Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?
Many people looking to hire outsourced companies have made the same mistake as myself, namely exporting whole projects to the company and expecting to receive the same quality level as an in-house job. In reality, working with internal developers allows you to state exactly what you want. In order to have success with an outsourced company, they must be managed as if they were in-house resources. They may save money and offer a more diverse selection of developers, but they won't save time. I don't have access to a wide selection of developers working for a reasonable price on the local market.
Another consideration is that an externalized project needs to be planned much better than an in-house one. Working with internal developers means that you can simply make general designs and send them to be worked on. If someone has a question, they can step into your office and ask it. When working with outsourced teams, interaction is harder, so everything needs to be planned well and everyone needs to know what their tasks are.
An advantage of working with an external developer is that I can use them for a variety of different projects. I've used MWDN for building a Magento website, but they could be working on a game for another client. On the opposite side, a developer working for Facebook's advertising platform for 10 years will only gather knowledge for their specific field. MWDN has wide knowledge on different technologies and have improved themselves alongside those platforms. I've seen this in action, and it has been a huge advantage to have access to people who are up-to-date on multiple skills.
How did MWDN perform from a project management standpoint?
I use Asana for project tracking and managing the code produced by MWDN. In the beginning, the process was not very clear, but we have refined it over time and settled on a workflow. Everyone knows what they have to do.
What did you find most impressive about MWDN?
From a business point of view, I've been very happy with MWDN. They provide quality people for my work. The other thing I've appreciated about MWDN is the personal approach. I plan to visit their headquarters next week, and I've come to know almost everyone in their company. I can go out socially with MWDN's team, and I feel that the people working there actually make the company what it is.
I've worked with other companies in Ukraine. They provided a good experience for the customer, but had a cold feel. After the work was done, everyone went to their corner and that was it. MWDN is completely different. I've become friends with their Chief Executive Officer, the owner, and many of the developers.
Are there any areas MWDN could improve?
MWDN should sell their services better to other clients, in order to reflect what I've said about them. Currently, from the outside, MWDN looks like a development company working for the medical field. They're a very good company, but they need to change their outside look and get more business. It may not be the best outcome for me, because I don't want another client to compete for my developers.
Since MDWN hired reliable and efficient developers, the company was able to launch the product on an accelerated schedule while reducing costs by 50%. The team's ability to find dependable talent, communicate clearly, and understand complex requirements made the partnership a success.