Vakoms

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

CumulusPro helps businesses to rapidly transform to digital enterprises by connecting people, process and application. Our cloud-based Business Process Management Platform-Straatos is designed to revolutionise how organisations and public institutions digitally communicate and collaborate with their customers, citizen, and partners.

Digital enterprises typically improve their customer experience, increase customer satisfaction, business efficiency and productivity while reducing cost and time to market. I am the VP of Product Management.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Vakoms?

We were looking for offshore web developers to augment our development team on a remote & long-term basis. The additional team members would support the ongoing software projects and develop new functionalities. The main challenge was to provide a user-friendly web application for large volumes of complex business data in the back-end.

What were your goals for this project?

The project was to create a web based UI in Angular for users to view and update task and task details. The UI needed to be configurable in the backend and provide the user with the flexibility to adjust the UI to their needs. For example by removing or adding columns.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We have been working with Vakoms in an previoius project and knew their qualification and development processes which work well with our existing teams.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Vakoms web developers have been working as a part of CumulusPro development team. Vakoms web front-end developer created a new UI with some specific requirements.

For example reactive custom table with the following functionalities:

- Reactive columns (a user can add or remove any columns, change the width etc)

- Tasks displayed by types (assigned to me, created by me, reports, process documentation)

- Filtering option (by column value or by task type)

- Multiple select for table rows and making actions with selected items

- History of task and comments

- Viewing task details (such as invoice, supplier information, pdf viewer, else)

What was the team composition?

The team varied during the project. There was mainly one web-front end developer. At certain stages of the project we also had developers creating automated QA scripts and do manual QA on the deliverables.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The created web platform simplifies business process management and increase our customers productivity. The new web interface was well received by our customer and we look at a fast adoption rate.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project Management was coordinated from our side. We used Azure DevOps to assign and update tasks as well as collaborate on issues. In addition, Skype was a major tool for screensharing and calls.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The team members we worked with were very skilled and experienced for what we needed. They could also rely on their team at Vakoms to give additional input in challenging parts of the project so that we received a high quality product.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There is very little I wish to improve. One area that could improve is a more active role in finding the root cause of bugs.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and sole employee at small engineering company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Vakoms?

I needed a team to provide software development for a third party I work with.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Vakoms is my partner on several different projects. They’ve assisted me with the development for testing solutions, train control systems, and databases. Typically, their involvement starts from the discovery call, where we assess what needs the customer has and how we can fulfill them. From there, we discuss pricing and a timeline. While their team provides software development, I contribute to the hardware aspect of most projects.

What is the team composition?

On average, I work with 10 members of their team.

How did you come to work with Vakoms?

I found Vakoms through a third-party free-lancing website. I was looking for a company that specialized in platform independent programming, especially on Qt. Vakoms had twelve Qt certified developers, which is why I chose them.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve invested approximately $200,000–$300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in 2011 and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our work with them is very successful and our customers are satisfied. We have a high customer-return rate.

How did Vakoms perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate on WhatsApp, Skype, email, and via a common source platform.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What I find most important is the fact that I can trust them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think they could implement a stronger sense of middle-management. The company is now made of 150 engineers and there could be a better process of connecting them with their partners.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise potential customers to make the project as open as possible and to trust the team.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO at a risk assessment company that develops mobile applications for companies in the construction, manufacturing, and insurance industries. We build these apps to manage their risk. I’ve been with the company for about three years now.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Vakoms?

Previously, our company was working with a developer based in India. They weren’t delivering quality work, so we began working with Vakoms due to their quality work and price point. We needed a long-term development partner.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Currently, Vakoms is working with us developing mobile applications. Their team uses Swift for our iOS apps, and Kotlin for Android applications. They’ve also done a little work on the frontend and backend of our website. Our site uses Angular.js, a Django API, and a PostgreSQL database.

With the mobile applications, we’ve been working with them on a lot of new features, enhancing the products. They do a lot of online synchronization on the apps, so they can be used on a network connection and off. Their team also develops new screens, interactive pages, and new capabilities for the apps.

What is the team composition?

We work with a project manager, an iOS developer, an Android developer, frontend developer, backend manager, and a QA.

How did you come to work with Vakoms?

We switched to Vakoms before I began working here, but I believe we found them through a partnership with a company in Illinois. They had a connection to Vakoms in Ukraine.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $100,000–$150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been collaborating with Vakoms since May 2015, and the engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Vakoms has had a significant impact on our business. Over the last two years, they’ve driven our products forward, developing new features for our clients. We work closely with them to make sure what our clients want in their digital products. The results and the reaction from our clients have been excellent.

How did Vakoms perform from a project management standpoint?

We meet twice a week with the project manager. From there, he delegates tasks to the main developers and the QA tests all of their work. We’re pleased with their documentation as well as their responsiveness. We use Jira as our project management tool.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to meet with our team multiple times a week shows their flexibility. If any requirements end up changing, Vakoms works to fine-tune and implement them as quickly as possible.

Are there any areas they could improve?

In the beginning, their team could ask more questions about our processes and make recommendations. Our requirements for each project change every now and then. They do work well with us to make changes, but it would be nice to have their perspective at the beginning of development, rather than in the middle of a sprint.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Clients should lay out their requirement and think ahead. After different phases have been pushed to production, you don’t want to change anything. Adjust conditions ahead of time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and a co-founder of PRACMAN. We provide a practice management system for medical practices in Europe and India.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Vakoms?

We wanted to build a new product on a new platform from scratch. Our developers were working on our existing products, so Vakoms provided development resources to create this application. They later finished a second system for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The first project was a mobile application for iOS and Android geared for therapists who work in alternative medicine. Vakoms built the app in Angular JS with a MongoDB database. They integrated Stripe as a payment gateway for our end clients. Their designers produced all the screens and mockups; we designed the UX.

The second project was an online directory and booking system for therapists. It features a billing system for providers. This project is ongoing.
 
What is the team composition?

For the application, we worked with three developers, a QA tester, and project manager who coordinated the workload. For the second project, we collaborate with one developer—who specializes in building booking engines—as well as a QA tester and a project manager.
 
How did you come to work with Vakoms?

I was looking for developers through referrals from colleagues. A friend uses Vakoms as a development partner for a multinational company. He recommended their team to me.
 
How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $250,000 so far.
 
What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Vakoms in September 2017, and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The mobile app is complete. We released it on the market for a short time, but we then decided to expand on it and integrate its features into the directory and booking system. The system should be live in 2–3 weeks. We’re thrilled with Vakoms’ work so far.
 
How did Vakoms perform from a project management standpoint?

Vakoms leads a well-structured and organized team. They have taught us a lot about API documentation, integration of third-party products, and best practices for writing code. Their developers use agile methods such as Scrum. While I’m the project owner, Vakoms handles project management internally; that way, we can focus on UX design and writing documents on product requirements. 

The communication is excellent; Vakoms is open, upfront, and highly accessible. We have daily stand-ups and longer meetings to end each week. We’ve never had an issue with connectivity.
 
What did you find most impressive about them?

They deliver high-quality products on time that work, allowing me to focus on other areas such as marketing and sales. Their team is consistently transparent about their capabilities; they bring up concerns in the early stages and offer valuable insights and viewpoints to the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve had to adapt to each other’s work style. Vakoms has a structured, task-focused approach that will deliver on the list of requirements that we present upfront. However, we kept adding features and changing designs, which didn’t mesh well with their practices. As the partnership progress, we’ve learned to prepare our product requirements in advance, and Vakoms has become more flexible and open to scope changes. Communication could always use tweaking as well.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-founder and CEO of a corporate wellness organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Vakoms?

We hired Vakoms to develop our Hukso platform which serves as an interface for our clients.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a platform to be able to launch a series of surveys, appropriately display data to our clients, and allow for in-depth analysis and exportation of data.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

A colleague posted that we needed a developer, and Vakoms responded to the request. We researched the company and decided to work with them.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Vakoms designed, developed, and launched our online platform, they additionally produced the UX/ UI and helped improve previous ideas and methods. They developed both frontend and backend using Angular and Django respectively. Vakoms also helped us to locate an appropriate server and get the platform up and running.

What was the team composition?

We had a project manager, UI/UX developer, frontend developer, and backend developer. The project manager was very knowledgeable and was able to solve most issues that arose in a timely fashion.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since the platform did not launch yet, we have no measurable data at the moment. Without this platform, our business would not be viable.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project was very well managed from the start. We were provided with around-the-clock service and constant updates which helped us monitor progress and implement changes when needed. The project manager was effective and organized in terms of meeting deadlines and communication. We primarily communicated via Skype and Google Hangouts.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Our communication was clear and streamlined even though we worked in different countries. The team was highly motivated and appreciated us as a customer.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

The overall work was fantastic, there is not much room for improvement. There were some initial struggles with communicating with the UX/UI designer, but the project still turned out great.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We provide live streams for sports. We started two and a half years ago. I am a co-founder of the company. I was the chief technology officer when we began working with Vakoms, but I've moved on to product management.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Vakoms?

We had difficulty hiring enough developers in the US market in order to ramp up quickly. We were trying to go to market within a short timeframe, so we needed a partner to help us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially worked with Vakoms on our web, Android, and iOS applications. We built a custom content management system for the apps. The front-end of the web app was built using AngularJS.

How did you come to work with Vakoms?

We've worked with a number of companies since our beginning. Many of them were found through Elance and oDesk. We went through a quick interview process and obtained sample code, ultimately giving everyone a trial run of 2 weeks. Vakoms ended up sticking with us.

How much have you invested with Vakoms?

The total cost was north of $100,000 for the first year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have been working with Vakoms since 2014.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don't have any quantitative metrics at the moment. There have been some communication issues because of our remote collaboration, but we've generally been happy with the quality of code and with the knowledge of Vakoms' developers.

How did Vakoms perform from a project management standpoint?

Vakoms is embedded with the rest of our engineering organization. We see them as a team member, instead of packaging tasks to them.

What did you find most impressive about Vakoms?

Vakoms was able to source affordable candidates at a very affordable cost, ramping them quickly when we needed it and for the technology that we required.

Are there any areas Vakoms could improve?

We were initially working with a project manager from Vakoms' side. There were many issues with this approach, so we decided to fully embed their team, having the project managed internally. Vakoms' development was always good quality.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We're a small software company building tools for photographers. I am the operations director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Vakoms?

We had some in-house tech leads, but we needed to grow our team with additional developers and QA [quality assurance] engineers in order to develop faster.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We've had many different needs over the course of our 3-year collaboration. Vakoms has been very flexible, offering multiple skill sets in-house. We've been able to add and subtract people from our team on an as-needed basis.

We initially worked on native Mac OS desktop apps. Vakoms has also done front-end and backend work for us. In recent years, we've been working a lot with the Windows PC platform.

How did you come to work with Vakoms?

We made a post on Upwork (which was called Elance at the time). Vakoms was one of the companies that applied, so we interviewed them. Before this, we'd gone through many single freelancers and smaller companies, which was a challenge. The level of skills and knowledge always varied. What's nice about Vakoms is that they have a selection of developers. If we weren't satisfied with someone's performance or needed a more advanced skillset, it was very easy to ask them for it. This has helped us adapt to market conditions and to our development needs.

How much have you invested with Vakoms?

The cost of Vakoms' services has been over $200,000 per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Vakoms 3 years ago, and have an ongoing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have been working with Vakoms for a number of years, so we're obviously satisfied with their performance. One thing to note is that we have an internal tech and QA teams, which Vakoms has supplemented. As far as quality goes, Vakoms is on par with the market.

We don't measure ticket return rates or anything of that sort, but overall, we are happy with Vakoms.

How did Vakoms perform from a project management standpoint?

Our company has high standards; we make sure that we are releasing high-quality products. Vakoms has been responsive to our needs and followed our communication and documentation protocols.

What did you find most impressive about Vakoms?

There are many development companies, all offering essentially the same thing, so the choice boils down to factors of culture. Vakoms' team listens to us, and they're good to work with. Anytime we have a special need or request, they will be accommodating. Their transparent and honest personalities are Vakoms' biggest asset. We have high confidence in them as a business partner.

Are there any areas Vakoms could improve?

I can't cite anything major. Mistakes will happen, but Vakoms is good at listening and adjusting the course.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our platform helps pharma and insurance companies reach certain goals. We have identified a gap in the interaction process with customers, from leads to actual patients, and have created a platform which can act as a community basis for people suffering from the same chronic ailments, using the same doctors or therapies, and so on. We allow companies to tailor how they target people through content, reaching out to them exactly when they need that kind of help or resource. We started out with a consumer-facing app for people with diabetes.

I am the chief executive officer and a co-founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Vakoms?

We needed fast and good-quality development, for a limited budget. We weren't looking for a turnkey collaboration, but rather for a team which could work with us for a long time and understand our company's needs. We wanted to improve the platform as we grew. Things can change with startups, and we may come to realize that our current solution isn't what we need.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started our work with Vakoms using one iOS developer. I was in charge of the server-side code and worked with him on implementing the app according to our architecture designs. In time, we increased our team size up to 3 iOS engineers, plus Android and server resources.

How did you come to work with Vakoms?

I was looking for a long-time partner and built my own selection process. We allocated a portion of the budget just to finding and testing developers. I found Vakoms on either Elance or oDesk and gave them a small project which could be done in 2-3 hours. I also looked up the profiles of the people assigned to our project. Vakoms is based in Ukraine, while we're in Israel, so being in our time zone was a big plus. Good English communication was also important. We have looked at other companies in Ukraine, India, and Romania, but the communication with Vakoms was the most fluent. They answered my questions promptly, the price was right, and I had a good conversation with Vakoms' founder.

How much have you invested with Provectus?

The cost of Vakoms' services has been between $200,000 and $250,000 over the course of our collaboration.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Vakoms in 2013, and have an ongoing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don’t have any specific numbers I can give at this time.

What did you find most impressive about Vakoms?

Vakoms stood out through the experience provided by their employees. Vakoms has highly talented engineers who are motivated to do good work. I was able to see this with every resource we've used.

Are there any areas Vakoms could improve?

When we started working with Vakoms, we came to some scheduling issues with the resources we were using. We had a certain roadmap, which was set off when someone in their team became unavailable for a month. I talked about this with Vakoms' principal, who was able to find a system which works for us.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CTO of Cercare Medical

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Cercare Medical develops advanced software solutions that use artificial intelligence and perfusion imaging technology to detect, quantify, and monitor stroke and other neurological conditions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Vakoms to accomplish?

Assist in development of Cercare Medical software solutions

SOLUTION

How did you find Vakoms?

Online Search

Why did you select Vakoms over others?

• Good value for cost
• Highly skilled employees

How many teammates from Vakoms were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

The Vakoms team works closely together with the development team at Cercare Medical using agile development practices and communicates effectively via MS Teams.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

High productivity and high-quality software implementations.

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

The Vakoms team always deliver on time.

What was your primary form of communication with Vakoms?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Vakoms has highly skilled employees.

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

Highly skilled team so not much to improve on from a technical point of view. One area for further improvement could be to become better at communicating verbally in English to improve overall communication (but not critical to get the job done).