Vasterra

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Growth Director of Digital Hunch Agency

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.
We are a growth marketing agency 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Develop an AI-powered platform to analyze SEO data more effectively, providing insights and recommendations for optimizing content across various search engines. Our primary objective was to gain deeper insights and actionable recommendations for optimizing content across various search engines.

SOLUTION

How did you find Vasterra?

Referral

Why did you select Vasterra over others?

• High ratings
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Vasterra were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Vasterra began by understanding our needs and the market requirements, setting a foundation for the development process. They designed a system architecture and a user interface, ensuring a user-friendly experience.

The team established efficient data collection pipelines and storage solutions to handle our SEO projects data effectively. Vasterra developed and integrated advanced AI models to analyze the data and generate actionable insights. They created core functionalities and APIs essential for the platform’s operation. Finally, the platform was deployed with comprehensive monitoring tools to ensure it ongoing performance and reliability.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Efficiency gains are evident from reduced analysis time and faster implementation of recommendations. The platform has also provided accurate, actionable insights, evidenced by higher user adoption rates and positive feedback. Technical metrics show high system uptime and reliable performance, while ROI is reflected in increased revenue or conversions and cost savings from reduced reliance on manual analysis or external tools.

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

Vasterra’s project management was generally effective, with clear milestone tracking and responsive adjustments to feedback.

What was your primary form of communication with Vasterra?
Virtual Meeting

• Email or Messaging App

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

What impressed me most about Vasterra was their advanced AI technology and the actionable insights they provided, making SEO optimization much more effective.

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

Vasterra could enhance their service by speeding up initial project phases and offering more customization options to better tailor the platform to specific needs.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of e-commerce for the Russian market at an e-commerce company. Our main office is situated in Paris, France, and we have local offices in many countries. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Vasterra?

Vasterra helps us deal with our website. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Vasterra updates our homepage by creating and uploading different banners on the website. They also help us update our content and provide technical support every time we face an IT issue. Moreover, the team works with us when we want to introduce new site features, such as online chat availability. 

Sometimes, we send them some creative requests that help us be more client-oriented and provide better services. For instance, in our online chat feature, we want customers to have choices in terms of communication channels. End users can either chat with us via the website or through our Telegram channel. Given this, Vasterra has worked to integrate the two channels on the website. In case we encounter issues related to such features, we contact them. 

Moreover, we give them different tasks all the time. Every week, we update the website for special activities like Black Friday sales. In fact, this coming New Year, we’re going to create a special banner on the website. We’ll ask Vasterra to help us with it because the banner is a moving image; it’s more complicated from a technical point of view. 

What is the team composition?

We work with 3–4 people, including a project manager. We also work with technical people and integrators from Vasterra. 

How did you come to work with Vasterra?

Vasterra was already working with our company when I joined. However, based on my communications with colleagues, the company had had a hard time working with external French integrators since they were far away from us. As a result, they decided to search for local teams that spoke Russian and that understood our technology. With that in mind, we chose Vasterra.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around €700,000 (approximately $800,000 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in June 2019, and the engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We measure success by checking the results of Vasterra’s work at the end of the day. If everything is online, if all banners are nicely done, and if all links are working, then we can say their work is successful.

How did Vasterra perform from a project management standpoint?

The Vasterra team is open-minded. I can also contact them freely anytime, and they’re quick to respond. Their responsiveness is important for us because we cannot wait for ages for an answer. Moreover, they’re proactive. If something doesn’t go well, they’re willing to give additional ideas and advice, which we truly appreciate. 

In terms of project management, we can interact with them for our projects through their website. To communicate, we usually use emails and WhatsApp messages. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Vasterra’s attitude toward their clients is the most impressive thing about them. They always help us even when we give them hard, unexpected tasks. On top of that, if one of their teammates cannot help us, we can rely on the expertise of other people involved in the project. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. They’re great. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Explain what you want in as many details as possible. Tell Vasterra what tasks you’re going to give them. This will help them assign the right staff and people to be involved in your project. That way, you’ll get the best working experience with them. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of Flower Bar, a flower company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Vasterra?

We needed to implement a new mobile service. We were looking for a development team who could build our mobile app based on our current website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Vasterra developed our mobile app from scratch; they built it for iOS and Android and implemented everything from our website into a mobile version, including online paying methods and our blog section. They also included a subscription flower delivery section which was an important feature for us.

Our engagement is currently ongoing; we continue to work together to implement new features.

What is the team composition?

We work with the project manager, two developers, one QA engineer, and a designer.

How did you come to work with Vasterra?

A friend referred them to me because he had worked with them; he said they have great technical quality and communication skills.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent $200,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2020, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re pleased with their work.

How did Vasterra perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is excellent; we’re in contact with the project manager through a messenger platform and weekly Zoom calls — we've never had any communication issues because everything's clear and polite.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m delighted with their work, which is outstanding.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't think there's anything they can improve on — working with them has been a satisfying experience.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Work as one team; It'll be very productive for you to cooperate with them, and you'll be satisfied with their work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CMO of InAppStory, a SaaS company. We have an all-in-one platform where users can create stories and publish them in any app. Stories are a good way to boost in-app engagement, decrease turnover rates, keep customers, and gain their insight. We’re mostly working with Russian clients at the moment, but we want to expand worldwide.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Vasterra?

We had the idea for our platform in mind, and we were looking for a company with deep mobile product development experience to create and design it for us. We required a nice design and a solid background on our type of services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Vasterra mostly helped us develop our product’s backend, but they’ve also helped us with other things. For example, we have templates on our platform for story creation, which their designers helped us create.

They also created and integrated very interactive features, like games, quizzes, and tests. Additionally, they integrated an analytics tool within the app that has a dashboard and tracks around 20 different metrics.

Initially, we discussed our terms, and we then rolled out the project. We shared our ideas with them and talked about what we were looking for, and they did the job. Now, the app is available for iOS and Android.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with Artem (CEO & Co-Founder), a project manager, Alexandra (UI/UX Designer), and 2–3 developers. The project manager is our main point of contact, which makes our collaboration easy and comfortable.

How did you come to work with Vasterra?

When we came up with our idea, I got in touch with Artem. We went to the university together, and I knew that he had created a company that had been providing IT services for the last 10 years. We talked about the project and discussed how we could do it. We also talked about our needs and arranged the payment.

We were satisfied with our initial discussions, so we decided to move forward with them. We perceived Vasterra to be the best because we saw really great results with other companies, so we didn’t doubt engaging with them.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent around $1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in July 2020, and our engagement is ongoing. We need to refresh our platform every quarter, and we work on that together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have two other competitors in this market, but thanks to Vasterra’s development, our platform is the best one. We’re currently working with a pizza company, and we’ve embedded stories into their app. Thanks to this, we’ve seen a 10% growth in their conversion of views to orders. Additionally, a telecommunications operator we work with doubled their engagement with our platform.

How did Vasterra perform from a project management standpoint?

Our project manager is nice, and he always remembers our meetings. He also let us know what we needed to do and prepare in advance. Alexandra is also very nice, and our clients have been using the template that she created. We use Zoom for our calls and messages, and we track our progress in ActiveCollab.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Vasterra’s documentation process and team members are impressive. We found it remarkable that they prepared a lot of documents in advance. Additionally, their business analysts and Alexandra have saved our lives several times.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We didn’t have any big problems during the development process. However, it would be good if they hired more project managers because the number of projects they have has increased significantly, and we want to keep having their best service. Their customer service isn’t an issue, but there have been times where we need more attention.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You will save time and money by preparing the documentation in advance.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of the company. We provide people, product management, UX/UI, and other information system and project management services. Our customers are mainly in Paris and France, and we work with freelancers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Vasterra?

We did a bootstrap of all the tools we needed for the company, so we essentially developed software blocks for many different tasks, such as switching freelancers and automating our work. We wanted to combine it all in one platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Vasterra works on UX/UI design and frontend development. They use Node.js and Sigma. The team evaluates the design and how to position elements in the page so it’s relevant to users. They’ve also done graphic design.

In the beginning, we did some specific issues, and then we did the combined specification with Vasterra. They started helping with the interface, and then we went through all the stages. They also did the full project management.

What is the team composition?

We have two points of contact. One is on the commercial side, and the other is the project manager. They're in charge of making the contract and defining the work.

How did you come to work with Vasterra?

We found them on Upwork. We described what we wanted, reviewed 15–20 companies, and rated them on their quality level and understanding. Then, we examined their package, price, and level of English. We did a mix of that, and we chose Vasterra.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent near $11,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began our partnership in June 2021, and we’re working with them on the follow-up projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They provided a good number of designs and screenings. Once we did our remarks and modifications, they did them in two weeks.

For development, we had to get in the back first; Vasterra did what we asked for. They had to deliver an API, and they did it properly. The frontend is still in the works.

How did Vasterra perform from a project management standpoint?

They handle the project in a more agile way. We have weekly meetings and follow-ups. Also, we have reports and use Telegram for quick updates.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We appreciate their proactivity; it’s excellent.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could organize the community reporting a little bit better, but they’re really fast to answer, so it’s compensated.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Start with the frontend so it’s easier for the team to grasp what you’re trying to do.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

My name is Roman and I’m the CTO of the Osago Center company. We’re operating in the vehicle insurance field. Our main task is to save the time of our clients from waiting in a line in government institutions and do it using our specific tools.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Actually the project that was initially discussed, was developed during 4 years. The purpose of the project was to create a system that could allow us to manage our leads from different sources - we’re cooperating with numerous companies from which we can receive clients.

We tried different existing CRM-like applications to use, but each one had their own disses, which couldn’t be adjusted according to our custom sales funnel and weren’t versatile enough. That’s why we made a decision to create our personal CRM application that will contain all required functions and features, which we usually use in our business.

But after the first release, we decided to add required versatility to our project - the application was re-formatted for the purpose to allow me and our staff customize every single field within the application. This step allowed us to keep all required information about our clients in one place and in correct order.

SOLUTION

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

Vasterra was recommended to us by our good friend for whom they developed an eCommerce website - this person is the digital brand manager of Etam (I believe you heard about this brand). Actually, we trusted the feedback that Victoria shared about collaboration with Vasterra.

Also, for sure, we made some research about this company and found a pretty noticeable track record. That’s why I decided to collaborate with them. We requested several proposals from 4 companies that we’ve chosen and Vasterra’s was the most acceptable for the scope that we expected.

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

Analysts of the Vasterra helped us to define the essential functionality to include into the MVP and we started from there. Alongside the development, we found that communication goes well, deadlines are being kept, so we decided to proceed with the extending of the functionality. They shared to us credentials for their task tracking system - I believe it's called Active Collab, or I can be wrong.

There I could see all the tasks for each iteration of the development and, for sure, check the progress. At the very beginning, we communicated with the Analyst of Vasterra - we defined the scope of work, estimated it and adjusted to fit into our budget that we defined for the MVP. After the project beginning, we communicated with the Project manager. He provided us with updates, clarified some questions in terms of our expectations, and actually, kept all the communications.

We scheduled weekly calls during which the Project manager described to us:

1. What have been done during the previous week
2. What is supposed to be delivered during the next one. there were the following stages:
   1. Analytical stage during which we communicated with the Analyst and defined the scope of work for the MVP.
   2. Design stage during which they created Design files for our project.
   3. Development stage - actually the development.
   4. Repeated analytical stage, during which we defined the functionality that we’d like to add to our existing application.
   5. Again, design stage - not really long, just additional screens.
   6. Development of our final product.

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

if I’m not wrong 1 analyst, 1 project manager, 3 developers, 1 QA engineer - 6 in total.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The MVP stage has lasted for 4 years. We’re currently operating according to their SLA plans, so the collaboration is ongoing.

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

We received credentials to their Task management system and were able to check the progress there. Also, they shared a staging link on which we could check the progress in live. Besides it, we communicated with the Project manager in terms of all the questions and had weekly calls to synchronize what was done during the previous week and what’s supposed to be delivered during the next one.

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

I was really impressed by the way they present all the information - in terms of the functionality. Their analyst prepared a document that has been describing all the functionality that will be available for different user roles in our application. Estimates for the delivery contained a really detailed breakdown of all the tasks that are supposed to be delivered, so we were able to check how they fit into their estimations.

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

Do you mean in collaboration with the team? It’s actually my preference, but not something essential - I’d like to be able to speak to the developer. Yet, I understand why they’re keeping all the communication with the client by the Project manager - developer is being busy on the development and they don’t want to interrupt it. In general - I’m really happy about collaboration with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the product owner and project manager of Graam.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Vasterra?

Our work used to be a nightmare because of our internal processes. Nothing was automated, and everything had to be done by hand. We used Excel spreadsheets and the documentation wasn’t that bad, but all the checkups had to be done by humans, which bred a lot of errors. Because of that, we wanted our processes to be automated.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I worked with Vasterra to create an information system that would automate the purchasing, packaging, and reselling of gold materials to processing plants. We started with a business analysis phase because our internal processes were rather complicated. We then walked them through our processes, which took them a couple of weeks to audit — they documented everything, and only after that did they start building the product.

The project was a step-by-step delivery, and we were heavily involved in the project. We used an agile methodology because we weren’t planning on delivering the whole thing at once.

What is the team composition?

We’ve had different amounts of work at different times, so the team size has varied. I believe we’ve had about five engineers from Vasterra working for us at peak. There was also a project manager from their side, and a designer at one point.

How did you come to work with Vasterra?

We got to know them through networking. We were chatting about our business processes nightmare at a business lunch, and a colleague recommended Vasterra to us.

How much have you invested with them?

I left the company in the summer of 2021. At that time, my company had spent roughly $800,000–$1,000,000 with Vasterra.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Vasterra around September 2019 and I believe they’re still working with the company.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Before working with Vasterra, interactions with our company had different stages. We used to buy gold material from different legal entities, package it, and send it to plants to be refined and sold. There were several levels of interaction and used to do the process one-on-one.

Each contract would then end up on our CEO’s table, who was constantly busy with this operating activity so we had no chance to think about expanding the business — as you can imagine, it was quite a nightmare. Vasterra completely freed him from this type of work and from that point onward, he only had to check the automatically-generated report from time to time. We saved huge amounts of time for our company leadership.

Basically, every single process was automated and regular low-level employees didn’t have to do everything by hand anymore — there was much more free time for them to do other tasks.

How did Vasterra perform from a project management standpoint?

We didn’t have a schedule or budget per se, because it wasn’t a fixed project and we didn’t know how to approach the task. We couldn’t delay our growth any longer so we jumped on board and started working with them.

As for keeping their priorities and obligations, Vasterra did very well. We were involved in the short-term planning and delivery, and they were mostly on time. Whenever they weren’t on time, we were duly explained why the delay happened and it was usually due to complications we didn’t foresee. However, I believe that was to be expected when dealing with such complicated business processes as ours.

I communicated on a daily basis with Paul (CTO), who was the project manager on their end. He updated me on the progress, answered any questions, and got information from me on our business processes.

Additionally, we had Zoom calls, and text chats on Telegram. The work was planned in Trello, and we kept documentation in spreadsheets through the cloud.

What did you find most impressive about them?

When we just started working together, I was very impressed with the way Vasterra got involved in the analysis of our business processes. As far as I know, they didn’t use any specific tools and did it in their own way — I was impressed by how they managed to get a grasp of our internal business processes. I found myself confidently communicating with them even at the most complex parts of our business logic.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’s difficult to say. I didn’t have any negative experiences with Vasterra and I was quite pleased working with them.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

It will save time and money to have already-prepared documentation on business processes prior to working with them. We didn’t do this, so we had to do everything from scratch.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a director at an online digital health company. We offer functional medicine to our clients by connecting them with our practitioners. Additionally, we sell supplements.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Vasterra?

We wanted to funnel the right traffic into our company and increase our conversions.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Vasterra is helping us increase our conversions. First, we talked about the problem and worked together to find a solution. They then created a form and integrated it into our website for our customers to accomplish, which would help us give our clients personalized service. The Vasterra team is now working on the e-commerce side of our business.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with two teammates.

How did you come to work with Vasterra?

I found them through Upwork. Vasterra stood out because they were honest about what they could and couldn’t help us with, which was refreshing.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $10,000–$20,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in March 2021 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The form they’ve created has been game-changing for us — it collects all the correct data we need to provide a personalized experience. Their help has significantly changed the way we do business and considerably increased our conversions. Overall, their ability to solve complex problems is impressive.

How did Vasterra perform from a project management standpoint?

Vasterra has done a great job with project management. They’ve even taught us how to translate our goals into a timeline that works for us, which we appreciate. Furthermore, the communication has been fantastic — they always respond quickly, even on their off-days.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The Vasterra team is straightforward, which has sped things up for us — if they don’t think a solution is realistic, they speak up instead of agreeing with everything we say. It’s just clear that they care about the project. Additionally, they receive feedback very well. They’re a trustworthy team, and we really enjoy working with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t have anything critical to say about them — it’s been a pleasure working with Vasterra. We look forward to establishing a long-term partnership with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Collaborate closely with them on the design and make sure that everybody understands their roles and responsibilities.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of kiozk, a Russian subscription service that provides users with access to a range of media content. We aggregate the largest media publishers on the market and make the content available on Android and iOS apps. We have around 100,000 paying subscribers on the market, which makes us one of the leading providers in our area.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Vasterra?

We were looking for a tech partner that could help us develop our MVP's front- and backend.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Vasterra made our first MVP in 2017. Our company pioneered this automated content converter in the Russian market — it's a CMS with integrated features that allow publishers to automatically upload content. We collected feedback from clients after launching this service and decided to prioritize building a better UX based on those results.

Our process involves receiving PDF copies of magazines and creating a PDF reader for the MVP, but we later decided to display those copies as standard adaptive articles, which led to a more native mobile experience. Our internal content team manages the content we receive from publishers through the CMS built by Vasterra. They moderate the content and occasionally makes changes, before publishing it on our platforms.

We then integrated a feature into the app that was similar to Facebook and Instagram stories — for instance, one trending topic can have thousands of articles about it, so our story format creates previews of those. This required a lot of development work from Vasterra, as they needed to create an editor, manage analytics, and devise publishing rules.

Additionally, they created an audio format that allowed our users to choose between reading articles or listening to their audio files instead. Their team created a player and a library to organize these audio files within our app.

We’re constantly developing the platform and creating new experiences for our clients. We make minor or major updates once every 1–2 two months through Vasterra's help.

What is the team composition?

Artem (Co-Founder & CEO) is my main point of contact. We work with 6–7 engineers who work on the Android, iOS, and backend sides, while there are 1–2 resources assigned to take on more minor tasks.

How did you come to work with Vasterra?

We were looking for a long-term collaboration with a partner that we could trust and had the right expertise. Since we have offices in Moscow and St. Petersburg, we searched for tech providers in both cities. We assessed 5–6 candidates based on their technical capacity, pricing, and references, before deciding to go with Vasterra.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent around $950,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Vasterra in April 2017, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have 4.7-star ratings on Android and iOS, which is very high for a B2C subscription service — this is the best indicator of the quality of service provided by Vasterra. Around 30% of our users open the stories mode regularly, so I can say that it’s been really well-received. The audio format was another major technical achievement that we've been benefitting from since its integration.

How did Vasterra perform from a project management standpoint?

We had face-to-face meetings in the beginning since our office is a 15-minute walk away from theirs. During the pandemic, we resorted to online meetings through Skype and Zoom.

Vasterra is a highly professional team — they always follow a structured workflow and have enough resources available in case we needed someone to work on an urgent task. It’s always a challenge to find a good partner for this kind of collaboration, but I’m very satisfied with Vasterra’s delivery, organization, and project management. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s their in-depth understanding of our business needs. Vasterra is a proactive team with the right blend of technical expertise and a business-oriented approach. They don't just deliver productive solutions, but they also challenge us and understand our business.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of any general areas that need improvement.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

It’s important to see your engagement as a long-term relationship and involve Vasterra in business-oriented tasks. They have amazing expertise in understanding different types of businesses, and they can bring more value to your business if you collaborate well with them.