Leobit

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of technology for a veterans’ service organization. We help disabled veterans navigate the VA process to get the compensation and benefits they deserve. My role oversees a lot of our product development, digital infrastructure, data architecture, and more.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Leobit?

We’re always looking to invest more into our clients and the veteran community, and we were looking to create a custom, client-facing portal. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We were previously working with another development firm, and their deliverables came up short. After assessing the market, Leobit was the top contender. They picked up the project from our previous vendor to tackle different portions of our backend, database, and infrastructure (Microsoft Azure) to help us come to market.

We provided Leobit with our business objectives and what the other vendor had accomplished up till that point. We work collaboratively with Leobit, providing guidance as they create the mockups, and then they go away and develop the build. It’s very symbiotic.

What is the team composition?

The development was the primary part of our relationship, so Leobit assigned a dedicated team to us comprised of 2–3 backend developers, three frontend developers, and several QA team members. There are 8–10 people involved from their side.

How did you come to work with Leobit?

We used Clutch and a few other tools to narrow down our options of companies that focus on Azure and .NET development. After narrowing our short-list to five, we met with all five and chose Leobit.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost is around $300,000 at this point.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since December 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One of the biggest metrics is that they brought us from where we were to live in the market in less than four months. Initially, we onboarded over 19,000 clients and 100 of our employees. Our previous vendor had been working on this for a full year before Leobit stepped it and carried us quickly to the end. Their overall efficiency, transparency, and communicative nature have been nothing short of spectacular.

How did Leobit perform from a project management standpoint?

We work with a number of other vendors, and Leobit’s transparency and communication have really helped us all stay aligned. We have morning meetings daily for 15–30 minutes to check on our progress, and then we’ll do longer sprint planning every few weeks.

We manage everything in Microsoft DevOps, including user stories, bugs, and new features. Communication also happens over Slack for real-time conversations; we have a dedicated Slack channel for them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

There’s nothing they don’t do remarkably well. Leobit hopped right into the project; the senior solutions architect they’ve assigned has been excellent since day one. He got right in the middle of our issues to understand them. What’s remarkable is that they’re always on top of deliverables, timelines, and bug-fixes.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’ve delivered everything we’ve asked of them. We asked to see weekly progress reports at the beginning to show where our hours and money were going, and they started printing them the next week. This put our CFO and leadership at ease. Leobit has addressed everything we’ve brought up over these past nine months.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Do your due diligence to ensure that your needs fall within Leobit’s expertise. Definitely meet with them and be prepared to share your business and necessary deliverables. We’ve been very transparent since the beginning of our relationship, and they’ve been upfront about what they can or can’t do. This has allowed us to be confident that they’ll deliver what we need them to deliver, which is a great foundation to build a relationship on.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a franchise operations management platform working with some of the largest franchise chains in the US.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Leobit to helps us expedite development and build several new modules that our clients were needing. In addition, Leobit also built and supports our mobile app.

SOLUTION

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

I knew the owner Oleksa because I had personally worked with him here on a few jobs while he lived here in Austin.

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

The scope of work is very straight forward for us. We needed several modules built to help track Maintenance & Repairs, Reporting, Notification System, and Administration Management. The mobile app was a full build of our main functions such as Bulletins, Personnel Management, Document Management, Maintenance & Repairs, Reporting, etc.

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

There are at least 5 including a Project Manager, Developers and QC.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Leobit always delivers above and beyond the basic requirements we provide. Their team regularly provides key insights that significantly improved our application (UX and functionally).

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

Leobit is very strong when it comes to communication. They take time to fully understand our requirements and meet with us often to ensure we were on track on on the same page. Leobit meets every deadline.

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

The most impressive thing to me about Leobit is that my team can just tell them what we need (with lean requirements), and they complete the task on time and better than expected. They hire very good developers that aren't there to just write code -- the developers really care about us and that commitment really shines through in the software they deliver.

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

All good.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Technical Director of a company that provides software and services to Local Government authorities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We required some extra resource to join our existing team on an established project to create a new line of business application with goal of completing the first phase of development for go live.

SOLUTION

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

We were put in touch with Leobit via a contact at SHORE teams. The deciding factor was Leobit's timely and professional communications and willingness to fulfill our requirements.

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

The project was already well established when Leobit joined. The application architecture etc was fairly mature. The extra resource was brought in to assist with the completion of the remaining work in the application. The application is developed with .NET Core, C#, Web API and DevExtreme UI components.

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

We began with a technical lead, 2 intermediate developers, and a QA, Leobit also provided a part time project manager to give over site to their team. The resourcing requirements was fairly fluid and Leobit were very accommodating with our needs to quickly scale up and down throughout the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The product will be launching imminently so we don't yet have feedback from a wide user base, however, feedback from UAT sessions has been positive.

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

Leobit staff integrated into our team using our internal communication tools without any issues and joined all Scrum ceremonies, with daily updates from their project manager.

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

From the outset I felt a real desire from Leobit to work with us in the way that we wanted to deliver the desired outcomes. We got good advice from their project manager, and all levels of communication were very good.

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

None.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Managing Partner and CTO of KREIOS S.A R.L., a Luxembourgish IT service company founded in 2006. The original business purpose of KREIOS was the development and distribution of software products for the tourism industry. Today, the company sees itself more as a service provider that helps its customers design, implement, and support complex software products. We have, in the intervening years, developed a unique business model which pairs local experts in project management, business analysis, and software engineering with the best technical experts from the global market. Our successes include custom industrial control systems, products in the FinTech space, expert systems and all kinds of web-based business applications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Leobit?

Over the past 10 months, we have worked with Leobit on several projects involving the design and implementation of more complex business applications. This included a system for transcribing videos and audio files, a platform for calculating and managing CO2 credits, as well as various specialized applications from the public administration sector. In particular, Kate, one of Leobit's senior UI/UX experts, took a leading role in the initial design and incremental evolution of the various user interfaces to be implemented in the context of these projects.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We posted an advertisement on a leading freelancer platform and received more than 70 applications as a result. From these, we finally selected 6 candidates to work on a test task. Leobit and Kate delivered by far the best result, both in terms of quality and value for money. Their communication was also absolutely professional from start to finish.

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

Most projects proceeded in such a way that we first worked out the basic requirements together in the course of a few workshops and interviews. We also looked at competing systems that were already on the market. In the next step, Kate familiarized herself with the respective business domain by requesting test accounts for similar systems and also otherwise trying to put herself in the position of the potential user of the product.

Based on this understanding, a common story map was usually designed, which Kate then used to gradually design the individual relevant screens. These were then presented to the team or the client and thus finalized step by step. The primary tools used during this phase were Clickup (as a project management system) and Figma (as a UI/UX sandbox).

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

Mostly just Kate, albeit we also had Uliana and Oleksandr acting as our account managers and go-to-gal/guys for all things administrative.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Unfortunately, this is not possible, as all the aforementioned projects are subject to an NDA.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The collaboration was very constructive and went without a hitch. I don't think there is much that can be optimized here. We conducted regular video calls and shared a common backlog.

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

Overall, we have been and continue to be extremely pleased with Leobit and Kate's work. Above all, their willingness to dig deep into the subject matter allows them to autonomously come up with truly meaningful and well-thought-out solutions that would otherwise require the help of a dedicated system analyst.

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

No, really not. They are among the best 2-3 designers we have ever worked with in the entire 15 years of company history.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of products at a content recommendation platform. We serve content recommendation widgets across major news publishers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Leobit?

We needed someone to develop a software development kit (SDK) for our publishing partners to use.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Leobit developed an SDK for us. We used our previous SDK to create a list of changes we needed to make, which we shared with the team during our kickoff meeting. They then handled the development of the improved SDK, which they built for both Android and iOS.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager, an iOS developer, and an Android developer.

How did you come to work with Leobit?

We reached out to them, and they seemed to really understand our requirements after a brief conversation, so we felt confident that they could deliver.

How much have you invested with them?

It cost between $5,000–$10,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from October 2020–January 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Some of our publishers already used the SDK, and whenever they had issues with it, Leobit addressed them immediately. Their quick response times and excellent problem-solving skills were hugely valuable to us. Overall, we were satisfied with the team’s efforts.

How did Leobit perform from a project management standpoint?

They did a pretty good job with project management. The team was able to deliver everything within the timeline we set. We had several meetings to talk about our objectives.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We loved that they had both iOS and Android experts. We didn’t have to seek out multiple providers because of Leobit’s comprehensive expertise.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could’ve suggested more features to help us take the project to the next level.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Think about your project upfront so you can set clear objectives. Additionally, make sure you have an in-house QA specialist to review their code.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of Rush Realty, a real estate brokerage that specializes in residential homes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Leobit?

I wanted to build an in-house system that would help my agents track their production, commissions, and financials through a mobile app. I also wanted to build a company website which incorporates multiple listing service (MLS) integrations with our CRM system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, they built an iOS and Android app that links to our CRM, which is Follow Up Boss. They also used Monday as the single source of truth (SSOT) for all of the deals. Through that integration, the app can pull information on agent production. This includes how many emails each agent sends, how many deals they close, and how much they earn in commission.

Then they began to build our website, integrate our Bright MLS, and link it to our CRM. On top of that, they are setting up our email marketing system. Now clients can find properties they’re interested in through our website.

What is the team composition?

I worked with 4–5 people, including a project manager, Android developer, and iOS developer. However, I spoke with the backend developer most.

how did you come to work with Leobit?

I found them through Upwork. Several companies applied for the job, but I chose Leobit because they seemed to have more of a team structure. I wanted a partner that could provide a whole team to support the project. I thought if we only had one person working on the project, it would drag on.

Leobit also seemed to have a good track record when I researched them online. They had a good grasp of what I wanted to do.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent a little more than $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2020 and the project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

So far, I’m happy with their work. When we reviewed the app, I identified glitches and assessed how smooth and native the app felt. I found very few issues, but Leobit was quick to resolve them. I asked my agents if they were satisfied and if they experienced any issues.

We went through a very similar process for the website, but I also wanted to make suite the information was transmitted properly.

How did Leobit perform from a project management standpoint?

When I first met with the project manager, I let her know what I wanted. Then she outlined a plan to let us know what would happen as we moved forward. She created a timetable and clearly has a firm grasp on everything that is going on. So far, they’ve delivered ahead of schedule.

We’ve used Slack to ask questions and collaborate, but we also use Trello. They regularly update Trello so I can see how the project is progressing. As a result, I had a very good idea of how the project was progressing throughout the engagement.What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve been impressed by their openness. They always explain what they can and can’t do and why. As we tackle new challenges, they explain how they are going to go about it as well. They listen to what I really want and provide several suggestions based on my input.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The iOS development seems to lag behind the Android development.  Whenever we do demos, the Android seems to be a little more polished and more advanced. Then when we went through the iOS version, I ask them to mirror the Android application.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know what you want, and maintain your expectations, but be open to their guidance.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing member of a software development company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Leobit?

We needed a reputable outsourced company to work with us on a client project that dealt in ASP.NET development. We wanted a reliable source that could provide technical resources to the project for a specified period of time.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Most of their work involved refactoring an existing web platform to bring it up to modern specs. This meant that they took existing code and updated it or built it from scratch. 

What is the team composition?

We started with a senior-level ASP.NET software engineer, and we added a junior-level ASP.NET software engineer later on.

How did you come to work with Leobit?

I’d been speaking with them for a while and evaluating different vendors and partners. I had them in my contacts from previous conversations. 

After a number of conversations about their methodology, how they train their staff, the project management protocols they have in place, and how they treat their projects, they seemed like a good team to work with. They were always responsive. After many months of communication on different opportunities, we chose them. It was a good arrangement.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from April–October 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The client had to cancel the project because of issues they were facing. However, Leobit worked with us in terminating the contract early, which speaks to how good of a partner they were. 

They were always on time with diligent progress reports, and they provided answers when needed. I received multiple compliments from the client regarding the skill level of the developers that were on the project. It would have been ideal to have a successful launch if it weren’t for the client having their own issues.

How did Leobit perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated via email. Leobit used Asana, per the request of the client.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They communicated expectations very well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind that I’d have them improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The more detailed and accurate vision you can provide, the more value you will get from Leobit. They’re good at finding gaps in the details to get to a certain goal. Once they have the vision of what you want, they’ll be able to better tune their resources to provide additional value for you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the project manager of a bail loan firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Leobit?

We wanted to outsource our development work.  As our workload continued to grow, we needed an additional resource so that we could move faster.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We are using Leobit for custom software development. We initially onboarded one developer. Soon after that, we decided to bring on another developer. We interviewed the candidate they proposed, and she was who we needed. I give the Leobit developers the tasks, and they do the coding for our platform. 

What is the team composition?

There’s one senior developer and one regular developer.

How did you come to work with Leobit?

We looked for some outsourcing companies and conducted interviews before choosing Leobit. We interviewed one of Leobit’s developers, and he was exactly who we needed. He has a really great attitude and background experience.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent €100,000 (approximately $121,100 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2019. It’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have any specific measurements. Leobit’s developers meet our deadlines. We have a good working relationship. They are capable of doing their job. I really like them.

How did Leobit perform from a project management standpoint?

I like that they try to give suggestions or solutions. If I ask their opinion on whether something will work, they give me their feedback. I also like that they’re not too optimistic when they give their estimations — it’s usually correct. If I promise something to our clients, I feel I can count on them. 

Leobit communicates well. They have really nice English skills, and they are always very polite and friendly. We use Trello, Slack, and Confluence to communicate, and we speak to each other daily. They’re available whenever I need to discuss something with them. They’re also flexible with the tasks that I give them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

If something needs to be done, Leobit has a good attitude to get it done. They have a strong work ethic, and they understand our business needs. They put in the effort to understand me. I enjoy working with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. The proof is that we have continued working with them for quite a long time now. They exceed my expectations.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Leobit is a very good company. They’re really polite and answer very quickly. Everything is done in a really professional manner. I definitely suggest working with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a SaaS company and marketplace network based in London, focusing on the jewelry sector. We’re a team of 55, and I’m the COO of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Leobit?

Our business model is to enable B2B supply chain trading for the jewelry industry. There are three parts to our software where one is putting people together to select products together. The second part is getting the best price, and the third is allowing them to trade and do procurement. That third part is our most important and valuable piece of the system and the biggest impact we’re going to have on the industry.

In terms of previous development, we hadn’t embarked on developing this particular phase three of the software. We were debating whether to try and do this internally or to outsource it. We have two additional teams but felt it was going to be extremely difficult to assemble a highly capable and technical team of up to 10 people in a short time. That inspired us to look outside of our company to do this.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In February 2020, we wanted to put together a team of seven developers, with a QA person and project manager to kick off what we had already documented as the order system. We wanted to meet with every individual member of the Leobit team and get an understanding of how this was going to work because it was something that was quite new for us.

We gave them a presentation and a lot of the designed product of what we were looking to develop. In the first month, they got familiar with the intricacies of the jewelry supply chain procurement system and how it should work without necessarily focusing on too much on development. This is a mini SAP in a sense, so it’s an extremely technical product.

The staff members had no previous experience with jewelry or building supply chain software, but they did have the technical knowledge of how to put this together. We spent that first month making sure they understood how the product was meant to work. We ensured they were organized effectively so they could be led by us.

Since February 2020, we’ve worked on about eight different large software suites, ranging from a full-blown mobile application to a full-blown web application outside of this system.

What is the team composition?

I work with the head of finance operations as well as their CTO, an architect, and senior, mid, and junior developers.

How did you come to work with Leobit?

We have 10 engineers who work alongside Leobit for project management. All of us flew to Ukraine and spent a week with them. We met every single member of the team as we did with other companies in the region to screen them. Leobit ultimately came out on top.

How much have you invested in them?

This year, it’ll be about $800,000–$900,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started back in February 2020, and the work is ongoing. We want them to continue to work on and develop it more because of the quality and execution.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Initially, our number one metric was to get the product in time and out to market. We’re still on track to deliver that, and it'll be due in about 30 days or so. Everything we’ve been tracking has been to make sure we don’t go too far off that date.

As a result of the recruitment that we do with them and the screening, we've come to find that the level of talent there is pretty exceptional. The way they've introduced us to new staff that we didn’t predict we'd need and have made a meaningful difference to the development velocity and culture of the team.

How did Leobit perform from a project management standpoint?

The Leobit team, even though they are an external team to us, attends our weekly all-hands meetings. Some of them have also been recognized as employees of the week across our own company for going above and beyond and getting to the end of sprints.

Some of the developers attend our board meetings to show demos of where the project is. We have a high level of trust with them on something that’s very sensitive and so precious. We’ve been positively surprised by the impact they’re having.

We had a project manager, but she has only needed to be on the project part-time, which is maybe once a week during a month. That is mostly around just taking care of things if there are any personnel changes or people who are going on holidays or things like that; it is more operational HR than actually coordinating the development project.

We use Google Suite and have them on our chat system. They’re part and parcel of everyone else in the company. Their team can comment on any chat thread and attend any video calls; they’re just totally embedded in the company.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re able to react to changes very quickly. For example, we were concerned about the architect leaving after three months. We wanted him for another month or two just to oversee getting through a couple more sprints. Or, we were thinking we might need more senior staff on this project in the long-term.

It could’ve taken 3–6 months until we found that person, but Leobit has solved all the large problems around personnel and finding the right person with the right skill for us — whether it was just for this project or to help our company.

Their speed of reaction and ability to solve problems, particularly around development hires, is something we predictively wouldn’t have had with others and that’s quite unique of Leobit.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If there were any teething problems or communication issues, it’s probably nothing I can mention now because we’ve resolved a lot in the last six months or so.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Go to Lviv and spend time meeting the team you'll be working with. Really go into detail on the product you want to develop. The more detailed, outlined, and prototyped your objectives are upfront, the better it will be for them.

I recommend having someone in-house that can make sure the person Leobit is proposing is the right person. Typically, Leobit has all the right staff, but it is whether you find the right person at the right level. You need to navigate which one is the right hire for you.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Papa Bear Software is a focused consulting agency for early stage b2b startups, typically in SaaS. We provide technical strategy and roadmap, staff augmentation, and talent search services, and cloud native architecture and devops for our clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We needed affordable high quality engineers quickly to augment our development team. We brought in 5 engineers from leobit to help us deliver a full stack solution for our client. Our goal was to deliver a high quality application that would scale along with the client business.

SOLUTION

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

We had heard from two trusted advisors that Leobit had shown promise as an off shore solution. These advisors had also had success with Leobit.

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

At Papa Bear Software we work closely with our clients to understand their vision and their essential needs for each project. We helped them develop their requirements and roadmap, then delivered a large subset of those requirements to our leobit engineers.

They were wonderful. Their engineers pushed back when there was risky decisions and they were usually right. When they were wrong, they did they understood and worked as told. We delivered two applications for our client with leobit.

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

Five in total. Account manager Senior React Engineer Mid level React Engineer Mid level Quality Engineer Mid level Quality Engineer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Leobit along with Papa Bear Software delivered high quality and fast. They fit well into our company culture and helped accelerate our productivity. We delivered two applications and a scalable cloud architecture with their help.

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

They communicated quickly and thoroughly on a daily basis.

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

As most companies in America, we've encountered sub par off-shore solutions before. Leobit was the opposite, we felt they were just as good as us in terms of technical prowess and productivity.

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

No. We treasure our ongoing relationship with Leobit.