Sigma Software Group

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a financial software company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sigma Software Group?

We were looking to hire more software engineers.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We essentially embedded several team members from Sigma Software Group, most notably a junior developer, to build our product from scratch through Node.js and React.

What is the team composition?

We’re mainly working with a junior developer, several software engineers, a design team, and a client engagement team.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested more than $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in January 2021.

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

They do a great job of implementing our requirements and helping us achieve our goals.

How did Sigma Software Group perform from a project management standpoint?

We essentially manage the project ourselves, but their engineer is integrated well into our team. We mainly use JIRA to manage everything and communicate on Zoom and Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re very impressed with their agility in finding good resources for our needs and their ability to support us throughout our issues.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any constructive feedback.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise you to be upfront and mindful of what you’re looking for and what you want to achieve.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re building a mobile app for the automotive industry. I’m the tech team manager.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sigma Software Group?

We needed help with app development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sigma Software Group has done a lot of things for us. They work on full app development, AI, and 3D modeling. They’ve built a mobile application with advanced search capabilities and 3D visualization. The AI can view an automotive part and find a match within our database. Also, they’ve built out a custom admin panel to access and edit the entire application.

We’ve built the app from scratch. Initially, we had some design concepts set up and some documents detailing the things we needed, but we went through every detail with them. They’ve connected us to an API extension, setting it up and doing custom configurations for our search capabilities. For now, the app is only for iOS. We’ve used React Native so it can be easily transferred to Android in the future.

What is the team composition?

We have about nine people on the team, including a project manager, several developers, a UI designer, and a graphic designer.

How did you come to work with Sigma Software Group?

We found them on Behance and used them to do the original UI screen design we used to build the app later. They did the app’s first mock-up and then went into software development and AI, so we worked with them on app development too.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began our partnership in February 2020, and it’s ongoing.

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

The app hasn’t been launched yet, but the API connection, custom search, and 3D viewing features are custom-built and one of a kind. The AI performs at a 98%–99% match accuracy. If we have bugs, they fix them promptly.

How did Sigma Software Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re doing phenomenally. We know about the budget ahead of time, and there have been many instances where they’ve been under budget. Moreover, we’re able to plan for it; the only time they went over budget was when we changed the parameters during the process. All in all, Sigma Software Group does all the project management for us. We just have a daily meeting via Teams. Also, we can email anything we need, and they handle everything else.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have everything in one house. If we need anything, they always have somebody available that specializes in that thing. They have graphic design, UI design, and every sort of development, including mobile app developers for iOS and Android.

On the other hand, the project management is excellent. Nothing falls through the cracks. We can offhandedly mention something, and they make sure to sit down and follow up. Also, we’ve given them many complex challenges, and they’ve done a great job at coming up with solutions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Maybe they could explain things more. At first, they explained right away, but they used specific terminology because they thought we were more tech-savvy. Now they know we don’t understand those big terms. Other than that, they’re pretty good. I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Figure out everything you want upfront and investigate more so you don’t build it and then decide to edit it after. Also, we noticed that having meetings frequently made things go better and faster, so don’t skimp on communication.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at a global revenue amplification company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sigma Software Group?

We wanted to increase our technical staffing, including software, QA, DevOps, and data engineers.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sigma Software Group provides us with people that get involved with our custom software development needs from scratch and on existing products and use technologies like JavaScript, SQL, AWS, and Ruby on Rails, among others.

In addition to that, they’ve also done project management support.

What is the team composition?

We’ve been working with around 12 people from their team, including project managers who support their team members who work with us.

How did you come to work with Sigma Software Group?

They were referred to us.

What is the status of this engagement?

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

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

They’re participating team members, and we treat them as such. Metrics-wise, we focus on how they maintain the pace of development and coding with acceptable bug rates and ensure they are available for us when we need them.

How did Sigma Software Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Their individual members are integrated with our team, and we haven’t had any problems. Regarding tools, we use ClickUp, email, Slack, and a chat and video conferencing platform.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re present, excited, engaged, and committed to delivering their work despite being a Ukrainian company in the middle of the Russian Invasion, which is astonishing. Besides, they care about what we’re trying to achieve and aren’t there to ensure that some lines of code get written because they try to understand what we’re looking for and take it seriously. Overall, they act like other team members, and that’s why we have an enduring relationship with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve improved over time, and they’ve enhanced their project management. We’re both growing together, and they’ve improved their understanding of the roles we’re looking for. Sometimes, the candidates they provide aren’t the best match for us, but they learn from them and improve daily.

We’ve also struggled with the different vacation calendars, but we’ve ensured good communication when they take time off. We’ve been able to address all of these things to them openly.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open with the leadership team at Sigma Software Group about your needs and any problems that arise. They’re a team interested in solving problems and never take offense when we bring a possible concern; they work diligently to solve the problem.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a technology company that provides end-users with a platform that helps them maintain their homes. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Sigma Software Group?

We needed a firm to help us upgrade our mobile app. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our development team collaborates with Sigma Software Group on cross-platform mobile app development. We’re currently focused on building new functionalities for the app. We have sprints and roadmaps to achieve that outline the maintenance and upgrades Sigma Software Group needs to make. 

What is the team composition?

We currently work with three developers and Alexei (Team Lead). Sometimes we also work with another team from Sigma Software Group that helps us with the website. 

How did you come to work with Sigma Software Group?

Sigma Software Group was recommended to me by a business colleague. We wanted a strategic partnership that could match our operations — we’re a startup. Any company we worked with needed to be able to grow with us and be flexible in terms of our collaboration. Sigma Software Group met our demands, and despite other companies wanting to work with us, we hired them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around 3 million Swedish kronor (approximately $300,000 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement began in August 2020. 

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

When we work in sprints, we estimate the tasks and user stories timelines, so one measure of success is whether or not we meet deadlines. Our ROI on the time we’ve invested with them is terrific. We also measure the quality of their output. We have project reviews during pre-production testing to determine the quality, which is measured by the logic and coding involved in each deliverable. Each developer is also evaluated during those reviews.

How did Sigma Software Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Sigma Software Group has good project management. I give them a high rating every quarter — they deliver quality products on time. We use Trello to keep track of development.

What did you find most impressive about them?

 Sigma Software Group is really ambitious and always works to try and please us. They want to deliver good work, so they’re careful with their development. Also, their team is very communicative. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think their English-language skills could improve. We typically use English to communicate, but not every teammate from Sigma Software Group has the same language skill level. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d advise customers to be very specific about their deliverables, the timelines, and the type of business engagement they’re entering with Sigma Software Group. Educating developers on the business plan is important so they can see the broader picture and be incentivized to create better work. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of engineering at an advertising company. Our division is responsible for building ad technology platforms, and we’re building a new product for the firm. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Sigma Software Group?

Sigma is helping us fill our development team for our new advertising platform. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

We work with Sigma developers on a staff augmentation basis. Their resources use C#, .NET, SQL Server, Python, and MongoDB, among others. On the frontend, they use React.js and GraphQL. Moreover, they’re not responsible for doing design work, but they do contribute to our design tasks. 

In terms of functionality, the new platform allows our customers to manage their advertising campaigns both within our network and in the digital space. Users can manage their campaign budgets and target specific audiences through the platform.

What is the team composition?

I work with around 20 developers from Sigma, along with their project manager. 

How did you come to work with Sigma Software Group?

The hiring process happened before my time in the company. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested over $1 million CAD (approximately $780,000 USD) in the partnership.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the partnership in January 2021, and the engagement is ongoing. 

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

Sigma delivers high-quality work. They do a good job of screening their resources; the people they put forward are generally well-qualified for the project. 

How did Sigma Software Group perform from a project management standpoint?

The team falls under our project management scope, so they don’t do too much management on their own — they’re essentially a member of our team. Nonetheless, they’re responsive when we give them deadlines. 

In terms of tools, we use virtual meetings via Teams. We also use the Azure Boards, which is the Azure counterpart of Jira.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Sigma is highly responsive to customers, and they’re proactive in managing our relationship. I’m always in the loop if there are any personnel changes that need to happen. Overall, our communication with them is great; they’re transparent and open. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. Our engagement has been a good experience. In fact, their Ukraine team has been able to work through the project despite the Russian Invasion. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to speak with the resources they hire. Sigma handles the screening process, but it’s good to speak with the individuals they consider to ensure they have a good personal and technical fit for your team.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director of engineering at SkyKick. We develop software for IT service providers, and we currently have three products. The first product deals with migrating email from on-prem to the cloud, while the second does the backup of cloud services, specifically regarding Microsoft. Our third product is for IT administrators to manage all SaaS environments under one roof. I'm responsible for our remote development teams. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Sigma Software Group?

We were trying to scale our development organization. We had only used internal full-time employees for the course of our history. However, with much interest and pressure to get more features out the door, we wanted to scale our operations.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sigma Software is currently working on all three of our products. We have seven engineering teams from their end doing various tasks, including new feature development and sustained engineering and maintenance. They do full stack engineering, so they work on both the back- and the frontend. Since we're a Microsoft-focused company, the teams use SQL, Azure, JavaScript, and anything related to Microsoft technology. 

What is the team composition?

I work with an account team that includes a project management lead, a New York-based account manager, and a Ukraine-based engineering director. The account team oversees billing, recruitment, and personnel issues. 

On a delivery level, each team has a project manager, a development manager, and automation testers. We started with four people, and now we have over 40 people from Sigma Software in our teams. 

How did you come to work with Sigma Software Group?

I was focused on working with a Ukrainian-based firm because I've worked with others and really relied on them. I got 3–4 referrals and went through a selection process. I assessed several factors, including account management, hiring and finding resources quickly, technical competency, and how their development processes coincided with ours. I did a rating system across the four companies I talked to, and Sigma Software came out on top. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $4 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2020, and our relationship is ongoing.

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

Account engagement is very important when working with an outsourced firm. Sigma Software's account team has been fantastic, and their transparent communication has been critical to the project. Meanwhile, their developers are also highly engaged. We have daily standups, and the team's participation, communication, and collaboration rate are super high from an engineering standpoint. 

We also look at velocity and completed work in throughput, and the teams have helped us release a ton of software and new features throughout our engagement. From an output measurement standpoint, Sigma Software is a super high performer. The team's software quality is also critical; they're not just cranking out new features without concern for quality. We see this in the results because we don't have code-red situations in production, and we've had very few customer-reported issues. Sigma Software really focuses on hitting the high-quality bar.

How did Sigma Software Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They're good at project management. The teams have integrated our approach to building software, easily adapting to our process and tools. We use Scrum methodology and Kanban depending on the project, and they're steeped in that — even the junior engineers are well-versed in those processes. Their project managers measure our progress and keep track of risks and issues for us. 

Azure DevOps is our project management tool. We meet with the account team on a monthly basis to do a business review. In terms of communication, we use Microsoft Teams for all of our daily standups and meetings, Slack for developers to ask questions, and emails only occasionally. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Sigma Software's transparency distinguishes them. They're also fully integrated into our environment — they feel like part of our team and not a separate entity. Additionally, they're awesome people, and they do a really good job of managing turnover. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Some of their hiring processes, such as making sure we get candidates on time, have been challenging for us. However, the market has been tough due to the COVID-19 pandemic and then the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, so that's not a criticism. Overall, I'm super satisfied with them. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice would be to treat Sigma Software as you would an internal development team. If you're a company supplementing your team, integrate them into your processes, team frameworks, and company culture. You'll make Sigma Software feel bought in, trusted, and valued, and that's the best thing you can do. For us, this approach has kept our turnover low; we have people who have been on our team for the entirety of our engagement, which is great. 

Please describe your company and your position there.

I requested this app be developed for my own, personal interest.

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

I hired Sigma Software to develop an app for use outdoors by dogwalkers, outdoorsmen and -women, hunters, hikers, etc. My goals were to create a simple, functional app with an old-fashioned, encyclopedia-esque layout.

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

I selected Sigma Software because they were very responsive to my emails and thorough in their questions on what I wanted.

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

We had a series of meetings to discuss what information the user would send to an app, what the app would look like (how many panels were necessary), images, how the user would interact with the app (who the target audience was etc.)

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

Multiple app developers worked with me, including a manager and internal app developers.

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

The project has been downloaded thousands of times since its launch in May 2021 and currently has a 4 star rating on the Apple store.

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

Their project management style was up-front, honest, and diligent. Questions were thorough and I was regularly asked for feedback. I was always kept in the loop on versions and updates and it was all very transparent. Their project management style was excellent.

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

I found the communication readiness and honesty most impressive about Sigma Software.

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

Not at all -- Sigma Software developers Igor, Anatoliy and Anton should be promoted! Haha

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CPO and Co-founder of NewGlue - a design platform helping small businesses to get a professional brand and several simple tools to design website and content at an affordable cost.

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

We were looking for a partner abroad to help us build a first version for NewGlue's logo marketplace to help us raise additional funding. Once we found Sigma we knew we had a longterm partner. We have continued to work with Sigma for almost 4 years now, and Sigma has been an incredibly valuable partner for us as we have continued to expand the product, conceptually, technically and business-wise.

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

We met with 3 different companies in Ukraine and Polen. All gave good pitches, but we chose Sigma as they gave the best presentation, and came with strong reviews from other companies in the tech-sector in Stockholm.

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

Sigma has built the entire foundation of NewGlue's logo marketplace and logo generator, allowing us to create professional logos and presenting them automatically in mockups as well as generating logo files, color palettes and other style kit assets.

The system is built in Rails. The new tools are built inhouse by our team in Stockholm and in Angular, but the foundation remains and we continue working with Sigma as a trusted longterm partner.

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

We have worked longterm with backend-developers and Account Manager. Over the years, we have had a few Project Managers and frontend developers. In total, we estimate it to be around 10 people from Sigma.

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

Deliveries have mostly been on time, and always well documented and developed. Sigma team is always very professional and understanding to a startup's position. We are very grateful for the professionalism and flexibility that Sigma has shown us over the years.

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

Sigma works very structured and organised with Jira and general reporting on time spent, estimates and costs. We are very happy and satisfied with the transparency and communication.

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

Sigma has not only been very professional and shown good quality in the technologies they develop, but most impressive has been the flexibility they have shown us over the years. We did not expect a big company that normally works with large corporations to show as much attention and care as they have done with us.

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

It would have been ideal if there were more developers available when needed, but our financial situation has been very up and down over the years so we are just happy and grateful that Sigma has worked hard to find inhouse developers for us even though it's often been with short notice.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a property technology firm that deploys hardware within a building to monitor and control the mechanical systems in the buildings, ranging from heating systems to cooling systems. We have a software component as well, which is a cloud-based platform that allows us to monitor and control these systems.

I spearhead the technology — both hardware and software — as a whole. This requires site visits to understand the buildings’ existing systems and how our hardware and software solutions can be applied most effectively.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sigma Software?

We engaged them initially to design and develop and our website. They were extremely talented during that project, so we expanded the engagement to initiate the design phase of our software platform.

What was the scope of their involvement?

On the design side, the work started with us describing our inspiration for the site and application, and then they came back with wireframes. We provided feedback and gave them further direction about how to proceed. Moving forward, we played around with color pallets and brainstorm icons and widgets to better understand how to brand ourselves, both on the website and the software platform. We wanted to keep the look consistent throughout our products. Finally, we handed the work off from the UI team to the development team. That process went smoothly and allowed us to be fairly hands-off; their design resources passed on all relevant information to the development team members.

Development is ongoing. Currently, we’re evaluating potential technology stacks for the cloud platform. Our website is going to be supported by a custom WordPress theme.

What is the team composition?

There are two different teams within Sigma Software, one for each project. The website team is comprised of four individuals, each with a specific skill set, including layout, illustration, design, and project management. Regarding the software platform team, there are only two individuals, both of whom work full-time. They’ve excelled at expanding upon our ideas without requiring us to go into granular details with them.

How did you come to work with Sigma Software?

A local friend of ours recommended them. We had a few introductory meetings with Sigma Software to make sure they were fully competent to take on our projects. Their background and work history vouched for them, and the case studies they provided directly related to our goals.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $10,000–$15,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since February 2021.

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

We’ve had meetings with stakeholders to gain their feedback on what we’ve been designing, and it’s been great. People have been blown away to this point, and they’re eager for both projects to be finished and fully usable.

How did Sigma Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate over Discord. It has a very organized layout, with the ability to create different channels that apply to specific tasks, like pages on our website or our software platform. This way, we don’t have just one email thread or chat for our massive project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Sigma Software is a large company, but it doesn’t feel that way while we’re engaged with them. Their size gives them experience, allowing them to pull resources from different areas of their organization. For example, when we wanted custom icons and animations on the website, they pulled in a resource that specializes in that area. The designer on our website team brought the new member up to speed in terms of what we needed. This separates Sigma Software from anyone we’ve engaged with before. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’ve been good so far.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice isn’t specific to Sigma Software, but if you’re engaging with a design or development team, it’s important to understand what you’re looking for. A bit of inspiration is all you need — you don’t need to understand everything. Companies like Sigma Software can take that inspiration and expand on it.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of software engineering for Verizon Media, a sub-company of Verizon.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sigma Software?

We needed additional resources.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided additional development resources to us. Most of the team were Java developers. Some were mobile developers for iOS and Android. There were also technical writers who helped us and QA persons as well.

What is the team composition?

From my side, I had the privilege to work with two of their teams and vet them. I had around 10 team members. Overall, we had 65 developers from Sigma Software.

How did you come to work with Sigma Software?

We inherited the team that was working on our startup from the acquisition. This is how we got acquainted with the company. We saw that they had great developers there. They built the platform and we decided to continue to get additional resources from them since we had a great relationship.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested $6 million a year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from December 2014–June 2019. Unfortunately, we had to stop working due to the regulations and restrictions that Verizon had.

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

By using Sigma Software, we were able to deliver all the features and video platform activity to a level that we didn’t have before. It helped us to scale our systems and create a better video platform. I don’t remember exact revenue numbers but there was a good uplift. One of their best capabilities is keeping in touch with their clients very closely. We noticed their work was consistently going very well and fast.

I had a great experience working with them. We were able to recruit a lot of brilliant engineers in a very fast time including real teams with team leads who add great English and software skills. They’re a large company and have great facilities located on many different sides in Ukraine. They can have good coverage in terms of backend developers, frontend developers, different technology stacks, etc.

One of the things we really loved was the ability to create off-site in Ukraine at a low price. Once a year, we’d gather in one location in Ukraine and brought people from the US, London, Israel, and created large offsites. Sigma Software was very facilitative to accommodate this including setting up hotels, transportation, dinners, etc. All of it was well organized.

How did Sigma Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We had account managers that were speaking with the managers directly. I used to speak with Veronica (General Manager). We had direct conversations. Every couple of weeks, we had one-on-one’s to make sure the team is executing, see if we needed more resources, or identify if we needed to improve anything.

They had a very good client relationship and kept in touch. Sigma Software really worked on maintaining the relationship to make sure everyone was happy. They also searched for more opportunities to grow the teams. We communicated via email, Slack, and Google Meet. Slack was the main interface. For one-on-ones, we used Google Meet.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They would come and visit on-site every quarter to visit the managers and make sure the teams are satisfied. It was nice to see them in person. They take personal care toward the client they’re working with. It took great skills and investment from their side to keep in such close touch.

Sigma Software really invested a lot in human touch and communication to make sure the customer is satisfied and everything is working properly. They listened, and our feedback was important to them. They run an English course on a weekly basis which really helped the team to ramp up and help with communication.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I only have good words to say about them. They provided a really good service. For every friend that has a startup, I recommend them to use Sigma Software. They bring value.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Keep the communication open with the account managers. This is what made our use case a success story between the company and Sigma Software. It’s always good to have a single point of contact between the teams. For every team I had with them, there was a team lead. I did speak with everybody but you need someone responsible. They’re great people to work with.