Crysberry

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a technology solutions company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Crysberry?

We hired Crysberry for staff augmentation.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Crysberry brought in developers to add to our existing development team. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with two of their developers and an account manager. 

How did you come to work with Crysberry?

We found Crysberry on a channel and somewhere on LinkedIn. From there, we started working together. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from January 2016–March 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The overall engagement was average. It wasn’t a good experience, and it also wasn’t so bad. There was nothing memorable or exceptional about it. If I had to rate them, I’d give them three out of five across the board. 

How did Crysberry perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management was average, too. For tools, we used Jira. To communicate, we used either Slack or Skype. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Nothing really stands out in their services. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

In one situation, Crysberry wasn’t as transparent as we liked. They tended to keep things in a black box and avoided divulging certain pieces of important project-related information. As a result, they could be more transparent and forthcoming with information, especially around sharing architectures and solutions.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I lead the mobile game development team at Jump Ramp Games which is a subsidiary of MobilityWare. Our flagship app, Lucktastic, is played by millions and rewards users for playing with cash winning opportunities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We were looking to augment our existing team and we were able to quickly and easily ramp up 2 developers and 2 designers into our agile environment.

SOLUTION

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

We selected Crysberry because the process from start to finish was extremely transparent in terms of what we were looking for and what they could offer. They helped us to identify the exact requirements and skillsets we would need in order to accommodate our very aggressive roadmap.

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

Our roadmap consisted of a complete facelift to our app, new features such as onboarding, challenges, vip program, and a ton of new promotional content. The team meshed right into our current process and worked in 2 week sprints to execute our roadmap.

The team was working with Photoshop, Illustrator, and Figma to deliver assets to the developers working in Native Android and Unity for iOS.

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

We are currently working with 2 developers Native Android and Unity, and 2 graphic designers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The team from Crysberry is extremely hard-working, grade-A talent. They have a ton of experience working on large scale projects and were able to teach us a few things along the way from their past experiences. All of our deliverables have been completed in a timely manner and the team camaraderie and communication continues to get better and better!

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

The team is very accommodating and attends our daily stand-ups and anytime a meeting is needed. What worked best for our team is that each resource was able to assimilate into all of our existing systems like Jira, G-Suite, etc.

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

They have a great work ethic. Andriy, was always on top of securing any new resources for upcoming projects and really looking out for us in terms of making sure we had the right resources for the job.

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

Nothing comes to mind on areas of improvement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re focused on web and mobile app development. I’m the CFO and founder of the organization. We’re a team of six, and all of us are engineers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Crysberry?

We needed someone with specific skills for our team, so we hired them to help us meet those requirements.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We were looking for iOS developers that had VPN, integration, and encryption skills. It was essential that they had capabilities in these areas. We were in the process of creating a messaging application with strong security. The goal is to give users privacy and the anonymity they require. We don’t collect any private information from our users. We’re currently exploring the possibility of including their team in future projects. 

What is the team composition?

I communicate with two iOS developers and an account manager that are working on our account. 

How did you come to work with Crysberry?

One of our IT connections knew their team and had a positive relationship with them. They recommended us to their team. We trusted the word of this person, so we started us our partnership with them. The team proved its reliability and stability, which encouraged us to grow our collaboration.  

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we spent between $10,000–$25,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our work with them in January 2020, and our collaboration is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The code quality is high, and we’re happy with their development capabilities.  

How did Crysberry perform from a project management standpoint?

We can always reach our account manager over Skype whenever we need him. That allows us to streamline our communications. If we are having communication troubles with a developer, we can always count on being able to reach out to him. He has control over the project, so we can count on him.

We have an internal system of communication, and they’re now included within it. That makes it easy to stay in touch with the developers. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a reliable partner. It’s difficult to find someone that meets both our quality standards and deadlines, but they rose to the occasion. Even given the global pandemic, we’ve never fallen more than a few days behind schedule. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could work on fostering soft skills with their developers. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re able to perform on a high level, so I’d recommend them to someone looking for a partnership.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Shoutaway Invest AB is a Swedish company. I'm a co-founder and the chairman of the board. We’ve developed an app, and hired Crysberry as one of our suppliers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Crysberry?

We wanted to develop an app together. It’s similar to Vine, which was used for creating funny videos. After Vine shut down a year ago, we're trying to make a follow-up to that app, called V2. We hired them to develop the app for us, both for Android and iOS.

We wrote a clear specification and agreement; it was a product specification on exactly what we wanted delivering from Crysberry, including deadlines.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They came to us in Stockholm and from here they completed around 80% of the work, or at least so we thought. Everything was quite delayed, by 3–4 weeks, and they said that they wanted to go home. We had paid for their accommodation in Stockholm, but the costs were starting to become very large for us. They suggested going back to Ukraine and finishing from there. We said agreed and, after a couple of weeks, they told us everything was 100% finished, and the iOS and Android app should work perfectly.

We paid them everything we’d agreed upon, thinking in good faith that it was launchable. The moment we launched, we realized that it wasn’t working. Error messages popped up everywhere and it was a big mess.

I called them and told them that it wasn’t working at all, and that they had to do something. However, the second they had got their money, they were done with us, even though the product wasn't usable or scalable.

What is the team dynamic?

I worked with Alex (CEO, Crysberry), who served as project leader. He was in charge of everything, both the agreements and the development.

How did you come to work with Crysberry?

We found them on Clutch. They're a Ukrainian firm, and we’re based in Sweden. We hired them because there are supposed to be cheaper prices for developers in Ukraine.

How much have you invested with them?

Adding up everything, the project cost was around $45,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2017 and ended the collaboration around March 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Describe the impact this engagement has had on your business.

One of the things we were clear about in the agreement was that the app should be scalable, meaning that it would be able to carry a lot of users simultaneously. When we launched it to the app stores and started to get downloads—we got around 100,000 within 3–4 days—the app crashed at around 2,000 users, which is a very small user base. We had specified in the agreement that the app was supposed to hold around a million users, and it was supposed to be scalable. They must have known that it wasn’t.

My co-founder suggested that we hire another development firm to fix the app. When that group started looking at the code that Crysberry had developed—not only on the backend, but the frontend too—they said that everything was poorly written, and we had to redo everything from scratch. We’d worked with them for two months, and we paid for their visas, flight tickets, and work, but they did a terrible job, basically. We had to redo everything, so our costs became twice as high, and we wasted a lot of time and money. We're dissatisfied with Crysberry.

How was project management handled?

They also missed deadlines; we were two months late with everything, which is quite a lot. We had agreements in place, but they didn’t care about those; their approach was “We’re in Ukraine, you’re in Sweden, so sue us if you want, but it’s never going to work.”. I don’t even know how to start a legal process against a company from Ukraine.

The only thing I said was “Either you fix the servers, and redo everything, or repay some of the money we paid you, so we can hire someone else to finish the work you never delivered”, but they were unwilling to do that, so I said I would give them a poor review As we found Crysberry through Clutch.co, where they had good reviews, I realized that a lot of other companies might also find them in the same way.

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

No.

In what specific areas can they improve?

Generally, I would say that they're dishonest. What annoyed me the most was the fact that when we paid them, they just left. We were stuck with nothing, and they took all the money.

What advice do you have for clients with similar needs to yours?

The only advice I have is, “don’t use them!”

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of a digital technology advertising firm. We deliver innovative advertising solutions that drive extreme value for advertisers, publishers, and consumers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Crysberry Studio LP?

We wanted to extend our existing advertising solution to be compatible with mobile devices. As a result, we needed a software development kit (SDK) built to support the solution on video-based mobile apps.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Crysberry Studio built the SDK we needed to accomplish our goals and provided supporting documentation for us to share with partners. They also helped develop a demo version our app that’s used as a sales tool to entice future clients.

What is the team composition?

They had 4–6 people working on our project. This included an account manager, various specialists, and a project manager that acted as our primary point of contact.

How did you come to work with Crysberry Studio LP?

They were recommended to me by a former colleague.

What is the status of this engagement?

This project took place from December 2017­–April 2018. They provide support and maintenance as needed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s too early to measure definitive statistics in relation to the product’s commercial success. However, the functionally and reliability of what they’ve developed is quite good. They quickly addressed all the challenges and bugs that occurred during the development process. They were quite thorough in making sure that we were happy with the final results.

How did Crysberry Studio LP perform from a project management standpoint?

They were quite flexible in scheduling meetings and were responsive whenever we needed them. We primarily interacted with them via Google Sheets and use Jira for project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication skills are notable aspects of their performance. They’re persistent and proactive in trying to get the job done in a timely manner.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Slight improvements could’ve been made on both sides, but it was a good experience overall.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

As with any project, make sure that whatever needs to be done is dictated and included within the scope. Their team is capable of working beyond the initial scope, but it’s still best to include as much information as possible from the start.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the owner and sole employee of Money Fish Games LLC. We have developed a mobile game with the same name

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Crysberry Studio?

I had a different developer initially, but it didn't work out. Crysberry Studio did the bulk of the work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Crysberry Studio developed a mobile game which can be currently found on the Apple App Store. It will ultimately be available on Android as well. It’s a single player game designed to be played on the iPad, and it’s based on commercial fishing in Alaska. Once I developed a description, Crysberry came on to program the game objects.

What is the team dynamic?

My main point of contact was Alex Bulat, their co-founder. We spoke once a week or more, on average, through a Skype call. We also had numerous email exchanges. I don’t know what the size of the team was.

How did you come to work with Crysberry Studio?

Alex had a small group which was subcontracting work from Sigma Software Group, Ukraine. I started off developing the game with that company, and, once it was launched, it became clear that, because most of the work was being done by Alex’s group, and he formed Crysberry, it would make more sense to use them, than to stay with Sigma, in order to preserve the continuity, and because I was very satisfied with the work. It had been clear for me all along that I wanted Alex to develop the game with me.

How much have you invested with them?

It’s difficult to break out, but, between the work with Sigma and what Alex is doing now, we’re in the 6-figure range.

What is the status of this engagement?

Alex and his team have been on the project from the beginning, on January 15^th 2017. They converted to Crysberry at some point, but I’m not sure when. They continue to provide application management services, and build new features

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The business results have been pretty modest at this point. We wanted to develop a contest format within the game, and went with a third-party which proved unsatisfactory. We are back to building our own contest format.

In terms of realizing my vision for the game, it’s been a complete success. This is due, in large part, to Alex and his team. The performance has been very smooth. The process of working with Crysberry involves launching the product with no major bugs or crashes. We’ve had a high degree of success in this sense.

The people who’ve used it like it, but, because the contest format was flawed, it’s been a difficult few months.

How did Crysberry Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

After they became Crysberry and formalized the company, the process has been excellent. They’re very good at building a budget and sticking to it. There haven’t been any significant time or language barriers. Whenever working with an offshore team where the native language is not English, we’ll have small problems, but there was nothing that would slow down the workflow. There are fewer cultural barriers between Ukraine and the US, than there are between us and India, for example.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their programming ability. There’s been some challenging work, but Crysberry is brilliant.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Any improvement would be at an internal level for Crysberry. I’ve been happy with their work.

Do you have any advice for potential clients of Crysberry?

I have very little experience in this field. I am strictly a one-man-operation, and deal with hardly any companies at all. Crysberry is a very good value, and their work, at least from my experience, I have no reservations about recommending them, based on the quality. Their work and suggestions have made the game better than my original vision. I think they’re fantastic, and I want them to do well.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company builds games and interactives users and partners. I am the VP of our content reinvention team.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Crysberry?

We wanted to rebuild an existing Windows 8 game for new platforms, namely Android, iOS, and Windows 10.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The game already existed, and we provided Crysberry access to the codebase and the artwork. Our artists helped support Crysberry's team on tweaking things and making new art assets.

Crysberry didn't contribute on the marketing side, but they provided consultation on product enhancements and strategic decisions. Their senior developer was involved in trying to find better alternatives for what we had on our first version.

We worked with a senior and a mid-level developer, as well as one part-time quality assurance resource from Crysberry.

How did you come to work with Crysberry?

We have a project manager in Kiev who participated on message boards with the developers in that area. She reached out to people, received some responses, and we interviewed some candidates. The cost was a factor, since we had a limited budget for the port, and didn't know how successful it would be for the company. We wanted a developer who was experienced with Unity, since we wanted to use the technology but didn't have any in-house experience with it. I was also looking for a group that could work autonomously and could be trusted to make good decisions without needing to be constantly managed.

How much have you invested with Crysberry?

The cost of Crysberry's work has been between $10,000 and $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Crysberry in September 2016. The first version of the game was launched in December.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our Android rating has been incredible, with 4.8 stars. We have a 4.5 rating on Windows 10 and have many more users there since that's where our original user base was. The original version experienced frequent crashing. Based on an analysis of that, Crysberry was able to release another version quickly, cutting our error rate to almost nothing.

How did Crysberry perform from a project management standpoint?

Crysberry had an excellent performance. We didn't have a project manager, but the work was handled by Crysberry's senior developer, who was very responsive. Anytime I needed something, I could reach Crysberry's team on JIRA. We used a standard Agile development process, tracking a backlog and running weekly sprints. Everything was well structured.

What did you find most impressive about Crysberry?

It was Crysberry's level of responsiveness that impressed me the most. If we needed something done fast, or if a bug came up, they responded quickly. Crysberry understood the goal of our product and helped me trust that I didn't need to micromanage the team. Crysberry knew how to make a game, and have it be a fun experience. Alex, their senior developer, asked questions and came up with ideas about how we could make the game better. I trusted him to make the right decision, or very close to it so that I wouldn't have to keep monitoring their work.

Are there any areas Crysberry could improve?

I'm sure that everyone has things to improve, but for what I needed, Crysberry was excellent. We have periodically pushed release dates by a day or two, which was fine from my standpoint.

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

Clients should communicate their goals and see what ideas Crysberry can come up with. They are experts in game development and the Unity framework, so collaborative dialogues are ideal.