Blink22

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an Executive at Swyt Solutions FZ LLC.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Swyt is an all-in-one platform to monitor, manage, and secure your IT environment. Swyt makes it easy, secure, and affordable.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Blink22 to accomplish?

• Develop MVP of the Swyt App
• Benefit from a Tech expertise
• Access to a pool of Talents

SOLUTION

How did you find Blink22?

Referral

Why did you select Blink22 over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Blink22 were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Scope of Work: 

• Blink22 Tech Agency's Achievements for Swyt Front-End Development: 
  • Designed an intuitive and strong web application interface with a user-centric focus. 
  • Integrated a transparent cost calculator for enhanced user engagement. 
• Web Application Development: 
  • Crafted a four-section web application tailored to Swyt's specific needs. 
• System Integrations:
  • Seamlessly integrated with master data management (MDM) systems for enhanced device management and security.
  • Connected the web app to e-commerce and billing systems for streamlined transactions. 
• Communication Module: 
  • Developed a native chat module within the web app for real-time communication. 
  • Integrated with Microsoft Teams and Slack for collaborative efficiency. 
• Quality Assurance: 
  • Rigorous testing to ensure stability, functionality, and security. 
• User Training and Support: 
  • Conducted comprehensive training and provided ongoing support for effective utilization. 
• Scalability and Future-Proofing: 
  • Designed for scalability and implemented future-proofing strategies. 
• Documentation: 
  • Generated detailed documentation for architecture, codebase, and integrations. 

Blink22's efforts have resulted in a robust and adaptable web application, positioning Swyt for sustained success and growth.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Measurable Outcomes for Blink22 Tech Agency's: 

• Timely Delivery: Evaluation of project completion within the agreed-upon timeline, demonstrating Blink22's commitment to timely delivery. 
• Feature Implementation: Measurement of successful integration and functionality of specified features, validating Blink22's technical proficiency. 
• Bug Resolution Time: Analysis of Blink22's efficiency in addressing and resolving reported bugs, indicating their responsiveness and troubleshooting capabilities. 
• Adherence to Specifications: Assessment of Blink22's adherence to project specifications and requirements, ensuring alignment with Swyt's expectations. 
• Cost Management: Evaluation of Blink22's ability to manage project costs within the defined budget, showcasing financial responsibility. 
• Documentation Quality: Review of the comprehensiveness and clarity of documentation provided by Blink22 for future reference and maintenance. 
• Scalability Assurance: Validation of Blink22's commitment to scalability, ensuring the developed solutions can accommodate future growth and technological advancements. 
• Collaboration and Communication: Feedback on Blink22's effectiveness in collaborating with Swyt's team, including communication clarity and responsiveness. 
• Post-Implementation Support: Analysis of Blink22's ongoing support, evaluating their responsiveness to post-implementation issues and queries.

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

Blink22 Tech Agency demonstrated exemplary project management throughout the Swyt project, showcasing efficiency and responsiveness across various key areas: 

• Timely Delivery: Blink22 consistently delivered project milestones on time, adhering to the agreed-upon schedule and ensuring timely completion of tasks. 
• Responsive to Needs: The agency exhibited a high level of responsiveness to Swyt's needs, promptly addressing queries, concerns, and change requests with agility and professionalism. 
• Requirement Gathering: Blink22 displayed a thorough understanding of Swyt's requirements, employing effective strategies for gathering comprehensive project specifications. This ensured a clear and accurate roadmap for development. 
• Specifying Solutions: The agency excelled in proposing tailored solutions, leveraging their expertise to align proposed solutions with Swyt's unique needs and challenges. 
• Implementation Excellence: Blink22 demonstrated technical proficiency in the seamless implementation of proposed solutions, ensuring that the final deliverables met or exceeded Swyt's expectations. 
• Testing Rigor: The agency adhered to rigorous testing practices, systematically identifying and resolving issues to guarantee the stability, functionality, and security of the developed solutions. 
• Deadline Adherence: Blink22 consistently met project deadlines, showcasing a commitment to project timelines and ensuring the timely delivery of key milestones. 
• Effective Communication: The agency maintained clear and effective communication channels throughout the project, fostering a collaborative environment and ensuring alignment with Swyt's evolving needs.

What was your primary form of communication with Blink22?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

What stood out as most impressive and unique about Blink22 Tech Agency were two key aspects: their organizational culture and their exceptional technical skills. 

• Organizational Culture: 
  • Collaborative Approach: Blink22 fostered a collaborative and transparent working environment. Their team actively engaged with Swyt stakeholders, encouraging open communication and shared decision-making. 
  • Responsiveness and Agility: The agency demonstrated a remarkable level of responsiveness and agility, swiftly addressing changing needs and providing solutions promptly. This flexibility contributed to a dynamic and adaptive project execution. 
• Technical Skills: 
  • Comprehensive Skill Set: Blink22 showcased a comprehensive technical skill set covering various aspects of web application development, system integration, and communication module implementation. This breadth of expertise ensured a holistic and integrated solution for Swyt. 
  • Adherence to Best Practices: The agency consistently adhered to industry best practices in software development, ensuring the robustness, security, and scalability of the solutions delivered. 
  • Innovation: Blink22 exhibited an innovative mindset, proposing creative and effective solutions to our specific challenges. Their ability to think beyond conventional approaches added significant value to the project.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Blink22 could have done differently?

N/A

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Software Engineering Manager of a financial services company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Crowdfunding

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Blink22 to accomplish?

• Make iOS MVP

SOLUTION

How did you find Blink22?

• Online Search
• Referral

Why did you select Blink22 over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Blink22 were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

To deliver the app with the given specs + desings within the allotted time frame.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app matched our specs and designs. Plus, the team was really good in terms of communication and keeping us in the loop. They did a demo every 2 weeks, and sent out reports every week to show progress and to make sure that they were on the right track. The team was really friendly and had great execution.

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

I believe Blink22 follows the Agile methodology for project management. But in any case, the team had good chemistry and we had no trouble at all. Everything was delivered on time, and they were quick to respond.

What was your primary form of communication with Blink22?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

• Timely feature/milestone deliveries 
• Friendly team 
• Flexibility 
• Good quality execution

Are there any areas for improvement or something Blink22 could have done differently?

Possibly providing suggestions on how we can make the app better, faster, etc. They did, but I think it would be even better if we had more suggestions/consulting.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of Noory LTD

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Subscription-based Digital Books Library for kids

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Blink22 to accomplish?

• Books Recommendation module
• UI/UX improvements
• Other various technical requests & features

SOLUTION

How did you find Blink22?

Referral

Why did you select Blink22 over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Blink22 were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Provided Tech consultations & Product management services. Also implemented:

• Machine learning recommendation engine.
• UI & UX enhancements.
• Landing pages & emails design & implementation.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our work is still on-going, so not all results could be accurately measured, But for example through the recommendation engine, we noticed increase in the in-app session time. Also noticed better conversion rates for our marketing campaigns that utilized assets (landing pages & emails) that were designed by their team

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

Their project management was seamless and integrated. It felt as though they were an extension of our team, demonstrating exceptional flexibility by adopting our preferred tools and workflows. Communication was effortless, with daily interaction facilitated via our Slack channels, making the experience collaborative and inclusive.

When it came to delivery, they were always on time with their work. Plus, they were really good at adjusting to our different needs. They always went the extra mile to make sure we were happy.

What was your primary form of communication with Blink22?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Easiness, it is so easy to do work with them

Are there any areas for improvement or something Blink22 could have done differently?

can't identify any specific areas for improvement at this time.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the VP of an ecommerce company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

JumiaPay is a digital financial services platform offered by Jumia, a leading e-commerce company in Africa. JumiaPay allows users to make payments and complete transactions online using a variety of payment methods. It offers a secure and convenient way to pay for goods and services on Jumia's online marketplace, as well as for other transactions such as bills payment, airtime recharge, and money transfers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Blink22 to accomplish?

• Staff augmentation in specific teams
• Integration of new payment methods & plugins

SOLUTION

How did you find Blink22?

Referral

Why did you select Blink22 over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Referred to me

What was the size of Blink22’s team?

6-10 Employees

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

We worked with Blink22 to:

1. Accelerate some very specific projects (staff augmentation) such as our Risk engine optimization and our Merchant Portal.
2. Streamline our integration process for new payment methods and ecom plugins (Shopify, prestashop, Woocommerce, etc.). We ended up outsourcing most of them to Blink22 teams.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Delivery of key projects was expedited thanks to Staff augmentation.
• We could accelerate the integration of new payment methods and focus our teams on core features instead.

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

• Very structured way of working, with timesheets, proper tracking
• Staff augmentation: their team members were fully integrated into our team and adapted to our way of working, our timings, etc. It went very well and blink22 employees ended up being treated as colleagues.
• Integration of new payment methods: full sync with our Tech Leads, POs and SRE teams. Blink22 members were delivering as much as they could until they needed our support / intervention. Communication was smooth.

What was your primary form of communication with Blink22?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

• Excellent culture and mindset
• Founders are involved
• Flexibility / Agility, they usually can add members fast to speed up delivery, they adapt to our processes, etc.
• Investment in training: They are keeping their teams up to date and follow the trends in terms of tech, tools, etc. As a client, we benefit from it.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Blink22 could have done differently?

Challenging the status quo and keeping clients more up to date with latest trends, tools, etc.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a co-founder & director. As part of my current responsibility, I am handing the work with our partner Blink22 for the on going project.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Blink22?

We have a large project, that touch upon different aspects of development. The development include the web application, overall design (interface) in addition to the back-end and its structure. Also, it is worth highlighting that we are working on systems thus, the integration of hardware and software is a key part of this project.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

The selection was done over different stages, the first stage is using the current existing network of follow entrepreneurs and friends to reach to a a developer with a good reputation. Word of mouth from a trusted people who used the service provider before is always a plus and a key selection point to consider. Going over the list of recommended providers, we had to screen them in terms of the project understanding, check their offer, timeline and setting different interviews to select the right one. We had multiple who were shortlisted and the one we eventually selected is Blink22. 

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

The project started from scratch, where we had the requirements and this requirements was translated to the PRD. The project is a large one and it involves different aspects web-based application, full back-end of this application along with building the right structure for the Databases to ensure that we will always have high response time and no delays. Our application involves receiving many data from different sensors serving the purpose and it involve integrating the sensors directly to the application where we have managed all aspects with regards to the hardware side and Blink worked on the interface and integration of the sensors to the platform application that is being built and designed for this purpose. 

Note: the project information is confidential this why I am describing it on a general approach. Our partner Blink22 did a great job thus, I want to make sure that I give them the right credit they deserve. 

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

Blink22 provided good resources starting from project manager, experts in regards to structuring the backend before their development team starts, backend lead along with their team and frontend lead along with their team. In addition to the Quality Assurance team to ensure that the overall quality will reach to the expected outcome.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They managed to deliver the outcomes. The project is divided into 3 main phases and each phase is really a project by itself. So far we have finished phase 1 and we already have the application operational and working where it is currently being used. We have also started the implementation of phase two with them which is another big part that we decided to move forward with them based on the overall experience we had.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

I would give a very good credit for this part. They have been always responsive with a clear workflow and outcomes. They always take the feedback and responded to it on a timely manner. The relation was more of them being part of our team and working as a one team than a service provider to a client approach.

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

They were very resourceful and always tried to find the right solution within their team. Also, the fact that the backend lead was excellent and having a good experience in dealing with the hardware (interfacing them) which was very helpful. It is worth mentioning that we are not using Amazon services when it comes to the cloud as we had special requirements where the team manage to achieve that successfully though it is totally a new environment. So simply it is not about having the team that would do the basic or common development that anyone can replicate but rather the ability to learn, investigate the available options and implement them within the defined deadline and be able to contain the projects with no major overflows.

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

As mentioned above we where working as a one team and yes we had some areas to be improved during the work and that was reported to them which they actually take that into consideration and fix whatever that needs to be fixed. My approach with them was transparent if I do not like something I will just raise it to them to have the right action and I found that their management is really keen to improve and also make sure to have the right action on time. So, my experience with them is positive and nothing is serious that worth mentioning. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of CounterBook - a bookkeeping and credit management app for small and micro businesses in Africa, initially launched in Nigeria.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Blink22, and what were your goals?

We wanted to develop a credit management app where merchants can record credit transactions with customers and automatically send reminders when payments are due. We wanted to include invoices/receipts functions, SMS and Whatsapp integrations, a simple and easy interface, etc. We also aimed to set up the analytics framework on Google Analytics. We hired Blink22 for product management, front end engineering and back end engineering services for this initial app launch and post-launch maintenance.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We searched online and on Upwork for app development agencies. Blink22 stood out because they had already worked on a similar app, they had great reviews and their website looked professional. When we spoke to the team our conviction became stronger to use Blink22 because they were professional and it was clear they knew what they were talking about and understood our needs.

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

We provided wireframes and had many discovery meetings with the product and engineering teams. Blink22 allocated some really good developers and product folks to this project. We then went through sprint stages with the teams. The product team had some really great analysis which helped us to avoid mistakes, and it was enjoyable to solve product problems with them and come up with creative solutions. We were also guided by the technical team's expertise in areas we were not so good at such as the tech stack, databases to use, cost-saving methods, etc.

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

We created a team on Slack with a very impressive Product Manager (Ayah) being the main point of contact. The co-founder (Ayman) also stayed very close in the channels answering questions and being involved throughout which was great. Throughout the project we had around 5-10 people from the Blink22 team helping and communicating in Slack. As well as the Product Manager, we had a Tech Lead, a front end engineer and back end engineer, a person helping with data and analytics, a QA engineer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to launch the app on time and resolve any post launch issues with the team. This led to great market discovery with putting the app in people's hands, getting feedback and being confident to increase marketing. We were happy with the app. We were able to launch the app, iterate on it, and build on the foundations that they had set up for us. The feedback was great showing that the app was easy to use and the SMS/Whatsapp reminder feature was a hit. We were also able to track analytics with the foundations that B22 had set up with us.

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

The project management style was great. We were kept in the loop constantly through Slack channels and the way they arranged the Slack channels was clear and professional. We had quick responses from the team and they stuck the timing on deliverables. Where there were issues they made sure to set up calls and convey them to us and helped us find solutions.

We had sprints which allowed us to test the app as we went along the process - giving us the chance to give feedback and test things. The service provided was seamless. They also helped us to solve problems on launch - we had an issue with the OTP SMS code due to African restrictions which we realized on launch. The team helped to resolve these issues which was helpful.

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

The customer service stood out compared to other teams I have worked with and the post-launch help they gave without us having to pay extra was great as it showed that they cared about the long term relationship and it was not a case of "our job is done and you're on your own now". Finally, the project team seemed like they developed an understanding of the niche we were in given they were deeply involved in the product which showed they have an interest in the concept, product and business landscape which also helps.

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

One way to improve could have been to have more understanding of the Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) space and the commercial & technical difficulties related to that context which would have been a way to surpass our expectations even more and show us roadblocks before we met them. For example, the high costs of SMS and Whatsapp messages for both the startup and end customer compared to other markets due to the African telecoms companies and how they work. But the team learnt along the way with us so will now be well equipped with this knowledge for other clients looking to create apps for SSA.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We at Nordic Gamekeeper work with smart devices for wildlife management. Today we work with feeding machines and cameras that are placed in rural areas to monitor and "steer" animals. I'm the CTO at this company and I have 18 years in IT as a developer/architect.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Blink22, and what were your goals?

We currently don't have any app developers inhouse, so we where looking for expert consultants. We interviewed many but fell for Blink22 as they, based on my experience, seemed knowledgable and also very capable in English, which was a requirement on our end.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

High competence in both development and English was key, together with pricing of course.

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

Both developing new features and bugfixes in old ones was/is in the scope of this project. Priority etc is made in Trello which the devs then pick up by them selves. Deliverables etc are all made by the team at Blink22, but we of course store the code in our git to keep the IP in the right place.

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

We've worked with 3 different developers, 1 very senior and 2 senior ones, all of which has been very statisfactory.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

No.

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

This is right now quite an adhoc/burst based project. Things pop up and we get the help we need when needed. Communication wise we work with Trello and Slack (besides emails then). This has worked great for us.

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

The most impressive thing has been their competence in app development. It has been very nice to talk/chat with people who are actually senior at what they do, and not just at their age. Ever so often I stumble upon "senior developers" that are just falsely 

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

Not really. One can always want people to stand waiting for you as soon as you want something done but that's not a sound expectation to have. We're all working to the best of our abilities, which I can see the guys at Blink22 doing as well.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am cofounder and CPO of Sokoun, Sokoun is a social commerce platform that offers the most affordable & quality household essentials to the masses via a gamified group buying experience.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Blink22, and what were your goals?

We worked with Blink22 on kickstarting our app development that included achieving:

1. Full product and technical design of Sokoun Backend
2. Full product and technical design of Sokoun Mobile Apps
3. Full product and technical design of Sokoun Web dashboards

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

I have previously worked with Blink22 on a project during my days as a Head of product for Careem Bus. The decision to engage once again came from having:

• Access to great talent
• Clear alignment on ways of working together
• Confidence in quality delivery

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

Project started from scratch, from:

• Conceptualization and brainstorming sessions on the business model to be built
• Creating product & technical designs for the apps to be used
• Getting down to development and launch, which included:
  • Backend infrastructure (NodeJS, Typescript)
  • Mobile app (Android, kotlin)
  • Frontend dashboards (Angular, React)
• Actual launch of the above, and doing the necessary devops/debugging for go live

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

8-10 team members were involved:

• 2 Backend
• 2 Frontend
• 2 android
• team lead
• QA engineer
• Product Designer
• Product Manager

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Successful delivery of both Mobile App & Back office operations dashboard

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

We have utilized a kanban framework along side key communication tools that differed throughout the stages of development:

1. Jira boards for tracking
2. slack for communication (answering any pending questions herer and there)
3. Twice a week sync ups to review design progress
4. Weekly meetup to review/answer any pending topics with tech leads

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

We are impressed with their resourcefulness around different resources and profiles that were needed for the development. As the team was ready not only with Engineering capacity but also with Product capacity when it comes to Design and PMing needs

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

Perhaps faster timelines over resource allocation and initial estimations

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of a digital health startup. We have a B2B SaaS web app to improve wellbeing in workplaces.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Blink22, and what were your goals?

We were looking for a competent tech partner to help us refactor, maintain and add new features to our software. Also, develop a new communication dashboard to integrate with current tools and enhance platform performance. We are still yet to start the second part.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We went through different competitors' proposals and narrowed our choice for Blink22 based on agility, clear communication and response time, honesty, high-quality portfolio and previous customer reviews.

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

The project is still ongoing, nevertheless, they have been working on project upgrade and debugging and performance and scalability. So far, the early work done is promising.

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

The team is competent in catching up on the base of the code and hitting the ground running with further developments and problem-solving. The team mainly involves full-stack developers, back-end and DevOps engineers working on the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Still ongoing with many milestones yet to develop. However, It’s been great working with them and I am encouraged to move forward and strengthen our partnership further.

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

We’ve been using different tools for different project stages. E.g. Slack, emails, Jira and regular standups. The communication so far is good and they always keep up to date with new trends to assure smooth communication.

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

They go the extra mile to ensure high-quality results. Provide tech suggestions to keep current solutions smooth. The executive team's vision and entrepreneurial spirit made it easy to communicate new business models and consider different models to get work done.

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

So far no.