itCraft

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Product Owner of a stem cell bank.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are largest stem cells bank in Europe. We store biological material samples from customers in dozens of European countries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire itCraft to accomplish?

• taking over the project from the previous contractor
• analysis of the current solution and recommendations for further steps
• project development and construction of new instances of the solution
• constant maintenance based on the SLA agreement
• hiring programmers on the basis of the staff augmentation service

SOLUTION

How did you find itCraft?

Clutch Site

Why did you select itCraft over others?

• High ratings
• Good value for cost
• Other

What was the size of itCraft’s team?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Our project had several important stages:

• taking over the project from the previous contractor
• analysis of the current solution and recommendations for further steps
• project development and construction of new instances of the solution
• constant maintenance based on the SLA agreement
• as well as hiring programmers on the basis of the staff augmentation service

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• At the moment, we have 4 instances of our CRM tailored to the target markets where our group exists.
• The provided solutions are the most important sales and settlement tool with our clients.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

The cooperation process was well planned and presented at the offer stage. In complex IT projects, unforeseen things happen, to which itCraft reacted and always tried to find the best solution. It is worth emphasizing good contact with both the project team and itCraft managers.

What was your primary form of communication with itCraft?

Virtual Meeting

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

Definitely determination to solve unforeseen project challenges. We could count on the involvement of the team as well as the management of itCraft when it was needed. itCraft was open to various models of cooperation depending on current needs and project constraints.

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

All expectations and areas for improvement were communicated on an ongoing basis and addressed as part of cooperation. At the moment I don't have any additional areas that aren't already addressed.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m head of delivery/IT director of Leaware, a custom software development company founded in 2010, that specialized in building and developing digital products, web & mobile applications mainly. We have roots in Poland and we operate all over Europe, creating solutions for clients from Belgium, Germany, Finland or Norway.etc. Industries/branches we have worked for: finance&banking, beauty, sports tech, entertainment, production, car industry, healthcare, fundraising, logistics, retail.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire itCraft?

We hired itCraft developers to strengthen the existing team in our company and provide customers with high-quality applications. Our goal was to find well qualified programmers who will quickly complete the process of onboarding into a new project and bring true value to the team.

SOLUTION

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

As a company with Polish capital, we wanted to cooperate with a domestic company. That is why we limited our search for a cooperation partner to the territory of Poland. After researching on the Internet and reading the opinions of other satisfied customers, we decided to go with itCraft.

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

Our cooperation began with sharing the existing code with newly hired developers from itCraft, brainstorming sessions and preparing a refactoring plan for key areas of the project. Then we smoothly moved on to the implementation stage of new functionalities, which were requested by the client. As a company, we use agile techniques in our daily work, so we typically plan work for the team for 2 weeks (sprints) and respect main Scrum ceremonies like daily meetings, demos and retrospective meetings.

Describe the recruitment process in detail.

We worked with itCraft’s programmers from various areas and have dedicated contact people (Project Manager and the Sales Manager), with whom I discuss all aspects of our cooperation.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The information about our projects is confidential, but I can confirm that together with itCraft we help our clients make good decisions in the area of key functionalities and understanding of end users’ unmet needs. Clients are satisfied with the results of our work.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The project implementation was smooth and the communication at every stage of the project was transparent and dynamic. The Project Manager/Sales Manager was always ready to take up the topics I reported and the time response was satisfactory. The team operated efficiently and productively, the pace of work was adapted to the plan and scope of the project. Communication took place by email and via videoconferences channel.

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

First of all, responsiveness and communication at a very high level. Secondly, the implementation of the project with the itCraft team was well planned, systematic and professional. I was impressed by the level of knowledge of the team members. Furthermore, the Tech Leads and developers involved in creating the solution were remarkable.

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

Each project teaches us something new, requires an individual approach to the client and a thorough understanding of his needs. Therefore, I believe that there is always room for improvement.. The most important thing, however, is to find space for retrospection and share your observations about what cooperation looks like. And in this area itCraft meets my expectations.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am an IT & Project Director, operating in the clothing industry, which currently focuses on servicing a popular fashion brand. The main areas of our competence are e-commerce and retail store services. These include managing server infrastructure and extensive computer networks, creating applications for internal needs, creating interfaces for data exchange and selling on foreign markets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire itCraft?

Our brand has been creating a world of fashion full of beauty for over 20 years with its customers in mind. A world based on diverse and consistent collections. Dedicated to all those who are looking for a way to express themselves. We listen and observe our customers, thus, in order to be even closer to them, we decided to create a mobile application. This way, shopping with us is at your fingertips. We wanted to create a mobile application to present the company.

That's how the first, basic version was created. In the next step, we decided to expand the existing solution. The expansion of the scope included the addition of purchases to the application. And the development of functionalities that ease browsing and searching for products by customers.

SOLUTION

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

As a company with Polish capital, we wanted to cooperate with a domestic company. That is why we limited our search for a cooperation partner to the territory of Poland. After researching on the Internet and reading the opinions of other satisfied customers, itCraft was our choice.

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

itCraft was responsible for creating the Android mobile application with a simple content management admin panel. The first version of the mobile application was the basic version. As a continuation of the cooperation, a more advanced version was created, allowing users to shop, easily search and browse through the products they are interested in. Moreover, the payments via PayU were crucial. To optimize the solution, a web administration panel has been created, thanks to which we can manage part of the content displayed in the application.

The itCraft team was responsible for the implementation of the full application development process. Namely, from design to implementation, including the implementation into the production environment. The itCraft team provided us with full support around UX / UI, which allowed us to design a useful and functional solution for the users.

Describe the recruitment process in detail.

My main point of contact was the Project Manager. I discussed with the PM all aspects of the project, the status, and progress of work, or any changes or optimizations. The project team consisted of two Android developers, a tester, an analyst, and a UX / UI designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within a few weeks of the release of the first version of the app, over 10,000+ users have downloaded it. When we added in-app purchases, we saw a jump to 100,000+ users. This gave us a real, extra sales channel to reach our customers and an actual increase in the number of orders. Hundreds of customers have shared their opinions with us about the functionalities available in the application over the course of several years. Thanks to this, we were able to get inspiration in which direction to develop it.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The project implementation was smooth. The communication at every stage of the project was transparent and dynamic. The Project Manager was always ready to take up the topics I reported. The response to them was satisfactory. The team operated efficiently and productively, the pace of work was adapted to the plan and scope of the project. Communication took place by e-mail and via videoconferences channel. Any longer meeting was planned in detail. This way, we effectively used the time. We left each meeting with the substantive input needed for further activities.

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

The implementation of the project with the itCraft team was planned, systematic and professional. I was impressed by the level of knowledge of the team members. Furthermore, the Tech Leads and developers involved in creating the solution were remarkable. Full professionalism at the level of project management also deserves recognition. The team gained my trust from the beginning I felt that I was working with professionals and experts in their areas.

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

There were no major delays or communication problems during the project implementation. So, it is difficult for me to indicate a specific area for improvement. The itCraft team strives for continuous development and the highest level of professionalism. They have the best specialists in their fields. In my humble opinion, they take care of the space for development and improvement of the quality of their services by themselves. And it works very well.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a custom software development company specializing in web and mobile application development. We are a software house with headquarters located in Poland.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire itCraft?

We hire itCraft to strengthen our teams in some projects. We needed good programmers to put together teams for project implementation.

SOLUTION

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

We were looking for the best specialists in the Polish market. We have defined the requirements we set for programmers who are to join our teams. Furthermore, we conducted the recruitment process, including a technical interview and verification of the technical competencies. Among the many available programmers, those from itCraft were the most suited to our team and adequately qualified. We could focus on the implementation of the project with a competent team.

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

As a standard, each project begins with requirements analysis and graphic interface design. Then we move on to the implementation stage of individual components. Usually, it is a backend, web application, and Android and iOS mobile applications. We carry out our work using agile techniques, such as Scrum. Planning work for short periods of time, typically 2 weeks (sprints), daily meetings, demos, and cyclical presentations of work progress in front of the client are the principal ceremonies that we carry out in each project. We attach great importance to providing high-quality products to our clients. The QA Engineer is involved in the team's work throughout the entire software development.

Describe the recruitment process in detail.

After the review of the project and when a definition of the need was created with our client, we started looking for support in the backend development. In total, we had over 20 candidates interviewed in the 3-phase process. The team suggested by itCraft has turned out to be the best fit.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We create many applications together. The client mainly determines the business idea and functional scope. We support him in making good decisions. Our clients' applications are top-rated. They have hundreds of thousands of satisfied users or an increase in turnover thanks to the possibility of online shopping.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We value very effective daily communication with the team. Thanks to our experience, our team strengthens programmers and consultants. They can look for the most optimal solutions also from a business perspective. Our teams have the same work style, so from day one, this workflow was smooth and open.

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

I am most impressed with how itCraft cares about the development of their employees. Searching for projects most suited to the programmer, his competencies, and experience. This way, he can develop in the area and direction that interests him most.

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

You can always find fields for optimization. It is significant to ensure the effective exchange of experiences between projects and teams. The main point is for one team to learn from the experience of another team. This way, we can ensure this time and plan such an exchange of knowledge and experiences. There are many factors that need to be synchronized, but this skill allows you to build competencies not individually but for the team as a whole. itCraft provides cyclical meetings within and between competence teams. Here you can always focus more and more specifically on translating this experience exchange into the effectiveness of subsequent projects.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Marcin Konieczny, I am a co-owner and co-founder of Immobi, one of the better developing real estate sales offices in Warsaw. Through us, our clients can buy or sell a house, flat, plot, or office.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired itCraft to create the complete User Experience & Interface design of our brand and create mobile applications available for iOS and Android devices, as well as PWA web applications for customers and agents.

SOLUTION

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

We started the search for a suitable company through research on the Internet, sent an inquiry to itCraft to which the co-owner of the company replied, and thus we started the first talks about what we needed. In the assessment of vendors, we took into account the price, customer opinions, and the existing portfolio. The most important for us was the offered quality at an affordable price.

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

We started our cooperation by carrying out product design workshops in terms of business and technical assumptions. The most important document created after the workshop was the application flow, which assumed their full functioning. On this basis, designs were created, i.e. UX / UI, and then we moved to development. The technology consultation was very helpful, as it allowed us to select the best one for our products. As a result, it is now also possible to use them without any problems and to further develop them in the future. From time to time, when some activity related to their performance is required, itCraft helped us with this.

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

In total, about 10 people worked on the project, depending on the phase. The team was composed of a Project Manager, web developers, flutter developer, backend developers, UX / UI designer, and Quality Assurance engineer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

All applications developed by itCraft function flawlessly, their users praise their quality and intuitiveness, and our agents who use them every day send us positive feedback and say that they help them in their daily work.

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

Our cooperation has been very effective at every stage of implementation. We have gone through many stages of application development together, which proves that we had a good time cooperating. So far, we have been in contact with each other and, depending on our business plans, we look forward to further cooperation.

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

We have received a lot of help from itCraft in terms of consulting and assistance in choosing the right technology for our applications. The quality of their outputs was at a very high level, which was very much appreciated.

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

I believe that there was too much rotation in the team, in our case Project Manager changed. For people who do not work in the field of new technologies on a daily basis, it is very important to have one trusted person to cooperate with. In the case of a development team, it is quite common for team members to change, however, sometimes the situation increases the development time and has an impact on the whole timeline of the project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

DigiMax Global is a technology company committed to unlocking the potential of disruptive technologies by providing advanced financial, predictive, and cryptocurrency solutions across various verticals. DigiMax is an official IBM Watson partner, and the Company's engineering team has extensive experience in Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and Cryptocurrency technology. I am the CTO at DigiMax, and I am responsible for the organization's technological needs.

For the Company to develop properly, in line with its assumptions, and to change everyday business life, I oversee short- and long-term plans to implement technological investments, giving the organization profit and competitive advantage.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired itCraft to improve an existing WordPress-based website, create the visual identity of our brand, conduct product discovery workshops, prepare application screen designs and create native mobile applications available on Android and iOS devices.

SOLUTION

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

One of our employees recommended us to cooperate with itCraft. In the beginning, we wanted to check them by collaborating on changes to the website and creating branding. It quickly turned out that it would not be our last project done together.

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

We targeted a solution capable of leveraging our artificial intelligence mechanism to support individual cryptocurrency investor decisions. The first stage of cooperation was to improve the existing website and create the so-called brand book, i.e., complete visual identification of the brand. Then both teams held a few days' workshops defining the business and technical assumptions of the product.

With such a base, we created a User Stories list that defined the flow of the application, then wireframes and mockups of the application's screens. The well-made design phase allowed for making a technologically correct, user-friendly, and intuitive application.

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

The team consisted of 14 people during all phases of the project. Additionally, itCraft provided an additional person to the team whose competencies are not part of the itCraft team. As a result, we did not have to spend additional time looking for the right person to join our team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Both apps were released at the scheduled time. They are now used by many users and the feedback is positive. Moreover, the application works smoothly, without major faults requiring complex repairs.

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

They simply followed agile best practices which allowed for our ability to communicate effectively. The time difference was a challenge that would have made the project difficult without the use of a disciplined and consistent method. The challenge revealed itself during time-sensitive collaboration responsiveness and during our secondary QA. Overall it worked and empowering the ItCraft PM with more decision-making authority could have improved this issue.

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

I really appreciate their expertise at every stage of creating a mobile application. This process consists of many factors; not only the developers' competencies are essential. The excellent work process in every phase, experience, and thinking outside the box are reflected in the product.

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

There will be something in every project that can be done and improved. In our case, the issue of decision-making and the setting of thresholds of responsibility would shorten the time of making high-importance project decisions, primarily when we work on two distant continents.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

My name is Małgorzata Bezubik and I’m the Co-Founder and Director of Studies at Beespeaker.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

The itCraft team led us through the entire process of creating a custom software including product workshops, analytics, UX/UI design, user research, development, and further development of the application. A very important element of the platform is an Android and iOS mobile application built in Flutter technology.

SOLUTION

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

After initial market research ( we researched on the internet) we shortlisted 5 companies. itCraft is a company with a very good reputation and has been recommended to me by a friend working in the IT industry. After a few talks with the itCraft team, I could see that they have a very good understanding of our needs. itCraft has a very well thought out software development process, ideally suited for creating new, innovative digital products. The quality of their offer definitely stood out from their competitors.

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

BeeSpeaker is one of the few language learning apps that puts emphasis on speaking – after all, communication is the most important thing! This natural method of teaching, which involves talking to foreign language tutors, will bring results in no time. The project was divided into five major phases:

1. Product Design Workshop - it was vital to analyze the commercial priorities, the user requirements and technology required to ensure the success of the project.
2. UX/UI design - based on the deliverables from the workshop UX and UI designers used the latest design trends, user habits and design best practices to create all the necessary mockups required for the development stage.
3. Usability testing - the team evaluated prepared mockups, verified product hypothesis and value proposition with a selected group of potential users.
4. Development - the itCraft team started to work in Scrum methodology. In practice, at the beginning of each sprint, the team focused on identifying the tasks which will deliver the highest business value. At the end of each sprint, a demo session was held.
5. Implementation - implementation consisted in making the application available on the App Store and Google Play, installation of the necessary components in the AWS cloud.

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

Over the course of months, we worked primarily with the Product Design team and developers. Team line-up was as follows:

• Project Manager,
• Business Analyst,
• System Analyst,
• UI designer,
• UX designer,
• Flutter Developers,
• Backend developers,
• AI engineer,
• QA engineers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We successfully achieved the MVP product deliverables: Android and iOS mobile application, AI engine with other backend components. I think the best measure of success was getting an investor for our product after demonstrating what we have achieved in this phase. We also have a validated business model and the first users who have purchased a subscription. The application has very high ratings on Google Play and App Store.

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

As I mentioned above, the workflow of creating new products has been mastered out to perfection by itCraft. The team has been able to adapt quickly to changes, and work on time and within budget.

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

Probably the most important aspect is the outstanding quality of the products made by itCraft. While previously working with other suppliers, the quality was never as high as when cooperating with itCraft.

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

To be perfectly honest, it’s hard to point out areas that should be improved. I’m extremely satisfied with the cooperation.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

My name is Marlena Szymanek, and I’m a CEO at Woonti. Woonti is a recruitment company supported by modern solutions in the area of mobile, web, AI in order to accelerate and reduce the cost of the recruitment process. We operate in 6 countries: Poland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

At Woonti, we wanted to build a number of mobile and web applications supported by AI algorithms. The itCraft team helped me primarily in the consulting area by preparing recommendations on: the architecture of the entire system ecosystem, functional and business analysis, technology and the final shape of the team that I wanted to employ in my company.

ItCraft engineers were also involved in the development phases of web and mobile applications

SOLUTION

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

I found itCraft on the recommendation of my law firm. After checking the information on the itCraft website, I was sure it was the right partner for Woonti. Ultimately, I was convinced by a very constructive conversation and advice from itCraft at the discovery stage of my needs.

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

Our cooperation consisted of 3 stages. The first stage was consulting at the sales stage. ItCraft consultants put a lot of work into understanding my project, asked the right questions and proposed initial solutions and a model for further cooperation.

It took about 2-3 weeks, and I also talked to 3 other companies at the same time. The second stage is very intense online and onsite sessions according to a prepared schedule. Each session had a defined goal and a properly selected team of consultants.

Importantly, after each session, I received products defined in the contract (e.g. studies in a defined form, recommendations, estimates etc.). The entire cooperation process was arranged by the itCraft project manager. The third step is the support of my internal small development team by the itCraft team. We worked in an agile methodology.

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

During our cooperation, I had the pleasure of working with many people in various roles. Some completed their work in a few days, others were engaged for much longer.

They were: Project manager, Mobile Tech Lead, Backend Tech Lead, Business analyst, System analyst, 2 x web and mobile developers. Invaluable support at the business consulting stages was the involvement of the itCraft CEO.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The greatest successes are applications that are already running, including a mobile application for job seekers, a web job board, a web application for recruiters, and an AI engine matching employees to job offers. The second important success is the itCraft accurate recommendation.

Before cooperating with itCraft, I had a wrongly selected technological stack, expensive to maintain, and I had problems finding the right developers. After the changes recommended by itCraft, development goes fast, I have access to a large number of developers who know the recommended programming languages and frameworks.

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

The cooperation was exemplary. itCraft delivered work products on time. The meetings were coordinated by a very experienced project manager.

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

The itCraft team has excellent technical knowledge. itCraft's focus on value delivered for my business was worth emphasizing.  It is rare to have a business-oriented approach that is so successful.

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

It's hard to point to the elements that did not work. As a customer, you would always like to receive such support. Perhaps the prices were quite high, but on the other hand, understanding the realities of the IT market, I got very good value for money.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

My name is Sebastian Zywiecki, and I’m a CEO at VMS MEDIA. As part of our business we create modern startups focused around augmented reality solutions. We have our own team of developers but we also work with professional technology partners in areas where we do not have in-house expertise.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We were looking for a technology partner with great mobile and AWS cloud computing expertise.

The project that was assigned to itCraft among other areas, consisted of: Analyzing the current AWS environment, including primarily settings of AWS security policies against S3 resources, per account and per resource rights settings and setting relevant resources to related services.

Analysis and optimization from the delivered mobile application code, integration with AWS cloud. Designing and configuring AWS service for video conversion, installing and running Docker based video converter and API interface. Analysis of legitimacy of uses and integration from AWS Elemental MediaConvert. Testing the holistic solution.

SOLUTION

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

itCraft has a reputation as a very reliable and trustworthy company in terms of mobile development. I decided to contact them and organize a meeting to discuss our needs. I managed to reach directly to the CEO of itCraft.

After an initial discussion of our needs, itCraft organized an online workshop in a very effective manner with our development team and dedicated team members from itCraft that could handle the project. itCraft’s engineers understood our needs very quickly and addressed several possible solution scenarios during the workshop.

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

The first stage of our cooperation was the online workshop where we met the itCraft team responsible for the subject matter. Cloud Architects specializing in AWS solutions had the most input during the workshop. The next stages were in an agile methodology based on the prepared scope of work.

Our developers team met with itCraft’s consultants at 2-3 day intervals to test the solutions for subsequent points of the plan.

At the end of the cooperation, itCraft prepared in-depth architecture documentation of the proposed solutions and supported us in its parameterization to achieve scalability for the future at optimal infrastructure cost. itCraft’s Service Delivery Manager was responsible for supervising the project.

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

itCraft’ CEO was involved in the project at the very beginning, he allocated the relevant team and helped to develop a framework of cooperation. The core team that worked on the project consisted of 2 AWS Cloud Architects, a Quality Assurance Engineer and a Service Delivery Manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

itCraft has executed all stages of the project in an agile methodology. The result is a scalable AWS environment, with the necessary services configured video transcoding/compression, video sharing, and uploading a video from a mobile application. The architecture is done cost-effectively and well secured.

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

The cooperation with itCraft was very well organized. We would like to emphasize the speed of action, very good communication, and the team's expertise.

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

We were impressed with the large dose of the expert knowledge that we received from the start of our cooperation which was the workshop. The speed of itCrafts actions exceeded our expectations. The cherry on the top is providing very detailed documentation of the performed work

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

It is really difficult to point out any weak areas of our cooperation. We are extremely satisfied with the service at every stage of our cooperation.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

My name is Pelin Bagce, and I’m a Chief Operating Officer at Eczacıbaşı. Eczacıbaşı’s core sectors are building products, consumer products and healthcare. Additionally, the Group is active in finance, information technology, welding technology, natural resources, and property development. In Turkey, Eczacıbaşı is the leader in most of its businesses with some of the most effective distribution networks in the country for building products, pharmaceuticals, and fast-moving consumer goods.

It is also a major exporter of tissue paper, welding electrodes, electronic smart cards and natural resources such as clay and feldspar. With its steadily growing portfolio serving each stage of human health and its respective needs – from preventative care to early detection, advanced treatments to personalized care – the Eczacıbaşı Healthcare Division is leading Turkey’s health sector as the pioneer of the “integrative care” approach.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire itCraft?

We wanted to create the MVP version of our evital telehealth platform. That’s why we’ve reached out to itCraft, and they proposed a workshop. We’ve met in our headquarters to gather materials required for conducting the UX/UI design phase and agree upon deliverables such as:

• Prioritized user stories documentation, including acceptance criteria
• Detailed cost estimation with priorities options
• Technical recommendations including logical architecture, infrastructure architecture & costs, tech risks & assumptions
• Low-fidelity wireframing
• Prototype
• Visual design
• Graphics files

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Cooperation with itCraft was possible due to the recommendation of our partner, Vero Healthcare Consulting - as we were looking for a suitable software house with experience in implementing medical e-services. It was vital for us to work with a company that was experienced in building applications for patients and doctors and creating platforms connecting both of these groups. itCraft has guaranteed efficient project implementation and support in outlining the development strategy.

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

Our requirements required close cooperation and flexibility to create solid foundations for project implementation. The goal was to conduct open workshops, during which we could define the directions of product development and outline the strategy of implementing it on the market. Therefore, the first stage of our collaboration was the workshop at our headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey. Together, we could define personas and analyze how our product could satisfy their needs.

The next step was to prepare UX mockups by the itCraft design team, to which we submitted our corrections and details. After accepting the UX flow, itCraft prepared UI screens and prototypes of patients' and doctors' apps. In addition, we received technical recommendations for future app development.

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

We cooperated with a large team, including the itCraft’s CEO, CTO, Head of Product Design Team, Project Manager, System Analyst, and four UX/UI designers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The goal of the project has been achieved. We've created the whole concept and the product development strategy, as well as graphic stat with UX/UI paths and clickable prototypes. Moreover, during the workshops, we redefined the scope of the project and its entire structure. It gave us a new opportunity to position this product on the market as a medical services marketplace.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow between itCraft’s team and ours was very effective. itCraft has a great process that allowed us to regularly check work progress and provide instant feedback that has been applied. Both teams were a part of one great squad working together to achieve the same goals.

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

In our opinion, the workshops made a great impression. The way they were hosted, the open formula and insightful opinions influenced further decisions regarding product development. The main idea we've been working on during the workshops was to go beyond the platform for communication between the patient and the doctor. Instead, we decided to create a marketplace with a number of educational and typical sales activities to carry out. In addition, the itCraft team was always committed, available, and flexible during the entire process.

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

The only aspect that limited our possibilities was the deadline for delivering the materials. Considering the dynamics of product development and its strategy, this deadline should be extended.