From Poland with Dev

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our business is TrustRadius, and my position is technical SEO manager.

What challenge were you trying to address with From Poland with Dev?

The main challenge that we were trying to address was to take our old vendor-facing website and completely redesign it, making it more on-brand with our main website that serves the buyer audience.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The main goal was to redesign pages, but also to move some of our marketing pages on the main site over to the WordPress site so that we would be able to easily edit those without needing developer or engineer assistance.

We started working with them to figure out what members of their team and ours would be needed to kick off the process. We had three phases of page design and development followed by approval and page launch for each of the stages.

What is the team composition?

I was in direct communication with 5 teammates on a regular basis, and we also had a dedicated project manager, as well as a dedicated designer and developer.

How did you come to work with From Poland with Dev?

We only looked at one other option for the development, but From Poland with Dev had been recommended to us by a trusted colleague, so they were the leader of the pack from the beginning.

How much have you invested with them?

I don’t know for sure off the top of my head, but it was at least $20,000–$30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from June–August 2018.

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

Overall, our entire team was highly impressed with the work that they did and the timing in which they did it They were able to communicate well with us and make sure that the project was done correctly, while getting everything done in a shortened timeline form the original plan, because we had a shift in directives from our upper management. They were really on top of everything, and that helped a lot.

How did From Poland with Dev perform from a project management standpoint?

They use Trello for project management, and we communicate by email and phone on top of that. We always had weekly meetings no matter what to keep up to date on the project and used slack for all of the smaller questions and back and forth that were necessary in between.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most impressive aspect of the work was their communication and the speed at which they were able to deliver while also maintaining quality. They were quick they were able to get us exactly what we needed in the timeline we needed it in. I was really impressed with the fact that they were able to balance this out and keep us abreast of everything going on at the same time. It was helpful to be able to take their assessments and present a reliable timeline to our management.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They did a decent job giving us a scope and budget for what they thought the project would cost. It could have been a little more exact, but it wasn’t a big problem at all.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that you have somebody on your team who is willing and able to be heavily involved with any sort of communication on the project itself. They’re fast and able to communicate on a regular basis, so it’s on you to make sure that you’re not holding them up from accomplishing thee best work that they can.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a small healthcare startup called 3DBody working on a diagnostic system for physiotherapists. In the company I am responsible for the software development.

For what projects/services did your company hire From Poland with Dev?

We have hired From Poland with Dev to develop a desktop application, implemented in web technologies, for the management of patients, appointments and their examinations. Moreover, the application is able to visualise and compare the diagnostic information.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal of the project was to have a working application capable of managing and analysing diagnoses.

How did you select this vendor?

From Poland with Dev was recommended to us internally, by one of our co-workers. The company was our first choice after a successful meeting with Paweł, owner of the company where we quickly established our expectations and culture of work.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We started the development of the application with a selection of underlying technology. This part for was supported by programmers from From Poland with Dev. After that, we prepared the initial specification for programmers. To our satisfaction, programmers showed up a great deal of innovation and initiative throughout the whole development. The role of From Poland with Dev was to build the application from scratch including the UX design and testing.

What was the team composition?

During the whole development process, Jakub was the lead programmer responsible for the majority of aspects of the application. He was actively supported by Adrian, a Redux programmer managing the inherent complexity of possible states in our application. Moreover, the team includes Kama, a UX designer/programmer responsible for usable and clear design of the application, and Łukasz, a 3D visualisation expert. The team and resources appointed to our project were elastic and flexible.

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

Our application is just before the initial testing on potential clients. However, internally, the application has fully met our expectations and goals.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Due to the small scale of our project, we had a flat organisational structure with Jakub often taking a role of the project leader. However, the regular meetings were the main driving force behind the programming efforts and the direction for the week. In the project, we have used Slack for easy communication and GitHub for project management.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

At the start of the project, the flexibility of making arrangements between the company, and us, the clients. This makes us feeling like one company, where programmers are part of us, although, outsourced. Further, in the project development, we were impressive by the initiative and skills of every programmer that we have worked with.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Surprisingly... none. Every aspect from the arrangement to the actual development were executed perfectly.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of IT for New Lab, a platform for enabling pioneer technologies. We're a space for entrepreneurs in specific disciplines to work and collaborate.

What challenge were you trying to address with From Poland with Dev?

We had a WordPress website that was built for our launch in 2016. We had lost touch with the developers that built it, and it needed a refresh. We also wanted to launch a new online publication.

What was the scope of their involvement?

From Poland with Dev redesigned and redeveloped our WordPress site through an iterative process. They worked from wireframes that we developed in-house. They migrated the entire site to a new hosting arrangement to improve performance, stability, and reliability of the backend. They now support us with SEO and analytics.

What is the team composition?

It has varied over time as our website needs have changed. Initially, we had a small team working with us. At some point, it became clear that we needed a more comprehensive agreement with a dedicated account manager and more resources to focus on specific tasks.

How did you come to work with From Poland with Dev?

We looked at 5–6 individual developers and small firms. From Poland with Dev was recommended to us by someone who was working with us at the time and had worked with them before. It became clear through the interview process that not only would they be able to deliver what we wanted in the timeframe that we wanted but that they were professional and accountable. They were responsive to us in terms of what the project would require and how much it would cost. The other developers and firms we looked at didn’t convince us that it was possible to complete the project on budget.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2016, and it’s ongoing.

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

Since we've been working with them, our site has been super reliable. Before that, we faced some security vulnerabilities, such as malicious URLs being embedded in our site. We haven’t had any security compromises, outages, or site performance issues in terms of responsiveness or page load times since we started working with From Poland with Dev.

How did From Poland with Dev perform from a project management standpoint?

At this stage, we reach out to them as needed. This is sometimes daily and sometimes weekly for small tasks. I have a biweekly check in with our account manager to review the status and hours of projects.

We have a single point of contact that coordinates their team. They’re incredibly reliable and accountable. They execute quickly. The time difference doesn’t get in the way. The more we engage them, the better the relationship becomes. It's a virtuous cycle.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s their reliability. With technology, things move really fast. People move around a lot. When you're trying to manage a business, it's important to maintain long-term relationships with trusted partners. It ensures reliability and accountability. I'm glad that they're there for us when we need them with the same people. They’ve cultivated institutional knowledge of us—they know what we need, where we’ve been, and where we’re going. When you're just hiring someone to do a single project, for example, you don’t get that. There’s not the same level of accountability.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t think so. The language barrier is a little bit of a challenge but nothing that really needs to be addressed. It’s important to be aware that English is not their native language so communication must be precise.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Just go for it. Talk to them and let them prove themselves to you. For us, it was clear from the beginning that they understood what we needed and could execute it on time and budget.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the growth marketing manager for a fashion company that sells shoes and other accessories. 

What challenge were you trying to address with From Poland With Dev?

We reached out to From Poland With Dev for additional development resources to work on a variety of projects, including some frontend and backend development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

From Poland With Dev provides development support for a variety of projects, including CRO and auxiliary Shopify development. They've also made a lot of modifications to product page templates for new products we've launched; built landing pages as needed; helped transition our code base from one repository to another, and worked on-site suite optimizations. 

What is the team composition? 

We've worked with about four people, including the main developer, a QA lead, and others involved in conversion rate optimization. 

How did you come to work with From Poland With Dev?

I worked with them at a previous company, so I was already familiar with their quality of work.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend an average of $6,000–$7,000 per month, so we've invested about $30,000–$40,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them since around September 2018 and have them on a monthly retainer. 

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

They've helped us migrate to a new repository, which has made deploying changes and other development work a lot more efficient. They've also had a lot of success in testing new features, including some email capture units they added to our site. Overall, they've created a lot of great assets, and we've been very pleased with their work. 

How did From Poland With Dev perform from a project management standpoint?

Even though I handle the majority of project management, they've been great about hitting deadlines and communicating. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They provide quality work at a very affordable rate, considering what the same services would cost locally. They're also great to work with–highly communicative, responsive, and timely. They've even worked outside of normal business hours to get us what we need on time. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have no complaints. There are some challenges involved when it comes to working with a vendor overseas, but nothing atypical. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I suggest working directly with Pawel (Director of Operations, From Poland With Dev) in the beginning because he's very organized and good at understanding client needs. Be direct about project goals and challenges so that he can place the most appropriate resources on his team on the account. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and managing director of Optilyz, a marketing software company.

What challenge were you trying to address with From Poland with Dev?

We wanted to build an offshore development team outside of Germany.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The project started off with them recruiting developers to take over 100% of the process. From Poland with Dev does everything from recruiting to payment. We can fully rely on them for everything.

Their team works on a specific part of our application. We break up the software architecture into different microservices, and they work on the customer-facing part and the entire frontend. They’re specifically using JavaScript.

What is the team composition?

We started off a year ago with the first developer and then decided to create a full team of five to six people consisting of frontend React-Redux developers, as well as a scrum master, a designer, and a QA specialist. We now have a complete team that can work quite independently. We’re involved in the recruiting process because we want the developers to feel like part of our team. However, we only consistently interact with Pawal (Co-Founder/Director of Operations, From Poland with Dev).

How did you come to work with From Poland with Dev?

I like working with Polish developers because they’re very reliable, their English level is quite good, and they have very similar attitudes as Germans do. A developer that worked for us knew Pawal and said that he was very reliable. I liked his entrepreneurial spirit and enjoyed working with him from the very beginning.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent €200,000–€300,000 (approximately $224,650–$336,976 USD) so far. We pay on a per-person basis, taking into account each person’s capability.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2018, and the collaboration is ongoing.

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

They’re a major part of our main development team and of everything we do, which means that they’re also part of our entire success. We have a long-term relationship with them. They’re now taking over the entire frontend.

How did From Poland with Dev perform from a project management standpoint?

We do most of the project management from Germany, telling them what their specific tasks are. Communication is good, and we have daily meetings and several calls with the tech team. I’ve met with Pawal in Poland as well as here. We normally speak once or twice per month depending on how many candidates we have in the pipeline and what the process is. Our HR department is also in contact with Pawal.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their flexibility is outstanding. Whenever we have new needs for certain profiles, they’ve been responsive and adjust accordingly. We want to make sure we hired certain types of people from a cultural perspective. We also wanted very driven and motivated people. Taking this into account, From Poland with Dev handled the entire recruitment process for us really well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They need to expand the skillset for their available resources. About two-thirds of the profiles weren’t really what we were looking for. In the end, we found the right person, but it took some time.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be really sure about the city you want to recruit in and of the capabilities that are there. Stay close to the people and try to build a good relationship with them. Don’t try to take control of the process, but do have someone who is really involved. Also, take over the project management if you have them as an extended team.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of web marketing and engineering for Zenefits, an HR benefits payroll platform. I oversee our main marketing website. 

What challenge were you trying to address with From Poland With Dev?

We needed a dev partner that could augment our internal team.

What was the scope of their involvement?

From Poland With Dev collaborates and interacts with our internal team, serving as an extension of them. We’re currently building a new website, so that’s what they’ve mainly been working on. They’re able to quickly increase our dev time and scale appropriately without having to go through an entire hiring cycle.

What is the team composition? 

I interact directly with the dev team.

What is the status of this engagement?

We partnered in April 2018, and the work is ongoing. 

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

The partnership has been working out great for the redesign and relaunch of our main site.

How did From Poland With Dev perform from a project management standpoint?

I handle project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re able to scale quickly and find people who have the necessary technical skills and who are easy to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we have a good system right now.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Customize your partnership according to your unique business needs and projects.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the former director of e-commerce for HumanN, a health and wellness company that sells high-end supplements and functional food products.

For what projects/services did your company hire From Poland with Dev?

We hired From Poland with Dev to build and maintain our website and e-commerce platform. Additionally, we wanted their support in reaching our conversation rate optimization (CRO) goals.

What were your goals for this project?

Ultimately, we wanted a fast, secure e-commerce platform that strengthened our conversion efforts.

How did you select this vendor?

I joined the company after From Poland with Dev was selected for the project, so I was not involved in the hiring process.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

From Poland with Dev designed and developed our WordPress site. They integrated WooCommerce into the platform and host it for us. Additionally, their team connected our backend with our inventory management and reporting systems. They also put CRO tactics in place on the site and manage our blog and landing pages.

What was the team composition?

They provide a team of six people, including a backend developer, frontend developer, UX designer, three full-stack developers, and a project manager.

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

For several key pages, our conversion rates and overall revenue substantially improved. Our pages also load significantly faster, taking 40% less time than previously.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The dedicated project manager leads the workflow with the UX designer. The project runs on a scrum process, so the work is always produced as expected. They do a solid job in keeping the project organized, and we feel supported.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their passion for the work they do is clear—they truly care about our company’s success. Even on weekends, holidays, and vacations, their team is available. Their positive and professional attitude is also appreciated, especially during the more challenging parts of the project.

Are there any areas for improvement?

During some cycles, they commit to delivering too much work, leading to subpar quality being produced.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the senior marketing manager for a supply-chain integrity solutions company, headquartered in Austin, Texas. We allow shippers to connect disparate sources of data into the first fully transparent situational analysis engine designed for the logistics industry.

For what projects/services did your company hire From Poland with Dev?

We needed help with ongoing website updates and additions, such as adding industry pages, our company video, and new dedicated landing pages. We also needed assistance with tracking website activity through Google Analytics.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to make a better user experience for our website visitors. We wanted it to be easy for a potential customer to learn about what we do and submit a demo request. We also wanted to make sure we’re able to track user activity accurately.

How did you select this vendor?

They came highly recommended by my boss, who had worked with them previously.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

I provided them with copy, and they designed, laid out, and coded new landing pages. 

What was the team composition?

We worked with a designer and a developer. I had the option of adding a project manager but decided to take that role on myself.

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

From Poland with Dev has helped us create a cleaner user experience for our web visitors. We plan to ask them for help on some larger projects as we continue to increase our brand awareness and web traffic. 

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Their team effectively used a simple project management tool. It's very clear what was being worked on and by whom. It was easy to ask questions and address them to specific team members.  

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They have excellent resources available to their customers. Their team is very knowledgeable.  They’re organized, communicative, and responded to requests in a timely manner. 

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the owner of an external accounting firm that works in an international environment. We’re responsible for calculating taxes, accounting, and payroll.

For what projects/services did your company hire From Poland with Dev?

We needed to develop a more sophisticated website than what other accounting firms have and hired From Poland with Dev for the task.

What were your goals for this project?

We mainly wanted to encourage our potential clients to hire us.

How did you select this vendor?

We reviewed a number of vendors and decided to hire From Poland with Dev as they seemed to be the most genuine and nice team with a great background of successful projects.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

From Poland with Dev handled our website’s development. They communicated all the necessary input we had to give them as well as their expectations regarding the solutions they used.

What was the team composition?

I’m not sure about the exact number of team members since we only had contact with an assigned project manager.

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

Our clients have had positive remarks about the website.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

All deadlines and expectations were met. We had real-time updates and effective communication through email and phone, which was much appreciated.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

From Poland with Dev’s willingness to support their customers is amazing. They offered great suggestions.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No. Everything was perfect.