SaveOnDev

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CTO of a venture-backed company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We work with SaveOnDev to augment our US-based software engineering team. They work alongside us on our sprint cycles to ship features and meet launch deadlines. They also assist with the QA process.

SOLUTION

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

They were referred from a friend who ran a similarly sized engineering team, and they seemed knowledgable on how to work with lean, venture-backed startup teams like ours.

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

We write the tech specs, create the designs, and make the architecture designs in-house. They then execute on engineering tasks directly in our codebase. They have worked in React and Node on our projects.

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

We have worked with 3 different software engineers and a QA engineer from SaveOnDev's team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are able to consistently ship our projects on team and delight our customers to achieve a high NPS.

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

Their project management is async over Slack, and they are usually responsive after 6pm PDT.

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

I have really enjoyed how much the SaveOnDev engineers love to learn and their appreciation for our feedback in how to improve project management, code quality, and execution.

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

Because SaveOnDev works with multiple clients, we are not able to put SaveOnDev on critical path projects with urgent deadlines. However, they have been a great resource for us to make bolder bets each quarter.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder of a media and entertainment company that is using Web3 to bring new stories to life.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We needed a multi page website to tell our story and drive home our key value props during our fundraising period. Building on React was required as we had some onchain functionality to integrate.

SOLUTION

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

SaveOnDev were very responsive and helpful in our planning stage. They udnerstood the brief and asked the right questions to help us get a decent scope of work together.

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

Front end site build in react. Liasied with our backend team to ensure smooth api integration.

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

We worked with 3 of the team members. From the sales to pm and front end dev.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The result was an site built to our design specs that loaded perfectly and all the interactions we needed work without a hitch.

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

They were very responsive. We set up on Slack and despite the difference in timezones we were always able to workshop and plan efficiently. They were flexible with the timings when we needed specific go live dates of new updates too which was greatly appreciated.

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

Their willingness to work within our time constraints where needed and their communication lines being very open helped us iterate and update in a timely manner.

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

Everything was good.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of a health insurance brokerage.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SaveOnDev?

We were looking for someone to help us update our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SaveOnDev provides me with ongoing web development services for several platforms, making them more user and consumer-friendly.

What is the team composition?

We work with about 3–5 people who are all managing a couple of my websites for me.

How did you come to work with SaveOnDev?

SaveOnDev was referred to me by a previous web developer I worked with.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in June 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve just launched the website so we don’t have enough data at the moment, but I will say that they work incredibly fast and efficiently.

Moreover, they consistently provide me with cost-effective solutions.

How did SaveOnDev perform from a project management standpoint?

They perform well from a project management standpoint, as they accomplish their tasks with velocity and efficiency.

We typically communicate through email and WhatsApp.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed with how responsive they are and how easy it is to work with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would be nice if they can be more clear with their timelines and estimates.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise you to have clear objectives and keep your communications open.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a design and development agency that builds websites and apps primarily for the biotechnology space and a number of vertical markets. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SaveOnDev?

A large agency client of ours reached out to us to see if we could help them build a React-based app. However, the scale and scope of the project was beyond our internal team’s capabilities. As a result, I reached out to Efi (Senior Technical Project Manager) and SaveOnDev online to build the app. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I had initial discussions with our end client to walk through the designs and wireframes. The client handed over the specifications that they wanted us to follow, along with the specific milestones that we needed to hit according to the timeline. After getting in contact with Efi, I sent him this information and walked him through all of it. From there, we worked together on developing the application. 

At present, I’ve requested them to bid on a new project. In the future, we’ll be working together on something else. 

What is the team composition?

My primary point of contact is Efi, though we also have a project manager. Three other people also work with us; they consist of a technical lead and a couple of developers. Efi and I typically go through the tasks, and then he reassigns those tasks to his team members. 

How did you come to work with SaveOnDev?

I found SaveOnDev via online research. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested nearly $40,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2021, and the engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

To measure our engagement’s success, we check feedback from our end client. So far, the client tells us that everything is working well and as expected. Overall, our end client for this project has been happy with SaveOnDev’s work. 

How did SaveOnDev perform from a project management standpoint?

SaveOnDev’s project management is great. They keep me in the loop in terms of issues or questions. It’s also truly helpful that Efi interacts directly with our end client; I don’t have to micromanage or copy and paste communications. I’m comfortable letting him talk directly to the client so that if he has questions, he can have back-and-forth conversations with them without me. To manage our project, they use Jira. Meanwhile, we use Slack and emails to communicate. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

SaveOnDev’s project management skills are impressive. On top of that, their ability to discuss the project directly with the end client is a big deal. Oftentimes, when we hire additional developers, we’re either uncomfortable with them talking directly with our client — because we don’t think they’ll get the point across — or we don’t want them to over-promise things. Given this, SaveOnDev’s direct communication with the end client has been a huge help for us. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They can get things done more quickly. If we can ever do anything faster, we should. To be fair, everything that SaveOnDev has done is within their time estimates, and they’ve done a great job. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be as clear as you can with the details and the scope of the project. On top of that, make sure you have everything you need before engaging SaveOnDev — make sure that the scope is nailed down; that’s the best path forward. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of Eventswish, a company that helps people find everything they need, from an event planner to the ideal venue, so they can coordinate and have a successful wedding.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SaveOnDev?

I was having issues with my website, so I wanted it to be more sophisticated and secure against hackers. This requirement was important because my website collects personal information.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SaveOnDev developed my website. They also developed a software system to help me monitor the traffic and conversations happening through the website so that we could catch people who had malicious intentions when coming into it.

When I started working with them, I had an old website. It would crash at least once a week, which caused me to lose credibility in front of my clients. However, SaveOnDev took that old website and boosted it so that it wouldn’t crash while they worked on the new one.

My new website was already a work in process when they joined, but it wasn’t completed. They were in charge of both the design and development, and they added a few things besides the software piece.

Currently, SaveOnDev provides me with SEO services, and they get me backlinks to the website. They also call me and make suggestions for things that would work better, so I constantly feel like I’m being consulted.

What is the team composition?

There are at least 10 people from SaveOnDev involved in the project. My main point of contact is Efi (Senior Technical Project Manager).

How did you come to work with SaveOnDev?

I contacted at least 30 people on Upwork. I was skeptical because I had issues with other website developers before, and I was also looking for someone who could get backlinks to the website. Finally, I chose SaveOnDev because they had great reviews.

I’m sure they get requests every day. However, Efi was in contact with me very quickly, and he made me feel like I was the only customer that he had — he would do anything to make sure I was satisfied.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent around $6,000–$7,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2020, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’m impressed by the speed at which SaveOnDev works. Everything has moved fast, and they’ve delivered everything they’ve promised. They promised to deliver my site in about three months, but it was up and running in less than two. I was anxious to see the new website with the new features, but they built something that overtook my old website.

How did SaveOnDev perform from a project management standpoint?

Sometimes, I’ve had quick Zoom calls with Efi, where he has introduced me to the people working on the project. He also shared their email addresses with me so that I could contact them if I had a question related to a specific part of the project.

If we have miscommunication issues over email, Efi calls me and explains what’s going on; they’re really good at communicating. We use email, phone calls, and WhatsApp.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Communication and efficiency are SaveOnDev’s most impressive qualities.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I was satisfied with everything they did. They did everything I wanted and more.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Give them a chance, and you won’t regret it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a company that develops mobile software for outdoor recreation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SaveOnDev.

We were expanding our software to cover the web and wanted to create a mobile app for Android and iOS for offline outdoor navigation. We needed to redevelop some things from scratch using third-party libraries.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I provided them a few wireframes when we got started, but they took the lead. The mobile app stores maps and content so that users can access them in the outdoors where they may not have cell reception, but do have GPS coverage. The web component syncs the information to allow users to plan their hikes.

They utilized a MEAN stack to build the app, meaning they used node.js and the MongoDB database, as well as some other frameworks.

What is the team composition?

We have an overall development manager who I work with most of the time. There’s also a lead in web development, an Android developer, and an iOS developer.

How did you come to work with SaveOnDev?

I connected with them through Upwork while searching for contractors.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $42,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in October 2016 and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

While the app is still in the pre-beta stage, they’ve made progress and address any issues with the platform. They’re good at accepting feedback, modifying the plan, and making it work as they go.

How did SaveOnDev perform from a project management standpoint?

I haven’t had to do much to manage the project since a lot of the workload has been taken off of me by our primary development manager. We usually communicate through Skype and occasionally through email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have experience in both mobile and web development, as well as key connections with subcontractors in those areas.

Are there any areas they could improve?

On the web side, the programmers could invest a bit more creativity in problem-solving.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have as much of the specifications in the division of the project ready in advance. It really helps.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the Founder and Executive Director of Votergy, a nonprofit with a goal of increasing the voting rate of millennials.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SaveOnDev?

We were looking to build an app for iOS and Android that could basically store the emotional energy of millennials and release it at the polls. As millennials are concerned about issues throughout year, the app should be designed to help pledge to vote to address those issues and get information needed to register to vote and show up to the polls.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SaveOnDev took my simple sketched wireframes and added an element of depth, turning them into fully graphical and clickable mockups that we were able to iterate on from there. They then moved into development, which has included Amazon Simple Storage Services (S3), the frontend, admin, etc.

What is the team composition?

I had one primary point of contact.

How did you come to work with SaveOnDev?

I'm on the board of another company called the SmartPitch that had worked with SaveOnDev and given them a glowing reference.

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested about $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

been working with them since September or October, 2017, and will continue to work with them as we iterate on the completed code.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everyone loves the way the app looks and feels. The relationship with SaveOnDev has been a very professional and great experience. They've done the job cost effectively.

How did SaveOnDev perform from a project management standpoint?

SaveOnDev is great at communicating with consistent and fast response times. We mostly utilized email and Trello to collaborate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They put a heavy focus on product management and are able to bottom out the questions needed to understand who the user is and what the user experience should be like before going into development.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Some of the text for the app came back grammatically incorrect, so we had a number of iterations on copy. Having developers who are more proficient in English could be helpful. Other than that, I've been very pleased with their work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Do a great job with your user quotes and wireframes and really think through what you're trying to accomplish before you start development.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of a company that produces financial advisor software with a la carte solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SaveOnDev?

Price and functionality were challenges we were trying to address. We had an extremely expensive local software developer that we had been using. It was a proprietary platform and it was also pretty difficult. It was not going to be feasible for us to continue to use that platform. SaveOnDev allowed us to outsource to a variety of offshore developers that have solved those problems.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SaveOnDev performed a number of tasks. They fixed the bugs in the software and they migrated the former company’s development environment into a new platform. They also rebuilt the app from scratch. It has allowed us to continue to develop at a much lower cost.

Whenever problems arise, they’re responsive and able to fix it. We have the basic same underlying stack, but they fixed a lot of the problems we had along the way. Though I’m not aware of the technologies, my understanding is whatever stack you’re using, they can get a solution for you.

What is the team dynamic?

I mostly interacted with the team manager and we would speak at least once a week.

How did you come to work with SaveOnDev?

They were referred to me by my former mentor. We looked at a couple of other outsourcing solutions before deciding on SaveOnDev.

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested about $25,000 with SaveOnDev.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2015 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They helped us navigate a number of pretty hairy situations. We were on a different server platform and migrating off of that was extremely difficult because we didn’t have access to the server platform ourselves. It was done by the prior developer. SaveOnDev worked with them to get us off of that. It was not an easy task.

How did SaveOnDev perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great. I have a single contact, Efi [Senior Technical Project Manager, SaveOnDev]. He is very responsive, accessible 24/7 and I don’t have to deal with anyone other than him.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were very responsive and the price was good. Every time things get stressful, they’re very calm and get us through the problem.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. They’ve delivered on everything they said they were going to do.

Do you have any advice for potential customers who decide to work with them?

I recommend them. Just be clear in articulating what your needs are and what your current stack is and let them chop it for you. As an outsourcing tool, it’s much better than going directly to a development firm. We’ve done that with a firm in India and without having somebody to act as the intermediary, it was a disaster.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

SmartPitch LLC developed an app for the iPhone, and soon to be on the Android, that converts a smartphone into a precision speed gun for baseball and cricket for pitching and hitting. It provides pitching speed and exit velocity and launch angle for hitting. I am the CEO and co-founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SaveOnDev?

Radar guns that are used for pitch speed measurement cost $1,000 or more. We wanted a low-cost alternative using smartphones that everybody already has. We built a proof of concept model and we engaged a design with a UI/UX firm to help us convert the proof of concept into a commercial level product. When we finished that, we had a complete design and the workflows laid out. We wanted to make the app available on the App Store and the Google Play Store, so we hired SaveOnDev to convert the existing design and UI/UX into a production app for both iOS and Android.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We needed them to write the app so that it would run smoothly and so that we could do some shared testing with them.

What is the team dynamic?

We continually interact with only Efi [Senior Technical Project Manager, SaveOnDev]. We communicate by phone and by email. He has a team of developers. Based on their names, I believe they are based in Vietnam. Once in a while, we’ve engaged with them through chat sessions, but we never engaged with the developers directly.

How did you come to work with SaveOnDev?

I started out using an online outsourcing company. I posted the project to be bid on and I received six responses. I found one that looked promising and they listed a reference company. I called the CTO of that company and he said they were the worst people he had ever dealt with and they had almost ruined his company. I asked him if he had any suggestions for anybody better. He told me they used SaveOnDev. So it was a direct recommendation from a CTO who had used them after a bad experience with somebody else.

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2017 and the work is ongoing. SaveOnDev contacted me about potential future work helping with our website and marketing. They quoted an interesting price that I think once we get up and running would be attractive. It looks like they’re expanding their services into website development, hosting, and marketing assistance. I’ll be interested in examining that with them when we get to that point.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It was a very soft launch on our part. We’ve had about 1600 downloads without any marketing or advertising. People are very pleased with the interface that SaveOnDev implemented. The iOS application is on the App Store. The Android is held up due to technical issues with the cameras outside of their scope. SaveOnDev has written all the code for Android and it works. They delivered on everything. I’m quite pleased.

How did SaveOnDev perform from a project management standpoint?

It was important that we have a cooperative arrangement. This was not a turnkey solution where we gave them the project and told them to give it back to us when they completed it. We wanted to be engaged in the testing because it’s a difficult app to test. It has to be tested with live pitching or hitting. We worked out a system of working with Bitbucket and their repository. They would commit a code. We’d test it and submit a list of issues that needed to be fixed. They’d fix it and put the new version up on the repository. It was very iterative and worked really well. I knew if I gave them changes, their Vietnam-based team would start at night and the updates would show up in the morning. They were very responsive in that pattern. We had a lot of back and forth.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very professional. My CTO examined the code and he’s very impressed with the flexibility and the way they wrote the code to make it easy for us to expand and change it in the future. I’m impressed with the professional quality of what they do and the ability for it to be a base for us to do future work on it.

The way I specified the contract was to get the apps into the App Store and the Play Store. When it came to describing our working relationship after it was in the App Store, they were very clear that they would provide 60 days of changes and updates at no additional charge. We’re still in that period and I found that to be a very good arrangement. We’re a very small company with a very small budget. I certainly find SaveOnDev’s rates very competitive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t believe English is Efi’s first language. Sometimes we’d have to clarify for understanding, but it was minor. I wanted someone who had very reasonable rates, and if they were going to use Vietnamese contractors and he himself was not based in the U.S. and that helped keep costs down, I was perfectly willing to accept that. It was not a problem.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of MOMENTVM Content Cloud GmbH. We've created the most flexible and time saving CMS for Salesforce Commerce Cloud.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

The biggest focus is on frontend development in React. Optionally Ruby (Rails) for the backend. Our mission is to be the best-fit content management for the world's largest E-Commerce system, Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Our CMS is easy to use for all users thanks to its user-friendly and intuitive interface. At MOMENTVM you will work on a global enterprise level in a small and experienced team.

SOLUTION

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

We found SaveOnDev on a call for tenders on freelancer.com.

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

The tasks are general development of the CMS and also support for customers within our ticket system Jira.

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

• 1 Developer 
• 1 Project Manager

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Ongoing development of the platform.

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

We had a biweekly projekt management.

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

The communication was very good.

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

We were satisfied with their work.