What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
The best feedback I can give is that our client extended their license for the application for 2018. Our model is to sell the application and provide updates for a one-year period. After that time, the user needs to buy the product again. I’m very happy about the fact that our client extended the license. The app is also being used by the Polish air force as well, for their own goals and missions.
How did Order Group perform from a project management standpoint?
We mainly communicated over email, but we also scheduled weekly or biweekly meetings, during which we explained our requirements and discussed results. We participated in Skype sessions and they gave us a tool that allowed us to track the cost, time, and effort being spent on the project. They reported each and every hour of their work, linking it to the specific tasks they were working on. We had deep insight into their allocation and chief control over how they were spending their time.
We’ve generally worked in a time-and-materials and Agile manner, discussing requirements, mockups, and designs. Rather than providing a whole specification in the beginning, we discussed each function sprint-by-sprint, in terms of what needed to be delivered.
What did you find most impressive about them?
I appreciated the fact that they didn’t blindly agree to all the requirements we gave them. They tried to provide their own ideas on what we could improve and how we would do it. If they felt that one of our choices wasn’t optimal, they pointed that out.
They had to adapt to a market they hadn’t worked in before, one with specific regulations and requirements. They had to adapt to this quickly, given that we had some hard timelines for this project. We’re very happy that they followed our direction. We also deal with the aviation and airports markets, so they will be working on additional projects for us. They are great in terms of cost, and I was amazed by their work.
Are there any areas they could improve?
There’s a need for constant learning in our area. Even we—as the investors in this project—learned a lot. Had they been as experienced in the beginning of the project as they are now, we may have done some things differently.
We’re very happy in general though, since we also had a lack of knowledge in some areas. Right now, we’re giving them another piece of work for improving our product, based on customer feedback. We’re both more experienced, so we can now produce higher-quality work.
The end-client renewed their purchase for another year. Order Group provided extensive documentation of their resource allotment and effectively managed sprint timelines. They used their development knowledge to collaborate on and improve requirements, which led to high-quality deliverables.