Avocado-Tech LLC

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the product manager of an investment management company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Avocado-Tech LLC?

We needed to develop an auction management tool quickly.  We hired Avocado-Tech as an offshore staff augmentation team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They worked on an internal inspection app that was used on heavy equipment. The website that we built was an auction system that included the frontend of a website. Any auction business could conduct an online auction using it. The backend of the site had a CRM to manage the sales process, managing from leads, to deal-closed, to being available for sale online.

The team provided frontend in React and mobile development in Swift for iOS.  The team also provided manual QA services, a bit of automated QA, project management, and technical documentation.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 6–8 people from their team.

How did you come to work with Avocado-Tech LLC?

We had a really tight schedule and needed to hire in the Dallas–Fort Worth area. We needed a partner that could bring resources quickly in React, QA, and mobile development, specifically. They’d done work with a contact of ours and they came in as a referral, and we hired them after a brief trial.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in August 2018, and we wrapped up in November 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

From a web development standpoint, they delivered very well. Their frontend React development and QA were what they excelled at.

How did Avocado-Tech LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

They fulfilled their role well. They weren’t the best I’ve ever worked with, but they met their deliverables and were a big part of the team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team was smaller, so they could pivot quicker than a large team. There was much less bureaucracy and overhead to deal with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had an issue with one worker and they immediately removed them from our team. They also replaced that person to make up for it. For mobile development, they were a bit slow, but we were also slow in giving them requirements, so we can’t blame them 100%. They could also have had more QA automation, in lieu of the manual QA. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to have a local lead or project manager of some sort. It was the most beneficial part for us. Be honest with the deliverables of the team and if they’re not performing up to par, make that clear; we did that a couple of times with them and they took our feedback well and implemented changes quickly.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

CTO of a last-mile logistics company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Avocado-Tech LLC?

Development and deployment of a cross-platform native mobile app, react based web app, and supporting node.js backend.

What were your goals for this project?

This question sucks. The project was to develop the application from the ground up and then incrementally add features.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Stackexchange questions.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They provided full-stack development, deployment to AWS, and on-going operational support for the cloud infrastructure.

What was the team composition?

5 members. All javascript coders. 2 front-end only devs, 2 full stack devs, 1 mobile dev.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Not any financials, but they developed the application from the ground up. They were available at all hours and very supportive.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project was managed external to the contractor and, so, they had no impact on it. It was managed via Jira, Bitbucket, and Slack. The time difference was a bit of a nuisance, but this had nothing to do with them.

They shifted hours often to accommodate our schedule and worked incredibly hard. It certainly would've been easier to hire domestic programmers, but we did not have to capability at the time and they are effectively the sole reason the project succeeded.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their work ethic. Also, the lead, Bogdan is a brilliant coder and picks up on concepts very quickly.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The 2 people who manage most of the work speak good english. Some of the other team members could stand to improve, but it was not an issue as all communication was generally funneled through these 2 individuals.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a German company that specializes in mobile app development. I also provide outsourcing services to other companies for backend development projects. Through this process, I connect companies with development resources. I’m the owner and general manager of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Avocado-Tech LLC?

We have various ongoing projects. They’ve complete partial and full projects for us. Sometimes, team members support me in ongoing work on an hourly basis. We have different cooperations depending on our needs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve done several iOS and Android apps with their team. They’re always native developments. Then, we created a web platform with a Node.js backend and React front-end. At the moment, we’re working with Root JS. For mobile-specific collaborations have been handled with Swift, Java, and Kotlin. Currently, there are several people working full-time with us. 

What is the team composition?

We work with 3–4 people. Typically, I have a project manager that functions as my main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Avocado-Tech LLC?

I’ve known Ross (CEO) for many years. We lost contact, but he reached out to us a few years ago. We visited their offices in-person, and they seemed like a great fit for us. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between €50,000–€75,000 (approximately $55,769–$83,653) on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2018, and our collaborations are ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I was very happy with the work that they’ve completed. They work independently, and I can rely on their ability to get started on tasks without my direction. There’s one developer that works with a client of mine, and he shares all common communication channels. He’s very precise about what information he needs to continue working with them. My client is happy with the way that their corporate functions.

When our clients need work on short notice, they help us. For instance, when one of our companies had a key team member leave the business, they organized a replacement within a week. That was a great experience.  

How did Avocado-Tech LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

I had access to centralized communication through my project manager as well as direct contact with the developers as needed. We used Slack and Jira for communication. I never experienced any problems through that method.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re friendly people that produce high-quality work at competitive prices. The value of work is fantastic for the price they charge. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I would love access to the CVs of their available developers. That would help me browse through potential developers for my partner. As of now, I have to go through their managers to reach out to those resources. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Treat everyone with respect because they produce high-quality work.