Guava Software – Out of Business

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of KFP, a car engine lubricant company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Guava Software?

We needed help with software development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Guava Software developed a software that tracks and manages the selling and buying of products in the gas stations and stores. It was based on Ruby on Rails. They continue to maintain our software.

What is the team composition?

There are two heads of the company and five other people working on the project.

How did you come to work with Guava Software?

We discovered Guava Software by researching a place here that gathers many software development companies. All of them recommended Guava Software for their transparency and efficiency.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $50,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started in February 2013.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The results exceeded our expectations. There were no problems during the software development. Every idea we had, they’d always improve and make it more sophisticated. Only minor fixes were needed.

How did Guava Software perform from a project management standpoint?

The team at Guava Software submitted the project before the due date. They have a tool that’s tracks development, and it allows users to see every stat and error. They’re very efficient and transparent.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their company is full of integrity. They’ve grown a lot in recent years.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any trouble with Guava Software.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Staxe is a blockchain based, crowd investment platform catering to the event industry. I am working as CTO for Staxe.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Guava Software?

We chose Guava to implement the Web application frontend to our Blockchain based backend.

What were your goals for this project?

Build a first MVP that would allow us to go to market.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I got the contact to Guava from a colleague who new them. We contacted several companies for offers. Guava's offer and approach was very professional from the beginning and the price was very competitive, so we decided to go with them

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We worked together with Guava to define the requirements in an agile fashion. UI/UX was designed by a 3rd party. Guava delivered design and implementation of a Web application based on Ruby on Rails.

What was the team composition?

On our side were the product manager plus myself overseeing the technical aspects of the implementation, plus a senior developer for the blockchain part. Guava put a project manager and 2-3 frontend and backend developers. UI/UX was designed by a 3rd party.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The MVP helped us to show our idea to investors and startup accelerators and enabled us to gain first customers.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Guave managed all of their work aspects from their side. This was working out well. Communication was always professional and timely, allowing us to progress despite a difficult set-up. (time zones, several parties involved, etc.)

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I liked Guava's professional approach from the beginning. The company and the project are well managed and they take over responsibility for their work. They openly addressed difficulties and consulted us when they thought some of our ideas were off.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We had the odd hickup with time lines and communication, but I would mostly put this on the somewhat difficult set-up and time and money constraints.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a design and development company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Guava Software?

No one on my team had the skills to work on a project for one of our customers. We delegated the work to Guava Software.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created a clinic management system. There’s a special scheduling portal for clients that allows them to make appointments, view operation hours and doctor availability. They’ve done everything from design to development. They used Ruby on Rails for the backend and React, HTML, and CSS for the frontend. They worked directly with the customer and managed the project themselves. They broke up different

What is the team composition?

Between 6–10 people have worked on our project in total, including a product owner, frontend developers, backend developers, and designers.

How did you come to work with Guava Software?

I met Guava Software’s owner at a conference and bonded well since the beginning. When we took on this project, I looked through my options and decided to give them a try because their work looked good and liked how they operated.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent more than $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in 2017 and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve executed flawlessly. As a developer myself, I love their code. It’s very polished. Detail-oriented, they continue to ask questions. Before working with them, I was doing almost everything myself and I had too much to do. Working with them has made everything easier.

How did Guava Software perform from a project management standpoint?

I receive weekly reports from the product owner and I check in on what they’re doing. They follow an agile methodology, which is really effective. Our product owner gets everything done. He is a crucial member of our project and I really enjoy working with him. I’ve worked with several other teams, and Guava Software is one of the best.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They do everything they can to please the customer and make sure that the customer understands what it’s going to take to deliver what they want.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could be more open about their processes. Their agile method is very effective and efficient, but if they shared more with their customers, they’d be even more impressed.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Listen to their advice because they know what they’re doing. They’re very transparent and often emphasize the simple solution instead of trying to upsell. Often, it’s the simple solution that’s most effective rather than the most cutting-edge solution.