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One-Stop Provider For Software Development

4.9
10 reviews

Software Planet Group (SPG) is a one-stop software solutions provider with nearly 2 decades of experience tailoring and developing applications for a range of businesses (start-ups to multi-nationals) across a wide variety of industry verticals throughout the USA and Europe.

SPG provides a full-cycle software development service from consultation and analysis to design and implementation.

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$5,000+
 
$50 - $99 / hr
 
50 - 249
 Founded
2000
Show all +
Guildford, United Kingdom
headquarters
other locations
  • Cherkasy
    Ukraine
  • Lviv
    Ukraine

Reviews

4.9
10 reviews
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Data Warehouse Development for a Global Telecommunications Company

“This is the best experience I’ve had with an outside vendor. They’re smart and competent.”

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5.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
5.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
Confidential
 
Mar. 2017 - Ongoing
Project summary: 

Software Planet Group is working on a big data warehouse that consolidates four legacy ERP systems. They’re using an Oracle platform to support the system, and they’re connecting it to a custom reporting tool.

The Reviewer
 
10,000+ Employees
 
Hungary
Krisztina Szabolcsi
Performance Manager, Nokia
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

Software Planet Group completed the initial phase of the project, and they’re working through the second. So far, all of their work has exceeded expectations. They’re collaborative and insightful, providing insight and expertise to improve the final result. They’re also flexible and timely.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a performance manager at Nokia. We’re a global telecommunications company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

After our company merged with two other organizations, we had four separate ERP systems. We wanted to measure our total supply chain and its performance, so we needed to establish a common reporting platform. We hired Software Planet Group to help us develop a data warehouse system to streamline our processes.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Software Planet Group is developing a big data warehouse for our company, consolidating our four ERP systems into one. Initially, we were using several tools to track registrations, customer data, product information, delivery metrics, and cycle time. Now, we’re moving toward a single Oracle-based data platform that’s connected to a reporting tool. The system is accessible via desktop devices. It’s not designed to provide fixed analytics but allows our staff to create a customized report using the platform. We’ve finished the first phase of the project, and we're currently working on the next one.

What is the team composition?

We work with a team of about seven people, including IT project managers, architects, and developers.

How did you come to work with Software Planet Group?

Our IT department had worked with them previously, and they were happy with the experience. I wasn’t heavily involved in the selection process.

How much have you invested with them?

I’m not sure.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in March 2017, and it’s an ongoing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’m highly satisfied with their performance. So far, we’ve consolidated two of the ERP systems, and the solution is live. The Software Planet Group is running the KPIs and assisting with target setting as we move through the project. Once everything is complete, we won’t have to spend time on manual reporting—we’ll be able to access all of the data we need with a single click.

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

The team is extremely punctual. They willingly make changes at our request. They’re much more accommodating than other companies I’ve worked with in the past. Overall, Software Planet Group is flexible and supportive. In each area that we lack the knowledge or skill to come up with a solution, they provide complete support. The team has a positive attitude, eagerly approaching challenges. It seems like nothing is impossible for them. They’re an extremely helpful partner.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re perfect. Their team filled any gaps in our internal project management approach.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of any areas of weakness. This is the best experience I’ve had with an outside vendor. They’re smart and competent.

Any advice for potential customers?

I recommend partnering with their team.

5.0
Overall Score
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
  • 5.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
    They offer excellent value.
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer
    I would recommend them.

Software Migration for DevOps Company

“They’re technically proficient, delivering eloquent solutions to all of our problems.”

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5.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
5.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$50,000 to $199,999
 
Jan. 2017 - June 2018
Project summary: 

After doing research and creating an efficient strategy, Software Planet Group migrated a DevOps company’s software systems from AWS to Google Cloud Platform.

The Reviewer
 
11-50 Employees
 
Las Vegas, Nevada
Dylan Stamat
CEO, Iron.io
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

Software Planet Group successfully migrated the software, which decreased the company’s monthly costs. The team follows a communicative and dedicated work ethic, which helped them meet deadlines. They brought a clever yet realistic perspective to the project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CEO of Iron.io. We develop cloud and on-premise DevOps solutions. Two of our flagship solutions are IronWorker, a workload processing system built with Docker, and IronMQ, a fast-messaging queue built with Golang.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Software Planet Group?

We needed a vendor to help us migrate our operations from one public cloud to another for two separate projects.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to complete the migrations and the necessary testing within a specific time frame.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

A trusted source recommended them.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We provided Software Planet Group with Terraform code and custom script to inform their migration process. After a bit of research, strategizing, and benchmarking, they moved our systems from AWS to Google Cloud Platform. We worked closely with them throughout the process—from planning to execution. They followed the same process for both projects.

What was the team composition?

They provided a project manager and three developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their work was successful across multiple key performance indicators (KPIs). It was a well-researched project and significantly decreased our monthly costs after it was completed.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

They provided daily updates with high-level information about the changes they were making. Consistent communication ensured we stated on target to meet our deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They’re technically proficient, delivering eloquent solutions to all of our problems. They’re a team of clever, critical thinkers.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I can’t think of anything that I would’ve changed about their service. They were absolutely fantastic.

5.0
Overall Score They were perfect.
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
    We had perfect inter-team communication.
  • 5.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
    They’re very cost effective.
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
    Their work was innovative and unique.
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer
    I’m very willing to refer them.

Integration and Support for Accounting Software

“The team is proactive and collaborative.”

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5.0

Quality: 
4.5
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
5.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$10,000 to $49,999
 
Apr. 2018 - Ongoing
Project summary: 

The Software Planet Group provides ongoing integration and support services for an automation company’s accounting software. They also correct issues and build new features when necessary.

The Reviewer
 
11-50 Employees
 
Las Vegas, Nevada
CEO, Accounting Software Company
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

The support from Software Planet Group has improved internal operations and client relationships. The team is very reliable, researching the software thoroughly and solving any problems that arise. They’re communicative and organized in their workflow, making them a valuable partner.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of an AP and AR automation company. We work for clients mainly in the hospitality industry, like corporate kitchens.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We’d recently acquired the company from its founders, so there was a lot of technical handover in that process. We tried running the software in-house, but we soon decided to outsource our integration and support needs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Software Planet Group took over our software needs for our newly acquired company. They helped us understand the systems and update some of their critical components. Primarily, the team’s role covers integration and maintenance. We have high-demand customers, so we needed to customize and modify the software to accommodate their needs. If there are any errors, a resource from Software Planet Group will handle it.

Currently, their top priority is providing support. They provide dedicated resources to correct any of our issues, update our systems, and maintain their performance. As a second priority, they develop new features for the software. We’re not focused too heavily on that right now.

What is the team composition?

We have a project manager who leads a team of developers.

How did you come to work with Software Planet Group?

We’re part of a larger organization that owns multiple companies. When we decided to look for a vendor, we asked the other companies from our portfolio for recommendations, and they’d had positive experiences with Software Planet Group.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent about $30,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in April 2018, and it’s an ongoing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Having a single resource dedicated to our product is extremely beneficial. The Software Planet Group team understands our business, and they take the time to thoroughly investigate and research any challenge they run into. We don’t have many resources to dedicate to software maintenance, but their team is still extremely supportive and helps us keep our customers happy.

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

They’re great. Every developer sends a daily summary email to our key stakeholders to share their progress. They’re helping us set a series of best proactive for our internal developers in terms of project management. The team is dynamic and collaborative. We use GitHub to manage task boards and share information. There’s a scheduled developer meeting each week to discuss their work and solve any problems. Additionally, they have a very strong command over the English language.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re able to scale their team quickly. In most cases, we just need to complete the work quickly, so we’re happy with whatever resources they provide.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They have a high staff turnover rate. Many of their resources work part-time, so there’s a lot of variety in the availability of individual resources.

5.0
Overall Score
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
  • 5.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
  • 4.5 Quality
    Service & deliverables
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer

iOS and Android App Dev for Scheduling Company

“We felt like a team with SPG and are happy with what they achieved with us.”

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5.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
4.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$10,000 to $49,999
 
Nov. 2017 - Apr. 2018
Project summary: 

Software Planet Group developed the native versions of an iOS app using Swift and an android app using Java. Both apps have the capability to add features over time but are built with strong coding quality.

The Reviewer
 
1-10 Employees
 
Cologne, Germany
Arno Weiste
COO, Scedule
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

Communication between the teams was smooth and constant. The bad news was communicated early and any problems were resolved. Their team has a wealth of knowledge that is unbeatable even though one aspect of the project did not stick to the timeline.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-founder and COO of Scedule, a mobile app that is designed to help businesses automate their meeting schedules.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Software Planet Group?

We hired them to develop our iOS and Android native apps for our core product service.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to engage users with a product that has high coding quality, interaction with our API, and simple software architecture. We wanted the capability to add new features to our app in the future.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We selected Software Planet Group out of 20 suppliers that applied to our request for a proposal. They were transparent throughout the interview process, allowing us to talk to all members of their proposed team. We also had an outside IT consultant help us through the selection process. In the end, SPG had the best price to quality ratio.

Describe the project in detail.

We contributed user stories, feature descriptions, user flows, and user interface designs. SPG estimated based on the user stories, improved the interface designs and took care of development. They built the iOS version with Swift and the Android version with Java.

What was the team composition?

Our team consisted of a project lead, project manager, senior developer for software architecture and API decisions, iOS developer, android developer, QA tester, and designer. The designer was only needed at the beginning of the project, while the QA started a bit later with testing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They finished the project on time, but project costs were 15% higher than initially estimated. We felt like a team with SPG and are happy with what they achieved with us.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication and project management were fluid and great. Both sides were very engaged and kept a constant stream of updates, even bad news was communicated early. We worked in weekly sprints and had continuous communication in Slack directly with the developers.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are unobtrusive and have the power and knowledge to fulfill your expectations, despite their lack of marketing.

Are there any areas for improvement?

They could have a more detailed approach and a better overview of software documentation, like a handbook, to make it easier for developers to work on the project.

5.0
Overall Score This is one of the best developers I worked with so far.
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
    They always delivered projects on time.
  • 4.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
    On element was estimated completely off-target, but the other 20 elements were on time and on budget.
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
    The quality was excellent.
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer
    We already referred them to colleagues.

Engineering for Online Ticketing Service

"We found Software Planet to be the best of the lot by a country mile ... Overall, we're very pleased."

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4.5

Quality: 
4.5
Schedule: 
4.5
Cost: 
5.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$200,000 to $999,999
 
Jan. 2014 - Ongoing
Project summary: 

Software Planet worked with a concert ticketing service to engineer client-facing applications in an effort to help venues and artists sell tickets.

The Reviewer
 
11-50 Employees
 
San Francisco, California
CEO & Co-Founder, Online Ticketing Service
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

Users are pleased with the products that Software Planet produces. The client is delighted at the lack of complaints and quality of software as the end result of Software Planet’s work. They provided cost efficient, high-grade software solutions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO and co-founder of a next-generation concert ticketing service. We focus on helping midsized venues and artists sell tickets while reducing their risk.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Software Planet?

We were looking for a nimble, cost-efficient engineering team who could help us develop customer-facing projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We generally work on month-long projects with Software Planet. One of our largest ones involved building a creation flow from scratch related to the events we host on our system. This system was designed for different sets of users.

How did you come to work with Software Planet?

We looked high and low for good engineers and found Software Planet after extensive searching. By search, I mean we literally tried out at least 20 engineers and teams by giving them short projects. We found Software Planet to be the best of the lot by a country mile. They were the best solution for the range of cost.

How much have you invested with Software Planet?

We've worked with Software Planet for 40 months, which is indicative of the cost range.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Software Planet in January 2014.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Clients don't compliment us on the quality of an engineering product, but rather complain when it doesn't work. In general, our clients have been happy, mostly because we provide good engineering. We've been really happy with Software Planet and wouldn't change much. Overall, we're very pleased.

How did Software Planet perform from a project management standpoint?

Our CTO and co-founder managed Software Planet’s team from our office. For the money, Software Planet's team has been great. I've worked with faster engineers during my career in Silicon Valley.

Are there any areas Software Planet could improve?

Hiccups always arise, but Software Planet has been responsive. There were a few language issues, but they are typical for offshore work. We can't expect engineers to catch typos in the software. We have to QA carefully and push a little on the delivery times, but Software Planet is great. I wouldn't have given this review otherwise.

4.5
Overall Score
  • 4.5 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
  • 5.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
  • 4.5 Quality
    Service & deliverables
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer

Ongoing Development for Financial Tech Startup

"Software Planet Group never gave us a resource that would under-deliver, and even changed members proactively..."

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5.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
4.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$200,000 to $999,999
 
2012 - Ongoing
Project summary: 

Software Planet Group was hired to help maintain a legacy solution and their involvement now also includes ongoing dev work. 

The Reviewer
 
201-500 Employees
 
Wilmington, Massachusetts
Head of Architecture
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

Noteworthy aspects include extensive technical skills, terrific resource availability, and a transparent approach to client relationship management.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company started off by providing US tax reporting services, and we've moved on to global tax reports. We take raw data from clients and convert it into a format that can be used by regulatory agencies. I am the head of architecture for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We were working with a very old IBM technology, and it was nearly impossible to find experienced contractors for that particular format. For a while, we worked with a company that built printers and the software around them, but they didn't have the availability to help us for a whole year. That forced us to go looking for another supplier.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Software Planet Group initially developed a solution for converting financial data into ASP printing language files.

On a particular project, we were using 3 developers from Software Planet Group's team, working hand-in-hand with our own staff in Argentina. I typically keep a total of 6-7 people from Software Planet Group's team occupied with constant work. We use a mix of resources; the majority tend to be developers, but we also work with more senior architects from Software Planet Group during the inception and design phases. Because we work in an Agile fashion, some developers are also in charge of quality assurance. The majority of them are developers, with varying degrees of expertise.

How did you come to work with Software Planet Group?

I posted a job on what was oDesk at the time, looking for contractors from all over the world. Software Planet Group didn't claim that they knew exactly what the project entailed, but rather had an analytic approach. Software Planet Group offered to study the problem, find available material and come back to us with a realistic response. Every other contractor that bid on our project claimed to be able to get the job done in a week, which was clearly not the case. I appreciated Software Planet Group's honest approach to a very complex and risky project. They proved to be very resourceful even within that phase, finding many information resources about our format, which I didn't even know existed. Software Planet Group shared all of this with me and offered a way for approaching the project, so we came to hire them.

How much have you invested with Software Planet Group?

The total cost of Software Planet Group's services has been between $300,000 and $400,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Software Planet Group 4 years ago, with one resource. We have been adding people to our team every year since then. We have been working with Software Planet Group as an extension of our development team, and we have 4-5 projects running at this time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our first project with Software Planet Group was a big hit for our company, convincing us to expand the relationship. I had no internal people who could develop that solution, even though we have a large team in Argentina. The project itself was critical for a partnership which we struck at the time. Our partner told us that generating those print files was essential for continuing the collaboration. I don't think that there were many other groups which could have achieved this, so if it wasn't for Software Planet Group, we couldn't have continued our successful partnership with the other company.

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

Software Planet Group is very serious in this regard. They respected their commitments and worked efficiently. Software Planet Group rarely had to allocate extra hours. Rarely will there be a day, or week, in which we can't see progress from Software Planet Group's side. I cannot recall a time when there was a delay.

Software Planet Group is very good in terms of project management and subscribe to my idea of keeping things simple. They use Trello for project management, which allows us to see what stacks are being worked on, ask questions, and collaborate with the team. We also have Skype for corporate accounts and have assigned Software Planet Group company emails as part of our policy. We also use Upwork for recording the work done, but I don't rely too much on it anymore. I work with Software Planet Group based on trust.

What did you find most impressive about Software Planet Group?

I'm big on keeping our projects lean, so I haven't required complex processes on Software Planet Group's part. They've adapted to our needs and shown deep knowledge at an organizational level about their team's technical capacity. Software Planet Group never gave us a resource that would under-deliver, and even changed members proactively whenever they didn't perform up to standard. Software Planet Group did this on a couple of occasions, even with people who were working well enough, in my opinion.

Are there any areas Software Planet Group could improve?

It's tough to tell, overall, for the whole company. There may be some individuals that are more or less open to the needs of the client, but as an organization, Software Planet Group is a well-oiled machine. They're very capable software engineers, able to provide strong ideas. As a part of the process, we've had to convince them at times that our ideas were good. Software Planet Group is also an honest company. Whenever they saw that our approach was not the best, they told us in a very polite, educated manner.

5.0
Overall Score I wouldn't hesitate to contract them again for another company.
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
    There was never an instance of failure in this regard.
  • 4.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
    I know that I could find cheaper services in other locals, but the quality would be hard to match.
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer

Team Augmentation for Entrepreneur

"I was pleasantly surprised with Software Planet Group's capabilities and their rate."

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5.0

Quality: 
4.5
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
5.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$50,000 to $199,999
 
Aug. 2015 - Ongoing
Project summary: 

Software Planet Group augmented a B2B entrepreneur working with Xerox. The team communicated directly with the client in this ongoing relationship.

The Reviewer
 
1-10 Employees
 
Canada
Project Manager
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

Xerox has been pleased with the work turned out and will continue the partnership. Software Planet Group is fully resourced and can work on UI/UX and backend development. The team always delivered objectives on time and has a great work ethic. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are an outsourced development working mostly for Xerox Canada and Xerox Global. Xerox is doing some internal restructuring and has been investing in startups. Our company is one of those startups. We don't have a brand name and don't market our company. We have been working with Xerox for more than four years.

What is your position?

I am an entrepreneur and the owner of the company. At the same time, I am serving as the technical architect and project manager for our work with Xerox.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Software Planet Group?

My company works on an exclusively virtual basis, with resources in North America and Europe. We needed to augment our team.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

Software Planet Group has been providing additional resources to our team, but they also have a separate relationship with Xerox for a mobile app development project.

Software Planet Group is a full-stack web developer, meaning that they can work on both the UI [user interface] and back-end. I was pleasantly surprised with Software Planet Group's capabilities and their rate. They're an effective outlet for offshore resources, from both a performance and financial perspective. 

We are using six full-time developers and two to three part-time ones from Software Planet Group. I participated in the selection process for our resources.

How did you come to work with Software Planet Group?

I was looking for help on Upwork and found Software Planet Group. We expanded our interaction from there. I was looking for individual developers initially, but Software Planet Group was able to persuade me through their good personnel. I interviewed many of those developers myself, along with my lead technical people.

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

The total cost of Software Planet Group's services has been in the hundreds of thousands of dollars range.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have been working with Software Planet Group for around one year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Xerox is the one actually assessing the success of our work. They've maintained us in this configuration, and our project has been successful. We are planning to go live shortly and, judging by what I've heard from our partner, there is a good outlook on the future of this B2B [business-to-business] project. The percentage of startups actually launching their product successfully is probably less than 10 percent. We are still in that 10 percent, so we have been successful. A big part of this is the team added by Software Planet Group.

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

I was pleasantly surprised by Software Planet Group's work ethic and way of doing business. We have short sprints for our work. Every week, Software Planet Group has presented the results. There hasn't been a single week when there was an issue with delivering the objective.

What distinguishes Software Planet Group from other providers?

I've been working with offshore developers from other countries, like India, Vietnam, and China. I was pleasantly surprised by Software Planet Group's level of English skills. They were able to communicate not only with the technical team but also with the client, directly. This was a nice feature that I discovered about Software Planet Group.

Is there anything Software Planet Group could have improved or done differently?

Nothing comes to mind. I'm very happy that I found Software Planet Group, and that we've been able to work together. 

5.0
Overall Score Overall, I was pleasantly surprised and a happy camper.
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
    Software Planet Group was always on schedule.
  • 5.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
  • 4.5 Quality
    Service & deliverables
    This is a very subjective issue, and I'm not able to compare Software Planet Group's work to that of their competitors.
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer
    I would recommend Software Planet Group, although I'm a bit cautious about this. The number of clients they have could eventually increase their rates.

Long Term Resource Engagement for Boutique Technology Firm

"[T]he work that Software Planet Group did throughout the project was exceptional."

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5.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
4.5
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$200,000 to $999,999
 
June 2007 - Ongoing
Project summary: 

Software Planet Group supplements a freelance design team on various projects, working primarily on development, but providing advice on design. The most complex project was a school lunch management app. 

The Reviewer
 
1-10 Employees
 
San Francisco Bay Area
Stephan Orme
CEO, Worklogistics Design
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

The team demonstrates exceptional project management, assigning a specific person to keep the team on track. Software Planet Group has an internal training process for developers to learn new technologies. They work nights to match time zones and project deadlines.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder of Worklogistics, which specializes in freelance product design for a variety of companies. We have worked with Google, Sunrun, Change.org, and a host of other companies, providing both product design and outsourced software production. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

I have assigned Software Planet Group a wide variety of work, both my own projects and work for other clients. They serve primarily as a technical resource but they do help me refine my ideas and strategy from time to time. 

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

The most complex project we've worked on with Software Planet Group was called LunchMaster. It involved very complex logistics around school lunches for thousands of students every day. Parents could go online and choose between 15 different types of lunches every single day. The platform would filter out items which the kids were allergic to, and it conformed to regulatory requirements for anonymizing free lunches so that neither the school officials nor anyone else could see them as such. This created very complex backend billing requirements for us. Those bills could either go to the parents so that they could pay using a credit card, or go to the schools and be remitted on an invoicing basis.

The interface looked like a calendar, displaying all the food choices in a graphical way, for each weekday. Each selection came with a set of drinks and fruit. There were 2 kitchens, as well as 3 distribution points. Every meal needed to be made by the kitchens and loaded onto trucks, which had different routes. Everything needed to be kept straight by the software, which made it a very complex situation. I worked with 2 development teams in parallel, each of them working on different pages of the site simultaneously, with one-week iteration periods. We launched on time, even though not everything had been built. We had a hard deadline because of the schoolyear. We initially started the work with a different firm, bringing Software Planet Group in on an emergency basis. We started the work with them only 3 months before launch.

The team assigned from Software Planet Group for this project consisted of 4 developers, as well as a 3-person professional quality assurance team, which was bolted onto the project. Software Planet Group also provided part-time IT support for managing our server setup, backups, etc.

How did you come to work with Software Planet Group?

I put an ad out on Upwork, which was called oDesk at the time. A large number of people responded, making the decision difficult. I picked 3 candidates, which looked good, and went forward with a test.

One month into the work, I looked at the results and chose Software Planet Group based on them. We've developed an ongoing relationship since then.

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

The total cost of Software Planet Group's services has been between $250,000 and $500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I have been working with Software Planet Group for 8-9 years.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The client for our LunchMaster project was very inexperienced, running into financial problems and other difficulties. Despite this, the work that Software Planet Group did throughout the project was exceptional.

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

We develop logistically-complex business applications, which are moving targets. Our LunchMaster client had been oversold on the timeline and budget of the project, which was not Software Planet Group's fault. They had no control over it. Software Planet Group provides hourly services, so they don't promise things that they won't be able to deliver because the ultimate goal of the project is not within their scope. Software Planet Group will work until completion, though.

In terms of overall productivity, it's hard to judge their team. Tasks that we thought would take a long time ended up being completed in a day or 2, while simpler items will take 1-2 weeks. Usually, this will be because of a deeper refactoring of the task. The governing factor in software productivity is product management. Developers are usually smart people, and if they've been doing it for a long time, they will usually be competent at their jobs. How well-factored the initial code was will affect how productive a developer will be, and this is dependent on how good the product manager was.

I paid for developers, but in addition to them, Software Planet Group assigned an internal project manager who made sure that the team was delivering. I took care of the actual day-to-day project management, creating detailed wireframes and specifications, and maintaining communication with the developers.

What distinguishes Software Planet Group from other providers?

Software Planet Group has an internal training process, which I find to be unusual and impressive about their company. I am based out of San Francisco, which is where many leading software solutions are developed. Software Planet Group is up on the techniques used by the best firms. Another indication of quality is how up-to-date Software Planet Group is on current best practices in the industry.

Is there anything Software Planet Group could have improved or done differently?

Software Planet Group has a large stable of developers and will usually assign whomever is free to new projects. During one project, a developer basically started inventing requirements and going off-target. To some degree, this was my own fault for not being clear. Things of this nature happened, but they were dealt with by Software Planet Group. It's normal for some issues to go off the rails. Nothing systemic ever occurred.

When working with an offshore team, it's important to have clear specifications of the work being done. Without this, they will get poor results. The bonus for this is largely on the client. Software Planet Group will do what they're told to do, but if that is sloppy and vague, there will likely be a sloppy, ill-defined project to deal-with going forward. High-definition wireframes will improve the output, clarifying the client's own thoughts. There will usually be a 10-hour time difference when working with Software Planet Group, so the team will work during night-time for the client. If they're not given clear instructions, they won't deliver the intended work.

5.0
Overall Score
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
  • 4.5 Cost
    Value / within estimates
    Working with individual developers will be much cheaper, but they don't offer the same service. Software Planet Group backs up the work through IT support and other services.
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer

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4.5

Quality: 
4.0
Schedule: 
4.0
Cost: 
4.5
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$200,000 to $999,999
 
Oct. 2014 - Ongoing
Project summary: 

Software Planet Group developed an enterprise software system to facilitate purchases of medical technology. The team provided backend and frontend development and now works on customer additions.

The Reviewer
 
11-50 Employees
 
San Francisco Bay Area
CEO, Medical Software Company
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

The team produced quick results, which sometimes lacked QA. Software Planet Group provided developers with good English and structured themselves well for communication and completion of difficult tasks. At times, upper management was not customer-service oriented, but the developers were all nice.

BACKGROUND

Please introduce your business and what you do there.

We provide a healthcare cloud software, aiming to change the way in which hospitals purchase medical technology. We do this through a software aggregator of medical supplies and technologies. I'm the Chief Executive Officer and founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Software Planet Group?

We needed development resources for our software. We didn't have the time, money, or experience needed to hire the experts we'd need to be able to do this on our own. Because of that, we decided to try outsourcing the development and design to a 3rd party supplier.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

Software Planet Group is in charge of developing our enterprise software.

We've used a number of developers from Software Planet Group. One of their resources has remained with us since the beginning.

How did you come to work with Software Planet Group?

We posted our project online and received 45-50 applications. We narrowed our selection down to groups and to an expertise level which matched what we were looking for, namely a Ruby on Rails backend and an AngularJS frontend. We also needed the ability to scale up or down accordingly. Software Planet Group offered full-stack developers, which was also important for us: the same resources could operate in both the backend and the frontend. The last piece of the puzzle was in terms of price. Software Planet Group had a higher tier price point for an overseas company, but they offered design and quality assurance elements, so we had access to a full stack team.

We interviewed 10 firms very intently with the help of our CTO [Chief Technology Officer], who ran through the gamut of candidates. Software Planet Group was the first firm which represented the level of professionalism that we needed on a technical level.

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

The total cost of development with Software Planet Group has been in the realm of $200,000 to $300,000. Each of the developers offered by Software Planet Group has a cost of between $60,000 and $65,000 per year. We've worked with 3 developers for the initial 6 months, after which we ramped down to 2 and then 1 person.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with Software Planet Group since October 2014. They're now in charge of implementing customer-requested additions. Cloud software is ever-changing and iterative.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I've been very impressed by Software Planet Group's ability to manage the novelty of what I presented to them. I have an engineering background and I have worked as a CTO, so I have a semblance of control in that regard.

From the standpoint of the work itself, Software Planet Group has had good speed, but they are lacking on the quality side. They're not used to being a production-facing shop, but are more of a MVP [minimum viable product] or beta-build company. We've probably been one of the first clients which requested interaction and high-demand quick churns. This may be my fault as well, but there has been some looseness around quality checks. I found that Software Planet Group pushed items which were noted as finished and complete, but were proven to be broken quickly by our customers, which put us in a bad place.

The fact that Software Planet Group isn't accustomed to working on long-term projects and that they have an MVP mindset has been evidenced by some of the emails I've received from upper management, asking me if the beta version of our software had been complete.

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

Software Planet Group provided an English-speaking developer who was able to manage important conversations regarding our situation. Even the best developer would be of no use if they couldn't talk to the client. I liked how the team from Software Planet Group was structured. They have a business liaison which acts as the process manager. Any human resources items are taken care of through the lens of the business manager. He has been involved in our weekly calls and managed the process.

What distinguishes Software Planet Group from other providers?

My favorite line from Software Planet Group is "Everything is possible with software". There have never been moments of Software Planet Group not being able to figure something out. Their CTO is helpful in this regard.

Software Planet Group has brought a new spin on data migration and shed light on internal risks, outlining our different choices instead of leaving them for me to deal with all by myself. 

Is there anything Software Planet Group could have improved or done differently?

I have been frustrated with Software Planet Group's management style and team, specifically the upper management. They're very military-esque, not promoting an approach of "customer first". Software Planet Group's top-level industry team is a little rough around the edges, but their developers and business managers are different.

There have been personnel changes which were very abrupt, leaving us with a gap. I found this to be unfair, coming from a company which outsources talent. In November 2015, 3 of the 4 people on our team disappeared within one week. We were working with a designer, a developer, and a quality assurance tester, who were either let go or quit. There was no risk mitigation plan in place for this from Software Planet Group. New people were tricked in without a transition period. I noted this frustration to Software Planet Group in the past to the business liaison.

Even so, within the last year and a half, I've recommended Software Planet Group for their swift work. They provided many recommendations of technologies which I wasn't familiar with, giving me depth in the software realm.

4.5
Overall Score I have had the benefit of creating outsourced software as a commoditized option. I don't feel stuck with my current group. I feel good about the collaboration and I like Software Planet Group. I think that they feel invested in our success as well.
  • 4.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
    Software Planet Group has done a good job at being realistic in terms of quotas. There were situations in which they worked for 60 hours per week when we had to complete tasks fast. Software Planet Group had a one-week team vacation at one point.
  • 4.5 Cost
    Value / within estimates
    Software Planet Group is worth the money. We received higher quality for the price, as well as the ability to ramp the team up or down.
  • 4.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
    I have a good knowledge of software development. Software Planet Group is lacking in quality assurance.
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer
    I am definitely willing to recommend Software Planet Group, but this comes with the disclaimer that the client should work through middle management instead of upper management.

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5.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
4.5
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$10,000 to $49,999
 
July - Dec. 2018
Project summary: 

Software Planet Group redesigned a video advertising platform and optimized its code.  

The Reviewer
 
11-50 Employees
 
United Kingdom
Waseem Bahot
CEO, VidMatic
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

The new solution worked well. Software Planet Group impressed with their prompt communication, seamless workflow, and robust technical support capabilities. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

VidMatic builds data-driven software for global publishers. Our platform allows publishers to engage their audiences through a unified, real time bidding solution. We offer innovative, cross-device video formats that deliver high viewability rates and monetization potential. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Software Planet Group?

We hired them for a product revamp. 

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to produce a new version of our platform and optimize the code performance.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We decided to hire them based on their background and experience. 

What was the team composition?

They provided a tech lead and full-stack developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They're a great team with excellent support.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

It was extremely effective.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I appreciated their organization and responsiveness.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

I can't think of any.

5.0
Overall Score
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
  • 4.5 Cost
    Value / within estimates
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer