InventorSoft

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder of an online real estate marketplace facilitating bids and offers between buyers and sellers.

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

We hired the services of InventorSoft to help us with the development and implementation of our subscription service, the custom development of all our premium features and front-end development to revamp our v2 in the market.

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

We shortlisted a few candidates and we have given them a sample test to assess the quality of their work. High quality of coding work, flexibility with a flair of creativity to design the features with little guidance.

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

They helped us develop a bidding process for properties and all the premium features that are included in our premium offering.

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

We needed a senior full stack developer expert in both back-end and front-end using node.js and vue.js

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

They helped us accelerate our go to market with a v2 by at least 2 months!

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

They met our preset deadlines, fully communicative using all sorts of new ways from direct messages to email and web calls.

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

The degree of flexibility in their work is impressive.

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

We could have asked for a minor design upgrade

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company is a spin-out from the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at the National University of Ireland, Galway in 2008. Our core product - Observe is a web-application that allows Schools of Medicine and Healthcare Sciences to plan and perform OSCEs (Objective Structured Clinical Examinations) and MMIs (Multiple Mini Interviews), as well as conduct detailed instant analysis on student scores while the OSCE is ongoing. I am a co-founder/co-director and COO/CTO of the company.

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

Due to COVID-19 pandemic many of our clients had to cancel their traditional physical OSCE or face-to-face MMIs and University facilities were closed for the foreseeable future. We had to deviate from our product development roadmap and move quickly to start developments on a video integration and remote assessment solution to meet the demand of our current and prospective clients.

At the time we were also in transition from in-house development to outsourcing all our development work. We posted this project on a popular freelancing platform to get a feel for the talent pool it provides and we came across Maksym at InventorSoft (outsourcing agency).

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

They were (still are) highly rated on the freelancing website in terms of project completion, reviews and have a large team with knowledge and skills that closely matched the web development technologies that we were familiar with. Maksym (InventorSoft CTO) guided us in the technical direction of these new features and gave some great advice.

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

• Upgrade and stabilisation of existing (legacy) system
• PHP
• Incorporate Video technology into the assessment component of the existing system
• Twilio (Programmable Video)
• Develop new app console for students and simulated patients to access
• Angular
• Extend existing API for remote assessment logistical management
• Node.js
• Integrate with AWS S3 Bucket for video media file storage
• Develop new control panel for exam admin
• Vue.js

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

3 Software Developers:

1. Frontend Developer (Angular, Bootstrap, jQuery, Vue.js)
2. Backend Developer (Node.js, MySql)
3. Backend Developer (PHP) 4) CTO

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

We recently piloted these unique features with one of our clients successfully and we now have more interest from prospective clients due to publicity and impressive demos. We are due to role out the new features to all clients in the coming weeks

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

Daily stand-ups and agile software development (2 week sprints).

Communication: Google Meet and Slack - Task management: Jira

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

Proactiveness of the developers and their contribution to design thinking. Not waiting on my every command like we currently experience with other outsourcing agencies. Feels like they are part of the team and company culture even though they are in a different timezone. They also contributed to improving the coding standards and software development practices at our company bringing in that expertise from industry. Good attention to detail.

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

No.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of a software house skilled in custom project development, with a focus on leading/enabling technologies.

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

In the frame of a big workflow system development in the form of an extranet with thousands of users dedicated to phone contract activation, phone and accessories selling, for main telecom companies in Italy, we needed to startup and develop the first instance of a mobile WebApp/App frontend to the services of our customer.

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

We tested 4 different outsources on Angular frontend development on smaller projects, and finally shortened the list to InventorSoft. Main factor in our choice was: skill and speed in development besides propositive attitude.

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

Scope of the assigned module was the mobile Angular frontend of a big workflow system. The key deliverables was the different functions available in the module. Angular communicating using GraphQL was the key.

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

One Angular developer worked with us on the project.

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

We obtained a working frontend implementing all the needed functions, with appreciation of our customer.

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

We have a Technical PM speaking directly with the customer PM. Our Technical PM write and sort the different Trello cards on the team developers. We normally make frequent staging and production deployments merging the different branches committed by the different developers. We make a daily standup meeting and have other video-calls, and chat on request (google chat, google meet).

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

Their developer makes the work independently, with attention to details, and testing. Also has an attitude for proposals.

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

No

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief customer officer (CCO) for a data management platform.

What challenge were you trying to address with InventorSoft?

We were building a new module and needed some help with UI development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We did high-fidelity mockups. InventorSoft was responsible for developing the UI of the platform. They used Next.js, a JavaScript framework. 

What is the team composition?

There were two or three people working with us.

How did you come to work with InventorSoft?

They were recommended by another UI company. We met to discuss the scope of the project and moved forward with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $30,000–$40,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from December 2019 until April 2020. It just ended last week.

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

The success metric was delivering the project on time. InventorSoft did deliver within the timeline. They gave support, delivered some of the missing features, and fixed issues —there are always some in these types of projects. 

Their work was good, and the turnaround on small tasks was very fast. There was an initial phase and a run-off phase, and it all went very well. 

How did InventorSoft perform from a project management standpoint?

Our side handled project management. We gave them dedicated tasks which we then collaboratively worked on. For communication, we had daily stand-up calls and spoke primarily through Microsoft Teams with an occasional email. They were very available.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed by their dedication and willingness to go the extra mile. There were two deadlines that required working over the weekend. InventorSoft complied with no pushback. They met the expectations we set forth and came up with suggestions for the UX/UI. They asked questions to understand how it would all work together since they weren’t handling the backend development. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear with specifications. Once they understand the processes and what they need to deliver, it helps them do the best delivery of the product.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am one of the founders of a company that provides eGov solutions.

For what projects/services did your company hire InventorSoft?

We hired InventorSoft for java backend development.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were to:

1. Add capacity to the backend team
2. Find a partner to evolve with our staffing needs

How did you select this vendor?

We got in touch with InventorSoft through a job posting on Upwork. After talks with one of the company representatives and multiple interviews with their developers, we decided to collaborate with them.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The InventorSoft developers have helped to add new features to our platform, improve existing features and to raise the overall quality of the code (e.g. through focus on tests).

What was the team composition?

We started off with one developer from InventorSoft side. We grew to three developers as there was more work and as we were happy with the collaboration. Now that things are a bit calmer again, we are back to two developers.

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

Thanks to InventorSoft, we have managed to increase backend development capacity and have been able to meet client deadlines.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Collaboration is through slack and jira. The developers are very responsive and communicate well overall.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They seem to be able to attract really good developers.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not for the moment. We're very happy with the collaboration.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a manager at Experis Ciber AS, a Norwegian software consulting firm.  

What challenge were you trying to address with InventorSoft?

We hired them to build a web-based customer portal for one of our clients.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They began the project by providing time estimates for development. After we confirmed their plan, they started building the product. They developed the initial infrastructure on Ubuntu servers, and have since migrated their code to Azure. They’ve written the frontend of the platform in Vue.js.

What is the team composition?

They’ve assigned a group of around 10 people to our project, including architects, developers, QA testers, UX designers, and a project manager.

How did you come to work with InventorSoft?

We asked several peers in our consultant network for recommendations, and one of them mentioned InventorSoft. Soon after, we met with Maksym (CTO, InventorSoft) to discuss our project needs. This meeting went well, and we chose them as our partner.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in November 2018. They’re still developing the platform.

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

We had a third-party consultant evaluate their work with a security test. The results showed that their code is stable and secure, which is a great sign for the success of the platform. We’re convinced that the product they’re building will simplify many business processes for our client.

How did InventorSoft perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team responds to all of our questions while keeping the project on track. Also, they provide frequent updates and progress reports. They’ve delivered everything on time and under budget.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Maksym is skilled at clearly explaining technical details, especially when describing development limitations. He has a solid understanding of our customer’s needs, and his team consistently addresses project requirements in their deliverables.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’ve been times when their team has been too proactive. Our customer reaches out directly to them with new requirements or feature ideas, and, in some cases, they’ve failed to confirm these changes with me. Although I’m not used to this, I understand that they’re trying to give our client outstanding service. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to have an initial conversation to lay out your requirements. It’s important to take time at the beginning of a project to gain some insight regarding their approach.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of an online education platform.

What challenge were you trying to address with InventorSoft?

We reached out to InventorSoft to build our online platform and to incorporate features our customers were requesting. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

InventorSoft developed our online educational platform from scratch, collaborating closely with our in-house development team and referencing an existing platform and new requirements. They helped set up a roadmap with milestones and provided some UI design work as well. 

What is the team composition? 

We work with a project manager, two backend developers, two frontend developers, and one QA specialist. 

How did you come to work with InventorSoft?

They were recommended to us by another vendor we've worked with. Even though we were considering others, we ultimately liked InventorSoft's professionalism, timely response, and ability to thoroughly grasp our needs for the project. 

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested less than $50,000 thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them since September 2018.

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

Although we don't have any metrics to report yet, their work has been stellar thus far. The platform they built looks great and is very reliable. 

How did InventorSoft perform from a project management standpoint?

They're responsive and communicative overall. We hold daily meetings with their team and use Jira to track project milestones.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciate their excitement about our project and willingness to provide feedback to improve outcomes. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can't name anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Keep all lines of communication open and connect with their team regularly to provide them with everything they need to develop the best possible end product. 

Introduce your business and what you do there. 

I’m the co-founder and CTO of an early-stage startup called YardSignNetwork. We’re building an advertising network for the real estate industry.

What challenge were you trying to address with InventorSoft? 

We had already developed a demo version of our web platform along with some of the core features but lacked the engineers to continue development. So, we needed a flexible service provider that could help us further develop our web platform. The team had to include front- and backend developers as well as a web designer who understood usability.

What was the scope of their involvement? 

InventorSoft provides ongoing development services to further build out our web platform. Since we’re operating on a fairly new business model, things change often, and we have to adapt accordingly. As a result, it’s hard for us to plan how many hours and resources we need beyond two-week sprints.

I typically write the specs documentation for each sprint, which they break down into tasks and deliverables. The team works with Java frameworks on the server side, including Spring and Hibernate, and a MySQL database for the backend. On the frontend, they use Angular.js.

What is the team composition?  

We currently work with a backend developer, a frontend developer, and an HTML designer. The CTO serves as our main point of contact. 

How did you come to work with InventorSoft?

I searched for small- to medium-sized outsourcing companies and shortlisted about a dozen. After working with two other vendors, I stumbled upon InventorSoft, which worked well for us. They were flexible with our schedule had a pool of talented engineers.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend about $4,000 a month with them, which amounts to $250,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement? 

Their work started in August 2018 and is ongoing.

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

As an emerging startup, it’s important for us to work with a team that can accommodate a dynamic schedule, and InventorSoft has been the perfect fit. They’re by far the best company we’ve contracted. We’ve hit some unforeseen hurdles here and there, but that’s to be expected. Even in those cases, their team strove to deliver within a reasonable timeframe.

How did InventorSoft perform from a project management standpoint?

We coordinate with them using our project management software, but I don’t think they need management. They keep on task, which allows me to continue working on my end. In terms of communication, they respond relatively quickly despite the time difference.

What did you find most impressive about them? 

I’m impressed by a number of their qualities. Not only are their prices fair, but they’re also able to adapt to short-term changes. Their team consists of qualified specialists who are available when needed. 

Are there any areas they could improve? 

It would be helpful if they had engineers with higher English proficiency. There have been times when they’ve asked a question, and I’d have to ask them to explain it 2–3 times before I could understand. Investing in higher English skills would also make it easier to communicate with the rest of my team.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Many of my colleagues outsource projects for third-party clients to external vendors. But these clients have their own requirements and will get frustrated when things aren’t done a certain way. In those cases, it’s best to plan ahead and prepare for this. Take the time to create a roadmap, outlining all of the development stages with InventorSoft to avoid any missteps.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a telecom analytics startup. We develop solutions for mobile operators that help them understand and improve their metrics. We also provide a metric guide that targets end users.

What challenge were you trying to address with InventorSoft?

We needed an experienced development firm to build out some software modules within our solution.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started our engagement with InventorSoft by communicating the project’s requirements. Utilizing an agile approach, they further refined the project’s scope of work. We didn’t put a lot of effort into providing detailed specifications because wanted a quick development cycle. Additionally, we weren’t 100% sure how we wanted the solution to work. Our vision became more distinct as the project progressed.

InventorSoft created supplemental software modules that support our solution’s system. They also helped build the backend architecture of our iOS and Android applications. Their team uses Java, MySQL, and other products within the Google Cloud suite to accomplish each assignment.

What is the team composition?

We interact with four resources from their team.

How did you come to work with InventorSoft?

They were recommended to us by a development company we worked with previously.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $30,000 thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2018, and the work is ongoing.

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

InvesterSoft does an excellent job at everything we ask. Their CEO is exceptionally pragmatic and helpful. He has strong technical skills and puts the time in to ensure each collaboration goes smoothly. We’re happy with their work.

How did InventorSoft perform from a project management standpoint?

Our internal staff handles most of the project management responsibilities involved with this engagement. However, we interact with their developers and CEO quite often. They consistently deliver products within established timelines. We have daily meetings with them over Skype, and we use email to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

InvestorSoft provides quality work that reflects their asking price. We appreciate their CEO’s involvement in each undertaking.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only challenge we’ve faced while working with them relates to the language barrier. The CEO is perfectly fluent in English, but some of the developers need extra time when communicating in written English.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We have two businesses and a startup project still in the building phase. Our software build company is called Software Research, and the operational one is Calculus Solutions. We're building an automated real-time financial trading system. I'm the CTO of the group.

What challenge were you trying to address with InventorSoft?

We were building a relatively complex piece of software and didn’t want to hire people in-house. We wanted to outsource the work and reached out to a few companies.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided development services. They’ve also had a role to play during the actual launch and operational/maintenance mode.

The platform has a service-oriented architecture with multiple components spanning several servers. There are a few microservices included, and everything has to work in a real-time mode. We based the whole thing on Java 8, Spring Boot, and that whole family. All the servers are Linux-based.

InventorSoft had in-house front- and backend UI capabilities. We used their services for the infrastructure development, engine-room algorithmic work, the UI surface piece, and the immediate UI backend shim sitting between the frontend and the engine room.

What is the team composition?

We've had four or five people onboard, on average: two UI designers and three backend deep algorithm specialists.

How did you come to work with InventorSoft?

We found a number of agency candidates on Upwork, including InventorSoft. We had a number of interactions and did some small, test implementations before we made our final choice.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in the summer of 2017. We will probably sign a contract for ongoing maintenance and further feature development.

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

They were able to cover the full scope, which we were quite pleased with. It isn’t an easy task to find this kind of scope coverage, in terms of technology stack and expertise.

They're an open and friendly team with good language skills. We found them to be extremely professional. They have top-notch offices and ongoing in-house training programs—both technical training and language upgrades. I'm very satisfied.

How did InventorSoft perform from a project management standpoint?

A colleague and I have visited their Ukraine office in order to work side-by-side during a two-week period. I found it to be an important team-building exercise for getting to know each other better, given that this was a long-term engagement from both our sides. 

I'm never satisfied in terms of deadlines—it's never fast or good enough for me, but they don’t mind coming and putting in an extra couple of hours on the weekend. I’m quite happy with the velocity and the output quality, and the engagement itself, in terms of interactions and finding the right solution. They're good at keeping deadlines, although we don’t have many of them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Internet quality is one of the critiques and points of irritation we’ve had for quite some time. This is not necessarily their fault, but we’ve spoken quite a bit about it. We need a lot of telecommunication, in terms of screen sharing and video, and this requires some serious bandwidth and reliable internet connectivity. It didn’t work well in the beginning, and we still have some steps to take. Too often, the sound quality isn't good enough and we can’t have video at the same time as voice and screen sharing due to the bandwidth.