S-PRO

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

I’m the lead in the project so not too many people engage with S-PRO. The results that they see is the product, and there’s been pretty good feedback about that. Our employees are achieving what they need to achieve, especially our accounting department because they use the product for the payment aspect of it. They don’t have any issue with it. If there are any problems that we find, they get fixed pretty quickly.

How did S-PRO perform from a project management standpoint?

I have a dedicated project manager assigned to our project. There’s a plan that we put together, and he’s in charge of making sure that plan gets executed. That’s the nature of our relationship. There’s a weekly sprint that we talk about. After that, I get a report of what has and what has not been completed, then we go forward and repeat the process. I typically talk to him on a nightly basis because they’re based in Ukraine. I haven’t had any issues communicating with them. We use three main communication methods. The project is managed on JIRA, and all issues are reported on there. We can go back and forth on comments, screenshots, videos, and whatever else we need to do in there. Direct communication is through Skype. If I need to discuss something in person, we use that. Of course, we use email when there are things that we need to record that aren’t that pertinent or urgent.

What did you find most impressive about S-PRO?

Typically, it’s difficult to deal with companies from other countries because of language barriers or different time zones. Anytime I needed anything, they were available for me, and that’s really important. If we’re in production and there’s an issue, it affects quite a few people we work with. I was able to resolve any issue we had. They’re flexible enough that we can always work out any issues in the business relationship or in areas unrelated to the product.

Are there any areas S-PRO could improve?

You can always improve on something. I would say that they can always add more technological capabilities to their company through more experience with their developers or in QA. Their QA was actually a little bit weaker, but it’s been better now in the last five or six months.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with S-PRO?

The most important thing is to do some research upfront and not to commit to somebody right away. We don’t really have a formal contract. Because of the nature of the development, it makes sense for me to continue with them. If you don’t do the research or test project, you might find yourself in a situation where you’re not getting the results that you want.