S-PRO

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of a dog selling website in Australia.

For what projects/services did your company hire S-PRO, and what were your goals?

Our goal of creating a peer to peer dog selling market place started 2 years before S-PRO started. We had hired 3 other web development companies who all failed. We were looking to work with someone who was innovative and practiced an agile way of implementing our goals.

We were also looking for some who would get the job done without us holding their hand and telling them what to do, because we dont know how to create a website to this magnitude.

How did you select S-PRO and what were the deciding factors?

That's exactly what SPRO was able to do for us. They we professional, reliable, innovative, independent, fast yet efficient. Their attention to detail was spot on which is really hard to find in foreign companies. Now we continue to work with them and can't imagine hiring anyone else to help us grow our business.

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

The entire website had to be designed from UX to UI. We needed two different customer pathways, one for buyers and one for sellers. We needed a complicated payment process simplified which included several steps from deposits, final payments and picking up puppy, all of which would be controlled under escrow.

We needed a pathway for sellers to post different types of advertisements. We needed a peer to peer message center for users to use. Reviews, complaints, FAQ, and information pages. We needed an admin panel for us to collect data.

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

Project manager 2 developers UX and UI designer Business analyst Overseer

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

The website is working perfectly. the SPRO team included bug fixing and testing for 30 days after launch and during this stage they were really good at ensuring everything was working perfectly. We had a number of people sign up within the first week without any problems. The website is exactly as we imagined, if not better. We are really really happy with the end result.

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

We had weekly meeting, at the beginning we had 2 meetings a week. We were also communicating daily when needed through slack.

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

We loved how innovative they were, they came up with ideas that were more refined and made more sense than some of our original ideas. We loved how committed and passionate they all were toward the project, as if they owned the business with us. We really appreciate the ongoing management too.

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

Nope, we love these guys! 10/10

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of nect World. We created a solution that enables business professionals to be connected to secure, reliable internet on their laptop whenever and wherever needed.

What challenge were you trying to address with S-PRO?

We needed help with custom software development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed our desktop app. We have our own hardware that we developed in-house. It’s a modem that allows you to connect to the internet. We used S-PRO to develop software that would allow our customers to change settings and purchase data plans through an API. They set up our own VPN servers and created an admin panel that allows us to provide customer support and change the settings of the system itself. They used Electron, a cross-platform app.

They had a cool onboarding process where we had a few workshops where we outlined the project stages.  We had a few 3-4 hour meetings where we outlined all the tasks and created a wireframe for our project. The launch date is set right now for mid-January, but we might continue working with them as a support team.

What is the team composition?

There’s the project manager, front- and backend developers, a QA tester, a designer, an Electron programmer, and a business analyst. My main point of contact is the project manager.

How did you come to work with S-PRO?

I met one of their sales reps at a conference a long time ago. We didn’t need the software development at that point but when we needed them, I reached out to my network. 

S-PRO provided the most simple onboarding process and was able to work alongside us to create a wireframe. They were a bit higher priced than some other competitors but their personal approach and onboarding process definitely made up for that.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2020, and the work is ongoing.

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

The goal was to have them develop both effectively and efficiently. The main metric was how far below the estimate they could go.

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

We communicate via Slack and weekly meetings, where we check their progress from the past week. We work in sprints with a general timeline and price estimate to guide the project. Our spend with them was always lower than the amount of the job already done. We were happy with their work.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their personal approach for us as a startup was impressive. We weren’t always able to provide the perfect wireframe and specification. They worked with us to develop those.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes there could be better communication. Since we worked in sprints and requested changes, there were 1–2 times where there was some miscommunication. It’s very minor, though.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Allow them to introduce you to their processes. Try to integrate with their process, allowing you to have the highest quality work. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO and co-founder for an energy data company. We provide intelligence around data in energy markets and are focused on flexible energy production in the UK.

What challenge were you trying to address with S-PRO?

They’re our nearshore software development partner.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They outlined the specifications for a web app that delivers data, insight, and intelligence for our users. We spent 4–6 weeks on planning and then we moved into development. We then started working on the frontend and backend database.

What is the team composition?

We work with a project manager, who works on our team full-time,  a business analyst, a solutions architect, a UX/UI designer, two frontend engineers, and two backend engineers.

How did you come to work with S-PRO?

We put out a competitive tender for European developers. We started with a shortlist and narrowed it down to three companies. We met with S-PRO’s CEO, CTO, customer success manager, and a few of their technical leads. In that meeting, we went over what we were looking for and what services they provided. We really like that they were forward-thinking and their team seemed to be happy in their positions. They were very flexible as well and everything was up for discussion.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent roughly €200,000 (approximately $240,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2020 and the project is ongoing.

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

They’ve been able to resolve bugs and manage the backlog. Now we’re able to provide a product for our paying users and have attracted new customers. Feedback has been really positive. Now we have an attractive and easy to use frontend. The platform is simple and intuitive, which is fantastic.

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

They did really well and were able to deliver on time and on budget. We’re constantly making changes to the scope and adjusting our priorities, but S-PRO is very good at managing and documenting any changes. Before COVID-19, we met with them in person every sprint, so about every two weeks.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re extremely flexible and have been patient as we make changes to our scope. They’re also good at taking on new concepts like energy market data.  After the planning phase, they were able to provide input, which has had a positive impact on users. They recommended features that weren’t on our product roadmap, but they’ve become an imperative part of our product. They add a lot of value.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could streamline the approval process around resource planning and information, particularly on feature changes. Whilst S-PRO was flexible, getting changes approved was a little frustrating.

On occasion, we could have improved communication, particularly between preproduction and production phases. However, there hasn’t been a significant issue.

They’ve missed a few English grammar issues as well, but the mistakes were very minimal.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Get to know the project manager and solutions architect because strong communication is key. I would encourage people to go in person as regularly s possible so they can talk with the development team.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and chairman of Ad Astra Wellbeing, a company based in London. Ad Astra’s a meditation app. Our partners upload content to the network that’s accessed by users. Partners receive royalties calculated based on subscription costs and split with the company.

What challenge were you trying to address with S-PRO?

We hired S-PRO to develop our app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

S-PRO built our app for Android and iOS. Their team also created a web panel for partners to upload content.

What is the team composition?

Although I only communicated with the project manager, around five people from S-PRO worked on this project.

How did you come to work with S-PRO?

I researched quite a few companies and read reviews on Clutch as well as other platforms. I reached out to seven companies in total, and S-PRO replied quickly. They were transparent and not only provided an estimate but also a basic mockup of the app. That showed their dedication to working with me. Their sales manager was excellent and answered all my questions too.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent around $50,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started to talk in August, but the work started in September 2019. The project concluded in early-June 2020, but I’m still in touch with them for server upgrades and other maintenance work.

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

I’m quite happy with the app and partner panel developed by S-PRO. This has no connection with S-PRO, but I haven’t secured as many downloads as I’d like, which involves marketing.

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

We used WhatsApp and email to communicate. I only communicated with one person, which made the process easier for me.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was happy with their flexibility. I decided to add and remove features as development went on, and S-PRO did everything I requested.

Are there any areas they could improve?

As I’ve only worked with one mobile developer, I don’t have the means for comparison. However, I’m satisfied. I’d recommend S-PRO to anyone who asked me about a good developer.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a science and material innovation company rethinking biology and reimagining the world. A World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer, we partner with nature to create never-before imagined materials and products across industries – from agriculture to electronics, consumer care to pharmaceuticals, and more. Our company creates sustainable materials that are in use today, delivering value for Fortune 1000 companies with over $1 billion worth of products using Zymergen microbial innovations sold to date. At Zymergen we make tomorrow. I am the Technical Lead of the Zymergen Navigator for Chemistry project.

For what projects/services did your company hire S-PRO?

We needed to create a best-in-class internal tool for exploring biological chemical spaces. This required a top-to-bottom integration of databases, services, and client interfaces. We partnered with S-Pro to develop the website our employees would use to make key research decisions around new materials.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals for this project would be to create a website with a strong core architecture that could support future enhancements in a variety of dimensions. It needed to support powerful query semantics but be presented in a user-friendly interface. It needed to interact with a variety of backend services and provide a cohesive view of it all.

How did you select this vendor?

We explored and interviewed a variety of vendors. We were drawn to S-Pro's based on their professionalism in interviews, their portfolio of projects that included sufficiently complex state, and their company size and stability.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The project began with us creating mockups and specifications for the first few phases of the project. We then worked with them to set up the codebase and create the first few proof of concept deliverables to demonstrate all the services communicating effectively. During this time we worked through overall architecture patterns, state management, testing requirements, code quality expectations, communications, and project tracking. S-Pro has been able to work with specifications of varying detail and work independently to propose solutions and implement them.

What was the team composition?

We had some initial churn on developers until we found developers with the right skillsets. We now have two developers working full-time on the project and they peer-review code prior to us taking a final review before merging. We had to change project managers once, but overall the project management has been very stable. We also have a part time QA engineer verifying changes.

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

The project has been well-received by a number of internal teams and is quickly becoming a critical internal tool. It is used internally as a case-study in future development patterns.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We created JIRA tickets to represent the units of work we wanted implemented and kept them sorted in priority order. We relied on their project management to then select and assign those tickets as necessary. They would peer-review code and get QA verification before we were given final review. We maintained an ongoing Slack channel for live discussion as well as a weekly meeting on Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I've been most impressed with S-Pro's ability to be self-directed. We can give them detailed specifications or just a rough idea of what we want and they are able to make their own appropriate judgement calls on tradeoffs to give us a great initial solution quickly. We can then iterate as necessary to get the final implementation. In some cases we have been able to present them with the only the overall problem we are attempting to solve and they are able to generate a solution from scratch. In other cases we are able to work with them to discuss deeper architectural tradeoffs and make an informed decisions about them.

Are there any areas for improvement?

In general they've matched or exceeded our expectations. There are a number of challenges associated with developing a complex internal application externally, but S-Pro has done quite well at adapting to our needs. We occasionally needed to realign on what we're looking for in terms of speed versus thoroughness of each change, but that's about it.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Hire Hub are a Software Development and ERP growth consultancy based in London. We are responsible for building businesses development teams on an onsite and remote basis.

For what projects/services did your company hire S-PRO?

We were engaged with our main client and required a outsourcing partner who could work across multiple tech stack. We created a web application.

What were your goals for this project?

To deliver the project on time.

How did you select this vendor?

I spoke with 15+ outsourcing partners and choose the one I trusted and had a clear process.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They designed, configured, developed and maintained the web application on our behalf. Also they were responsible for bug fixing across different projects.

What was the team composition?

The team was composed of 7 developers and 1 project manager. The PM handled all communication when required, but individual contact was made when beneficial.

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

This project was the largest project we have delivered to date, and had the least issues throughout- mainly down due to S-PRO.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project deadlines were regularly met and when they weren't you knew in advance, rather than just before or after. Expectations were always effectively managed.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their planning and process prior to engaging. I could tell they are a business who only take on work when they truly believe they can assist.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Always room for improving in development quality, but to summarise they are the best agency I've used.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of a software consulting and development company

For what projects/services did your company hire S-PRO?

We've partnered with S-PRO to develop software solutions for our clients when we are short on staff or need a bit of extra help.

What were your goals for this project?

To develop and Ethereum smart contract that stabilized MakerDAO liquidity risk for borrowers and lenders

How did you select this vendor?

We did a test run with a small smart contract audit and then seeing their professionalism, slowly started trusting them with larger and larger projects.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They were able to help with the design, implementation, and troubleshooting of the frontend, backend, and blockchain development as well as quality assurance and unit testing

What was the team composition?

The project had about 8 people in total all working on different verticals.

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

We've been able to turn around projects for clients substantially quicker than we had previously.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project manager has was responsive around the clock via telegram and we stayed in sync daily with meetings. No language issues, while it is sometimes necessary to repeat things this is very minimal.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The scalability of their processes impressed us. We could throw them 1k worth of work or 1M and they'd be able to tackle it. No job too large or small.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There is very little to improve honestly, maybe simply having a client-facing progress tool to update our clients on the progress would be nice. Although it would have to be white labeled.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Project Manager/Account Manager at Talent Alpha p.l.c.- tech start up hiring up to 40 employees. Talent Alpha is building Human Cloud Platform- innovative solution for Recruitment, which gives immediate access to untapped pool of experienced Tech Talents from small & medium-sized IT Services Companies across Europe, on demand.

For what projects/services did your company hire S-PRO?

Staff augmentation project for the company which specialized in Adapted Physical Activity, placement for full stack web developers working on building and implementation of platform for physical health for seniors.

What were your goals for this project?

To effectively work on platform implementation and help existing team to verify and develop the code, which was old and not perfect. Additionally to lead the daily operational processes and tasks planning.

How did you select this vendor?

They were one of our partners we approached previously to register on our platform and load developers profiles into it. We quickly found out that they are fantastic partner to go with and have valuable developers with many skills.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They verified and developed the code, feeling comfortable working quickly through tasks that may touch both frontend and backend. They were focused but able to communicate early when issues arise so not to spend time on something that others can help with. Built using react and redux, but they were able to work through styling issues where required.

What was the team composition?

There was a few people with the Project Manager as the main point of contact.

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

Project is ongoing. There is constant every day impact of all changes made by the team on project and a platform itself. Final result will be evaluated after finalization of the project.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management was very good. We were informed about any concerns, delays or changes in the project very soon so we can react very quickly. Very good communications and understanding of business requirements.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The most impressive is their perfect communication skills as well as the high quality work standards. I'm sure we will continue our collaboration in the future on next projects.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I didn't find any.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and co-founder of a SaaS company. We develop apps for businesses to manage their workflow.

What challenge were you trying to address with S-PRO?

We were looking for a software partner to support us with some of the design aspects of our workflow app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Several components of our app were already designed, so S-PRO helped us specifically with training mockups. The designed over 100 new screens for our app.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a total of five people from their team. There were two designers, one business analyst, a project manager, and the account manager.

How did you come to work with S-PRO?

Our primary focus was finding a partner with whom we could work as a team.  

We looked at various sites, including Clutch, and compiled a list of about 50 businesses. From there, we shortlisted 20. We conducted interviews, assigned small tasks, and surveyed existing customers.

After visiting S-PRO’s site, we decided to partner with them. We appreciated that they were in our time zone, and the team was a good fit in terms of culture. 

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost between $10,000-$25,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February until June 2019.

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

Although we didn’t gather any specific metrics as we were still in the design and development phase, we’re very happy with what the team delivered. 

The app's capabilities increased greatly, growing from 30–40 screens to 150–180. S-PRO’s work focused on the user, and they implemented great, animated design.

The team conducted several tests with users to gather feedback and continuously improve the product. With their help, our product was able to really grow.

Overall, the quality was great. We’re satisfied with the work they did.

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

Their project management style is above average. 

We communicated daily over both Slack and Skype. Sometimes, we traveled to their office to meet with them personally, in order to ensure alignment between our two teams. We received reports every three weeks, and the team used Jira to track progress. 

Whenever difficult situations arose, S-PRO was very helpful in providing solutions. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We really appreciated the constant availability of our account manager. Whenever we required anything or had questions or concerns, he replied within minutes. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Looking back, although we agreed upon status reports every three weeks, it would’ve been helpful to receive them more frequently. Other than that, we had a great experience with them. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be as clear as you can about what you need. We approached S-PRO with some of our mockups, processes, and ideas already formed. That level of preparation enabled them to understand our project and how they could most efficiently staff it on their end.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of Wonop a cryptocurrency company. So far, I’m the only employee, which means we’re in a very early start-up phase where I am mostly managing everything through outsourcing. This is so I can make sure the gets work done without having a long-term commitment to actually pay employees.

What challenge were you trying to address with S-PRO?

I asked them to build a mobile wallet for me.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built a mobile wallet that manages ERC20 tokens. People can add different ERC20 tokens and manage their native Ethereum tokens in it. It’s biometrically enabled so users can authenticate themselves via fingerprints. It also has a built-in KYC system so the provider can get confirmation that the user has a verified identity.

They used React Native to create a cross-platform mobile wallet for Android and iOS. Overall, they’ve been working with the Ethereum cryptographic library. They’re working with Node.js but also working with a mystic graphical wallet which involved the generation of Entropy and a bunch of other technical things. They also used Web3 technology for sign-on and interacting with the Ethereum blockchain. Also, they’ve been using Infura as a backend service.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Olga (Project Manager, S-PRO) as well as with Nadia (Sales Manager, S-PRO). I had a few calls with the developers, but I wasn’t in contact with them that much.

How did you come to work with S-PRO?

I think I just did a Google search. I went to a bunch of companies, but S-PRO’s portfolio looked pretty solid. They started out making a proposal for what they were going to do and clarified any misunderstandings that they had. On that basis, they went ahead and did it.

How much have you invested in them?

I have spent between $10,000–$50,000. I think I paid $5,000 upfront for just doing the planning but to be fair, I think it was absolutely necessary to do that.

What is the status of this engagement?

I worked with them from July 2019 to January 2020. We’ve finished the first phase and I need to raise some funds to continue the work.

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

Overall, I have been quite happy. There's very little they could have done to make me happier. I would be quite happy hiring them again and I am fairly sure I will.

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

Project management was great. I got regular updates from them and they delivered something on a regular basis that I could see.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We had an agreement that if I was unsatisfied at any point, we could terminate the contract with a full two-day notice which made me feel comfortable working with them. They sent me a packaged version of the wallet plus the source code. I have been looking over the source code and I'm happy with it, overall.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t think so.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I think you should just roll with it. I was quite happy with how it all went. I was a bit skeptical because it seemed quite expensive, but I think it is worth it.