Codica

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the delivery manager for an energy company.

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

We wanted to deliver an assessment management platform for our company. We have many positions, and managing such a large team is quite hard. So we needed an application for staff management, which would also give a clear picture for any employee on how they can improve their skills and which positions they can be promoted to.

We didn’t have a detailed specification document and no full understanding of how to implement our wishes in a real working product, that’s why we needed a company with prior experience in our area which would provide full-cycle service.

How did you select Codica and what were the deciding factors?

I found them in Google. I read several articles in blog and reviewed their case studies.

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

First of all, they did a great job on the discovery session. They thoroughly analyzed our requirements and wishes regarding the platform and quickly delivered a specification document and prototypes of the future system.

Thanks to the discovery session and its results, I already knew that they had a full understanding of what we need. As the next step, they provided full UI/UX design and delivered project architecture.

Development was the longest stage. I’m happy that the team paid a lot of attention to mobile performance, as this is important for us. Overall, the results are great and totally worth the time and effort.

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

From the very beginning, I have been regularly interacting with two people: Project Manager and Tech Lead. But all the other team members are available in Slack and provide status updates on a daily basis. During development, the team composition was as follows: one Project Manager, one UI/UX designer, one team lead, one backend developer, three frontend developers, and one QA.

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

We delivered the first iteration of the product and right now are working on the second iteration. One of the goals of the app was to develop functionality that allows easy assessment tests from any device, especially mobile devices.

We have good results here, pages load really fast, in about 1-3 seconds, and the app works great on any device. We did several internal tests and got very positive results from our employees. Right now we are doing the next steps in our project development.

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

I liked their approach. Mostly we communicate in Slack and I always have daily status updates from the team. The project management is organized in Jira, and during the development phase, I was involved in sprint planning every two weeks.

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

What we liked most about them is a deep understanding of our business needs and product goals.

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

I’d like to have more calls in communication and fewer emails. It is easier for me to answer questions on the call than writing emails.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of product management for New Wave Development. We’re a small development agency.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the VP of investments for Veev, a real estate investment platform.

What challenge were you trying to address with Codica?

Codica was hired for a custom software development project. They developed and then have maintained and expanded this portal ever since. They also worked on the design of the portal.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The portal functions as a window to track all past and existing investments and loans ever invested into the company. This is hundreds of millions of dollars worth of investments. Investors can log on and receive all of this information.

We were not involved in the development at all. Codica was our one-stop-shop on making, maintaining, and expanding this portal.

What is the team composition?

We work with 3–4 people.

How did you come to work with Codica?

Our sister company has had prior positive experiences with Codica and introduced us to them.

How much have you invested with them?

It was less than $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in January 2016 and is ongoing.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of a financial services company that offers supply chain financing to B2B customers. We offer 90-day windows to help them manage any funding gaps they have when buying products from their vendors.

What challenge were you trying to address with Codica?

We needed to quickly create an MVP that would also be production-ready on a short timeline. We also wanted to ensure that our product met compliance standards for companies of all sizes and that the product was secure.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I created a mock-up myself and then approached Codica to get help finalizing the UI design and to handle the front- and backend app development. They used Ruby on Rails for the back and React for the front. For the design, we used a collaborative tool called Figma. The hosting is handled through AWS. They also built out a database for us.

In terms of features, the most critical thing was importing invoices, which they accomplished using API for ERP. There’s also an ability to review and approve newly-uploaded invoices, and vendors can also view invoices, calculate fees, create a deal, and finalize the funding from within the app. Related to this, the app manages vendor profiles and monitors financial processes. There’s also backend help to manage vendor invites for people hoping to use the platform.

What is the team composition? 

We had a project manager, a backend developer, two frontend developers, a UI/UX designer, and a QA person.

How did you come to work with Codica?

I received a reference from a friend and decided to contact them. After having a conversation with their founder, I decided to start working with them. They had solid experience and seemed like they did their due diligence on the issues I needed.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $50,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

MVP construction lasted from February–April 2019. We’re currently on pause, but they’ll make some adjustments for us after we finish collecting feedback.

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

They’ve been on time throughout the development process. The team’s extremely dedicated and they put in extra hours to ensure that our important demos were ready when we needed them. It’s something I’d expect from my in-house employees but not an outsource team, so we really appreciate it.

With regard to the app itself, we’ve gotten good user feedback so far. They like the speed of the app and the modern design, which many B2B users aren’t accustomed to from competitor applications.

How did Codica perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication was above average compared to other companies I’ve worked with in the past. We had daily scrum meetings and the project manager helped coordinate the rest of their team or allocated resources when we needed them. I was also highly involved, so the project manager often ended up assisting me. I handled a lot of the code review myself in order to verify the quality. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve worked with a number of other companies, and what sets Codica apart is their ability to bring an MVP to production level. They act like a part of our growth team and care about our success.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We require a lot of domain-specific knowledge, so I’d expect QA to concentrate on the most important parts for the user and help us make those improvements. It takes time to gain knowledge and I assume people don’t have it.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Codica’s a great company and their team’s very motivated to help startups on their journey. I highly recommend working with them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO and founder of a marketing agency.

What challenge were you trying to address with Codica?

We had a request from one of our clients to develop a multi-vendor marketplace. We needed an engineering team to code it, build the architecture, and develop the backend.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built the platform up from scratch and helped with everything from development concepts to solution implementation. They designed the UI/UX and developed the project architecture; then, they transferred all the data from an outdated platform. Mobile performance and engagement were particularly important to the project, and they delivered a single-page mobile application that was both fast and smooth. They developed complex React.js content of the web application, which features a responsive design to adjust for differences in scope. The project uses other languages, but React is the only one I'm certain of.

What is the team composition?

I regularly interact with a project manager and a technical lead. Other team members do appear in our Slack channel and provide daily updates. The team also included a UI/UX designer, team lead, backend developer, content developer, and a QA specialist.

How did you come to work with Codica?

We did some research, found Codica, and felt they had the appropriate experience for this project. We either found them on Clutch or via a Google search.

How much have you invested with them?

To date, we've spent about $85,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in December 2018, and the collaboration is ongoing.

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

We haven't launched the new marketplace yet, but our internal tests show significant increases in site speeds. Pages load in less than one second, which is much better than our previous load times, particularly on mobile devices. We track a range of metrics related to conversion and engagement rates, all of which are very positive. In the near future, we will finish integrations with some third-party services, upgrade a few UI/UX solutions, and optimize the site more for mobile.

How did Codica perform from a project management standpoint?

They were excellent. We had weekly meetings, and they always followed up. Everything came back to us on time, and they were very easy to reach on Slack, chat, or other communication channels.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Codica is a top-notch agency that provides a great service experience. They accomplish complicated tasks, provide technical guidelines, and deliver code without any issues.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They are responsive, and they quickly fix any issues that arise. Honestly, we couldn't ask for more.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communication is integral to a successful relationship. Be sure to communicate your expectations, goals, and practical needs like your timelines and budget.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of iExpedition. We specialize in expedition cruising, small ships that travel to the world’s most remote destinations.
 

What challenge were you trying to address with Codica?

When we started working together, we didn’t have a website or even a business. We’d tried working with another Australian web developer for a while, but they couldn’t get the project off the ground.  We needed to find a new company to help us. 

Our challenge was building a platform to represent expedition cruises in the market that made it easy for cruise travelers to navigate products and find the perfect one to make inquiries and bookings online. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Codica helped us from the very beginning before we’d finalized the concept. They designed the UI/UX and all the wireframes. The primary platform is built on Ruby on Rails. Codica was instrumental in getting our site online and delivering a great product to the market.

They built the website for desktop, but it’s also mobile responsive on tablets and smartphones. Our target market focused on people over the age of 50. Most of our clients use desktops more than mobile devices for the fine-tuned aspects of research. Since our offerings are mainly high-value, users tend to make final purchases on a computer, as well.

What is the team composition? 

Our primary points of contact were Dmitry (CEO, Codica) and a project manager.  A team worked behind the two.

How did you come to work with Codica?

My friend in Australia recommended Codica. They had built a product together, and that project had gone very well. 

They had the right expertise, provided great recommendations, and were helpful since early on. IT development work is expensive in Australia, and they offer a competitive price relative to the market.  

How much have you invested with them?

We spent AU$50,000 (approximately $36,000 USD).
 
What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Codica around September 2016 and launched the MVP website in July 2017. We tested and refined the site for the next three months using focus groups and started marketing it around October 2017. 

We’re continuing to work together monthly to refine the website and make improvements. Having built it from the ground up, Codica’s solid understanding of our website makes them a pivotal part of our business.

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

Codica helped us design and create an amazing platform, which has had very great early success. Once the site went live, we tracked metrics around business success. It has proven to work well in the market. We drove almost $2 million worth of sales in the first 12 months. 

The website attracts a substantial amount of international inquiries, which make up 20% of our business even though we don’t market internationally. The way it is structured ranks well in Google worldwide and increased our organic traffic worldwide. We’ve been blown away by the website’s sales performance within the first 17 months.

How did Codica perform from a project management standpoint?

Codica’s performance was unbelievable from a project management perspective. We couldn’t have asked for a better team across every element of the web development process. We only had an expected 1–2–month delay in the initial development that’s standard for this sort of work. 

Our project manager was proficient, talented, and had great language skills. Working with two contacts made the process seamless for the entire duration. I don’t recall even one hiccup. Having a single point of contact liaise with the team is better than getting too many people involved.

Codica’s team is in Ukraine, and we’re in Australia. They come online at the end of my day and finish their work overnight. We communicate well via Slack and use a Trello board.
 
What did you find most impressive about them?

Our previous partner was a much more basic company that had tried building the platform on WordPress. Most of Codica’s developers use Ruby on Rails, which is very flexible in scope for future progress compared to other platforms. They have a vast in-house pool of experts for frontend, backend, UI/UX, and marketing. 
 
Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing that comes to mind. No aspect of our professional relationship has proven inefficient. 
 
Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Clients shouldn’t hesitate to work with Codica. My business wouldn’t exist without them. They’re an amazing, professional team that provided better services than we expected. 

Anyone looking to build a platform should consider which programming language to use. Ruby on Rails is perfect for multiple websites.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Analist. We run an investment platform that provides information for small investors and the private market.

What challenge were you trying to address with Codica?

My collaborations with previous IT providers fell apart, so I engaged Codica as a development partner.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Codica designed and built my platform from scratch using Ruby on Rails. At first, it was desktop only, but they later updated it to make it responsive to mobile browsers. We have 8–9 domain names, and we’re looking to add Chinese and Russian versions once we secure translations. 

The team created a paid section for the site in response to users who browse with ad blockers. The area offers more in-depth insights into the financial market to users who sign up. They also found the best hosting provider for our platform. They are optimizing in related areas, cutting unnecessary processes that increase server usage and thus our expenses. Codica is currently building a payment section and making minor edits on advertising banners.
 
What is the team composition?

We work with a team of developers, designers, and two project managers. The size of the team scales depending on our demand. We’ve worked with the same designer who first mapped the platform.
 
How did you come to work with Codica?

I posted a listing on Elance (now known as Upwork) looking for developers to build a cost-effective multilingual site with video, articles, and dynamic data such as stock prices. 

After receiving multiple requests, I reached out to several companies based in India and Ukraine. I clicked with Codica during our initial conversations; after visiting their office, I chose them for this project.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $50,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2015, and the project is ongoing.

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

What used to be a bottleneck is now an advantage over competitor platforms. Thanks to Codica’s ongoing work, we now have a dynamic and flexible infrastructure. I’m thrilled with the quality of their coding.

How did Codica perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate through Trello and Slack. Trello allows us to see the progress on any task and to send feedback. I also visit their offices a few times a year to talk directly with the developers about separate projects.

Codica meet most of my deadlines; however, delays come from both sides—I sometimes add more tasks as a project progresses, which tacks on more time. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Codica completes high-quality products at cost-effective prices.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything.
 
Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Learn about current IT trends and understand what’s possible in development. Compare prices between vendors, but I’ve found Codica to have lower rates than similar firms in Holland.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company works in the field of real estate in Israel

For what projects/services did your company hire Codica?

real estate website development

What were your goals for this project?

Build the site from scratch

How did you select this vendor?

Through the website clutch

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

codica was supposed to provide the development of the site by the user story Unfortunately codica did not provide some parts of the user story Unfortunately codica exceeded the pre-agreed budget

What was the team composition?

Dmitry Chekalin - The CEO project manager who has been replaced several times in our project

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

Unfortunately we lost a lot of money due to codica delays in the project and the effect on you was negative for us.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

In the first two months the management was excellent, after two months the CEO - Dmitry Chekalin asked us for more money and started delaying the project

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We do not recommend CODICA as a development company. They are very unprofessional. When we started our project with them we agreed on a fix price term. a few months into the project, after we have already committed to them they informed us that their estimates were wrong and needed about another 23% increase in the budget.

We were upset but we agreed to this. After a few more months they again said they estimated the budget incorrectly and need another increase. The code work is not bad but the professionalism and lack of integrity in their pricing is terrible.

Don't go near them!

Are there any areas for improvement?

We recommend improving Professionalism - Be honest with the customer - Meet the project times - Avoid scamming customers