small team with a BA, UI designer and project manager. As we moved into development the team grew to include Java & React developers, QA analysts and DevOps.

How did you come to work with Andersen?

I got a referral from a fellow business owner.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2020 and our project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Overall, it was a very good quality service. The developers are very high quality, very knowledgeable. On the design side of things, they did pretty well. The design was good and I was satisfied with the result.

How did Andersen perform from a project management standpoint?

The way the project was structured was very good. I joined the daily stand up for decision-making guidance, but they managed their team internally. I was very happy with communication and management.

It took a few iterations to get to a point where I was very comfortable enough I felt I had the information I needed to make decisions on funding and timelines. After a few sprints, we set a reporting cadence and the quality of the information was good enough for me.

They use Jira for agile development and Sigma for prototyping and design. Then we communicate through Skype.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re on top of their work and they flag issues early. They’re very friendly and personable, so they’re easy to work with. The quality of developers is excellent.

Are there any areas they could improve?

As the founder of a startup, the budget is very important to me. Although they were very transparent on the budget and timeline, some more effort was needed to pull information and present it in a way that users understand.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Set clear expectations of what you need in terms of budget and planning.