Vincit

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Amway is a multi-level marketing company that makes various products. I'm a senior research scientist for the innovation and science team, focusing on the R&D behind our nutritional products.

What challenge were you trying to address with Vincit?

We contacted Vincit to build a botanical knowledge base that contains information on ingredients, raw materials, and so forth.

What was the scope of their involvement? 

We worked together to develop a botanical knowledge base that’s accustomed to our scientist. This tool is not only useful for our R&D but also for our partners in procurement, marketing, and regulations.

The project kicked off with a set of interviews to go over the system’s requirements. Vincit sought to understand the scope of work before developing a prototype of the tool. That design eventually went into the actual solution.

What is the team composition? 

I interacted with six people, including a business analyst and the lead developer. On the development team, there were people dedicated to handling the design, others working on the software, and others still responsible for the database. 

How did you come to work with Vincit?

Initially, I met them at an IT workshop before one of their representatives contacted me.

How much have you invested with them?

The design, prototype, and development cost over $250,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in September 2019. After completing the project, they shifted their services into more of a support role and are currently maintaining our tool.

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

My colleagues and I are satisfied with everything that Vincit has provided. Not only is the quality of their services high, but they also adjust their work based on our feedback. That constant contact and availability have been really convenient for us. 

How did Vincit perform from a project management standpoint?

We correspond by email, Microsoft Teams conference calls, and phone. Trello helps us stay on schedule, and we can see the list of items they’re working on.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’ve developed a really great working relationship despite not being able to meet in person due to COVID-19. There aren’t any delays, and the project turned out well. That just goes to show how on point they are.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We didn’t encounter any challenges with them. There was a point in the beginning when they provided us with an estimate for their work, which was based on an agile methodology. Our legal team preferred it to be an itemized contract, so they adjusted accordingly.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You should go for it. They’re professional and develop the best products for their clients based on project needs. I only have positive things to say about Vincit.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of engineering and technology at a car washing company. I work with our data analytics, engineering, software development, and controls teams.

What challenge were you trying to address with Vincit California?

We have a relatively young software development team, with just two developers state-side in our corporate office. They’re very talented, but we knew that we needed additional firepower and technical expertise. 

We were looking for a high-caliber external development firm that could teach us some best practices and help us accomplish goals while bringing an innovative perspective and technical excellence to our software development process.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Vincit California has been doing work on our software platforms, though our relationship wasn’t always direct. We have a common partner in Europe that we work with and, in just the last year, we signed a new master service agreement to work directly with the team while still collaborating with our mutual partner in Europe.

They’ve taken the lead on helping us develop technology to run our franchise car wash business. The team has worked on a car wash management app that looks at inventory and consumption rates and does tasks management. Vincit California also covers maintenance projects and general upkeep that needs to be done around the car wash.

Additionally, the team helped us develop a customer-facing app that allows customers to manage their own membership. We’ve also worked on a unique iPad-based POS that we use in the car wash. They work with JavaScript, React, and AWS. The team also played a role in the design work throughout all of our platforms.

How did you come to work with Vincit California?

We didn’t actually hire them when we first started working with them. We were linked up with Vincit California through another contracted party.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Vincit California in 2015 and our partnership is ongoing.

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

Over the last 12 months, our platform has had more than 99.5% uptime. So, it’s a very stable app. Since we began working with Vincit California in 2015, we’ve got our first members and now we have over 80,000 members who are using our platform to manage their accounts and wash their cars.

How did Vincit California perform from a project management standpoint?

They work and collaborate in the way that we find is most beneficial. Last year, we asked them to adopt a lot of the agile principles that we use and to use a project management tool of our choosing, and they did. 

We use Jira, Slack, and video conference calls to communicate. Some of their team members hop online late at night if we’re having a problem, having discussions with our developers even when they’re off the clock. They’re always available to help us resolve any issues we encounter.

Our relationship with them doesn’t have project orders with deliverables and deadlines. We work more as a collaborative development team. We have a scrum master on our team and they have one on theirs. Vincit California is quite integrated with us in that we really perform as an agile team.

We don’t hand them deadlines and deliverables two months in the future. They have an active role and we give them insight into how our company grooms the backlog and prioritizes certain items. They function much more as internal developers.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re incredibly responsive. In the last year and a half, we’ve been very impressed with their flexibility. The team does a great job of conducting automated testing and making sure that we’re using the best coding practices and using the right technologies.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company produces consumer electronic accessories, and I am the director of e-commerce.

What challenge were you trying to address with Vincit California?

We were trying to build a faster website that would convert better by projecting a better brand image to customers coming to our site.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team focused on UX/UI design, page layout, and coding for the site. That included pretty much everything, from the home page, mobile pages, user flows through our menu system, all of which they were able to build from scratch.

Their designers created wireframes from the requirements and content that we gave them, and then we just cleared everything before they implemented it. We still use Shopify for our online store, but our CMS is now based on a system called Contentful.

What is the team composition?

We had an account manager from their team as well as a design lead that we worked with during the design phase, and then there was a team of developers working with them behind the scenes.

How did you come to work with Vincit California?

When we first interacted with them, we liked that the bulk of their team was close to our office in the US and we were able to meet with them face-to-face. It was clear that they had the skill to handle our project, so we decided to go with them.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost was raised above the initial bid due to increases in scope on our end, and more complex features requested. All cost increases were clearly communicated and approved before being implemented. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from late August–December 2019.

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

Our conversion rate has decreased a little since we launched, but that mostly has to do with the fact that we have a completely new site, and we expect that to improve from where it is now. The infrastructure of the site itself is performing about 40% faster than the older version, which is great.

How did Vincit California perform from a project management standpoint?

I thought they did a very good job handling the project. We had almost daily communication between the two teams, as well as weekly in-depth meetings on specific goals and setting targets for each week. They made use of project management softwares called Storybook and Clubhouse to stay on top of all of those milestones throughout the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They never overpromise or underdeliver. Anything that their team commits to, they know that they are going to be able to do and having that level of confidence in their team is a really great asset to any project. The final product that they delivered to us was not only really high quality but had also been completely run through QA to ensure we weren’t receiving any bugs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Like I said earlier, our conversion rate has not improved, which I think is in part because they got so into development that they stopped thinking about the user. I think they are better at enterprise websites than high-traffic sites like ours, which is something they could probably continue to improve. We are still working with them on running A/B testing to try to improve that last piece.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Expect them to go a little low on the bid and make it up later with a little request for scope increase, but I would still recommend them if you want very high-quality work.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Q4 Leaders, a leadership coaching organization.

What challenge were you trying to address with Vincit California?

I was going from being a sole proprietor to having an organization with some employees. We were expanding our product offering and becoming an LLC. I wanted help with branding, logo, colors for the organization, etc.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Justin (UX/UI Designer, Vincit California) already knew what I was looking for. I did an interview with him, and he asked me a lot of very good questions about the company and our culture, our values, and what we were trying to achieve. He dug deeper into the DNA of the organization before he did the design work. His work is complete, and I have someone else who is doing the website.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Justin.

How did you come to work with Vincit California?

The owner of Vincit California had been a client of mine. He knew we were going to make changes to our organization and recommended that I consider Justin. I looked at other people as well, but I ultimately chose Vincit California.

How much have you invested with them?

My company spent $5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from December 2019–February 2020.

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

I’ve started to roll everything out, and it’s been well received. Their work seems to fit our brand and style very well. I’m super happy with it.

How did Vincit California perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very open and transparent. I got to work directly with Justin; there weren’t any layers I had to work through. Everything got done on time, and they did a great job.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were very professional yet extremely personable, which was a nice combination. Justin asked the right questions and was a good listener.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Justin asked me this same question, and I don’t have anything that he could have gone better. It all worked out really well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be completely transparent and keep the lines of communication going. They are a very forward-thinking organization and have a great culture. Take advantage of that. Be straightforward in communication.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Product & Engineering Manager to the company. We aim to reconnect older adults disconnected from their families and friends by providing a senior-friendly tablet solution. The solution was built & designed specifically for seniors, where the purchasing, unboxing, hardware, and software is all simple, safe, and secure. We also provide companion apps and administrative sites for families of our members to use to engage with their loved ones.

For what projects/services did your company hire Vincit California?

Challenge: Our iOS companion app architecture had become very difficult to debug, scale, or even work on. We wanted a rewrite, but with our team juggling so many other priorities, it was hard to find the time.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were to solve the challenges we were facing: - To not only reduce the amount of bugs & crashes, but to allow for bugs & crashes to be reasonable to debug and fix in the future - To have an architecture that's delightful to scale and add features to

How did you select this vendor?

One of our employees introduced me to Dalip, who sold us pretty easily since we had a good recommendation.

Describe the project in detail.

Scope: To get a working networking & offline storage architecture that we were happy with, as well as a few working examples that we could build from. Documentation: we gave the team our code base to look over before the project was started iOS Native Additionally, the Vincit team provided us with support in implementation all the individual use cases of the architecture. We build through the use cases, but if we ever came across problems, they were there for support.

What was the team composition?

Dalip: Project Manager & Business Dev Riku: Lead Developer Matti: Developer We did lose Matti in some of the later weeks during the support phase, but that worked out just fine.

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

Happy to say that this project accomplished all the goals that it set out to. Our crash rate is down more than 65%, and the crashes that we do see are solvable with a clear path. This immediately provides a much better user experience for our users. Building new functionality on the new architecture is delightful, and we see a clear path for scaling.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We used a shared slack channel and GitHub, which worked out very well. The Vincit team was super responsive and willing to tackle or at least advise with any problem we brought up.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Working with Vincit was like working with members of our own team, both in the day-to-day work, and the bigger picture planning. They were much more focused on satisfying our goals than they were on things like contract specifics, billing, etc.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nope, everything was great.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of management at Martin Container, a shipping and logistics company based in Los Angeles Harbor. We handle freight storage for treated storage and customized storage solutions.

What challenge were you trying to address with Vincit California?

We needed to revamp our website to better explain what we do.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Vincit California redesigned our website for us. Their team created a new customized quotes page that allows customers to see our products, select which features they want, and generate a quote. Before we only had a page where people can email in requests, so this is much more intuitive for our clients.

Our process was collaborative and they would take my suggestions, but I trusted them to make the right decisions. They would tweak my suggestions based on their understanding of how clients would perceive it. Their team also created content for our site and performed SEO.

What is the team composition?

I had one main point of contact at Vincit California, but we worked with a team of five.

How did you come to work with Vincit California?

Someone I knew had worked with them in the past and was later brought on board as head of business at Vincit California. 

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested around $80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with Vincit California ran from March–August 2019.

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

Through quote requests, we’ve seen a 30% increase in traffic. It’s become a lot easier for our customers to communicate with us. We also get a lot fewer dead leads thanks to our streamlined quotes page.

How did Vincit California perform from a project management standpoint?

Vincit California was incredibly communicative about everything going on. Our teams were in constant contact. They made it easy by using slack. Their team usually responds to my messages within 15–20 minutes.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Vincit California was always understanding about timelines. I’d get incredibly busy and they weren’t pushy about me getting them information. They understood my time constraints, which was great.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’ve been great all around.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re very experienced and knowledgable so just communicate with them. Know what you want to get out of the engagement because they can provide it.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a marketing manager at Q-Cells. We’re a solar panel manufacturer. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Vincit California?

In lieu of a recently launched customer loyalty program, we wanted to the team to develop a mobile app with an accessible scanning feature. Members can accrue points for the solar panels they purchase if they register the panel by scanning it. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team provided design and development for the app and scanning feature, and they created it for both Android and iOS platforms. The app has launched, but they’re continuing to provide maintenance and support. We also expect to add more functionalities to the platform. 

What is the team composition?

We began working with three specialists and then scaled up to about 6–7 team members. A project manager manages the schedule and passes tasks down to points of contact accordingly.

How did you come to work with Vincit California?

Vincit California works out of the same building as us, and I happened to pick up a branded item at a building event they were sponsoring. Since I had been looking for app developers, I visited their office and decided to hire them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in August 2018, the app launched at the end of September 2018, and they are continually providing support. We expect to work with them on larger projects in the future.

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

About 50 users out of a pool of 200 customers have started to scan their products, which is a big accomplishment. Before, no customers were registering their products due to an inefficient process. Now, users praise the functionality of our scanning feature. One customer said it was the best scanner they’ve ever used.

How did Vincit California perform from a project management standpoint?

They introduced us to software communication tools that have been been very helpful (e.g. Trello and Slack). They are prompt communicators, and they always update us on the development process.

What did you find most impressive about them?

This team makes app development fun. It’s clear the company values its employees—they are always so happy. I would visit their office just because it has such a great atmosphere. This positive culture has supported employees’ quality performance.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’m happy with their work. We’re looking forward to continuing work with them in the future.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Even though their price may be higher than average, the value of their performance exceeds the cost.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of DISH. We’re launching a restaurant app.

What challenge were you trying to address with Vincit California?

We engaged Vincit California to develop our app and business.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The app allows users to create an aggregated list of their favorite restaurants. Users can follow restaurants, mark ones they want to try, write notes and comments, and access them on a map.

We first had brainstorming sessions to develop the concept, key markets, and goals of the app. I had a few ideas about what the app would do and look like; Vincit California helped me flesh it out into a full concept through whiteboarding and in-depth conversations.

Vincit California used those conversations to create wireframes. Their team fully conceptualized the UI/UX to maximize usability within a clean, appealing design. Finally, the team built the app for iOS devices using React Native. The platform allows us to easily create an Android version before we launch the app to the marketplace.

What is the team composition?

We work with their head of business, a design lead, a backend developer, and a frontend developer.

How did you come to work with Vincit California?

My brother—a web developer—had come across their team’s work, and he recommended them to me.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2018, and the project is ongoing. 

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

We’ve released the app to a few users in core demographics to collect feedback. Those users have taken to the app well and praised its functionality and intuitive UI/UX. We’re refining some features and fixing some bugs before we launch to the greater marketplace. Vincit California is providing maintenance in the meantime.

How did Vincit California perform from a project management standpoint?

The project has taken longer than we expected, but Vincit California produced a high-quality app that exceeded our expectations. The team has been highly collaborative since the beginning. We communicate and keep track of progress using Trello.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Vincit California provided four people for our brainstorming sessions. Every team member listened to us and offered ways to improve on our ideas; as a result, we have a far better product. I appreciate that they invested resources into the conceptualization stage and that everyone gave their opinion and discussed alternate directions we could take.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we’ve had an excellent experience so far. At one point, the project experienced some developer turnover, but Vincit California transitioned a replacement resource successfully.

Any advice for potential customers?

Go into your engagement with an open mind. Listen to their ideas and incorporate them into your project.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director of digital operations at KCRW, a nonprofit NPR radio station in California.

What challenge were you trying to address with Vincit California Inc.?

We needed some custom development within our mobile app. The frontend designs were already done in-house, but we needed Vincit to build it out.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Vincit restructured our app using React Native to allow users to access and stream our news and music channels, incorporating Spotify and Apple Music software. When we play certain songs on the radio, users can get a preview of the music through the app and skip around different tracks. They also integrated other APIs, including Salesforce. 

What is the team composition? 

We work with a project manager who oversees their technical development team, managing those resources out of offices in Finland and California. We probably had about six people in total on the project, working in sprints.

How did you come to work with Vincit California Inc.?

They submitted a proposal during our RFP process after finding the opportunity posted on social media. After we narrowed our choices down to 10 firms, we ultimately chose to work with Vincit based on their amicability, professionalism, and a strong portfolio. 

How much have you invested with them?

We probably spent around $150,000, plus our regular retainer costs.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2018 and launched the app by August of the same year, but we still have a retainer agreement with them. 

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

The new iteration of the app Vincit built has significantly upgraded our platform overall and attracted more users. They helped streamline our code, so certain features are now all in one place and more convenient for users. By using React Native, we're now able to more easily update both versions of the app as needed. We're also very happy with the overall new look and feel of it.

How did Vincit California Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

They're very clear about their processes, but also flexible as needed if the scope changes. They've done a good job of meeting our needs within our budget, so we're very happy overall. We communicated through Slack for the most part and had meetings over the phone every other week. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're a good balance of professional and serious, yet approachable and fun.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It's not in our scope of work, but it'd be nice if they continued to check in with us and propose new features after the app launched. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a strong and detailed scope of work, because anything is possible. As our scope of work changed, we had to increase our budget, but their team is good about trying to stay within the original budget as much as possible. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the digital marketing and communications manager for a global powersports company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Vincit California?

We needed a partner to implement a strong mobile strategy and implementation to reach our customers.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started our partnership seven years ago, with some basic mobile technology. Now, things have changed quite a bit, and Vincit California’s main responsibility is developing our mobile apps. We have two—one for each product line—and they’ve designed, built, and updated them numerous times, even rebuilding them from the ground up at times. They built the apps in React, for both Android and iOS.

What is the team composition? 

We work with an account manager, two developers, and the president when it comes to higher-level stuff.

How did you come to work with Vincit California?

They acquired the company that we used to work with. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since 2011.

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

The leads generated through the mobile apps convert higher than any of our other resources. 

How did Vincit California perform from a project management standpoint?

We have weekly calls and use Basecamp and Trello to track work. Our level of communication adjusts according to our needs and the phase of the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They code well and quickly, never missing a deadline. They scale to our needs, and we’ve been impressed with the quality of their work. They’re on the cutting edge of technology for their field.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could be more proactive and creative, pushing back with solutions that we may not have originally considered.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Communicate frequently and trust their expertise.