Oxagile

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of the work they've delivered?

I don’t think there were any statistics or figures tracking their performance. In my own experience with Oxagile, they have an extremely talented and capable staff. They were heavily involved in the creation of some of the core components of this particular platform. They had a deep understanding of the technologies being utilized. They're well versed in their domain and in web and mobile development. They're extremely diligent. They always ensure their assignments are delivered ontime, within budget, and of the highest possible quality. Their final products always met our expectations. 

When working with Oxagile, is there anything you would consider unique or special about them compared to other vendors you’ve worked with?

Their engineering and software development skills, if I were to compare them to their Indian counterparts, aren't even close to comparable. Oxagile was always very frank and upfront when they didn’t get something right. They’re not simply saying yes the whole time, nodding their heads and billing us by the hour. We would approach them with our project specifications and requirements, and they would critically evaluate each and every component. They really wanted to ensure that we knew what we were asking for and that we really needed it. The majority of vendors will simply take what you ask and continue on until they produce the solution, even if the solution itself isn't necessary or appropriate. That isn't how Oxagile operates, and we've been impressed by that. 

In terms of constructive feedback, are there areas you think they could improve upon, or are there things you'd do differently as the client before approaching this type of project?

It's always necessary to have somebody who is well versed in English. They do have some resources in place to function as a conduit between clients and their development teams, but these resources are limited. It's extremely important to have a project lead or analyst in place to ensure that communications are received and well understood, otherwise you're bound to run into scoping and deployment issues. 

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

I don’t have any quantifiable stats right now. The users like the design and the implementation. It loads well. The stylist site was built well with text notification features. I like that I can change things without being tech savvy.

Is there anything unique about them that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

They’re very good with feedback, and you can speak to anyone from the top of the company on down to junior staff members. They will respond to your email.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you might do differently?

This is a minor issue, but sometimes they may be a little pushy. I wanted to have someone look at the code, and they didn’t want me to do that because they wanted to meet the person first to make sure they weren’t going to mess up the code. That’s understandable, but it's part of the service. It may just be me not liking the suggestion.

How happy are you with the results of the work?

Very happy. It was great working with them. One of the best things about working with those guys is that I find the eastern European schools to be technically strong. They have a good command of English, but not the same phrases that we use in North America. So, what ends up happening is you’re communicating on a very logical level. There’s not a lot of idle chat or a lot things like sarcasm and things that are in meetings when we deal with people in North America is absent in dealing with them there, so I find that really effective because we just get to the heart of the matter and just get it out of the way. Everything was really blunt.

Compared to working to other developers you may have worked with in the past, is there anything special or unique about Oxagile?

I think their position at the time, which is in Belarus, helps, but there are probably three things to highlight. One is the fact that I’m just a real big fan now with something I’ve never considered before. Before I used to source to India or Philippines or Vietnam, but I think working with them really opened my eyes to Eastern Europe, and the technical strength of companies like Oxagile. So, that’s definitely one strength, and I mentioned the language thing, which was really a big plus for me because when you’re solving technical issues, this is not rocket science, it’s pretty straightforward. So, you just need to take it to the heart of the matter. The second thing I would say is the flexibility. Those guys, unlike most North American firms and some international firms, they are understanding our business change or our market change. For instance, there was a significant downturn on the business, we change our business model, we pivoted and, when we did that obviously there was an organizational impact. Then, we had to re-factor the organization, and they are without legal formalities because Oxagile was willing to work with us. I thought that was actually interesting because a lot of places don’t do that. Some people fear-monger of the fact that they’re going to reinforce their contract or whatever. The thing is they did that in the hope of future business and actually, eventually the company was sold, so there was on future business. They did an attempt to a future business, and I think that was really pretty given because the risk that that company would be sold.

Do you think there’s any areas that they could improve or do slightly better in? 

Yeah. I’m trying to think. I think the one thing, and this might be universal to all when you’re dealing with a lot of people offshore, you’re not managing people directly is the fact that we had some strong guys, and then we have not-so-strong guys, and so you have a development team of 10 people. You have one or two strong guys and some not-so-strong guys hiding behind them, but they’re getting paid the same rate and just the type of management of that I think of kind of consistency of staff. Overall, everybody was totally adequate, and they fit the need. There’s no complaints, but there was definitely differences at skill level without differences in rates.