OTAKOYI

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a software company that develops video apps for the automotive and real estate market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire OTAKOYI?

We needed to revamp our customer invoicing system for our resellers. We were also looking for a couple of full time backend php developers for on-going projects and system support.

What were your goals for this project?

To completely revamp the customer invoicing system that we currently have and to have strong reliably team of developers to do additional projects and system support once OTAKOYI proved they were able to finish the invoicing project in time and within budget.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We went through YouTeam, an online outsourcing portal. We interviewed several companies and selected OTAKOYI after interviewing the developers that they were gonna provide for our project.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Our resellers use our app to capture videos automotive dealers and need to have an easy way to bill the dealers for their work. Our invoicing system allows them to easily create an invoice directly from our app and send it to the dealer after completing the job while they are onsite. OTAKOYI was hired to help us completely overhaul the invoicing system to make it more robust and more user friendly.

What was the team composition?

A project manager and two full developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our users, esp. the resellers using our app to capture video and then be able to bill their customers from the app has increased the adoption of additional resellers using the app for their invoicing needs. In addition, this new invoicing system has led to higher retention due to higher usage and better integration.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We have a project management call twice a week to review the tasks assigned to the developers. Each task is assigned a deadline for completion. The project is well organized and has therefore resulted in timely completion of the projects and within budget.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We've been very impressed by OTAKOYI. Their developers have been top notch so far. They are very knowledgeable and very technically proficient. In addition, unlike other development firms we've worked with, these developers think outside the box.

They make recommendations that we haven't thought about. On top of everything, having interacted with management we feel we can trust OTAKOYI as a company. We are looking forward to working with them for a long time to come as a trusted development firm for all our development needs.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We've thoroughly enjoyed working with OTAKOYI so far and have no complaints. The only one small issue is the time difference which makes it difficult to collaborate more closely.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

CTO - I manage all the technology initiatives and operations at the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire OTAKOYI?

Develop several web apps to streamline operations and reporting.

What were your goals for this project?

Making data accessible and useful. Helping Operations team correctly prioritize work. Streamline current data management processes

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were recommend by a business partner. We used them for a small project and they delivered ahead of schedule, and produced a product that exceeded our expectations. After the initial product, we contracted them to build several more web apps for us.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

1) Operations Dashboard - a page that summarizes current and scheduled work by employee, giving management a quick overview so we can identify issues (not enough work for an employee) and proactively work to remedy the situation 2) A Heat map showing amount of activity by region - helping hire and/or redirect current employees to service regions with higher volumes 3) An employee service locations map - showing areas covered by each employee, helping shift work to reduce employee drive time 4) A Portal where employees can get a quick overview of their overall work load, and communicate with the operations team.

What was the team composition?

Otakoyi provided a project manager, a designer, and 2 developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Tools Otakoyi developed are used daily to direct work done by the team. This visibility has helped increase worker productivity , and has led to significantly more work from the existing staff, as well as identifying areas we needed to hire additional staff.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Very effective communication using a combination of Slack, Email, and web conferences.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Primarily the speed in which they delivered quality software. We've also happy with their positive attitude and engineering excellence - their suggestions significantly improve the products we ask them to build.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None that I can think of. They're able to quickly deliver everything we ask.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of Ikedayama LLC.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire OTAKOYI?

We needed an efficient two-way flow of information between listed companies and investors, including both institutional and individual investors. So we were looking for someone with solid technical expertise to help us come up with a digital idea and its realization.

What were your goals for this project?

We decided to develop a progressive web application (PWA) - an app that works both on desktops and various mobile devices.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I was searching for Ukrainian outsourcing companies and my choice fell on OTAKOYI. I filled the contact application and got a response shortly after.

Describe the project in detail.

OTAKOYI covered everything connected with frontend and backend programming, as well as Development Operations and the app’s design. Besides, they consulted us as the development proceeded, sharing their professional experience and vision.

What was the team composition?

Currently, the full team consists of four people: one front-end developer and one back-end developer, a DevOps engineer, and a Project Manager. Previously, OTAKOYI also gave us their designer for some period of time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The issue of mobility and accessibility was a bottleneck for our business growth, and the OTAKOYI team came up with an effective solution. We received an app that offers our clients quick and easy access to all necessary information related to their funds.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We communicated via Slack and conducted calls once a week all along the development process. They never missed a milestone deadline without a valid reason and seemed to be highly organized and systematic when working.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The optimal price-quality ratio of services. We definitely got more bang for our buck. I like that they firmly adhere to our requirements while remaining flexible to changes from the initial instructions. They have a quick wit when something has to be improved.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The whole process could be faster. Though speed wasn’t our top priority, I think that if they broaden their talent pool and allocate more experts to projects, then their company and partners will only benefit.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of marketing for an online payment platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OTAKOYI?

We wanted to build a new website and create new designs for our white papers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They focused on frontend development for our new site. Since they created our white paper designs, we’ve also leaned on them to design and create banner ads for our site. It’s very easy to go to them to ask questions or for other design projects.

What is the team composition?

We communicated directly with a project manager who had a team of 5–8 people.

How did you come to work with OTAKOYI?

We’ve been working together for so long—I think someone recommended them to me.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $10,000–$12,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2016 and our project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everybody thinks the website looks great. OTAKOYI always listens to our requests and delivers what we need. We’re always happy with the designs, both aesthetically and technically.

How did OTAKOYI perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re always very responsive and stick to deadlines. They can’t give you a brand-new design overnight because good work takes time and they deliver good work. Their communication is always clear, and we normally contact them via email. However, they’re willing to use whatever platform is most convenient for the client.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They balance price, responsiveness, and quality very well. For anyone who has a modest budget and a realistic timeframe, they’ll deliver a quality product.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their concepts follow what we request very closely, but they could come up with a few crazier, more unique ideas once in a while.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear in your instructions because it will help them deliver a better result in a timely manner.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the IT manager at Dunapak, a B2B packaging company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OTAKOYI?

I needed help with development so that our customers could find all of their information about online purchases.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

OTAKOYI carefully listened to what we needed, and they developed a web app for our customers from scratch. They use their own engine that they developed by themselves. 

The latest project was this year, during which we started implementing IoT devices. They’re developing a dashboard, which hasn’t been done in the Ukrainian market. They did this from the beginning. The product is for predictive maintenance inside of our company.

What is the team composition?

There are eight people. For each project, there’s a project manager from their side.

How did you come to work with OTAKOYI?

We did a Google search and a market investigation of who was available in the market. We gave different companies our technical requirements. They passed through the tender we had. 

In Ukraine, it’s a bit complicated to ask a developer not to push what they know, but to find something new. We discovered that OTAKOYI could cooperate in this way. We’re glad that we found them. They’re a flexible and customer-oriented solution provider.

How much have you invested with them?

My company has spent $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2014, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had a rollout of this project in Poland, and our client is starting to use this solution for their customers. We just made a copy of the existing environments and adapted it to our Poland plan. On the Ukrainian side of the market, we have more than 1,000 customers in this system. The system is growing.

How did OTAKOYI perform from a project management standpoint?

Everything is good. I have two different project managers who I can easily speak with, and they deliver necessary information to the technicians. When I ask the project manager to do something, they’ll try to find time that day or the next. This hasn’t been my experience with most other companies. OTAKOYI is really flexible, and I’m really thankful for this service. We communicate via Skype, Webex, or TeamViewer.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have good quality service.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We started from the beginning with the IoT project, and they didn’t have knowledge about market streams. I’d like them to develop themselves in areas other than main web development.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re customer-oriented. I recommend contacting them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a web design agency in Belgium.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OTAKOYI?

I hired OTAKOYI for web development services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team at OTAKOYI completed several small web projects and one larger one. One was a web to print platform that was for me. The others were for clients, but I handled all of the communication. Before sending the products to clients, I make sure everything is working well.

For the websites, we gave them the designs, and they made the wireframes. Some technologies used were PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, Laravel, and WordPress.

What is the team composition?

I had two main points of contact, including Oksana (Project Manager, OTAKOYI).

How did you come to work with OTAKOYI?

A friend of mine had worked with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with OTAKOYI from April 2018 to June 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Clients are satisfied. In development, quality can always be improved, but it’s a matter of cycling through the software at different times. They listen well to what’s needed but also think on their own. The team at OTAKOYI proposes, interacts, and creates a good collaboration.

How did OTAKOYI perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management style was very good. In the beginning, there was some miscommunication about deadlines, but once we put this on the table, it was handled properly. Since then, we had frequent communication via Skype and ActiveCollab.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed with their flexibility.

Are there any areas they could improve?

In the beginning, we had communication issues around deadlines.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The team at OTAKOYI is full of good developers and think with the client. They’re getting bigger and better in what they do. I would recommend them to anyone.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of Panem, a digital marketing company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OTAKOYI?

We hired OTAKOYI to develop a custom CRM for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

OTAKOYI developed a custom CRM that we use for tracking customers, tracking keyword positions and the sales health of our website. It’s a web-based single-page application using Java. Their team enabled it to develop invoices and reporting. They also helped create an internal scanner that works to find issues. The system develops invoices and reporting.

On top of this, they’ve also created a lot of different websites for our customers. If our customers need their sites to be optimized, we also utilize OTAKOYI. They use PHP, Angular, and Java for the development and, if the customer needs it, they provide designers.

What is the team composition?

We work directly with senior developers on their team.

How did you come to work with OTAKOYI?

They found us 5–6 years ago and we did SEO for their website, promoting them in our local market. Afterward, we started to work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent in the $250,000-$500,000 range. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2011 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They built a good software for us and provide smart developers for the projects we assign them. We use the CRM they built for us daily. 

How did OTAKOYI perform from a project management standpoint?

They dedicate good project managers to the projects. There are times where they work directly with our clients, but we also manage the processes if our customers prefer that. If we know it’ll take too much time for us to manage a project between OTAKOYI and our client, we let them manage it. 

We use Google Docs and Worksection. Their team works using Basecamp or Trello. We essentially work off of a to-do list in Google Spreadsheets, which is convenient for seeing any changes and updates.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their CTO is one of the most skilled developers we’ve come across. Their team can find any solution for any kind of problem—their developers are smart and clever. They react quickly if we need something. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

To make their service better, they could use more time and people. Sometimes, when we ask them for something, we have to wait a little while because they have another customer.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Start by working with simple tasks and you’ll see that OTAKOYI is working perfectly. Afterward, they could go forward with a more complicated project for you and provide a perfect final result.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there. 

I'm the CEO and owner of a marketing agency. I do a lot of branding and growth projects, as well as graphic design and website development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OTAKOYI?

I mostly needed help with website creation, development, and design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I hired OTAKOYI as my vendor for website projects. If a client hired me to create a website, I’d talk to the sales manager to go over the scope of work. We’d discuss the project requirements and the amount of time it should take. Then they would offer their own suggestions on how to move forward. We did about 4–5 projects together. They would provide website design or development. Depending on the project, they sometimes did both.

What is the team composition? 

Volodymyr (Sales Manager, OTAKOYI) was my main point of contact. During projects, they'd appoint a project manager and then a developer or developers. 

How did you come to work with OTAKOYI?

They happened to call me out of the blue right after a client approached me to build a website.  

How much have you invested with them?

I spent between $10,000–$25,000 for all total projects.

What is the status of this engagement? 

Work started in June 2015 and all projects were completed by April 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Most of the websites turned out really well. One client had a difficult time operating their site, but I was satisfied with it. Another client was very satisfied with the site OTAKOYI did. It was high-functioning, robust, and super impressive. In general, I was happy with the results. 

How did OTAKOYI perform from a project management standpoint? 

Communication was very fluid and easy. We used email, spreadsheets, and Jira. They were quick learners who adapted easily to different needs that arose during a project. They also provided excellent input. They're quick to iterate and always willing to go the extra step to accommodate a client. 

What did you find most impressive about them? 

They were adept at making adjustments and were able to move quickly. Sometimes I wanted them to move a bit faster, but I understand how development projects work. Overall, I think they did a really good job of managing the project. 

Are there any areas they could improve? 

There was one project where my client had to continuously tell us during development that their site wasn't optimized across different channels. It's something that I expected OTAKOYI to do automatically, but that wasn't the case. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

Make sure you set expectations about the requirements in advance. They're easy to work with. I've worked with other developers and had a lot of headaches.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Fervent, a strategic web development agency. We serve clients mainly in the nonprofit sector in Sweden and develop primarily WordPress sites.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OTAKOYI?

We wanted to change our model to replace our own staff that was based in Ukraine with an outsourced partner that could communicate directly with our clients.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

OTAKOYI has developed a number of WordPress websites for us as well as some using the Yii PHP Framework. They’ve managed sites with several subsites and with custom integrations like payment gateways and administrative systems. For example, they’re currently working on a WordPress platform for which we did the initial strategy and first mockups and for which they did all the prototyping. They managed the full design process through multiple iterations and are now in development.

What is the team composition?

We work directly with a project manager. Beyond that, there are around four developers, two or three designers, and a QA person on our team.

How did you come to work with OTAKOYI?

We found them through Clutch. We interviewed about 10 companies and ultimately found OTAKOYI was the best choice for us. They had a good sense of what it means to serve customers and we needed a team that could be in direct contact with our customers. OTAKOYI responded to our requests and it was clear during our conversations that they understood what we were talking about. They demonstrated an interest in understanding us and our business. They also had a good level of English.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2018 and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Clear and consistent communications with clients are extremely important to us—and they’ve handled it incredibly well. For example, on the project for which they worked through the whole prototyping and design process, the client is super excited about the work they’re doing.

How did OTAKOYI perform from a project management standpoint?

Our project manager directs all of the communication with us and with our clients. They keep communication open and up to date with the clients and meet deadlines. When they’ve had a delay, they’ve made efforts to speed up so they can catch up with the project. They provide great service and have a real sense of ownership for the work that they do. We can trust the answers we get and the plans that they set.

Project management is one of their strengths. I have had to be less involved than when we had our in-house team. They run things smoothly and effectively with minimal efforts from my side while ensuring that the client is happy—it’s the best possible outcome.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Again, I think it’s their project management. When they started, they took over projects we had problems with. They jumped in, worked hard, and resolved the issues. They worked weekends if needed. They can understand how a Scandinavian company wants to communicate. The sense of ownership they exhibit is something I haven’t experienced before.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Even though they are great and better than any other Ukrainian company I’ve worked with when it comes to ownership, I think they can still improve because it’s one of the most crucial elements of any project. Their design and development work has been solid but the challenge for Ukrainian firms is staff turnover.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very clear from the beginning about what’s important to you and to your clients if you want them to be in direct contact. Be clear about what you want to get out of the relationship. If you haven’t worked with a Ukrainian firm before, given the cultural differences, it’s important to make sure nothing is taken for granted so that you’re on the same page.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the product manager at Kadabra, an online marketing company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OTAKOYI?

I was brought into the company to create a product department. There wasn’t a development team in-house, so I was responsible for finding an outsourced team to start work on our first product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

OTAKOYI does ongoing web development for us. Their team uses PHP (Laravel), HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for a variety of projects. We build everything from scratch. It’s an opensource environment.

Their team built modular content management platforms based on WordPress, expanding it for our needs by adding data integrations through APIs. We’re using Lumen for API interactions. The sites are for different products. One has gone live, and we’re working on the second product now.

What is the team composition?

We worked with nine people from their company. There’s a Scrum master on their side who is helping manage day-to-day operations.

How did you come to work with OTAKOYI?

I was in touch with some companies based in Ukraine and Croatia. One of them mentioned OTAKOYI. We asked all the contacted companies to provide examples of their previous work. Our team focused on the performance aspect and concluded that the examples from OTAKOYI were the best suited. Their websites and apps were the highest performing, and their rates were affordable.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $250,000–$500,000. Their team is paid hourly.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement began in February 2018, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve gotten positive feedback on the work OTAKOYI has done. Their team members are motivated and proficient in their technical skills. Through implementing our requests and creating a product, they helped me realize my vision.

How did OTAKOYI perform from a project management standpoint?

The team at OTAKOYI is dedicated only to us, co-located in their own space. We’re in touch daily and travel to them once a month for about a week stay. The work isn’t driven by deadlines but by business value. We successfully implemented Agile methodology and the Scrum framework within their team, with support from OTAKOYI.​

​​​​​​What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciate their flexibility and willingness to accommodate my requests. They’re also agile, changing their work process to supply a dedicated team and the opportunity to expand to more teams in the future.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their team could’ve switched to an agile methodology on their own.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Before working with OTAKOYI, we spent a lot of time building a full project document. We should’ve started working with them as soon as we had the first few ideas. Their team could’ve participated in the planning of the specification document. I would recommend starting with a small cross-functional team working with Scrum, instead of waiting for a full spec to be ready.