Sonatafy Technology

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of software engineering at a company that is developing medical device software.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sonatafy Technology?

I was looking for a reliable software developer to help us deliver quality and secure software in time because we were working on different projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sonatafy is working on developing a secure and compliant API database for our software, as well as anything cloud-based related to it. Initially, we provided them with the specifications, and now, we’re working on developing the software itself.

This software is focused on user management. Thus, among the work that Sonatafy has done, we’ve had them build our deployment pipelines, our login process, and our archiving system, as well as a system for ordering and completing blood panel tests. As this is a medical piece of software, users can log into our system securely and anonymously.

For frontend development, Sonatafy has used React, and for backend development, they’ve used Node.js. Additionally, they’ve used PostgreSQL for the database and Kubernetes for container orchestration.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with Sonatafy’s CTO, a team lead, a full-stack developer, and a designer, and we’re on track to hire more people from their team around November 2021.

How did you come to work with Sonatafy Technology?

I had previously engaged with Sonatafy in a different company, so I had previous experience working with them. However, we still launched an RFP, and they responded to it and met all of our criteria. Regardless of this previous experience, we were also revising every proposal that we got.

After we vetted the companies that met our criteria, budget, and goals in terms of deliverables, we decided to move forward with Sonatafy in good faith. We felt that they would go above and beyond to complete our project, and they were always the quickest to respond.

How much have you invested with them?

I don’t have the exact numbers, but we’ve spent around a couple of hundred thousand dollars.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working around September 2021, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Although our engagement is pretty new, it’s already giving results. We see good progress on the sprints and demos of our software, and we’re always on schedule, if not ahead of schedule, which is great.

How did Sonatafy Technology perform from a project management standpoint?

Sonatafy is always upfront if there are some tasks that they won’t be able to fulfill, and if this happens, they give us options. They always look for solutions to our problems, and so far, they’ve held their part of our agreement. Overall, their work is very well done and in an agile way.

Initially, we had an extensive planning phase where we met from one to multiple hours a day. We still have daily stand-ups where they provide us with updates, but they take around 30 minutes now. Additionally, we have a sprint planning meeting every two weeks.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve worked with other development agencies in the US, and their prices are usually high. However, Sonatafy offers a very good price. Additionally, they have excellent availability due to the time zone they work in. Finally, they went above and beyond for my previous project, which is what I wanted from day one, and it is what I’ve seen so far.

Are there any areas they could improve?

People can always do things better, but we’re in the early stages still, so I don’t have any constructive criticism. However, I know that we will see improvements in their work, process, and communication.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Give them a call, talk about your project, listen to them, and see if it works for you.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Owner of a giant fast food chain with over 500+ outlets spread across 32 cities and 8 states.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We wanted to develop a custom software that can help us orchestrate our resources efficiently. The software was supposed to take orders, distribute them across the nearest outlets, and enable our franchise owners to fulfill them. The super-admin can add/remove restaurants, check the number of orders, and total resources consumed at any given point in time. Our aim was to keep the user interface simple and intuitive.

SOLUTION

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

Our team had shortlisted 5 agencies who specialized in software development. From all the five, we selected Sonatafy as they had a strong portfolio and industry expertise. We saw they had developed similar software to ours previously for other companies - so we felt confident about their capabilities.

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

In our very first discovery call, the Sonatafy team understood the scope of work. Together, we created a list of features we needed in the software. They analyzed our target audience, learned more about our industry and finally got started with the project. In the first phase, they presented us with a few concepts for the design and interface of the software. They had mapped out user journeys and created a seamless workflow.

After a few iterations, we finalized a concept that we felt would go well with our brand. This was then followed by the development phase - their team worked on developing the software and its core features. Finally, when everything was up - they ran thorough tests to ensure the software was performing as it was supposed to.

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

We had been assigned a project manager, technical lead, 5 full time developers and a Quality Assurance engineer. The team leads mostly were our touchpoints and we frequently had calls with them. Apart from them, we also got a chance to work one-on-one with their creative and development teams.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The software has streamlined our workflow and increased our efficiency by 46%. We can now track the revenue, total number of orders, restaurant performance (based on their location) — all of it on a single dashboard. This has helped us optimize our workflow thereby allowing us to adequately manage excessive orders simultaneously.

Overall, this software proved to be a game-changer enabling us to ensure everything’s been taken care of in a timely fashion.

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

We embraced a collaborative approach as far as the project management is concerned. I had calls with their project manager on a weekly basis to check the progress of the project. In case they needed any details from our end, they would proactively reach out via email, slack or drop their comments in JIRA.

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

We have worked with several companies before - but the way Sonatafy team worked was truly commendable. They strictly adhered to deadlines and were always before time in meetings. The level of professionalism they demonstrated throughout the project was remarkable. We look forward to working with them again in the near future.

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

Umm, no. They delivered things on time and were good at communication.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Akido Labs is an impact-focused, Y Combinator company being used nationwide to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, homelessness, and other public health crises.

Across the country, health systems and government service providers use Akido to launch new technology-powered public health initiatives that improve the health and well-being of the communities they serve. My current role at Akido Labs is Engineering Manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We needed development support to launch a number of key features in our web and native mobile applications. Our goal was to quickly find talented engineers, close to our team's timezone (PST), in order to add capacity to meet increasing demand.

SOLUTION

How did you select Sonatafy Technology and what were the deciding factors?

Sonata was recommended to us by a colleague and we ended up selecting them due to their laser focus on our needs and willingness to partner with us and adapt to our existing recruiting process, which was a huge help and a level of service above and beyond what we had experienced from similar vendors.

They demonstrated a solid understanding of the skills we needed and very quickly established a pipeline of candidates, and a weekly cadence of status updates such that we always felt we had great visibility into how the process was moving ahead, potential obstacles, etc.

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

The application development work was largely focused around adding additional engineering resources to work on our React and React Native client applications. Node and Ruby were also used at different stages of the project.

How many people from the Sonatafy Technology team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with 3 full stack engineers provided by Sonata, as well as with Joseph Hoffman who managed the relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Though i can't speak to the specific projects, probably the most significant outcome is that we ended up having long working relationships with the three engineers that we found via Sonata that spanned multiple projects.

They've been exceptional to work with and feel very much a part of our team.

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

While we were actively reviewing candidates, Sonata made sure to do weekly status update meetings and report outs, which were very help to maintain visibility over progress. Everything was timely and professional throughout.

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

They have been very focused on delivering great service to our company. They are always willing to go the extra mile to meet us where we are on process and help coordinate logistics (for example, when we had one of our Sonata-based engineers join us for an on-site).

As much as they've done a great job bringing us candidates, they also give us the room to manage them and incorporate them into our team in a way that exceeds what I would have expected.

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

We were interested in partnering with Sonata to add more engineers to our team, but at the time (2019 I believe) it didn't seem like those candidates were available.

We weren't able to expand at that time as we had hoped, but throughout that process Sonata was very communicative about extra steps they were taking to increase volume of potential candidates, and I have no doubt that our requirements as well as the market at the time didn't make that job easy.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the VP of Engineering overseeing software Architecture, development, Implementations and Cloud Engineering

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Hires Sonatafy for Software development (web and mobile), DevOps and QA functions. We had a gap in tech bench strength and full stack developers who can help both web, cloud and mobile software development.

SOLUTION

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

Sonatafy was able to provide qualified candidates at an affordable cost

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

Web Portal development, FHIR based backend and APIs, Communications software using Twilio and Android Mobile App development with AWS cloud services

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

WE began with 5 now down to 3 - as we hired Fulltime employees

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Sonatafy's team members are productive, quick learners, and are able to perform a variety of functions. I'm impressed with their fungibility across tasks and in general quick turn around

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

Project management was done our company but overall help from the company was great - Team was able quickly adopt our agile dev processes

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

We had direct access to account manager, CTO and the team - hiring coordinators were quick to find candidates on demand - Relatively low turnover made it possible to keep SME.

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

Quality of work is generally great but could improve on their communications, proactive resolution not requiring prompt.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are an Oil & Gas industry. I currently am an employee working in the IT field as an Info Technology Analyst II being the Team Lead for the IT Service Desk.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sonatafy Technology?

We chose to partner with Sonatafy to help us look for new analysts within Tijuana (MX) in order to expand our Service Desk outside of the US.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were to hire 4 solid analysts and have a secure team in our Tijuana facility. We ran into a few challenges with some of the analysts but Sonatafy was always quick and very good at keeping us updated with any new potential candidates and making sure our needs were met.

SOLUTION

How did you select Sonatafy Technology?

I wasn't part of the initial conversation that helped determine Sonatafy so I can't really discuss much on what the final outcome was but I will say that as a company they are very attentive and have great customer service which is something that we are always looking for when partnering with other companies. My leadership and the previous Service Desk lead were the ones involved in the selection process involving Sonatafy.

Describe the project in detail.

The ease of integration was a bit of a lengthy process but that may have been an issue on our end, we had just recently switched to a new platform (Workday) and we ran into a few issues when attempting to input Sonatafy into our system. After those small setbacks, the process is now a bit easier, we still run into a few hiccups here and there. Sonatafy bills us monthly for each analyst that we have with them. The amount will differ depending on how many analyst we have for that month time frame.

What was the team composition?

Sonatafy has a team of about 4 that are involved, including the CEO of the company, the HR representative, the recruiter and the person who would be the go to contact in regards to anything pertaining the hired analysts. The size has remained the same and the members have not rotated.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

With the recent analysts that Sonatafy had presented to us, I feel like we have found our permanent team do to their outstanding recruitment. With those 4 additional analysts on our team, we now have more coverage to help our users via phone calls and chats which means that we have less wait times and are able to assist users in a more timely manner. As mentioned, our main goal with Sonatafy was to have a proper team in Tijuana which we have now achieved, our next goal is to make sure that this new team is strong and able to provide excellent IT support/knowledge to our users.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

My team and I meet monthly with Sonatafy in which we discuss any issues or concerns on our end that Sonatafy can help identify and resolve. For example, we did have an issue with an analyst who was showing up late for his shifts, we had mentioned this to Sonatafy who took immediate action and reached out to that analyst.

Once they had a discussion with him we started noticing that he took his role more seriously and we haven't had any type of tardiness issues with the analyst since. Sonatafy was able to find a resolution to help that analyst and our team. We communicate regularly via email and the Sonatafy team is always very responsive, if I ever come across an issue or if I need clarification in any aspect they are always quick to jump in a meeting with myself and my team and assist us.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

With Sonatafy, I know that I don't have to wait hours or days for a response on any urgent issues. If one employee is unable to assist at the moment, another employee working with us will jump in and do their best to help us come to a resolution. Working in a call center/Service Desk, customer service is a huge thing in our field so I always look for that when working with others and I can without a doubt say that Sonatafy's customer service is top tier.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I've just come into the role of the Service Desk lead recently but and from my perspective I don't see anything that Sonatafy has to improve on. We were very straightforward with what we wanted and what was expected of them and they have been able to deliver every time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of a software company called Sema.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sonatafy Technology?

I needed help with hiring great talent to keep up with aggressive customer growth.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We needed to hire technical writers, specifically those with a software development background. This initiative was to support the growth of our professional services; we involve technical writing as part of the delivery of our product. Before Sonatafy started the recruitment process, we gave them some initial training to clarify our needs. They have helped us bring in four writers who we've hired directly and have become permanent team members. We supervise them like our other teammates. Additionally, Sonatafy has given our company advice on our product and engineering roadmap.

What is the team composition?

I worked with the CTO, an account manager, and two people from their staffing team.

How did you come to work with Sonatafy Technology?

I found them through word-of-mouth recommendations.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2020, and it’s still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our track record with the Sonatafy team’s candidates is better than those of other partners and even internal hiring. We have a really tight performance culture — we do a lot of training to set candidates up for success, but if they're not the right fit, we let go of them. To measure how trustworthy and good their process is, the strongest metric we use is how much we want to continue working with the writers they've brought in. Sonatafy did such an excellent job of listening to what we wanted and finding us suitable candidates. 

Furthermore, the writers have been writing excellent client briefing materials. We were looking for a combination of speed and the quality of the work, and they brought that. The senior professionals who've evaluated them deemed their work extremely high quality. They're on par with teammates we hired on our own.

How did Sonatafy Technology perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management has been excellent, fast, and consistent — their response times are always within a few hours. We use Slack, Jira, and email. The team gives regular weekly updates to let us know where we stand. In terms of feedback, Sonatafy has been very open — they're constantly fine-tuning the process. When we turned down one of their first few candidates, we had a very positive conversation with them. There was no sense of defensiveness from them; they just focused on what they could do better.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The consistency of their delivery of suitable candidates is very distinctive from the delivery of other firms we've worked with. Sonatafy's team has gone the extra mile. The additional advice they’ve given us has been incredibly helpful. They just gave us more value than other teams, which is pretty unique. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything. We see Sonatafy as permanent partners — we're so excited to expand the team alongside them. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be super clear about your requirements and processes by clarifying who does the decision-making in the internal team and what the steps in the hiring process are. Invest time upfront to finetune the process and review candidates with them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company develops enterprise investigation technology for all verticals. I am the vice president of Engineering

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

To implement solutions that meet the requirements of our customers and our technology ambitions by executing software backend and frontend work.

SOLUTION

How did you select Sonatafy Technology and what were the deciding factors?

We found them through a referral and based on Sonata´s cost and commitment to deliver.

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

The scope and length of our project is indefinitely and we needed a team of Sonata contractors that could be perfectly integrated into our team as our own. The Sonata team continues to produce deliverables indefinitely with units of work that are comprised in sprints.

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

They are still in our team. We have one excellent backend developer and 4 other front end developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The outcomes are measurable in terms of jira tickets being completed and hours burned. The Sonata team burns an average of 4 hours per day per individual and complete about one ticket per week per individual.

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

Sonata did not provide project management. We do our own with the team provided by Sonata.

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

Two things. Their commitment and great flexibility are impressive. (i.e., ability to adapt)

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

Anything along those lines have been addressed.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CTO for Automated Retail Technologies (ART). ART is developing a network of automated delicious food kiosks to serve up unique hot and cold food items in a fully automated and touchless process.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sonatafy Technology?

I hired Sonatafy Technology to assist with our software product development, specifically in the areas of web and mobile development as well as QA.

What were your goals for this project?

This is new product development which will result in our new kiosks being introduced into the market this year. Initial project goals are to complete the development of an MVP to be used for piloting our products in Q1 2021.

SOLUTION

How did you select Sonatafy Technology?

I selected Sonatafy Technology based on three key metrics:

1. My prior experience with the management team
2. Ability to identify and retain engineers with the required skill sets and experience in a timely manner
3. Cost.

Describe the project in detail.

This is an agile product development project. The team is developing new consumer-facing mobile and web applications used to operate and manage our network of kiosks. Features and capabilities are determined by ART, prioritized into agile sprints, and developed and tested by the team.

What was the team composition?

In addition to our internal ART employees and staff, we have a mobile developer, a full-stack developer, and a QA Engineer from Sonatafy.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We're making good progress towards our goal for piloting the product early this year.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Excellent. The Sonatafy team is fully integrated into our development cadence is using our process and tools.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They take full accountability for recruiting and managing the team members from a functional perspective, while ART is responsible for providing the day to day direction and guidance. Working with Sonatafy is very efficient, and having them also help with the management of the team is a nice benefit. I feel like we are partners with Sonatafy and not just in a customer-supplier relationship.

Are there any areas for improvement?

none at the moment.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of Sylabs Inc

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Software

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Sonatafy Technology to accomplish?

• Provide skilled software engineers with values aligned to ours

SOLUTION

How did you find Sonatafy Technology?

Linked In

Why did you select Sonatafy Technology over others?

• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Sonatafy Technology were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Sonatafy provided key engineers to help our company evolve our products and business.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The engineers provided by Sonatafy greatly enhanced our customer support and allowed the CTO to focus more on future products.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

The engineers provided by Sonatafy were invaluable to our team.  The quality of work and ability to adapt exceeded expectations.

What was your primary form of communication with Sonatafy Technology?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The level of talent they were able to recruit.

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

nothing comes to mind

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Engineering Manager of an cruising app provider.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We're the hottest free map-based cruising app for gay, bi, trans, queer and curious guys. On our map, LGBTQ+ people can chat, meet, and discover nearby cruising locations— augmenting the physical world with the best digital cruising guide to find fast, exciting experiences all around you.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Sonatafy Technology to accomplish?

• Software Development

SOLUTION

How did you find Sonatafy Technology?

Online Search

Why did you select Sonatafy Technology over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Sonatafy Technology were assigned to this project?

20+

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Sonatafy helps us staff software engineers needed to create features within our product

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Delivery of features by software engineers assigned to the project

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Yes, they've delivered on time and quickly adapted to changing requirements.

What was your primary form of communication with Sonatafy Technology?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting

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

A very friendly staff who respond to emails very quickly and eager to help. I also liked how they check in with devs to make sure they are meeting the client's expectations.

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

None