DevPark sp. z o.o.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm an IT specialist at manufacturing company in ship-building industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire DevPark sp. z o.o., and what were your goals?

For documenting our products manufacturing process we need making quite a number of photos. Previously for the purpose we used to use digital photo cameras yet the whole process of taking, downloading and sorting pictures to proper locations was very laborious and prone to mistakes. Definitely it needed to be improved. The idea was to use a smartphone with a dedicated mobile app which along with QR codes would allow to automate making pictures and properly mark them with items number and date. Additionaly those data also would be saved to a picture file name for its clear identification.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We started looking for a development company which would be able to create such an app and quite soon we found DevPark which appeared to be nearly neighbourhood company. We were looking for a company experienced in mobile apps development. Our research was quite short as since very beginning we found DevPark as a competent partner. Also their pricing for application design and development was fair. Project leader from DevPark side was Bartosz.

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

We had a clear view what we wanted to achieve, all gathered in a document with pictures and examples which we commonly discussed with Devpark team. Based on that they prepared a mock-up app which required only minor adjustments. Soon final application was developed and delivered. All that happend in just a couple of weeks. When installed to the mobile phone our production guys liked it a lot. It has been working since then, you believe it or not - no remarks from end users so far. The mobile platform of choice was Android.

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

From DevPark side there was project manager Bartosz plus one developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The application is in use on daily basis. Yearly it saves us hundreds of hours of valuable time which now may be used for adding value activities in production process.

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

Devpark had been very open for communication. All the project meetings we had over Microsoft Teams, during them we managed to discuss all required technical details. Project tasks and products were delivered within agreed timeframe.

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

Apart of proper understanding of our expectations they also had quite a few valuable proposals from their side which improved the final application and made it simpler to use for end users. We were kindly surprised with the interface design they proposed in the mock-up. This shows their experience in UI design which may only come from many others such projects. Having all that we decided to hire DevPark also to modernize our company webpage.

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

We do not see anything we could point out as for now.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the VP of a US recipe marketing website that has over 6 million page views per month.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We wanted to build a new webapp that would allow our users to create customizable weekly meal plans from our 700 recipes that we have on our main site. The webapp would need to allow drag and drop, nutrition calculation, automatic grocery list generation, tracking and calculation of daily nutrition intake.

Initially we contracted with a different software development firm to build out the API and webapp. After lengthy development, we realized that the firm could not meet our needs. Our search started for a new long-term custom development partner.

We found Devpark and had an initial meeting with Andrzej. After reviewing the code generated from the initial partner, it was determined that the code was so bad that it needed to be completely refactored. Devpark took on the project to basically completely re-make the API layer in Laravel and re-code the web front end using Vue framework.

It was a large undertaking but after speaking with Andrzej, who laid out his situation in a very direct tone, we felt comfortable processing with Devpark. We had a successful public launch about 12 months after the start of our engagement. We have been working with Devpark since 2019.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

As a small self-funded business with a large development ask, our number 1 factor was cost. This is why we looked at non-US firms. We also wanted a partner in Europe due to similar timezones and cultural similarities.

We compared multiple firms and their proposals with Devpark. Devpark was clearly the technical leader (they did not shy away from taking on our RFQ even though our original ask was to "fix" the bad code of the previous firm while some did not even want to talk to us) and their pricing was fair and comparable.

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

Devpark designed a Laravel framework based API to work with a new DB schema that they designed. They also designed a VUE front-end webapp. The app logic ended up being extremely complex with complex nutrition calculation, scaling of recipes, pulling in data from a food database.

Eventually we expanded scope to have the API support public mobile apps and subscription purchases in-app. Devpark works in multi-week Sprints following Agile methodologies. Besides this very large project, Devpark also provides custom Wordpress development services to us.

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

We have 2 primary back-end senior engineers, 1 primary front-end engineer. We also have 1 primary WordPress engineer who does custom WordPress development for us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As we ramped up our work with Devpark, we ended up expanding the scope of our project because we liked the output that we were receiving and the progress of development. Currently, the app is live and includes a webapp, api, db, apple and google play store apps. We have thousands of paying members and are continuing to work with Devpark on expanding feature set.

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

Our project has a Devpark-supplied PM now. In the beginning, we were working with Andrzej directly. We communicate over Microsoft Teams and Devpark's purpose-built AgileBoard Sprint tracking software. Communication with Devpark has always been excellent. Language is not a problem. They respond quickly to our questions and with much technical detail.

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

DevPark is very much about technical excellence and clean code. This was important to us. Also, the fact that the company is not overly large, allows us the flexibility to work with Devpark to establish priorities down to the detail. We wanted to have direct communication with developers to make sure the output is what we wanted and Devpark is okay with this.

We now communicate directly with developers and also work with the Devpark PM to drive the project forward. It's easy to forget that they are not in the US and not a part of our core team. This is the best compliment we can give.

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

Europe has a lot of holidays that US doesn't, so better communication about holidays to us would be helpful. This is minor.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm Marketing Director and C# Programmer. We have clients in Poland and Europe.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We wanted to build a system for measuring the temperature of people entering our client's building. When the client's body temperature was elevated, access to the access control systems was denied.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We chose the company on recommendation. It is highly appreciated due to the quality of its solutions, which is what we wanted the most.

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

First, we worked out the documentation and assumptions we received from the client. In the next step, mock-ups of individual screens were prepared. In the next phase, we went on to divide the project into individual sprints. Everything was carried out in the "agile" methodology.

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

We had two backend developers and one frontend. The whole thing was supported by the project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The implementation of the project at the client's premises allowed for the reduction of people with increased temperature entering the premises of the workplace (spread of the COVID19 virus). It was very important for our client due to the running production

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

Running the project met all our requirements. We used MS Teams for communication, and daily meetings gave us the most recent picture of what is happening in the project.

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

Direct access to programmers, which largely facilitated solving more technical problems.

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

We are supporters of meeting face to face, and here we only had remote access. Ultimately, this can also be considered a plus due to the restrictions then in force.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a director at Professr, a platform that provides communication services for healthcare industry practitioners.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire DevPark?

We needed to migrate our old Laravel platform away from a previous development provider. We hired DevPark to take over and add new features.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted DevPark to become our primary development team to support the product.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We chose DevPark based on Upwork reviews.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

During the initial meetings, we discussed our requirements. After agreeing to specific terms, they took the lead on the platform and developed requested features.

What was the team composition?

We primarily worked with Przemek (Project Manager, DevPark). He distributed work amongst his team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

DevPark’s work instilled confidence in our team. We can continue improving the product without expensive costs as we experienced with our previous vendor.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We worked using the agile methodology. It was suitable for the project. It was also effective. Any changes were minimal. I have no complaints about their project management style.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was impressed with the regular communication we had throughout the process. We received updates from DevPark every few days.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There was nothing we could tell. The project was quite small, but DevPark handled it perfectly.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the Product Owner of DzineNY. We provide a wide-range of high-quality products for homes, offices, contract spaces, and more. Our offerings run the spectrum from seating, case goods, and lighting to home and wellness accessories.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire DevPark?

We needed someone to design and implement our database, as well as our front- and backends.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed to improve the quality and quantity of the information in our database, as well as its entire internal structure.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We met and interviewed several agencies. Since the beginning of that process, we liked the approach to the work that DevPark showed: they weren’t just interested in getting the job done. They wanted before to understand the project and the direction it was taking properly.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

We provided layouts and gave them an idea about how we thought things would work, which they responded with tips to ensure a better technical solution. They created a database for a website that we own, which was based on an already existing database. They improved and cleaned up the old code substantially, which made the database more flexible. They also introduced many new functions.

What was the team composition?

The project team had about six people, but certain individuals would come and go depending on the skills needed. That being said, we did have a stable project manager who was our direct and permanent point of contact.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our solution was realized quickly in the time we expected. Thanks to DevPark’s workflow, we were able to improve and test new solutions without damaging the existing product

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

DevPark respected every deadline and the communication was always super smooth and fast. Our business scenario made them suggest an agile development approach, which would let us build and test different versions of the desired solution quickly. We communicated mostly with Slack and Agile boards.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The communication was the best part of the collaboration. They were always available and always up to explain why and how one choice was better than another. Moreover, they always spotted and advised us on the better and faster solutions. They drove the partnership.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

Not that I know of, at least.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder & CEO of secundo.no

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We have been working with DevPark on different projects since 2018. Projects have mostly consisted of custom software development with strong API focus.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We met DevPark through recommendations from other happy clients of theirs.

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

DevPark has a strong Laravel & PHP team, and this was a great match for us. By utilizing Laravel, we've been able to build a highly scalable product with an acceptable entry point for new devs joining the team.

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

5-10 Software devs Frontend devs eCommerce devs

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've had a solid relation since day 1. All projects has had the desired outcome and by working so closely, we're able to utilize all the skills of the DevPark team.

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

Agile Development is key to building effective teams and DevPark excels at this.

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

We're impressed with their skill level and communication.

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

DevPark employees has improved their English a lot over the last years. This was needed, but it's great to see that things that needs to be improved is actually addressed and improved.