VindiTek

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the founder and CTO of Postbuzz. We run a platform for neighbors to interact with each other in Belgium and the Netherlands.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire VindiTek?

We engaged VindiTek to build our website’s frontend and develop our apps for Android and iOS.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted high-quality apps native to each platform and an appealing yet efficient web application.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

The team demonstrated experience, honesty, and professionalism in our initial meeting. They seemed able to execute on their promises.

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

VindiTek overhauled our web platform’s frontend and created apps native to iOS and Android.

What was the team composition?

We worked with an iOS developer, an Android developer, and a few frontend developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As a result of VindiTek’s work, one of the largest publishers in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg saw the value in our product and acquired our company.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The collaboration ran smoothly from start to finish.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The team delivered products quickly and demonstrated flexibility throughout.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

No, I can’t think of anything.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We have a tracker for amateur football players that is less expensive than the tools that the pros are using. We have three apps: two iOS including one for coaches and one for players. We have another app on Android for players. We also have the web app which is for both players and coaches. I’m head of app engineering which means I’m responsible for all the mobile apps and the web app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with VindiTek?

We reached out to them because we were looking for less expensive alternatives to hiring software developers here in Switzerland. We want to become the most used football analytics platform and be number one in football analytics by the end of 2018.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

VindiTek is developing the iOS coach app and they also started the Android player project. The web app was developed by another partner. (We wanted to split the risk and not have one partner for everything.) We had an external designer who provided the designs; VindiTek gave feedback about the designs, and we made some small adjustments. We started working together and told them how we would like to work with them. We set up the process and everything went smoothly.

What is the team dynamic?

We were looking for somebody with experience with iOS development. They didn’t have anyone available right away, so they provided us with a junior. We weren’t happy with the junior’s work quality so they found a more advanced iOS specialist. Then, we were lucky that they provided a professional iOS developer with years of experience. We were happy with him for almost a year until he left recently. Now, we have his replacement who is also quite solid, but I wouldn’t say he’s exceptional.

How did you come to work with VindiTek?

Somebody we know recommended them.

How much have you invested with them?

I don’t know that information. They charge the same monthly rate $4,000 a month for all the developers regardless of skill level. We are lucky that we got good talent for a low price.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in September 2016. The apps are all live.

We are considering other options now because they didn’t grow as fast as they promised us a year ago. We wanted to grow with them. We grew, and they are still about the same.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We keep track of several metrics about the app. We integrated Crashlytics which gives us some insight about active users and downloads. We also have the default metrics from the stores. iTunes offers some basic statistics and the Google Developer Console offers more sophisticated statistics.

We chose to work with VindiTek on an ongoing basis. We fully integrated their people into our team. They are continuously working, fixing bugs, and changing things once we get feedback from customers. They work with us as if they were with us in Zurich, but they are just in another office.

How did VindiTek perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Slack daily, and, if necessary, we also use Google Hangouts or Skype. Every other week, we have a sprint planning session and a sprint review. We have at least one call per week.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What makes them unique is that they are still small. They are more agile than bigger companies. We were quite happy. They are cool, friendly, open-minded people.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes it seemed that they lack in management over the developers. When we went there, I saw that they had to work with one screen, and I know it’s essential for developers to have two screens. I asked the boss over there to provide them with the second screen several times. In the end, they received them. There are other things they could improve with infrastructure as well. The offices seemed a bit noisy to me sometimes; you hear it in the background when you call them. Sometimes it’s hard to get them into a room where they are isolated and can concentrate on the call.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Photago is a web-based photo-collecting service aimed at users who might want to put together pictures taken by people at gatherings. This service is often used for wedding and travel photography.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with VindiTek?

We already had an Android app, and we needed help building an iOS one.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

VindiTek handled everything except for graphics, which we designed ourselves. We don’t develop the app that much anymore, so I seldom talk to them. When we have a bug, they would fix it for us.

What is the team dynamic?

Rostyslav Bachyk, their CEO, is our main contact from VindiTek. During development, we used up to 3 developers at the same time, but we mostly worked with 1 resource.

How did you come to work with VindiTek?

I barely remember how we found them, but I believe it was through a freelancing website. VindiTek may also have been working with a contact of mine.

How much have you invested with them?

I don’t know; it has been several years.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with VindiTek in 2013. The collaboration is ongoing, but there’s not much going on.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Rostyslav has been good at trying to understand our problem, instead of always saying yes. Before we could decide what to do at the start of the project, we had to be iterative about what the real requirements were. That’s because when you’re putting up the requirements for an app, they may not always be correct. VindiTek’s team was good at making sure that this was done well. I don’t have any metrics for the app itself.

How did VindiTek perform from a project management standpoint?

We’re based in Sweden, and VindiTek is in Ukraine. There is a time difference, but it’s very small, so it doesn’t matter for us. During the main project, the communication occurred several times per day, which we had via Skype chats. In terms of language, only one of the developers wasn’t good at English, but he wasn’t there for a long time. The rest of the team was good in this regard.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We are impressed by VindiTek’s ability to not only work on tasks, but also provide feedback on requirements before development started. This has worked out well. In contrast, I’ve hired developers who simply accepted the specifications and started working. As a result, the work was never finished—either they didn’t understand the requirements, or there was something that wasn’t 100% clear or correct. Our communication is also good.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There will always be things that could have been done differently. We were one of VindiTek’s first clients, and we had some problems in the beginning. These don’t matter very much now.  

In terms of working with a remote team, the usual difference is cultural. Not working from the same place can also be a challenge. We tried having this type of partnership with Indian companies, but sometimes the cultural difference made it hard to work together. Eastern Europe is closer to Western Europe than Asia is.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CEO of a web and mobile app development agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire VindiTek?

We needed an outside vendor to build a native iOS mobile application supporting complex APIs.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to deliver a functional and tested app to our client.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We had a selection process, choosing a few companies to compare at first and then we picked VindiTek out of three candidates.

Describe the project in detail.

They implemented a new and uncommon piece of 3D technology, then formulated their own plan to deliver the product.

What was the team composition?

They had three or four people handling the work internally.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The finished app is highly functional and works well with the specified APIs. We’ve received positive feedback from our own client.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They delivered on time and worked well together. We had weekly catch-up sessions to track the progress.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They successfully came up with an applied their own idea for the project based on their own research. They went the extra mile to deliver our product.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Faster communication would be beneficial.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CEO of a company with a travel application.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire VindiTek?

They were hired to build our mobile app.

What were your goals for this project?

For the app to be built on time, with clear communication throughout the process that ensured any changes or pivots could be made quickly.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were referred to us by another entrepreneur.

Describe the project in detail.

Working over the summer and fall on the development, they built our app from scratch. After it was completed, they pushed it into the App Store for us.

What was the team composition?

There were four coders and a project manager involved, but these roles and the people in them changed over time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They did fantastic work and built an incredible app for us. I highly recommend working with them.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Everyone in the team was very communicative, met all our deadlines, and stuck to the timeline we were working with.

Our workflow was very effective—we had daily communication and ongoing access to the beta app every step of the way. We used Slack and Zoom throughout to keep in touch.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They’re very cost effective, while at the same time delivering very high-quality work.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None.