Layertech

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a design and technology studio with a focus on frontend and PHP development. I am the CEO and founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Layertech?

We don’t undertake a lot of heavy backend development, and, for this particular project, we needed help with Django and Python. The goal for our client was to build an internal tool for them to use to send invoices and track time.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Layertech built the backend of our internal tool using Django, while we handled the frontend. They created a user-management system through which the client can add staff members. Then, each member can log in, track hours, and create invoices based on that data or using a custom format. We built the tool for a client in Croatia that specializes in hearing aids.

What is the team dynamic?

I interacted solely with their founder and developer. He handled the communication with the rest of the team.

How did you come to work with Layertech?

I had been in contact with Prashant [Consultant and Software Architect, Layertech] for a long time, having found him on Twitter around 10 years earlier. We kept in touch and, when I needed this type of service, I contacted him and asked for a quote.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Layertech at the beginning of 2017, around February. We built the initial product within the first 3 months, by the end of May. The client has requested some changes and updates, but the project is basically done.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They delivered everything on the backend side, and we received positive feedback from the client. We’ve worked with this client for the past 3 years, initially on some basic tasks. This was our first complex project, and I’m hoping that we’ll work on more similar projects for them, since they are happy with the results.

How did Layertech perform from a project management standpoint?

They were reliable in terms of delivering on time and on budget. The initial work was done under budget, but the client required additional changes, which meant we incurred additional costs.

We communicated mainly through Slack, and everything went smoothly. They also use JIRA and Bitbucket, and I’m connected to Prashant on Skype. We haven’t met their team in-person yet.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The ease of communication was impressive—they responded quickly to all our messages. They also provided good code quality.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. We’re happy with what they delivered.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

They’re expensive but worth it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

PitchBoard is an influence-marketing platform connecting influencers and social media stars with advertisers looking to promote their products and brand and to reach new audiences in a more engaged way than on traditional major platforms like AdWords and Facebook. I'm the CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Layertech?

We needed help with infrastructure management and support for our marketing platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They've provided us with support around hosting and managing the infrastructure, as well as with scalability and being able to fire up new instances when the platform is under a heavy load. We’re using a cloud-based setup on Amazon Web Services. They've also helped with the overall architecture of the locations, keeping things clean, modular, and our APIs organized.

When an advertiser launches a new campaign on our platform, it attracts a huge amount of interest from registered influencers. If they stop submitting pieces of content and exchanging messages with the advertiser, it can slow the platform down for everybody else. Layertech helped with automatically scaling up the resources to keep the site running smoothly.

It was a full stack project. The framework was Laravel and Lumen. There are a few MySQL databases and some frontend frameworks based on Bootstrap.

What is the team dynamic?

I worked directly with Prashant [Consultant & Software Architect, Layertech]. There may have been other people in the background, but nobody I worked with directly.

How did you come to work with Layertech?

We advertised and collected responses. My CTO and I interviewed everyone. Based on their understanding of the system and what we were trying to achieve, we selected Layertech.

How much have you invested with them?

$10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

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

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have a smooth operating backend, able to handle spikes in traffic and usage. The infrastructure is very streamlined. It’s working well and we’re happy. We can now concentrate on growth and know that our system can handle it.

How did Layertech perform from a project management standpoint?

It's well organized and comprehensive. There is regular communication via voice calls, Slack, Basecamp, emails, and a couple of in-person meetings. We regularly receive PDFs that consolidate all the important pieces of information our development team may need in the future, like security keys, how the infrastructure is designed, and how they’re linked to each other.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Our CTO has said the solutions are on point and elegantly designed, as well as being very lightweight and efficient, which keeps our infrastructure costs down.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.