Brainhub

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the COO of CybrIQ Solutions

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

CynomIQ is the first solution that combines technology and services to help you master continuous cybersecurity posture management.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Convert CoreUI prototype into a production-ready template
• Provide professional design and coding best practices input

SOLUTION

How did you find Brainhub?

Referral from CoreUI site

Why did you select Brainhub over others?

• Referred to me
• Excellent Reference Call

How many teammates from Brainhub were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

• Provide UI/UX design feedback on our current prototype front end (CoreUI/React)
• Convert our prototype front end into a reuseable template built to production-ready standards
• Build authentication method for platform login (originally JWT, converted to AD SSO)
• Provide UI/UX design and code for product analytic dashboards
• Provide Python support for back-end API creation

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Design and code delivery

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

• Very proactive and transparent project management
• We used their recommended tool set (Atlassian) as they are doing most of the work
• Completely transparent and frequently updated budget projections
• Frequent and detailed communications with our team to clarify requirements
• In general work was delivered not just on-time but earlier than expected

What was your primary form of communication with Brainhub?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

• Their company culture is very positive and professional 
• We feel like they are truly a part of our team and have our best interests in mind
• Our team very much enjoys interacting and collaborating with entire Brainhub team
• The skill level of their developers, designers, and business analysts have been very impressive

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

Nothing. It has been an impressive partnership over the past three months.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a managing director at an accounting firm that provides tax audit and advisory services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Brainhub?

We needed support with the design and implementation of our tax software products. Our in-house team didn't have the overall level of experience required for this enterprise software development project. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Brainhub provides staff augmentation services for our company. Brainhub works on Angular frontend development and uses .NET for backend development and PostgreSQL for databases. Brainhub also provides mentoring for our in-house development team. 

What is the team composition?

We work with Nina (Project Manager), Matt (Co-Founder & Board Member), a software architect, software developers, a business analyst, and a UI/UX designer. We're about to integrate a QA specialist into the team. 

How did you come to work with Brainhub?

I worked with Brainhub at my previous company and found them initially through a Google search. I was researching whether to use Angular or React for frontend development and came across several opinions from Matt recommending React. I reached out to Matt because we were looking for staff augmentation services, and that's how I met Brainhub.

I was looking for developers with experience in specific technologies like PostgreSQL and Angular, and Brainhub ensured to integrate a team of developers that met that criteria. Brainhub's team experience complements our in-house team experience.
How much have you invested with them?

We've spent over $1 million on this project. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with Brainhub since April 2023. I worked with Brainhub for five years with my previous employer, and we've been working together for one year at my current company. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Brainhub provides the resources I require for this project with the required experience level. Our in-house team couldn't develop at the pace required by our stakeholders, so we brought Brainhub's team to support our project and meet our desired timeframe. Our internal team would've taken 3x more time than Brainhub's team, and that's how I got the budget approved for this project.  

Every Brainhub teammate I've worked with has greatly contributed to our project. I've never worked with a teammate from Brainhub that doesn't meet our performance requirements. Brainhub is a boutique firm and skilled organization. The team has a rigorous hiring process, and they're very selective. Brainhub only hires about 1% of the professionals they interview. 

How did Brainhub perform from a project management standpoint?

Brainhub delivers work on time and on budget, and Nina runs our daily stand-up meetings. Brainhub uses Azure DevOps to manage our backlog, Microsoft Teams for chatting, and Confluence for sharing information.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I've returned to Brainhub several times for different projects and worked with teams of different sizes depending on our business cycle. Other boutique firms charge a lot of money compared to Brainhub, and I haven't found more skilled resources than Brainhub's team. I've worked with on-shore and off-shore developers, and developers from the US are more expensive than developers in Poland, from which I get a lot of quality work. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything for Brainhub to improve — the fact that I continue to hire the team is the best review I can give. 

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?
I recommend hiring Brainhub. If I had my own software development shop, Brainhub would be my development team. The team is highly competent and extremely professional. Brainhub has a young team with mature experience beyond what I'd expect from professionals of their age. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of a software company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

All-in-one HR platform that helps HR departments around the world work smarter.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• We engaged Brainhub with a specific goal in mind: to enhance our web application by implementing crucial functionalities within our CRM module. Our objective was to improve our existing product and elevate its capabilities. 
• This goal stemmed from our desire to not only enhance the UX but also to equip our platform with cutting-edge capabilities that would set it apart in the competitive HR software landscape. We sought to leverage Brainhub's expertise to elevate our existing product, ensuring it meets the evolving needs of HR departments worldwide. 
• This collaboration was a strategic move to fortify our position as an industry leader by providing a comprehensive and seamlessly integrated solution for HR professionals. We were confident that Brainhub's technical proficiency was precisely what we needed to achieve this ambitious milestone. Their involvement was instrumental in pushing the boundaries of what our platform could offer, ultimately providing a more robust and sophisticated tool for HR departments globally.

SOLUTION

How did you find Brainhub?

Referral

Why did you select Brainhub over others?

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

How many teammates from Brainhub were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Brainhub's contribution to our project was marked by a creditable level of technical proficiency and a proactive approach. Their team, composed of three skilled developers and a dedicated QA Engineer, seamlessly integrated into our Scrum teams. This integration extended across various aspects of the project, including planning meetings, daily communication channels, retrospectives, and the actual development tasks. 

One distinguishing factor that sets Brainhub apart is their strategic mindset. They consistently provided valuable insights and recommendations throughout the entirety of our collaboration. This encompassed critical areas such as revising the project roadmap, streamlining feature deployment, and optimizing our overall development process. This guidance significantly expedited our iteration cycles, allowing us to deliver thoroughly tested updates in a timely manner. 

Furthermore, Brainhub showcased remarkable adaptability. They adeptly translated our design concepts into functional features, seamlessly incorporating them into our existing product. This versatility was particularly evident in their ability to develop key functionalities from the ground up, demonstrating a high level of technical prowess. 

Brainhub's involvement was instrumental in achieving the objectives set forth for our HR platform. Their technical expertise, coupled with their collaborative and adaptable approach, played a pivotal role in the success of our product.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project with Brainhub brought concrete and favorable outcomes. We successfully deployed the first version with enhanced functionalities in our CRM module. This milestone was achieved with a strikingly low incidence of bugs, showcasing the meticulous testing and QA processes put in place. The initial feedback from our users has been positive, affirming the effectiveness of the implemented upgrades. 

This response not only validates our decision to collaborate with Brainhub but also indicates a promising trajectory for the continued development and refinement of our HR platform. These outcomes mark a significant step forward in the evolution of our product, setting a solid foundation for future enhancements and refinements.

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

Brainhub's project management approach was structured and effective. We held weekly planning sessions via Google Meet, providing an opportunity to review progress, address significant issues, and prioritize tasks for the forthcoming week. This regular cadence of meetings ensured everyone was aligned and updated on project developments. 

For day-to-day communication and task management, we utilized Slack and Jira, respectively. This combination allowed for seamless and organized collaboration. Tasks were tracked, discussed, and resolved efficiently within the Jira platform, while Slack served as an immediate channel for any quick queries or updates.

What was your primary form of communication with Brainhub?

Virtual Meeting

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

• JavaScript Expertise: Their proficiency in JavaScript was a notable asset. It significantly contributed to the successful execution of the project, particularly in the development of key functionalities. 
• Good Communication Skills in English: Effective communication is crucial in any collaborative project, and Brainhub demonstrated commendable proficiency in English. This ensured that ideas, feedback, and instructions were conveyed clearly and accurately. 
• Swift Results: One of the most impressive aspects was the speed at which they delivered results. Within just two weeks of initiating our collaboration, Brainhub’s team submitted their first pull request. This demonstrated their agility and efficiency in driving the project forward.

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

Nothing worth noting.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the VP, Product of a media company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Podcast analytics software

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Technical planning and research for additional product offering

SOLUTION

How did you find Brainhub?

Referral

Why did you select Brainhub over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Brainhub were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Our team hired Brainhub to do initial set up for developing a new product offering from our company. Deliverables: 

1. Using the available scripts on the open source platform to deploy the project to Cloudflare 
2. Customize it with our domain name 
3. Setup CI/CD (already done on the OS version) on Github/Gitlab 
4. Setup staging and production environment
5. Host it on a scalable hosting platform and password protect frontend access.
6. Add error-monitoring in place 
7. Add system logging in place 
8. Most important - document all parts of the code, excluding the tests.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project was completed on time. The Brainhub team was very organized and communicative. Even though we were in different time zones, that didn't cause any issues for their work. All developments were well documented. We enjoyed working with them!

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

Project was delivered on time. The team was very responsive and great at keeping track of the project's scope. Daily updates were provided.

What was your primary form of communication with Brainhub?

Virtual Meeting

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

Very easy to work with! Asked lots of questions and was able to get the job done efficiently.

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

There was nothing they needed to improve on.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the former Marketing Manager of a research consulting company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a progressive, strategic and innovative company that provides full-service research, engagement & fundraising tools and strategies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Evaluating and improving the user experience by identifying usability issues and recommending design enhancements

SOLUTION

How did you find Brainhub?

• Referral
• Other

Why did you select Brainhub over others?

Referred to me

How many teammates from Brainhub were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

A Brainhub UX designer reviewed our website and performed a Heuristic Usability Evaluation, analyzing the website's Language, Priority, Universality and Visual Clarity. Everything that can be seen and experienced on the website was evaluated across these five general categories. The end product was a report with the findings and recommendations.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Brainhub's heuristic evaluation of our site yielded 36 issues that we were able to action to improve our site's usability. We are eager to see how this affects the user journey once the site is launched.

The result of the project was a roadmap for website improvements. We received a 100-page report, which listed the issues along with explanations of why each particular issue is important and proposals for fixing them. The report also included specific suggestions for A/B testing and estimations of the issues and solutions in terms of their impact on business objectives.

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

Brainhub's project management was proficient. The team consistently met deadlines and their communication was clear and effective. Their collaborative and approachable manner made them a pleasure to work with.

What was your primary form of communication with Brainhub?

Email or Messaging App

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

What stood out as unique about Brainhub was their use of Miro boards. This approach fostered seamless collaboration and enabled efficient brainstorming, organization, and visualization of ideas.

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

Brainhub met our expectations for this project, and there are no obvious areas of improvement for the scope of work they did for us.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am an executive at a fintech company located in the UK. We build financial modeling software for financial institutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Brainhub?

We use Brainhub for additional development. We have our own internal development teams but have various products and wanted short-term resources to help us with those.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Brainhub provides a small React and Node.js development team to help us deliver a project to an end customer.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with a delivery and project manager and developers from Brainhub. 

How did you come to work with Brainhub?

I believe I found them on Clutch. 

How much have you invested in them?

We spend about €50,000 (approximately $54,000 USD) a month. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement began in October 2022 and is ongoing, with 3–4 months to go.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We measure Brainhub’s success by whether the developers have the skills and expertise we need, whether they pick things up quickly, and whether they drive the project forward. Brainhub has met these benchmarks, so our engagement has been successful so far. 

How did Brainhub perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re good at project management and can provide additional resources if we need them. At the same time, we don’t have any resources we don’t need. Overall, Brainhub has been very flexible and has good communication through email and video conferencing. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m most impressed with Brainhub’s flexibility and ability to deliver. The team is really good; everyone we’ve worked with has been competent. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We haven’t been unhappy with anything — Brainhub has been great. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and CEO of a startup that develops marketing technology products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Brainhub?

We needed their team’s expertise to help develop the backend of our software solution.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In the beginning, we had a discovery phase where the Brainhub team learned about our product. We shared our goals, the audience we were trying to reach, and our value proposition. We provided UI mockups and a prototype. We gave them our requirements for the database structure and entity relationships. After that, they prepared the boilerplate of the technology on the AWS cloud and started developing it according to our tickets. 

They’ve created a SaaS product using Node.js that connects with databases and customer listings from other platforms. The tool generates automated digital campaigns and integrates with advertising platforms. There’s a mobile application written in React Native, a dashboard, and a settings panel.

What is the team composition?

There are two senior developers working on the project.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since September 2022, and we’re still in an active contract.

How did you come to work with Brainhub?

We researched companies that provided software development at a high level. We had 10 candidates and disqualified those based in Ukraine due to the instability resulting from the Russian Invasion. From the remaining six, Brainhub seemed like the best fit for us; they appeared to be detailed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app already has 180 users, and, amazingly, there have  been no crashes or bugs. The code is very organized and well-structured. Brainhub’s support has impacted our company in a positive way. After several months, we were able to successfully launch our product.

How did the company perform from a project management standpoint?

They estimate how long each task will take in Jira, and they meet the deadlines. If they don’t, we help them catch up, but generally, they deliver features on time. None of the delays have been Brainhub’s fault; we’ve had to submit extra tickets as a result of change requests from our marketing department and other unplanned factors have come up that always occur when launching a product.

Everything is well-documented. Documentation can cause tasks to take longer than expected, but I think it’ll be worth it in the future.

We host morning calls on Google Meet.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They want to fully understand the project; they take the time to learn the purpose of every feature so that they can do the best job. I think that’s unique. Other agencies sometimes make mistakes because they don’t understand what they’re developing. This can cause a need to restructure, but this hasn’t happened with Brainhub.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we’ve had retrospectives, but there’s nothing major I’d change.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Provide as many written details as you can.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an executive at a software company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Cello is a User-led Growth platform for amplifying word-of-mouth for B2B SaaS.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Development of our platform, user experience and services

SOLUTION

How did you find Brainhub?

Referral

Why did you select Brainhub over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fits our budget
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Brainhub were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Brainhub worked along in-house teams to provide full stack development for a B2B SaaS developer platform that customers embed into their own products. The product uses React, TypeScript, NodeJS and is built on AWS cloud services using S3, Lambdas, Cloudfront, Docker, Kinesis, DynamoDB. Additionally, the platform is built as 'infrastructure as code' CI/CD from the ground up using Terraform and automated unit and E2E testing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Our product is now seeing significant traction and growing quickly. To achieve this we delivered regular weekly releases that allowed us to quickly iterate on our product offering through close collaboration with customers, both in terms of functionality and scaling.

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

Our teams collaborated through a fully agile process that allowed for rapid, weekly releases using Kanban to deliver continuous value to our customers. Functionality was not only delivered regularly on time but also at a high level of quality. Additionally, we have an experienced team and Brainhub was always responsive in providing an overall process that met our needs and high bar for quality and continuous improvement.

What was your primary form of communication with Brainhub?

• Virtual Meeting

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

Brainhub injected a high level of energy and its own company culture to the project, which helped in building a strong partnership delivering our unique product offering from an early stage. This allowed our teams to work together with a high level of trust through close collaboration on every aspect of our product and execute as a single team.

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

While Brainhub provided resources and processes that allowed us to hit the ground running, we eventually were able to streamline some processes of these based on our own experiences a few months down the road. Nothing significant here, but perhaps we could have taken some of these steps earlier on.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a producer at an entertainment company that has a video game.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Brainhub?

Most games these days require a launcher system to initiate, so we needed someone to help us develop our game’s desktop launcher.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Brainhub is in charge of our desktop launcher development needs. When they joined, the product was already in place, so we provided them with all of our existing documentation. Ours is an ongoing project with no end date, so they basically work as our development team, handling the tasks and projects within the scope of that product.

Our launcher executes our game on desktop devices and pushes updates. We update our game regularly, so this product notices when there’s an update and patches the game for the user. Additionally, it helps us communicate news to those users. As for the technology stack, Brainhub uses Electron, React, and Node.js to develop our launcher continuously.

What is the team composition?

We work with two software developers from Brainhub.

How did you come to work with Brainhub?

I had worked with Brainhub before at another company, so I was already familiar with the developers and their skill sets. I also had a good rapport and sense of trust with them, so when our needs arose for this project, they were the first ones we went to to see if they could fit our needs. It turned out that they did, so we hired them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around June 2022, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We measure the success of our engagement by the number of rollbacks needed after our releases and whether Brainhub finishes their tasks on time. Thus far, everything has gone well; we haven’t experienced significant issues requiring major rollbacks, and Brainhub has delivered as expected.

How did Brainhub perform from a project management standpoint?

Brainhub has fulfilled our expectations regarding their work pace and communication. The project management is handled entirely in-house, so Brainhub’s resources aren’t directly responsible for that. We communicate via email and biweekly calls, and we collaborate daily with their developers.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality of Brainhub’s developers is very high, and they know how to take ownership of their work. Their resources don’t simply deliver upon requirements; they’re active participants in the technical design process.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I’m satisfied with Brainhub so far.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust them with technical ownership. They have great ideas, so if you let them share those ideas and participate in the technical design process, you’ll get better results.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

CTO of recruitment marketing agency

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Brainhub?

We hired Brainhub to conduct a UX audit and implement changes to the application to improve the ease of use of our system. Ease of use is one of the main values that our application must have. We knew that our app still had confusing points for users. The aim of the audit was to find them and implement solutions to optimize the time users spend at these points and ultimately reduce the user churn rate.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We wanted a company that has the resources of UX Designers and Web Developers. We created a list of 4 companies with whom we started discussions. We chose Brainhub because of its business approach to executing projects

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

We started our cooperation with a strategy workshop. We wanted Brainhub to understand the needs of our system users. The next step was a comprehensive analysis of our system in terms of the usability of our application. The goal of the analysis was to find points of user leaks and confusing points, which were characterized by, among other things, too much time spent on a particular tab and a high rate of return to the previous tab. During the audit, we were in constant contact with Brainhub so that we were on the same page. We were impressed that Brainhub was able to list multiple recommendations in a short period of time, with a prioritization of each recommendation and the projected impact on the churn rate of our app users. It was the perfect introduction to the entire project, which defined the project's implementation plan. We then moved on to the development phase. The project was carried out smoothly, with no delays. We are very satisfied with the process of carrying out the project and the quality of the final product

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

In the initial phase of the project, the team consisted of two UX designers. Their influence in the initial phase of the project was crucial, as they defined the plan and the tasks needed for the implementation phase of the project. Two JavaScript developers and a scrum master joined the team in the development phase. The project also involved a Technical Advisor and a Business Analyst. This selection of the team guaranteed smooth implementation of the project. Each successive functionality implemented by the developers had a business basis. In other words, both the project team and we were on the same page. Each of us knew what the functionality was supposed to contribute to the final product

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project had no delays. We are very satisfied with the final result. We appreciate the fact that Brainhub paid great attention to the business functionality of the proposed solutions. As a result, we believe the implemented functionalities have a business basis, which should increase customer satisfaction with our product. Unfortunately, it is too early to assess with certainty the impact of the new functionalities on user satisfaction. However, we expect increases in metrics such as NPS. The lack of project delays has allowed us to continue developing the product as planned

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We met with the team once a week for a planning meeting, during which they showed us the results of their work. There was an atmosphere of transparency and we were fully informed about the progress of the project. The project was well scheduled. We had direct contact with every member of the team. Each sprint brought the implementation of new functionality that was usable and had business value. In addition, the project team was flexible and open to our suggestions. I appreciate Brainhub employees for their business knowledge. We spent a lot of time in discussions and workshops.They made sure that each functionality implemented had business value.

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

I was impressed by the business approach to the project. Brainhub did not wait for the tasks we gave them but had a huge influence on feature planning. You can see that Brainhub has a lot of experience and a lot of business knowledge. Because of this, they didn't just focus on making sure we implemented a new feature, but also that each feature had business value. All that Brainhub proposed were designed with end-users in mind. A large number of consultations and workshops made it possible to develop a good model of cooperation and design an optimal product. We are very satisfied with the cooperation with Brainhub.

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

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