Archer Software, Cprime Group Company

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the acting CTO of MMD Smart, a communications solutions firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Archer Software?

We used their services to find development resources in Kiev, Ukraine.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We asked Archer to build us a team under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model. We wanted to hire a five-person team, out of which Archer hired three, and we hired the other two. The team was operating out of our offices in Kiev. 

Archer’s main job was to find and hire suitable candidates, and they also provided administration services. The people they found for us were employed for Archer.

We were using my company’s technology stack in this particular project, which is React and Node.js.

What is the team composition?

Archer hired three people for us.

How did you come to work with Archer Software?

I started working with Archer in 2009 or 2010, when I worked with an outsourcing company. I’ve been using their services off and on since then, multiple times for multiple companies.

What is the status of this engagement?

This project started around November 2018, and we bought out the team in November 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don’t have metrics, but I’ve liked working with Archer over the years. I’ve met with them many times under different circumstances, and they’re a good team, decent and hardworking.

In this particular case, they helped us hire faster. As any rapidly-expanding company, we experienced problems with manpower. Archer helped us get to our goal faster.

How did Archer Software perform from a project management standpoint?

I believe they do use project management tools, but that wasn’t relevant in this project. Communication has always been really good.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a decent team, fair about what they do and how they do it. If they do bad work, they’ll admit to it and try to do better. They don’t try to explain that the problem is on our end.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t really answer the question for this project. Archer hired people, they were good, and that’s it. We worked with those people directly. Over the years, if I had to tell them things, even things that weren’t good, they always listened.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Clients should be open about what they want and not try to go around that with Archer.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive for a financial services firm. We build accounts payable software for startups.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Archer Software?

We just managed an engineer, Valeri (Python Senior Developer).

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

He built the backend of our platform using Ruby. That involved all internal APIs and services we use from payment to account creation to billing and invoices to breaking that information down.

What is the team composition?

We just work with Valeri.

How did you come to work with Archer Software?

I worked on another startup with a friend, and he hired Valeri two years ago. We’ve continued working together since.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I first worked with Valeri myself in September of last year. We still work together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I actually ended up hiring our engineer as a full-time employee. We look at how fast he ships code and how many bugs we find in testing. He’s high-quality and expedient.

How did Archer Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We use our own tools, like Asana. It’s great.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I didn’t work that much with Archer Software, just with that engineer. I can’t speak to their abilities too much.

Are there any areas they could improve?

A few months ago, we were trying to source another backend engineer in the same city, and Archer Software didn’t have that many. If they increase their candidates in those locations, that would be helpful.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and co-founder of a sports technology company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Archer Software?

We brought on Archer Software for multiple aspects of development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our primary touchpoint with Archer Software is maintenance and adding new tasks. We have an app that their team manages and oversees. They also provide development support for our everchanging company software.

It is a responsive site that college coaches and soccer players utilize in the US. The main developer fixes any bugs and oversees our project as a whole to make sure the software is running as best it can.  He also suggests ways to improve the software.

They also oversee all of our event uploads and communications. During our event season, they supervise the integration of our events. For the app, an iOS developer monitors that product to make sure there are no bugs and that any new features are running properly.

What is the team composition?

We have a project manager that oversees all of our projects, and then we have three individual developers that have touchpoints within the project.

How did you come to work with Archer Software?

I found them online. We were using a different company overseas and felt that it was time to move on to a different team. We’d interviewed potential companies, but what attracted me to Archer Software was their adaptability. It’s a unique and seasonal project that’s sometimes complicated. They were also detail-oriented and meticulous in understanding our needs and providing solutions.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Archer Software in October 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’ve been extremely satisfied. They’ve been very responsive. Everyone we’ve been in contact with has been caring, listening to our needs and concerns. Obviously, with the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve encountered some difficulties as a small business. They’re willing to work with us to help us get through this time together.

The team at Archer Software has delivered on their work. It’s hard to trust a new team that’s different from who originally wrote the software. They did a great job of adapting and learning the software, providing suggestions to make it better. We’re extremely happy, and we hope to continue working with them a lot longer.

How did Archer Software perform from a project management standpoint?

They have their own online management tools to be able to track what their developers are working on. We also interact directly with our developer, which is extremely helpful. With our previous firm, we weren’t able to do that as easily. With Archer Software, we’ve had an amazing experience in terms of communication. That was one of our biggest things in looking for the right firm. We wanted someone we could easily communicate our needs to and someone who could understand exactly what our needs are.

What did you find most impressive about them?

From our experience, I appreciate their adaptability to our specific needs. It’s very different from what we do. It’s seasonal, and for parts of the season, it’s very high-paced with longer hours and urgent issues. They’ve handled that with complete urgency and professionalism. They’ve always hit deadlines. If there is a hiccup, they’re able to communicate that in a timely manner, which allows us to communicate with our customers. Our project is important to us, but Archer Software makes it feel like it’s important to them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, I think they’ve done a fantastic job. If there was ever something we wanted them to improve upon, we’d communicate that with them. There’s nothing I can think of.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communicate. That’s the biggest thing to ensure you have a positive experience. They’re extremely engaging when you communicate your needs. If they’re not meeting what you need, explain that to them. We found Archer Software to be extremely responsive that way.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am an executive at an engineering solutions firm.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Archer Software?

We had a function we needed to get to work, and hired Archer Software to assist with this.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided people who work directly with us. They worked with a variety of technologies and programming languages. They’re working on our cloud, using .NET and JavaScript the most.

What is the team composition?

There was eight guys that worked with us from Archer Software. From my experience though, we only really worked with one person.

How did you come to work with Archer Software?

It was before me, I don’t know. They’ve been working with us for over ten years.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together back in 2009, I can’t remember the exact month. We still work together, they’re working 100% of the time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are very pleased to work with them. They’re one of the best programmers I have ever known in my career. We have a very good relationship with Archer Software. During these ten years, we’ve had lots of ups and downs. Despite this, they’re a constant partner.

We even planned to extend the contract and give them a new project. Unfortunately, with the COVID-19 virus we can’t afford to go forward right now but we’re looking forward to moving forward with them in the future.

How did Archer Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We work directly with them. Project manager is done directly by my guys. They work fine — we don’t need any special management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

When we’re working with them, we’re not dealing with administrators or issues from Archer Software. Everything is short, we’re satisfied with the work, and they do it. The communication is short, which is nice.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we’re very satisfied.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at a software company that serves e-commerce retailers. We build tools that allow salespeople to communicate with online customers using web chat and video chat technology.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Archer Software?

We needed a mobile developer at the time with specific experience in doing good quality projects for iOS. They’re reliable, professional, hardworking, and good at problem-solving, so we’ve stuck with them.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Archer Software has a wide skill set and a large staff; they have everything from DevOps to backend database architects to iOS and Android developers. Our graphic designer creates the UI/UX for each solution so we can provide wireframes and documentation to Archer Software. We’re building some new mobile apps at the moment.

What is the team composition?

We work with an assigned project manager. 

How did you come to work with Archer Software?

I did about six or more weeks of research for developers and found 50 companies. I whittled that list down through multiple rounds of interviews. We started with an initial questionnaire about the size of their organization and the skill set they had available. After that, we had an interview to cover the communication piece. Lastly, we checked three references — real customers who’d worked with them — to learn more about them. 

Archer Software was the winning company in this process. Their goals aligned with ours as well; they were looking to expand the industries they’ve worked with, and our project interested them. I did a test project with them just to see how it would work. It went fine, so we went from there.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together for five years and haven’t changed our team once. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Archer Software gives accurate estimates of each budget and stays within reason when it comes to timelines. In software development, things always change. We might expect something to be done in four weeks, but within that, we might add a feature and function. They’ve done a good job of sticking to timelines and cost estimates in light of that.

How did Archer Software perform from a project management standpoint?

Each project manager has a good standard of English. They liaise with me to go over timelines and milestones for each project. We have weekly meetings on Monday to discuss what needs to be done the week ahead and what happened that week. We also go over any problems or issues the development team has run into. 

There are also daily meet-ups through Skype first thing in the morning. We’ll go through what needed to be done and answer any questions the development team may have. We have used Jira from the start as well, which was my recommendation. Overall, we have pretty good communication despite collaborating remotely.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Archer Software likes a challenge. It doesn’t matter what size the project is; they have the skills and experience to handle it. The team is honest as well. They’ll speak up if something’s not going to work or they’d have a problem with doing what we ask. That honest is necessary with remote projects. They also have a high quality of code as well, thanks to their experienced developers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’ve changed a few of their project managers over the partnership for a variety of differences: they weren’t meeting deadlines, our expectations and my expectations were different, and they thought they knew more about the project than I did. 

One person started off and took a while to get up to speed. Once I told him exactly what way I wanted the work done and how we ran meetings, he adhered to those guidelines and became one of the best managers I had. I might have been a pain to him, but he was a better project manager at the end of it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the former VP of engineering at Mulesoft.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Archer Software?

At Mulesoft, I wanted to address the challenge of finding and retaining good frontend developers to work on the AnyPoint Platform. We had a talent shortage and needed team augmentation.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided us with a team of frontend developers, as well as QA and test automation teammates. Archer Software’s team worked with our different teammates in San Francisco and Argentina.

They also provided us with two project managers who helped to coordinate the interactions because the Archer Software team was working with different directors and managers within the MuleSoft team. 

The range of the work they did was wide. It was everything from the maintenance of fairly mature parts of the platform to completely new development. For example, they wrote a module of the platform from scratch, developing a new codebase and evaluating the technology.

Additionally, they also took an existing UI that was written in an older version of the Angular framework and moved it to a new version of the React framework. 

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with the project manager. The number of team members varied over time, ranging from 10–20 frontend developers.

How did you come to work with Archer Software?

We found them through a contractor who was working with us. 

How much have you invested with them?

The contract was for over $1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement lasted from late 2016–2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of the work was really good. Whenever issues popped up, they addressed them quickly. 

There were never any quality issues that persisted that we weren’t able to address. Overall, we were happy with their work. In fact, I’m working with them now and they’ve become a longterm partner for me. 

How did Archer Software perform from a project management standpoint?

Archer Software used our project management tools. We used Jira as an issue tracking system and agile planning tool, and they worked within that tool with the rest of their team.

Additionally, they were part of the whole collective effort to deliver under a sprint timeline.

They worked with us using the agile methodology, so we planned in terms of milestones and sprints. There weren’t any big deadlines per se, but there were a lot of short-term deliverables that were required. 

Additionally, they brought in a second project manager to work with us to facilitate communication. Thereafter, communication was always top-class even though there was a time difference. Their team would stay late to allow for more overlap with our engineers, which we appreciated. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Something that impressed me was their ability to respond to various talent needs quickly. The reason we were doing team augmentation was that we were really struggling to find talent in the Bay Area.

When we had a need, we were able to put together a position description, and within a short timeframe, they were able to get somebody on the project who met the skill set requirements. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind immediately. Overall, as an organization, they were great to work with. They got the right people on the project and responded promptly to any feedback or issues we had. 

Archer Software communicated effectively and worked with us on budgeting. The team was elastic and was able to respond to the changes around team size based on the workload. They were always flexible when it came to staffing.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Try to make Archer Software as much a part of your team as possible. This will require a little more upfront planning and coordination. We got a really good result while working with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of engineering at a telecommunications company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Archer Software?

I was looking to scale my team more dynamically and at a lesser expense than working with local consultants.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started out as a communication company where a single phone number is attached to each account and it’s routed to multiple destinations. We wanted a quick mobile strategy, so during our first project with Archer Software, they developed an iOS app for our existing product as another way of retrieving voice messages and configuring the account. We stopped working together after that project. However, I needed to scale up my team a couple of years later. Based on my experience with Archer Software, I asked them if they’d be interested in a more long-term commitment where I’d hire developers.

They currently provide resources as I need them. We build the backends and the APIs and work with the software architecture that supports mobile apps. We’re trying to build a cloud-native backend. Their iOS developers started with Objective C and now they’re coding in Swift. Their Android developer started with Java and has since moved to Kotlin. They mostly integrate with our RESTful APIs and they use software development kits. We also use Twilio, which offers programmable calls and messaging. They use common libraries like HTTP.

What is the team composition?

There are two iOS developers and an Android developer. I just recently engaged with a part-time UI/UX person.

How did you come to work with Archer Software?

They were recommended to me by a developer from Ukraine who worked for me. I reached out to a couple of other companies and Archer Software was very responsive. Their responses were right on target.

How much have you invested with them?

We’re spending $240,000 per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2012 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The biggest success is that I don’t need to do any frontend development because I can count on them. We initially saw a lot of integration bugs, but over the years, they’ve improved in quality. There were some regression issues at the beginning that went away. They’re very dedicated to following the right processes.

Once the original mobile app was released in 2012, the adoption was very quick. We didn’t have a lot of usability issues. We’ve been iterating on that app ever since.

How did Archer Software perform from a project management standpoint?

I’m the project manager and they report to me. We communicate via Slack and GitHub. We have a set of tools and standards that match my expectations for design documents and sequence diagrams. They have access to our tools and our network VPN. Their documentation is thorough, and they know I don’t like to make a lot of changes after the fact.

When it comes to communication, there is no barrier. They’re great to work with and they don’t mind the time difference. They’re committed to overlapping with us for a couple of hours in our morning. They’ll hop on Slack when we have big releases coming up and they know they need to be available. Even without asking, they’ll pay attention to conversations in Slack on how the releases are going. They’ll work well into the night to make sure releases go smoothly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re responsive and reasonable. They’ve had some personnel changes over the years and I’ve had to find replacements. They’ve been very reasonable in coming back to me and telling me it’s not fair for me to pay for the person who didn’t deliver. They would offer a special deal for me. It wasn’t something I had to negotiate, but rather something they proposed.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were a few instances where I wasn’t happy with the treatment of passwords being shared in clear text. Whenever I raised any concerns or issues with them, they took care of them immediately.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The setup I have with them is a little unusual. They do a lot more project work. I understand they’re a full shop with a QA department and project managers, but I was able to do a lot of that myself. They were flexible in offering developer resources whom I directly manage. I’m not sure if that’s a model that will work for others.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’ve worked with multiple companies as an IT professional including as an in-house R&D manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Archer Software?

I’ve worked with Archer Software at two different companies. With the first one, we needed to outsource our software development after a long process of development that was initially in-house and then with a contractor here in Israel. The costs were too high, and we needed alternatives.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Archer Software still develops all the software for the company I started with. I’ve now brought them in as contractors at my new company.

All the work is cross-platform. Our code is sensitive in terms of IP, so we only store it locally and don’t provide access to contractors. They’ve worked on some external components for us including UI, connectivity to other software platforms. They work with C Sharp and DevExpress, among others. They’ve worked with graphs and integrated report generators. They’ve been able to find developers with specialized competencies to work on older operating systems.

What is the team composition?

I communicate with the CEO/founder as well other company executives like the COO. I’m also in touch with our project manager.

How did you come to work with Archer Software?

They were recommended to us by a close friend of ours who was also friends with their owner. They were a young company of about 20 developers based in Ukraine. We decided to try them and gave them a couple of test pitches. They performed well, and the interaction with them was highly professional.

How much have you invested with them?

The first company spent more than $500,000. With the second company, we’ve spent around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I first started working with them in 2006 and still do so.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The software is part of our system. It's very important that it’s reliable, stable, and performs as it needs to. It's fundamental to our success.

How did Archer Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Jira and communicate by phone, email, and even WhatsApp. I have the personal phone numbers of all of the project managers I’ve worked with and most of the company executives.

We’ve worked with some great project managers who manage things very well as well as a few bad project managers that didn’t. The company management follows everything very carefully, though, and listens. Two of the project managers that I've said weren’t suitable for our project ended up out of the company. They listen and try to understand what the customer needs. If the team doesn't perform as expected, they respond very well.

They’ve helped us organize ourselves more effectively. When you work with a developer that is nearby, you don’t always pay enough attention to thorough documentation and proper definition of product specifications because you believe that you can change things easily. When you outsource to a remote location like with Archer Software for us—an arrangement that also includes a language barrier—you have to take more time and think more deeply about your specifications. In the end, you get a superior product that is better designed and executed.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

The main thing is their ability to dive into projects quickly with a professional team built specifically for each project. They analyze the project, understand the competencies required, and staff the team appropriately. The level of services is highly competent, personalized, and reliable.

They also make sure I get the service that I need on time. In cases when there’s been a delay, they’ve worked through weekends or holidays to meet deadlines and didn’t charge more for it. They take responsibility for the timetable and deliver what they promise on time and within budget.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They're growing, and it’s not as easy as it used to be to find highly-qualified developers. It's become harder for them to keep their prices competitive while maintaining quality.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Health Outcome, an online exercise and coaching program provider for chronic orthopedic patients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Archer Software?

We’d previously hired another vendor to build our company’s website. The site was live, but missing a lot of functionality.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to create a user-friendly, fast, and reliable website for our orthopedic patients.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Several people I know recommended them to me. I checked their references and they all came back very strong. They’re also less expensive than similar companies in the US.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Archer Software pretty much redid the whole website from scratch because we significantly changed the UI. The site has an extensive questionnaire about users' health, their treatment, and any outcomes of their treatment. It also asks about height, weight, and pain level. Once users submit that form, we show them aggregated treatment ratings for each condition (e.g., for back pain, surgery is very low-rated, and yoga has the highest rating).

About a year ago, Archer Software built a new feature that is now in production. It assigns users to a licensed physical therapist. Users can interact with the therapist online through our proprietary messaging system. Users will log into the web application, exchange messages with the therapist, view exercise videos, and update their patient record. We track self-reported health, movement, and pain levels over time to measure pain reduction.

Archer Software built the new site so that it is compatible with most browsers and available on mobile, tablet, and desktop devices. About 60% of our users are on mobile, 30% on a tablet, and 10% on desktop.

What was the team composition?

They assigned four people to the project. We worked with a project manager, a QA person, and two developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Having a high-quality, working website is so important. Archer Software gets a lot of the credit. We did use an outside designer, but the Archer Software team is responsible for all of the engineering and infrastructure of the site.

Doctors are starting to refer patients to the site, and the number of users is increasing. Feedback has been very good. Anecdotally, a doctor told me one of his patients is a senior engineer at a Fortune 100 company. The patient said our site is one of the nicest systems he’s used.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

My product manager engages more directly with the Archer Software team. He's very happy with them. They're responsive, and they perform well.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The success of a project like this comes down to the quality of the developers. Frankly, we weren’t happy with the first developer they assigned to us. We let him go after 3–4 weeks. The next developer that they assigned was sensational. They also provide QA and project management, which has always been great.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We wanted to hire a designer through them, but we weren't able to find one that worked.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I run a consulting firm that helps companies close gaps around product, UX, and development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Archer Software?

I originally needed a company that could help with iOS development and support future development projects for both my own company and my clients.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They act as my development team. We’ve worked together on many projects in a variety of technologies. I work with their backend developers in Java, Python, or PHP; their frontend developers in HTML, Bootstrap, and React; their QA teams for manual testing, QA automation, and regression testing; and a DevOps/NetOps team for production. They provide expertise in iOS, Android, and web apps. We also integrate into payment systems like Stripe and support systems like Zendesk. I provide designs and Archer helps us build everything.

What is the team composition?

The numbers fluctuate from project to project but they have a team of about 40 developers. We work with front- and backend developers, QA teams, a database development team, and a couple of project managers.

How did you come to work with Archer Software?

The CTO at a cybersecurity company recommended them. We looked into their services and started working together.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve worked together for almost a decade and have spent in the $1 million–$9 million range on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2009 and have an ongoing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They help me provide wider service and better value propositions to my clients. They help with gaps in ideation and strategy, rapidly create UX prototypes and proofs of concept, and build, maintain, or upgrade projects. They offer a full range of services to our clients, from development to daily operation.

How did Archer Software perform from a project management standpoint?

All of their developers and project managers are great communicators. We have daily meetings across multiple channels, including Skype, Slack, or video calls. We also use project management tools like Jira and other systems.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are strong strategic partners. We have a close and open relationship and they go beyond simple coding. They come up with ideas and solutions and I don’t have to be minutely detailed when I spec out a project. They help me define, build, and maintain our systems.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We occasionally have minor issues but there are no major problems they should change. They’re a well-oiled machine.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have an open conversation about your goals and make sure there is potential for a long-term relationship. Take time to build up trust and establish a partnership.