VM.pl Software House

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO and a co-founder of Advalyze. Our main focus is on modernizing classic businesses to perform digital transformations. 

What challenge were you trying to address with vm.pl Software House?

We’ve worked with vm.pl Software House to support several of our clients, mainly in the IT area. They have specialized expertise in AngularJS and Node.js.

What was the scope of their involvement?

One of our projects together was for a German electricity company. The client wanted to test a new way of selling electricity on the market by using an app with gamification elements. vm.pl Software House was responsible for developing the backend APIs. They also built an admin interface that allows us to manage users and perform other tasks.
 
What is the team composition? 

For most of our projects, we generally work with 1–2 teammates from vm.pl Software House. We’ve interacted with about 5–6 different people in total. The average size of our in-house team ranges from 3 to 15 employees.
 
How did you come to work with vm.pl Software House?

vm.pl Software House initially wrote to me on Xing, a German portal for business contacts. We were looking for AngularJS developers at the time. After we met them, we started a collaboration.
 
How much have you invested with them?

The projects have ranged in cost between €50,000–€1,000,000 (approximately $56,000–$115,000,000 USD),
 
What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2016. All our projects are complete, but we’ll go back to them as soon as we have the need.  

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

Based on my review of core parts of the deliverables, vm.pl Software House’s work is state of the art. I have no complaints about the quality of their software, and neither do my clients.
 
How did vm.pl Software House perform from a project management standpoint?

We manage the initial parts of most projects with vm.pl Software House through email and occasional phone calls. When we start a new project, we usually have a kick-off meeting with the team.  After that, we communicate exclusively over Slack.
 
What did you find most impressive about them?

vm.pl Software House is always eager to solve our problems and satisfy our needs. I think it’s awesome that whenever we need a specific resource, they’re enthusiastic about finding just the right person. 
 
Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not from my perspective. vm.pl Software House does a very good job.
 
Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

vm.pl Software House is a great choice for clients who need individual or teams of developers who deliver code on time.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the business development manager for a software development company. We design and develop custom software for our clients. I’m responsible for sales, account management, and partner management.

For what projects/services did your company hire vm.pl Software House?

We were looking for a subcontractor to provide additional resources for our development team.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to increase our development pace and grow our client’s project quickly.

How did you select this vendor?

We knew vm.pl through a partner network and had had prior experiences with their management. We considered several subcontractors for this project, and vm.pl was best suited to meet our needs. Our shared trust and business values were the deciding factors, as was the availability of their skilled developers.

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

We’re part of long-term development cooperation with a client who owns a project management solution for creative industries. vm.pl’s developers, who we interviewed to test their technical and interpersonal skills, are responsible for both front- and backend development and have already introduced a PHP Symfony framework. We also utilize their Angular skill set. Though our client submits the features they want implemented, the developers still make a number of technology decisions.

What was the team composition?

Initially, a senior full-stack senior developer joined our team. A junior developer started working with us a few months later.

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

The vm.pl developers integrated into our team and quickly became productive, which ensured that we met our initial goal. They’ve also been willing to take on work outside the original scope.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

vm.pl’s developers’ and management’s responsiveness is outstanding. We monitor their productivity on Jira and use Slack to communicate. Their team is comfortable working in English, and both developers we use have professional English skills.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They set a high standard for responsiveness and customer service. We’ve also been pleased that the developers pitch their own ideas that are then put into practice.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

Because vm.pl developers are proactive and press for positive change, they can grow disappointed when it doesn’t materialize. This isn’t a true disadvantage, as it helps our team advance and evolve, but it does speak to how expectations should be structured.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the digital delivery manager of the Warsaw office of an international education company. I am responsible for delivering digital content to our market, which is in Central and Eastern Europe.

What challenge were you trying to address with vm.pl?

We needed the ability to provide our publications in a user-friendly digital format. They should also be available on different operating systems and devices.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have worked on several projects with vm.pl. The first one involved building digital course books for students of English and German as a second language and interactive whiteboard software for teachers of English and German. The material needed to be as interactive and rich in multimedia as possible to make it more interesting for users learning English and German on any device.

We also engaged vm.pl in a formative assessment project, creating an online system through which teachers could register classes, download tests, feed in results, and create progress and efficacy reports (i.e., individual reports for students, classes, and schools to manage and compare results and progress against region or country population). Currently, vm.pl has developed an Android app and is soon delivering an iOS app for us.

How did you come to work with vm.pl?

vm.pl was recommended to us by people from our trade. We considered one to two other companies, but, on the basis of our initial conversations and vm.pl's past experience, we decided to select them.

How much have you invested with vm.pl?

Sorry, this is confidential.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with vm.pl in 2012. The work is still ongoing. We have been working on a major upgrade for our platform since 2016, making our tests available online through mobile devices and computers.

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

vm.pl worked within our agreed schedule and budget. More recently, we've adopted the Agile approach, which has led to more flexibility in terms of budget and timelines. vm.pl has been able to adapt to our constraints.

How did vm.pl perform from a project management standpoint?

vm.pl's team is constantly learning, which has happened during our collaboration as well. Their project management skills weren't as good when we started working together. But, later on, vm.pl introduced a Scrum master and started working according to the Agile methodology. This has paid off, so we've been more satisfied with their project management and communication skills. One of vm.pl's managers is constantly in touch with us.

What did you find most impressive about vm.pl?

vm.pl's team is very flexible and can react quickly to what is happening in our market. They've stayed up-to-date with technology evolutions, suggesting improvements for our requirements.

Are there any areas vm.pl could improve?

vm.pl is a small company and our impression is that they work from one order to the next. This means that, if there's a period of reduced demand, vm.pl can have a problem. In our recent project upgrading our assessment system, vm.pl needed to employ more programmers. I think those programmers were likely let go after the work ended. In terms of becoming a stable company, vm.pl has some progress to make.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with vm.pl?

Make sure that vm.pl has the necessary resources available, and take an active role in planning and delivery.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the Digital Projects Manager at Macmillan Poland. I am responsible for all digital products Macmillan delivers to public school teachers in Poland (i.e., interactive whiteboard software, online interactive content, and other online solutions like diagnostic tests).

What challenge were you trying to address with vm.pl?

About 8 years ago, vm.pl was one of very few companies in Poland dealing with educational technology. They already had some experience in the field, and that is why they became our main developer and supplier of the IWB software.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their job was to develop the complete software: from requirements list up until delivering a master copy DVD-ROM for duplication. They designed the whole user interface, all the teacher functionalities (annotation tools, zooming, tools for own content creation), developed all of the interactive content (interactive activities, audio, video), ran the tests, and encrypted the application. Over the years, the application became significantly enriched and updated with a lot of new functionalities and interactive activity types. All in all, vm.pl developed the IWB software for 4 book series which have been used by thousands of teachers in Poland in public schools, mainly primary sector.

How did you come to work with vm.pl?

I honestly don't remember, sorry.

How much have you invested with vm.pl?

Unfortunately, I cannot share this information.

What is the status of this engagement?

They began working for us 8 years ago and continued until 2015. Currently, we are not planning any future projects together due to change in company policy and market situation in Poland.

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

Unfortunately, this is very difficult to measure in our case. The software is distributed to schools together with course books and other materials, usually in packs, so there aren’t any specific figures to reflect impact or sales. And as to the quality, there is only occasional feedback we receive from the teachers. In the case of vm.pl products, it was generally very positive.

How did vm.pl perform in terms of project management?

vm.pl delivered all projects according to our expectations and requirements.

What did you find most impressive about vm.pl?

vm.pl is currently one of the most recognizable education tech companies in Poland. They deliver high-quality products and, most importantly, have a unique understanding of the educational field. Their experience is vast: from interactive textbooks to diagnostic portals, data management, and training. What I consider most valuable about vm.pl is their impressive technological background and knowledge; special compliments to Łukasz Borzęcki, their CEO and head of IT.

Are there any areas where vm.pl could improve?

Scheduling and delivery time.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with vm.pl?

Related to the above; it helps to schedule ahead.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We were originally a Polish law publisher, but we have transformed into a service provider for lawyers, giving them access to information about the law and everything related to the subject. We offer legal acts published by the local government as well as commentaries and books explaining the law to lawyers and paralegals like accountants and other professionals. The content is bought from authors and published within our electronic system and printed books.

I am the CIO of the company. I am mainly responsible for the platform that helps users navigate through legal information. I am also partly involved in maintaining back office systems for dealing with authors and financial information.

What challenge were you trying to address with vm.pl Software House?

Vm.pl developed a system for educational process management and integrated this software with SAPR/3. The SAP integration enabled exchange of sales, warehouse, and financial data.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have developed a product that closely correlates with our SAP system. It enables us to plan the scope of books being published, keeping track of our relations with the authors in terms of royalty fees and the acquisition process. The main users of this system are the people from the acquisition department, but it is also used by the people from the sales department, who use it for planning the number of books to be sold. In the backend, we exchange data between this product and our SAP/ERP [enterprise resource planning] system.

How did you come to work with vm.pl Software House?

Vm.pl has been actively working on the IT market for companies from the publishing industry. They contacted us with an offer to create such a system for our publishing house.

How much have you invested with vm.pl Software House?

The cost for the development and maintenance of the system over 8 years has been calculated at around 200,000 USD.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with vm.pl 8-9 years ago. The system provided by vm.pl is relatively comprehensive, taking around 3 years to build. We have continued to use vm.pl for the maintenance of the platform and for new functionality builds.

One year ago, we had a few discussions about rewriting the system with new technologies. We ultimately decided not to do that, mainly because of internal constraints.

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

The collaboration with vm.pl has been smooth. There have been few issues which were escalated to my level, so the relationship is good, from my perspective.

Our system has been built specifically for us, which comes with some limitations. Using a more generic solution would have allowed us to benefit from more widely available tools for it on the market. On the other hand, the system is tightly correlated with our business and the processes which we've implemented.

How did vm.pl Software House perform from a project management standpoint?

In terms of the day-to-day collaboration with vm.pl for new development and the maintenance of our product, they have fulfilled our needs. I have no negative feedback to give vm.pl, and I know that the people in our operational department have also been satisfied with the relationship.

What did you find most impressive about vm.pl Software House?

Vm.pl has been able to provide new ideas for the platform, but this is normal in a vendor relationship. We have a good cooperation, but it's not necessarily better than it would be with other companies.

Are there any areas vm.pl Software House could improve?

Not from my perspective. Any improvement points have been discussed with vm.pl.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with vm.pl Software House?

I would recommend collaborating with vm.pl, but I don't have any specific advice.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company is an importer, distributor and wholesaler of alcoholic beverages. Our primary market at present time is Germany.

For what projects/services did your company hire VM.pl Software House, and what were your goals?

We were looking for an EDI interface in order to automate reception and processing of orders of major clients.

How did you select VM.pl Software House and what were the deciding factors?

We have worked with VM.PL on a previous project and were satisfied with the quality of the work delivered. Deciding for us was as well that the same employee who we knew already and who is familiar with our IT environment, was available for this project.

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

Following the analyis of our requirements specification, VM.PL came up with a software architecture which would fulfill our requirements. Also, based on their suggestions, we could actually reach a better solution than expected, like by implementing Chrome plugins.

How many people from the VM.pl Software House team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We have two main contacts, being the project manager and the lead software architect & programmer.

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

The processing of orders via EDI reduces the workload on our customer service team significantly. The implemented solution is well-performing and resilient, thus providing a significant value-add into our daily operations.

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

We communicated mainly by email and via bi-weekly Teams calls. Communication is very efficient, characterized by direct exchanges and discussions about possible solutions, which leads to fast project progress.

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

They are very professional and competent staff, yet very down-to-earth and colloquial working style. Very uncomplicated to work with, they care about our requirements and are looking for solutions which are in many cases even better than what we specified. Direct communication and fast implementation, open-minded and flexible.

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

I guess the only topic is the limited availability of our software architect / lead programmer. We would love to have more of his weekly share of hours dedicated to our project. On the other hand, the time line of this project has not been critical, so it has not been a major topic in this project.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am project manager at a Company, providing software solutions and consulting for manufacturing processes, including visualization, optimization, automation and equipment integration.

For what projects/services did your company hire VM.pl Software House, and what were your goals?

VM.pl was hired to get support in the whole development process including software architecture, software development and software test. Goals were a stable software development process with a stable team of internal and external experts enabling a large distributed team to be efficient and effective.

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

During the years, working together, a very close contact to developers and managers has developed. During our cooperation more and more developers were hired, not only for the my project. Hired people are very well trained and very aproachable. The results are of high quality.

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

Scope of work is distributed over the whole software development process, beginning by discussion of requirements with the client, providing software architecture and embedded in the whole system architecture, developing the source code up to testing the software product. In software creation process different technologies are used from .Net, JAVA, Angular to Selenium or QF-Test and different script languages.

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

Currently in the project 9 colleagues from VM.pl are working in the project.

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

Throughout the current project and the very complex system, new colleagues are very fast in the onboarding process and are able to deliver countable work very fast. So, VM.pl colleagues are doing a great job and help us developing the system in a shorter timeframe.

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

VM.pl colleagues are used to work in a very agile way. They also help us to get better in our development process and use agile methods consequently in the team.

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

Most impressive is the way, they are working with us. They are fully interested in our success and colleagues are evaluated permanently by VM.pl. Often, they are already working on shortcomings before we have mentioned to them. Their internal training is very effective and shows a fast improvement.

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

Not yet.

Please describe your company and your position there.

apronic GmbH provides digitalisation and iot systems for manufacturing industry.

For what projects/services did your company hire vm.pl Software House, and what were your goals?

The focus was to extend our digitalisation platform for manufacturing industry. We searched for a partner that can provide us with the skillset and flexible ressources according to our needs.

How did you select vm.pl Software House and what were the deciding factors?

I was working with vm.pl previous projects already and I had a very good impression about their work. Furthermore they were able to provide us immediately with ressources.

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

Technologies we used: NodeJS, Angular, SQL, Typescript and others. The scope was to extend and build new features and harden the system.

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

We worked with several people from vm.pl. Mostly Frontend, Backend and Tester. People unfortunately changed within the project, but we managed this issue in a good way.

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

The deliverables were at the beginning unfortunately not in a good tested condition. Over time, the project team understood better and better our applications and the deliverables today are sustainable and in good conditions.

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

We started with slack and moved to Jira by time. There is no real project management in our project needed from vm.pl as we are doing the plannings and coordinations by our own together with the developers.

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

They're great people who really want to help you. If there are troubles in the project, in the collaboration or what ever - we always found a good solution for both sides to fix it.

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

Because people are offshore, we asked to increase transparency of the work of the developers. We are working on that.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Pacemo is the leading cloud provider for the funeral industry and develops and operates modern software products for everyday use in funeral homes throughout the German-speaking region.

For what projects/services did your company hire vm.pl Software House, and what were your goals?

VM.PL supports us in the development of existing and new applications. The biggest challenge was to bring our existing system from an old tech stack up to date and not to interrupt day-to-day operations. We use agile software development methods that work extremely well in cooperation with vm.pl.

How did you select vm.pl Software House and what were the deciding factors?

The cooperation with vm.pl came about through a network of friends and I got in touch with Lukasz the CEO and then with the actual developers. On the basis of an induction phase, we have checked the cooperation and continue to do so with new team members. The cooperation works particularly well here, as we are also looked after by customer support and our requests are taken into account.

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

The cooperation exists to support the further development of our core application. In the first phase, it was about support in bug fixing, small improvements and in the meantime we have revised large parts of the core application and brought it to a completely new, technological level. Our colleagues from VM.PL were always at our side with their advice.

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

A customer advisor is available to us at all times and so far two developers.

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

At VM.PL I experience proactive communication, an understanding of agile methods and friendly and open feedback.

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

The corporate culture of VM.PL appears to me as a customer to be very open, friendly and human. The employees have the opportunity to work freely and proactively and thus to accompany their customers in the best possible way.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a system engineer for Welotec GmbH. We are a solution provider for IT and OT (operations technology) communication in critical infrastructures. We also specialize in digitization and cloud integration.

For what projects/services did your company hire vm.pl Software House?

We hired the team to re-engineer an existing device management platform.

What were your goals for this project?

The main goal was to set the existing software on a new foundation. We wanted to integrate a framework, increase the security level, and enhance the performance. Furthermore, we wanted to improve the UX based on feedback from customers.

How did you select this vendor?

The team contacted us directly via email and explained their service offerings. A few weeks later, one of their employees came to visit us. Their pricing model appealed to us, and we liked the idea of hiring a specialized development team for a specific project.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We provided the existing source code, documentation, and test applications. They met with us for two days to discuss the project plan. Then, vm.pl began implementing the solution.

What was the team composition?

The team consisted of four employees: a project manager, two developers, and one project administrator who performed accounting tasks.

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

We are now able to offer our customers an improved, all-in-one solution. Furthermore, we have been able to develop additional software based on the device management platform they created. This new software has helped us open a whole new market.  

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

They managed the project by sharing documents and graphics on Google Drive. They used Bitbucket to manage the source code. In the future, we will use Jira to track bugs.

The team was very professional from the beginning. The suggestions they’ve provided aligned with what we needed.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was impressed by how knowledgeable the developers were. They had an excellent understanding of our goals, and their suggestions were a value-added. They were able to understand a complex application use-case very quickly. 

Are there any areas for improvement?

We ran into small errors in the documentation they created for us. However, overall, we were very happy to work with vm.pl Software House.