Sannacode

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are Zazo, a face messaging app.

What is your position?

I'm founder and CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Sannacode?

In the case of Zazo, we had an app that has an Android client as well as an iOS client and have a preliminary test plan or set of test cases we need them to run. They did a great job. They learned the product quickly and learned how to use the tools that we had and provided for them like administrative consoles to get into the back-end to be able to control various scenarios for tests. They provided their own test clients. They did a good job of reporting bugs, filing bugs, explaining how they could be reproduced and retesting. They have their own bug tracking system, but we use ours, and they are fine with that. 

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

It's been testing only.

How did you come to work with Sannacode?

I looked at uTest. It's a big American-based testing company. Their offering was terrible. They expected you to spend a ton of money, and they were going to do a lot of open-field testing and not really give you a detailed plan. It wasn't going to be nearly as close of a relationship as we have gotten with Sannacode. We looked at a company in the United States that had an iOS development team that had some testers. We tried them out, and they were not very good. Then, I was referred to Sannacode by a fellow in the Ukraine who's helped me hire a number of engineers there. We started using them and were extremely happy with the performance, price, and responsiveness. We stuck with them. As we've grown, we've asked them to bring on more testers, and they do that.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The entire project has been between $100,000 and $200,000

What is the status of this engagement?

It started around January [2015]. Zazo is still in the testing process. We don't have any commitment. They can ramp up their capabilities when we need them to, and then between releases it might slow down for a while, and we'll only get charged for actual hours worked.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Sannacode is an excellent testing and QA [quality assurance] team for us. They take their work seriously, and are very detail-oriented. They take a great deal of ownership, and we feel like they're part of our team. Without them, we would struggle much more to get new releases out.

How did Sannacode perform from a project management standpoint?

They're extremely responsive. I'm in the role of project management more than they are, but they're very responsive and can spin up and turn on a dime when we need them to. I don't have to schedule them out a week in advance. I can call them the night before. They simplify project management. They don't add any constraints.

What distinguishes Sannacode from other providers?

I think it's the people. I've gone through many offshore engineers and team members, if I'm not satisfied, I just stop giving them work. In time, you evolve and get better, more reliable people. They've evolved with us and survived. Compared to others I've worked with, they're very good. If they weren't, we wouldn't keep them.

Is there anything Sannacode could have improved or done differently?

No. I think their English is good. It's definitely good enough to get along.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a founder of web educational platform named Teddy. The platform is based on Montessori pedagogical system centered around the child. The main idea is to allow teachers to use ready-made education materials (questions, games and media) and to create their own materials from predefined templates.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sannacode, and what were your goals?

I came up with the idea of creating a unique LMS platform, but I didn't have a technical background. I was looking for a reliable partner who could implement the idea from scratch. Sannacode provided me with end-to-end delivery services including market research, specification development, branding, UI/UX design, front-end and back-end development, testing.

SOLUTION

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

I asked my acquaintances and partners about reliable vendors. They provided me with several contacts. So I did research and chose companies whose portfolio impressed me. I have 3 companies left. Then I had a meeting about the tasks of the project with each of the vendors. After the meeting with Sannacode, it became clear that we have the same vision, and their experience suits me best. So we started working together!

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

The LMS development started with marketing research, drawing up the project development plan and project documentation, agreeing on the project's timing, and organizing the team's workflow. PHP5, Laravel5, MongoDB, MySQL, Redis, SleepingOwl, and Docker were utilized to develop the back-end. HTML 5, CSS 3, Ecmascript6 +, React.js, Webpack, Gulp, and Ajax were utilized to develop the front-end part of the project.

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

The team that worked on the project included: UI/UX Designer, two Back-End Developers, Front-End Developer, QA Engineer and Project Manager. The Project Manager maintained constant contact with me throughout the web development process.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As a result of six months of cooperation, I got an educational platform with its characteristics for 3 roles: teacher, student, partner. The platform interface was wow. All teachers and children were delighted.

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

The project manager was always in touch with me. Despite the time zone difference, the team adjusted to my schedule and always responded promptly to any comments. We have invested in the allocated time and budget.

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

The company impressed with its attitude towards the project. All management and developers were always proactive and involved. At each stage, experts told me how should we do, so in the end, I was pleased with the result. Each sprint was completed on time and we hit the timeline and budget.

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

The cooperation was great, I was satisfied with the process and the result.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

biopharmaceutical startup

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sannacode?

Website Development

What were your goals for this project?

To create a website

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Via personal networking

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Complete website development for our company in WordPress.

What was the team composition?

1 project manager and 2 IT developers were involved

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It was an essential step for our growth and development.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Sannacode IT team was amazing! They were highly professional; strictly met deadlines outlined in our contract; the communication was very clear, easy and in a timely manner.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Very professional. We will be happy to recommend them to anyone and definitely will continue our collaboration.

Are there any areas for improvement?

no