DaCodes

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO & Founder of Parrot Virtual Events.

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

We are launching a platform for virtual events in the education industry. Two investment partners believed in this project. Mundo Joven is a leading travel agency in Mexico with 25 years of experience and ICEF, the most prestigious international events company for the educational industry.

Our goal is to launch a virtual platform in 9 months with a adjust budget of 120K USD for the first MVP

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

We were looking among 5 companies based in Mexico, because our operation will be between Germany and Mexico. After discarding several companies we decided to contract with Dacodes. It was the most expensive proposal, but also the best evaluated and well documented.

The decisive factors were the development time, the payment plans and the highly specialized development team for this type of projects.

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

MEAN STACK

• MongoDB
• Angular js
• Express js
• Node js

FEATURES:

• Webinars I Livestreaming
• Integrations Mailchimp, Agora.io, jitsy, Google, Outlook, SalesForce, Edvisor, others...
• Chat
• Videoconfering
• Finder
• Matchmaking

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

1 PM, 3 front-end devs, 3 back-end backs For several features some external team from Dacodes use to join for some weeks.

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

Our goal is to launch a platform for marketing in 9 months, we started in September and today we are going to launch the first MVP with a scope of 60% of the project, complying well with the times and requirements that we ask the Dacodes team.

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

I feel like part of the development team. The Project Manager makes it very easy to keep track of the project update and get involved when time permits. The PM has become an important figure for the management and achievement of the project on time.

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

Their work culture and closeness with the founding partners impressed us, as well as how open they are in helping you build your project, never thinking about the benefit for them. Somehow you feel that they are your partners in the company.

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

For now I do not find any problem

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and co-founder of Popfly. We developed a digital brand development platform the focuses on athletes.

What challenge were you trying to address with DaCodes?

We were working with another developer, but the project was growing too quickly for the developer to handle and they didn’t see the vision we had for it. Nevertheless, we approached DaCodes for development efforts.

What was the scope of their involvement?

DaCodes looked at the existing platform and confirmed that we were never going to get to scale with the current architecture. They turned what our site used to be into a lean and efficient product. In about six weeks, they had an MVP ready to go and reconfigured our CMS to be much more efficient.

What is the team composition?

We’re in direct contact with a little less than a dozen people, but the campus has probably another 50 people that were there but not all working on our project.

How did you come to work with DaCodes?

One of our advisers has a connection with the CEO of another company that recommended DaCodes to us.

How much have you invested with them?

They were extremely reasonable from a price perspective. We’ve invested between $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in July 2020 and the work is still ongoing.

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

I give them a lot of credit for getting us to where we are right now. We still have a long way to go, but the platform we have is basically creating these apps for individual athletes. Not only did they fix the CMS and improve the UX, but they also streamlined our ability to get to market on the production side. Which was an important part of that scale component.

How did DaCodes perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication wise, they’re very upfront and they do a great job of managing expectations. I don’t think we’ve ever had a conversation where I felt that they were not going to deliver on what they told us. If we had to wait a couple of days, they were upfront and told us. They always meet deadlines and often deliver early, which is a great feature to have. I can’t think of a situation where they haven’t exceeded expectations. In the beginning, in terms of communication, I had to tell them that they’re not bugging me or interrupting me. If something comes up, tell me whenever that is. It’s rare now that we have that challenge moving forward.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What I love about DaCodes is their honesty and it gives me a sense of comfort because when they tell me they’re going to take care of something, I know it’s going to happen. I think in any relationship, ups and downs are to be expected, but the best part about them is the downs have been minimal to this point. I wish we would have partnered with them from the beginning. They’re very keen to tell me if there’s a better way to do something and I appreciate that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Maybe over-communicate with a client until they don’t want to be over-communicated with.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the general director for a delivery app. We provide food, pharmacy, and supermarket deliveries, among others through our mobile app.

What challenge were you trying to address with DaCodes?

We hired them for app development and a few other things.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed our entire mobile app from scratch. This included logo and website design. I’m not very familiar with the technologies used but I do know that they used the Google API and Android. They built the website to work as an interface for businesses and an iOS app for the users.

We had some initial meetings about the project and they gave us several ideas for the app’s functionality. We had some ideas but they helped us land it. They also supported us with trademarking, brand identity, and the name.

What is the team composition?

We had a project lead and three developers. One developer was for Android, another for iOS, and the third was in charge of the webpage.

How did you come to work with DaCodes?

Some friends referred them to us. I set up an appointment and what grabbed my attention was how young they are and the several apps they have that are well-known at a national level. I decided to take a risk and invest in them. To this day, I’m very pleased with their performance. They’re accessible and we continue to work together and even though we should have our own in-house developers by now, I’m happy with their work.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve grown exponentially and have continued to improve our platforms. To this day, we’ve probably spent around $1,000,000 MXN (approximately $49,400 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2018 and we continue working together. The app’s development lasted around 7–8 months.

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

Results from this project have been positive. Users mention that the interface is very friendly and easy to use. The people in charge of reporting and such haven’t had any complaints. We’ve had some improvements to make, which is normal for this type of project. We had to regionalize an app that exists worldwide and adapt it to our local needs. Our application, specifically in the city where I’m at, is the most successful one because the user interface is very friendly.

How did DaCodes perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve delivered within the set timelines and always delivered when they promised due date. Any delays have been what’s considered normal for these kinds of projects. Honestly, it’s been a positive collaboration and they continue to work on our platforms to constantly improve them. They also provide continual support and maintenance.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The communication and understanding between us are great. I don’t always understand several of their terms, but they take the time to explain and support us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I haven’t had any issues with them. We’ve had great communication.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

TrueHome is a small broker that helps people find properties to buy and our allies to sell more properties in Mexico. I’m currently the CTO of the company.

What challenge were you trying to address with DaCodes?

We’re working on several initiatives with them. One that’s particularly important is an integration of NetSuite ERP, which is an Oracle product.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We needed to integrate NetSuite and have it run seamlessly across all our platforms. DaCodes helped on the architecture side of things so that we could integrate it with our actual platform that was developed in-house. They’ve also supported us on multiple internal projects to further develop modules for our platform.

They’ve been involved from the start, from the design and architecture stage. They helped us and proposed using technologies that we weren’t considering, such as Apache Kafka for messaging. They also did an integration on our database with a product that allows us to have a synchronized notification system. Once the design and architecture phase was completed and approved by them, they began the implementation.

What is the team composition?

This project had two backend developers and a technical lead. There was also a director assigned to our project

How did you come to work with DaCodes?

One of our company’s directors found them. I believe he met them at a previous position and so we called them because we needed external help with very specific tasks. In the end, we chose them because we noticed that the quality of the consultants that we had dealt with was very high. Overall the cost/benefit for us was great compared to other companies we had worked with in the past.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around 300,000 MXN (approximately $15,000 USD) give or take for this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them at the beginning of this year and our collaboration is ongoing. We’ve actually been giving them more and more work since the start of our collaboration. We started out with just one person and now have more than four on board.

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

All feedback has been positive so far for every team member that DaCodes has assigned to us. Our tech team is very pleased with the results as well, and we see DaCodes resources as very valuable people that have made an important difference in our company’s results. They suggested new technologies that have adapted well to our initial backend, and it’s easy to build new components on top of these. Their perfectionism, quality, and attitude have always been great.

How did DaCodes perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve done all project management internally. I’ve been involved mostly involved in the design, architecture, and implementation aspects. They’ve adapted to our process and have produced results according to our initial expectations.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve been great at sharing candidates that would be a good fit in a technical sense as well as a good fit with our in-house team. This has facilitated communication with their team and makes all processes clear. This has been really positive for us. They’ve also been vocal when something isn’t working right and will change course promptly. They’re very respectful.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Surprisingly, no. They’ve adhered really well to our expectations and have executed according to our vision.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CIO at a hotel chain.

What challenges were you trying to address with DaCodes?

We hired them to develop two apps to be used by our HR department. The goals of the apps were to track our employees’ training and growth inside the company and allow employees to choose a professional development route. We also wanted employees to be able to receive training via games and tests within the app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

DaCodes developed native apps for Android and iOS.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 3–5 people. 

How did you come to work with  DaCodes?

They are located very close to us. When we started to look for collaborators we looked at companies nearby as we thought that would be more practical. We have been working with them for some time now and have had great results, so when this new project came up, we decided to work with them again.

How much have you invested in them?

We've spent more than $1 million Mexican pesos (approximately $49,300 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2019, and we finished in September 2020.

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

The results have been very positive. The app is very innovative, and it's a groundbreaking development in the industry. It was very well-received by our employees, and the flexibility it allows for them has been very positive. 

How did DaCodes perform from a project management standpoint?

The project was well executed. They met all deadlines and deliveries on time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They provided great suggestions for the gamification of the app. We didn’t really know about these technologies, but they provided us with great advice and helped us choose the best solution for that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could possibly dedicate more time to the planning stage so that we don’t have to spend time during the project execution on unexpected features or developments.

Introduce your business and what you do there

I am the founder of an e-commerce company.

What challenges were you trying to address with DaCodes?

We hired DaCodes team to create our Android and iOS app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed an app that has four main sections namely the marketplace, delivery services, transportation services, and communication services. The communication component allows users to interact with service providers.

What is the team composition?

I am working directly with about 6–7 people from DaCodes. 

How did you come to work with  DaCodes?

They were referred by a friend. I also did some research and checked their portfolio. In the end, I realized that DaCodes has the skills to develop our project.

How much have you invested in them?

Our company already paid around $120,000–$150,000 so far. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them around May 2020 and the project is still ongoing.

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

The team’s results have been excellent. They have great skills and also an amazing personal treatment. In terms of the app, I really liked that it is very intuitive, very easy to understand, and simple to use. 

How did  DaCodes perform from a project management standpoint?

DaCodes is well-organized and punctual. Their project management methodology is spectacular and it really helps us to have everything we had planned inside the defined schedules. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have an extraordinary ability to understand ideas and to translate them into development. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I honestly couldn’t say anything, we’re having a good experience with DaCodes.

Introduce your business and what you do there

I am the CEO at a sports equipment company. 

What challenges were you trying to address with Dacodes?

We developed a mobile and app for sports trainers so that they would be able to provide routines to our users via the app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Dacodes was in charge of the UIUX design for the frontend of the application. The app was developed for iOS and Android, and for design tools they used Diagram and Figma.

What is the team composition?

There were 4 people on their team working with us.

How did you come to work with Dacodes?

They were referred to us, and I did some research on different companies. Of the options I saw, they were the ones that seemed like the best choice for us: they had the best references and they had the experience working projects that were very similar to what we were looking for.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in June 2020 and continue our collaboration. 

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

They have been very professional, every stage of the process has been accomplished timely. This is why we decided to continue the project with them in charge of the development part too. 

How did  Dacodes perform from a project management standpoint?

We used google drive, google meet, we had 3 weekly meetings, and the communications were very fluid, they were always on time and the project manager did a great job so it was very positive. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their design was great, everything was very modern, and the interphases were also very easy to use. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I couldn’t say anything negative about the experience.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an IT manager at a media group based in Mexico.

What challenges were you trying to address with DaCodes? 

We hired them for development support.

What was the scope of their involvement? 

We developed a set of mobile apps for mail and shipping that would enable the company to develop a new business model. DaCodes developed the apps for both Android and iOS using standard technologies. 

What is the team composition? 

About 6 people work with us. 

How did you come to work with DaCodes? 

We researched companies based in the same region as us. During this research, we found DaCodes and saw in their portfolio that they had developed mobile apps before and decided to meet with them. After meeting up, they seemed like a very solid and professional company so we decided to start this collaboration. 

How much have you invested in them? 

About $1 million MXN (approximately $47,400 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement? 

We had our first meetings with them in 2017 but this project started in 2018. We’re still collaborating. 

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

Their work has had a very positive impact on the company and they’ve met all our expectations. They were able to innovate with the development and, overall, we are very satisfied with their work. 

How did DaCodes perform from a project management standpoint? 

We have strong communication with them; they’re very understanding and adapt to our needs. In the beginning, it took some time for us to transmit our needs clearly but everything worked out well because there is a great effort on both sides. They have been extremely available, too. 

What did you find most impressive about them? 

They’re an innovative company, have fresh ideas, and use the best methodologies. They also have great design expertise, which helped us have a greater development on our UX. Plus, they’re great at adapting to our company’s requirements. 

Are there any areas they could improve? 

They have great technical skills, but they could improve in their project management.

Introduce your business and what you do there

I am the regional manager of an English-language school chain with a presence in different cities in southeast Mexico.

What challenges were you trying to address with DaCodes?

We were looking to improve our student’s experience. Before, our students had to visit a website to be able to hear the audios needed for their classes so we came up with the idea of developing an app that could allow the students to stream the audio from any mobile device.

What was the scope of their involvement?

It was developed for Android and iOS, and they created a panel for us to administrate the contents of the app. We started with audio and began adding many new functionalities after that, activities like “the word of the day” and push notifications to send announcements to the student body via the app.

What is the team composition?

We worked with the CEOs, an account manager, and a UX/UI designer. About four people were assigned to the project that I know of.

How did you come to work with DaCodes?

I heard about them from other people that had worked with them before. When we came up with this project, their name came to mind and I contacted them.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent around $14,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started around July 2018 and continue collaborating with them for tech support.

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

The results have been very positive. We now have a channel for massive communications with our students and we solved the inconveniences of having to visit a website to listen to the audios via a computer. We used to have complaints from our students about that and we no longer have them.

How did DaCodes perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication was great. We communicated via email and they always provided very well-planned schedules that they met timely.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Regarding the app's functionalities, we knew we had an issue that we wanted to solve but we didn’t necessarily know how to do it. They were the ones who helped us to find the proper solution and showed us how well they understood our business. This was very positive for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They met all our expectations so I couldn’t say anything.

Introduce your business and what you do there

I am the founder of a professional services startup.

What challenges were you trying to address with DaCodes?

We hired them to design our UX/UI and develop our app. This is an app that aims to connect service providers and allow for contractors search. It also helps create contracts.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They used design sprint and sketch for design. For the development they are using Suite, Android, Angular, and Python under an AWS infrastructure.

What is the team composition?

We work with between 3-5 people.

How did you come to work with DaCodes?

They were recommended, and when I contacted them I felt like they understood my project perfectly and had the skills for it.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent between $10,000–$25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started around May of this year and the app is still in the process of development.

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

They have just finished with the design part but so far, their work has been great. They are always available and their communication is very fluid.

How did DaCodes perform from a project management standpoint?

Since I first visited them they’ve always been very proactive. They had the answers to all my questions and even now are still always available. We meet up via conference call and discuss the advances of the projects. They always keep me informed so it has been very positive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communications have been great. They are always working on my questions and requests

Are there any areas they could improve?

So far everything has been good.