Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?
We are very satisfied. They finished the work on time, but it hasn’t launched yet because we want to do some advertising. The app will go live in a couple of weeks. As a former frontend developer, I can read the code well. The goal was that I can expand the code myself, which will be easy since they are writing good code. When there is a framework update, they are good at updating it and telling me what to do. We have very few bugs. Their methodology was Agile, which made it easier for me to work with them to make changes to the app. They’re very flexible. They gave suggestions, which were great for me since I’m on my own at the company. As the project lead, I think they’re very trustworthy so I can have faith in their work. They get the work done when they say they’ll have it done.
How did Budacode perform from a project management standpoint?
They’re good at communication. I can contact them at any time and they’ll respond promptly. If nobody is available, I have a different developer I can ask. They don’t just work 9 to 5. They work late in the evening, which is important for us since we are a football page. Sometimes, we have matches late in the evening, and Budacode is willing to test during those times when necessary. We have internal tools that we use for communication. I told them I would use whatever they’re using, and Budacode suggested Slack. I’ve found it easy to use on a daily basis. They also give me weekly updates and reports on Google Drive. Since we pay by the hour, I also get a time sheet that lets me see how the time was used. That’s helpful for my reporting. Sometimes, we use Skype for difficult questions.
Their CEO came to our office twice, and the personal contact was good for morale. However, written communication is better for development. We have our repository on GitHub, where we manage smaller projects. The developers are quite careful with their work. They’ve organized everything so it was easy for me to see what level a feature has. We also talked about what was coming up the coming week so that I knew when there might be fewer resources available due to holidays, etc.
What did you find most impressive about Budacode?
They’re really good developers. It’s very hard to find good developers of recent frameworks who also offer a good price. The agencies that know Ionic here are either very expensive or have a lot of projects. We’ve worked with other companies that are bigger and used external developers, so we paid for both agencies. It was difficult because there was no direct contact with the developers. With Budacode, I can talk with a developer directly, so it’s very fast and the developers know the code. I can talk with them about the project and how much we want to spend and who will work through the week. In projects with other companies, there’s no real contact. I know how difficult it can be to work with a company with poor communication.
Are there any areas Budacode could improve?
There are always things that could be improved. At the moment, I see things we can improve in-house. We changed some things along the way in order to communicate better. They should figure out a setup that they can use for all customers so that they don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time.
Budacode’s solid code, customer-centric approach, and scheduling flexibility fostered successful results. Despite some timing issues and scope changes, they were dedicated to surpassing expectations.