VRG Soft

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company was founded in 2008 and focuses on software development, particularly mobile apps. We initially started with iOS, and added Android in 2009. We have built over 100 different apps, including four projects for the top-3 Russian telecom carrier, Beeline. We have also built a platform for iOS and Android tablets for digital magazines, which hosted over 40 titles. We have also built some web and desktop software.

I am the director of engineering for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with VRG Soft?

We didn’t have enough resources in-house, and started looking for outsourced development teams.

How did you come to work with VRG Soft?

We came across VRG Soft on the Internet. They are based in Ukraine, and we are in Russia. We met them a couple of times, but the first contact was online. We gave them some small tasks in order to estimate their professionalism, as well as work quality and speed. We then switched all outsourcing to them and began outsourcing as much business to them as possible.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

VRG Soft has worked primarily on the frontend for both iOS and Android on our client's digital magazines platform. They worked on every part of the application, from UI/UX design to business logic. The platform is catered to businesses and used in training. It provides educational material for management, leadership, and accounting, featuring everything related to their work, like load changes, best practices, and so on.

We’ve also worked together on a carrier-subscription management application for Beeline. It allows users to add and cancel services, check their balance and so on. We’ve worked on an application called Kinohod, for booking movie tickets. Users can find nearby cinemas, check schedules, book tickets, and even pay online through the app. Another project we worked on together is a peer-to-peer payment service, which is available on Google Play and the Apple Store.

What is the team dynamic?

The collaboration is more along the lines of outstaffing—we share some tasks between in-house and outsourced teams. I don’t know exactly how many people have worked for us, but I estimate 3-8 people at different times, for each platform.

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent more than $50,000 during the last 2 years on their services. I don’t have a total figure across teams.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with VRG Soft five years ago. They have changed names since then, but we have been working with their owner, Pavlo Nikitin, since the beginning.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Kinohod has had 500,000 downloads on Android, and around 1 million on iOS. The Beeline app has had 15 million downloads on Android, and about the same on iOS.

How did VRG Soft perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve performed quite well, especially in terms of commitment. It was easy to make plans and schedules with VRG Soft, and they did what they told us, in the provided period of time. We share the Russian language, so there were no major problems in communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their development expertise has been the impressive thing for me. They handled the system design part of the applications well, and it was quite easy to scale them and add functionalities.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They are on the cutting edge of current technology stacks, but VRG Soft could add more people, and improve capacity. For my company, this was completely fine, but that may be a problem later or for others.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CTO of a Russian company called Brefi. We work in the pharmaceutical field, creating software for top 10 pharmaceutical companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with VRG Soft?

We needed help completing some models of a mobile application whose name translates in English as Forget-Me-Not. It’s meant to keep doctors and patients in touch with each other and to help patients get their medicine on time. We wanted to hire a skilled company to build an MVP for iOS and Android. We didn’t have enough time to hire our own developers, and it’s also hard to find good mobile resources in Moscow, especially for a smaller company like ours. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

VRG Soft assigned a number of resources to our project. Their founder acted as our main contact. I worked with a pair of developers who we implemented into our own processes.

The pharmacy field is difficult to be in. We have tough competition, so VRG Soft couldn’t have helped us on this front even if they tried. They provided development and QA services, and they performed really well.

The deployment to app stores was done through our inner process. There are some privacy setups in our Google Play account, which led us to handle the task ourselves.

How did you come to work with VRG Soft?

I ran many projects during my previous job using teams from Odessa, and I have 2 friends there. One of them suggested that I use VRG Soft.

How much have you invested with VRG Soft?

The cost of VRG Soft’s work has been $12,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with VRG Soft in December of 2016, and the project ran for 6 months. The Android app is live on Google Play at the moment for the Russian market. The iOS application is still in development. We’re planning a soft launch during the next few weeks. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since it’s a B2B app, we would consider it successful if it attracted around 1,000 doctors. There are still only a few users because the Android app was only soft-launched. We have received feedback on Google Play for the application. One of the options that users have liked is the ability to order medical supplies from nearby stores at the lowest price. Users also like the ability to talk to their doctors, especially since many clinics don’t like to share doctor contact information. For many patients, the app is the only way of talking to their doctor. We haven’t seen many bugs or crashes on the app.

How did VRG Soft perform from a project management standpoint?

They do their job on time. We use the JIRA system for our processes. I and my colleagues communicate with VRG Soft’s team using Slack, Skype, and phone. They’re always in touch with us, extending late into the night.

What did you find most impressive about VRG Soft?

I have tried to work with different outsourced partners from Russia and Ukraine. Most of them were unable to think about business aspects and app features, but VRG Soft’s team understands these parts. They know what I want and can suggest the best features.

Are there any areas VRG Soft could improve?

Because I am a CTO, I always find that there are more things developers can learn. VRG Soft could try to think about design more. I hired them as developers, but some of our screens and features weren’t worked on by our design team. VRG Soft’s work there didn’t make a good impression. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We provide a game/social media app through which people can create pairs of items they want opinions for. If someone is unsure of which pair of shoes to buy or what restaurant to go to, for instance, and he or she wants to make a decision between 2 items, they can create a pair on the app and ask their friends to vote. Users can also make comments and share results on Facebook and WhatsApp later. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with VRG Soft?

We started the prototype development using someone else, but we were not very happy with those results. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

VRG Soft is developing our iOS app. We are waiting to gain more users, after which we’ll start working on an Android version as well.

We were working with a Wikipedia API through which the app needed to retrieve a lot of information. It was tricky to do, especially in the case of images. We were only able to retrieve some of the images since Wikipedia’s system is not optimized. We needed to give users a great experience and not have them realize what was being done on the backend. I’m not sure if our issue had been tackled in the past, but VRG Soft managed to look at the problem and come up with an impressive solution compared to what we had before.

The pairs in the app can be general topics (for which Wikipedia is used), but users can also take pictures of items they want to buy or upload them from their phone.

The next step will be rebuilding the backend, which is the largest chunk of the work.

How did you come to work with VRG Soft?

I found VRG Soft through a friend. They looked at our code and described what they thought was the problem with it, as well as what could be improved. VRG Soft provided suggestions on how we should restructure the backend and took on some small development tasks, through which we tested their speed and skills. I was happy with the output, as it was much better than what we’d had before. Our previous developer took multiple weeks for test-flight versions, but VRG Soft was able to do the same tasks in a matter of days, delivering proper, functional results.

How much have you invested with VRG Soft?

We’ve spent a few thousand so far. The cost of VRG Soft’s work will be in the range of $20,000. It may be more if we decide to develop the Android version as well.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with VRG Soft 2 months ago. We plan to finish the app after another month, once we’ve improved its backend logic and added more functionalities. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The first version of our app, which was done by our previous developer, is already in the App Store, and we are working with VRG Soft on an update for it.

Our previous developer was based in the US, so were paying US prices for our resources, even though the team was in India. The first time I shopped for a developer, I was sending quick descriptions to various companies. I received quotes of anywhere between $5,000 and $100,000 for the same app, but the companies with low quotes would never have delivered the app we currently have in the App Store.

As an Eastern European company, VRG Soft has much lower prices. In terms of quality, it would be hard to determine, but they seem to be much more involved with our project compared to the other developer, who had too many ongoing projects and took weeks to make minor changes. VRG Soft has been able to deliver small changes in 1–2 days, making it more convenient for us to change direction as a startup.

How did VRG Soft perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication has been good. VRG Soft’s team is in Ukraine, and I have mainly kept in touch with a single contact person. We speak through video conferences and share requirements and estimates through documents. We have a call once or twice per week and release a new test version at the end of each week.

What did you find most impressive about VRG Soft?

VRG Soft has a very reactive and fast team. They’ve always been willing to go the extra mile. Even if we were unclear in our descriptions, VRG Soft consulted us on any issue that may not have made sense for the app. We were never charged for the work necessary for amending the code after we agreed on a feature. VRG Soft’s team is flexible, and they want to do well.

On a previous part of our app, VRG Soft noticed some errors in the code and fixed them without even charging us. In the long run, it would not have been good to have the issue in the app, so they addressed it.

Are there any areas VRG Soft could improve?

I haven’t worked with VRG Soft for long enough to notice improvement points. I’m very happy with VRG Soft. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

My company builds software for startups. My position within this company is a Scrum Master/Project Coordinator. I connect startups and talents they need in order to develop a product

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire VRG Soft?

We hired VRG Soft for mobile app development

What were your goals for this project?

The goals were:

1. To deliver a product within a tight deadline
2. Deliver a product that can be used by beta users

SOLUTION

How did you select VRG Soft?

Through personal interview and feedback from previous customers.

Describe the project in detail.

It's under NDA

What was the team composition?

Team composition was 3 developers on VRG Soft side and 3 developers on the side of a London based startup

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are more than satisfied with VRG Softs work. They were proactive, always on time for meetings as well as on time with the delivery. They are problem solvers and goal oriented and you don't need to hand hold them through the tasks

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was perfect

What did you find most impressive about this company?

How proactive they are. You can leave the project with them and just come back for delivery date and the product will be on time

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not that I can recommend. 100% satisfied

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

CEO of Gatsby, we use VRG for all of our application QA.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire VRG Soft?

Given our release frequency and the mission critical nature of our application we needed rock solid QA support.

What were your goals for this project?

Wanted to improve reliability in our application.

SOLUTION

How did you select VRG Soft?

Selected them after interviewing 10 or so firms.

Describe the project in detail.

Once we hired VRG we were able to onboard them very quickly.

What was the team composition?

One FTE paid on a monthly basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project has been extremely successful and our release cycle has been significantly improved.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Great communication and collaboration.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their speed of onboarding and documentation abilities was impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nope

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a project manager at Once Places, a company that helps couples choose the best restaurant for their date.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire VRG Soft?

We hired VRG Soft to create a web page for our service.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed WordPress specialists for our website.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We looked for vendors on different platforms, including Upwork. We interviewed all of the candidates via Skype.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

VRG Soft designed and developed the site, including additional custom modules for WordPress.

What was the team composition?

We worked with a project manager, a designer, and a PHP developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

VRG Soft delivered an impressive web page that we used to present our idea at the beginning. Thanks to their work, we attracted investors.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The timeline was very tight, but the team managed to deliver everything on time. We had Skype calls every day, and the communication was fast and clear.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They worked extremely fast. When they saw that they could not deliver on time, they allocated more specialists to manage the workload.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, nothing comes to mind.