Codista

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of innovation at Ambuzzador and we handle social media campaigns and communications for larger corporations in Austria. We also offer consulting and innovation projects for start-ups, as well as transformational projects in larger corporations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Codista?

We needed help with web development and hired Codista for the task.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started off with a smaller project where I needed a dashboard solution for internal use. It was the perfect place to start because I wanted to see if they could understand complex stuff and build a custom solution for us. It worked quite well, and about two months later, we had the challenge of building an online platform for a big insurance company from Germany.

We were doing the whole product from scratch and the team at Codista built the web platform for billing insurances online. In the domain of life insurance, having a complex online process with an identity check was new. Codista used Python and Django to build the website as well as .NET.

What is the team composition?

There were three or four people that worked on the project.

How did you come to work with Codista?

I found them by accident. Someone who was interested in hiring us told us that they had great developers on board who were doing some web scraping, and I thought it sounded interesting. I gave that company a call and talked about some technical stuff. I wanted to try them out first, which is why we did the internal pilot to see their capabilities.

How much have you invested in them?

We have spent over €500,000 (approximately $555,125 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We began the engagement with them in 2017, and the work is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s hard to separate their work from our work when we do a web service. We come up with the conceptual design and UX, and they do the more technical stuff. Our collaboration works, and that’s what’s important to me.

How did Codista perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Jira to collaborate, and we work in sprints—not totally Agile but close. Most of the conceptual work happens in workshops and meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m always glad when I have a project they like. When I really sell a project well, Codista’s team is on fire and they put a lot of thought into it in order to make it work. I feel this differentiates them from other development partners we’ve had. They really try to understand what the work is all about and try to find a solution for it.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Codista should be more forthcoming when things will be more complex and not tell us about them afterward when I see the hours they’ve spent. It can be a challenge for us because then we have to inform the customer and let them know that the task wasn't as easy as we expected. It is hard for me to get the money later on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Clients should have personal meetings and do a lot of explaining. Don’t just give them the brief and tell them to do it. They are good if they understand everything about the project.