Softjourn

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Bullet, an automated accounts product for small businesses.

What challenge were you trying to address with Softjourn?

The reason we hired them was two-fold. I’d worked with them for another business and when I started scaling up Bullet, I decided to use them as my outsourced IT partner. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

They manage our IT day-to-day. All of our new development and testing are managed by them, as well. They handle everything to do with software and IT needs for our business.

As far as specific projects, they worked on modernizing our payroll, which was a big project. They’ve worked on multiple pricing changes within the product and have done large feature updates, including software development and DevOps, as well. 

What is the team composition?

I work with around 4–5 people from their team. There are developers, a QA person, a project manager, and a client manager. 

How did you come to work with Softjourn?

I can’t remember how exactly we found them, but we got in contact regarding an earlier business I was involved in and built a product with them. I’d interviewed several companies and they were by far the best. I was so impressed with them that I decided to use them as my outsourced IT partner for Bullet.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent around €300,000 (approximately $350,100 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

I’ve been working with them since June 2008 and our relationship is ongoing. 

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

The quality of service is just superb. The team they have deployed are all super professional and their advice and feedback is always very honest and clear. Their work and execution are always outstanding. If there are ever any issues, they take responsibility for them, which is pretty rare. They’re a super team to work with. 

How did Softjourn perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly correspond with the developers through instant messenger, so they have instant responses for us. We do weekly team meetings and then we speak through email if I need to get in contact with any of the project managers. As far as deadlines, they’re almost always spot-on. Since we’re in IT, deadlines are almost made up, but the ones we have had are always met. 

For the payroll modernization project, we have a very strict deadline and they delivered two weeks in advance. With the COVID-19 outbreak, we had to do a big update on our payroll and only had a week to do that for social welfare payments, but they did it on time with their developers. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication is very good and clear. They’re a very honest team and their work is always good — everything is delivered clean and ready to go. I never need to bug-check it. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we haven’t had any issues with them. We’ve had bad experiences with other outsourced vendors, but Softjourn has been great and we’re rolling our third business under their umbrella. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust them. They know what they’re doing and are trustworthy. If they give you a price and timeline, that’s what they’ll do. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The company was founded in 1997, with a specialization in e-commerce event products including VIP passes, event badges, printed tickets, raffle tickets, wristbands, etc. We also operate another brand, which has a software-as-a-service (SaaS) tool focused on online event management, marketing, and ticket retail. I am the chief executive officer. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Softjourn?

We needed more execution power around software development capabilities to help us cope with increasing demand and prevent quality dilution.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Softjourn was initially hired for development work on our main ticketing site, but we eventually expanded their involvement to the separate brand. We have used a team of 5 people from Softjourn at peak capacity, and have been involved in the selection process. Our team included .NET senior developers and Java junior developers. We have interacted with most of them directly. There was no unexpected turnover during our collaboration.

How did you come to work with Softjourn?

We were referred to Softjourn by a colleague, but also had a shortlist of 3 companies. Softjourn not only had a very strong and qualified reference but also stood out through the quality of their management and senior developers.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have been working with Softjourn since 2011. Our latest project was concluded in June 2015. We're not currently engaged with them but anticipate contacting Softjourn within the next 6 months for upcoming projects.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

In terms of software development processes, Softjourn is very competent in handling the cadence of Agile sprints. It was made clear that they really internalize the methodology when it comes to development and design. The code quality was good, deliverables were brought in on time, and Softjourn's team was very pleasant to work with.

How did Softjourn perform from a project management standpoint?

Softjourn delivered the work on time and within budget. We used Skype for a lot of our real-time collaboration, as well as Google Hangouts, Basecamp, and Pivotal tracker.

What did you find most impressive about Softjourn?

The overall quality and competency offered by Softjourn are the best that we've encountered, in terms of outsourced software development.

Are there any areas Softjourn could improve?

No. Softjourn did a great job.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the associate vice president of engineering for the company. We offer a pre-paid expense platform. Our customers can use a card combined with our software in order to manage their expenses. Corporate credit cards can require a lot of credit. They also aren't the best fit for companies who offer a lot of consulting work. Our customers use our product because they don't want to use credit or they don't want to hand over corporate credit cards to non-employees. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Softjourn?

We needed software development. As we grew, Softjourn continued to provide development on more features for our own customers. The resource pool grew accordingly.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have a domestic engineering team and Softjourn is essentially a virtual extension of it. Our ongoing work requires a dedicated team of software developers and QA testers from Softjourn. We're currently using 12 dedicated resources from Softjourn. From time to time, we also engage them in one-off projects. They would also provide design work, planning, and other standalone activities.   

How did you come to work with Softjourn?

We were already engaged with Softjourn when I started with the company. There was a request for proposal process which led to selecting Softjourn as a vendor, but I don't have specifics.

How much have you invested with Softjourn?

The cost of Softjourn's services is around $500,000 per year, depending on how many fixed-bid projects we engage in.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have been working with Softjourn for at least 2 years. It is a completely remote engagement.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

It's hard to gauge success, given that we operate as one big team. This in itself is a great success story; Softjourn seems to be very flexible in this type of engagement and it works well for us. Overall, we've been able to accelerate development. We have also been putting out monthly releases since engaging in this model. This is a significant result, considering the complexity of our platform.

How did Softjourn perform from a project management standpoint?

Softjourn has provided resources as needed and was flexible in order to accelerate our delivery timelines. For the most part, Softjourn has delivered the work within schedule and budget.

We use Visual Studio Team Services for managing our internal team and Softjourn’s team. They operate in the same way as our domestic staff. Going over that tool, there isn't a difference between someone delivering work in New York, compared to a Ukrainian developer.

What did you find most impressive about Softjourn?

I appreciated Softjourn's flexibility. They're responsive. When we wanted to ramp up the team even more, we received additional talent quickly. We're always fighting for resources in New York, so it's good to have access to good-quality developers when needed.

Are there any areas Softjourn could improve?

This type of collaboration is a new model for Softjourn. They've been good at it and, if Softjourn truly mastered this model, it would be helpful for us. Being able to stretch our team into a virtual offshore location is a valuable asset. Softjourn should keep doing what they're doing and get better at it. 

Please describe your organization.

We provide a mobile and web ordering platform for the hospitality industry. We enable customers to order foods and drinks, as well as any other retail items from their phone or the web, within various environments. We're fully integrated with point-of-sale vendors, payment solutions, and loyalty platforms.

What is your position?

I am the chief technology officer of the company.

What business challenge were you trying to address with Softjourn?

We needed development resources for our back-end system.

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

All of our development is done through resources from Softjourn. I work with a lead from Softjourn's team, and I am in charge of defining the product strategy as well as how the system should work. Softjourn has made some designs for us, but not in terms of strategy or road mapping.

We follow a certain development process that determines how the product will be designed and implemented and how defects are addressed.

The main technology used for our platform is .NET. We have a SQL server, and we've used Softjourn for integrations with third-party systems.

We've been working with anywhere from three to 10 people from Softjourn at any point in time. There have been changes in our team. There were times when we needed fewer people and some resources adapted to the project better than others. We do have a group of core developers who have been with us from the beginning.

How did you come to work with Softjourn?

We worked with an offshore sales company that introduced us to a number of people, out of which we selected Softjourn.

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

The total cost of Softjourn's services has been between $200,000 and $1million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with Softjourn for three years.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I selected my own team from Softjourn. I have been working with the same people for three years, and I've recently brought them to Toronto. I wanted to have face-to-face time as well. Softjourn has been collaborating with us from the very beginning, so we've built our product with them. From a development perspective, Softjourn has had a major impact. We own the intellectual property for it, and we've road mapped it, but Softjourn has handled all development.

How did Softjourn perform from a project management standpoint?

We wouldn't have stayed with Softjourn for so long if we weren't satisfied with their performance. Softjourn is very competent from a technology perspective. They also care a lot about what they do and put pride in their deliverables. I treat Softjourn as my own team.

Softjourn adapted to whatever the needs of the client were, in terms of project management style and tools. This is much more important than having experience with a specific tool.

What distinguishes Softjourn from other providers?

Softjourn's flexibility gave them the ability to adjust to client needs. Ultimately, the delivery is what matters and providing value for the client. Softjourn is very focused on that.

Softjourn has good-quality people. I've worked with a number of technology companies, including offshore providers. The reason for sticking to Softjourn is that they are the best company out of all the rest, providing the best value and caring the most about the client's needs.

Is there anything Softjourn could have improved or done differently?

No. We've had a very good relationship with Softjourn, and I cannot think of anything negative about them.