LOVATA sp. z o.o.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CTO of an email service company that supports over 100 million monthly users. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with LOVATA?

We wanted to make a new theme and promo pages for our service within 3–4 days, without including our engineers. Since I had worked with LOVATA in a similar capacity 6 or 7 years ago, we hired them for this task. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created several themes for user mailboxes in our email service. Users of the mailbox service can change their settings and choose between different colors and background photos.

We’ve handled the functionality preparation, but LOVATA assisted with integrations. They made a CMS [content management system] for our project that allowed designers to create new themes through simple engineering. The output of their system was a configuration file for each theme, which we included in our releases to mail customers. Each promo page was a separate encapsulated project.

Technically, we made the service in such a way that customers can select different colors, styles, and images. Through the new program, they can go through some special forms or fields, see how the design will look, and then export the files for us. 

What is the team dynamic?

We’ve worked with a project manager. If we need clarification on technical details, we work with the programmers directly. When they created a theme, only 1 person was needed. When they developed tools for creating themes, I believe there were 2 or 3 people involved.

How did you come to work with LOVATA?

I met them at a conference.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2012, and our collaboration is ongoing. 

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent between $150,000 - $200,000 with them annually. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We reached our goals with regards to time to market and product quality. About 100 million users per month rely on our email services. About 60% of them are using our themes, and at least half of those were made by LOVATA. The fact that more than half of our users use the themes means they like them. It’s a useful feature.

How did LOVATA perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated through email and Skype, but we finalized discussions and assigned tasks through JIRA.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They deliver great work for the price we’re paying. We have full access to programmers and engineers, and there were no borders in terms communication. The collaboration was useful and shortened our development process. When we had problems, they were glad to fly to Moscow and discuss the issue in order to find a solution. They did not create complications in terms of forms or contracts, and they’re always eager to communicate with us. I appreciated the flexibility they provided.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve used another web studio for outsourced work. Compared to other vendors, I’ve been pleased with everything that LOVATA’s done. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I represent HeadHunter (HH.ru), a Russian job site similar to Monster.com. I am the head of the consulting center, which works on employer branding projects for customers, including surveys, market analysis, and campaign management. We also sell vacancy advertisement space to customers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with LOVATA?

I started working at HeadHunter in 2007, at the start of the employer branding market in Russia. There were no providers locally with backgrounds in employer brand design and advertising. We were looking for help with design and coding in this space, and LOVATA was the first company we found. Working with them has been a good experience. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

LOVATA created and updated our branding pages on the HH.ru platform, which is based on HTML and Java. I can’t provide details on the technical side. I represented management, advertisement creation, and customer sales. At the time, LOVATA was a young team with loyal management.

I worked with 1 of their managers, who acted as the project head, as well as with a designer and 2–3 developers. Now, we have our own design and coding team and continued development ourselves.

How did you come to work with LOVATA?

LOVATA was the only employer-brand experience provider we found. They were a partner of our Byelorussian branch.

How much have you invested with LOVATA?

For the design and coding of 1 career page, the cost was roughly $3,000, based on the rubble-dollar exchange rate from 10 years ago. The cost could be lower based on current rates.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with LOVATA in June or July of 2008, and the project lasted for 1–2 months. Altogether, we worked on more than 10 projects concurrently for numerous customers.  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In terms of quantity, we created more than 2,200 career pages per year with LOVATA. Personally, the first result I noticed was the strong design and coding of our customers’ career pages. LOVATA delivered on time and produced good quality. The HH.ru pages worked without any issues or bugs.

There were some subjective assessments of the design from our customers. Sometimes, they didn’t like the results, but this is a matter of interpretation. Everything turned out fine in the end.

How did LOVATA perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management went smoothly, and we communicated with their main contacts. If we had problems with a particular designer or coder, the managers understood our concern and obtain a different resource quickly. It was a constructive and effective process for me.

What did you find most impressive about LOVATA?

I was most impressed by their ability to meet deadlines and deliver high-quality work. We’re satisfied with the results. They gave us an advantage through their experience in career design and coding. There are many providers on the market now with the same expertise, but, at that time, LOVATA was unique.

As a Byelorussian company, they also had good pricing. There are more expensive options on the Russian side for the same services and products.

LOVATA also has a young team, but this is true for all the startup companies on the market. It may not be a unique advantage, but the collaboration met our needs.

Are there any areas LOVATA could improve?

For all providers on the market, deadlines are a constant improvement area, especially for the more difficult design work. In terms of coding, our schedule was met. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

life:) is a Turkcell Group company; operating in Belarus and having 1.6 million customers. life:) is known as the innovative player of Belarus telecommunications market with the new product and service launches. Launching first 3G services in Belarus, having the first mobile operator loyalty club in the country (mylife) and selling the first modems and smartphones as an operator are some examples of life’s initiatives in the market. Nowadays; life:) provides 2G/3G/4G services to its customer and actively expands its product portfolio with digital services. The company has 258 roaming partners in 142 countries and more than 500 sales points across the country.

I am Chief Commercial Officer of the company, responsible for Sales & Marketing functions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with LOVATA?

We manage a big sales channel in Belarus with more than 500 sales points. The channel consists own stores, exclusive dealer stores, and non-exclusive sales points. Since the sales channel is distributed through the country and managed by different sales manager; we had alignment, communication, and data monitoring problems which limit our standardization abilities. As an example; there were no common platforms to share product specifications, to inform the channel about campaigns, promotional activities or to monitor stock levels. We decided to create a Dealer Portal which works as an operation and information platform between us and the sales points, which will enable us to communicate directly and instantly will all channel and provide many monitoring capabilities both for us and the dealers to increase efficiency.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

LOVATA built our web-based Dealer Portal using HTML and Java. We worked with 5 to 10 developers assigned to the task. LOVATA provided an agile team which understands the requirements of the project, deliver the output and the quality we required. I was never preoccupied with the resources allocated for the project and the quality; because the process was always smooth and in line with project plan.

How did you come to work with LOVATA?

Belarus is a small country, but there are many strong players in software development area. We conducted a tender in line with our procurement standards and after collecting offers from different local and international companies; our committee decided to work with LOVATA based on their capabilities and price offer. LOVATA has a good reputation in the market and strong references, and after working with LOVATA, we determined that they are capable to deliver what customer needs.

How much have you invested with LOVATA?

The cost of our project with LOVATA was between $50,000 and $75,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project has been completed. We have been using the platform for more than 2 years. There haven’t been any change requests for it, but if we need to modify it in the future, we will work with LOVATA again.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our platform has been used by around 500 sales points and 700 sales experts in total on a daily basis. It performs as a communication and data sharing platform between our company and sales channels. There have been no major problems with the system during the last 2 years of use, so we are happy with what LOVATA has delivered to us.

How did LOVATA perform from a project management standpoint?

LOVATA performed well in terms of handling deadlines and interactions with our requests. They had a professional approach, using project management tools and creating necessary information sharing environment with customer . We received daily updates and were kept informed about what had been accomplished and what would be worked on in the next weeks. The process was interactive, including management meetings during which we discussed critical decisions and deadlines with LOVATA's team.

What did you find most impressive about LOVATA?

We have worked with other partners which were inaccessible during the project run. Instead of just working like a vendor, LOVATA acted as a part of our team, always staying interactive and close to us. We were kept informed about issues and decisions, which for me, was the most valuable part of working with LOVATA.

Are there any areas LOVATA could improve?

No.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We're a technology company dealing with the healthcare IoT space. We are developing a medication management platform for seniors who take more than 5 pills per day. Our hardware device can track how many medications are taken, in conjunction with our software application, notifying professional caregivers and family members of any unexpected events.

I am a co-founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with LOVATA Group?

Most IoT companies are involved more with hardware development aspects. We did develop a basic software prototype but decided to outsource most of it. We needed a backend, as well as 3 applications, including a web platform for pharmacies, an admin panel for managing devices and clients on our side, as well as a mobile app for caregivers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

LOVATA Group has developed our system using the MEAN stack (MongoDB, Node.js, and AngularJS). The applications were developed as mobile-friendly web versions.

Initially, we worked with 2 full-time developers, a designer, and a project manager from LOVATA Group. At the moment, we're only working with 1 developer, as well as with a designer on an as-needed basis.

How did you come to work with LOVATA Group?

I looked for different outsourcing groups, coming up with a list of 4. I found one of the companies on clutch.co. I spoke with all candidates, assigned them basic trial projects, and found LOVATA Group to be the best fit.

How much have you invested with LOVATA Group?

The cost of our project with LOVATA Group was within a $10,000 to $50,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with LOVATA Group in April 2016. Our initial scope was completed a few weeks ago. We're now working on bug fixes and making some change requests.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One of the key reasons for choosing LOVATA Group was that we needed a partner who could understand what we needed as a company, from a client and usability standpoint. LOVATA Group was involved in the design of the platform, suggesting several changes to our initial vision. They always wanted to make the best possible product in terms of user experience.

Our customers have appreciated the pharmacy application. We have received some feedback and change requests for the mobile app.

How did LOVATA Group perform from a project management standpoint?

It was easy to work with LOVATA Group. Most of the work was completed on time, based on their estimates. It was easy for us to have follow-up meetings and convey what we wanted to LOVATA Group. We tracked tasks using Excel tables.

What did you find most impressive about LOVATA Group?

We don't have experience working with other groups of this kind, but I appreciated LOVATA Group's use of cutting-edge technology for all of our web development, including the latest versions of HTML and Node.js.

Are there any areas LOVATA Group could improve?

Some of our technology requires additional algorithms. LOVATA Group's programming wasn't the best in this regard.

We branched out our system initially, but we used the same database for everything. We've come to need multiple databases, including a staging one. This probably should have been done from the beginning, in order to help us avoid some current issues.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Bravecreation is a visual design agency. I am the principal owner and creative director of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with LOVATA GROUP?

We were working on a corporate website for a medical technology company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I was responsible for elaborating the site's architecture and design for both desktop and mobile. LOVATA GROUP developed our site using HTML, CSS, SAS and JavaScript on the front-end. We are using the October CMS [content management system] on the backend.

I estimate that LOVATA GROUP assigned a team of 2-3 developers for our project. I mostly worked with their project manager.

How much have you invested with LOVATA GROUP?

The cost of our project with LOVATA GROUP was between $10,000 and $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with LOVATA GROUP in August 2015. Our project has been completed, but LOVATA GROUP is still offering technical support for the site.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

LOVATA GROUP was very responsive and available. They worked on time and on budget. I was happy to act as the project manager between LOVATA GROUP and our client, who was basically amazed by the work.

How did LOVATA GROUP perform from a project management standpoint?

I acted as the point person between the client and LOVATA GROUP, and have worked directly with their project manager. There is a language barrier in the case of the team, but LOVATA GROUP's project manager is well-spoken. We mainly communicated with LOVATA via Skype.

What did you find most impressive about LOVATA GROUP?

LOVATA GROUP thought out every task that I assigned to them, rather than diving into the work and discovering that it was a dead-end. LOVATA GROUP evaluated the functionalities which I was asking of them, as well as the technologies which needed to be used. I've worked with other companies overseas which literally did everything that was asked of them, even if it was wrong. This created problems down the road and made me wonder if there was a thinking person on their end.

Are there any areas LOVATA GROUP could improve?

Payments can be tricky sometimes because of issues with wiring money and the laws on LOVATA GROUP's end. Everything else has been smooth.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Product owner of 4Partners

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

4Partners is a WW dropshipping service provider

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire LOVATA sp. z o.o. to accomplish?

• 4partners is a dropshipping service provider for various e-commerce platforms. Our goal was to enter the Shopify platform to expand our presence.

SOLUTION

How did you find LOVATA sp. z o.o.?

• Referral
• Other

Why did you select LOVATA sp. z o.o. over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from LOVATA sp. z o.o. were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We aimed to create an app based on Shopify and 4Partners APIs that allows merchants to sell over 2 million products worldwide without worrying about fulfillment and logistics. LOVATA developed a web application on Laravel Framework for us, configured the hardware and software environment, and provided project monitoring.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We just released it to the public this month. So, let's see how it will work! We've got high expectations!

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

Some times they don't meet deadlines, but mostly they meet. Ther's no problem here.

What was your primary form of communication with LOVATA sp. z o.o.?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

These guys show flexibility in dealing with challenges and are responsible for their commitments, even if they underestimated the work!

Are there any areas for improvement or something LOVATA sp. z o.o. could have done differently?

It might be worth a little bit to improve communication. They executed the tasks without any significant issues.