Salsita Software

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of Interform. We are an application provider that delivers software to what is called output management.

What challenge were you trying to address with Salsita Software?

We hired them to improve our user interface and move it from a client-based application to a browser-based application.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The first step was the discovery phase where we brainstormed, planned, and reviewed our existing application to transform it into a scope and initiate a makeover. They gave us an idea on how to approach the project and finalized the milestones. Next, we entered the MVP phase and worked the plan into a final product.

What is the team composition?

There were at least 7–8 people involved in the project. They were made up of project managers, QA specialists, front- and backend developers, and engineers.

How did you come to work with Salsita Software?

We browsed and read reviews about them online. They stepped in, and we tried to get a feel for what they do and how they work. They seemed promising as if they could deliver according to what we wanted. We reviewed their other competitors, and we found Salsita Software to be the better choice.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from September 2018–September 2019.

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

Our product would have never been released if it wasn’t successful. We’ve had a lot of positive feedback from our customers. We delivered a fresh interface that’s intuitive and based on new technology so obviously, it created a huge impact.

How did Salsita Software perform from a project management standpoint?

It was perfect. We didn’t experience any issues at all. They were responsive and proactive, and those were the things we were really keen on. We didn’t want to be the one who was chasing someone we were paying to be part of the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were impressed with the diversity of the skills that they held regardless of the project. Whatever challenge we came with, there was always someone who was qualified to do the job. It was clear that they put together the team that also understood the task.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t really ask for more than what we got, so it’s difficult to say. We were happy with the service from the beginning and wouldn’t have spent time with them if we weren’t. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Always start with the discovery process to figure out what you want for the project and find out if someone is a good fit for it. If there’s a natural desire to make a project special, which was our impression with them, then you’re in the right direction to build the right solution instead of just completing a scope.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and founder of a manufacturing service. We procure electronic components and assemble products for our customers.

What challenge were you trying to address with Salsita Software?

We saw an opportunity to broaden our reach in the marketplace. Our service was typically limited to a local geographic area. However, we thought the web would be a great way to expand some of our work to new markets.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built us a new B2B website for engineering clients. Users would be able to go online, upload their needed building materials, and interface with our distributors via an API. The website would deliver a quote for parts based on price, delivery, and availability. 

We had some wireframes because we had tried to work with another firm, but that didn’t work out. Salsita Software essentially built the platform from scratch. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager, one or two fullstack developers, a UX designer, and the QA team. 

How did you come to work with Salsita Software?

I did a number of interviews with different firms. They were convincing and seemed capable. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $300,000–$500,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2018, and the website launched in early 2020. 

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

We’ve gotten our first successful transactions. The website is working well. I had some other marketing people take a look at it, and they were very complimentary. 

How did Salsita Software perform from a project management standpoint?

They were good. They set objectives and goals for both the long- and short-term. We primarily used Slack to communicate. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their overall expertise in B2B website development is impressive. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m happy with what they’ve been able to do, I don’t have any complaints. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Set goals and have a vision of what you want.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Staffbase supports industry leaders with their own branded app to engage their diverse, disconnected, and distributed workforce. I'm an Engineering Manager at Staffbase, so my job is to take care for the existing engineering teams and grow our workforce internally and externally.

For what projects/services did your company hire Salsita Software?

We needed external development support because our need for rapid growth could not be covered by hiring people. In that regard we were looking for skilled and experienced Developers matching our Stack (mainly React at the frontend).

What were your goals for this project?

As a fast growing startup, we've got lots of requirements on our product backlog that are already defined by our Product Owners. Those stories need to be implemented, following our quality guidelines and our aim for sustainable solutions.

How did you select this vendor?

We considered some providers, but chose Salsita because of the matching Tech Stack but also for the pricing.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Salsita created a dedicated development team with all the engineering and QA functions within the team, but with a Product Owner from Staffbase. Furthermore we have some Salsita developers distributed among our internal teams, and there are currently two Designers from Salsita working at internal teams.

What was the team composition?

The team grew slightly over the years, our main demand is for frontend developers, currently about 10. Plus 2 QA engineers, plus 2 designers, plus one project lead.

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

We were able to achieve parts of our goals with developing the product further, i.e. creating new features and enhance existing functionality. This is a key demand of our customers, so Salsita contributed to the success Staffbase currently has on the market.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The involved project management is very efficient and limits the overhead on our side. There are no language barriers since Staffbase is a fully international company and English is for most people not the mother tongue. We are using Slack, Jira, Confluence and GitHub.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Salsita is very flexible regarding the quick on-boarding of new colleagues. Furthermore most of their engineers are very engaged when it comes to find a solution for complex problems.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Sometimes Salsita has to change assigned resources because there are internal changes on there end, but most of the times we found a good compromise that worked for the both of us.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the manager of operations for a nonprofit organization that services low-income communities by helping childcare centers participate in the federal food program.

What challenge were you trying to address with Salsita Software?

We participate in a very paper-heavy program that requires lots of manual processing in our offices to calculate data. Salsita Software designed a solution to allow us to use the computer to handle processing that we currently do with human labor.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created a web application that we use ourselves and that our childcare centers can submit their paperwork on. It’s a PostgreSQL database, with a Node.js backend. The frontend was built with Angular. 

What is the team composition?

We had probably 8–10 people working on the project at different times. There was always a project manager and a DevOps person who helped us set or change things, and then numerous people behind the scenes.

How did you come to work with Salsita Software?

Because we receive federal funding, we had to have a procurement process. Salsita Software responded to our proposal and submitted a bid. They had the best proposal, assessed by balancing their expertise and their hourly rate.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $252,000. They worked diligently to deliver a great project and had great customer service, despite the project taking longer than expected, which drove their per-hour rate down.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in 2016. Although the project finished in 2018, they’re still available for questions that I have while I’m maintaining the program.

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

It has significantly cut down on our paperwork and allowed us to store our documents digitally for the first time ever. We work much quicker now and have more free-space because we no longer need filing cabinets for everything.

Their work also dramatically increased our accuracy rate. We get yearly audits, and, since they removed the human error in our calculations, that has become a much less painful process.

How did Salsita Software perform from a project management standpoint

They used Jira for all of their tickets and used Slack for communication. It was very easy to communicate with them despite their location in the Czech Republic.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their customer service is the best thing about them. At the end of the day, all you want is a product that is delivered the way you ask. They took the time to understand our program and offered valuable suggestions, showing their critical thinking skills and how they go above and beyond with customer service.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They had to switch project managers halfway through, although even that wasn’t a flaw because both were great. There wasn’t anything remotely negative about the process.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Get quotes, and if Salsita Software is in the ballpark of another company I would select them every time.
 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of global digital marketing at a renewable energy company. We're a leading global renewable energy developer, service supplier, wholesaler and energy solutions provider.

What challenge were you trying to address with Salsita Software?

As a global firm, we wanted to grow closer as a business. We tried to bring together our international locations during our 10th-anniversary celebrations by creating a photo app that is compelling and state-of-the-art.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created a photo application that allowed people to take photos during our 10th-anniversary celebrations. The app allowed users to take a photo, attach an exposure effect, and post it to a gallery. Every colleague was also compelled to write a sentence about where we will be in ten years. That content went directly into a gallery so that all colleagues around the world could see it whilst celebrating. The app was integrated with our intranet.  

What is the team composition?

We had frontend and backend developers. There was a project manager and a UX expert working with us.

How did you come to work with Salsita Software?

We were recommended to them from our intranet provider and from another agency who supported the project management of the 10 years event.

How much have you invested with them?

The app cost 45,000 euros ($49,959 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

It began around August 2019 and completed in December 2019.

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

They did a great job of reducing the complexity of the project. The app was well-received across the globe. Our managing directors offered a lot of positive feedback. Their efforts succeeded in bringing the company closer together. Every location would post photos as the day would go along, which gave us the feeling of being one company.

How did Salsita Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We mostly used email and calls to communicate. They offered to use Slack, but it was easier to communicate over email given the variety of tools being used by our different providers. We mainly communicated through ongoing reviews. They only involved me when necessary.

They were available fairly quickly, which was great given the tight deadlines. They were ready right off the bat and we had the kick-off workshop right away. They did many things behind the scenes, working to build the app. At first, it wasn’t clear where they were at in the process, but they proved they were professionals and did a great job without involving me.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to reduce the level of complexity while also keeping a focused communication structure was impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had a project manager change at the beginning of the project which was awkward. There was also a misunderstanding with the production environment, but we worked that out in the end.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Plan to spend more time with your project if possible. Every day you spend with Salsita Software, you’re able to get higher quality out of the engagement. If you grant them more time, it’ll make the results even better. 1-2 more weeks for us would have made our app even better. We were still pretty happy though.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of technology for Purple, a creative innovation agency. We’re a creative agency with a focus on technology that has design, development, and management capabilities.

What challenge were you trying to address with Salsita Software?

They’re helping us create creative, complex web applications. We needed additional expertise and manpower in creating advanced web technologies.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Currently, they serve as system administrators for the many services they’ve built out for us.

In one project, they delivered a web application that supports the sales of Samsung’s new flagship phones. It’s an interactive web-based game that was utilized in Samsung’s event set-ups. For that app, they used JavaScript, Node.js, and Unity 3D.

In the biggest project they’ve done for us, they developed a presentation platform that we’ve sold to several major clients.

What is the team composition?

They have four full-time employees assigned to our account. They’re providing us with a couple of full-stack development engineers, a frontend developer, and a DevOps team. We also have a dedicated project manager.

How did you come to work with Salsita Software?

I’d googled “React and Node.js Developers,” and they were one of the first few results to pop up. I sent them an email and got a phone call from their CEO within two hours.

We sent them a challenge assessment, and they surprised me by coming back with a full current state assessment of our project. From that point, I felt confident to work with them.

I was also at ease with the size of their company—with a 60-person team, they’re not too big, but they’re definitely not small and fragile, either.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2017, so it’s been a full two years. We’re still working with them.

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

They’ve proven themselves to be a high-end software development company, with their products performing exceptionally well. The presentation platform they created continues to be intensively used by a major company, in all of its global offices.

They’re dedicated to their job and are clearly versed in their art. Being knowledgeable software architects, they make the right decisions in terms of scalability and quality. Naturally, their quality assurance team is top-notch.

How did Salsita Software perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re always available and are ready to work late hours or weekends to fix critical issues. They take any road bumps extremely seriously and are diligent in quickly resolving them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their level of dedication to our company and our values isn’t easy to find. It’s evident that they’re endeavoring to do what’s really best for us. They take challenges head-on to find the best solution.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t let go of them—keep them as your software provider!

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of eCourt. We’ve developed a trial presentation software for courts. We believe it’s a more efficient and user-friendly solution than what’s available on the market. There are companies that provide cloud-based document-sharing facilities in court, but our system loads files onto separate users’ devices.

The pages on opened documents are automatically mirrored across devices. Everyone using our eCourt app can collaborate and mirror within a courtroom situation, anywhere in the world. It works faster and more efficiently than cloud sharing since files are actually on the devices. These documents can also be annotated.

What challenge were you trying to address with Salsita Software?

We’d developed an Android app version before I came to Salsita Software, but it wasn’t really what we needed. We wanted the solution developed with React so it could be deployed into iOS, Android, and Microsoft.

I contacted Matthew (Co-Founder and CEO, Salsita Software), and it developed from there. Salsita Software did a scope on what was going to be required, and we entered into a contract.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Salsita Software designed and developed our app. There’ve been a lot of changes involved, and it’s quite complicated. We had to incorporate a PDF reader and an easy-to-use, user-friendly interface. Salsita developed the whole server script. This had to be integrated with our databases.

Users can use cloud sharing to distribute the files through AWS, OneDrive, or whatever people think is the most secure. Files can also be distributed on USB sticks or SD cards. The system could be cloud-free for those who really want a high level of security. Mirroring files is instantaneous.

In the meantime, we’re testing it with users in Dublin courts. It has been used several times in various cases, and we’ve made a number of changes. Some people asked for the capacity to split the screen when looking at documents. We have a present, receive, and view mode. If a user is in receive mode, they can break off into view mode and look at any files they want. They can annotate and access the rest of the features while also looking at whatever documents the presenter has open.

What is the team composition?

We usually had meetings with the person managing the project and two developers. There’d obviously also be people working on testing, design, and other tasks. I’m not aware of how many people were on the design teams.

How did you come to work with Salsita Software?

I did some research into finding a good React software development company and came across Salsita Software. They’d done some work for another company in Ireland. I contacted them and they were very pleased with the services provided.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around €130,000 ($144,981 USD) on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We made the initial contact in 2017. It’s gone on for two years now.

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

We’ve had positive feedback and endorsements. Like any software, it can’t be all things to all people, but we feel we’ve struck a good balance. People ask about live notes, sending files in real-time between tablet devices, and so on, but our system isn’t designed for that.

Everything was done the way we wanted, and we have a fine app to release in 2020. It’s applicable in any court, anywhere in the world. At the moment, we’re raising funding to take it to the next level. We hope to expand to markets in Ireland and the United Kingdom. I think we have as much as possible covered at this stage. The project can never be complete, but I’m very happy with it.

It took us two years to develop it, and we’re now just launching the Android version of the app on the Google Play Store. It’ll be another month or so before we have the iOS and Microsoft versions out.

How did Salsita Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We had meetings on Google Hangouts every Monday between the team here and the one at Salsita Software to discuss the work done in the previous week. We also communicated on Slack on an ongoing basis. I found the communication very good. They’re always accessible. If I sent a Slack message today, I’d have a response by the end of the day. We’ve developed a good relationship over the two years, and I’m very happy with the work. We have weekly meetings, and they paid attention to what we wanted.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I always felt Salsita Software was more dependable than other developers. I’ve had developers prior to this engagement, and it can be like shoving money into a black hole. Salsita Software was trustworthy, and that we were getting a fair deal. They’re honorable and the communication has always been very good. I’m very happy with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any criticisms for Salsita that particularly jump out at me. There were times when I felt they could’ve done things quicker, but anyone can say that about anything. I might want something done in a hurry, but they have their developers assigned to various projects and can’t just drop something and go to something else. I wouldn’t even say that this is a criticism.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I referred people to them a few months back. It’s important to have a good system of communication. We have that weekly meeting, so we’re kept up to date all the time. It’s easy to manage the thing because of the communication channels. Between videoconferences and Slack, we can manage the project tightly, and they’re open to that.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the vice president of information technology for a mortgage solutions company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Salsita Software?

We hired Salsita Software to develop a mobile application.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Salsita Software helped us develop a mobile app for Android and iOS, built using React Native. The purpose of the app is to enable customers to appraise and evaluate real estate. 

Some of the key functionalities allow users to do automatic calculations on sizing, areas, grids, curves, and anything else they’d need to draw a footprint of a piece of real estate. It handles and organizes pictures, captions, and other key features to appraise real estate. 

What is the team composition?

They assigned a dedicated project manager to us for different stages of the project. 

How did you come to work with Salsita Software?

I’d used Salsita Software in the past at various companies, so it made sense to use them for this project. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $750,000 on the project. 

What is the status of this engagement?

This project ran from June–November 2019. 

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

From the multiple rounds of both open and closed beta testing that we did, we’ve heard great feedback that it’s much easier to use than others in the market and is more approachable. These are two significant factors in our industry right now. 

Through the multiple rounds of feedback and testing, our internal team has gained a lot of confidence in the work. The functionality of the app is better than anything similar to it. They've also done a great job capturing user feedback and incorporating it into updated versions of the app.

How did Salsita Software perform from a project management standpoint?

They remained on schedule and within our budget throughout the project. All of the management was done very fluidly, using Jira, Confluence, and Slack. We ended up switching project managers halfway through as we moved into the development phase, but it went smoothly and it was a fluid approach. Our communication went well since the only barrier was the time difference. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were really great at UX/UI at every stage of the project, which a lot of companies can’t say. Not every company is as good at handling that. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

More upfront collaboration on a few of the technology decisions would be helpful. There were a few instances at the start where some of their decisions didn’t play well with my internal team's ideas, so it’d be beneficial if they had gotten our insight. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be an agile shop. They’re great at working iteratively, so use them in that way.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and co-founder of Techloop.io, a hiring marketplace for IT specialists focused primarily in central Europe.

What challenge were you trying to address with Salsita Software?

We had a junior internal IT development team that was tasked with delivering parts of the project that were very crucial to us. Unfortunately, after several attempts, we realized they didn’t have the ability or the experience.

As a startup, we were in a tight situation to make a decision on whether to rebuild an internal team or go for the expertise of a team that had specific experience with JavaScript and React.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our goal was to rewrite a core company application. The final product had to support a fully enabled SaaS product platform. We needed to have the ability for a full search of the candidates, to have billing integrated, and to have social logins added into it.

It was done on a very tight deadline, but the end result was a fully capable SaaS product with integrated billing, exactly as we had requested. They continue to make themselves available on-call for any questions or requests that we have.

What is the team composition?

There were roughly four people. At least three people were on a full-time basis and one person worked on UX design as needed. We had two full-stack developers working with us for front- and backend needs, one project/product manager assisting in the communications and setting up sprints for our internal team and their team as well.

How did you come to work with Salsita Software?

They came to us through a personal recommendation. We decided to go with them due to the speed and expertise they were able to provide.

How much have you invested with them?

In the end, we spent €120,000 (approximately $132,900).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from December 2018–June 2019.

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

We were able to launch a completely new SaaS platform. The deadline was for April and they built the whole functional platform with the billing on time. Since then, we’ve been running on their technology stack, and we’re continually tweaking that internally.

How did Salsita Software perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was very good. They had a difficult situation to balance, between applying their expertise to our development needs and helping to manage and train our junior team.

They didn’t do it on a standard basis but they were willing to take over the ownership and manage our team for six months to get them up to speed. They worked in weekly sprints. We had in-person meetings once a week to catch up on the results.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are professional in how they deal with the customer. The number one priority we had from the very beginning was a specific deadline that we needed to achieve to launch the new product.

Because of that, they were always planning out the scenarios that we had in front of us. If they had the ability to do something quicker, we were given upfront what the risks were that we’d be facing or that could cause potential future risks.

The communication was very good from their side. The platform is stable, and the process behind it and the deployment they set up was solid. Not only that, but they were able to implement it without any downtime or issues.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing that comes to my mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Understand your budget and the results that you will get from working with them. They may be a little bit higher priced than their competition, but that is reflected in the delivery of the services that they provide. The premium price for the current market is easily justified by the professional services that they provide.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO and founder of Petshare, a web application for free pet caring solutions for pet lovers.

What challenge were you trying to address with Salsita Software?

We needed to finally create our application after a year of failed development with a separate company. They made a mess of our software so we wanted to start fresh with Salsita Software.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Salsita Software built out the MVP for our progressive web application from the ground up. We already had a designer who had done the design portion, so they were responsible purely for the product development, which they completed in Node.js React. Currently, it's mobile responsive, but we're looking to get a full desktop version completed soon.

What is the team composition?

We had two full-stack developers, a project manager, two UX and frontend developers, 1–2 DevOps specialists, and two QA testers.

How did you come to work with Salsita Software?

We looked at various companies that we found on Google and whittled our pool down to a proper list of three contenders. We chose them because we found them to be experienced developers and the CEO was very hands-on. It felt right for us to work with a company that was hands-on and that values their customers from top to bottom.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in February 2019 and wrapped up that August.

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

They went above and beyond of what we expected of them. Even though we did have to make a few changes here and there, our technical staff was very skilled. We felt very fortunate to have them on board.

How did Salsita Software perform from a project management standpoint?

They were always very quick with replying. Our tech lead, specifically, was very quick at responding to us and completing any changes that needed to be done. The team as a whole met all of our deadlines. We had weekly meetings to start off with and shifted to a bi-weekly model after realizing we were spending too much money on the meetings and not enough time on the actual work. We definitely made sure we had them on the right track in the beginning. We used Slack mainly for communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their skillset and communication were very good. Nothing ever got lost in translation, which gave us a sense of comfort.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The UX and UI for us were a bit challenging because there was a bit of a communication problem between us and a developer that was new to their company. If we had to do it all over again, we probably would've asked for a different UX developer that could communicate at the same level as the others. Despite that, we were very happy with what they accomplished.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to be open and transparent with what you want so that both sides will know what the expectations are.