DataMix

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a project manager for a consulting agency.

What challenge were you trying to address with DataMix?

We needed a partner with strong IT capabilities to help us build an IT system.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided frontend and backend development, QA, IT support, and more for our IT system. The system guides companies as they prepare reports. It is partially automated.

What is the team composition?

Maxim (Frontend Developer) was our main point of contact, and he delegated tasks to the team. We also interacted with Sergii (Co-Founder).

How did you come to work with DataMix?

They were referred to us by a colleague, who gave great feedback about their work. We reviewed some of the work they had done and gave them a trial task. Based on the positive outcome of the trial, we decided to hire them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $50,000–$199,999.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from August 2019–August 2020.

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

They worked in two-week sprints, and we checked their work at the end of each sprint. They fixed any mistakes we found and made any requested changes. External resources tested the system and provided extremely positive feedback that the system works and is user friendly.

How did DataMix perform from a project management standpoint?

They have strong communication skills and do well at meeting deadlines. Maxim was always available to us. We communicated primarily through Skype, and we used Jira to track the delegated tasks. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were dedicated to the project and worked to ensure their work was high-quality. They made suggestions for improvement. Maxim organized a workshop to help people understand the platform – he is quite competent and a good communicator.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their design skills could be improved.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be as detailed as possible about the project’s scope and make sure everyone has the same understanding of expectations.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of digital marketing for Cochran.

What challenge were you trying to address with DataMix?

We were looking to create landing pages for all of our models. We are a 24-dealer group, so it is challenging for us to keep all of the landing pages updated with relevant information. We looked around for other vendors that already exist, and we found some that do similar things but not exactly what we wanted. The cost was about $1,000 per month per dealership, approximately $25,000 per month. It would cost us almost $300,000 a year. Right away, I said it would be better to build it ourselves.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I laid out the logic with Maksym (CEO), and I knew that his team could easily handle it as long as all of the logic was thought through.

We were building the dashboards and essentially a data automation solution to aggregate and visualize it. We were also working on a landing page builder for automotive. It was very complex, but it made sense to build it custom versus hiring a vendor and paying them a monthly fee.

The automotive agency can see all the tools they are building that are strictly built for dealerships, and they are helping them build all the scrapers, the data aggregators and then visualize it.

It also acts as a budgeting tool so users can put their monthly budget in there for different vendors, and it calculates the ROI for them.

In phase one, we were basically outlining all of the logistics and basically putting all of the app's logistics in a document where they could follow through. First, they needed to understand the logistics, but then it quickly escalated into them building wireframes and what it would look like.

They basically did the prototyping first, and once I liked the prototype, or we made changes, and I approved it, they went into the phase of doing the full design. Once they do the design, and it is approved, they started developing.

Throughout the development process, there is the backend development, database, and frontend. I don’t really get too much into the backend as long as I can do the things I need to do, like change and customize features. They also did website management and maintenance. They did a lot of builds here and there.

What is the team composition?

I mostly communicated with one or two people. Some did QA.

Once we would close the sprint, the QA testers were the ones that would go and test it to make sure that everything is working the way it’s intended to on different browsers. There might’ve been ten people in total, but they would bring in people at different times when necessary.

How did you come to work with DataMix?

I had already worked with DataMix in my previous position. I trust them, so when the opportunity came up here, I knew that they could deliver.

When I was working at my previous company, we were looking for a development team. We had previously worked with a couple of local developers here, but we couldn’t find anyone local. DataMix was recommended to me by a friend who used them previously.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent a little over $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with them in June 2019.

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

The projects were completed on time, which was very important, and it was within budget. Those are always the important things.

Over time, while working with different teams, people learn how others work, helping everyone work together. I worked with different teams in the past, and we would run into some issues here and there, whereas, with DataMix, it’s much easier because it’s all transparent. They have a great understanding.

How did DataMix perform from a project management standpoint?

The team works in sprints, so every two weeks, we would jump on a call, and they would show me all of the things that we completed. We would go over what would be done in the next two-week timeframe.

It is very fluent. A lot of times, the logic of the program would change, but because we work in sprints, it makes it easier to make those adjustments. Every time we would close the sprint, they would get paid.

For the most part, they use Jira, but they can use almost anything. I can see all of their tasks. As we talk through our sprints, I can see what’s aligned. I can also see what’s completed, so it’s all transparent.

What did you find most impressive about them?

DataMix is great at understanding what the customer is trying to do. Maksym explains it to his team and how to achieve the end result and deliver it on time. It’s everything combined together with the team’s experience, delivery, and honesty.

Sometimes, we had unrealistic expectations, and they were able to tell us what would take longer. Because they have all of this experience, they’re able to be more realistic in expectations.

They’re also cost-effective. We tried to find some local companies here, and we got quotes from three or four different companies, but it was 10 times more than DataMix, but I guess that’s expected when working with offshore companies.

Are there any areas they could improve?

From my standpoint, their communication is fine, but if someone else works with them, they might run into some issues. It isn’t a big issue, but that could be an area for improvement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice would be to think through all of the logistics.

Obviously, Maksym and his team will help, but that is always the big thing. I already know that because I have done so many development projects, but if someone is looking at it for the first time, I would say that they should make sure that they think through the whole project because it will save time for everyone.