DICEUS

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We provide software and digital marketing solutions to the automotive market, basically dealers in the United States. We are branching out to other industries very soon. I am the chief operating officer and one of the owners. I’m basically the business developer so I provide the storyboards and business requirements.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Diceus?

The biggest challenge was that since we develop software, we needed a software provider and a developer team. We looked around and worked with a couple of different companies. We were somewhat satisfied, and that’s when I found Diceus and looked at some of their work. We started a small project with them and it’s grown, and we’ve been really happy with their development work so far.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

As a startup, cost from our company’s standpoint is huge and development costs are very high, especially in the United States. So we had to look for lower cost options. We were introduced to Diceus via a freelancing website.

We were wanting to build out a set of business intelligence tools with leaderboards and stats, and a competition system that was from our software. We wanted to build those metrics to help dealers incentivize their salespeople to use our system. So we bid that contract out and Diceus won.

Since then, we’ve given them basically everything. They’re my extended team. They’re just developers, and whether they’re sitting next to me in the office or overseas, they carry out my vision of what kind of software I want to build. One of the things that our base system was built in was .NET, so we needed someone that was still familiar with that base. They were, so that was one of the things that were key. Other than that, we just wanted someone that had some experience in building out leader board stats, competition type systems with graphics, and business intelligence that also could work on websites and other types of software. As I interviewed them and looked at their prior work, I knew they had a lot of people on their staff that could help us and they had different skill sets, so I knew I wasn’t just going with someone that had two or three developers. At the time, I believe they had over 20 employees. So I knew they had a lot of skillsets. I know they coded for us in PHP and other languages, but I would be starting to talk above my skill level.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started reaching out to them in March or April [2016], and then after that project was successful, we gave them another project. They quoted the first project, and after really liking working with them, we made the decision to have someone assigned to us that would be on our team and that we would call our own developer. From the planning perspective, it allows that if something goes over, they’re not under the gun trying to come up with the exact price. We’ve got someone that’s working for us to build stuff out and we can build a relationship with that person. That’s what we did. Then from that, we were getting great results and so we added two more. And then, we added two more again. So we’re continuing to add people. We still have a lot of remaining work to do, but we’re probably on pace to do $300,000 with them this year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

A lot of that is driven by sales. I would say that we’ve had multiple deployments. They have been successful.

We’ve continued to ramp up resources as we built trust and confidence in their abilities to develop and internally manage the work. We’ve been really pleased with that working relationship. I have a lot of respect for these guys and like them personally as well, so it’s been a really good relationship.

How did Diceus perform from a project management standpoint?

We have developers, the business analyst, and the tester. We use two main pieces of software. JIRA allows you to enter tickets and plan sprints from an Agile perspective. We’re using more of an Agile type model blended with Waterfall, but still more Agile. We also use Microsoft Project Manager, and the business requirements are typically sent over in Microsoft Projects, PowerPoint, or Word and Excel. We Skype every day.

What did you find most impressive about Diceus?

When I look at working with people and hiring them, I determine whether they have the skillset I need, the work ethic, and a good attitude. It’s hard to know work ethic and good attitude until you have a relationship there. They definitely have the skill set, but what I’ve been really impressed with is their work ethic. They’re super hard workers and super smart. They’ve got great attitudes. They’re very dedicated to my company’s success. I think they feel it as a win-win, and they’re working on something that’s a win for them personally and wins for their own company. I think it’s been a great business relationship. I’m super proud of the decision we made to go with them. I can’t say anything but good stuff.

Are there any areas Diceus could improve?

It’s easy to not take into consideration unexpected things. From an overall planning perspective, it takes a little bit longer than you might expect in the beginning, and it’s because you start peeling back that onion and you’re like, “Oh, I didn’t know this was here. Of course, it would’ve planned differently.” It’s just not knowing what you don’t know, which they could’ve done differently because they don’t know our systems. If anything, if they said in the beginning stages it was going to take three weeks, I probably should’ve said five just to make sure. But other than that, I can’t think of anything. We’ve made a couple of adjustments on the team with personnel after we saw a couple of guys doing good, but maybe not as good as we thought. They’ve been proactive on that. In hindsight, it’s really more about expectations and planning and that’s just as much my fault as anybody's.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Four Shore Consulting is a company that works with businesses to provide project management, information systems consultation, and Professional Development training.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Diceus?

Diceus was brought on to take on somebody else’s source code and the development of a custom CMS [content management system] for the website, and my role was to work with them to fix bugs in it, as well as upgrade it for another company that is a vacation rental company that utilized that CMS to populate their website. I was working on behalf of the property rental site.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We would meet daily and we would collaborate in Basecamp software on the issues that were coming up on the website. Diceus would work with their development team to repair those issues. Diceus successfully repaired many issues and was instrumental in migrating new business acquisitions onto the CMS platform. The CMS would make API calls into the end-client's software to pull reservation data, photos and pricing. The program then added additional graphics, reviews and other information into a database that was to be displayed on the company's custom website. Some of the program was also responsible for providing information for email campaigns from the database.

How did you come to work with Diceus?

After a 45-day interview process, the company I worked for introduced Diceus as the development company I'd be working with.

How much have you invested with Diceus?

It was about $35 an hour for development and project management time. They were contracted at $10,000 a month.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement was cut short due to the vacation rental company taking negative advantage of a probationary clause on the last day before the contract renewal. It was no fault of Diceus that the company chose to change developers. Diceus was just getting up to speed on the inherited programming when their opportunity was cut short.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I was very pleased with the attitude that they had, being unfamiliar with the industry along with their ability to understand code that wasn’t created or commented on, which got dumped in their lap to unwind and figure out. They were “nose to the grindstone” as far as working extra hours. I would say they overworked the hours they got paid for due to the learning curve on the front-end. They definitely gave their effort at maintaining this project. It was no fault of theirs that the management decided to move to a different company. I would recommend Diceus’ aptitude and also their professionalism in any kind of development going forward.

What did you find most impressive about Diceus?

They did especially well partnering with the business itself. They’re truly a partner that will help solve the problems, and they’re not somebody that are just billing for hours. They want to understand and empathize with the issue to solve it as effectively and efficiently as possible. Given a fair shake, if they were able to utilize their best practices to rework the software, they would’ve excelled at that. But the management company never allowed them the ability to do that with the urgent and overbearing expectations they had.

Are there any areas Diceus could improve?

I don’t think so. They were very responsive. They overworked the hours to get the job done. They were accommodating to the 7-hour time difference. They had a strong command of English and worked hard to make sure they communicated with us. If they didn’t understand something, they worked with me to ensure they could understand. There was no real huge communication gap because they had a strong aptitude and technical understanding of what they were doing.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The company is an internet marketing and development consultancy. I am the chief executive officer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Diceus?

I had a client that needed a website redeveloped around a content management system that would provide better exposure in organic search for them. I reviewed a number of candidates. I used a couple of websites to find suitable candidates based on a request for proposal. Diceus was one of the companies out of the top three that I ended up selecting.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They worked with platforms that the client was already using. The client wanted to stay with a .NET platform and that seemed to be Diceus’ specialty as they’re a Microsoft Certified Developer, so they’re conversant with Microsoft framework technology. They had also done a lot of work in the medical and insurance related verticals, similar to this client. 

When I said the project started in 2015, it was because we did a fully realized wireframe and design spec that was done in advance of the programming beginning. So they were handed off the design and were executing the background programming using the template that we provided. They really only interacted with me, and the client’s database programmer had some interaction with them as well.

How did you come to work with Diceus?

I thought they were equally qualified to the other two shortlisted companies, but in addition, their specific skillset and industry experience was the most appropriate for the client.

How much have you invested with Diceus?

We have invested $12,000. They came in on budget.

What is the status of this engagement?

Their involvement was from January to April 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I think they delivered exactly what they were expected to deliver. That was a positive. A lot of projects that I’ve worked on, especially with CMS customization, have a tendency for people to oversell their customization ability. These guys definitely showed a high level of programming expertise that I was looking for. In that sense, it was a success because the project was delivered on time and the client was very happy with the result. I think the overall result for the client was meeting their expectations in a way that was a positive experience for them. So often it goes the other way. The [end] client was not forced to accept any compromise in their expectations, which for me was a huge positive.

How did Diceus perform from a project management standpoint?

I think they performed very well. They’re halfway around the world. We were doing all of our conversation by email and Skype. There were milestones that I had set and they met all of them. When there were adjustments to be made to certain details of the project, they were responsive to those adjustments. We had a good turnaround when changes were made. They’re better than other non-US development teams that I’ve worked with in the past. The other thing that worked well with them was that there wasn’t as much of a language barrier as I’ve experienced with other outsourced teams and countries where English isn’t the native language. I worked with one of the owners of the company initially and then was assigned out to a specific developer. I didn’t require a really large team so they were only doing the programming aspects of the website. There wasn’t design involved and things like that. In the end, one person was able to handle it and once I was working with him. I think he was assigned directly to this project exclusively.

What did you find most impressive about Diceus?

They demonstrated a very high degree of expertise in the type of programming and the product environment that they’re working in, which is exactly what I was hoping to find. I would say their core competency was having a very strong depth of programming expertise and knowledge within this particular market, and also within the platform that they were working on.

Are there any areas Diceus could improve?

I think the only downside was that there was a bit of a language barrier, especially in communicating in terms of them executing visual content in such a way that it would match the description of what was specified. I don’t think they had an intrinsic design knowledge, and that required me to spend a little bit more back and forth describing visually what we were looking for when they were asked to execute something without having it predesigned for them. But I think that’s more of a cultural difference than anything else, and I was expecting it to happen. It was resolved successfully. It’s always a problem working with offshore resources on a cultural basis more than anything else. I feel like they were not resistant in any way.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a small company. We have a website that’s an online marketplace that sells e-learning curriculum and then there’s an interactive e-learning platform that runs in cloud services. I am the founder and owner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Diceus?

They did all the software development for my site.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Everything is designed in Microsoft technology, and it all runs on Microsoft Windows Azure platform cloud services. I had a few unique factors that made it a challenge. I wanted to make it a very scalable solution. By that I mean I wanted it to be relatively inexpensive to run during the startup phase but be able to scale up to be relatively large without any issues. Also to be relatively inexpensive in the larger scale as well so that I could have a low overhead operation. To do that I built a lot of it around the Azure Table Storage which is a No SQL database. It’s inexpensive compared to SQL Server for example. So, I put all the user information - user database and registration in SQL Server, but I put most of the content in the Azure Table Storage database. It’s a tradeoff in that the Azure Table Storage is not necessarily built for having a relational database and there are certain design principles that you have to use to make it work correctly. So, if you use it correctly, it scales up to massive sizes pretty well. But if you don’t know how to use it, it can be a disaster. I started the product with a different developer, and that developer failed because once they did the original NoSQL database design, I ran some performance testing on it and it wouldn’t pass, and they could not make it pass. So, I switched the development to Diceus, and we laid out the same design, and they went through it, and they were able to make it work. I’ve been working with them for the last 2 to 2 ½ years.

It has a social network aspect to it, so we built a small social network and the e-learning platform as well as the online marketplace for selling them and a few other little services there. It’s all built in Microsoft MVC technology - ASP.NET. That’s the main application platform that we used for it. It runs in Azure, and it runs in Azure’s platform as a service which is also a little unique in terms of being a bit different than just running in virtual machines. We had to develop it all and make sure that it doesn’t fail in the platform as a service environment. We used Windows Identity Foundation for all the security and developed a custom security token service that runs in MVC. We couldn’t use the standard out of the box WIF because of that. That was another unique challenge that we could work through.

How did you come to work with Diceus?

I found them through Freelancer.com. When you’re going through those crowd service platforms, it’s very easy to get linked up with the wrong company. A lot of them don’t know what’s going on. They will just post out their bids. Half of them will just use robots, and they’ll post a bid quickly, and you must know how to evaluate a company to make sure they truly understand the scope. You don’t just click the button.

My project was a little different because I had the unique technical challenges and some technologies that no one has used. If I was just doing MVC on top of a SQL Server database with no specific security requirement and no NoSQL it probably would’ve been a little easier. But I had to go through an interview process. I was able to interview Illia [Pinchuk] who runs the company at Diceus and talk to him. He could give me a complete work breakdown and estimates of the job. Through that, I could see that he had a really clear understanding of the work. He sought to understand my business whereas I interviewed with a few other companies and they just tried to do a sales job on how great they were, but demonstrated no understanding of what I was trying to accomplish or the technologies. They just tried to say they were great and they’d done all these other jobs successfully, and it wasn’t very compelling. The first thing Illia did was he dug in and understood what we were doing and what are the challenges you’re going through. I liked that, and once I went through it, he went and showed me some stuff that he’s working on that had a lot of similarities to what I was doing. One of the things that struck me is that he was very passionate about the work that he was doing, about the technology, and about what he was working on. That was a stark difference from some of the others because I could tell right away it was much more of a teamwork and a relationship that was going to be built there. That’s what made me select them.

How much have you invested with Diceus?

$75,000 to $85,000 in total but I started with another company. I’d say my investment with Diceus is around $60,000.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s up and running. We went live in August this year. I was running more beta testing for a year. They were supporting me through that. I went live in August regarding starting to market. I don’t think I have any metrics to share.

How did Diceus perform from a project management standpoint?

We run an Agile process on this. They were accustomed to doing it in Agile. We tend to plan one iteration at a time, and they would work with me on that. We’d agree to scope and everything, and then we’d do that iteration. They did a very good job. We’d have standup meetings, and they’d keep me up to date on what’s the latest status on a regular basis. We used Microsoft Team Foundation server. We used the online Team Foundation service for it, so I had my project already set up in there, and I just gave them access to it. They did a great job of tracking the task status - where they are and everything that I asked. They did a good job especially from the up-front planning which is the most important part - just breaking down the work and estimates, etc. but then just following through on everything regarding task updates and reporting status, etc. And then the billing has been perfectly seamless as well.

What did you find most impressive about Diceus?

Even beyond everything else that I told you which is what you hope for and expect but what has been over and above and what has surprised me is they do a good job of adding value as a team member. A lot of times when you outsource something they just do exactly what you tell them. We don’t always really know what we’re doing. No matter how much experience we have as a business, as a technology CTO, development manager or whatever - you don’t always know all the right answers all the time. But most outsource companies will just do what you tell them. What I liked about Diceus is their team - you put out your designs, but they’ll come back and say, “Are you sure you want to do it that way? What about this?” They share other ideas. It makes you better as a solution and as a company. That’s what’s been the part that I’ve liked best about working with them.

Are there any areas Diceus could improve?

No, I don’t think there’s anything.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Sofware Development Manager of ProChain Solutions

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Project management solutions

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire DICEUS to accomplish?

• Staffing software developers

SOLUTION

How did you find DICEUS?

Online Search

Why did you select DICEUS over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from DICEUS were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

The project is a commercial project managed software system. Diceus was engaged to provide software development staff to work on the product.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Commercial release of a major re-write of our software platform, and subsequent regular software releases.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

We manage the project internally. DICEUS provides skilled software development resources.

What was your primary form of communication with DICEUS?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The ability to quickly provide skilled staff. They're also very responsive.

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

Not really. It takes some time to work together effectively.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Partner of Datarob OÜ

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are leading lead generation company for IT industry and blockchain

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire DICEUS to accomplish?

We hired DICEUS to develop a B2B solution for sales and cold outreach.

SOLUTION

How did you find DICEUS?

Referral

Why did you select DICEUS over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Referred to me

How many teammates from DICEUS were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

The project started with the discovery phase that included market-fit analysis, CX strategy, requirements gathering, and design prototyping. For example, after the discovery phase, we had got the results of user interviews, user persona descriptions, user journey maps, business processes flow, etc. Before the developmenе phase, we received a WBS document and software specification. During the development, the team sent reports to us regularly

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We’ve got the solution that completely fits our initial requirements to the features. Probably, we’ll hire DICEUS to add some more features and functionalities once we understand what our customers need more.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

All in time, clear development structure

What was your primary form of communication with DICEUS?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

We are impressed with their responsive culture and the working product they've delivered.

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

Actually, no

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of a small EdTech company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire DICEUS?

Java development for our core school management system.

SOLUTION

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

We looked for experienced/senior Java developers who have a good track record

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

They provided one part time developer who is helping sort complex tasks

Describe the recruitment process in detail.

We looked at the CVs the agency provided and gave a test task, which they successfully solved.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the engagement that demonstrate progress or success?

Diceus Java developer has been successfully delivering all tasks.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We have a direct communication with their developer and the work is very productive.

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

The developer handles the tasks very well.

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

All tasks have been solved and we continue working together

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Head of Engineering for the Mednet. Our company builds Stackoverflow for doctors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire DICEUS?

We needed to implement integration testing for our website, but all our engineers were busy working on our core projects.

SOLUTION

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

I knew Diceus from my previous work in the startup world.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

We needed to implement three different kinds of tests: smoke tests for our staging website, health check for the production website, and full test which includes all supported platforms and browsers.

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

One test engineer and one project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The test suite was developed quickly and efficiently and we are currently using it in our CI/CD pipeline.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had weekly meetings with Diceus to make sure that the project stays on track. In addition, we used a dedicated Slack server for quick updates.

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

It's hard to find a reliable company for this type of projects. I'm glad that DICEUS was able to deliver results on schedule. The communication between our engineering stuff and Diceus was excellent.

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

I'm satisfied with the results of this project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

CPSO at Fadata

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire DICEUS?

IT software implementation

SOLUTION

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

Very professional profiles, well designed processes and clear goals

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Software implementation projects

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

5 (BAs, Plsql, Java dev)

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Still ongoing

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective

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

Their professionalism in all aspects

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

Not identified yet