Order Group

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Cage, a company that helps customers develop products to reduce development time. We work from the initiation of an idea through the concept phase and into the building of the technology.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Order Group?

We needed a team to help us develop a control system for a renewable energy power plant for one of our customers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Based on the workshops we did with our customer, the Order Group team collaboratively created a custom control system. They developed the Cloud backend, as well as the frontend. They created graphical, and user design.

The team used AWS with multiple accounts. For the backend, they used Python and Go Language. React was used for the frontend.

They also developed some services for the Linux-run gateway. They used libraries from AWS to read the AWS backend, and developed the services in C++ and Python, primarily.

What is the team composition?

The team consists of three people: Karol (Co-Owner & Head of Development), who worked on the UI and the customer journey; Arek (Backend Developer); and Maciej (CTO & Co-Founder), who is part of the team as a full-stack developer. We also worked with Dmitri (Backend Developer) for a bit.

How did you come to work with Order Group?

I’ve known them for a long time, and they were the best fit out of the companies we considered. They grasped the scope of the project and were willing to do a more flexible payment arrangement. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $150,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in June 2017, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They are senior software developers with a good concept of professional system development. For example, we said that we wanted to increase test coverage of the code produced, and they did just that with no further explanation. 

They helped us develop and establish an Agile method working in two-week sprints for our customer. Order Group is supportive and flexible, delivering high-quality results. The system is still in proof of concept, so there is no actual user feedback, but the internal feedback has been positive.

How did Order Group perform from a project management standpoint?

We set quarterly milestones, broken down into smaller epics, and further broken down into stories to be taken into sprints. We worked in an Agile mindset, with Scrum sprints. They have a very high completion grade consistently delivering what they take on. It’s impressive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are above average in their flexibility, trying out a business model that was unknown to them, supporting our way of working, and delivering efficiently. We trust them, and we have open communication.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a medical doctor at Universitätsmedizin Magdeburg

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Order Group, and what were your goals?

mapping and digitization of the internal work processes of the clinic, searching for solutions for the organizational chaos inside the hospital, dedicated tools for therapy planning and communication with the patient, medical product, DiGA

SOLUTION

How did you select Order Group and what were the deciding factors?

previous projects and professional first contact with the client

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

software life cycle slightly conform with ISO 13485 - procedures

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

A perfectly selected and well-coordinated working group consisting of a Manager, front / end and back end developer, user-experience architect and others (7 employees).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Almost all requirements were met
• Analysis of the documentation and the workflows used by an internationally experienced team of experts from Heidelberg (DE) has confirmed the work quality of the project
• The future cooperation also on even more embitioned projects is welcome

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

everything digitized, no time gaps, immediate availability, always targeted solutions

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

The latest technological solutions combined with high-quality service while minimizing formalities. This combination makes OrderGroup a more attractive partner than the established companies in the DACH region, especially for disruptive ideas.

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

Should be certified according to DIN ISO and start a close cooperation with a company specialized in IT security.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company delivers IT solutions and business consulting to Small and Medium Enterprises, mostly focusing on FMCG industry. We have the opportunity to work with wholesalers, retailers, as well as manufacturers. I am a CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Order Group ?

We have found an opportunity to enter a tobacco industry by creating comprehensive solution for tracking tobacco products in order to meet European Union directive requirements. My company took care of business analysis and testing while Order Group was involved in developing IT system.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal was to create a system which has a mobile app fot the end users and a backend layer which will be connected with European Union repository and will allow system administrators to manage company data and all the request. The solution had to be reliable and fast since end users will be conducting hundreds of operations daily and this led us to choosing Django as a backend platform and android for mobile app. It is worth to mention that we had less than 2 months to roll out the MVP for production.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Order Group was recommended by a friend of mine. I considered other 2 vendors, but since the deadline to go production was very strict and I had a strong testimonials, I decided to go with Order Group. It is worth to mention that we had very professional and promising contact since the beginning, and this also helped me to make my decision quick.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Based on business and functional analysis prepared by my company, Order Group designed mockups of frontend which we tweaked in. That in a short period of time(1.5 months) the group of programmers developed MVP which, after some iterations of fixes was rolled out into production. Than we focused on adding some other functionalities in next sprints and implement changes based on end users feedback.

What was the team composition?

The project had about 5 people, including project manager, full stack developers, analysts and graphic designers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We successfully managed to implement my product to more that 10 companies and already received a very positive feedback. This resulted in requests for some additional modules which we are already implementing together with Order Group.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Since the team was working in scrum, I had the reports after each sprint. We also had a calls and face to face meetings set in order to discuss core aspects of the solution. I feel that the team was highly motivated to meet the deadlines and deliver each part of the solution on time.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their ability to meet the deadline was impressive, even if they are extremely short is outstanding in Order Group. They seem to be specialists in delivering projects in a short period of time. I would also mention good communication with project manager so that I was monitored about the progress. I rate the programming skills of the team which is working on my project very highly. Having a programmer background myself, I feel I could easily recognise the quality of the code which in my case resulted in only a few minor bugs.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There is very little they can improve. Pricing seems to be competitive and the communication in the project was more than satisfactory. The only thing I should mention was the deadlines for delivering the next stages of the app which could be a little shorter, but comparing to other software houses which I had the opportunity to work with, Order Group is still on pole position so the overall experience is great.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a co-founder and the COO of AP-Tech.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Order Group?

We needed help developing a navigation app for an ambulance organization and their helicopters.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They were responsible for the entire development, UI design, and some analysis on how to apply certain requirements we gave them. We provided some wireframes and documentation, and the app was built natively for iOS and Windows devices. We don’t have an Android version at this point. The app is available on PC as well, but it’s mainly used on tablets. It can be used in the field for air navigation.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with as many as ten and as few as four people, including a dedicated project manager, depending on changing project requirements.

How did you come to work with Order Group?

I was referred to them by a friend.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from July 2016 until December 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of BizBot, a B2B technology company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Order Group?

We're creating a platform to automate a lot of the administration processes inherent to running a company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We wanted to build a web application that’s optimized for mobile use. We provided them some simple sketches in Microsoft Paint and in our own words. Then, they designed a clickable, live version in InVision that we could show to investors. They focused on the UI/UX while we had other people doing the front- and backend. They also helped us plan new features, and narrow down the scope of the project, which let us work efficiently, as a cohesive team.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two designers.

How did you come to work with Order Group?

They were referred to us by other companies here in Norway.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since May 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve gotten great feedback regarding the design. We had a very nice clickable demo that didn’t just look like a PowerPoint presentation.

How did Order Group perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated using Slack and Skype, and they managed the project using Jira.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They understand what we’re doing, and if they don’t, they ask. We’re able to avoid unnecessary costs and lost time because of the sketching and scoping we did in the beginning.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would have been easier to work together if they were in our office.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You need to be specific with and help them to understand what you want. Just telling them to build something isn’t helpful.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the chief technology officer at a start-up called Matura w Głowie. We offer new education-technology solutions to augment students’ self-study.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Order Group?

We wanted to develop a digital math curriculum based on AI algorithms that could generate tests depending on the user’s learning ability. We needed resources to build the software’s backend and create the UX/UI.

What were your goals for this project?

Our platform targeted high school students, so we needed a responsive, user-friendly design that worked on laptops and tablets. We also wanted the backend algorithms to process quickly to reduce loading times.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We sought companies that had experience developing creative projects rather than large ones. The ideal company would be open to new challenges, involved with our team, and flexible. After researching, we chose Order Group for their backend and UX experience.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Initially, we divided the project into periodic scrum sprints to organize project tasks. Their team led the development and UX design, providing consultation as needed. Their key tasks included building report and math expression modules, constructing an administrative panel to manage tests, and developing algorithms that could assess a student’s comprehension and select level-appropriate math problems.

What was the team composition?

We primarily worked with three people: a developer, an analyst, and a project manager, who served as our main point of contact.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Users can see our project on our website.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We met periodically with all three members and used ActiveCollab to manage tasks. Overall, we were pleased with the collaboration.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They’re not afraid of new challenges even if they seem difficult.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

We have no complaints.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

WE are pet food producer and distributor

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Order Group?

to service IT support for mobile aplication

SOLUTION

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

From recommendation

Describe the project in detail and walk through their service package.

They keep apps working as before. Developed the adjustments into the system

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

always 1 sometimes 2

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everything about Order Group was good from my perspective.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

very

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

Knowledge and attitude of Michał

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

system to monitoring ticket available for customer

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the internal IT systems manager and former customer support manager

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Order Group, and what were your goals?

We had a need to create a complex system to manage:

• ordering licenses for SaaS based android app
• customers and resellers data base
• invoicing and billing
• integration with PayU and Comarch Optima ERP

SOLUTION

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

Company were found by our hired consulting company which helped us with project managment

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

They designed a system described by our external project manager who created specification based on our need and expectations. Whole project are based on Scrum springs and software is made inDjango Framework

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

1 developer, 1 scrum master, 1 AWS server specialist + our internal tester

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Results were beoynd our expectation. Everything were made on time or even earlier

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

Project managment were better than my previous experiences - developer and scrum master has excellent communication skills and our cooperation is just perfect. It's a pleassure to work with this company

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

I appreciate their flexibility and supportiveness.

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

No