Baufest

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the CEO - Senior AppSec Engineer & Penetration Tester of an applicatin security company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Application Security Engineering & Offensive Security

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Baufest to accomplish?

• Contractor Partnership

SOLUTION

How did you find Baufest?

Linkedin

Why did you select Baufest over others?

They reached me out

How many teammates from Baufest were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Contractor search for "Appplication Security" position where I met with their recruiment team and the "head of cybersecurity" for the possible upcoming project to provide Application Security Engineering services.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

They have failed to properly manage the project and do a correct evaluation. I wouldn't work with them again because they have shown very unreasonable and broken process. I would advice any company who consider Baufest for their cybersecurity projects to approach carefully and do the evaluations themselves because they have completely wrong evaluation strategies for cybersecurity.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

N/A

What was your primary form of communication with Baufest?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Nothing impressive. 

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

We agreed on costs, terms and conditions in early stage which is very good.

The recruiter who works for finding business partners is very professional and efficient. I had very nice experience with her and I can't give anytihng but positive feedback about her.

INCOMPOTENT HEAD OF CYBERSECURITY

The "Head of Cybersecurity" who work at Baufest has no proper knowledge or experience in cybersecurity for proper evaluation. I also reviewed his past experience based on his linkedIn account which is based on "sales experience" but this is infusfficient for someone to be qualified as the "head" of a security department.

This alone, has caused me to lose about 1 week and told me that they have taken a different decission based on completely unrelated reason.  

The "Head of Cybersecurity" was late for about 5 - 10 minutes to our meeting, and when he came, I was expecting to discuss very technical topics and topics that were related to the project, but the experience I had was nothing close to this. 

• Late to the Interview
• Talked about resume / previous experience
• Talked about "random" non security related topics,  
  • I asked him to speak english and told him that I feel more comfortable in English,  but he rejected and kept speaking Spanish.
  • How I work with development teamss.
  • How I do devops
  • How I do vendor selection
  • Wrong Evaluation criterias (He solely relied on a consumer facing SaaS application experience and expected experience in a CRM tool from a cybersecurity professional)
• This is not a securrity talk. They don't take this seriously and they just want to fastly pass the interview process so the person immediately starts and they all make money.

This showed me his lack of skills and understanding about the whole cybersecurity iteslf.

The person who was in charge of main communications was quiet until I wrote her and asked about some updates after 2-3 days of the last meeting and she said that they decided to continue with someone else. Because the person has "Salesforce" experience, this alone shows that they ignore all other most critical security experrtize and value a SaaS tool rather than what the business actually needs.

I answered his questions but it was extremely lightweight conversation and it ended earlier than 30 minutes.

If any business is considering to work with Baufest specifically for "cybersecurity projects" I would suggest them to approach carefully as their evaluation process has 0 reflection to real world cybersecuriry, business risks or real world vulnerabilities or security problems. They are not capable of qualifying people appropriately, and I cannot imagine the type of people they provide to businesses who trust them to provide engineers, since there was absolutely zero effort to understand what Cybersecurity actually is and they solely focussed on "Salesforce" in this case.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there

I am a systems sub-manager at a logistics services group.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Baufest?

We needed to implement a new system for our purchases department.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Baufest provided product implementation services. This included replacing our current modules and creating new features.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 15 members of their team. 

How did you come to work with Baufest?

They had been referred to us by other partners. When we evaluated different companies for this project, they were a part of that evaluation. We ended up choosing to work with them because they have great references and support in the country.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in the mid of 2020 and we expect to finish the first implementation phase in June or July 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project has a great impact on our company’s operations. We have only had a partial implementation so far,  but the results have been very good. The transition was very smooth and the learning curve of our final users has also been very positive because the system is pretty friendly.

How did Baufest perform from a project management standpoint?

Baufest uses agile methodologies. They were great at implementing this methodology so that we could actually see an impact of it on the project’s results.

As with every project, we did encounter some setbacks, but the way they addressed them allowed us to pass them quickly and go forward with the project. They have shown great commitment to the success of the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their professional skills, from project management to technical expertise, were impressive. They are all highly skilled and their working methodology is great. 

Are there any areas they could improve

They could be more specific with the requirements and follow up on everything regarding infrastructure.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there?

I’m an IT project leader at a maritime transportation company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Baufest?

We hired Baufest to continue with a project we had started with the company that was acquired by them. That company had developed a software for operational control that we used in different countries. When they acquired Baufest, Baufest took over the project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their major responsibilities include making some adjustments and improvements as well as providing maintenance and other services. They have used .NET and SQL server, handling mobile app development, test automation, and ethical hacking.

What is the team composition?

We work with about 15 people.

How did you come to work with Baufest?

Baufest is one of the local companies that have experience working with software for the maritime industry. They have been referred by other companies in the industry.

How much have you invested in them?

So far, we’ve invested about $80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started collaborating with Baufest around January 2018, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s very positive for us to be able to count on a system that’s solid and that we know will effectively meet its purpose. The system has worked and been stable for years now, which shows how well it was built and speaks to the long-term vision the project was created with. Baufest understands the needs of our company very clearly and is able to translate those needs into a high-quality development.

How did Baufest perform from a project management standpoint?

We have constant phone calls and video meetings. Our teams also have a monthly follow-up meeting. Baufest has been very professional regarding deadlines and goals.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m most impressed with the commitment of their team. They always show a willingness to go the extra mile and do everything within their power for the success of the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could be more proactive when proposing changes and updates to the system.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am an IT manager at a logistic services company based in Chile.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Baufest?

We needed someone to develop systems for our services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

To help us automate our processes, Baufest has developed four of our company’s core systems using .NET and SQL Server. One is for ship agency services, another focuses on logistic services, and there’s one for collections. I can’t recall the last one because they developed these systems for us in 2017. The team also helped us integrate these systems into our SAP (System Applications and Products in Data Processing) system. At the moment, Baufest provides maintenance services.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with about 10 people.

How did you come to work with Baufest?

They were referred by a colleague who previously worked with them. We invited Baufest to participate in our bidding process, and they ended up winning.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost per project ranges between $1,000–$20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our first project in 2017, and our collaboration is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Before having these systems developed, all of our work was completely manual — their work has automated our processes, allowing us to save up on operating costs.

How did Baufest perform from a project management standpoint?

They are very professional and committed — if we ever need them to work extra time, they do it without any issues. We aren’t based in the same country, but they arrange their schedule according to our time zone. They’re very flexible and adaptable. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m impressed by how much they understand our business — that really makes a difference in how well they do their job. The team’s communication skills are superb, as well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’ve had numerous personnel changes, which sometimes caused some setbacks. The new developers they would assign to us had to go through a learning period which took some time.