IT DEV GROUP

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the director of an Educational Technology company. We create learning software for high school and college students.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire IT DEV GROUP?

We hired IT Dev Group for a full redesign and overhaul of our website. We had an existing (but outdated) site and a general brief; they were hired to develop the new design, including the HTML/CSS/JS files needed to implement the design.

SOLUTION

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

We reviewed portfolios and prior client reviews for a large number of different designers, and selected a small group to complete a very short design project with us. IT Dev stood out from the others both in terms of quality of their work and in terms of professionalism and responsiveness. Based on this, we decided to work with them for this full site overhaul.

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

We began with a design brief, which they reviewed with us to ensure we had clearly communicated the goals. From there, IT Dev generated initial wireframe mockups of key pages, which they worked with us on through a few feedback rounds to confirm general layout and user flow. They then moved onto full design files.

Once we had worked with them to finalize the designs, they began development of the HTML, CSS, and JS files to support the designs, including responsive layouts.

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

We worked with 3 primary people on the IT Dev team. A project manager was our main point of contact, and a designer and developer worked on the project as well.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They created high-quality and creative designs that still fit well with our brand. The final front-end files they created were well-organized and easy to integrate with our existing architecture.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

IT Dev were extremely flexible and communicative throughout. We actually had to manage some transitions internally while working with them, which resulted in a slowdown on our side. They were highly accommodating and ensured that work moved forward at full speed and highest quality despite this setback.

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

Their workflow overall was a fantastic mix of clear processes and professionalism, as well as the ability to work flexibly around our needs. The actual designs they created were both high quality and a perfect fit for our company. The HTML they created is highly reusable and will allow us to continue to grow and build within this new design.

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

They did great work!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CTO of a Stealth Mode startup

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire IT DEV GROUP, and what were your goals?

IT DEV GROUP was hired to help in bringing up the Frontend for an MVP web app. But we partnered together since then and today they lead the Frontend of our flagship product

SOLUTION

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

We interviewed many vendors and the feeling with them from day one is that they are fully aligned with our needs as startup - that is speed and quality. And they proved to be integral part of our startup since. They are fully engaged and committed and we see them as part of our RnD team.

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

The team owns our Frontend product - they own the source code design and implementation, QA and UX design. Work on daily basis with the BE team in perfect sync. We share our company Jira and assign UI tasks to IT DEV team based on weekly sprint. They deliver as part of each sprint.

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

2 Vue developers, 1 QA, 2 ux designers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

All deliverables are always in time with open communication about potentials delays

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

We work with Slack texting and calling on daily basis. With their project manager I occasionally meet to plan men-power for upcoming sprints.

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

They are extremely engaged, communicating directly with our product consumers to ensure their satisfaction.

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

Any feedback i ever had was applied immediately.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm one of the co-founders of Green Room online.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire IT DEV GROUP?

We needed help designing our platform. While we had a rough idea of the platform design and storyboard, we needed help building out the prototypes before the build process.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We searched Upwork and loved IT Dev Group's designs, they really resonated with us and made a great impression. They made the shortlist quickly, and their experience with platforms like ours made it an easy choice.

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

The team spent time with us to gather feedback and relevant info for our project. They helped us understand how our platform would perform the best for our users on both desktop and mobile. Within a week they had the first prototype over to us and made a great impression! Throughout the project they maintained close contact with our team to gather feedback and reiterate quickly to make the final prototype look amazing.

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

My team worked directly with their UI/UX designer and a project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We're happy with the deliverables from their team. The UX/UI is the foundation of the platform we're building, and will help move quickly in the build phase. We've tested this with our user group and they're very happy with the design/function.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The project manager was easy to communicate with and provided frequent updates. We had virtual phone calls, and collaborated regularly via online collaboration to move quickly.

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

Their UX/UI skills are fantastic! They were able to understand our vision quickly and turn this into a very well-designed prototype that we're excited to share with our users. They're amazing!

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

None, this team is solid and we can't wait to work with them on future projects. Highly recommend them!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of a design and development studio run by women of color.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with IT DEV GROUP?

We were trying to find someone to help us with quality design and project management. We had already onboarded a client with a really big project, and we needed extra hands to help us finish it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

IT DEV GROUP joined us as an extension of our team to help us with UI design for a web app. We provided them with a journey map, brand directions, and high-level wireframes to lay out the site’s look, feel, and aesthetic. We also gave them a brand kit with elements.

After that, they jumped in and handled the rest. We used Figma to build out the designs. To this day, we still work with them.

What is the team composition?

We work with Anastasia (Project Manager) and a designer.

How did you come to work with IT DEV GROUP?

Someone referred us to IT DEV GROUP. We reached out to them and set up an interview process. They offered a trial to see how we would work together, and we turned out to be a good match. We chose them because their quality standards were the same as ours, which we liked.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $10,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2020, and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

IT DEV GROUP delivers amazing-quality work, and they have a great team with solid talent.

How did IT DEV GROUP perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re great — their project manager is amazing. For this project, we didn’t have to worry about much. They quickly resolved issues — there was hardly any downtime.  Anastasia took over and handled everything. It was the best experience I’ve ever had with a project manager.

We communicate using Slack and Zoom. IT DEV GROUP is super communicative and receptive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most impressive aspect about IT DEV GROUP is the quality of their work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s no downside to working with IT DEV GROUP. Overall, they’re good, and it has been a good experience. However, they could probably have more talent available. 

Any advice for potential customers?

Have a plan of what you want done. Also, make sure you communicate with them a lot and do check-ins to make sure everything is going right.

This project was probably different than that of their other clients because we’re also a studio. In that sense, we’re two studios joining forces to take on projects that are too much for us to handle. Instead of having to hire a whole team to do the work, we’re able to merge with them and trust their quality of work.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CTO of Orbit, a company that makes tools for community builders to grow and manage their communities across many channels.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire IT DEV GROUP?

We hired IT DEV Group and Oksana to do product design for our main web application.

SOLUTION

How did you select IT DEV GROUP and what were the deciding factors?

Oksana reached out to us with a really impressive portfolio of product design work. The work had many characteristics we were looking for.

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

Oksana did a full design of the application, about 20-30 screens including authentication, tables, settings pages - the works really. She supported our engineering team through the implementation and has also made very high quality illustrations that we're using throughout the application.

How many resources from the IT DEV GROUP team worked with you, and what were their positions?

1

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The users were very big fans of our new design when we launched it and gave many compliments. It was definitely a success.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow has been good. We did a lot of commenting back and forth in Figma and Slack to incorporate feedback. Trello too. So I would say it was very cooperative and collaborative.

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

We have been very impressed by their team's speed and autonomy of the work. They came to our specifications in the first iterations.

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

This was small, but a few times we didn't know when to expect a response, though it always came within a few days. I would just say to always proactively communicate on remote teams.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder of a video conferencing network for professionals to book live sessions & receive secure payments.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire IT DEV GROUP, and what were your goals?

We needed to fully develop our platform from scratch, with several changes being made along the way. We required both front- and backend services to develop the platform, as well as API integrations, server management and proper architecture.

SOLUTION

How did you select IT DEV GROUP and what were the deciding factors?

After interviewing several companies, it was apparent that IT DEV GROUP were the most professional and transparent. We carefully looked at their previous projects and quickly realized they have the most experience of the companies we considered.

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

IT DEV GROUP walked us through a professionally organized design architecture scheme. Technology stack includes Vue.js + Nuxt.js for server side rendering with Laravel 5.5 in the backend with multiple other tech systems used for search, video, and notification features among others.

Communication has been constant, with a proper explanation of each step while building the platform. QA following each sprint has been extremely organized.

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

We worked with 2 very professional team members, for both front and backend development.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Every sprint delivered our features with the exact product specifications we required. This led to 100% trust between us and the ID DEV GROUP team and a long term relationship.

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

Communication has been constant, and extremely organized. Periodical timelines have been sent over which made our own planning much more simply since we knew exactly what to expect and when. We use Trello to follow up on tasks and task status.

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

Their personal attention to our needs, as well as their attention to details in product specifications has been outstanding. We have worked with numerous companies and developers in the past, and IT DEV GROUP is by far the most professional.

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

I really cannot think of anything that could've been done different or better.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a tech company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with IT DEV GROUP?

We needed help with web development for a site that reviews trade credit.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

It was a turnkey operation. We needed someone to do the design and graphic work along with front- and backend programming. The site was completely custom-built from scratch using JavaScript. They did a specifically notable job with the company database, which entailed linking companies to the site from Google’s API.

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with a project manager on the work. He managed teams of QA specialists and programmers. We also worked with the designer.

How did you come to work with IT DEV GROUP?

I started working with the designer from their team, finding her on Upwork. She informed me about the company and her husband, who also works for them. I reached out to him and added him to the development.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $25,000–$30,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project spanned from July–December 2019. I plan on continuing to work with them in the future.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The site just recently lost, so we don’t have any KPIs active as of now. However, they delivered exactly what I wanted. We’re now in the process of marketing it and garnering reviews.

How did IT DEV GROUP perform from a project management standpoint?

We used email and Skype to communicate. They were very responsive. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The project manager was great, taking care of everything and communicating during off-hours. He brought excellent communication to the table. Throughout the project, he was ambitious about getting work done.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. He did a good job. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Try to get back to him quickly. He stays on top of the project, and you don’t want him to have to come to us multiple times for information.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are an online platforms company that gets purchase and sale requests for luxury watches. We have a network of luxury watch retailers that we deal with, sending them requests we get from the customer side. Customers get multiple offers for the watch they’re looking to buy and sell so they get the best value.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with IT DEV GROUP?

We’ve been working with them since we had the vision for the company. They built our website and made our ideas come to life.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve been our dedicated web developer from the start. We had specific requirements we needed as a business that aren't possible to have on a one-size-fits-all website.

The customers come to the side and put through a request for a watch, which gets put into a pending state. This sends us an email notification and tells us to do certain things on the backend. The request is sent to retailer and returned with an offer. We can then track these offers based on price, images, and the retailer. Everything is integrated with our 3rd party CRM via an API, including our mailer.

How did you come to work with IT DEV GROUP?

I’d worked with them at another company where they were outsourced developers supporting an in-house team. Where other companies return your ideas all wrong, I was 99.9% confident that IT DEV GROUP would deliver exactly what we had in mind.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $62,000 USD so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve worked together since early 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve enabled us and given us the opportunity to succeed in this business. We haven’t felt overcharged, and they’ve always delivered. No one has ever had to come in and redo their work, which is fairly common in my experience.

Everything works how it should, and user feedback has been very good so far. We have improvements to make like any website or business, and you can never get to a perfect website, but they always deliver the perfect fixes. Even if we find an issue on a Friday night, they’re willing to stay late and fix it for us.

How did IT DEV GROUP perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve had a main guy who acts as the overseer, but we’ve also had two project managers. We were worried when the first one told us they were leaving, but both of them have been very good. They’re obviously doing something right in their recruitment process.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their execution is great, from IT to development. They understand us and our business, even if they didn’t have any idea about it beforehand. Whenever we have an idea for a new feature they deliver exactly what we see in our minds. Whereas, in other experiences, people have told me they can do something, but then the result is nothing like I thought it would be. IT DEV GROUP understands your ideas and bring them to life.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We currently get a monthly breakdown of the hours they’ve done, but we’d like to get it on a weekly basis.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would recommend them and advise people to be clear in what they’re looking for. Sometimes, we just chuck ideas at them and they have to work out what needs to be done, but we should give them more details of the tasks.  

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of Bitband, an app developer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with IT DEV GROUP?

We needed an outside development team to implement our app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’re our sole development partner. We create specifications and they do the development and any feature updates. We use PHP and multiple frameworks with server-side code. Our hosting is through Heroku and AWS.

What is the team composition?

They provide anywhere from one to four resources at any given time. We work with a project manager.

How did you come to work with IT DEV GROUP?

We found them on Upwork.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $25,000 and $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in June 2017 and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’ve been very happy with the quality of their work. Since they’re in Europe, they typically work overnight my time, which means I can raise issues with them and get a response by the following morning.

How did IT DEV GROUP perform from a project management standpoint?

We typically talk once a week or every couple of weeks. Otherwise, we communicate through Slack, as they’re part of our internal Slack channels. We use Asana for project management and keep a list of outstanding items. Our process has been fine-tuned by input from both sides.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They provide high-quality work and they have a fast response time. They’re one of the top teams I’ve worked with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you have a reliable method of communication. Slack worked well for us.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Founded in 2017 Alienbuild Ltd provides white label web and software development services. I am the owner of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire IT DEV GROUP?

We were contracted by the UKs largest online and in store retailer and saw an opportunity to help improve their internal development processes and project management. IT Dev Group was bought into the project and played an integral part of the development and delivery of the solution.

What were your goals for this project?

Focus of the project was to deliver a custom prototyping system where other developers and content editors can prototype pages for the large ecommerce site. Roughly 1000+ pages are created every week and each one has to be developed, managed, edited and tested.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I have worked with IT Dev Group for the past 4 years on various projects. I initially hired them on behalf of another company via a freelancing website. They stood head and shoulders above the competition and I found myself continuing to return to them because of the excellent work quality and communication.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

IT Dev Group developed the project management system and it's custom manager page. In addition they also developed and helped out on a variety of functionalities including various custom manager pages, integration of Content Blocks into the ticket, trello API integration, site refresh statistic graphs, various media sources, commenting system, CRM, multi context setup and access control policies.

What was the team composition?

Various developers and two project managers were involved for the duration of the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

This solution allowed the ecommerce giant to develop pages in a much more rapid and efficient way. Their current .net process was a slow and cumbersome way of working taking a full day to develop just one page. With this solution they were able to develop pages within 10 minutes, with no knowledge of coding needed. They were then able to pass pages around to various teams for approval and feedback with the use of the solution and make changes where needed without going through their entire manual process again.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management was very impressive. Communication was mainly done via email and skype, which we had instant access to developers and project managers at all times during the project.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their knowledge of PHP, particularly MODX content management system, is unparalleled.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I was more than happy with this project and all other projects completed for me by this company.