VFG

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a niche data consultancy firm, and we partner with System Implementers to help them with complex data projects. We’re primarily focused on system integrations and data migrations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with VFG?

We hired VFG because they had a solid pool of data talent that we’d be able to tap into.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’re building the SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) and SQL code that I need based on the specifications I gave them.

What is the team composition?

Three people from VFG are working on our project.

How did you come to work with VFG?

My friend recommended them. We started with small projects, and we continued to give them more work.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in April 2021, and we continue to collaborate.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

VFG work has been top-notch; I've seen their development process and performed code reviews on their work, and I've been impressed with them. Moreover, they take feedback very well, and they don’t make the same mistake twice. Overall, their work just keeps getting better and better.

How did VFG perform from a project management standpoint?

I’m in charge of the project management process in our engagement, and I can say that they’ve been pretty receptive to our needs. VFG knows how to listen, which allows them to take directions very well. We use Slack and Zoom for communication, and we utilize Google Drive for document sharing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I haven’t worked with a tremendous amount of providers, but I’m very happy with VFG’s contributions. I also appreciate that they’re in the same time zone as me and that they have good English skills.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they have no areas to improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Give them a shot and see what will happen to your partnership. Furthermore, be willing to adjust as needed.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of a finance software app company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with VFG?

We’re developing financial software for the entertainment industry, and we wanted to build a web application.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

VFG does everything for me — I couldn’t live without them! They take care of development and project management to build the web app’s frontend and backend. They took over someone else's work; they took the existing code, worked on it, and improved it.

What is the team composition?

There are at least 4–5 people from VFG's team working on this project.

How did you come to work with VFG?

I found them through Guru.com. I talked to different companies, but VFG had the best response and the most friendly team. They’re the only ones that wanted to get on the phone and talk, while everybody else was all email.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $300,000–$400,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2016, and we’ve just finished the MVP. VFG is going to stay on — there’s a lot of work to be done still.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I consider VFG a part of my team. I’m a startup, and I haven’t gotten into stats and metrics, but the site looks amazing. I know what works, and when we put stuff up, it works. In addition to that, everybody I’ve shown it to has loved the site. I don’t have negative comments about it.

How did VFG perform from a project management standpoint?

I give them an 8/10 because we’ve missed some deadlines, but their overall project management is outstanding.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The way they handle meetings and engage with the client is excellent — they’re the only ones I reached out to that wanted to get on a phone call immediately. Another huge thing is that they stayed in contact with me for so long, without us doing business together; I think they’re personable and likable people.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Everybody can improve on something, so I’d mention their delivery time. I’m more about getting the stuff right and not having people breathe down my neck, but to me, being late isn’t good.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I’d tell them to have their stuff together and have fun. The client should know what they want and need; If they communicate that, VFG will deliver.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the VP at CCIM Technologies. We operate a website called Site to Do Business, which serves as a toolkit for applications or platforms that service the commercial real estate industry. The tools are primarily used for commercial real estate market analysis.

We are owned by the CCIM Institute, so our platform is available to all members and can be subscribed to by non-CTM members. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with VFG?

We had a huge outage back in 2017, and VFG came in to help us rebuild our website. It was a complex platform with several tools to help commercial real estate agents make investment decisions. Since then, they’ve helped us maintain the platform as a whole and assist with authentication tracking.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially hired VFG to rebuild our website, which serviced commercial real estate agents. They started from scratch, doing the discovery, design, and development work. Their team had some experience with our site before, so they used that to help with the rebuild.

From there, VFG has taken over maintenance to help us sustain the site. We also do quite a bit of development with them.

They’ve been instrumental in helping us with maintaining the authentication side of the platform. There is a lot of authentication needed across the platform because we offer different membership types, each with its own access to the tool. The authentication aspect allows members to see what they have access to and charges each member the right amount for their membership level.

When members come to the site, they can access information about a specific market area to see if it’s growing and what kind and how many employees there are in a company. We also provide aerial imagery, easy ways to put together real estate brochures, and so much more information.

From a technical standpoint, we have two tools we authenticate through: Salesforce and Fonteva. Our members are first authenticated on one of those and then go through Auth0. Non-members come through all three authentication channels. The platform recognizes which members are coming through Auth0 versus Fonteva. Our server is on AWS, and the VFG team develops on GitHub.

They’ve also developed an e-commerce side to our website. For some of our tools, they’ve developed their own A-frames. Other tools are from different vendors, but we aggregate the data and keep it in one place.

Many of our companies are high-powered, technically proficient companies, and the VFG development team will reach out to these larger companies to help determine where issues are and work to resolve them.

Currently, the VFG team is building a custom tool that pulls real estate data from a highly respected US company to create reports. That data will provide us with specific information about market areas, rents in those areas, what happened in the last financial quarter, and what is projected to happen in the next quarter. 

What is the team composition?

Francisco (COO & Co-Founder) serves as our project lead, and we work with a designer, a UX/UI developer, and another developer. 

How did you come to work with VFG?

We met VFG through the company that developed our original website. That company wasn’t interested in performing maintenance work, so we looked to VFG. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $300,000–$500,000 so far.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in June 2018 and the partnership is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We worked with development teams before who were unsuccessful in bringing us what we needed, but VFG was able to bring our product to fruition and get it over the finish line fairly quickly thanks to their partners, chief executives, and their prior experience with us.

Our customers love our platform. Using the tools we provide helps some agents secure the lion’s share of the business in their area.

Commercial real estate has suffered during COVID-19, and I can’t for sure say that there has been tremendous growth for us, but there is the opportunity for growth based on the work we’re doing now. The tool they’re creating right now will be a game-changer for us in the type of data that we will be able to offer — it will launch by the end of the year.

How did VFG perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is excellent, and even though not everything is delivered on time, there is always a valid reason, and it’s usually something that is outside of their control. 

We are in active development mode, so we talk to VFG every day. About 90% of our communication is over Slack and everything else is over email. We also have multiple meetings a week over Zoom. 

If there is a bug because they overlooked part of the project, they take ownership of it and resolve it quickly. That gives us the confidence that they’re telling the truth when they tell us another vendor is causing an issue. 

If there are issues on the weekend with the platform, they will resolve them, even though it is not part of our contract. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re like family to us because we talk to them multiple times a day. Not only are they a development team, but they’re also happy to maintain our completed development projects and update them as needed. 

VFG is good at what they do — they’re intelligent and really understand development and the customer relationship. We’re a smaller company and I couldn’t ask for a better team to lead our development, maintenance, and customer relations. 

They work well with our other vendors as well, which I love. The other positive thing about working with a nearshore team is the lower cost.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think that maybe they could add another teammate to their development team. We didn’t have a problem with their staffing, but it seems it might be easier for them if they add another teammate. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Potential clients need to be clear about what they want and their expectations throughout the project. It’s also important to realize it may be challenging to reach them at certain times of the day because of the time difference. 

Sometimes language barriers can make it difficult to communicate, but that is an easily surmountable obstacle. However, there are always positives and negatives working with a nearshore team. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the SkinSniper of MARTINRGB

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

It creates innovative platforms and uses alternative advertising strategies to grow into the PC gaming space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Create a good looking, responsive and easy on the eyes page with complete information about skins and items in CS2
• Integrate with multiple external APIs to provide information and prices from many different trading sources
• Connect with an external server to allow users to build and test their own ideal skins, gloves or knives

SOLUTION

How did you find VFG?

Referral

Why did you select VFG over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Referred to me
• Trustworthy

How many teammates from VFG were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

The platform (SkinSniper) provides all the information someone can need about Counter-Strike 2 skins, no matter what kind or how rare it may be. Users can not only find basic information about such items, but they can also compare prices across different marketplaces to be able to find the best prices at that specific time and make smart purchase decisions they would not have been able to do anywhere else.

In addition to that, the website allows users to test any item inside the game before purchasing them, something that's unique and is not provided by the game itself.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Global reach from users all around South America and Spain, significant positive results on affiliate programs of third-party sites that are shared to users inside the website.
• Optimal uptime and fault tolerance
• Optimal skins and items coverage in the page
• Architecture with excellent maintainability and extensibility which allows adding new APIs and external price sources with no impact on the application design

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

Everything was delivered on time and I had non-stop contact with the team. Any extra modifications I needed were handled quickly and our communication was always back and forth.

What was your primary form of communication with VFG?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Communication was quite easy and I was asked a lot of details before anything was done to ensure everything worked as expected. Even though my project is related to a topic that not too many people are familiar with, it was impressive how VFG took the time to learn about the topic to deliver a great product.

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

There was nothing negative that stood out to me.