New Digital Street

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CEO of INCAT which is a solutions provider for the banking and fintech industries. Our main product is BOS (BOS - Banking Operation System) - a modern account and financial transaction management system. INCAT’s main clients are banks, challenger banks, fintech, and other financial institutions.

For what projects/services did your company hire New Digital Street?

INCAT has acquired a new banking client from Saudi Arabia for the BOS solution, which is the company's main product and will be implemented and used as a core transactional system for the new digital bank.

INCAT also faced the task of providing IT specialists (with the competencies of Java, Android, iOS, QA automation) for the implementation of the complementary systems for this client. Our client did not have adequate resources to cover the plans and required deadlines.

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

We received a referral to New Digital Street from another satisfied customer. We arranged an intro call and we knew, it will work. Professional approach, very experienced, they know their job well and they are great people too. It seems they love what they do.

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

New Digital Street was responsible for building the software development teams working remotely for a Bank in Saudi Arabia. They had to work under high pressure, the timelines were tight. All the team members had to be fluent in English, had banking experience in complex IT projects.

The first step of New Digital Street was to gather the detailed requirements - a tech-stack required by a Saudi Arabian bank. After reviewing the requirements, we started the process of CV screening and selecting appropriate candidates with banking experience and security basics. The consultants we recommended for the projects worked for Polish and foreign banks.

The candidates' CVs were sent to the client and we appointed technical interview sessions. After a technical interview, the bank chose the best candidates for its needs. From New Digital Street there were chosen three teams: iOS, Android, and Java backend. Currently, NDS engagement is 15 specialist’s team.

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

We convinced NDS to go into that project although we didn’t know the client well enough. It was a huge risk, we already have invested a lot in that client, we did a lot of work to win this deal. NDS started to build teams even without an official contract with INCAT.

They've shown huge engagement and they're not afraid of investing in a valuable client. After a couple of months, we knew it was worth doing it. Thanks to those actions made upfront we could approach the client complex and with great timing.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They do their job well. They are very responsive, communicate each change in the project, whether it’s good or bad, we always know it immediately and have a possibility to take appropriate actions.

I believe that a good partner can be known by not how they manage during the good times but how they manage when there are some turbulences in the project and how they address the unpredictable challenges and changes.

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

Professionalism, knowledge about the IT recruitment market, a great network of candidates.

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

Well, until now I didn’t find any example of such a business area they could improve. On the contrary, they usually do something more than we expect.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Little Room, an e-commerce company that offers wooden furniture and accessories for children’s rooms all over Europe. We’ve recently entered Amazon, so every month we’re offering our products and services to more and more countries.

What challenge were you trying to address with New Digital Street?

In the very beginning, we only sold our products in our physical store based in Warsaw. When the Covid-19 pandemic came around, we struggled to sell offline, so we decided to quickly move to an online business model. We sort of had an online shop, but we decided to put more money into marketing, online sales, and all that the technology would require. We reached out to New Digital Street for an e-commerce solution.

What was the scope of their involvement?

After choosing New Digital Street’s proposal, we began with a workshop that lasted about 2–3 days. During this phase, we met with their UI/UX design experts and business and technical analysts. They wrote down all the specifications that we needed because at that point, I wasn’t exactly sure of what we should have. They helped us filter our expectations and divided the work into phases, starting with an MVP. 

We chose the features we wanted to include and the development started. We had constant contact with New Digital Street’s representatives and held demos of the product which allowed us to see all the advances that were being made. Two to three months later they had the MVP ready for testing.

We were fine-tuning the solution the whole time. In the end, we ran some tests internally and with a select few customers, which took us about two weeks. We did the last few tweaks that resulted from the testing and put the website on the market. The website has had no issues as of today and we continue to collaborate with New Digital Street on a monthly basis for changing or adding small features.

What is the team composition?

At the very beginning, we were dealing with their sales representatives and managing directors. During the workshop phase, we communicated with their Scrum master and project manager as well as three other people which included a UX designer, an analyst, and an architect responsible for the whole technology. 

Later on, we only spoke with the project manager as he dealt with everyone else involved. There were five people working on the project during the development phase.

How did you come to work with New Digital Street?

I have no connections in the technology space, so I just googled companies based out of Warsaw with experience in e-commerce. When the pandemic came around, all activities were being done remotely. That’s when I realized that it wasn’t that important for the service provider to be in the same city and that there would be many advantages to cooperating via Hangouts, Skype, and other tools, while still having control over the project.

New Digital Street was among the first ones to get in touch with us really fast. We sent several RFPs and negotiated for some time with a couple of companies. Finally, we chose New Digital Street because  their proposal was the most complete. We also shared an interest in sports cars with their sales guys, so that was probably a second factor in choosing them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between €25,000–€40,000 (approximately $30,000–$49,000 USD) on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around February–March 2020. The development phase kicked off around the middle of the year and our collaboration continues to this day.

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

Before this project, our simple e-commerce solution was generating about 5%–8% of our sales. After implementing what New Digital Street worked on, our e-commerce platform has become our main source of revenue. About 50% of our sales come from our website, 28%–30% from Amazon, and the rest from our physical store. 

Our Amazon page is also growing quite rapidly but we mainly sell through our e-commerce page. The trends are completely different from what they were at the beginning.

How did New Digital Street perform from a project management standpoint?

During development, their team was flexible enough to implement all our changes.

Communication was at a very high level. We used an invoicing system as well as JIRA. It was a bit complicated for us to use at the beginning, but they took the time to explain how it works and showed us where to find the tasks that are being worked on or that are completed. With JIRA, we could follow up on everything they were doing. We also communicated through Confluence.

What did you find most impressive about them?

This has been our biggest project and we’re happy that it exceeded our expectations. When their representative asked us to provide this review, we were glad to help because we know how important it is to them. Whenever I buy a good product or service, I’m very willing to share my opinion with others to help them make a good choice. It’s always good to have a reliable opinion out there.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If I could change anything, it would be the time it took to have the project delivered. However, I believe they did what they could in the shortest possible time. When we were looking for the right partner, one of their competitors promised to deliver a solution in about one or two months, but that was because they were using existing modules and it wouldn’t be as customized as we would’ve liked.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They take their client’s hand, walking with them through the whole process. Everything is communicated really well and translated into terms that are easy to understand. This digital revolution for us wasn’t as tough as we thought it would be.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m CEO of 4soft - Blockchain and end-to-end product development company. We are an IT company with a focus on several digital services: blockchain development, digital transformation, data processing, and AI and AWS consulting.

For what projects/services did your company hire New Digital Street?

We have a client from the UK that required Staff Augmentation services. The challenge for the client is to grow the IT department with experienced consultants and accelerate expansion on present markets.

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

New Digital Street established a known brand for Staff Augmentation services. We were in touch with them for a while and decided to proceed further.

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

The goal for New Digital Street is to build and offer experienced software engineers with specific tech and communication skillsets. New Digital Street has guided us on how to navigate through the selection of the best candidates and communication with the client. We can rely on NDS with professionalism and full engagement.

Describe the recruitment process in detail.

Very high level one, the team delivered by them is very effective and has broad experience.

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

Currently, they have delivered 12 consultants mainly within the field of DevOps, Java, and Php.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Their project management has gone smoothly. New Digital Street helped us to manage the process of building the team with the end client. They have sent us guidelines with the best practices based on their experience.

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

Communication, engagement, and experienced consultants.

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

Not at the moment.

Please describe your company and your position there.

My name is Lukas and I’m Co-founder and General Partner of Pointer Capital which is investing in new cutting-edge projects from fintech, crypto/blockchain, collaborative economy, marketplaces, and charter cities/private prosperity cities space. I have helped over 100 companies to raise $250M from 130,000 investors.

For what projects/services did your company hire New Digital Street?

We have invested into the new fintech company and they asked us to recommend a solid software development provider. They had a tech team at the organization, but were looking to extend the team with new members. The challenge was to deliver IT consultants with fintech experience in reasonable time. We were looking for a long-term and trusted partner.

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

We’ve heard that New Digital Street specializes in banking/fintech and e-commerce. We simply reach out to them and they quickly respond and guide us how we can extend our IT team together. We appreciate their fluent communication and understanding our needs.

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

New Digital Street was responsible for building the software development teams working remotely from Poland for our portfolio company. All the team members have to be fluent in English and have banking experience. We sent them tech requirements and just after a few days we had a bunch of CVs on our table.

We have picked the best fitting candidates to our tech stack, but also soft skill played a crucial role. Tech calls went smoothly. We appreciate understanding of our needs and sending by NDS only developers tailored to our needs.

Describe the recruitment process in detail.

New Digital Street has a huge capacity of talented developers. Our needs were to hire 3 React and 6 .NET developers.

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

We have successfully delivered milestones of the project faster than we expected. Surely, we would not be able to achieve them without help from NDS.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

From a project management standpoint, New Digital Street did well. They helped us to set up tech calls, advice on them, communication calls etc. The consultants are very responsive and are willing to meet our team every month.

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

We like the approach “One man, one project”. Unlike other companies, NDS ensures that their IT consultants are assigned and fully committed only to our project.

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

Hard to say. Everything is at its highest level.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am CIO of PayEye company, which allows biometric payments based on Iris. First working solution in the World.

For what projects/services did your company hire New Digital Street?

We needed top-notch services in the area of UX/UI to fulfill our marketing strategy. Our goal was to cope with many UX and UI challenges with our innovative product. Because we are constantly on a path of growth and maturation, our needs sometimes change dynamically, and a partner like NDS is great at keeping up with those changes.

How did you select this vendor?

We contacted a number of companies and freelancers that offer UX and UI services. The deciding factors were: experience, meeting with UX/UI lead, and excellent understanding of our needs.

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

Scope of work and challenges: 

• Designing changes to an existing version of an application
• Working on and introducing the PayEye 2.0 mobile app
• Designing changes to the POS interface
• Taking into account the new PayEye sales strategy
• Development of low-fi and high-fi prototypes
• Creating the new mobile applications and web applications in the new approach

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

My team worked directly with UX Lead designer and graphic designer

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

We were looking for the right partner for a long time. NDS became our long-term partner. They helped us to achieve our goals - design a new version of look&feel and later create the UI of the new products

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Clear communication, delivery on time, seamless remote operation

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

The result of the product they delivered makes us feel more like a fintech company.

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

No

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of Pora na Pola - e-grocery store with natural food from local farmers

For what projects/services did your company hire New Digital Street?

UX/UI services. Our goal was to solve several UX/UI challenges on our e-grocery platform.

How did you select this vendor?

We contacted a number of companies that offer similar services. The deciding factors were:
- Interview with UX/UI lead
- Experience
- Excellent understanding of our needs

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

Scope of work and challenges:

- Optimizing the existing shopping path including a subscription solution in the process (prepaid purchases)
- Taking into account the local nature of suppliers
- Developing a coherent architecture of a new store
- Development of a low-fi prototype
- Development of UI libraries (with the intention of extending to the design system).

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

2. UX Lead designer and graphic designer

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

We thought about short-term cooperation, but deliverables exceeded our expectations.  NDS became our long-term partner. They helped us to achieve our goals - design a new shopping path (UX), appearance and operation of the store for the planned implementation of the new version.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Clear communication, delivery on time.

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

The delivered product design gives us an advantage over competitors.

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

No.

Please describe your company and your position there.

CIO

For what projects/services did your company hire New Digital Street, and what were your goals?

Development, Project Management and IT Analysis for several internet and mobile banking initiatives.

How did you select New Digital Street and what were the deciding factors?

During RFP process. Costs level, professional stuff, fast recruitment process

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

Full project cycle. From requirements gathering to development. Work in Agile project organisation.

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

1-10 beside internet similar team

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

Not applicable (project done in time and scope).

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

Professional, opened, honest. Recurring and often communication with stakeholders.

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

They are 100% involved in the project.

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

No