Binariks

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of IDkollen, an IT company. We work primarily with a national electronic identification method that allows companies, banks, and government agencies to authenticate people online or over the phone.

What challenge were you trying to address with Binariks?

Before working with Binariks, we had a functioning platform but it was built on PHP and Java and wasn’t stable enough. We needed our platform to be very secure since we’re working with the national identification solution. Binariks rebuilt our existing platform from scratch.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They used Java backend and React frontend to develop the new platform. Using the existing system, they developed an understanding of how the platform should work.

From there, we started to develop a project plan. We provided the mockups and the descriptions and met with them regularly to discuss what we needed. They worked on developing of the first version of the portal for 4–5 months. Then we continued working with them to improve the platform and add functionality.

What is the team composition?

There’s a project manager, one lead backend developer, and a frontend developer. The Java developer is a very senior developer and has been working with us throughout the project. We’ve also worked with the same project lead throughout the entirety of the project.

How did you come to work with Binariks?

We needed a really good development partner that could understand our business model and could deliver quality work quickly. We needed a proactive partner who could see the whole picture.

I did some research online and found them on Upwork. They were one of six companies that we approached. We gave all the companies access to some of our Git repositories. Then we evaluated their skills and how they proposed to solve our problem. We chose Binariks because they understood everything better than the other companies we considered and asked the right questions.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $100,000–$150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2019 and the work is ongoing.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a photography company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Binariks?

We needed someone to develop a mobile app that would help small business owners.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Binariks first developed an MVP for our mobile app. Our team is in charge of the server-side, and Binariks is fully in charge of the development of the app. They’ve used React Native for both iOS and Android. They also helped with project management services as well as the final steps with QA.

We launched the MVP a few weeks ago, and we’re now in a phase of first feedback and then they will do the improvements accordingly. Our goal is to continue with the next version of the app with them.

What is the team composition?

Initially, we were in contact with their CEO. We’re mainly interacting with the developer and a project manager now.

How did you come to work with Binariks?

We found them through Upwork. We went through a phase of tests with different agencies and Binariks did a better job.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent $10,000–$49,999.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2020, and the work is ongoing.

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

I’m very happy with them. The developer is really professional and responsive. The quality of their work is good, and we’re satisfied.

How did Binariks perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very flexible between full and part-time depending on our needs. Their communication and ability to meet deadlines are very good.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It feels like they’re part of our team. I’m very happy with their services.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their QA service is an area where they are limited in the number of devices where they can offer testing of mobile apps. It’s a very minor thing with the overall project, and in general, I’m happy with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have your plan ready and have your product specifications finalized before you start the project. This will ensure high-quality service.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of product of a configured price quoting (CPQ) platform. Our platform that allows companies to generate quotes easily and includes internal workflows, digital rooms to publish the quote, and lets users see the buyer’s signal and intent.

What challenge were you trying to address with Binariks?

We needed to scale up our development resources.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’re using them for development. They’re helping us migrate our existing applications from AngularJS to the latest version.

What is the team composition?

We started the project with two people — one to work on the frontend and another on the backend. As we’ve refocused our project, we’re just working with one on the migration project.

How did you come to work with Binariks?

I found them through a project-oriented website. We had several conversations and they had very good references. We also tested them to assess their knowledge base.

How much have you invested with them?

It was around $70,000–$80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2019 and the collaboration is ongoing.

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

I’m satisfied with their work because they were able to execute what I wanted. Their coding was good. They’re good at what they do. It was definitely a big challenge, and we’re now hitting the first major milestone in the project. It is something that we’re proud of.

How did Binariks perform from a project management standpoint?

I was really happy with the interaction. They were there every time we needed them, whether that was to make improvements or make clarifications. We’ve collaborated very well. We use Jira and Bitbucket.

It took a bit longer than I expected, but only because of things that can happen in any development project, so overall, I was satisfied with the timeline.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their technical expertise and responsibility for the project really stood out. They keep their promises and deliver what we need.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If the project is similar to us, and the customer is managing an outsource team, I would advise them to treat Binariks as an extension of your team. Go into the engagement with a serious plan complete with milestones — just like you would internally.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing director of Mothership Tech. We’re a technology organization looking to build out products with a focus on marketing and technology.

What challenge were you trying to address with Binariks?

We built an application that is at the crux of marketing and technology, and Binariks helped develop that product with new functionality. They will also be part of our development team to take that progression forward.

What was the scope of their involvement?

It’s a full end-to-end solution. The current sprint we’re working on is feature-driven. They’re enhancing what we already created. The second phase that we’re about to start with them is focused on modernizations. They’re rewriting code to enhance our closed-service offerings.

The frontend is HTML 5, CSS, and JavaScript. On the backend, we’re on MySQL and PHP. The hosting environment is AWS.

What is the team composition?

There are five people on our team, including a frontend developer, a front- and backend developer, QA engineer, and project manager.

How did you come to work with Binariks?

During COVID-19, we started to struggle with another service provider and started to look for other partners, focusing on eastern Europe. We focused on Ukraine, Poland, and Romania because of the product stack we were looking to work with.

We looked at Clutch for feedback and selected five organizations. From there, we ran an RFP and selected Binariks because of cost, quality, and online feedback.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent just shy of $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in June 2020. We’re still working together.

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

We’re really happy with what we’ve achieved with their team. We’re winning business as well, which has been exceptional considering the global pandemic.

We’re hoping to expand the team as well and are thinking about bringing on two new backend developers from their team.

How did Binariks perform from a project management standpoint?

We manage our tickets through Jira and they track the sprints. We have two stand-ups per week. We have calls every Tuesday and Friday, and in between, we get varying updates via Skype and email.

They’ve been pretty on-the-ball. There haven’t been any communication issues and they’ve been very agile.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication has been spot-on. They’ve been transparent about how much time they spend on each sprint as well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s always room for improvement, but I can’t think of anything specific. We’ve had to go through a few iterations after testing, but that’s the nature of developing software.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very clear on the scope you want to engage with the team. You can’t just send the work to an outsource partner, you need to work hand-in-hand with them to ensure that they know your goals. With that information, they can help create a plan to get you there.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of a fashion sharing application.

What challenge were you trying to address with Binariks?

We needed someone to develop an MVP. I only had a concept. I didn’t have any of the UI/UX developed and needed a company that could do that.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Based on my concept, they created an MVP that included every aspect of the Android application. They were very supportive. We're now in the first round of testing. They will continue to add updates and then it will go out to more users to test it. At the moment, there’s nothing for them to do until I give them feedback.

What is the team composition?

There was a project manager who I dealt with day-to-day. There was an Android developer, a backend developer, QA engineers, and a UX/UI designer as well. 

How did you come to work with Binariks?

I initially went through Upwork and spoke with three companies. Binariks was my favorite. They were very keen on speaking to me right away. They set a video call with me and were very helpful. My background is not app development in the slightest. They instilled a lot of confidence in me on the phone. I told them what I wanted and they gave me unique suggestions that would work. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent £30,000 (approximately $40,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2020 and the work is ongoing.

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

They’re great, and, as a result, have 20-30 initial users. They’ve done everything I’ve asked of them. 

How did Binariks perform from a project management standpoint?

I liked having a project manager as my key point of contact throughout the project. They give us weekly reports. Even though they’re in Ukraine and are three hours behind, they’re very responsive. I email them at 5:00 my time and they email me that evening. I couldn’t be happier with them. They keep on top of the hours and cost for me. They managed the budget well.

Every two weeks, they planned the fortnightly number of hours they were going to spend. They emailed me with their projections on how many hours and people needed to get through the milestones in that time period.

They would always check with me if I was satisfied with spending that amount of money. If I wasn’t, they’d cut back on the hours and delay it. If I was willing to spend more, they’d add a few more hours. They manage the project very well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very helpful being that I don’t come with any app development background. They explained everything. I asked them a lot of stupid questions and not once did they criticize. They explained everything to me. They made me feel comfortable with the decisions. They made a lot of alterations and have put a lot of input into it based on their knowledge.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The project was slightly delayed due to COVID-19. They prioritized me when I needed them to. They’re very good.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take their advice when they offer it. They have the expertise to know what they’re talking about.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of an automotive industry solutions company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Binariks?

We fell behind on an application and needed the solution launched relatively quickly. However, we didn’t have the resources to allocate to the project. We reached out to Binariks to provide resources and increased the number of resources along the way to actually help manage the project.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Binariks built a significant portion of the solution, which I started. I wrote the initial code and handed it to them. Their team was able to pick up and move it forward. Our tech stack’s Ruby on Rails and React.

In particular, the backend developer migrated the data from a legacy database to our new database and then built the API, which allowed the frontend developer to integrate that data. The frontend developer built all the screens that tied into that data. The QA team member helped to make sure that the product met all the requirements and specifications. The project manager managed that entire process.

What is the team composition?

Ultimately, Binariks provided a frontend developer, a backend developer, a QA person, and a project manager.

How did you come to work with Binariks?

Our CEO knew Binariks’ owner prior to my joining the company. As we already had the contact, we reached out to them when we needed to get the application out the door.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $90,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the partnership around December 2019, and they wrapped up in July 2020.

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

Binariks provided the resources relatively quickly, and we were able to fully outsource the application. The transition went well because I was comfortable with the code. It was helpful to essentially hand it over and allow them to build out the application.

How did Binariks perform from a project management standpoint?

We used Asana and had a resource on our side who managed their tasks. To touch base, we used Slack. We had status meetings twice a week to make sure that everyone was on the same page. Binariks also provided us with a weekly status report on completed tasks and the time spent on them. Their project manager was thorough and ensured that we were up to date. She communicated well and helped quite a bit.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their backend development most impressed us. They were able to transition the application from a legacy database to a Postgres database. I appreciated the ability to brainstorm with them. Their team was able to present solutions for dealing with complex features.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only area for improvement would’ve been the occasional delays in response during the day. That was partially due to our difference in time zones.  However, it wasn’t to the detriment of the project.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Depending on the project’s complexity, you may want to involve a senior developer. That definitely helped us. It’s also beneficial to have a QA resource.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a software developer for a health care solutions company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Binariks?

We wanted to improve products from companies that we acquired. We also wanted to develop a new product and needed a team to help with these challenges.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team works to improve our existing products, which include web and mobile apps for iOS and Android. They manage databases, maintain backends, and address new feature requests. Our end goal is to merge the existing products with our new platform, which they're helping us to develop.
 

The iOS app was written in Objective C, which is no longer used in current apps. Binariks rewrote the platform in Swift, enabling us to change the product.
 

Their team also works on the Android app. The platform features a kiosk mode that locks devices and makes any other apps unavailable. Primarily, caregivers that attend to patients with long-term disabilities use the app. The platform also features a GPS visit verification that's provided to the insurance company when the caregiver makes a visit. 

What is the team composition?

We work with about six people including a project manager, PHP backend developers, an Android developer, an iOS developer, and an Elixir developer.

How did you come to work with Binariks?

Our CTO conducted market research into outsourced companies. We liked the flexibility Binariks offered.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $200,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in January 2020, and it’s ongoing.

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

They keep up with sprints, which we conduct over two weeks. Their team also handles any tickets. We're highly pleased with their team and their work.

How did Binariks perform from a project management standpoint?

We speak weekly and use Jira. I handle operational project management such as planning work, distributing tickets, and organizing stand-ups. Their project manager handles other tasks such as collecting and reporting hours. They're responsive, meet deadlines, and communicate well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a team of mature, professional, self-starters. I don’t need to push them or watch them every step of the way. Binariks is accommodating and meets expectations.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t micromanage them. They're hungry for work and approach it professionally.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the VP of Engineering and am responsible for Engineering, Product Testing, Tech Support and Quality.

For what projects/services did your company hire Binariks?

We hired Binariks to build a web application with Xamarin app (related to web app) and mobile application as well as to rebuild existing SDK.

What were your goals for this project?

The main goal of the project is to monitor scanner activities, collect, analyze metrics and rollout smooth updates to existing client applications.

How did you select this vendor?

I interviewed more than a done vendors. Once I was down to 3 candidates, we met face-to-face twice and had several online meetings. I requested that Binariks demonstrate all of their project management tools during a video conference and they explained their PM process. I challenged them with difficult project scenarios and they had great ideas to address the problem.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Few components were added to fulfil the business need of Integrated Biometrics: - SDK Android service apk - application is based on android Kotlin, decouples client's custom android application from scanners C++ sdk. Allow scanner SDK updates to go separately and do not require the client's custom application to be rebuilt or reinstalled. - Agent apk - application is based on Xamarin Forms, responsible for device registration in the Charlie ecosystem and sends scanner logs to the server. - Distributed Network Webservice system - variety of webservices wrapped into the docker swarm stack that allow users and devices(scanners) management, accept/verify received logs and forward data by schedule to the head-office. Technology stack: C#, ASP NET Core 3.1, Blazor, Mysql, Grafana, Hangfire, Powershell script, docker, docker compose,Git

What was the team composition?

Integrated Biometrics team consists of 5 teammates: 1 Android dev, 1 .NET dev, 1 .NET/Xamarin dev, 1 .NET Architect and 1 Project manager. QA Engineer is going to join the team further.

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

We work according to the Scrum framework based on 2-weeks sprints and constantly get new releases of the application, where we add new functionality that Binariks team does for us. For today we are provided by the last version of products: Charlie zip, Xamarin apk and Android apk +sdk apk.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The team has created and implemented a suitable workflow in Jira and was connected to Bitbucket for the development management. So, we use Jira for managing tickets and Confluence IB space for documents storing. Also, Binariks provides weekly status reports with a detailed description of the work accomplished. We also run demo meetings at the end of each sprint.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

What I really appreciate about Binariks is their mature technical expertise and high level of responsibility on given commitments: each expected increment was delivered as it was planned and just on time. As well the IB (Binariks) team has good presentation skills that simplify demo presentation for the whole IB (US) team.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There is always a slot for improvement, but nothing specific comes to mind. We are going to join QA further in order to complete the workflow and fully cover a quality index.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

As product owner, I’m responsible for the development and IT at Maltzahn Carpet Innovation. We’re a printing company in Germany. We print high-end, custom-made carpets. We also do wall-to-wall carpets for hotels. We can print on-demand for architects and designers.

What challenge were you trying to address with Binariks?

Our company is quite innovative; we are the only company in Europe that has this type of technique. We tried out various off-the-shelf software solutions, but none of it fit with our unique technique, our demands, or our customers’ demands. We constantly had difficulties bringing our production and communication with the customer together in an effective and efficient way. My company actually called me and asked me to look into other options.

A lot of software developers know how databases work, but in our situation, we came in with graphical designs, colors, formats, and requirements for resolution and scaling. We had the requirements for order intaking, invoicing, and warehousing. We have a large warehouse to store different materials as well as a cloud-based database where you can actually see our designs. People can look through the designs and see how they will look on a carpet.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Binariks built a custom-made ERP system. We talked about technologies we could use. I had some experience with Node.js and Angular wireframes, but I preferred at the time to work with Node.js because I was familiar with it and knew the possibilities. Upon seeing the whole project scope and what we wanted, Binariks actually recommended using other technologies. I did some research and found that it was good advice. This proved to be one of their strong points. As the stakeholders and product owners, we let Binariks know what we want, and then they propose a solution. We talk through it and usually go with their proposal.

What is the team composition?

In the beginning, we started with a pretty big team; there were 7–8 people at certain points. We had a project manager, two backend developers, one frontend developer, and a designer. A QA person was involved at a certain point along with a DevOps person because we had some complex things. We often spoke with the owner and actually visited Ukraine a few times.

How did you come to work with Binariks?

We consider Ukrainian companies nearshore development, because Ukraine isn’t that far away from Europe. I eventually determined that I wanted to work with a company in Lviv, one of the main cities in terms of development in Ukraine. There are a number of universities there that deliver qualified IT people. Also, being in Germany and The Netherlands, Lviv is easy to travel to. 

I spoke with a contact at a company I’d developed with in the past. A lot of companies in Ukraine can build a beautiful website or app, but my contact let me know that what I wanted was pretty technical and complicated. I researched different companies. I liked that Binariks wasn’t extremely big, as that would give us a better overview of and connection to the company. I had a few good conversations with them, and they had the right capabilities, people, and techniques. Based on their communication, skills, and experience with complicated legacy database systems, my colleague and I decided to hire them. They had a relaxed atmosphere, which was important for us. Their company was stable and financially healthy, and their people fit our demands.

How much have you invested in them?

On this project, we’ve spent around €275,000 (approximately $306,000 USD) so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in August 2019, and it’s ongoing. We are constantly in development.

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

We already have an MVP, and we’re constantly iterating to optimize the speed. We’ve gotten feedback from our customers, and we’re now working on the system with a project manager and a team of three others from Binariks. It is organic, and things are changing.

We’re in a specific industry with very market-specific demands, and we were pretty surprised by how quickly they understood our whole process and absorbed our demands. I’m still surprised by how quickly these young, fit, and intelligent programmers have been able to adapt our business. That is a strength. I’ve worked with other companies on projects that were often simpler than this one, yet it was more difficult to explain the requirements to them. Binariks has a high level of experience. They have a long-term legacy over our company.

We are really happy with what we have. When I look at our company from where we were last year to where we are now, we have made a huge step forward, and Binariks has been an enormous part of that. Our whole company now depends on the software that they’ve have built. We are not talking about a little webshop or software that we use once a week; their software connects all of our internal employees. We make delivery notes and invoices, and our software connects to our machines, which handle big jobs.

We are satisfied and extremely happy with it. The outcome is what we wanted. Of course, there are always challenges; no one is perfect. However, even when we have a hiccup in the system, the Binariks team is eager to help. You will never find that motivation in the Netherlands or Germany. They will work until there is a solution, even if it’s the evening. There is always a risk in nearshore development, but they have delivered what we expected. It is exactly how we wanted it to be.

How did Binariks perform from a project management standpoint?

I think we have had pretty good cooperation, which also has to do with my own experience, as I’m partly a project manager. In the beginning, we had to search for a good connection. When you have a good idea, then speed is key; you want to go fast. I must say that their project manager told me to slow down, and this was a learning curve for me. They wanted to make the scope complete before we started development. I realized that what they were recommending was better. We needed to first really describe the scope from A to Z, including the correct screens and user stories, and then start the development. Binariks made me realize that the whole process before you start programming is perhaps even more important than the programming itself.

We use Jira, Confluence, and other typical project management software. I receive status updates every week, but I am actually in control of what is going on 24/7 through Jira. We communicate over Skype, where we have a few smaller group chats for more specific areas. We have also visited them several times, which I think is another big benefit. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They really prepare the project from A to Z and then start to develop. It is certainly something different than what I have seen with other companies, which typically start development right away and then have to correct things as they go along. That is something that sets Binariks, in my opinion, apart from other companies I have worked with so far.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think you can always improve, but considering the overall scope, I think they delivered an exceptional system in a short amount of time. It wasn’t a simple system. When you develop with a nearshore company, you always have to be aware of language differences. Speaking English, which isn’t our native language, took some getting used to. I think that in this case, I learned more from Binariks than they learned from me. I am critical, but they delivered the work exactly how we wanted. They are a flexible company, and I can really recommend them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I always tell people that they really have to give good input to any offsite company and explain exactly what they want. They are much more capable of absorbing your information than you might think. It was impressive how quickly Binariks absorbed the information, including what we wanted as well as what the challenges were.  If there is a possibility to visit the company to motivate them and give them the atmosphere of what you are expecting, I think it is advantageous.

When you start the initial development, you don’t have to be an expert, but express interest in technology and what is available in the market; then, your connection with the programmers and the people you are working with will be much stronger. Really co-create with them. When you are looking for a technical company that is capable of checking your legacy and working with a lot of different programming languages, then Binariks is the right company. I have already referred them a few times.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We provide Beauty Services to consumers through home bookings and in shop in shop Beauty Bars. Founded in 2016, we have 6 locations across Sweden and are expanding in northern Europe in 2020.

For what projects/services did your company hire Binariks?

We needed to quickly find and hire talented and driven software developers to support our pace of development. A task that had proven very difficuly in our local market due to lack of skilled developers.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed to expand our existing developement team with backend and front end developers that could hit the ground running and be productive wihin a month. Projects consist of backend java development and frontend react web development.

How did you select this vendor?

They were one of three companies recommended by a friend, and proved to be the quickest to provide good quality candidates that were available to start on reasonably short notice.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The overall goal is to develop Dashls web application for booking beauty services for home visit or at store locations. This involved design and development of backend rest API's, database design and front end web application development.

Key functionality is appoinment booking, management of resources schedules, sending reminders and marketing through push and sms notification, in addition to in-app messaging platform between users of the system. Binariks developers, as part of our team, was responsible for all aspects of development work including design, development and testing.

What was the team composition?

The team consisted of a product owner, a techinal lead/architect, 3 backend java developers, 2 front end web developers and 2 mobile app developers. Of which Binariks provided 2 backend developers and 1 front end react developer.

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

The business consist of an online booking platform where users can find the beauty services they are looking for. Without the platform there would be no business so its safe to say that the project is has been crucial to company's existence.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

As all of the team ,including our existing developers, were based in geographically diverse locations, all collaboration and communication where done online. Using google hangouts, slack, trello and github.

We were able to hold daily scrum meetings and found that once everybody was comfortable with the process there was no barriers to getting things done efficiently. Binariks developers, being 2 hours ahead of us, adjusted their working hours according to our timezone.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We found their ability to find good and suitable candidates on short notice very impressive. In addition to that, they are very responsive and helpful in accomodating our needs and preferences with regards to project work.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There is always room for improvement, but nothing specific comes to mind with regards to how the overall collaboration has worked. Im happy recommend Binariks.