IT Svit

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of a company that’s developing a cryptocurrency exchange. We allow customers to buy and sell cryptocurrency using the local fiat currency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with IT Svit?

We needed qualified resources to design and develop our web platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In the beginning, we contacted them to set up the site’s initial infrastructure since they had a DevOps team. Once they finished the project, we asked them to help us develop the site. They’ve been working with us since, and we’re preparing to launch the product by the end of this month.

Our platform allows users to make fiat deposits into their virtual wallets to buy different cryptocurrencies. Certain users can also deposit money using a local bank card gateway called Knet. If the investment makes money, the user can sell the cryptocurrency at the current market price. Any money gained will be deposited back into the user’s virtual wallets. They can then transfer that money into their personal bank accounts.

What is the team composition?

During the onboarding process, we gave them a description of what we needed from the team along with each person’s responsibilities. From this, they assigned four dedicated team members. We've also periodically hired a fixed-project resource for infrastructure work, though that person comes and goes depending on our needs.

How did you come to work with IT Svit?

We originally found them on Upwork after posting a job for DevOps and infrastructure work. They sent us a message, and we talked to them to see what kind of skills they had. Since the initial project, we've used them for other development services.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $10,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

Their work began in March 2018 and is ongoing. We expect to complete the site in June 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

IT Svit is a talented team, and they consistently provide high-quality work. At times, they’ve even exceeded our expectations. Beyond their strong coding skills, I want to highlight their English proficiency. Because we can’t speak Russian nor Ukrainian, we need a common language to communicate smoothly. We appreciate that all of their developers speak decent English.

How did IT Svit perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve performed well so far. We typically communicate on a daily basis. However, we’ve had some issues communicating during the past six weeks. They had some ideas that they couldn’t quite put into words, and when they did, we needed extra clarification. After they explained further, we would give them our feedback for discussion. This was a lengthy process, and we were approaching a tight deadline. As a result, I decided to fly out to them to ease communication. I’ve been here for almost three weeks, and the progress is going much faster. We don’t have to take as many steps to get our message across, which helps save time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Aside from their excellent communication, I appreciate their professionalism and punctuality. We also have access to their vast pool of knowledge and resources. I’ve enjoyed working with every individual on their team, from the programmers to the account manager. Their administration even facilitated my trip here. They go the extra mile to ensure that we’re happy with our deliverables.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Although IT Svit’s team has a decent level of English, it could be more beneficial to hire people who are fluent. We can easily converse with them, now, but better language skills will always mean better communication.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Don’t bother going to another vendor because IT Svit is highly capable. Their team is full of talented people who’ve worked with various types of projects. As such, they’re able to offer suggestions on how to improve the project while also avoiding unnecessary obstacles. If a client has a project, chances are that IT Svit has already worked on something similar.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work in business development for a fixed-income brokerage firm. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with IT Svit?

We needed an experienced team's support with our blockchain development efforts.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

IT Svit created tokens and ERC20 smart contracts. The team managed and conducted all our web development and back office implementation. They completed our project in March 2018 and still support us with tweaks, updates, and changes.

What is the team composition?

Mike (Sales Manager/ICO/Blockchain Consultant, IT SVIT) is my main point of contact.

How did you come to work with IT Svit?

I searched online for companies in Israel and abroad who could complete our project efficiently. After interviewing several companies, we started working with IT Svit., based on our visit to their office in Ukraine and they are a professional team.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $10,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2018, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everything was delivered to my satisfaction. I’m someone who likes perfection, and they met my very high standards.

How did IT Svit perform from a project management standpoint?

Most of our communication occurred via Skype. We send over all the materials they need via the project manager they assigned us. Our teams worked together on a weekly basis, and they provide frequent updates.

For more in-depth technical work, we got in touch with the programmers directly. We held two meetings in Ukraine to go over all our work in detail and to get to know them personally. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

IT Svit has an impressive method of handling the overarching aspects of our project like security. They provide things I wouldn't even know to ask for. For instance, if I need specific development work done, they made sure to use secure servers even if I didn’t specify that request.

The team completes all the background work as appropriate. When you ask most vendors for X thing, they won’t provide the intuitive Y and Z aspects. IT Svit understands all our needs and realizes that most clients aren’t fully aware of all the necessary components of a development project. They take care to fill in the blanks.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could always improve their timing. We didn’t push the team too hard, however, because we weren’t on a tight schedule and didn’t set a concrete delivery deadline. Our entire project went very well

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of an outsourcing company of mobile development and backend development for clients in Europe, the U.K., Australia, etc.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with IT Svit?

Some of our clients come to us seeking a full product. On one occasion, our in-house team developed the MVP, but when it grew into a huge system, we found that using Amazon Web Services (AWS) was very expensive. We needed to find a cost-effective solution and needed additional engineers to migrate it to the new server.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided engineers to handle the migration of our huge system on AWS to our own server. They also built the whole system for us. It took about three months and now they provide support.

What is the team composition?

We usually have one to three engineers but it’s possible to get as many as we need. There’s also a project manager who works directly with me and our project manager.

How did you come to work with IT Svit?

We searched for a company for about two months, posting the job on our local sites and taking advice from other partner companies. I also had some clients who recommended IT Svit, who happened to work in the same city where we are.  It was nice to find professionals who we are able to simply come to the office if needed.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2017 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They did the migration correctly, every user was saved, and the platform works perfectly. They helped us save money and we’re completely satisfied with their service.

How did IT Svit perform from a project management standpoint?

I haven’t been involved much after speaking with the developers about our budget and agreeing to conditions in the beginning. My project manager deals with their project manager through daily meetings. We’re completely satisfied in this regard.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They did their job well and I’m completely satisfied. They did exactly what I asked of them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No; everything was excellent.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would recommend clients to describe the whole project and respond to their project manager’s requests to help save time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of The Network Cloud Company. We have a product called SymplyFi which is a virtual telecommunications platform that provides voice, data and software-defined wide area network (WAN) services for multi-location businesses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with IT Svit?

We needed to build a new version of our infrastructure after taking in another round of funding to scale the company. We realized that our current platform was inadequate because customer provisioning and deployment were manual rather than automatic.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We broke the project into four different pieces, the largest piece being the backend infrastructure, automation, and design of the backend operating system services. They started with a very small, focused task to make sure that their internal processes would line up with ours. When we provision a new client, we build a virtual environment for them in our data center infrastructure. The previous version was manual. They wrote a simple automation tool to automate the provisioning of backend infrastructure services.

After that first task, we assigned them the entire larger project with increasing levels of complexity. The next piece was to expand that tool and put together a design for integrating that process with our CRM platform. We were building a new CRM platform to automate the provision of customers. They did the design and architecture for that.

The third piece was to architect and build a design for managing multiple modules that other vendors were developing. We needed to come up with the architecture and write the code for the messaging platform. They laid out the architecture, design, and messaging standards for the other vendors to work with.

They’re currently working on writing all of the backend functionality that integrates the work from the other vendors to automatically configure and provision the site. That’s the core of the platform. We’re in beta and testing.

Because they performed so well, we’ve handed over more and more of the operational product management to them. We had an internal product manager that we had to let go. IT Svit stepped in and took on that responsibility. We added it to the development work they were doing for us. Right now, they’re doing architecture, product or technical project management, architecture and design, and the actual development and coding. Over the next three to four months we’ll transition the development operations work, and probably the web UI design for the next version, to them.

How did you come to work with IT Svit?

Because we had outsourced the last version four or five years ago, we decided to use a third-party company to build a platform. We needed a company with experience in the key technology platforms we were going to work on. We had decided to use Python as a development platform so we needed someone with a strong knowledge of networking and system services automation using Python but, in particular, Python automation inside the CentOS 7 environment. We’d had issues in the past with companies that had the right technical skill set—like working in Python or whatever technical language—but didn’t have experience with the Linux operating infrastructure to be able to automate the work. That was the most important thing we were looking for. It’s a rarity to find someone these days who does backend infrastructure automation and development work. It was quite challenging to find people for this function.

We received about 100 responses and narrowed down the list to about eight or nine. IT Svit came through very clearly. We interviewed them extensively from both a business operations, process, and project management perspective and from a technical project and product management perspective. Their responses were really on point. Most important for us was making sure that the lead technical product manager had the right skill set on the project management side. We verified that they had a really strong person who could both lead the project from a technical perspective and handle the architecture design and product management. I’m so lucky that we included them on that final list.

How much have you invested with them?

We anticipate that the initial project will be over $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We kicked off in late December 2017 but the work started in earnest in January.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Because it no longer requires manual intervention, the start-to-finish provisioning time for a new customer has gone from a week and a half to about an hour with the automation IT Svit has done. It’s a drastic improvement. We no longer require engineers to provision a new customer—the tech support analysts and implementation team who are admins can just key in the data. The net result is that we can now deploy hundreds of customers a month as opposed to five or six. It opens up huge sales and deployment possibilities.

When we started the project, we had planned to keep the technical project management in-house because we saw it as critical. But IT Svit’s technical lead proved so good—he really understands not just the development, design, and technology of the tools but also how to make software work—that we changed our plans. Lots of people write code but few understand how to overlay the software functionality with the business process. We quickly realized that they could handle the technical project management. They provide guidance to the other teams on how things ought to be done. That has freed up internal resources to do other things and lowered our costs.

We’ve ended up coming in probably 30%–35% under budget so far. I think it's going to continue this way given that the results from them have far exceeded our expectations.

How did IT Svit perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate daily. At the beginning of the day, they lay out what they’ll do that day and, at the end of the day, they give us an update of how far they got and any challenges they faced. We also do status calls every Tuesday and Thursday. When we started these calls, it was just us and the IT Svit team. Now we have the other teams on that call and IT Svit leads it from a technical perspective.

We do our own development and, when you're moving as fast as we move, knowing what's happening is critical so that we can make decisions. We have to make decisions very quickly and we’ve been frustrated with other companies that don’t do a very good job of providing status updates. IT Svit has shown me a different way to communicate.

They’ve come in under every deadline we've had. They're typically done before we're ready for them to be done. That's been consistent throughout all the work they've done for us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

There are two key things. First is communication. Communication is what makes it all happen—and is the most important thing when you’re outsourcing and working remotely. It’s critical because it lets you manage your project and stay on track. Without us having to demand or push back, they’ve had consistent communication processes in place, like the twice daily status updates. It’s not just the technical folks but also the business colleagues that check in with us. Every couple of weeks they send us a survey about how the team is performing in order to adjust or correct any issues.

A very close second is their knowledge of technical architecture. They have the ability to implement our requirements. They didn’t depend on us to give them requirement details. They were able to take the high-level requirements and make suggestions on how to build out the new architecture.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Some of the colleagues’ English skills could be improved. This is minor but, given our global society, it’s a tough one. Some of the technical people aren’t as fluent in English but all of the key people we work with on a daily basis are perfectly fluent. It was a concern of mine going into the project and we were hesitant. But we took a gamble and it paid off.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We fell into the trap of paying too much attention to the price. The cost per hour is the metric that we all use. We calculate the estimated time to complete the project in hours and the hourly rate we’re paying. I’ve learned from this experience with IT Svit that this is a bad idea—because they work fewer hours than other vendors on similar engagements but get twice as much done, if not more. They might be more expensive, but it’s worth it. I would suggest that, for anyone looking at working with them, do it. They’ll save you not just money but time. They’ll improve the quality of your work because they’re invested in it and perform extremely well. Because they perform so well, they can shorten the time it takes to get work done compared to someone working at a lower hourly rate. If those lower-cost companies are focused more on development skills than architecture and design skills, they can cost you more money, more time, and cause your project to fall behind. If IT Svit falls within the skill set that you need, don’t pay attention to the rates. In the long run, they’ll be cheaper and you’ll get a better-quality product.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m managing director at a software and web development company and consulting firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with IT Svit?

We were trying to set up an AWS cloud system to run a web application.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They set up the whole AWS infrastructure for our internal use with databases, server infrastructure, and redundancy built in. We had very specific requirements because of the database we were using. They used Neo4j to achieve our specifications.

There was a lot of back and forth to know how we wanted it done and check everything every time we took a step. They wrote scripts for deployment that they gave us to be able to redeploy whenever necessary.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a main point of contact and one other colleague.

How did you come to work with IT Svit?

They were recommended by a colleague of mine. Then we contacted them through an outsourcing website.

We interviewed them and two other firms. They seemed precise. Their English was very good. Everything they did was standard practice. They were very professional, as opposed to a lot of other companies or freelancers in the space who act a bit more like cowboys.

They also had the specific skills we required. We chose to work with them because they had experience setting up AWS using Neo4j.

How much have you invested with them?

It was close to $5,000 or $6,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

They completed the three-week project in December 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The AWS infrastructure has been extremely successful. Everything that they did and that they set up has been working flawlessly.

How did IT Svit perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated daily until the project was done, often multiple times a day. We used phone and email. We added them to an internal Slack channel for minor communications like sending files or passwords.

Their communication skills are excellent. They're always on time. The project was a bit messy in the beginning because we got late approval from the client. The timeline that we gave them then was rather tight, but they held to it and everything was done on time. Every time we set or agreed on a deadline, every time we asked them to do something within a certain amount of time, they stuck to it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very responsive. We felt valued as a client and as a customer. At one point, we were having some issues deploying something during a time crunch. We had to focus on other things so we asked them to deploy it. We knew that they were very busy and told them that, if they couldn’t do it, that was ok. Within minutes, they were on it. Within two hours. they had done the deployment – something which is very rare for people to do for you. So, definitely impressed.

Are there any areas they could improve?

To be honest, no. I really wouldn't see anything that they could improve.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CIO of INTEX-Consulting, which is located in Volgograd, Russia.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with IT Svit?

We needed to build a CMS in six months, and we outsourced part of our project to them.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created the product from designs we had prepared, using Laravel for the framework and Node.js on the backend for Critical CSS. The CMS is a sales optimization solution for our clients who work in a sales firm, but it can be sold to many clients. We also worked with them on another project, which took about a year.

What is the team composition?

I worked with about six people, including a project manager, two backend developers, two frontend developers, and one tester.

How did you come to work with IT Svit?

We found them through a Telegram chat. After looking at their website, we decided to get in touch with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in October of 2015, and the project was completed in April of 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have sold many copies of the CMS since then.

How did IT Svit perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management was great, and they left a great impression.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their strict adherence to deadlines impressed us. Everything was always on time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, the work was great.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I run an agency in Seattle, along with a couple other startups. We’re working on many different types of projects.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with IT SVIT?

We needed help building our travel website. My other business partner and I were also developing a trip planning web portal. It helps optimize future travel routes and focuses on feedback and ratings for those trips.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’re building the entire travel website, along with the software development to support it. They’re using Python and the frontend will use AngularJS. They are developing it in a way that allows people to give legitimate feedback and have a check-in system.

They are also doing some content and technical writing for us, along with some automation.

What is the team dynamic?

I only work with Paul [Product Manager, IT SVIT.], because we have a longer-standing relationship. The team includes a frontend developer, Python developer, content writer, and a technical writer, but Paul’s my point of contact. His English is fantastic. We’ve gotten to be pretty good friends as well. Other contractors have been much more formal. With Paul, we discuss things, and he consults with the team, but it’s a little bit more informal.

I’ve worked with Paul for probably about a year and a half or so. He does a lot of custom coding for me. They’ve got a really good team there and do great development work. I’ve had Paul specifically work on a lot of different projects for me as well as the larger team..

How did you come to work with IT SVIT?

About a year and a half ago, I posted on Upwork in search of a custom WordPress developer. We’ve got WordPress people in-house, but I wanted someone that was more cost-effective and a little more technically minded. Paul then reached out to me via our agency website. We had a one-on-one conversation and bypassed the Upwork process. He displayed great initiative, and we hit it off immediately. That was before he worked for IT SVIT.

Initially I talked to a lot of people. I have a massive network, and I’m always re-evaluating who’s doing work for me. For this project specifically, I chose them because they’ve got access to things that I typically don’t for the price, and because they do great work.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October or November 2016. We’re still developing this product, deciding on our marketing strategy, and pitching it to various investors. It’s not particularly disruptive to the market, so getting it out there quickly isn’t a high priority. We’re looking at starting with a soft launch.

There will be a lot of ongoing development needed, and no matter what, I’ll keep them involved through launch and after. There will be data testing, etc., moving forward.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Communication is the most important thing. Anyone with the right technical training can develop something, but the success of that development depends on communication. How the team understands not only the creative direction, but also the concept itself and the necessary functionality, is really important. And of course, it’s important that they can actually deliver it.

IT SVIT’s communication is on point. They follow direction well, and any time they don’t agree, we discuss it and take their feedback seriously. They’ve been able to collaborate really successfully with us to get things accomplished.

How did IT SVIT perform from a project management standpoint?

One of the biggest challenges with the many agencies and teams I’ve worked with has been truly getting my desired outcomes across. This is even harder when working remotely with a language barrier. When it comes to those things, Paul and the team are solid. They really do know what they’re doing.

I typically do a lot of project management myself for clients, so Paul and I collaborated on that too. Our relationship enables us to be transparent and even blunt at times, which makes projects move a little faster.

We usually communicate over Skype. His day is my night and vice versa, but we manage to speak every single morning and evening when we are in the midst of projects.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I am impressed with how differently they approach challenges, compared to a lot of development and marketing vendors in the U.S. A lot of them develop a particular model and then sell a scalable version of it over and over. What makes IT SVIT different is how nimble they are at creating solutions, seemingly out of nothing. They ask why things are done a certain way and look for better, cheaper, and more efficient ways to do them.

I really value that creativity. My fine arts background makes me ask the hows and whys as well. IT SVIT represents that in terms of development.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Even though they are so great at communication and scheduling and Paul and I work together so well, sometimes there is a language barrier, or rather, a semantics barrier. Paul has taken English classes, and his English has gotten 10 times better. They are constantly working on that, and it’s hard to criticize them in light of their geographical, socioeconomic, and political context.

Do you have any advice for potential clients?

It depends on the company and what they are looking for, but I would say be transparent and direct, including about the details of the project. Until you know what you want for things like UI and functionality, don’t start the conversation with a developer. Giving them a blank canvas to work with won’t result in satisfaction with the end product.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the president of an IT company specializing in software development, specifically MS Dynamics CRM [customer relationship management] systems. We have several developers on the team, which is based in New York.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with IT Svit?

One of our clients wanted to rebuild an old system with custom UI and coding, so I needed a dedicated developer who I would work with directly. However, we didn’t have enough internal resources. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

IT Svit helped us with 2 projects. The first was creating a website, which they built from scratch. Initially, I described the pages and information that I wanted to show on the website, as well as our target audience. They also asked me to fill out a questionnaire with links and ideas for the site. After some time, they provided us with UI [user interface] mockups. Once we agreed on the UI, they started development.

The website was built on WordPress in PHP and JavaScript, using a MySQL database. They designed custom UI templates for WordPress, to make it more unique. A writer also helped me define the content and its overall structure. For example, they helped me identify the places where could I put my own text.

After I described what I wanted in a logo and the impressions that I wanted to get, they provided me with several examples. The designer provided multiple variations and we discussed and corrected them until I was satisfied. For graphics, they mostly used Photoshop. They also created an animation for the logo.

For the second project, a dedicated developer worked using JavaScript, ExtJS for Microsoft Dynamics CRM. There was some minor C# coding.

What is the team dynamic?

About 5 people were assigned to the website. Our main contacts were the QA person and the project manager. I also worked with a designer, a WordPress developer, and a content writer. They brought on other developers as needed. This project was completed with minimal involvement on our part.

For the second project, we requested access to a dedicated developer and worked with him directly.

How did you come to work with IT Svit?

I learned about them from the Internet. I also found out that someone I know works there, so I was able to get more details.

How much have you invested with them?

We paid less than $50,000 for their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

The website project started in April 2017, but the dedicated developer started a little earlier. They completed their part within 6 months, and they will help us with marketing in the future.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website hasn’t launched yet, but we’ve deployed the second project. Our clients have used it and liked it.

IT Svit delivered within the agreed schedule and budget. In several cases, they went the extra mile to make sure that they satisfied our requirements. For example, I mentioned that our software needed to be able to work on mobile phones, and they made it happen.

How did IT Svit perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed well on project management. I spoke with the project manager about twice a week, and I knew who to talk to when I had any questions. They sent me regular updates, so I always knew what they had installed. It was nice.

They published the results of their design work online using a special tool on the web and I could choose what I liked and add comments and suggestions. Afterward, their designer made adjustments based on my feedback. Upon request, IT SVIT gives access to communicate directly to any person on the team who works on a project even if it is a turn-key project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed with the overall quality of their work. I checked and I had nothing to complain about. They also did some extra work. For example, I didn’t ask for an animated logo, but they put it in there and I loved it. It seems like they do care about the project and not thinking about finishing and billing the client.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They are good, but there is no limit to perfection! In the future, I will need a good full-time C# resource. As of now, they don’t have that type of resource but they expressed willingness to find any type of resource for my next project.

Do you have any advice for potential clients?

Just go for it. I would advise paying attention to what they ask during the initial phases of the project. In my case, I had to answer many questions in a questionnaire and it's a good thing that I did because I understood better what I exactly needed. Just follow their process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Preterion is an IT service-management provider. We are aimed at small to medium-sized businesses that want to migrate to the cloud but don’t want to spend large budgets on solutions like Microsoft’s commercial products. We come up with different solutions based on open-source technology, and not only implement but also support them in the long-term. I am the director of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with IT Svit?

We have various needs in the space of managing and maintaining virtual private servers and developing Linux DevOps software. We don’t have all the required skills internally, so it’s always difficult to find a right fit. IT Svit has a wide range of skills, making it easier for us to assign full projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

IT Svit has provided maintenance work for virtual private servers, software upgrades and fixes, as well as development for PHP web tools. We have used between one and seven resources from IT Svit. I only deal with Vladimir, the owner of the business. I provide briefs and explain our projects, then he will assign resources as he sees fit.

One of our projects involved fixes and new-feature development for a CRM [customer relationship management] system. We’ve also done some upgrades and changes to a Perl web-based app with a MySQL backend. At one point, we had some issues with its database and asked IT Svit to find out what was going on and fix it.

How did you come to work with IT Svit?

We constantly search on Upwork, Freelancer, and Fiverr for people or teams with the skill sets we need. This is how we found IT Svit.

How much have you invested with IT Svit?

The cost of IT Svit’s work has been between $2,000 and $4,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with IT Svit in May of 2016. We’ve integrated IT Svit into our ticketing system, and it looks like we’ll have an ongoing relationship. They cover all the areas where we’re missing skills and also have the right attitude.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or impact of the engagement?

My ticketing system is tracking all of the tasks we’re giving IT Svit automatically. We assign time-based targets and receive notifications if they are not met. I had a nice surprise in our work with IT Svit, three or four months ago: I gave them quite a complex task consisting of an upgrade and fix for a web-based app, and it took longer than it should have because of some past changes we’d made to the app. I found that IT Svit didn’t charge us for the full time, and I had to insist that we pay them the full amount.

How did IT Svit perform from a project management standpoint?

I usually run these projects with my team. We have a project manager on their side who ensures that all tasks are done on time and within budget. We assign IT Svit either full projects or portions and don’t have to chase them or manage the tasks. IT Svit handles all the work internally, and we receive a final product.

What did you find most impressive about IT Svit?

Beyond their skill sets, we appreciate the way in which IT Svit uses them. For example, I could give them a task which required ample MySQL database programming and PHP knowledge, but I may not be aware that it also requires CSS coding. IT Svit would allocate the necessary people internally, without asking too many questions from me. They have confidence in their skills, and they know what I’m asking. That’s is why I keep going back to IT Svit.

Are there any areas IT Svit could improve?

From my standpoint, whatever I’ve needed has been delivered. So far, even in instances when IT Svit didn’t get enough information from me or when the software had unknown areas for both our sides, they did the research, got on with the job, and delivered.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with IT Svit?

My only advice for IT Svit would be to keep doing what they’re doing and look at expanding. What they do is good, so they could easily increase the operation. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a small software company mainly involved in developing solutions for mid-sized and large companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with IT Svit?

It is rather difficult to find good developers in Germany, so I reached out to the Ukraine market for a larger project on which we needed DevOps specialists.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We are developing an enterprise web CMS [content management system] for a large customer specialized in spare parts retail. IT Svit has provided resources for the operations part of the project. We are working with one technician and one project manager from their side, who have been responsible for setting up Amazon Web Services servers and running cluster software like Docker.

How did you come to work with IT Svit?

I found IT Svit on Elance and talked to Vladimir, one of their project managers. They made a good impression, so we gave them a try. I had worked with two other vendors in the past but they did not understand my requirements. The first person I used had very bad English, so everything needed to be translated through a third party. It was simply not working out. On the second attempt, the guy took a lot of time to understand what I was asking for, compared to our resource from IT Svit, who was very fast and could work many things out himself without my intervention.

How much have you invested with IT Svit?

The cost of IT Svit’s work has been around $12,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with IT Svit in mid-January 2017, and the project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

This was my third attempt to find a company which could fulfill my requirements, and I’ve been very satisfied with IT Svit. Our technician is extremely qualified for the job. He knows the technology, works fast, and I can communicate with him well in English. I’m very happy to have found IT Svit.

How did IT Svit perform from a project management standpoint?

Our main communication is done over Skype, and I like the fact that both resources from IT Svit are available all the time. I can write at any moment, and receive immediate feedback. This is important to me because if we ever have server issues, the communication must be fast. Our project manager provides a daily update, looking to see if I am satisfied.

What did you find most impressive about IT Svit?

Skills are most important for me. We’re working with a new technology and it’s hard to find people with experience. IT Svit has the right resources and they also have good communication. I’ve had many bad experiences in the past.

Are there any areas IT Svit could improve?

Our collaboration has been too short to say, but from my point of view, there isn’t anything I can criticize.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with IT Svit?

If I were to recommend IT Svit to anyone else, that client could potentially block their resources so they couldn’t work for me anymore. To be fair, I would recommend IT Svit without even thinking about it.