Neginet

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Digital Product Manager at a D2C ecommerce company in the consumer products industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Neginet?

We worked with Neginet to augment our team with software engineers.

What were your goals for this project?

Bring on two full time software engineers to develop our ecommerce website.

SOLUTION

How did you select Neginet?

We evaluated several firms and went with Neginet because the founders/executives of the company are very involved in communicating with clients and the day-to-day operations. This meant that we got a lot of attention and support from the Neginet team. Additionally, we liked how transparent they were about process, costs, and expectations for the engineers we hired.

Describe the project in detail.

This is a full-time staff augmentation arrangement so the engineers that we work with through Neginet have worked on and completed many projects for us including a migration to Shopify, website redesign, rebuild of SMS platform using Twilio and much more.

What was the team composition?

Two software engineers, one Team Lead and one Senior Engineer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

A marked reduction in digital product complaints from customers. High velocity of ticket completion.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was very effective. We managed the day-to-day tasks of the software engineers as if they were full-time members of our team.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The quality of engineers they were able to find has been phenomenal. We really feel that the contractors we've hired are full members of our team. They're passionate and interested in our work and are truly committed to the success of our project.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Executive Production Manager of a Corporate Events Planning enterprise, delivering projects for many Fortune 500 companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Neginet?

Our company information architecture and infrastructure was server based. With time, that started to generate bottlenecks and performance issues so we decided to migrate to a Cloud based strategy that allowed us to quickly scale our growing business.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to migrate all of our documents and users management systems to the Cloud before the 2nd quarter of 2016.

SOLUTION

How did you select Neginet?

We had several meetings with them and asked them to provide a Proposal containing a roadmap, deadlines and engineers resumes who would be in charge of the implementation. We picked them among many other providers because of their responsiveness, flexibility and culture fit with our values.

Describe the project in detail.

Once we selected this provider, they assigned 2 engineers to take care of the implementation. They made a Discovery in order to gather all the requirements and needs and then defined a plan which they followed step by step. We always had visibility about their progress and blockers.

What was the team composition?

The team consisted of 2 CloudOps architects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within 2 months, we were able to fulfil our goal of migrating all of our companies documents and user management from a server-based architecture to a cloud based one.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The account manager constantly gave us visibility about the progress of the project and any blockers the team might have. We had regular meetings and a final presentation to close the project. They followed Agile methodologies and this made the workflow quite effective. The communication was seamless.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were blown away by the speed of the company. They went from zero to delivering a project in less than 2 months, always keeping a high bar of quality but at the same time being flexible and responsive to our last-minute changes.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not really. They were great and we would recommend anyone to work with them!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the co-founder and CTO of Cribl.io. We are an observability pipeline, and we develop enterprise software.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Neginet?

We were looking for developers in a range of senior and principal roles to serve as long-term freelance members of our team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We asked them to find us developers for Node.JS to help us build the specific product that we were working on. The people that they provided would work with us to build backend systems as well as the UI to go along with that.

The system that they are working on is a streams processing engine that processes large amounts of data every day, so it requires quite a bit of systems engineering in the background.

What was the team composition?

So far we have brought on one developer through them, and we’re interviewing three more for a few different positions. The goal is for them to ramp up to placing around 1–2 developers with us per quarter, so hopefully, by the end of the year, we’ll have close to six in total.

How did you come to work with Neginet?

We knew that we wanted to look outside the US but somewhere that overlapped in terms of time zone and actually initially came across Neginet on Clutch. We got a few introductions in Columbia and Mexico, but just found that the candidates in Argentina were a better fit for our company in particular, so we decided to move forward with them.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, our investment with one developer has been about $7,000–$8,000 per month, or close to $30,000 in total. We’re looking to significantly increase that as we hire more candidates before the end of the year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the partnership around February 2020. It took a little bit of time to get to the right profile of person that we were looking for, but they’re now delivering really highly qualified individuals and we are continuing to work together with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The developer that we’ve been working with so far has been an awesome match for us, both in terms of the quality of the work as well as in culture fit with the rest of our team. All of the onboarding has gone extremely well so far as well.

Our interactions with Neginet have been consistently extremely professional and open, as well as focused on the best interests of our team in hand, rather than just trying to funnel as many potential candidates down the pipeline as they can.

How did Neginet perform from a project management standpoint?

We expressly asked them not to handle any of the project management with the developers themselves because we wanted to integrate them fully into our team. That said, all of their communication and documentation with us regarding the candidates and that part of the project has been excellent.

On top of that, any time we ask them to meet about anything, they are incredibly accommodating in finding a time that works for us without any difficulty, whether or not there is any difficulty posed by the slight time zone difference.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have really excelled in terms of their openness and honesty about how the hiring process is going. It’s clear they are client-first at all times in their attitude, and they’ve made a lot of strides in homing in on the kind of person we look for while also bringing more people to our attention.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I really can’t think of anything I wish we were doing differently in the partnership.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a global talent analyst at ITX, a global software development company. I am in contact with agencies that we use to recruit outside the US.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Neginet?

We needed to quickly hire people to create a new team of IT professionals for one of our clients. Our HR department was not prepared to hire that many people, so we asked Neginet to help us with the process.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They completed the outsourcing and recruitment process and then sent us candidates for technical interviews. Once we decide to hire a candidate, we started outsourcing with Neginet with the option to convert that contractor into an ITX contract. We focused on developers and QA resources.

What is the team composition?

We’ve hired at least 10 team members through Neginet.

How did you come to work with Neginet?

We met with them and felt that we were aligned, not only in the way that they work but also in the cultural aspects of both companies.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in 2016 and they continue to provide support.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They have provided us with a great experience and helped us achieve our goals. We’ve had a great experience with the candidates we have hired through them. Almost every person that they found for us is still working with us.

They have been very flexible in adapting to our needs and offering solutions that would be successful for both companies. We’ve worked closely together and they understand our culture as well as our expectations. We like working with them and still contact them when we need help.

How did Neginet perform from a project management standpoint?

It has been a great experience. They’re good at meeting deadlines and following project compliance. Communication with them has been really easy. We mostly use Skype, Google Hangouts, or WhatsApp.

They’ve helped us when we needed them the most, and we know we can rely on them. Any time there has been an issue or problem with a position or anything, they have always been open to fixing it and trying to help us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are reliable and always try to understand what we need. They are committed to finding the best candidates for us for each position and committed to helping us achieve our goals. When we interview candidates that come from Neginet, we know they will be a good fit. If the first candidates aren’t the right fit, they don’t waste any time finding someone better.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Some positions are difficult to fill, so the number of candidates that we can reach is sometimes not enough, but I don’t think that is specific to them, and rather the amount of talent in our market.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CTO of NexGenT, a learning platform featuring real-world tech training. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Neginet?

We hired them to develop our online learning platform. 

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to have a backend developer who can constantly improve our product.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We heard of Neginet from another company that’s using them. After a basic interview and a short coding interview, we decided to work with one of their developers.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They provided us a backend engineer as we requested.  

What was the team composition?

Neginet’s backend developer worked with five developers from our team. The first backend developer they assigned didn't do well, so we asked for a replacement within a month. Neginet gave us a couple of candidates, and the new developer has been doing great. As a result, we decided to hire him directly.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The good thing about Neginet is that they offered an affordable option for us to convert their member into our direct hire a year after the initial contract. Another good thing was they didn't charge us for the period they were looking for a replacement.  

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We interacted with the developer directly, so we didn't really have any management problems. The developer from Neginet communicated well and was familiar with the tools we're using like Slack, GitHub, Google Hangouts, and ZenHub.

Neginet would also check in with us regularly to see if there were any issues. While we didn't have any issues after the replacement, it was good to hear from them regularly.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was impressed with their sense of responsibility. While we needed to replace the first developer, we were happy with the smooth replacement process. In my opinion, the quality of developers from development shops would also depend on the individual.

Are there any areas for improvement?

It would be definitely better if the price was lower, but I think their price is average for the industry.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of Clayton Park LLC, a company that specializes in designing and implementing custom software solutions for venture capital, private equity, and family offices.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Neginet?

I hired Neginet to provide end-to-end development of custom applications and tools.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to create a centralized hub of investment data that enables teams to not only manage their current portfolio but also to use analytics to make better investment decisions.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I selected this vendor based on a referral from a trusted contact.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Neginet has tackled a variety of projects, including a custom Salesforce solution, a custom Box application, a mobile app, and various financial analytics tools. They also assist with QA, deployment, and maintenance for each initiative.

What was the team composition?

The team currently consists of five resources for backend, frontend, and full-stack development. We also work with QA specialists.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Previously, we managed our workflows with various spreadsheets and databases. Now, almost all of them are integrated and centralized into a single system.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We have multiple calls per week along with a dedicated Slack channel for daily correspondence. The team reaches out to me regularly with questions and recommendations that we can address in real time.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We’re impressed with the people—every person on the Neginet team is fantastic. Given how long we've worked together, I never question who is working on what or how much I should be involved. At this point, they are as much a part of my team as anyone we work with locally.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, nothing comes to mind. The team has been everything I could have hoped for.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

The company was a YC-backed Startup that created the first smart luggage and sold it to customers all over the world. We raised $2M through Indiegogo to build the first model of the carry-on, which eventually grew to become a family of suitcases. The company was sold to Travel Pro in 2018.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Neginet?

Before hiring Neginet, our ecommerce site was built inhouse and it did not allow multiple stocks, currencies, nor languages. We then decided to migrate to a more stable and proven ecommerce solution like Magento but it became extremely hard for us to find good reliable and affordable developers to help us with it. We were lucky to find a provider like Neginet, that helped us to grow our team with 3 external full time Magento developers.

What were your goals for this project?

The new ecommerce site had to allow multiple stocks from our different warehouses spread across the world, and should also enable multiple currencies, payment methods, tax rules and be multi-site (and therefore multi-language) to allow different visitors from different countries see different products that were available and specifics to their locations. We also wanted the site to have a personalized look and feel and to be seamless and neat. We did not want to use the same template that other websites and had our designers create a brand new unique UI for us, which was templated and integrated with Magento by Neginet.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Our Product Manager knew their founders from working together in another company in the past and referred them to us. We compared their rates, experience and size to other vendors and decided to go with them. They worked in the EST timezone, presented candidates with awesome resumes and experience and asked for competitive rates. On top of that, we spoke to the founders on a monthly basis, and they were always flexible to changes we needed to make to our roadmap.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They deployed a Magento instance into AWS from the scratch and did all the initial setup required to have an ecommerce site up and running. Then they templated the mockups our designers provided them with and made sure the user experience matched our expectations. This required some iterations as we discovered that many of the animations or effects had not been defined by us in the first place, so they were open to changes and proactively made suggestions or gave us ideas to use UI elements we had not even considered.

What was the team composition?

The project consisted on hiring 3 Senior developers (2 more backend focused, 1 more frontend focused). On top of that, there was always a Project Manager that was always helping sort things out and removing bottlenecks or unblocking their tasks.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Within 3 months, the site was published and working and after that they started working on improving SEO, latency and adding new features that were specific to our business and product and adding more value than we had originally expected within the window of time set at the beginning of the project.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project management was quite effective as their PM would always join our scrum sessions and would also contact us out of the blue to see if we had any feedback or complaints about the project progress.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Clients have full ownership of their product, so no time is lost discussing change requirements or re estimating budgets or scope. These developers felt like OUR developers and they perfectly fitted our company culture. The project management was also a complement but did not become a bottleneck, as we had direct contact with the developers and were able to assign tasks to them directly without any man in the middle.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There is not much room for improvement as they fulfilled all of our expectations and even more!