Holdapp

Please describe your company and your position there.

During work on the application, I worked on behalf of Pixers.LTD - a multinational marketplace for home and decor industry, operating in several countries in EU and US. My role was to manage applications and supervise the implementation of their development.

For what projects/services did your company hire Holdapp?

As a company that always focuses on an innovative approach to technology, we needed a partner who could handle the implementation of a mobile application that did not have market equivalents at the time. We chose Holdapp for this task because we knew that we would be able to get high-quality development and reliable advice at times when an agile approach to R&D was needed.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to build a mobile application that combines augmented reality technology with a modern approach to m-commerce.

How did you select this vendor?

Talks were held with potential vendors and Holdapp was selected thanks to the best approach to implementation, activity and ideas for solving potential problems that they presented at that stage. Recommendations from the industry were also helpful

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They prepared architecture, backend and full development based on projects that were also prepared by us with their cooperation.

What was the team composition?

We had one iOS developer, one QA, and one backend developer.

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

Unfortunately, this is not public information.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management was carried out in specific software. At each stage, the developers' work was public and it was possible to view current works.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They show creativity through innovative solutions and ingenuity in solving problems. The quality of the application and the declared implementation time do not suffer.

Are there any areas for improvement?

It's hard to point out anything specific.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO at APT Collective Sp. z o.o., a paid gig app.

What challenge were you trying to address with Holdapp?

When I lived in Costa Rica, I was approached by a friend who had a lot of money. He knew me since I was a kid. He told me that he was interested in creating a system that would be user friendly for people who are eager to make additional side money. We wanted to create a system that would be able to create such opportunities for those people.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Holdapp developed our mobile app for iOS and Android. The app is a very easy place for people to meet. If a user needs help to clean their house, they push a button and the system will generate information to get the proper people who can help them. 

The team worked from my CEO’s ideas and designed and developed the apps. We stopped along the way because we ran out of money. However, we took an EU grant and continued the project. 

What is the team composition?

We work with 4–5 people. I mainly interacted with Artur (Founder/Managing Director).

How did you come to work with Holdapp?

We heard about them by word of mouth.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $50,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2016 and the work is ongoing.

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

Holdapp was a good choice. They are very reliable, never mess up, and don’t overcharge us. The app is a phenomenon. When we needed to make improvements when we didn’t have any money left, the team was very supportive and showed us some directions.

How did Holdapp perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is phenomenal. Whenever we have any issues, we go directly to Artur and he tells us not to worry about it. There have been no communication issues.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Everything has gone very smoothly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing I’d have them improve. Any issues we’ve had have been on our side. We weren’t ready for them to implement the new ideas and profiles, or for all the energy they were going to bring to this project.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Before you initiate the engagement, invite them to dinner. Sit down with them and become friends.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Founder - TrackingDays TrackingDays is a travel tracking and day counting solution for expats, non-resident and frequent travellers.

For what projects/services did your company hire Holdapp?

HoldApp took over full mobile iPhone development of the TrackingDays App when our previous developer team let us down and could not complete the project re-build for TrackingDays 2.0. This project is now released and HoldApp maintain and further develop the App at our request. HoldApp are also now developing our Android version as well as a new as yet unreleased project for iPhone.

What were your goals for this project?

TrackingDays is a start-up business venture. Our goals were to turn our unique concept and idea into a high quality and saleable App. To do this as cost effectively as possible.

How did you select this vendor?

We were recommended HoldApp by our outgoing developer team.

Describe the project in detail.

This project is ongoing. Due to our location in different countries, all of our work has been remote. My vision for the project was quite clear and we were rebuilding an existing product. After a number of initial over phone conversations we manage the project on an ongoing basis mostly over Slack.

It works very well. HoldApp have rebuild the TrackingDays app from the ground up, for what is now a better, more stable and robust and ultimately now saleable product.

What was the team composition?

I like a 'lite' team. Whilst we have a team of 7 following the development on our slack project feed. I work directly with main developer / coder and a project manager. For me this works very well as I don't like too many layers of management, I prefer to stay flexible and move fast as is possible for a start-up. HoldApp will draw on other members of the team if it's required, but our core team for the iPhone development is 2 people. Artur is always contactable if required. All of the team are on Slack.

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

HoldApp have delivered a greatly improved, stable and successfully updated App. They have managed a very tricky migration from an entirely different platform, moving from TrackingDays 1.0 to 2.0. The uptake of the new App has been very positive, the App is now revenue generating and moving in a positive direction (excluding the COVID-19 blip).

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Fast and effective. Our workflow is clearly managed on Slack, my preferred choice and responses are quickly actioned.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I would say they are highly knowledgable in their field. They are reliable, fair and above all trustworthy partners, given that the whole project has been managed remotely.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I'm pretty satisfied with their work.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the owner and CEO of Meeting Application - the event app solution for event organizers.

For what projects/services did your company hire Holdapp?

We hired Holdapp for two tasks: 1) building new backend for our product; 2) continuation of iOS application development.

What were your goals for this project?

First of all we needed a new, stable backend. Also, we needed to hire some professionals to help us with continuation of iOS application development.

How did you select this vendor?

Holdapp is well known as a group of great professionals in our local community; We needed trusted company which we could rely on.

Describe the project in detail.

Meeting Application is a native, mobile tool to help our customers manage their events. System is dedicated for iOS and Android platforms. Application is very intuitive with a simple service panel.

What was the team composition?

We hired backend and iOS developers to extend our team. Project management and some parts of development were made internally. Holdapp consultants were hired to fill the gaps in our process.

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

Our new backend system was launch with success and all clients were switched to that new software.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Whole cooperation was very effective. They’re straightforward and easy to deal with. We had a strong cultural alignment with them, and they were very attuned to what we were trying to do. We were very happy with the engagement and overall professionalism.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Very impressive for us was that they had experience working with relevant technologies. They knew what they were talking about. Also I was impressed by how quickly they were able to come up to speed in understanding our business.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We’ve been very satisfied with all of the work they’ve done and their approach to it as well.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a board member in Sprzedajemy.pl. Also I’m the head of our products - essentially the product owner. Our company is a web-service, which intercede in buying/ selling transactions. Our users thanks to our platform have a space for their classified ad. 

For what projects/services did your company hire Holdapp?

We hired Holdapp to build iOS and Android mobile apps.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to make an awesome mobile apps, which will knockout the competition. Also we were focused on the budget, which was defined from the beginning. 

How did you select this vendor?

By the recommendation of another trusted company. 

Describe the project in detail.

Over a year- long great cooperation we’ve successfully created two awesome mobile apps, which make a way to our clients to be a part of our platform using a mobile phones. 

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sprzedajemy-pl/id1433907916?l=pl&ls=1&mt=8

 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pl.sprzedajemy

What was the team composition?

The team included: project manager (Holdapp), iOS developer (Holdapp), Android developer (Holdapp), QA (Holdapp), backend developers team (Sprzedajemy.pl), UX/ UI designer (Sprzedajemy.pl), Product Owner (Sprzedajemy.pl).

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

Not yet; our apps has been just released few days ago. But we are expecting the huge benefit coming in to our business as an effect of that new products.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Their team understanding of its importance stood out to us. The workflow was convenient and accommodating; but what is the most important: it was working. Team was always willing to adjust their approach to ours, but they also suggested improvements they found effective in the past. We had a great support from the team. Holdapp team met daily for a short status of work and to share with other their plan for the day; whole team working on the project (ux, ui designers, qa, developers, project manager, backend developers) met every 2 weeks with a review, planning and retrospective meetings. We also had irregular as-needed meetings.  

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We admire Holdapp’s team ability to understand the project and work together as a partner rather than a vendor. Also their transparency helped us to be incredibly confident that they were doing their best work for us at all times. The team’s extensive knowledge of their field was also noteworthy.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not really. They’ve our exceeded expectations and continue to do so. They’re a great partner, one we truly appreciate.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are the fast-growing sport betting company. I am Head of IT responsible for technical development of new sales channels.

For what projects/services did your company hire Holdapp?

We wanted to have fast native betting application with good UX for iOS and Android platforms

What were your goals for this project?

The goals were to quickly deliver native apps for most common platforms, design good convenient interfaces and deploy fast to our customers.

How did you select this vendor?

We had several recommendation from agency but we have chosen company with best experience, good prices.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

After we provided the desired functionality Holdapp was responsible for applications design and development. They are strictly cooperating with our Product Manager but they are very creative and very often provides very good suggestions and solutions.

What was the team composition?

Project team includes several persons – dedicated project manager, graphic designer, two teams developers for different mobile platforms.

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

Mobile application had a serious positive impact on company turnover. Also the volume of customers increased.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management is very professional. Sprints, meeting deadlines, we are using Jira, Slack, Skype. They are very elastic to customer requirements.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Speed and quality.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There is not much to improve. We expand really fast and sometimes applications have bugs – but really – every software has bugs. But Holadpp do really quickly solves the problems.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the head of software development area for our web and mobile application. ANSWEAR is a Polish multi-brand online store with clothes, shoes, and accessories from the world’s biggest fashion brands presented in seven countries.

What challenge were you trying to address with Holdapp?

We need stable native applications to take part of mobile web users and reach out to new clients who are looking for a simple shopping app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built native iOS and Android apps from scratch. Holdapp is still working on other improvements, keeping apps stable and open for other markets.

What is the team composition?

We had one Android, one iOS developer, one QA, and a project manager.

How did you come to work with Holdapp?

We received a recommendation from a friend.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work started in April 2017 and it's ongoing.

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

We have more orders from the app, which is great because we can increase monetization.

How did Holdapp perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management is great. It’s communicative and organized.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They can adjust. If we want to change something, we can.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not very much.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you know what you want.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of the board for the Tax Guard Group. We offer services in the areas of accounting, HR, IT, real estate projects, and developing buildings. We create a block of flats and sell them.

What challenge were you trying to address with Holdapp?

We needed someone to develop software for our company.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Holdapp created software that European Amazon sellers can use to register to VAT. The team added functionality that allows the software to calculate tax returns from the sales when Amazon sellers use the software. 

Additionally, the software calculates taxes for every European country. The team built the software such that users can log onto it online via mobile devices, tablets, and every type of computer. 

What is the team composition?

The number of people depends on the phase of the project. Sometimes we work with 2–3 teammates, and other times, more. When we need to speed up the process, Holdapp sends more teammates to work on the project. 

How did you come to work with Holdapp?

They were recommended to us by someone in our group who said they were really good with software. After calling the owner, we had a few meetings, and then we decided to work together.

How much have you invested in them?

We have spent about $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work began in about September 2019, and the first part of the product was completed in January 2020. We began selling the product, but we are still working with Holdapp.

We are making amendments to the software, which depends on the VAT laws in every European country. So, if those VAT laws change at all, we need to make changes to the software.

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

The software is very useful and flexible.

How did Holdapp perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Jira, which allows us to send them requests, ask questions, and check the progress of the project in relation to the deadlines. Additionally, we have weekly conference calls where they always summarize what has happened the previous week and we discuss our expectations for the upcoming week.

The project has gone quite smoothly thus far. Sometimes, deadlines were pushed back but this was mostly because we changed our expectations. During the development, we learned how it works in Amazon and how VAT works in every European country, which is why the deadlines were sometimes pushed back.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I really enjoy working with Holdapp, especially with the owner of the company because he is incredibly involved in our project. Amazon code and source are quite difficult, and the owner spends a lot of time helping us connect our product to Amazon. I am very grateful for this.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They are on the other side of Poland and we mostly meet via Skype or WhatsApp. The most difficult part has been not being able to meet face to face, but that would’ve been really costly.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm one of the owners of a foreign language publisher.

What challenge were you trying to address with Holdapp?

We needed help with mobile app development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided programming services, from designing the first and second apps, to developing them. We provided the content and ideas. It's available on iOS and Android.

What is the team composition?

We had a project manager, but we also worked with several other developers.

How did you come to work with Holdapp?

We found them through an internet search. They were selected after a series of video interviews.

How much have you invested with them?    

We've invested $75,000.        

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in June 2016, and our engagement is ongoing with maintenance.

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

Their quality is very good. It's great they have an in-house testing team because customers are quick to send an app back if there's a bug.

How did Holdapp perform from a project management standpoint?

They've always done well. We always talk through a project manager for updates. We're quite satisfied.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their testing and quality assurance are great. It makes the apps very reliable.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only downside is that they're not very flexible if we need something updated quickly. They just might not be available. If it's a bigger project, things usually go to plan.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You need to know what you want and do all of the planning before contacting them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an account manager for an app developer.

What challenge were you trying to address with Holdapp?

We sometimes need staff to augment our team when we don’t have enough developers in-house. In this case, we needed iOS developers.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided iOS development for us. They started the app, which is a 3D sound system, from scratch. Phones can connect to it via Bluetooth.

We sent them all the requirements, the designs, and wireframes. They worked closely with our team. We had created an Android app internally, so all the developers worked together on the iOS project.

What is the team composition?

We collaborated with two members of their team, working in scrum with direct communication with our developers.

How did you come to work with Holdapp?

We’d worked with them before, and I believe our CEO knows someone from their company. We did consider a couple of other companies, but we checked the code they had all created, and Holdapp’s was what we were looking for.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent around $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them on this project from March–June 2018.

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

We did code reviews on our side and we were really happy with them. The quality of their code was really good, and the client was also very happy with the iOS app. The development went quicker than with the Android app, which was great.

How did Holdapp perform from a project management standpoint?

Both developers had experience with the scrum methodology, so it went very smoothly. From our perspective, it was a huge bonus.

The communication was consistent both in our office and over Slack when they worked remotely. They logged their time transparently, and we could trust them to complete their work.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They told us when they didn't like something or through we could find a better approach. We didn’t feel like we were just a client—it felt like a real partnership, and we learned a lot from them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think so. Everything really went well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be transparent with them. Previously, we’ve not given all the required information to developers and they’ve been misguided due to that. Holdapp has a team of professionals, and they can help you from both an IT and a business perspective. They’ve created a lot of apps and can suggest cool ideas.