Software Mind S.A.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the director of packaged software development within a large value-added-reseller in the architecture, engineering and manufacturing markets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire number8, and what were your goals?

We needed to augment our software development team, to be able to deliver more capabilities with better quality, in each release of software. We had challenging needs - encompassing both desktop and web development, and within our specific niche/ecosystems of computer-aided design.

SOLUTION

How did you select number8 and what were the deciding factors?

We had recently acquired a company that had been in a successful relationship with number8 - so we decided to give them a try when we needed to grow our team.

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

Number8 brought in a software developer to augment our team. He has been a great addition and team member. We treat him similarly to our direct employees - he participates in daily standups, communicates well over MS Teams, and performs occasional direct support of internal and external customers. He has developed numerous key features in our products over time (both desktop and web). We hope to add another number8 resource soon.

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

One software developer, who was closely and constantly involved. One account manager who checked in frequently to make sure that we were being successful.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We increased revenue from this product line by over 33% in the time when the additional developer has been on staff. We've had increased customer satisfaction with the features we've included, and improved customer support by re-arranging the development and support staff (which we were able to do with him on staff). He has been a great addition to the team, and his work is both fast and high quality.

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

We have daily stand-up meetings with the team via Microsoft Teams. We communicate amongst the team throughout the day. We use Azure DevOps for source control and issue tracking. It's all working well.

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

There are a million outsourcing firms out there (I know. They call me every other day). We needed a resource that had sufficient domain knowledge with computer-aided design and our tools that could ramp up and be efficient quickly, and they delivered that.

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

None. We've been very happy with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a consultant and technical lead for a global sustainability consultancy.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Software Mind?

We wanted to create a solution that enabled our business clients to understand and plan their transitions to a net-zero and low-carbon world.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

At the start of the project, we had a storyboard workshop to understand the software solution. We worked together to understand how a solution might operate through the entire user pathway. We then worked in two-week sprints to identify the stories needed to create this online platform to the specifications of the Excel solution.

Software Mind transferred our calculation that existed as an Excel solution into a web-based platform, overcoming the shortcomings of the initial solution. Their team enabled multi-user access, dynamic data management, and inter-company knowledge sharing at a level that wasn’t available through the Excel platform. We released the platform into the marketplace and continued to engage Software Mind for about four months to monitor, maintain, and enhance the platform’s capabilities.

What is the team composition?

We engaged with five main individuals, including a project manager. He managed a team of three .NET developers and one UI/UX developer. Another Software Mind team member led the development team.

How did you come to work with Software Mind?

A member of our team had previous engagements with Software Mind and recommended that we contact them. There was a definite excitement around the capabilities that Software Mind could bring to the project. We were impressed by their proposal, so we decided to pursue the project with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested roughly €150,000 euros (approximately $177,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in September 2019, and it’s due to wrap at the end of October 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Throughout the entire engagement, I’ve been impressed with Software Mind. We’re impressed by the solution as well as the timeframe and the cost associated with it. When we faced timeline challenges, their team identified ways to consolidate the solution that enabled us to reach our goals.

Their code's high-quality, and you can see that in the results. I’m impressed with the UI/UX too. Their team definitely listened to how we wanted the solution to look and feel.

How did Software Mind perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team was responsive to our recommendations. Software Mind met all of the platform’s deadlines. Our project manager led the project well, and their team always found a solution to areas of concern.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were impressed by the way that they engaged with a completely new area. Software Mind had never encountered software that involved carbon emissions. They quickly applied their expertise to the specialized field of carbon. Their team also understood the importance of the solution.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their team was great at creating a product from a blank canvas. Software Mind didn’t offer a maintenance package that would allow us to maintain the solution and fix bugs. That was an area where we struggled to find the right way forward with them that would also fit our budget. They could provide more ad-hoc support to a client’s needs.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would encourage you to listen to Software Mind’s process and give their developers the autonomy to be creative. Their process of designing a solution that fit the requirements was impressive.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of a deep-linking platform. We build tools for developers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Software Mind?

We needed to scale up our engineering team very quickly, and Software Mind was able to help us with that. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve engaged them on an augmentation basis for our staff, so they’ve worked on a bunch of different projects. Their team is directly integrated with our team to deliver the core deliverables. Most of our work is written in Java and a sizable amount of our projects use big data technologies. They’ve worked in Apache Spark, Presto, Python, and other technologies. 

What is the team composition?

There is a team of around 12 people. There is a delivery manager and a variety of software engineers and data scientists. 

How did you come to work with Software Mind?

I found them through word of mouth. I evaluated a number of different people, but I was impressed with Software Mind earlier on. The examples they brought and how prepared they were to jump into the project for a quick timeline was impressive. 

I also visited their office in person and was impressed by the people I met and the capabilities they had for the types of projects they could work on. Another important aspect was the culture and fast-paced environment they work in.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $200,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since November 2019. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

For some projects, we’ve been able to set metrics, but others are more delivery-oriented. Overall, we care about their impact and the feedback from our team has been very positive. Everyone enjoys working with them. Our team reviews the code they deliver and are all satisfied with their work. 

How did Software Mind perform from a project management standpoint?

They use our project management tools, working within our Jira account with us. I meet with them several times a week to make sure everyone is on the same page and on track. That process is going well. They’re super responsive to feedback. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to ramp up so quickly and start contributing to our projects has been most impressive. They don’t take things for granted and are always questioning and trying to understand how they can really best help us. They’re not an execution machine, they want to understand how and why we’re doing certain things so they can deliver the strongest result possible. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

At the moment, there’s nothing. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It is important to be open with them and not just tell them to do something. Tell them your project and goals and see how you can work together to accomplish it. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a financial services company. We provide financial services to the young generation within the German-speaking market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ValueLogic?

We were looking for a flexible and agile partner to develop our software.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

ValueLogic developed our mobile app with machine learning. They were responsible for the front- and backend development. We provided them with the design. We didn’t use any blockchain technology, but everything that comes into play regarding mobile app development.

Our work is ongoing.

What is the team composition?

There are 2-3 people.

How did you come to work with ValueLogic?

We wanted a vendor who could provide professional, quality software development. We also wanted a partner relatively local and with whom we could develop a personal connection. When I visited them, I got a very good impression of their professionalism and knowledge.

How much have you invested with them?

The spend is five-digit right now but it’s going to be six-digit.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2019 and we have a long-term project with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Thanks to ValueLogic, we have a 100% working software. There are no crashes at all. 

They have a team of very skilled developers. They’re a software house, which means that whenever a developer has a question, they can reach out to someone sitting next to them. It’s a strong community of developers. If we ever want something in the software changed, they make it happen.

How did ValueLogic perform from a project management standpoint?

I was the product manager and I coordinated the developers and resources of ValueLogic. Even though we didn’t have very hard deadlines during the development process, they did consistently meet their timelines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re agile, talented, fast, and professional. They’re a company that can find solutions. I’m confident that whatever technology we want to implement in the future, they’ll find a solution for it. There’s no limit to the scope of the services they can provide.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, if there was, I would have asked them to do so. We've had very smooth and productive product development without any issues.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Get in contact with ValueLogic and talk about your project. Listen to them and how they would approach the project. They’ve done loads of projects. They know how to set up such a project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Reporting Manager with Revenue Edge SPS. We oversee Revenue Management Systems for portfolios within the Multi-Family Industry. I am responsible for generating and processing reports that are shared with our clients to help them run their day-to-day revenue management needs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We have access to an abundance of reports that provides us with different information and data. Some of those reports had information we wanted but didn't have a way to filter. We needed a way to extract only the information we wanted for our internal reports.

What were your goals for this project?

Our main goal was the time it took to process the information. We also needed a way to extract information we wanted, but didn't have a way to do so.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I believe they reached out and met with our founder to talk about partnering on potential work.

Describe the project in detail.

We initially asked Software Mind to create an Application that would allow us to filter through reports and extract only the data we needed. Previously, I would extract this information manually and would take me hours.

We already had workbooks that we currently used and didn't want to change. They were able to take what already existed and built the app to accommodate that and they were also able to make a few enhancements. The application process they built allowed us to take those hours and turn them into minutes.

We then asked them to create a user friendly way for us to extract data and create an output that would allow us to then in-turn use it for our internal reports. We provided them with samples of the reports and also a template of what we would like the output to resemble.

What was the team composition?

The initial meetings were with two members of Software Mind and two members of Revenue Edge, myself and my boss, the founder. Eventually, I was the main point of contact between the 2 of them. I was able to provide them with documents and test out the applications as they finished. They were very quick to respond to questions and feedback.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Our main objective was to save time. We also had access to all of this other information that we didn't know how to extract easily. We get these reports in excel versions that are in unusable formats with hidden rows, columns, and merged cells, etc, that just made it messy and hard to use.

As stated they were able to take one of our process and turn hours worth of manual work and turn it into minutes. The other process they built within the app we could take over 100 excel documents that are each over 1000 rows of data and extract what we need in the template we provided in a matter of seconds.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our main point of communication was through email as there is a major time difference between the companies. They were able to provide us with a timeline of work completion and they were right on time. They were also very upfront if something was taking longer than expected. They were not hesitant to ask for a phone call to talk something through if email was not enough.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I found that even though they really have no background in the multi-family industry they were able to see our vision and help us get what we needed and how we needed it. They never told us something wasn't possible without doing the research.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Honestly, there is nothing I would change about our experience or interaction with Software Mind. They were absolutely wonderful to partner with.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a software engineering company building a Construction Marketplace and Enterprise Vendor Management & Sourcing SaaS platform for the construction industry in Australia. I am the VP of Engineering.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Software Mind for backend and frontend software engineering services to extend our local and remote team capabilities to build new features for the web application.

What were your goals for this project?

Add new feature modules to the existing system, rebuild and extend existing functionality with more scalable solution.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

After an extensive online search, shortlisted potential vendors, discussed requirements with SoftwareMind. Talked with few existing and past clients who talked highly about the vendor. The main deciding factor was the existing experience working as a remote addition to team and professionalism from the first contact. I was responsible for the selection process.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They developed new modules for the application using frontend and backend technologies based on the specification of our product team in Australia. Key functionalities include new modules like Preferred Tenderer selection, Contract Management features, Request for Quotation improvements and many code structural improvements.

What was the team composition?

We started with six software engineers, mixed front and backend developers with a team lead and over time last year increase to nine.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They build new features which allow the company to sell for a wider customer base.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

They worked with us like would be part of our team in Australia. Collaborated well in shared projects, we used Slack, Jira, BitBucket, Confluence for collaboration. The team used the limited timezone overlap well.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They have high technical skills, strong professional attitude and innovative solutions. They continuously improve the codebase, bring regular suggestions. Transparent, well organised team with detailed status and progression tracking.

Are there any areas for improvement?

A small thing to mention. Our dynamic nature of task allocation and constantly changing priorities require a high level of juggling between multiple tasks. For many teams, time-boxed, iterative methodologies are more common. Working with Kanban and Continuous Delivery requires a more flexible approach. Some improvements to change priorities could help to have a smoother flow.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a product owner at a company that produces printing ink. We supply products to our customers who use them in further production.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ValueLogic? 

We wanted to develop a simplified ordering process and a reporting system if there were quality issues or questions about the product. Before working with ValueLogic, we were taking most of our customer inquiries over email, including orders.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built a solution with us from scratch. We provided them with industry knowledge and product management. They took that information to build to ordering, customer service, and QA software. They used JavaScript and Angular. 

What is the team composition? 

Initially, we had one developer. However, we eventually scaled up to two developers and one part-time QA resource. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent roughly €350,000 (approximately $382,440). 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in June 2018, and we completed the project in September 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I was satisfied with the functionality of the product they developed. We recently switched management of the software to an in-house development team. They were impressed with the quality of the code, and they said it was quite stable. 

How did ValueLogic perform from a project management standpoint?

They were quite flexible. We changed the team a few times, but the project remained stable. If there were difficulties, they were responsive in providing solutions. We had regular phone calls to discuss the project. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The diversity and flexibility of the team were impressive. We had team members with different personalities and working styles which helped balance the project. For example, we had a teammate that excelled at taking a big picture approach, but we had another developer that was more detail-oriented. 

Are there any areas they could improve? 

No, not really. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Put in the effort to explain your business so they can understand your business. We took the time to show them what the customer experience looked like with our company, and this made the collaboration more efficient. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the head of the software engineering department for a financial software company. We create solutions primarily for car finance companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Software Mind?

We wanted to expand our capabilities to scale quickly by having additional partners. We also wanted to validate that we could work with an external partner that wasn't part of the same company. Additionally, we wanted a bit more than our previous development partner could provide, since we had to do all of the design and specifications while working with them.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They serve as an augmentation of our full-stack development team for our Java web application using a Spring and Hibernate framework, with JSF. We started with a pilot team, and they came here for a few weeks, where we did some intensive training about the product. Next, we mixed them into teams with some of our employees and gave them real work to complete. As the team grew familiar with the product, we wanted to scale further and created self-sufficient teams comprised of all Software Mind employees.

What is the team composition?

We had 18 members from their team at the peak. We typically fluctuate between 10-17 members of their team and I have one main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Software Mind?

We performed an extensive search across Eastern Europe, and we got a cold call from Software Mind at the time when we were looking. We were really impressed right from the start. They were the clear choice out of all the candidates saw.

How much have you invested with them?  

We invest €70,000 per month (approximately $78,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in July 2017, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It was obvious from the minute we started working with them that they were really passionate about software development, best practices, and doing things the right way. We had a legacy product that had been built in the last 10-12 years that had a lot of technical debt and had built bad practices around some of our processes. Software Mind was pretty vocal in trying to remedy that and make it right. We were used to partners who do whatever we ask, but they actually helped us improve. In the two and a half years of working with them, they've helped us identify issues and suggest solutions.

Sometimes, we can't always change things and they've been good about accommodating those circumstances. Overall, it's been really good. They're passionate about software development and it rubs off on anyone they work with. They're very hardworking, too and have been a huge help to us.

How did Software Mind perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication is really good, and we have a good policy in place of trying to have video calls whenever possible. We visit each other's offices quite regularly, and they feel like part of our team rather than just an outsource team. We use Jira for project management and delegating tasks to them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their willingness to share knowledge and passion for their craft is infectious. It certainly helps improve our developers, as well as helping us to improve our product. They share knowledge really well within their company; they have a lot of teams working on different technology stacks, they share all of their experiences and knowledge between teams, and we then benefit because they share with us, too.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It's hard to say, but the only real challenges we've had with them are our limited ability to update technology stacks and address technical debt quickly has proved challenging in keeping their best team members happy and motivated. This is largely due to our constraints rather than a failing of theirs.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to involve them as much as possible. If you're looking for someone to just do a quick & cheap enhancement to an existing product, they might not be the best company for that. If you're looking for a company that will come in and help improve all aspects of software development and your product development processes, they're the right choice. I've never seen anything like them and I've worked with several outsourcing partners.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a software and digital services supply company in the commercial marine space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Software Mind?

We have an in-house development team based here in the UK and we are finding it difficult to maintain in a couple of senses. We’re not a very big team, so getting the range of skills and experiences that we need can be difficult because we don’t have the degree of specialism that some of those roles need.

Secondly, we find it difficult to attract and retain full-time employees because we’re competing with the main London market. We looked to Software Mind to help us on both of those fronts, to provide key technical resources and skills, and also to help us build that team in terms of scale.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our main product is a software platform that is installed on ocean-going commercial vessels. Software Mind has helped us with the product development aspects of that software, which is quite broad and complex in its range. They primarily work in C# and WPF, or Postgres on the backend.

There are a number of things happening on-board the vessel, from what they call route planning to voyage planning, environmental regulation compliance, and other regulatory components. The resources provided to us by Software Mind have been involved in the full lifecycle of improving and amending those as well as developing new features. We really use them as an extension of our own team.

What is the team composition?

At the moment, we have seven full-time staff working for us, but we have ranged from a few more to a few less depending on our stage of development. We are planning on launching another team soon and will be adding 4 more team members to that number.

How did you come to work with Software Mind?

I had some experience with them at a previous company, so when we were looking for a partner I recommended them. We went through a formal RFP process and narrowed it down to 3–4 vendors including them, and thought they had the right combination of skills, price, and culture to be a good fit.  

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve probably invested in the region of €120,000 (approximately $133,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2019, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since the deliverable of their work is just our product, which already existed, it is difficult to pinpoint their exact impact. They have, however, facilitated the improvement and development of that product in a way that would have taken much longer for us to complete on our own.

In addition, their team has integrated very well into our own and helped us to manage tasks at a scale that was previously impossible. So they have not only saved us time but have also helped improve our internal processes by freeing up time in everyone’s schedule to be able to focus on that.

How did Software Mind perform from a project management standpoint?

We have had no issues with project management. All of their teammates communicate well, are easy to work with, and are very cooperative about managing deadlines and schedules. We do most of the project management over here, but they have a project manager who helps out as well making sure everyone is always on track.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re extremely flexible and easy to work with. You can have really good conversations with them, and they’re very knowledgeable about what they do. They have been great partners so far.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I think generally they have done what we asked of them and delivered good quality.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I think it’s good to go into it with the mindset that they are an extension of your team rather than a supplier that you try and work adjacent to. If you provide them the same level of communication, commitment, context, oversight, and management that you provide to your own developers, you are going to get much higher-quality work than you would otherwise.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re Germany's second-biggest FinTech, with a valuation of about €1.1 billion ($1.2 billion USD). My job there was the executive director of engineering, running all the software development services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Software Mind?

I had to scale the department by 300%, which, in Germany, is very difficult to do. Getting decent engineers locally is expensive and time-consuming. We identified what countries we could outsource some software development to, and Software Mind was one of the companies that we contacted.

What we wanted to solve was the scaling of some parts of team while maintaining some type of team cohesion and identity—not just pushing out projects to a company that delivers what they thought we needed several months later. We wanted them to be part of the day-to-day interaction with the internal team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Software Mind came on board quite quickly. The lead time to get the team up and running was very short. We brought all the team over for a week to stay with us in Hamburg and work during the day. I sent them out to get to know each other because I wanted them to be a fully integrated team, and that worked really, really well.

We used Software Mind as an augmented software development team. Rather than outsource our project to them, we integrated them into our software development teams. The department was split into multiple teams, with different focuses per team, and we integrated Software Mind with some of those teams, as actual members. They took part in the planning and daily standups, albeit remotely, and they were completely onboarded into the company infrastructure, with company email addresses and so on.

Everything we use is based on Linux, MySQL, and Java. There are some microservices, but it’s usually just a classical stack. Software Mind was involved in two teams, one of which was in charge of the front- and backend of the publicly-accessible site.

With banking in Europe, there’s a lot of compliance we have to go through daily. They were fixing a lot of compliance issues, as well as taking on new feature developments and planning. They were active members of the team and gave us their feedback on how to design and build new API end points and other elements.

What is the team composition?

There were four or five people from their team assigned to us. We didn’t just want cheap code writing resources to throw specs at; we wanted people to challenge us. We got very experienced people from Software Mind, as well as some junior people. There was a good mix of abilities and experience.

How did you come to work with Software Mind?

I ran three experiments with companies in Poland, and, after six months, I ran an anonymous survey within my company on a number of metrics. We then compared each of the providers. Software Mind was a latecomer to the process. We reached out through our network to find credible people through people who’d worked with them.

There were three companies on the list originally, and I dropped one because I didn’t have confidence in them. One of the investors in Software Mind is also an investor in our company, and he recommended them. There was no pressure from the investor or anything like that; it was just a case of them making an introduction for us. Seeing as how I’d dropped one option already, and I wanted to have candidates for three experiments running in parallel, I reached out to Software Mind and went to visit them.

I spoke to their people and saw how they worked, and I really liked the attitudes and positivity of the team. The quality of their English was excellent, which is a major concern, even in Germany, because we work in an international environment. I’m the only native English speaker in the company, and everyone else is communicating in a second language. That means that the quality of the language everyone's speaking has to be very high.

One of the other benefits with them was related to the European GDPR regulations. They are a massive issue in Europe, and having their team in Europe, as part of the EU, was a massive load off of us. We experimented working with companies outside of the EU, but it was just a nightmare when it came to GDPR. We canned that experiment very quickly.  

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $50,000–$100,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Software Mind from September or October 2018 until August 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I ran an anonymous survey within my company after about six months, and Software Mind came out on top in every metric, and not just a little bit on top. They were miles ahead of the others we were experimenting with. The quality of their work was excellent, they were robust and professional, and they actually implemented solutions, rather than just doing what the product manager thought we needed. Without a doubt, the quality of their work was very, very high. I’m happy to recommend them to my network; I’ve done so, and I will probably use them again in my next project.

How did Software Mind perform from a project management standpoint?

We worked in two-week sprints and used Jira as our tracking system. They were very effective at using it for communication and ticketing, which they had to be, because they were remote. If I can’t go talk to someone, I might have to sit and write everything down. Additionally, their participation in the standups (with big screens and webcams) and the whole agile ritual was very strong. We always had quick, positive communication through Slack, and it was very common to see our engineers in Hamburg on a call with their engineers assigned to us in Poland, working through something together.

They were also able to estimate with reasonable accuracy. If we bring anyone new into a software development project that’s already seven years old, it usually takes more than a couple of months for them to understand the whole system. Quite quickly—after about the first two sprints (four weeks)—they were able to estimate the size of the task with reasonable accuracy.

They always knew what they were working on, and they were robust, and not just in software development skills, but also in how mature their approach to the work was. That comes from their hiring. When we were building the team, they sent me a list of CVs, obviously with personal details removed. I was able to look through the experiences of the people they were putting in as candidates. We went through an almost classic interview procedure, which meant that we got people who fit exactly right.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Companies in Software Mind’s area and industry experience a lot of turnover, so, when I went to speak with them I addressed the stickiness of their employees. I wanted to know whether I needed to worry if they’d lose an employee to another company in three months, and I’d have to onboard someone else. In reality, the retention of their employees was very strong, actually stronger than our own employees. They have a good culture there. People enjoy working there, and they identify with the projects they’re working on.

Some of their resources are quite young, but they’re professional, thorough, and not just the “Let’s tackle it and see what happens” sort. I’ve worked with outsourcing companies from across the world, and seeing this level of professionalism with people who stay a long time is quite rare.

Working in finance, people get really upset if you lose their money. Making sure that what we deliver is well-tested and robust was key, and my team leader quickly got a degree of confidence that, when they said it was done, we wouldn’t have to wonder if it really was, and check it in depth. There was a trust in Software Mind’s definition of “done” and of meeting requirements.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. Their communication was very good, including at the management or engagement management level, and they quickly proposed, after 3–4 weeks, that we have a review to make sure everything was on track and that we were happy. It’s not just that the developers themselves were good, but that the commercial engagement was very strong.

If there was something that went wrong during the onboarding, it was that I got sick and couldn’t finish the negotiations. That made things a bit chaotic, but, from their perspective, I think it was really good.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Clients should be honest with them and not be scared of using a remote team; Software Mind genuinely wants to solve a problem. I don’t think they’re the most affordable option, but, if the client wants good quality, Software Mind offers the best I’ve seen.

Trust them and really use their skills. If someone is looking for a provider that’s just going to slap together some code to do this and that, Software Mind probably isn’t for them. If the client wants to have access to people who are really engaged in the product and want to actively support them, Software Mind is the right team.