Briisk - Out of Business

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a company in the wine industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Briisk?

The goal was to create a B2B platform that would provide a network for all of the different types of businesses in the wine industry around the world.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built the backend in Elixir version 1.4, even though the latest version is 1.8. Instead of developing the web solution on the same version, they built it on version 1.6. The frontend was developed in Angular version 5, even though 7 is the latest version. Also, they were still learning two of the coding languages they used, and they made the decision to use those languages without advising me about their lack of expertise.

What is the team dynamic?

There was a high turnover rate regarding both project managers and developers, and I had many video calls with their leadership about that problem. I worked with the CTO, who is a co-owner, and I also worked with the co-CEO, who is a co-owner as well.

How did you come to work with Briisk?

I found them by doing research on Clutch and Google and then speaking with three independent references that had worked with Briisk in the past. I also went to Poland to interview Briisk and met their development and ownership team in their office.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $50,000–$200,000 with the team.

What is the status of this engagement?

We launched the project in February 2018, and we decided to end the engagement in May 2019. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did your relationship with the vendor evolve?

The project started out well, as they were very enthusiastic at the beginning. However, during the next five months, complications mounted, and we began to get frustrated. 

How did Briisk address the challenges that arose?

After our initial negotiations completed, it seemed they weren’t interested anymore. They weren’t keen to help us, despite the fact we were paying them on a monthly basis. They could have been more flexible and reactive to the issues that arose. There were persistent bugs on the application that were not resolved.

Describe the impact this engagement has had on your business.

The partnership has had a tremendous impact on internal stakeholders, as we couldn’t generate revenue until we had a stable product. The original timespan was four months, but the work lasted over a year and a half. We had to bring on additional resources and then find a new company that could redo their work. That new provider used more flexible, secure, and updated versions of the technologies so we could re-launch the solution.

I observed careless mistakes throughout the engagement, which led to a need for further resources. The database structure they created on PostgreSQL created business problems because it wasn’t built on a scalable or flexible format. Their choice to use Elixir version 1.4 caused security flaws. Also, coding in languages they were still learning complicated the project.

How was project management handled?

We had to change the project manager three times, including trying the co-CEO and CTO as project managers. This led to various challenges. Also, Briisk didn’t pay attention to detail. 

Is there anything that the vendor did well or that you would consider a strength?

No. If I compare them with another firm, we could have gotten similar work for better price/quality, and we wouldn't have had to spend the additional resources.
 
In what specific areas can they improve?

If they want to compete and succeed in the market, they need to treat their clients more seriously. They could have been more transparent about the versions of technologies they used. Also, they could have granted us permission to Bitbucket, as we found out late in the process that we had “read only” access to our code and IP property. A company that wants to succeed should be an added value to the company that’s hiring them, not a detriment.

Company Responses

The vendor responded on June 18, 2019.

From the beginning, our team was keen on helping the client by engaging marketing strategists, researching solutions and tools and quoting on different options. We did this to help move project forward and did not charge for the additional consultancy. The team involved had a proven record of several projects developed in given technologies. Hence, it’s hard to say they did not have enough technical knowledge or expertise. 

After delivering the agreed scope within five months and within the budget, our CTO was pushing the client to go to the market and test the application with real users. That’s when tensions started as additional features and requirements kept on coming, and they questioned the solutions that we agreed on. Even though the client left us 5 stars on Clutch initially, the review was unfortunately removed soon before the launch of the application.

From five maintenance options, the client decided on the smallest package of 2.5 hours a month. We believe this was the source of conflict as our team was no longer able to serve the client with the consultations and availability that the client was used to during the development phase. The new maintenance manager followed the agreement quite strictly.

We are aware we could have reacted quicker to the tensions or could have been more assertive towards some of the imposed solutions. Our other reviews prove that the capabilities and expertise of our team go far beyond the note of this unjust opinion.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the team leader of business process automation company. We also deliver custom software services to clients in different industries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Briisk?

I engaged Briisk to develop the frontend of a FinTech application.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to deliver a proof of concept and then develop an MVP. The product was a custom application for the finance sector.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We were building the app from scratch with a diverse and distributed team, so I needed a partner who’d worked in such an environment before, as well as one who presented strong React skills. Briisk and I had participated in a few startup events together. They also used to sponsor an Angular community, so I knew they were a team of engaged developers.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Briisk provides both development and project management services. We work with their React developers and also with a project manager (PM). We have weekly Scrum sprints, in which we plan, deliver, and test functionalities.

What was the team composition?

We started with two React developers, and as the collaboration evolved, we expanded to three developers. There’s also a PM on Briisk’s end.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The biggest challenge for the project was buliding and maintaining team spirit among people who were working together for the first time. Briisk handles it very well. Their PM ensures everyone on the team knows and understands what it means to work in an agile process.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We work in Scrum, which helps us maintain our structure and remained focus on developing value. There were some issues initially, as there always are in working with a diverse team, but we soon attained our desired velocity.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their openness to giving and receiving feedback stands out to us. Each team member shares their opinions freely and addresses issues right away. They’re able to admit their mistakes and improve for the sake of the project.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I don’t have any complaints right now. Perhaps they could encourage their developers to communicate with clients more. It’s good to talk to every team member once in a while.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Paul Spijkers, the owner of IZI Motive. We develop ordering platforms for automotive spare parts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Briisk?

We engaged Briisk to help develop some of our applications.

What were your goals for this project?

We hoped to develop specific modules within a designated timeframe.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Another client who was pleased with their work recommended Briisk to us.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Briisk developed extra tools for our platform using Ruby on Rails. The project lasted several months.

What was the team composition?

Two members of our team collaborated with their team of four, which included an experienced project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Thanks to the tools Briisk developed, we signed a new three-year contract with a customer.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

They had an excellent workflow and communicated with us with clarity and consistency.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Briisk made the collaboration seamless and delivered the product on time within our agreed budget.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

No, we were very happy with their work.

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was updated on July 26, 2019, by the client. New content is below.

BACKGROUND
Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m Wido Jansen, the tech lead for a company that supplies car parts catalogs to big brands in Western Europe. I'm responsible for development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE
For what projects/services did your company hire Briisk?

We re-engaged Briisk for another project to quickly scale up our team to meet unexpected extra requirements from our customers.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to be able to deploy the extra requirements within the short time frame requested by the customers.

SOLUTION
How did you select this vendor?

We’d worked with Briisk before and it was a good experience. They were our first choice for this project.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Briisk extended out team by providing Ruby on Rails and JavaScript developers. They helped us build extra features on the front- and backend of our platform. Their team also led the testing of the new features.

What was the team composition?

The total team size was flexible depending on our needs. We had one fixed contact person who was a developer. We also worked closely with a business development specialist.

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

Briisk was able to supply the extra requirements within the time frame and budget our customers expected.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We had direct contact with their developers without any additional go-betweens. The communication between our teams was open and easy.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their flexibility to help us out on short notice was most impressive. Briisk’s developers were able to understand the business needs for our requirements, which resulted in better solutions.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No. The communication was very good and we’re happy with the overall outcome.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am one of the two founders of a logistics platform that serves as an intermediary between customers and large shipping carriers. It makes it more convenient for customers to book, trace, and receive shipments.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Briisk?

Briisk is one of the two companies that has helped us develop the platform to our specifications.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started development with a Dutch-based company prior to working with Briisk, and our product had already been on the market for some time when they joined us. They came on as a new set of eyes and provided quality input on potential areas for improvement, especially around certain aspects of the layout and design. They also took on new features that required both frontend and backend development using languages specific to our platform.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 3 full time developers, and 2 additional developers would join the team when necessary. They selected the developers at the beginning of the project, and we were able to meet with them prior to starting and make sure they could address all our technical needs while meshing with our team effectively.

How did you come to work with Briisk?

After starting with the first company, we were looking for a company that could assist with the development process at an hourly rate. We underwent a thorough selection process and were considering four companies total, three companies in Poland and one company in the Ukraine. During our first meeting with Briisk, they were very professional and down to earth. We got the impression that the had the technical knowledge and innovative approach that we were looking for and were confident that they could do the job.

How much have you invested with them?

We’re investing about $19,000 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in July of 2017, and they’re still working with us on the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Throughout the course of the engagement, they’ve done several thorough code reviews that have led to significant changes to the platform. These changes have resulted in a more cohesive product all around.

How did Briisk perform from a project management standpoint?

There was a very steep learning curve for them at the beginning of the engagement, but over time, they’ve become a crucial part of our team. They’re now managing the project very effectively, and the ideas that they bring to the project are instrumental to its success. They work within a Scrum methodology, and although I don’t speak with them often anymore, my CTO engages in daily standup meetings with their developers. So far, everything they’ve done has been on budget and delivered in a timely manner.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are highly skilled developers that prioritize clear communication and transparency. They’ve done a great job at working with our team to make sure the right people are looped in at appropriate times and everyone is on the same page.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could be slightly more proactive in development. Also, while their frontend developers have the technical skill, their creative insight will be tested thoroughly in the coming months as we ramp up that side of the project.

Advice for potential customers?

I would recommend as much face-to-face interaction as possible during the first phases of the project. This may be difficult, as I know they work with companies all over the world.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a requirements engineer for a software development company that provides advice for startups.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Briisk?

We wanted to expand our software development team and bring a fresh perspective to the table.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We were helping a startup logistics company in building an online platform to connect consumers and businesses in order to change the way our process worked. We wanted to involve both the sender and receiver more into the complete logistics process. We also wanted to make it easier to send packages, as well as manage the flow of delivery.

Together with Briisk, we used Elixir to build the complete backend for this application which is running on the AWS (Amazon Web Services) cloud.

What is the team dynamic?

We started off with a team of 2 backend developers, but we’re now working with a team of 5.

How did you come to work with Briisk?

They worked for a customer of mine who I was consulting for. We couldn’t find the required knowledge locally, so we broadened our search. We came into contact with Briisk, and they had all the knowledge and Elixir expertise we were looking for.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around €65,000 [U.S. $77,463].

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2017, and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We use Scrum methodology, and we measure our success in story points. We were participating in an existing team, but Briisk was on par with that team on very short notice. They didn’t require a lot of time to get acquainted with the code and started fairly quickly. From that moment on, the velocity of the project management was excellent.

How did Briisk perform from a project management standpoint?

They were really good. Their planning was accurate, on time, and well estimated. They’re very specific and honest about aspects they weren’t capable of.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re open and energetic about delivering quality software, and also eager to learn about new technologies.  I especially like how they see their own company and personnel as key aspects, which makes them stand apart from the competition. I hope they continue to grow while staying focused on quality.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be transparent and open about what they need to achieve. Briisk is able to help their clients more if they understand their goals.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Freighteo, an online booking service for air-freight shipments from China to the rest of the world. We mostly work with leading couriers like DHL, UPS, and so on, with the aim of getting lower rates from those couriers for small businesses importing from China.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Briisk?

Many small businesses are starting to buy from China because of online sourcing tools, but they don’t really have the right ability or knowledge on the shipping side to get lower rates for their 50- to 100-kilogram shipments. I wanted to create a platform that used the latest technology to offer quality at competitive rates. I hadn’t worked with a web developer on this scale before. My prior experience was strictly basic WordPress pages. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Briisk developed my website. The homepage form is similar to that of a flight-booking website, allowing users to enter their details and receive pricing instantly. It’s an automatic quoting form that pulls from backend data. The main goal was to have an easy-to-use homepage that offered people instant prices.

The frontend was done using AngularJS, while the backend was done in Ruby on Rails.

How did you come to work with Briisk?

I identified Poland as a great place with skilled developers. Briisk focused exclusively on AngularJS and Ruby development. I appreciated this, as well as the fact that they were actively learning about those technologies rather than trying to do many different things, depending on what the client wanted. Those were the exact technologies that would work for me.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost was around €13,000 [$15,360].

What is the status of this engagement?

We started talking with them in November 2014. The project lasted for about 2 months, from January 2015 until the end of February. The work is about to restart. The initial build went fine, and we plan to do some additional work in July or August 2017. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The goal was to get the site done within our timeframe and provide quotes accurately. Briisk produced every bit of functionality we discussed in the timeframe we agreed on.

Some small updates were needed, dealing with the email actions that happen after certain operations, but there haven’t been any bugs on the site. Briisk has been helpful in fixing whatever needed to be done.

How did Briisk perform from a project management standpoint?

There were no language barriers; their English is extremely good. We met once or twice before the start of the project to talk about what was needed. We set up timelines and expected costs, after which we had weekly meetings during the project. Everything came out exactly as expected, which I think is rare. We used Skype for communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re good people to deal with. I can meet with their team, and they’re quite helpful. Briisk organized local meetups for the technologies they specialize in, so they’re active in the community. They’re always discussing among themselves and with others about the developments in AngularJS, so they’re set on understanding changes in the field. This allows Briisk to provide customers with cutting-edge technology.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m not a technical person, so I can’t speak to that. From my perspective on the operations side, and in terms of how the work turned out, I’m very happy with the price and how Briisk handled everything. I have nothing negative to say.

Do you have any advice for potential customers of Briisk?

Do as detailed of a layout as possible, either on a Trello board or somewhere else. If possible, try to visit Briisk’s team and speak with them or have a Skype call. They have strong English skills and can understand exactly what the customer wants. Outline tasks well at the start and have weekly meetups.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the head of sales and sourcing for Heads Group.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Briisk?

We have a number of departments in the UK and abroad which have contact with our products as they are passed through our sales cycle. At every point, we have information added, taken away, and changed, and we needed to develop an application which kept all of this data in one place, as opposed unsecured Excel sheets. We were looking to force the original product-sourcing part to be accurate before products could pass a certain phase and come to the next level of the review. If the weight, height, or dimensions of a product weren’t recorded, it could not be submitted past that phase and would remain within the responsibility of the particular person.

The improvement of our business processes was a definite reason for starting the project, but overall, the lack of a system like this one was causing repeated issues where lack of clarity equated to mistakes coming through to customers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Briisk created our Ruby on Rails application. It unlocks the gates for our products to continue on their journey once the information has been inputted, and it also keeps one single source of that information. If at the end, our salesperson needed to make a specific change to the title or description of a product, it will also be changed at the reference point for the purchasing and order management teams.

We had a few conversations with Briisk’s team over Skype and email around the system we already had in place, and why we wanted to move to something different. We worked on the wireframes, created a few in conjunction with Briisk, and they continued to work on understanding the process we were going through. They created user epics and stories and reported back to us to check that those conformed to our goals.

We then moved ahead with developing the application, and met Briisk’s team face-to-face, giving them an opportunity to ask questions and draw a specific plan. We had weekly meetings and received updates on the latest developments, challenges, and issues.

We had a specific requirement of not repeating product SKUs. Duplicates would cause issues with our system, so there was a large piece which ensured that, once a SKU was created and approved by a manager, it could no longer be changed. If we have an SKU for a white pencil and decide to bring in black, blue, and yellow ones in the future, we can add that information to the existing listing, while not overwriting it. Briisk has given us the ability to make additional changes to what was a fixed field, after-the-fact. This was complicated to explain and understand, not only develop, but they did a good job.

I specifically worked with Briisk’s account manager. She was my day-to-day contact, and behind her was a team of backend and frontend developers. We had 6 of them working for us at any one time, depending on the sprint. I was also in touch with the heads of development and business development. They stepped back after we were onboarded.

How did you come to work with Briisk?

I had worked with Salesforce in a previous capacity and knew that we needed a bespoke solution in our case. I narrowed down the search from the start by looking for companies like Briisk, and not Salesforce consultants. They were found through a recommendation from our director, who’d had a good relationship with Briisk before on a different application, with which we were happy. They were familiar with the nature of our business, so it was an easy decision to choose Briisk again.

How much have you invested with Briisk?

The cost of their work has been in the region of £40,000–£60,000 [US $50,604 –$75,906].

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Briisk in July 2016. We’ve completed the first phase, which is the whole scope of the project for now. We have second and third phases in mind, but we haven’t briefed Briisk on that yet. Complete with testing and bug fixing, we plan to be finished by January 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We are currently in the process of correcting all our haphazardly-recorded information and plugging it into the new application. This will take us quite a while since we have many products. The platform is working exactly as we wanted it to. Briisk took the time to really understand what we wanted and why we needed it, which made a big difference on the user experience of the application. They took the time to speak with all of our individual partners and got epics and user stories that really helped the finished product to be as easy-to-use and as intuitive as possible for the teams at our end.

Previously, in order to perform product research and scour our online and supplier sources for items, we could only use the specific people who had been tasked with this due to the time-consuming and disorganized way in which the process was set up. It was limiting for the business, however, at the moment, everyone in our offices in the UK and outside has access to the application. If someone identifies a product, they can log in and list it in a matter of minutes.

How did Briisk perform from a project management standpoint?

We had a few delays but none of them were due to incompetence on Briisk’s part. A few things were not explained correctly, leading their team to estimate a quicker delivery, but I have no complaints in general. We mainly communicated by email, until a working, sandbox version of the app was released. Briisk built a little bug tracker on it which allowed us to request any corrections or changes directly. It was easier than transferring information to a platform like Pivotal Tracker. I was able to input screenshots and other information directly, which allowed Briisk to resolve issues quickly.

What did you find most impressive about Briisk?

Having a dedicated person specifically working on our task was great. I knew what I wanted the end product to be, but I’m not the most technical person. Briisk was very good at understanding what I wanted, what the limitations for the development team were, and suggesting alternatives which made us both happy. On a few occasions, we were able to find good compromises, saving time and money.

Are there any areas Briisk could improve?

No, I’m happy with how everything went. Briisk kept me informed through weekly conversations, even when there wasn’t much to report. At no point did I feel left in the dark.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Briisk?

Once someone has decided to use Briisk, they should meet the team. I personally went to Poznań, Poland and gave them all the opportunities to ask questions directly. This helped us get everything right quickly. We did have one misunderstanding which might have been avoided had I had a couple of more hours with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company provides assistance for cars on the road and at customers’ homes. We organize tow trucks through a 100-person call center. We have a fleet of 1,000 trucks across Poland. I am the director of IT for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Briisk?

We needed to write a mobile application for task assignment to our tow trucks, including addresses and routes. We also wanted the ability to communicate with customers via SMS, detailing the position of the trucks and the driver’s contact information. We also track the position of the vehicles and the status of our cases.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Briisk has developed our Android application using AngularJS on the frontend and Ruby on Rails on the backend, with a MySQL database. We’re also looking to develop an iOS version.

We have worked with around six people from Briisk’s team, including one project manager, three backend developers, one tester, and two frontend developers. There were two or three meetings with our business team and myself, during which we described what we needed and how it should work.

How did you come to work with Briisk?

Many years ago, I had worked with one of Briisk’s owners, and he has remained my friend.

How much have you invested with Briisk?

The cost of Briisk’s work has been around $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Briisk in February 2016. The first version was delivered in May or June. We continue to improve the application, adding new functionalities.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We have 60 users at the moment, while 300 of them were active during the last three weeks. We track around 1,000 cases per week using the app. From a business point of view, we can see information about distance, cost, and time to arrival. It’s been a process improvement for us, and have reduced time consumption by about 10%.

How did Briisk perform from a project management standpoint?

We had meetings twice a week over Skype. We were informed about Briisk’s progress and what the plans were for the following week. We had full information on the process of developing and testing the application, and, whenever Briisk had a question, they contacted us. The communication was very good.

What did you find most impressive about Briisk?

The short development time was impressive. Briisk thought about our application from a business point of view—as a customer, not as a developer. They deduced solutions before we presented the problem. Everything went well for us, so I have an excellent opinion of Briisk.

Are there any areas Briisk could improve?

They could be more flexible in terms of development, considering that we didn’t know what the next versions of the application would be. When we launched it last year, we found some functionalities to be hard coded. That made them difficult to change or extend.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Briisk?

They’re a good company, but the collaboration can be improved by giving Briisk more descriptions about the solution to build, as well as the app’s roadmap. Sometimes, they will understand this, while, other times, they won’t.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The company is part of a bigger group in the printing industry. We sell large-format advertising and we created a webshop where you can choose custom sizes for products and buy online. I am the manager.

I am the manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Briisk?

We were trying to create a platform that would connect our ERP [enterprise resource planning] systems. At that time, we didn’t have ERP systems but the companies within our group did. So these are complicated products to buy because you need to know what you’re buying. We sell, for example, frames that are in retail stores. A person that knows nothing about printing and nothing about frames needs to learn. So we wanted to build a system that allowed the user to customize the size, press buy, and get the product. That is why we hired Briisk, to develop a back office that would allow us to introduce products.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We built a back office that enabled us to introduce each product by components. At that time, I was very involved in the development of the website, so I met with them. I had the product knowledge, so I developed the formulas of how pricing should be made. For example, if you have a table, your legs cost 10, and the table top costs 20 per meter. The formula is table top plus the leg. We created a configuration tool where you can introduce components and then they are put together by the system. All the user has to say is mention the size of the product that he has, and the product is built within the system. We have an order confirmation that goes to the client, and then we have the purchase order that goes to our production with the details. They need to know the sizes of the legs, and the sizes of whatever else. We work other products as well.

How did you come to work with Briisk?

When I was starting with my previous company, I met the two founders. At that time, they hadn’t started with Briisk yet. They were starting and I was looking for programmers, so we met on some entrepreneur meeting. This was three years ago. Then, they started with Briisk at the same time I started this company. So that’s how we met.

How much have you invested with Briisk?

I'd rather not say.

What is the status of this engagement?

It’s ongoing. The engagement in the website is low. That’s because of us, not Briisk. We use it a lot as an internal tool. We have other companies in our group that use the website, and orders through the website. So we use it as an internal sales tool even if not as an external sales tool. We are now investing more time and money into making an internal sales tool. This is a B2B [business-to-business] business. We are still trying to figure out how to reach our client with the website.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Yes, for example, they proposed a feature to manage shipping prices that will make our life easier.

How did Briisk perform from a project management standpoint?

So from the very beginning, what I can say is that they were very committed. They made the project their own. When it was just the founders, they worked on this project as their own website. They proposed changes. They were very proactive. From the project management point of view at that time, we didn’t have much trouble because the problem was more that we were all thinking how to develop this website. Now that the website grew up, I think it became more professional from the project management point of view. We have sprints. We have meetings. We defined all the features. We also became better at defining all the features before we developed them.

What did you find most impressive about Briisk?

In terms of personal relation service, I noticed there was a little more downfall when they started having more clients. We started being neglected a little bit. But I think this is a good example of overcoming problems. I told them that I wasn’t getting the attention that I needed and that things were taking too long to be done. The mentality was not correct. Now, they changed the developers that were in charge of the product. From the last six sprints, month and a half or so, I have no complaints. They assigned new people to the project and I’m very happy with the developers and the project manager.​

Are there any areas Briisk could improve?

I don’t have complaints right now. I think they fixed whatever was wrong.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a sourcing and distribution firm working both offline and online. We mainly work with clients like Groupon, and other online affiliates. I am the director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Briisk?

Working with Groupon and managing what they call deals is very tricky. There’s no system out there that can currently handle the taxation side, or how the revenue’s going to be tracked and link everything together. We saw a big gap between customer service, the billing, and the sales side. We hired Briisk to create what we know as our sales tracker system. This system was bridging the gap back then between the three departments. The project was extremely successful and it lasted more than we expected. The reason for that was we constantly kept giving them further work to add on modules to it. Now we have gone even further and started doing an entire custom product module as well, which is a whole beast in itself. We have chosen them again to do this for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They handled the development. They handled everything. They used Ruby on Rails and the front-end framework that Google recommends, AngularJS.

How did you come to work with Briisk?

I found them years ago on Elance.com. I had tests that they had to complete and I ran a project among five other bidders. I stopped working with India because I had very bad results from there, so I was really targeting Eastern Europe. I had quite a few people competing. They were by far the most organized. The way they used Agile really worked for us. The project management was very good. They said they were happy to do the assessment for free, and based on the results, they would take the project. In fact, they came to a point where they even were happy to do the initial bit of the project for free until we were happy. That’s when they started. I don’t think they’ll be able to do that now. They were very good. They’re led by Kamil and Lukasz. I think they’re the founders together and they are very experienced. I’ve been with them since the beginning and recently, I went to meet them. They’ve got a really good infrastructure there. They’ve got a lot of good members doing front-end and backend wor. They’re hiring more and more. They’re really monitoring the people they’re getting in. I’m happy with them.

How much have you invested with Briisk?

We have spent $10,000 to $50,000 for the average project. They have done smaller projects for me but they made it clear that that’s not usually the case.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We’ve been happy with them. What I’ve liked is that from day one, they implemented weekly calls. That was something they really wanted. All the other developers I run projects with are reluctant to do weekly calls unless they absolutely have to. What I like is that even their weekly calls are very organized. It’s not like they’ve forgotten. There’s always an email follow-up. They work very well. The work is always completed on time, and if it’s not going to be, I’m alerted that there is a small delay because of this. It’s very clear and systematic. The budgets that I’ve given them for this project were clear as well. They gave me the timeframe we were going to do it in, and even when they went overboard in one of the sections, they credited me that difference because they felt they could’ve done better. I’m satisfied with pricing, quality, and communication.

How did Briisk perform from a project management standpoint?

They did really well. Projects were broken up into smaller chunks and they made it clear when they were going to do their sprints. For this bigger project that I’ve done with them, they’ve given me a dedicated project manager to run the whole show for us. There are constant updates and demos of what they’ve done to show us the updates. This is the first project that I was able to delegate over to someone not technical. It’s been given over to the sales manager to run, and the budget for this project is about $100,000. So to be able to give that over to a non-technical person is great. They defined the scope. They did everything they had to do.

What did you find most impressive about Briisk?

Their corporate culture is what leaks down. They’re very good people and they’re very honest. That’s spread very nicely in the work they’ve done. They care more about the work than the money, which is how I run my organization as well. They pride themselves in what they give out. I really like that. I’ve never seen that. There are a lot of developers I’ve had to contest charges on my bill. These guys were the opposite. Before I could say anything, they said, “We feel this isn’t what we said we were going to do, and because we’re people of our word, we’re going to revert this.” They could’ve played it however they wanted to play it.

Are there any areas Briisk could improve?

I can’t think of anything. I’ve been happy with everything.