Unicsoft

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Founder of a Web3 tech company. We license our software to businesses in the space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Unicsoft to come in and clean up, beta test and check the security of our current development. We are now developing new features on top of our software.

SOLUTION

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

They had a lot of experience over a multitude of industries such a AI, Big Data, Machine Learning, etc. We are in the blockchain space but I figured if they can execute huge, incredibly intricate projects in spaces such as the ones listed above, they must be extremely detailed, skilled, and have very organized company / working structures in place... and I was right! I was looking for a company that will do more than just "do what I say", I was looking for a tech partner who can provide valuable insight into what they think is the best way to approach situations/development.

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

They are incredibly thorough and organized, for example after I signed on, they provided me with a ~180 page document detailing every single function of the current state of our site / our future objectives, as well as hundreds of lines of an Excel spreadsheet which each line being every button/area/function on the website, with a description of what it does, and any questions they had next to it.

Once they had a thorough understanding of the website, they went through and security-checked the smart contracts (and provided a huge document detailing that as well), beta tested the site, and we are now moving into the next phases of development. We are developed in Vue and Node.js.

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

When I first signed on I had meetings with the project manager and 2 others, and now I communicate daily / weekly with just the project manager. There is a team of about 5+ I believe.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I cannot stress how great working with Unicsoft has been. Development teams I have used before required so much hand-holding and micromanaging, whereas with Unicsoft I get to sit back and trust that they have everything handled (I am a perfectionist / tend to micromanage so this rarely happens)!

They are incredibly thorough, organized, and easy to work with. Our website is functioning so much better, and they have brought up and fixed issues with the software I did not even know about.

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

Very streamlined and organized, I communicate with one project manager over Telegram. When we were in the intense beta phase, they set up a huge excel doc with each line detailing every item on the site, and would write any questions next to it which I would answer directly in the doc, and turn it from red to green, so we are all on the same page. This organization is not something I have seen from a dev agency before them!

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

The organization and how detail-oriented they are with their internal processes.

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

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO. Our company provides a platform as a service solution for publishers looking to distribute ebooks and audiobooks to consumers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We needed to scale our backend team with senior developers who could work within our existing team.

SOLUTION

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

We considered developers from a number of companies but found the candidates from Unicsoft to fit the bill and started working with the company in Q1 this year.

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

The work is based around feature development and improvements on our backend code base which consists of a number of different languages.

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

We have hired 3 developers working in our backend team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have filled some of our discrepancies in terms of capacity to run our projects. We have been very happy with the capable developers we're working with.

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

We have incorporated the developers into our existing teams and they have blended in well, using Slack, Git, Notion and the usual tools for communications.

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

Unicsoft has been able to find the right candidates for us. The developers have been able to work effectively on our code base from just a few weeks after starting in the project.

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

As the developers we hire are now part of our dev team, we are continuously working on improving our ways of working. There's nothing in particular needed from the developers hired through Unicsoft.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder of a startup building a blockchain-powered B2C sustainable action platform and marketplace that democratizes climate action

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We needed a super-reputable global developer with solid blockchain and smart contract experiences. We prepared a detailed RFP and sent it to leading blockchain developers, including Unicsoft.

SOLUTION

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

Unicsoft won the competitive RFP via its pricing, experience, and careful and detailed response to the RFP. Their advanced Project Management (PM) methodology instilled high levels of confidence as did the deed experience of their team and work done for other clients.

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

Project Scope included refining important technical features of the solution, developing user personas, user journeys, look & feel, etc.

Smart contracts, payment gateways, UI, UX, catalog development and more were part of the project, which was managed with care and accuracy by the PM.

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

We worked with about 6 people including the PM, an account manager, a bockchain smart contract developer, a graphic designer with great UX skills.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to complete the project faster and at a better cost using Unicsoft compared to the other vendors that submitted quotes via the RFP. The project proved key parts of the platform concept and helped gauge user acceptance.

The project served as a reusable component for future projects and as a way to showcase the solution to partners and investors.

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

Unicsoft has great PM skills and provided a weekly summary of activities, oustannding issues, etc. Every hour of the project was carefully accounted for and the team was always on the lookout for risks and opportunities.

This is a very international team with great liaison skills, the ability to work at a global enterprise or a startup level, and a smart, positive team that was a delight to work with.

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

This company has a great culture and a genuine interest in helping clients solve tough problems. They use advanced and transparent methodologies that one can trust, they are responsive, friendly, professional, and they really care about their clients.

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

While every company can use improvement, it's hard to come up with suggestions for Unicsoft. It's always smart to check out other reviews, but this reviewer can think of no real improvements that need to be made.

I've worked with leading global IT providers while heading strategic initiatives at leading Fortune 500 international corporations, as a management consultant for leading companies, and with startups.

I would bring in Unicsoft as a vendor with any of them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a Product Owner of a start up where we are building a live streaming solution for social networks ( Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn). Our main goal is to help the broadcaster to easily create engaging content.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Unicsoft?

I'm leading a team of 10+ and it was hard for me to take even more people. This why we decided to outsource a mobile projects to be able to move fast&simultaneously.

What were your goals for this project?

First in the market solution for live streaming in several destinations simultaneously with a bunch of useful features. For us, it is another acquisition channel and revenue stream.

SOLUTION

How did you select Unicsoft?

I was searching online as well as consulting with my network. We were considering 3 companies but decided to proceed with Unicsoft because we liked their offer better.

Describe the project in detail.

We are developing 2 native mobile apps. We had a few meetings to agree on a scope of work. The design was provided from our side as well as a high-level documentation and technical support.

What was the team composition?

1 developer, part-time QA, part-time PM. Planning to increase the team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Not yet, planning to start open beta during this month :)

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The PM was always available and we didn't have any issues. The team was flexible and they were offering solutions based on their experience. The developer was going the extra-mile and based on the internal feedback from the in-house team, everyone was extremely satisfied to work with him from the technical perspective as well.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

In the past, we had a bad experience working with an outsourcing mobile team. Currently, we have the best experience possible. They always go the extra mile and deliver everything on time.

Are there any areas for improvement?

As always, we would love to speed up everything, but we don't want to compromise on quality. Nothing new :)

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are building a Blockchain-based track & trace solution for goods lifecycle management within the supply chain industry. My role in this project is a software development consultant. I’m responsible for creating product value propositions, finding product-market fit and researching the market to meet the business needs of end-users.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

With an initial idea to build a track & trace solution, we began looking for a reliable technology consulting company that would advise us on how feasible it is to use blockchain for this purpose and assist in creating a comprehensive roadmap for our product development. To predict all potential pitfalls in the development, complete a deep analysis and create an effective project plan, the Unicsoft team proposed we begin the discovery phase.

During the discovery phase, Unicsoft covered each task necessary to create a comprehensive solution based on the initial idea. The solution architect considered future scaling and prepared effective architecture, as well as chose the right technologies to help us evolve faster while saving on our budget.

Within the development lifecycle, the Unicsoft team demonstrated great skill in Infrastructure Engineering, implementation and automation of various processes – deployment, monitoring and making infrastructure act as a code using AWS and Jenkins tools.

Hyperledger Fabric + GoLang experts created the system’s core with a blockchain private network, which brought the solution’s main value. Unicsoft engineers also implemented a client interface (web and mobile applications) using modern technologies and tools, including React.js, React Native, UI kits, while following rigid time constraints.

Goals: We wanted to build an application that helps brand owners fight counterfeit and prevent multi-million dollar losses using blockchain technology. The solution needed to document all supply chain updates to a single shared ledger, guaranteeing complete data visibility, immutability and transparency for all supply chain participants. Our aim was to help law-abiding manufacturers and vendors protect their brands while fighting grey imports.

SOLUTION

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

Being a complex solution with many different parts, we were searching for a company that could combine each section instead of distributing them across various vendors. We provided vendors with our 60+ page documentation and the Unicsoft team prepared the most comprehensive proposal. They researched and discovered many aspects of our product and offered us tons of new implementation ideas.

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

In terms of project development, the only part that fell on our side was design and documentation on how we envision the future product. We expected the vendor to provide us with a product development roadmap and successfully implement it. In the beginning, the Unicsoft team became familiar with the documentation and prepared specifications describing all the obligatory features we may need for each project role - system administrator, supplier and the end consumer.

After the discovery phase, the software development process began. Unicsoft gathered the project team at the perfect time. We started by involving just a few people who were responsible for the architecture. At this point, we also engaged the Blockchain consultant who provided us with high-level advice on how Hyperledger works and on how we could cover our business needs most effectively by using this technology. Unicsoft solution architects offered valuable information on how to create an easily scalable and customizable system to respond to our future users’ needs.

The team continued to grow as we moved through the product development timeline. At the project’s peak, we had 12 people who were working parallel under the particular features in which they were responsible. For example, we had two different mobile applications – one for the supplier and one for the end-client – so we assigned two mobile developers who focused on their precise application. This approach helped us speed up the development process and stay within the predicted timeline.

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

There were 12 experts from Unicsoft: Project Manager, Business Analyst, Blockchain Developer, Infrastructure Architect, Backend Developer, Backend TechLead, two Frontend Developers, two Mobile Developers and two QAs. Also, Unicsoft provided a dedicated Account Manager who built effective communication between us and the technical team, and ensured the process was running smoothly. We held strategic sessions, as well, to discuss the project’s future development, which revealed Unicsoft’s desire to be involved deeply in projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As of now, we have successfully implemented the solution among a group of small and medium enterprises, proving its performance capability within the process of goods supply chain management. We have dozens of potential clients in the pipeline, as well.

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

As mentioned before, all features were implemented within the scope, timelines and budget. I think this proves effective project management. But, also, I was surprised at how well they helped us make important product decisions and set priorities according to customer needs. The project manager dove deeply into the project and performed more like a colleague. We communicated through Telegram, Email, Redmine and other tools.

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

We have been impressed most with our close cooperation, pro-active team and project execution within the schedule and budget. The intermediate results were demonstrated permanently and transparently each week. Adequate attention was given to the documentation, which was really useful for our product’s future scalability.

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

There isn’t anything specific to point out. Unicsoft did a great job!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I.m the CEO & Founder at ADUK GmbH a custom hardware and software development company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Unicsoft?

One of our partners asked us to conduct technical feasibility studies for two companies in the banking and insurance domains respectively. So, we decided to extend our expertise in software architecting with the help of experts from Unicsoft.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted Unicsoft to analyze all the input information from the end clients and come up with recommendations on the technology stack, architecture, and infrastructure. Unicsoft’s experts produced a comprehensive report to justify the customer’s vision of the project implementation.

These reports were used by the end client within the communication with investors as a technical confirmation of the project’s feasibility.

SOLUTION

How did you select Unicsoft?

Unicsoft complements our expertise. They help us to bring more value to our clients. Unicsoft became a trusted software development partner for us, as we have a common aim: to make machines smarter. We met for a coffee during Aleksey's business trip to Germany in 2018 and things progressed from there.

Describe the project in detail.

Initially, after analysis of all the available documentation Unicsoft performed additional scoping of both projects. Afterwards, based on a series of meetings, written replies to the questions, and additional documents, the Unicsoft team created two deliverables that outlined:

• Project timeline
• Product overview
• Functional description
• Constraints and assumptions
• Technological stack and envisioned high-level architecture
• Work effort estimation breakdown In the next step, the documents were refined and presented to the customer.

These documented studies allowed our client informed decision-making on the project initiation and planning.

What was the team composition?

There were six experts from Unicsoft:

• Senior Project Manager,
• Business Analyst,
• iOS/Android Tech Lead,
• Front-End Engineer,
• Back-End Engineer,
• DevOps Architect.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Now the end client has an opportunity to reach investors with proofs and feasibility studies and to raise funds for further project development.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The project manager was extremely responsive. He was available 24/7 to cover all the questions and demonstrate the progress.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Transparency in communication is a fantastic skill for a partner. In addition, Unicsoft proved their expertise in a vast range of technologies which was emphasized by our client.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No. Unicsoft performed as well as we expected.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of a fintech startup. Our customers are MFIs (microfinance institutions) that lend to people in developing countries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Unicsoft?

We needed to develop a custom software but didn’t have the capabilities in-house.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Unicsoft developed our custom SaaS product that digitalized processes for MFIs. Their team built the desktop version of our application.

By using our software, our customers have a better view of their risks. The loan cycle starts with a customer declaration. The product enables customers to capture all of an applicant’s data in a flexible questionnaire builder. At the end of the declaration process, they press a button to get an analysis of different cash loans and referential data. This increase the efficiency

What is the team composition?

While we’ve communicated with six people, we generally work with is 3­–5 individuals.

How did you come to work with Unicsoft?

Unicsoft approached us. They’re based in Ukraine, which isn’t too far from Germany. We also knew two of their past clients. We first engaged them to build a small prototype and decided to continue the partnership.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $400,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the partnership in March 2017, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re happy and learn from each other. Our head of product previously managed similar projects and had a clear vision for this product but didn’t have the development skills to execute it. We needed a translator, which Unicsoft handled well. Their team was willing to learn about a difficult product in an unfamiliar sector. We had excellent exchanges, and they went the extra mile to understand the software.

How did Unicsoft perform from a project management standpoint?

In the beginning, we faced project management issues. Now, the project runs well. I’d give them 90/100.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re flexible. We’re happy with their lead developer who’s really talented.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any constructive feedback. I recommend them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Provide detailed briefings and take the time to lay a solid foundation. In the beginning, we weren’t certain of our product’s direction, and that made the start of the engagement a bit. From the start, make your ideas transparent to prevent any hassle down the road.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am director responsible for software delivery and client engagement for AlphaWallet. We are a blockchain start-up that provides a crypto wallet for consumers and businesses. Our company size is around 10 people at the moment and is about to go into Series A funding.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Unicsoft?

We hired Unicsoft at first to support our iOS app customisation efforts. Then we also used Unicsoft for other efforts such as WooCommerce customisations etc.

What were your goals for this project?

Deliver quality and stable application, in an agile fashion, to customers of AlphaWallet who wants the core app tailored to their unique needs and demands.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Our CTO had been introduced to UnicSoft during an international conference. As good talent in crypto space are hard to come by we started engaging Unicsoft short term and then extended the relationship to on-going long term engagement.

Describe the project in detail.

Our core product is a consumer-facing application. We also offer it as a white-labelled wallet to corporate customers. We hired Unicsoft at first to support our iOS app customisation efforts. As the quality of the talent was really good we eventually extended the co-operation to core wallet development as well as other support such as WooCommerce customisations etc.

What was the team composition?

Initially the team was composed of Project Manager and Developers, managed through an Account Manager. As we started integrating the developer into our processes we took on project management from AlphaWallets side and engaged only the developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The talent from Unicsoft are really good and was able to pick up the nuances of the project and adapt to our style of working really quickly. Through the engagement, we are continuously able to deliver value to our customers.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Really good relation between both the teams at AlphaWallet and Unicsoft

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They listened to our requirements and always shared really good candidates. The developers are easy to work with and delivered the results committed. The account management team are also helpful in ensuring the right support throughout the engagement.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nothing particular

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’ve worked with Unicsoft in multiple capacities. The longest partnership I’ve had with them was for 4B Group. I was the CTO at the time. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Unicsoft?

Unicsoft helped us deliver a cloud-based IoT monitoring solution for high-reliability applications in the industrial sector. We were doing all our development in the UK, so it made sense for us to outsource to Ukraine.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Unicsoft took the system from a proof of concept built by our previous team to a fully-developed solution with around 50 B2B clients currently onboard. Each client has access to 10–50 users.

We worked in phases. To start with, I wanted to test Unicsoft out. Our system was live at the time, and we had one or two customers, but things were not working as expected. We had a code review with Unicsoft. I listed the things that we absolutely had to improve upon and asked for recommendations from their side. We combined those into a plan and executed it. Within 2–3 months, the system was working reliably.

We wanted to make sure that we’d know when our system was down before our users did. Unicsoft took that onboard and redesigned the notifications engine to add internal diagnostics, analytics, and so on. The system — built for their team, level-one support, and our team — would make sure that, when a customer called us, we could say that we were already aware of the issue and working on it.

It’s quite a complicated product using quite a few technologies. As an example, we collected around 10 terabytes of values within a year, and it grew every year. Because of that, we had to build a lot of the backend in Golang, an asynchronous high-speed language. We ended up using a variation of MQTT for exchanging messaging, I believe, but Golang was used to parse messages and do the heavy lifting. The CMS, backend dashboards, and so on were written in Django, and I believe we used AngularJS for the frontend. In terms of infrastructure, everything’s on AWS, and we utilize a lot of internal services of that platform as well as custom, proprietary ones for database structuring and data exchange.

What is the team composition?

Over the six-year collaboration, we had three project managers, but the lead developer stayed the same throughout. That was very nice, given that that person came to know the product inside and out. He’s been able to build a team around him so that there would be no single point of failure in terms of human capital. That was something I was worried about quite a lot to start with.

How did you come to work with Unicsoft?

The proof of concept was built by a company in London six years prior. That agency went into liquidation, so I had to find another partnership. I looked in the UK, and I wasn’t happy with the pricing, so I started looking further out. It so happened that the CEO of Unicsoft was visiting London at that time. We met up, and I introduced him to the developers of the company going into liquidation. I wanted them to check on his qualifications, rather than making the decision myself. I was quite happy with what I heard, and we started working together.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Unicsoft six or seven years ago in the spring. I left that business, but the project is still active. Unicsoft is continuing to build new things for it.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

However, because we had two major events at our group per year, we decided to do a major emphasis on work in the months of November–January for an exhibition in February. We did a bunch of new features in those three months and then went into support mode for half a year. Then, we did another three months of development around summertime. They adapted quite well to that. They did their QA, we did our UAT testing, and then we deployed things to production.

In terms of metrics, we did some detailed user stories and hour estimations in the very beginning, but it became too big a burden to keep on top of it. When we did those three-month sprints with a lot of work, we had a very clear view as to what we wanted to show at the exhibitions, and Unicsoft had a clear deadline. If they didn’t make it, we wouldn’t have a show at the exhibition. As far as I remember, they always made it in time for the show. They may have been two weeks late on a two-month period, but we still had a one-month buffer for releasing things to production and showing them to customers.

How did Unicsoft perform from a project management standpoint?

We didn’t have a large internal team, so we relied heavily on the project management of Unicsoft to keep the developers in check and make sure people were working on the right things. Part of their job was to keep pushing us and make sure we responded. They did quite a good job of keeping us in check.

Their PM had a meeting with us after retrospectives, and their account manager spoke to us every three months or so about client success and any concerns we had. I happened to travel to Ukraine anyway, for business I had with distributors there, and I’d always visit Unicsoft’s office. Their CEO would always find time to sit down with me and work out the strategic plan.

One of the preconditions on our project and one of the things they’ve done very well is documentation. Everything is well-documented through wiki pages. The whole idea was that we wouldn’t be tied into Unicsoft, and that we could give the project to any other design agency at any time in the lifecycle of the product. Unicsoft did it so well that we decided not to move away from them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Account management and customer relations are extremely strong points at Unicsoft. For example, if they saw something going wrong, they’d let us know before it happened. If they felt they’d misjudged their estimates, they let us know before it became a problem, and they never went beyond their budget.

However, their customer approach is only important when the actual work is being done. Unicsoft put the right developers and project manager on the project. I could discuss the little things we didn’t like and how we could make them better. Obviously, had they not done those things, I’d be discussing how to change people out of the project and, potentially, how to change suppliers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There are ups and downs in any relationship. We had 1–2 meetings with Unicsoft in the six-year period where we had to tell them off. It was often because we weren’t responding to their calls, and they weren’t insisting that we make a decision one way or the other. Since they were a subcontractor, there were certain things they couldn’t make decisions on and, rightfully so, they wouldn’t. Those were the only times that we weren’t happy. We understood that we weren’t delivering on our end, but we wanted them to be a bit more proactive and aggressive. It might’ve been a cultural difference as well.

If we were to speak to someone from my former company, they’d mention that Unicsoft is also the main supplier for the whole website suite of the group. The last I heard was that the only website that hadn’t been given over to them was the one for the US. I also heard that they were considering using Unicsoft for an online shopping website. If the company’s given them more work over the past six years, it must’ve not gone too bad. There are at least 3–4 people interfacing with Unicsoft now, from different departments.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Unicsoft is very good at pulling information out of customers so that they understand the requirements 100%. Having workshops worked really well in other projects I had with them. If the client is starting from nothing or if they have some ideas about what they want to do, I’d very much recommend starting with a 1–2-day workshop with Unicsoft’s entire team. They’re quite insightful, and they ask all the right questions in order to cover everything the customer hadn’t thought about.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of three heads of delivery in a digital development company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Unicsoft?

We were looking for quality work, fast startups, and good engineering. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve run numerous projects with Unicsoft. Sometimes, they just provided developers, but they also ran turnkey projects from estimates to implementation and launch.

We’re currently finishing a marketplace for medical specialists. Unicsoft has covered four parts on that project: design, frontend development, backend development, and a separate chat module. The platform was developed in Laravel PHP on the backend, AngularJS on the frontend, and Golang for the chat component.

Speaking to all our activities with Unicsoft over the last one and a half years, they also provided React Native and Java developers. We’ve had one mobile project with React Native, and the rest has been mobile development.  

What is the team composition?

They have an engagement manager that we have weekly or biweekly calls with to discuss ongoing issues. It’s pretty good client service. We’ve had some smaller projects where they just handed over developers and a bit of a manager’s time. The bigger ones, such as this marketplace for healthcare professionals, we’ll have a project manager, a couple of frontend developers, and a couple of backend developers. We’ve engaged around 12 people from Unicsoft overall.

How did you come to work with Unicsoft?

I used to work for a larger company, and Unicsoft worked on a project there. I heard good feedback about them, so I decided to engage them here. They helped develop the technical side of proposals and sometimes subcontracted their developers.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost of their services has been $150,000–$300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Unicsoft in December 2018, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve done code reviews on their work using third-party consultants and client representatives. They always told us that the code was clean and good. We’re also happy with the feedback we’ve been getting.

How did Unicsoft perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve done pretty well. We’ve had some issues with late deliveries, but we’re always able to solve them together. Unicsoft has been quite proactive in foreseeing these situations, and we’ve been able to manage them. It isn’t possible for everything to go smoothly, but, when we have such situations, we can manage them together.

We’ve mostly been using Jira, and Unicsoft also proposed using Redmine on some projects, which is their tool.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They can easily estimate pretty solid projects and start quickly. Their account management is also good. We’ve become business friends that can solve issues together.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their services could be cheaper at times, and they don’t always find the competencies we required. I can’t really fault them; becoming too wide probably isn’t beneficial, and I wouldn’t expect them to cover all possible needs. I’m generally happy with Unicsoft.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

They should treat it as a partnership, not as a vendor-provider collaboration where they throw a job over the fence and expect a result.