VP Software

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Allthings, a multiplatform provider in the real estate industry. We orchestrate data and processes that connect building owners and their data systems to digital solutions providers throughout the industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with VP Software?

We were looking to develop a platform that could streamline the tenant management and system connection process.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

VP Software is our primary custom software and development partner, supplementing our in-house development team. They’ve implemented features to make our processes more efficient, such as allowing tenants to chat with users, notification functionality, digital doorbell systems monitored through phones, data system organization, and a reservation option for e-charging stations.

They’ve integrated into our team seamlessly to become part of our regular Agile process for front- and backend, and DevOps development. We mainly utilize PHP, Node.js, and React.js as our primary tools.

What is the team composition?

We work with around eight people from their team, including senior software developers, front- and backend developers, and junior and mid-level developers.

How did you come to work with VP Software?

We were looking for qualified software engineers in Germany when we came across VP Software. We initially hired them for a single problem, and we’ve expanded our engagement since then.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested somewhere between 500,000–1 million SFr. (approximately $540,700–$1.08 million).

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started in March 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don’t have any metrics to share, but we’ve been thoroughly satisfied with the overall level of work they’ve provided us — partially because VP Software seamlessly integrated into our team.

The VP Software team has been helpful from a consultation perspective, as they challenge our ideas for the project to make our operations easier — they’ve been a great asset to our team regarding experience and engineering leadership.

How did VP Software perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very good from a project management perspective, as they help us make better decisions regarding our technology stack and improve our processes with their knowledge and expertise.

We typically use JIRA, Trello, and GitHub to manage the project and communicate through Gmail.

What did you find most impressive about them?

VP Software is reliably pragmatic when thinking of effective ways to achieve results without taking shortcuts.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We haven’t really experienced any major problems with VP Software, except for some capacity issues where we had resources we had someone we didn’t need and needed someone we didn’t have. I would like to be able to provide feedback freely, but it’s not always easy to offer criticism sometimes, because that’s just how the business works

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I don’t have any specific advice because our partnership works uniquely for our needs. However, I would definitely recommend them to anyone, as long as you’re clear about your goals, objectives, and what you want to accomplish.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a founder of Softrange Technology, US based custom software development consulting company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We have multiple projects that require high quality engineering teams to implement solutions that are innovative and require extreme attention to detail and quality. Initially we hired VP Software to develop powerful easily customizable reporting system allowing users to gain insights into the performance of their organizations.

We also used their help on other project as staff augmentation.

SOLUTION

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

When we pick a vendor we always plan for a long term partnership and our criteria include the quality of the developers both technical and in terms of soft skills, and the quality of the communication with people involved in team forming process. When we interviewed VP Software we felt very comfortable hiring them and building long term relationships.

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

VP Software team developed a framework for a complex React-based reporting component and integrated it with the existing code base. They developed the method and means in a form of domain-specific language to configure the reports.

They had to:

• propose solution and validate idea by providing POC
• implement solution and integrate with existing platform code base
• demonstrate features by implementing several complex reports using new solution
• provide documentation to ensure smooth handoff to the client

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

The team consisted of 3 engineers, including one senior-level hands on technical lead. Other resources were added on-demand.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

All tasks were delivered on time, fully functional, and with good test coverage. The client was impressed by the idea of creating a simple but powerful JSON-based domain-specific language to dynamically configure the system.

It allowed the client to reduce new report development from 1 week to less than 1 day without the need to involve qualified front end engineers. The team also provided designs for visual report editor to further reduce report development cost.

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

Since the management was mostly on our side we didn't require a dedicated PM from VP Software. However I had direct communication with VP Software leadership who supported the project during the whole cycle and they were always open to chat despite the time zone difference. It helped to meet the deadlines and exceed client’s expectations.

Also engineers were accessible directly, participated in daily meetings and communicated with the rest of the client team. The team diligently followed the process, including time and issue tracking, source control, and other SOPs. We used Jira, Slack and Bitbucket for communication.

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

They proposed a solution and delivered a high-quality POC of the system within a short period of time. As an engineer myself I was impressed with how thoughtful it was. We were able to use it as a foundation for the final solution almost with no changes, which saved us a good portion of the budget.

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

No, I can’t say anything needs to be improved, we were happy with their work. I wish VP Software continues growing.