Program-Ace

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a business developer and project manager for a digital product company. We’re a configurator for large companies and work on helping businesses communicate their products digitally.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Program-Ace?

We needed extra hands to be able to deliver a project on time that we were tasked with.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The case we started with was a configurator for automobile buses. Program-Ace helped us produce a system that contains images and a visual interface. We gave them the images and the structure that we wanted to be implemented. They handled the programming and the logic behind everything.

Furthermore, we’ve extended our partnership to more than programming. They assist with all of our regular and VR apps as well. The 3D objects that are shown in our applications need to be modified to be able to be shown on a mobile device. Their programmers have helped us reduce the complexity of the models so that they can be easily implemented.

What is the team composition?

We’ve dealt with a project manager and four programmers.

How did you come to work with Program-Ace?

We heard about them through a colleague of mine. They initially flew over and came to our office.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in April 2018, and the collaboration is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their work has had a positive impact on our business. They’re efficient, skilled, and have helped us tremendously during peak periods by extending our business without us having to hire more people.

How did Program-Ace perform from a project management standpoint?

I’m satisfied with project management from their side. They work with an agile methodology, and we use Slack to communicate and have sprint sessions. We are in contact often, sometimes as often as three times a day but no less than three times a week.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re able to come up with solutions different than the ones we provide them if they think theirs is better, which is something I appreciate. Though, if we need to do something in a certain way, it isn’t a problem. I appreciate this exchange of information, which shows that they aren’t just a supplier but rather want to help us improve our work methods and pipeline.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only downside has been keeping up with the deadline, as they tend to lag a little bit. We’re in Sweden and they’re in Ukraine, so we both have different working styles, but we’ve come to learn each other’s ways.

There’s also a lack of information from their side, and we would like them to step it up a little bit and act more as a partner.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear about project needs and supply them with enough information so that they can actually deliver. If they’re given templates, guidelines, and working methods, it will go very well.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a Java backend Developer

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Program-Ace?

We were looking for an outsourcing company to develop one of our slot games.

SOLUTION

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

We had a couple of candidates but after a couple of interviews Program-Ace gave us the best impression.

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

Gambling slot game with medieval theme. Started with the proof of concept and some mock, we iterated the whole development in several sprints.

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

We worked with one team of 6 people, including 2D and 3D artists, JavaScript developers and testers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

At the end of each sprint we had a live demo of the current progress and re-estimation of the remaining points.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was mainly on the daily stand ups and sync meeting we had during the sprint.

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

We were impressed with constant feedback and demos we had, so that all the changes we asked to fix were implemented pretty fast and tested properly before going to prod.

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

Sometimes we faced some time offset issues and of course in Sweden during the summer the development and planning processes move quite slow, but at the end we still were on time with the estimated time and costs constraints.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Art Producer of a Game Studio that develop strategy games

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Program-Ace?

We hired Program-Ace to model spaceships based on internal developed concept art

SOLUTION

How did you select Program-Ace and what were the deciding factors?

We looked on Artstation after a company that matched the style we wanted an after a test we new that it would be a match.

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

Program-Ace created 3D models of spaceships based on internal developed concept art. The models went through several review steps and each step were delivered on time.

How many resources from the Program-Ace team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with a great group of artists, an art lead and a project lead.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They created the models, on schedule and matching the quality we needed.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The project management worked as expected. We communicated regularly through Google Meets and via Shotgrid. No unexpected turnovers occurred.

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

They worked hard to match our quality standards. The team asked great questions and understood the task right away even though this was the first time we worked with each other.

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

It was a bit unclear in the beginning that the Project Lead fee wasn't included in the cost proposal.