Phoenix Consultancy LLC

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm Senior Communication Associate for Digital Media at UNICEF Serbia. UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.

For more information about UNICEF and its work for children, visit www.unicef.org/serbia.

For what projects/services did your company hire Phoenix Consultancy LLC?

UNICEF had the idea of developing a platform where young people could track and improve their mental health.

The platform would serve as a place where comprehensive information could be found and where awareness-raising on relevant topics could be established, such as the importance of building emotional and mental health resilience among young girls and boys.

Considering the fact that such a project required extensive research and preparation, we decided to outsource an experienced software development management agency. What was to come out as the result of their work was a comprehensive Project Discovery and a series of Software Requirement

Specification documents which would serve as a valuable guideline and a solid foundation for the platform’s development.

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

Zouth engagement, communication and opperations departments did extensive background research of companies and agencies that work in software development management and selected a list of those that could potentially be outsourced.

A series of interviews with different agencies' CEOs and CTOs were held, among which was Phoenix Consultancy’s founder and CEO, Stevan Popov. Owing to the fact that Phoenix Consultancy has a similar approach to UNICEFs in regard to the selection process for companies they partner with, several meetings between Stevan and the Project Team were arranged.

During initial interviews with the Project Team and our stakeholders, Stevan had gone above and beyond in providing ideas on how to improve upon the original platform design and offered an experienced approach from his previous involvement in the development of healthcare software products.

Upon mutual agreement, it was decided that he would be contracted for the purpose of advising in the Product Manager role as a part of the Project Team.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

As a part of UNICEFs awareness raising campaign, which had the intent of tackling the stigma that stops young people from talking about their problems and asking for help, it was decided to create a national online MHPSS platform.

The list of benefits that the platform could provide was lengthy: young people had the opportunity to establish healthy lifestyles, have a space where they could find relevant information about self-care, resilience, positive coping mechanisms, sexual and reproductive health, as well as psychological support and ways to reach out to important services in their communities.

After a series of meetings between the Project Team and young people and health professionals, a list of requirements was created based upon which the Project Team designed the outlines of what the finished product would be in the form of a comprehensive Project Discovery.

The value of this document came in the form of:

• researching and analyzing the market and understanding the target audience
• developing user personas based on the data extracted from research
• understanding the end-users' points of view and creating user journeys
• forming the scope of work in form of a detailed and well-prioritized product backlog
• designing the original blueprints in forms of wireframes and mockups
• creating detailed requirements documentation such as SRS and PRD documents.

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

Phoenix Consultancy’s CEO, Stevan, was brought in as a part of the Project Team in the Product Manager role.

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

The platform is still in development, and owing to Stevan’s contribution to Project Discovery and the SRS documentation, the development process was made quite easier.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was made easy due to the fact that Stevan’s experience in the subject matter allowed for smooth communication.

His consistency and presence in the meetings meant that he was always on top of things, and his proactive and analytical approach in the sense of providing ideas for improvement led to creating features that greatly improved the user experience.

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

Phoenix Consultancy’s CEO, Stevan, made immense contributions with his work as a part of the Project Team. The team was extremely knowledgeable, reliable, and pleasant to work with.

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

No, from our point of view.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I was a Marketing and Sales Manager of Metromedia group that operates in 3 countries with more than 7000 billboards and advertisement places.

For what projects/services did your company hire Phoenix Consultancy LLC, and what were your goals?

Considering the non-digital assets Metromedia sells, there was a challenge in understanding and tracking sales, potential and opportunities of the placements. We needed to define the workflow of how to transform our business to data-driven company so we can leverage the potential.

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

They described themselves as a business-oriented software development company which attracted us to continue the negotiations with them and couple other companies.

According to their process and core team conducted of project, product managers and business analysts, we decided to go that route as they seemed to be really focused on understanding what and why we need. Due to our specific industry that was the most important factor to begin with.

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

Phoenix Consultancy kicked off with a 3 weeks discovery phase where we altogether drafted the project goals, objectives, target audience and current workflow. It continued with understanding the challenges and risks, followed with the full scope and planning.

They proposed solution was to turn our billboards into IOT devices and to develop an aggregation platform that will enable us to manage our portfolio of assets completely digitally. After 6 intensive months, they delivered a true change to our company.

I don't know what technologies are used but I know we were using some AWS IOT suite and needed to purchase hardware for the billboards. From user side, it was a web platform where me and my team started to manage our portfolio.

The utilization increased noticeable with smart notification about the contracts and opportunities streamlined through the existing CRM.

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

There was 7 people in total, Delivery Manager (Mirko) who led the whole project alongside Stevan (CTO) and Jovan (Product Manager). I didn't met all 3 developers and QA person personally, but the lead developer (Alex) was holding the demos.

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

We launched some of the modules of platforms early, before final roll-out. That gave us time to understand what we could do better as the team started using it early. Our main goal was to reduce empty billboards and increase the revenue with operational efficiency.

This project truly transformed us to digital company and we achieved the expected revenue increase by a bit more than 12 percent on a month by month basis.

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

They used JIRA and they were talking to us every other day in first 3 weeks, then twice a week in next 4 weeks and then once a week. Communication was done in very casual manner and all the changes were accepted, but they charged more for some of them.

We were seeing the progress on a dedicated server for us and they were presenting changes and upcoming work every other week. Overall, good.

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

They really understood what we were doing and what we wanted to achieve.

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

They needed couple of weeks to craft a team, while we expected they have the team lined up already.

Please describe your company and your position there.

M06 Studio is an architecture venture from Belgrade that offers its clients services in the fields of design, architecture, and engineering.

Building on the trust earned from our clients, my colleagues and I aim imagine what could be the new paradigm, allowing us to find our way to unique and highly-creative solutions. My role in M06 is that of a Senior Project Architect.

For what projects/services did your company hire Phoenix Consultancy LLC, and what were your goals?

After years of using different software for managing our projects and clients, and having tried CRMs such as Salesforce and Zoho, we decided to hire a company that will create software that would be tailor-fitted to our needs.

We were in need of software that would have some features that the ones we used before didn’t have, cut out the redundant ones, while also being able to integrate it with AutoCAD, when our clients doesn't have it.

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

We were prospecting local software development companies, and by chance we were recommended Phoenix Consultancy by one of our clients. After having a couple of meetings with their founders and their CTO where they showcased their previous similar projects, we were convinced that going with them was the way to go.

Having witnessed how dedicated they were about the project when they presented us with the project discovery document and the blueprints of the software, we knew that we had made the right choice

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

They were in charge of the entire development start-to-finish. At the top of the list of our priorities was to have a management tool that could seamlessly integrate with AutoCAD.

They understood exactly what we needed and created software that is an amalgamation between ERP and CRM platforms, easy to navigate and quite eye-pleasing.

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

After they presented us with a couple of options, we decided on hiring a team consisting of a Product Manager, Project Manager, UI/UX designer, two QA Engineers, and two developers.

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

Out of a couple of approach options, we decided to work in Scrum, because it allowed us to always have an insight into the progress of the development. Mirko, who worked as the project manager, was very easy to get in contact with, usually through phone.

We had regular meetings via Zoom, and he presented us with rather detailed status reports points every couple of weeks.

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

Fluent, at no point was anything unclear and they always kept everything transparent.

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

The efficiency and commitment were outstanding. We knew what we wanted, and not only did they understand us, but they initially came up with several ideas for what the software could look like and how the development could be approached.

Also, the fact that they managed to finish the work a couple of weeks before it was planned without it affecting the quality of the software is remarkable.

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

I can’t think of anything.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and owner of an entertainment and events company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Phoenix Consultancy LLC?

We needed someone to provide us with custom software development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The first project we worked on with Phoenix Consultancy was an auto pricer, a sophisticated software that changes the pricing of a listing based on a set criteria.

They then helped us develop an auto PO that provides users with the information of the ticket they purchase.

While the two products are self-sustainable, we still reach out to their team from time to time for maintenance and further updates.

What is the team composition?

I mainly work with Stevan (Founder), Jovan (Product Manager), and Ivana (Business Analyst).

How did you come to work with Phoenix Consultancy LLC?

They were introduced to us by a mutual contact who was using the team for analytical tasks.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested over $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership started in June 2021, but we’re looking to continue engaging with them as soon as business picks back up.

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

They were able to deliver the project two weeks earlier than the expected deadline. They’ve exceeded all my expectations and I’m 100% satisfied with their work.

How did Phoenix Consultancy LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re spot on from a project management standpoint, and we typically communicate through Slack and phone.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m impressed with Stevan’s leadership and technical development skills. He told me he’s been coding at a very young age, so I consider him to be a wizard in his field.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything they could improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

With Phoenix Consultancy, expect them to deliver the work that you’ll pay for.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the owner of Web Help Agency, a digital company in Ukraine.

For what projects/services did your company hire Phoenix Consultancy LLC?

Managing the project. Making sure scope is defined, scrum ceremonies are held, agile methodology and education and implementation.

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

We worked with this company as subcontractors on the same project. After that finished we decided to invite this team and continue working on our project as they are true professionals in Agile.

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

One of our already developed products required a work optimiaztion process with all the team (developers and designers). They provided Scrum master for these goals, implemented Jira as the main tool for Sprints planning and daily/weekly calls with all the team. for the reports and planning for the next work. They are the best in Agile methodology.

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

Their CSPO, Scrum Master Mirko was our main point of contact. Sometimes Jovan helps us to maintain some questions and Sara as a content writer. At least 3 were in contact with us.

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

Once the work began, the team cycles through a process of planning, executing, and evaluating. They implemented this really great. Previously our developers spend a lot of time nowhere and we don't understand why. That was solved and work started to go much faster.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Great communications throughout and quick response

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

Everyone in the team is friendly and deal with any issue that arises immediately in a professional manner

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

The best team. Couldn't think of any