Owls' Group

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the editor of the music TV channel EuropaPlustv, More than 9 million viewers, we hold contests, voting and various selections of musical artists on our website https://europaplustv.by/konkurs

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

Owls Group has made for us a website, a platform and a system of honest voting for the best music artists, integration with social networks. More than 100,000 unique users have voted on our platform.

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

A tender was announced, and feedback and recommendations were also important to us. We clarified about the projects made earlier.

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

The company was engaged in the development of a website for our representative office, a lot of work was done from design to launch. A separate task was to develop a service for voting for the best clip of the country. Technologies such as PHP, JavaScript, and SCSS were used for development. The site fully copes with the functions assigned to it, has high performance and is easy to manage

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

The development team consisted of a PM, 2 programmers, and a UI / UX specialist. Additional resources were also added to individual tasks.

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

More than 300,000 unique users voted in the "Best Music Video" contest Artists and musicians positively assessed the work of the system. The traffic to the site has increased more than 20 times

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

The company took full control of the project management, we had to coordinate and accept the work. We responded promptly to all our requests. We mostly communicated via email and in-person meetings.

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

Clarity, speed of responses, result , at any time of the day the manager is in touch, communication culture

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

I don't have an answer to this question, since everything was done perfectly

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Managing Director of the OMD media agency in Belarus. Also I'm responsible for the client service and new business units. Implementation of the new and innovative solutions for the clients is one of the priorities.

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

One of our clients was trying to get deeper in understanding of the customer journey regarding the online and offline retail. The mobile app is being developed by Owls' Group at the moment in order to find out the purchase patterns of the target audience. The main point is to create the data-based retail ecosystem personalized for each customer.

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

Our agency on behalf of client was looking for the local company that is skilled in mobile app development and has the experience of running the projects for global accounts. Finally, we shortlisted 3 companies on the basis of the RFI received back and during the RFP and chemistry meetings the Owls' Group offered the most attractive terms and conditions from cost perspective showing the relevant expertise and background the same time.

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

As soon as the discovery meetings were fulfilled (4 calendar weeks) and all expected objectives and goals are set the Owls' Group started to prepare the version for Android and iOS for further beta-testing. It took exactly 6 weeks for Owls'Group to deliver the version as agreed. Then we shared client's feedback (within 2 weeks) and the version of the app was revised accordingly (another 2 weeks). Now we're close to finish the project - in June 2021. However, the client is already satisfied with the process and results achieved so far.

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

Project manager was assigned for us regarding this mobile app development for our client. On all stages, 24/7. We are also in touch with the front and back end leads during the status meetings and any irregular requests from the client.

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

The deliverables are now in line with all client's expectations on beta-testing stage.

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

The assigned project manager is very reliable and easy to communicate with. In-person meetings, phone calls, status meetings via Zoom / WebEx / Skype etc. All followed by emails with next steps agreed.

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

Their expertise in mobile app development is really high. Now the agency and client know exactly what are the processes 'behind the scenes' in Owls' Group.

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

We're pretty sure any kind of the project can be optimized and done better one day. Nevertheless for now the agency and it's client are satisfied in full. We expect the further regular support from Owls' Group after the launch of the app.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of engineering at a computer software company. We provide SaaS solutions to the repossession industry.

What challenge were you trying to address with Owls’ Group?

Owls’ Group is on the forefront of helping us out on the technological side.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Owls’ Group is providing all facets of project management, including the back- and frontend development, business analytics, and full DevOps capabilities.

We have a number of onshore designers who are providing a set of requirements to make products better and develop new functionality or new product lines. Owls’ Group takes those requirements and distills them into a set of tasks. They work with the project management team to make sure that those tasks are being recorded for the agile process. Once that’s done, Owls’ Group gives insights to the development team to make sure that the requirements are understood and the project can get underway.

What is the team composition?

I work with 25–30 people from Owls’ Group. None of our outgroups, developers, or resources have ever worked from the office. We work 100% remotely. Everybody’s accountable.

How did you come to work with Owls’ Group?

I’m originally from Belarus. I have a good friend running a number of software companies there, including Owls’ Group. He introduced me to them to help me as a backbone for my project. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Owls’ Group in October 2020. We’re looking to expand our partnership.

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

There’s a lot of positive momentum going on. Owls’ Group addressed challenges head-on and very quickly. We’ve had ups and downs, but they’ve provided high-quality resources, and they’ve been a very transparent group.

Owls’ Group is a dynamic team, so we have a very strong group of individuals. We’re all on the same page. A lot of times, it doesn’t even seem like we work remotely. Owls’ Group is part of our family, even though they’re all contractors.

How did Owls’ Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication with Owls’ Group has never been a problem. We operate on US hours, and, as far as the logistics and the resources are available, that hasn’t been an issue with them. Owls’ Group is always available and makes sure that we can have access to their team. They usually figure things out before they hire an external contractor, and if it’s necessary, they stay up late to be sure they can give us the resources we need.

Owls’ Group doesn’t only provide programming resources, but they also show their leadership vision going forward based on the current situation and infrastructure we have. They make daily suggestions on how to make things going forward. Owls’ approach is very proactive.

Owls’ Group isn’t a bunch of contracting resources. They’re very deep into the project and the whole business aspect, and they care about it. That hasn’t happened with any of the remote groups I’ve worked with in the past, but Owls’ Group shines in this particular aspect.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The main factors that distinguish Owls’ Group from their competitors are the high-quality technical resources and their full transparency. Those make a huge difference in this business.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’m very satisfied with Owls’ Group work. They’ve distilled over the past year into a very sharp-focused technical cruise ship. Their team is top-notch.

Any advice for potential customers?

I’d say that potential customers would need a product manager because that person will help to make sure all the requirements are laid out and explained. Owls’ Group works in an agile manner, and having that process would be a huge plus to hit the ground running.