Escola

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We have many years of successful experience in the insurance claims settlement market. We provide comprehensive services in this area for the largest insurance companies in Poland.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Escola carried out a project for us to handle the loss adjustment process handled by loss adjusters. Escola was responsible for the mobile part of the application based on our backend. With the project, we wanted to facilitate the work of the loss adjusters during their work.

SOLUTION

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

Escola convinced us with its professional approach and openness in conversation. We decided on them because of the well-conducted workshops.

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

The project included the creation of a mobile application for the Android platform. The application was written in Kotlin. Escola was responsible for designing the app's design, scoping analysis (carried out during the workshop), handling the development team (the project manager was on their side).

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

The following worked with us:

• business analyst
• designer
• project manager
• tester
• two android programmers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project allowed us to speed up the work of claims adjusters and reduce the unit cost of claims handling.

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

Escola communicated with us via google chat (a live communication channel), emails (confirmations of findings), all of which were transferred to Jira, from which we received regular reports. The project manager on behalf of Escola was in constant contact with us and clarified the team's concerns with us on a regular basis. We met weekly and at the end of the sprint we had the results of the team's work presented to us. We must commend the speed of communication and transparency.

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

Ability to resolve situations, honesty and transparency throughout the collaboration. In addition, they had a great ability to share their knowledge and the quality of the work carried out.

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

Some issues appeared later, but we can count on ongoing support from the contractor for the application.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm an associate professor in a research-intensive university.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

I'm leading a research project on peronality development and I hired Escola to develop a website that is specifically designed for the research project to measure personality among the participants.

SOLUTION

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

I searched the internet and short listed a selected few which I reached out for more information and quotes. I chose Escola because of their expertise in web design, their experience and portfolio, as well as the good reviews from past clients.

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

The web app the project team was tasked to create is to do research based on a specific metodology. During the consultation, we determined that the best solution would be to create a solution based on Next.js and Laravel. In addition, the front end was prepared together with a UX/UI designer.

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

We were in constant contact with project manager. There were also meetings with some of the developers during the process. The whole team included a project manager, frontend developer, backend developer and UX/UI designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The feedbacks from the participants of the research project are very positive. The website is easy to use and has clear and appealing design.

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

The project team was well organised. The project manager was responsive and quick in making adjustments taking my feedbacks into account. The website was delivered in a timely manner.

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

The customer service is excellent throughout the project.

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

None.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Adamed Pharma is a Polish family-owned pharmaceutical and biotechnology company manufacturing over 500 products offered to patients in almost 80 countries around the world For more than 20 years the company has been carrying out innovative R&D work, for which it has allocated PLN 1.9 billion. Adamed has been working with leading universities and scientific institutes domestically and abroad. Effective and fast treatment is an important indicator for us, so we decided to create a bronchial asthma diagnosis app for GPs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

The main goal was to create a simple application for diagnosing bronchial asthma. As a support for GPs, the app had to eliminate the risk of error. The project required the creation of a panel for the doctor with the ability to register users, a knowledge base and the option to adjust and modify therapy.

SOLUTION

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

We were looking for a team that would be flexible and take on the task of matching technology to medical diagnostic requirements.

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

During the design work, the scope needed to best realize the specifics of physician work and bronchial asthma diagnosis was created. The work resulted in the creation of a portal for doctors to register, diagnose and monitor patients. In addition, we created a compendium of knowledge that allows to adjust the appropriate therapy for the patient. In the next step, we proceeded with the implementation of the entire scope and the handover of the platform for use by doctors.

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

While creating the scope of the project, we contacted the project manager, sales, designer, and developers. Later, we mainly stayed in touch with the project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The most rewarding moment was creating the scope of the solution. Functional development and placing it within the framework of available technologies was only possible with Escola specialists.

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

With an in-depth understanding of the project's purpose and the joint creation of its scope, contact with the team was smooth. Everyone knew from start to finish what the project was to be and what its purpose would be.

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

What Escola's team can surprise you with is their level of commitment to understanding the project and translating business goals into application functions.

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

Probably something can be improved, but we did not find critical problems.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Simple.pl was designed by a group of people with over 20 years of experience in finance and financial intermediation. It is an application that allows entrepreneurs to determine the exact creditworthiness of their company. Thanks to an extensive form, which is connected with machine learning solution and external databases, the customer knows within a few minutes what kind of financing he can get while having full knowledge of the company's financial liquidity.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Simple.pl from the very beginning was supposed to be a system integrated with a large number of external solutions and databases. This assumption resulted from the need for accurate analysis of customer capabilities. In addition, these integrations had to be designed in such a way that the data was properly secured and the response time was short, so that the customer received the report in two minutes maximum.

SOLUTION

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

We were looking for a team that could accurately diagnose the crucial correlations of the system and had experience in developing secure and complex solutions.

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

During a series of meetings we discussed the assumptions and functional scope together with Escola and third parties involved in the work. We planned the implementation schedule by dividing the individual works into sprints, and also created a detailed gantt chart, which enabled us to control the progress of work on the part of our team and the client. Such an approach resulted in the success and timely implementation of the solution. The whole project was divided into sprints according to the SCRUM methodology. Particular modules of the system were implemented in such a way as to be compatible with the functioning of the second back office system.

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

Throughout the project, I was in contact with the project manager. Some stages of implementation also required contact with developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The created solution allowed us to automate the process of communication with customers. As a result, we can now handle more inquiries.

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

The project manager appeared to have an excellent understanding of the business aspects. We had regular meetings where we discussed the next stages of implementation. If necessary, we could always contact the project manager to discuss additional issues.

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

We were impressed by the approach to creating complex integrations and optimizing them. Escola's excellent understanding of our goals and focus on achieving them is an added advantage.

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

There is always room for improvement, but we found their work very satisfying.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I represent ARK event agency that prepares events for organized groups in Poland.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We used the app for conference and team building purposes. The participants could use an extensive agenda of the event, important information during the event and the possibility to navigate the attractions in the hotel. Guests always had important information thanks to notifications and a constant update of the agenda.

SOLUTION

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

The choice fell on Escole because of the dedicated solutions for our project, matching services to the expectations of the end customer.

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

The design was expanded to include modules for evaluating speakers during the conference, team breakdowns and activities during the integration, and details of the evening gala with descriptions and audio videos of the artists and additional atriums.

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

I worked with Ms. Ilona Leoniewska, cooperation and approach very professional and helpful in reazlization of the project. Constant contact and quick problem solving during application testing

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

A group of over 300 attendees at an international conference benefited from the convenience of the app, we saved money on printed materials and contributed to the concept of zero waste.

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

Email and phone contact enabled the project to work smoothly. Quick response time and professional advice and ingenuity of the team enabled smooth actions with the app. 

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

We appreciate the flexibility and innovative approach to the project, great knowledge and creativity of the solutions enabled smooth implementation and satisfaction of our participants.

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

Consider upgrading with flexible functionality to fit each event. It's hard to plan all the necessary capabilities and scenarios, as our agency role is based on creative ideas that aren't always possible due to technological limitations. However, together with Escola team we find solutions to this

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

The Wealthon Fund is a company that responds quickly and quickly to helping entrepreneurs with ongoing cost problems. We created Wealthon because we believe that it is possible to make everyday life easier for entrepreneurs. Our goal is to remove barriers for entrepreneurs in the context of financing their companies.

Our products are fully digital. In the company I am a Systems & Solutions manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Escola to create an innovative, integrated IT system for our financial products that would both calculate the financial risk for our products and act as a CRM for our company.

SOLUTION

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

Our team was looking for various suppliers of IT solutions to undertake our project. After a dozen or so meetings, we decided to use Escola's services, mainly due to their approach to cooperation and the positive opinions of friendly companies that used their services.

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

Firstly, we had a series of meetings to explain and discuss the specifications of our project. During the first months, we gradually received mock-ups and designs of other parts of our system. Each implementation was preceded by a testing phase and meetings to discuss our feedback.

We continue to work with Escola to improve and develop our system. The development, testing and implementation of the new stages of the project run very smoothly in the appropriate development sprints.

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

During the implementation of our project, I had meetings mostly with our project manager, who was our main point of contact. However, in some stages, I also met with developers (frontend developers and backend developers).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The implementation of the system has significantly improved the work in our company. Especially in terms of assessing the financial risk of our clients. The time for analyzing applications for financing is much more efficient. The time was reduced to 24 hours! It allows us to process more applications than before.

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

Communication with our project manager was smooth, with at least weekly phone calls, frequent updates and regular interaction via the backlog system. Delivery was usually on time, in case of any delays we were informed in advance.

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

Escol's knowledge of creating systems and databases, UX and optimization were extraordinary. We learned much more than we thought possible and appreciated their patience and care during the implementation of the project. Previously, we cooperated with agencies in various areas of our company, which had much less knowledge than the Escola team in the UX.

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

Everything can always be done more quickly, but we were very satisfied with their work. Ultimately, quality is more important than speed, and we ended up with a great system.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a marketing specialist at Wydawnictwo C.H.Beck, which is a publishing house based in Poland.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Escola?

Part of our work is organizing events and courses. We wanted to build a mobile application that included all of the events and schedules.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Escola is responsible for developing an app for Android and iOS. Using this app, users can choose from all of the events and sign up for them. Also, they can download presentations and other materials to learn more about the topic at home.

What is the team composition?

I work with one person who always helps us solve any issues. Some developers work on the project, too.

How did you come to work with Escola?

We found them through some online pages. We saw an app that they built for another company. We wanted to have an app like that for ourselves. They were open to change their initial proposition to fit our needs, so we decided to start working with them.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent somewhere between $10,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement began in January 2020, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What was the scope of their involvement?

Escola is responsible for developing an app for Android and iOS. Using this app, users can choose from all of the events and sign up for them. Also, they can download presentations and other materials to learn more about the topic at home.

What is the team composition?

I work with one person who always helps us solve any issues. Some developers work on the project, too.

How did you come to work with Escola?

We found them through some online pages. We saw an app that they built for another company and wanted to have an app like that for ourselves. They were open to change their initial proposition to fit our needs, so we decided to start working with them.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent somewhere between $10,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement began in January 2020, and it’s ongoing.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company is building a crowdfunding platform. I'm co-owner and board memeber.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Qunabu Interactive/ Escola S.A., and what were your goals?

Web development of the entire platform.

SOLUTION

How did you select Qunabu Interactive/ Escola S.A. and what were the deciding factors?

We based our decision on skills within Escola team (platform included blockchain element thus it was key that the software house knows how to do it), positive references and live projects developed by the company, stability of the company (our requirement was the platform to be serviced by the company which developed it) and price (we quoted several companies, Escola quote wasn't the lowest, but was reasonable).

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

Full scope: UX/UI, front-end, back-end, devops, blockchain Technologies used BE: javascript rest api strapi/nest framework node.js

FE: Javascript, progressive web app, react, single page application, react stripe, next server side rendering Redux, framework next.js, wsparcie

SEO Blockchain: Waves

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

At least 6: CTO, PM, UX designer, front-end dev, back-end dev, tester

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Platform was delivered according to the scope defined with several CR included. The platform is not live yet but we finished tests with no major deficiencies identified. Escola was flexible when it comes to some changes which were necessary during the project.

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

We had bi-weekly sprint meetings. Tools used: Jira, Confluence, Slack, e-mail. PM was very proactive and responsive.

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

They are easy to work with, friendly style, no drama when we asked to implement yet another change. No unnecessary involvement (which was important to us).

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

Better testing before releasing code for QA by the client.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a marketing specialist in the TOPAZ store chain, which includes over 130 stores located in central and eastern Poland. I am responsible for the content in our mobile app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Qunabu Interactive/ Escola S.A.?

We started cooperation with Escola because we did not have a mobile application yet. After careful analysis of our clients' needs and the directions in which the market is developing, we decided that we need a partner who will help us to create an application that our clients will love.

What were your goals for this project?

The aim of our application was to gain new customers and make it easier for existing customers to use our loyalty system. It is worth noting that we have exceeded the download threshold for our applications several times, which we initially set as our target for 2020.

SOLUTION

How did you select Qunabu Interactive/ Escola S.A.?

At the stage of searching for a suitable agency to prepare the application for us, the marketing department was primarily involved. Our team carefully analyzed the applications available on the market and chose the agencies whose projects we particularly liked. Then, after preparing a sketch of application functionality, we started preliminary talks and negotiations with selected agencies. Escola turned out to be a team that fully satisfied our needs.

Describe the project in detail.

Still at the stage of the last talks with the agencies, Escola showed the greatest commitment and professional approach to the task set. We decided to create an application for the android and iOS native version. After we sent the initial outline of functionality, we received the first screen previews, which we liked very much.

It was then that we saw for the first time how our application will look like. A series of meetings with Escola's programmers and the involvement of our company's IT department in the project resulted in creating a full action plan for both sides. We had to coordinate the activities so that both the application and our internal systems would work together. Both sides' involvement resulted in a smooth transition to the testing phase, during which we made many more changes.

At each stage we could not only count on the quick action of the team, but also on substantive support for the designed solutions or functionalities.

What was the team composition?

We felt that our project is supervised by a staff of people who know their work. The contact with the Project Manager went very smoothly. Every week we summed up the progress of work on a video call. The work was conducted simultaneously on both platforms (iOS and Android).

In the final phase of the project, additional programmers were involved, which allowed us to close the application development stage in a satisfactory time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Finally, we can say that we are very satisfied with the decision to create an application for our clients. The assumed results exceeded our wildest expectations - the number of downloads exceeded our assumptions by several hundred percent. Very positive reviews show that customers were waiting for such a solution and we actually needed the application.

Despite hundreds of hours of testing, in which dozens of our employees were involved, there were of course minor problems that we had not anticipated before. At one point our servers were surprised by the number of users, to which we had to react efficiently. Despite the fact that almost a year has passed since the implementation of the application, we are in constant contact with Escola and I can safely say that there is practically no week in which we wouldn't make further, smaller or larger changes.

Additionally, Escola takes the initiative to share new functionalities that make our work much easier.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The flow of information between our company and Escola was very good. Every week we organized video calles and several times we met in person to discuss the most important issues concerning mainly the internal work on our side. Thanks to the appropriate, not too many people involved in the project on both sides, we were sure that at any time we know what stage of application development we are at.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Professionalism and ability to understand the client's needs - these are the key words with which Escola can be described. Even the most difficult tasks in our project were no problem. Each time, after presenting an outline of what we want to achieve, we received several proposals for solutions, sometimes enriched with additional proposals for action.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nothing special that I could write about right now.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing director for Asplan Viak Internet. It’s a company focusing on mapping solutions for web and apps. We have about 20 employees.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Qunabu Interactive: Escola S.A.?

We needed additional resources to do some mobile development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped develop a mobile app related to a solution for marine waste. It was built for iOS and Android.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a team of roughly seven people. 

How did you come to work with Qunabu Interactive: Escola S.A.?

They were initially recommended to us. Prior to this project, we had worked with them on another project. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested €130,000 (approximately $148,000).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from August 2019 – May 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re in the final testing period with a plan for our client to launch the product in July 2020. It looks good, and we are happy with the work they did. It was a complex project. We used Scrum methodology. 

How did Qunabu Interactive: Escola S.A. perform from a project management standpoint?

They did pretty well. They had an allocated coordinator/Scrum Master on their side. Our Scrum Master did daily follow-up meetings with them. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were engaged and committed to the project and the purpose of the client’s perspective. They didn’t just identify issues but were proactive in solving them. They also challenged us to consider why some of our ideas might not work. We would like to work with them again in the future.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Perhaps they could identify when some of their resources aren’t performing optimally. There was a need for additional resources, and it took some time to get them into place. They did identify and fix, the problem.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Engage them early in the planning of a project so they can bring their approach and best ideas into it.