DevriX

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a technology solution provider that helps large businesses around the world manage their corporate social responsibilities (CSR). In particular, we help with activities around volunteering, donating, and grant gifting.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DevriX?

Every organization that our customers want to work with must go through our due diligence system, which is tailored to nonprofit organizations involved in CSR. It was time to upgrade our internal system, so we turned to DevriX to provide that support.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

DevriX augmented our internal team, providing them access to particular technologies that would help us build the next version of our due diligence system. We provided the backend while they handled the frontend on React.

First, we spoke with their team about what we needed, and they worked with us to refine those requirements. They identified any gaps and potential “gotchas” before finalizing a series of technical specifications. 

From there, it was a collaboration to deliver on those requirements. The final result was a very data-heavy portal that housed circa 60,000 organizations. It wasn’t regulated, but it was audit-heavy in terms of due diligence. All of that information needed to be presented in a way that let our admin see the most important details at a glance. They worked with us to create effective ways to visualize data, refine the UI, and streamline the navigation.

What is the team composition? 

We worked with three people, one of whom was our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with DevriX?

Someone here had worked with an individual from DevriX. They got to chatting, and things went from there.

How much have you invested with them?

It’s somewhere in the region of $200,000–$250,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The bulk of the work was completed between January–October 2020. We’re now completing the final phase of work and should be deployed in February 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

This collaboration was as good as we could’ve hoped for it to be. Our internal team noted that DevriX produced clean, well-documented code, which meant that we didn’t have to rework anything or doubt the quality.

How did DevriX perform from a project management standpoint?

We left them to choose their own project management tools. We used Jira as our code repository, and they worked within Slack and Asana. Aside from that, we shared meetings, workspaces, Google Hangout calls, and so forth.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They put a good level of thought into outlining the right solution as opposed to just executing on our requests. That level of feedback and interaction was extremely helpful, and it’s the distinguishing factor between good and not so good providers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The communication was a bit stalled at certain times. There were gaps between my request and their response, which could’ve been improved. Also, toward the end of the project, the handover stage was less structured than it should’ve been. A bit more thought there would give customers a better experience. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d definitely recommend them while keeping the communication point in mind as well as making sure that they pay attention to the final handover and migration.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of product and revenue for an internet media company. We buy or acquire traffic and show ads to users on our site.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DevriX?

We needed knowledgeable developers that understand both WordPress and programmatic ad tech, in addition to being able to scale up to bring in additional talent.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We treat DevriX as part of our team, and they’re part of our planning processes, with all of their focus on our sites. 

They helped us migrate two of the top 25 sites in the US. DevriX also helps us with a lot of our advertising technology, to simplify and refactor it. 

The team has also provided support with UX, site design, and site layout as needed. They’ve gone through and made our sites faster, look better, and ultimately deliver more revenue. 

What is the team composition?

It ebbs and flows, but we have about 20 people overall, including Radostina (Business Marketing Lead) as our project manager.

How did you come to work with DevriX?

I got a referral from a technology vendor that I really trust. We did a bit of a test, a short engagement, and found DevriX really excelled at three things. They comprehended our problem, they displayed a great level of communication, and the amount of media ownership they had on taking on the problems.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $500,000–$1,000,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since March 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We tie them to our OKRs, so they’re measured on profit. They’ve definitely showed an ROI. Before DevriX, our site would go down, and no one would know why. With DevriX, our site rarely ever goes down. If there’s ever a performance issue, the team has picked up on it, identified it, and started working on a solution. Our team finds that extremely useful. 

How did DevriX perform from a project management standpoint?

I would give them a 10 out of 10. Their communication is great, and not just on basics. They’ve adapted their communication to how we interact in our company; DevriX has really brought themselves into our culture. 

We use a few different tools, and we’ve tried a handful during our engagement. Everything from Jira, Asana, and Slack, to Coda and Wiki.js. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

DevriX knows the market better than anyone else. I would use DevriX for any high traffic volume WordPres sites that needed attention to detail.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’d want to use DevriX for heavy and deep data analytics. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Really listen to them. They’ve done this countless times, and they have a process that works really well that they can adapt to you. Listening and partnering is the key to being successful with DevriX.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Founder & CEO of Cloud Solutions, a new-era consultancy company who is an accelerator for closing the technology gap through the adoption of AWS Cloud and the leading DevOps practices.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We faced an urgent need to hire a proficient WordPress development company for a WordPress project we were working on. Our goal was to ensure that we follow the best WordPress practices possible when building out a WordPress Multisite network that needed to be stable, secure, fast, easy to use, and most importantly, scalable.

SOLUTION

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

Mario ( DevriX's CEO ) and I go way back and know what each of us is capable of. When we faced the need to consult on the best possible WordPress architecture, Mario and his team at DevriX were the logical choice.

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

We needed to tackle complex development architecture challenges setting up a WordPress Multisite, ensuring all WordPress development standards are followed precisely, the platform is built with the opportunity to be further extended, and we set up all functionalities in a way that ensures stability, security and maximum site performance. We also wanted to employ the best development practices to ensure all functionalities are safe and easy to use by a number of different types of users in the Multisite network.

Mario’s team carefully evaluated all use cases for the network and worked on suggesting the most simple and effective solutions to support UX, but also ensure there is no technical debt. Their approach to web development allowed all features to be built out in a timely manner, but with no compromises to code quality.

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

We've been in touch with Mario, as well as a project owner and a project manager from DevriX which were assigned specifically to our project and coordinated all the work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The Multisite Network was delivered and functional before the deadline and completely within the set budget. All requirements for the project were not only met, but exceeded, so I would definitely call the project a “success”.

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

Along the way, Mario’s team constantly provided progress updates and allowed us to test what had already been built. This allowed us to quickly find where we can extend the functionalities to be way more useful than planned, while being still under development. They have an unique sense of ownership and accountability, as well as showed that they deeply cared about how their work is being received and were ready to make nimble adjustments.

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

What is most impressive about the DevriX team is what I’m already aware of - their deep understanding and experience with custom development on top of WordPress. What my team managed to find out during this project was also their excellent and timely communication, creativity and flexibility.

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

I’ve nothing to suggest.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the COO at a data-driving media publishing tech company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire DevriX?

We hired DevriX to take over the development of our CMS backend and help us manage our internal real-time reporting web application.

What were your goals for this project?

Our company wants to ensure the stability of our backends and increase our revenue.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

A mutual partner in the industry introduced us.

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

DevriX created new layouts with different ad placements and customized features. They enhanced our UI/UX, increasing efficiency and stability.

Their team removes any third-party tools that caused issues and fixes any existing plugins to ensure stability. Their work helps with page loading times.

They manage our internal reporting application by reviewing code, fixing any bugs, and developing new features. Their team also provides hosting support.

What was the team composition?

We work with a six-person team. Our primary contacts are the CEO and VP of Engineering.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

With all the ongoing changes, our team has seen an increase in numbers and efficiency. The new features and enhancements have made our website much faster. By engaging with DevriX, we are looking forward to surpassing our initial projections and goals.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We use Asana to assign tasks and address any issues. GitHub manages the development source code. We also use Slack to communicate any urgent problems or concerns. DevriX’s team has been accommodating by adjusting to our time zone to ensure support is readily available.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The experience in our industry, understanding our business model, and their pool of resources helps us tremendously.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

I would suggest more visibility in billing. It would be nice to know how many hours are dedicated to a specific segment of a project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the VP of marketing at Verkada, a company that builds intelligent security cameras suitable for internet of things (IoT) applications. Our mission is to modernize the world of physical security through the use of Verkada’s IoT platform, which combines plug-and-play security cameras with intelligent, cloud-based software—all in a scalable, user-friendly system.

Hundreds of organizations use Verkada to protect people and assets, secure facilities, and gain new insights that improve the efficiency of their operations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire DevriX?

We needed to design, architect, and build a fully-functional corporate website to help launch the product and business.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to launch a brand new website, ensure that its backend was instrumented for tracking conversions and capturing leads, and establish a CMS and workflows that would allow our team to scale.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Devrix was highly recommended by a colleague.

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

They developed staging and production environments and migrated our content to a new hosting provider. They also developed a custom widget and all web pages, optimizing them for both desktop and mobile devices. Additionally, they integrated our web forms with a marketing automation platform, deployed all web tracking scripts, and optimized image/page load speeds.

What was the team composition?

They assigned a lead developer, who was supported by their CEO and the rest of this team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Devrix provided an excellent service, developing and deploying the site in three weeks. We literally wouldn’t have been able to hit our deadline without them.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Rather than waiting to be told exactly what to do, Devrix's team thinks through user and UX challenges and come up with clever solutions that actually work better than what you originally intended. Communication was clear and consistent; I loved working with them.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Devrix only hires engineers that care deeply about the quality of the end product. Additionally, their ability to hit deadlines, capacity to devise simple yet elegant solutions, and skill at thinking like end users would set them apart from other vendors.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work for the Franchise business at Escape Hunt, a large, international, escape room entertainment company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire DevriX?

They support us with various development and technology needs including web development, statistics monitoring, and maintenance.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to have flawless global and local websites.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

The vendor was selected before my time.

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

I worked with DevriX on various projects related to the franchise business & websites including maintenance, front- and backend alterations, template creation, Google Analytics & conversion tracking support, microsite development, hosting, consultancy services, and GDPR integration.

What was the team composition?

We work with a dedicated account manager/consultant and developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since this is an on-going service, all I can say is that we’re very content with the level and quality of service that we receive from DevriX.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The level of service and quality they provide is beyond exceptional. No matter the complexity or urgency of our requests, they never fail us, and they manage to turn around the trickiest tasks in record time. They go above and beyond by replying out of regular working hours. In stressful situations, they always keep a level head and focus on solutions.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

I have very high expectations when working with an outside agency or third party, but with DevriX, I have nothing to suggest, at least not within the scope of work we’ve assigned to them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the owner of Charleston Software Associates. We create web applications, and we offer consulting services for web application development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DevriX?

Our most popular software is Store Locator Plus, which is a WordPress plugin that allows business to display their locations and directories on their websites. WordPress only accounts for 30% of the web, and we wanted to reach the other 70% by making our mapping software compatible with all platforms and mobile devices. To accomplish our goal, we needed a team with extensive knowledge of both web application technology and WordPress.

SOLUTION

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact was Mario (CEO, DevriX), who acted as a project manager. His team consisted of six individuals, who mainly worked remotely from different areas in the world.

Each team member possessed a specialized skill; there was a designated QA tester, a design expert, and someone who specialized in working with the backend and databases.

How did you come to work with DevriX?

I didn’t want to hire permanent employees for a one-time project, so DevriX was recommended to me as a potential partner for this project. I spent a year interviewing different teams from around the world, and DevriX made it all the way to the end of our review process.

We selected them due to their experience with SaaS applications, WordPress development, PHP, and MySQL. They are also knowledgeable in JavaScript, SCSS, CSS, and even some newer tools like React.

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested over $100,000 in this project.  

What is the status of this engagement?

I met Mario in December 2015, and we started working on the project in January 2016. It took nine months to complete the project.

DevriX works for some of my clients occasionally, so our relationship is ongoing but on a much smaller scale.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did DevriX perform from a project management standpoint?

Mario had a pretty good handle on project management. I like to be involved when I contract work, so I did share some of the project management responsibilities with him. I would send him a request, which he would send to his project lead, and the project would continue to move forward. They always completed their work according to the schedule. If I needed to prioritize a feature, they would work on it immediately.

We used several project management tools, like Google Drive, Slack, and they introduced us to Asana.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Mario is a tech guy that understands business and the importance of project management, which is a skill that most tech guys lack. Teams that I've previously worked with operate as billable machines, with no real understanding of our product or our goals. Mario and his team took the time to understand what they’re trying to build and helped us use the technology to achieve our business goal.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Quality assessments of their work are an afterthought in their work process, but they are working to change this. There are defined QA testing tools on the market that could help them transition from manual QA testing to using structured testing tools as a part of the integrated process.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Mario is very responsive, but it always good to have clear and consistent communication when trying to create a successful product. Their team is well-versed and well-skilled, so listen to their feedback if they suggest taking a different approach to achieve the best results.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the editor-in-chief and co-founder of the online magazine SwimSwam. I also manage web development for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire DevriX?

DevriX was hired for full-stack web development services. This includes everything from backend maintenance to frontend feature development.

What were your goals for this project?

The goals were to expand our user experience and create a more functional website that was less susceptible to errors.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found them through an Internet search. We also had one of their fliers.

Describe the project in detail.

DevriX is responsible for all aspects of web development.

What was the team composition?

There are typically four people we work with: a full stack web developer and project manager, his backup (for coverage purposes), the CEO, and a visual designer. The team has remained relatively consistent, though other resources have been pulled in as needed to complete more complex tasks.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What outcomes or results can you share that demonstrate progress and/or success?

We are very pleased with DevriX's work. They are proactive in preventing errors and site crashes and when presented with an idea, the deliverable is often bigger, better, and cheaper than expected.

How effective was the project management?

The team is incredibly responsive; although they are in Bulgaria, they always respond. Whether I email them at 2:00 a.m. or 2:00 p.m., the flow of communication is seamless. It's really pretty incredible. I'm not sure they ever sleep. I don’t know how they do it, but I want to know so that I can implement it in my own management structure.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They care. Rather than tell me if an idea is too big, too complex, or undoable, they embrace and thrive on the challenge. The bigger the challenge, the better the results. They excel at developing our concerns, wants, and needs elegant solutions.

What tips or recommendations do you have?

The pricing structure may seem a bit nebulous, but we've never felt short-changed. Trust Mario (CEO, DevriX); he is an honest, up-front, and ethical businessman. It sounds too good to be true, but the DevriX team truly wants us to succeed. They have demonstrated that first and foremost, they are in the business of doing whatever it takes to make their customers happy.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the founders and content producers for a media firm that covers business and technology trends. We’ve been publishing online media for about five years now.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DevriX?

During our startup phase, we coded everything ourselves, but that became unsustainable as our business grew. Managing WordPress is complex and our site reached the point where it needed full-time attention. We wanted to hire a firm that could serve as a long-term partner and help us deliver an exceptional user experience at reasonable cost.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They help us with site development and maintenance. We were having difficulty scaling our site up to meet increasing traffic demands as our business grew, so they initially stepped in to handle that. Since then, they’ve continued to add new features and updates as our needs demand, such as a subdomain dedicated to one segment of our audience. Another useful change they implemented was to build a test environment for us—prior to that, we’d just make new features live without being quite sure how they’d look or what they’d do. In addition to that, they keep our site running smoothly by pruning our image library and ensuring we don’t have any plugin conflicts or update issues. They occasionally help us with design, as well.

What is the team composition?

We have a project manager who’s our main point of contact, but they pull in additional personnel as needed for larger projects.

How did you come to work with DevriX?

I had started asking for recommendations and viewing presentations by several different companies, and then one of our partners researched WordPress developers online. We spent a lot of time searching for a firm that offered the right fit in terms of expertise and affordability.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent at least $50,000 over the course of our partnership thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them for four years now.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve done a good job of minimizing downtime on the site and releasing site updates that are free of errors. We follow our analytics reports pretty carefully, and we’re happy with the results of loading speed and mobile friendliness. They’re also very good at delivering accurate prototypes of what we want without going through dozens of iterations, which has saved us time in terms of publishing new content. The launch of our subdomain was pretty successful and drew in new readers for that niche market, and DevriX had a major hand in making that happen.

How did DevriX perform from a project management standpoint?

We have to deal with some timezone differences since they’re in Eastern Europe and our team is spread between the US and the UK, but we’ve managed pretty well by relying upon written communication and the occasional phone call. They respond very quickly and they handle our prioritization goals well.

I’d actually prefer to shift over to our project management software—they have a tool called Asana—but some members of our team aren’t that comfortable with the UI, so we’ve been relying on email. That works, but it can sometimes be harder to keep track of all the threads.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their staff is willing to engage with our content, even though it’s very specialized, in order to gain an understanding of what we do and who our audience is. I really appreciate that, because it means that they’re better able to grasp our business model and give reliable feedback on changes we want to make.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything to highlight. They’re very quick to apply to any kind of feedback we give, such as with the email versus project management software issue I mentioned earlier.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

While they have a good feel for design, that’s not the core of their expertise; their focus is WordPress engineering and support. Their level of design skill has been enough for us, in terms of giving advice about fonts, layout, and so forth, but that may not be sufficient for every project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I managed development for a publication that focused on events, meetings, conventions, and trade shows across the country. We were essentially an online magazine with a monthly print version. I managed the writers and the content that we posted, as well as anything related to SEO, advertising, and everything digital.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DevriX?

We needed to change our digital platform. Our old site was a bit archaic and hard to manage. We wanted to be nimbler and needed help moving all of our content to WordPress.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We moved to WordPress and started developing the new site. We improved SEO and site traffic pretty quickly and changed the way we produced content. They helped with site functionality so we could scale faster and teach writers how to navigate the new procedures.

One of the biggest challenges was migrating all of our content from the old system. We moved over 100,000 pages with images and content to the new design and didn’t want to lose SEO ranking for the pages we kept. They did really well bringing that content over.

We worked with them on retainer so they continued to make updates. When the refresh happened, it was a quick turnaround. We finished the project in 53 days. They moved very quickly and then helped add new technologies like DoubleClick to the site. They also helped enhanced other features, including a new product line that worked in tandem with the site to help planners find venues across the country. I left the company last year, but I see new enhancements to the site.

What is the team composition?

We had a team of about four to five people. We had a designer, one developer for day-to-day changes, a lead developer who stepped in when we got stuck, and Mario [CEO, DevriX] was really available for planning and focused on putting together all the initiatives with us to set our timelines and meet our goals.

How did you come to work with DevriX?

Our digital director brought them on. I wasn’t part of his process, so I don’t know how he found them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in March 2017. They were still working together when I left the company in January 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

For us, it was mostly about launching the product. It was important that we had a certain amount of time directed by the executives to make sure we stuck to deadlines. That was one way we measured the project’s success.

After the launch, our website traffic doubled within a couple of months and we continued to see improvement throughout the following year. The site ran smoothly with no hiccups or crashes.

How did DevriX perform from a project management standpoint?

There were some instances where our server would break or something would happen that needed resolving. They work in Bulgaria, but were so available. They were organized, helpful, and worked diligently to meet deadlines. We had one issue very early on a Saturday morning where the whole team made themselves available to fix a problem.

What did you find most impressive about them?

One of the coolest things about them is their ability to transform our ideas into products. They had the knowledge base behind a lot of the technical aspects we needed. If they saw better options, they made suggestions. They were really effective and very positive. They were flexible and could pivot when we needed them to.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We didn’t have any issues with them. Any shifts or issues with the projects came from our executives, not their team.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Set the expectations for timing and deliverables early. You will have a more realistic idea of the project and the cushion you will need between changes or projects. They do a good job with planning and will help you be effective. They can show you what to expect so you’re not surprised by any scheduling issues.