Budacode

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the account director of the client service team for a creative agency. Our main business focus is on strategy, creative development, and 360-degree communications. We have more than 130 employees here in Budapest as well as an affiliate network in Europe.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Budacode?

We needed help with app development for one of our clients.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Budacode was our main development partner for this project, from the UX design planning until launch. Together, we designed and developed a progressive web application and all of the communication channel materials. The application has many features and several modules. It has a loyalty program that allows users to collect points after purchasing products. The application also has product descriptions and articles about the brand.

How did you come to work with Budacode?

At the beginning of the project, we had a tender where we invited three development companies from Hungary. Our goal was to find a partner that had a flexible and cooperative customer service department, as our timing would be challenging. Eventually, we chose Budacode because they offered the best customer service, pricing, and references. We had heard a lot of positive feedback about them.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent €35,000 ($41,100 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from May 2017 until June 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Budacode was extremely supportive during the development and launch. After the first few weeks, it was quite clear that we wanted to continue working with them. We are quite satisfied with the project, as the developers did everything to make it successful. They joined us for meetings with the client and did their best to meet additional requirements, even providing support during weekends.

How did Budacode perform from a project management standpoint?

Their response time was quite quick. Our main contact was kind and proactive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We had some changes during the development phase, but they were always supportive and extremely flexible. We had an excellent experience.

Are there any areas they could improve?

During their holidays, their lead time and availability were affected for a few weeks. However, we were really satisfied with their code performance.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Slice & Dice is located in Germany and is a digital agency. We do mostly financial technical solutions but we also work on our own projects. We consist of mainly programmers and a few designers. I'm the CIO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Budacode?

We didn’t have enough manpower for some of our projects. Usually we try to keep the core projects staffed by our core team for project management, etc. We didn’t just want freelancers that had to be managed separately, but a team where we could address one person who would delegate the tasks to the programmers. With freelancers, it’s hard to remain cost-efficient because there’s more overhead with doing PM.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started off with a smaller project. There were two or three programmers working full-time for us. That went pretty well so we decided to give them a complete project. Together we worked on estimates for certain tasks and laid out the roadmap for the project. After that, we handed it to them and we had weekly checkups on where they were and any questions that needed to be communicated to the client. We had half of Budacode’s team working with our team and half of them working on a project on their own. They had their own project management so we didn’t have to take care of them that much.

One of the projects was for a healthcare company concerning an app they were using to layout weekly plans for dietary supplements. There were some challenges that needed to be overcome because they wanted to use components that didn’t exist at that time. Budacode designed them and had to revise them a few times because the client wasn’t sure how the trainers would be able to sell the supplements. Budacode was pretty close to the client themselves, and they did 95% of the app. We coded the backend and the integration into the website. At that time, Budacode didn’t have designers, so we did the design work and Budacode did the development work.

Another project is a corporation that’s one of our own products. We cooperate with a large German financial service who provides insurance and employee benefits via a platform we coded. Due to the large number of employees, there was pressure on making progress in the development. This was also a project that Budacode would help us with periodically. The project management for this project is on our end. The app is being used very actively now and it’s being developed further.

There was another project where we split up the frontend and backend work. The client needed a WordPress site as well. The Budacode team did the app on their own with PM from our side. That app is one of the largest insurance apps in the German market available in both iOS and Android. People can upload their insurance papers and have them all together in one app. For car accidents, there is a template where you can take pictures of the damage and send them to the insurance company. The client had specific needs on the design, but the user interface was developed by Budacode. The client asked us if we could do experiments with modern technologies like Angular 1.0. They used leading edge technology for that. We trusted Budacode enough to use that on the last project and we’re happy with it.

How did you come to work with Budacode?

We have past experience with freelancers around the globe, but as a German company, it’s difficult to bridge the communication and culture gap. German programmers tend to be very efficient. I knew Marcell, the founder of Budacode, from an earlier startup of mine. He was getting new programmers from Budapest, so we decided to work with them. I knew his code was good and trusted him.

How much have you invested with Budacode?

We have spent over $300,000 with them over the course of our relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

There’s a learning curve when you bring together teams, especially when you have an established team and you bring in a foreign one that comes as an addition to the project. One thing we do is provide code style guidelines. Budacode is very fluent in English and that’s a strict requirement for our work as well. Bugs happen, but it always depends on the requirement that the ticket had. It also depends on the proficiency of the developers. So far we’ve been very happy with their work.

How did Budacode perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Slack for internal and external communication. They were always available for Skype calls when things were critical. There was never a point in time when they wouldn’t answer. That’s something we experienced with freelancers. We communicate with the whole team, and all of them are very friendly and helpful. They always took time to ask questions or explain things.

What did you find most impressive about Budacode?

Their reliability is extremely valuable. Marcell has become a friend. When he’s in Germany, he comes to visit us and the same when we go to Budapest.

Are there any areas Budacode could improve?

We’re always looking to expand our core team and we talked about a merger. From our point of view, they’re doing everything right. They treat their clients fair.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Transfermarkt is a big website for football. We have the biggest database of football players and clubs in Germany.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Budacode?

We have a great web presence, but we wanted a new mobile app. We were not satisfied with our old app, so we were looking for an external developer to build a new one for us. Since we had money for advertising, we wanted more ads that would have a lot of page impressions. In order to get better reviews, more users, and more impressions, we needed to improve the quality of our app. Our goal was to make the app better in terms of user experience and code quality, maintaining and extending it using our in-house team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The concept and design were developed in-house. The app was developed for iOS and Android, and it was a very iterative process. Budacode got started with the minimum viable product using the description we gave them. We have an API that delivers the data for Budacode to work with. They are very knowledgeable in Ionic, which is the framework I wanted to use. After Budacode developed the first prototype, we delivered new features and new designs. They continue to improve the product.

How did you come to work with Budacode?

I worked some years ago with the CEO of Budacode. I remembered he had an agency in Budapest and that he worked with Ionic. Not a lot of firms work with Ionic, so I contacted the CEO and talked about using Ionic for this project. Even then, I could tell that they were good in Ionic and knew what they were talking about. I was in their office and was satisfied with the way they worked. I liked how they thought about the project.

How much have you invested with Budacode?

We have spent between $30,000 and $50,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in August 2016, and the work is ongoing. We plan to have further projects with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder and CEO of Tekniti LLC, a software consulting company. We also have our own startup ideas.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Budacode?

We needed an app built that we could market to our sales channels. The app is similar to YouTube Kids where children ages 1 ½ to 6 can watch videos. Parents can search for videos and then the children can use swipes and scrolls to see the videos they want. I have my own team, but I wanted to outsource this project because we were busy with others.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They have done several projects for me. For this project, Budacode took my concept and sketches and created an iOS and Android app for children. They used Ionic to code the app. This was a starter for the much larger app that they eventually built for us. That app allows the user to scan QR codes to make payments. The businesses that choose to use this service can be paid faster.

How did you come to work with Budacode?

I interviewed a lot of people that I found online.

How much have you invested with Budacode?

We spend between $10,000 and $15,000 per project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2015, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve always been very clear on what they can and cannot do since they offer certain code skillsets. They definitely live up to my technical standards.

How did Budacode perform from a project management standpoint?

They have never missed a deadline for the work they are currently doing for us. They are fairly proactive. We use Asana for task management, so I’m able to see what is happening on the project. I time my projects to align with their resource availability.

What did you find most impressive about Budacode?

Their technical know-how is impressive. What they claim to know, they know extremely well.

Are there any areas Budacode could improve?

There are times they have multiple developers available for the skillset I want, but there are some projects where I need more developers.