.wrk

Please describe your company and your position there.

My company performs custom software development as well as cloud devops support for start-ups and established companies.

For what projects/services did your company hire .wrk?

I am an primarily a software architect who works on both cloud deployments, web development and backoffice data pipelines.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to stand up a data pipeline connecting several SaaS hosted applications in AWS. It was important to be able to deploy a solution that was both accurately reflected the business rules between systems but would also be operationally simple to deploy and monitor.

How did you select .wrk?

We found several good developer profiles in Upwork and created a small project to serve as an audition. There developer and project manager together provided both the best solution but also the best communication and relationship management.

Describe the project in detail.

After selecting our developer, we prepared a written specification both for our development environment, the deployment topology, and the architecture and rules that the data pipeline needed to follow. Our developer was able to improve on the documentation and developer onboarding experience, in addition to quickly implementing the data pipeline. Scheduling and communication went really well.

What was the team composition?

We had a single developer on the team, but I've worked with many talented software engineers from dotwork over the course of the projects.

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

The new cloud-based data pipeline replaced an on-premise pipeline that was much slower and more difficult to debug. We've seen data transfer time drop from 40 minutes down to under 10 using the new API, and everything is logged and monitored using first class AWS observability tooling.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We were able to run weekly Skype meetings reviewing our punch list managed in Trello. The workflow was very fluid and the developer was able to keep us up to date by logging work on tickets we set up. The initial developer was reassigned to another project, but I had plenty of notice and the replacement developer was excellent.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Throughout the many projects I have worked on with dotwork, their project managers have been consistently engaged with both keeping my apprised of resource issues, but also helping me add resources when project needs arose. I've worked with many talented developers as a result, who have not just done what I asked but done more working

Are there any areas for improvement?

I don't have suggestions on areas for improvement

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of a software development studio located in Germany. We mostly work with our clients on mobile and web applications.

What challenge were you trying to address with .wrk?

We needed help completing a client’s web application project.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Starting with the client’s requirements, we drafted a proof of concept for the design and layout. We created some mock-ups, then moved into the full feature project. Using JavaScript, Node.js, AngularJS, and some additional AI libraries, .wrk developed the custom web-based application. The core of the project involved machine learning and artificial intelligence features. The platform is easily scaled to a phone, tablet, or desktop interface, and works responsively on each. The team completed the first version of the program. Now, we are waiting for client feedback then plan on integrating additional features.

What is the team composition?

The team consists of a project manager and five developers. So far, I have worked with about eight representatives from .wrk.

How did you come to work with .wrk?

I found them on Upwork. I reached out and they provided some references from previous projects. After discussing my requirements, it was pretty clear that the .wrk team understood what I needed. We started with a small project, and I gradually added new tasks to their workload.

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent between $20,000–$30,000 on the project so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2017 and the partnership is ongoing. I’d estimate we are about 80% done with the project at this point.

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

.wrk’s development services fully satisfied our client.

How did .wrk perform from a project management standpoint?

The team performs very well. We mostly communicate over Slack and Skype. If something urgent comes up, they were always available to discuss the best action to take.

What did you find most impressive about them?

.wrk is willing to go the extra mile. If we have a really tough deadline, they are willing to work overtime or weekends to make sure I am happy, and to make sure my client is happy.

Any advice for potential customers?

I recommend clients contact them. They are very honest in their price and scope estimations and they make sure they meet the established requirements.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a project manager for a children’s book publisher. I work for the part of the company that builds teacher-facing websites for the magazines we provide.

What challenge were you trying to address with .wrk?

We wanted an offshore company that could help us rapidly improve our websites. They were strictly involved with development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They worked on seven different Drupal websites, several of which they built from scratch. We provided the wireframes and documentation. They made major updates to what we were working with before. One of these was the introduction of a CMS, which was a huge improvement compared to having to do everything through the developers. Their team also added mobile support to all sites.

.wrk continues to help us with the ongoing development of the sites and provide maintenance and support. We may have future projects for them depending on our business needs.

What is the team composition?

We've scaled the team up and down depending on the work. At peak times, we've worked with four developers, two frontend specialists, and a QA person.

How did you come to work with .wrk?

The consultant we were working with had a good experience with them previously.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $300,000–$400,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2014 and the work is ongoing.

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

We get really positive emails from teachers all the time. We often send letters around the office about how much more convenient this has been and how helpful it is for the teachers. We now provide all the different resources and the companion videos in a convenient way.

How did .wrk perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very proactive, engaged, and able to break things down into an effective workflow. We use Slack, UberConference, and I do scrum calls with them twice a week.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They go above and beyond when we need them to do something with a tight deadline. They’ll put in the time, work weekends, and are always able to get things done.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No; they’re really good and we haven’t had any issues.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re very responsive to whatever you need.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re an e-learning platform.

What challenge were you trying to address with .wrk?

We needed a mobile app developed for students to learn online.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We gave them requirements, explaining what we needed the app to do. They built our Android app, working on the backend and doing the UI/UX. It’s built as a cross-platform app that allows us to develop an iOS in the future if we want.

What is the team composition?

There was a web developer, a mobile developer, a UI/UX resource person, and lead. A project manager oversaw the team assigned to me.

How did you come to work with .wrk?

I found them on Upwork. We had back and forth conversations and they seemed to really understand the product we wanted to build.

How much have you invested with them?

$40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from July 2017 until February 2018. The relationship is on pause. Once we’re ready, they will start working with us again.

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

They sometimes stuck to our specifications, while other times they suggested what we could differently. We usually adopted their recommendations.

We get feedback from our beta testers and our internal team, and then provide that feedback to them. They’re very receptive to ideas. We take the best solutions to solve problems for our users. 80% of the beta testers enjoy using the application on first use. A few people gave feedback for corrections, while the majority loved it.

How did .wrk perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re good. The communication is top notch. Even though there’s a six-hour time difference, no matter what time I have feedback or express an issue, they’re always available. They’re very suitable and up to the task. We mainly use Skype to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They put quality people on the project. When we started the project, we knew that the web resource person wasn’t an ideal fit. We told them and they quickly changed our resource to someone who was much more suited for what we wanted to do. They understood what we were looking for and were very good to work with. I really appreciate their communication.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’m very satisfied with their work.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a Scrum master for a company that provides a solution for quick-service restaurants. I’m also in charge of QA and product analysis. We have been working on the product for more than three years and are currently in beta phase.

What challenge were you trying to address with .wrk?

We needed remote development and product analysis services to achieve our goal of building a solid development environment. Most of our team members work remotely from across the globe. The first company we approached for development was not good enough for our needs, so our CEO decided to find an alternative.

What was the scope of their involvement?

.wrk began with an analysis phase, looking at the wireframes created by our designer and suggesting improvements. At the time, we had only a basic version of the app.

They provided development for our backend, web app, and Xcode iOS app. The web version is built on PHP with an HTML, CSS, and JavaScript frontend. They have also implemented a solution for WebSockets using Node.js.

What is the team composition?

Initially, they provided one iOS developer, but the business engagement grew over time. We have worked with around seven people from their team during the collaboration, including an account manager, a backend developer, and a mobile developer. Because I also handle some of the project management, I have preferred to work directly with the developers.

How did you come to work with .wrk?

We found them online and maintain our engagement through Upwork.

What is the status of this engagement ?

We started working with .wrk in September 2014 and continue to work with them as the project evolves. We will do a couple of releases over the next two weeks and have additional scope planned for the next month.

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

.wrk has more or less achieved everything we requested. We are still working with them, which is a good indicator of our satisfaction. While we have heard complaints related to the app’s user experience, they have nothing to do with .wrk’s performance.

How did .wrk perform from a project management standpoint?

Their engagement with us has been very good so far. We have meetings over Slack. They provide feedback on a weekly basis, but we don’t directly rely on them for project management. I think we should approach our involvement with .wrk differently from our side, but they have been helpful whenever we’ve needed them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We appreciated their level of commitment. Plus, their cost-to-expertise ratio is good compared to other local developers. Our CEO is very happy with the collaboration.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Hopefully, they can continue to improve their development pace. We do need to take time-zone differences into account, since .wrk is located in Russia and some of our other team members are located on the opposite side of the globe. They are available during the evenings, but they still need to improve their time and release management.

Since we have to wait until the next day to give them feedback, missing a morning meeting can mean losing an entire day. If we had been working in the same time zone, this would not have been a problem. This is not necessarily a drawback for .wrk, but if they want to work with clients from the U.S. and other areas, they should consider adjusting their working hours.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a digital health company. We run an app-based platform that helps people self-manage their condition and communicate with their providers.

What challenge were you trying to address with .wrk?

We needed to supplement our development team with an agency who could work with us on a long-term basis. We wanted a partner who could help us realize the product’s vision.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They work on the backend platform, optimizing and improving the architecture of the backend environment. They’re helping us prepare to change the existing language the platform is written in before we upgrade to a new version. They also built a caching system to improve response times.

We built a native Android app before they started working with us. They helped us finalize the web-based version and are currently assisting us with the iOS application. The web platform is mostly custom software, with some portions built in Drupal.

We work together in a combination hybrid model. Sometimes we work together on detailed specifications; sometimes we give them portions to develop for us. They also do QA and testing.

What is the team composition?

We worked with five of their team members. I insisted on working directly with their developers, so we have twice-weekly standups.

How did you come to work with .wrk?

We found them through Upwork. We’ve worked with several agencies and contractors in the past. We first brought .wrk on for a small engagement and the relationship developed over time.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $150,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2015 and the relationship is ongoing.

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

They really helped us optimize our response time. Previously, our platform could take up to two minutes to respond to users. Thanks to the caching mechanism, we now return responses within seconds. That’s a significant benefit.

The Android app has been on the market since before they joined us. We’re the top-rated app in our category on Android. We have hundreds of 5-star testimonials from patients who use the app as an essential tool.

How did .wrk perform from a project management standpoint?

They were fantastic, especially compared to other agencies we’ve worked with.

We used phone and email very little. Most of our messaging is through Slack. We use video conferencing for standups and project management software for more detailed specifications and communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re flexible and have the desire to work together as a partner. It’s noticeable in our relationship and definitely what makes them stand out.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The process of onboarding junior members or new resources can improve.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the chief product officer of a food-related online publication.

What challenge were you trying to address with .wrk?

We engaged with them for Drupal site development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We maintain two high-performance Drupal content websites. The developers from .wrk are responsible for every aspect of site development and deployment. We’ve also engaged a designer from their team when necessary.

We have video player and ad integrations along with an asset management system for the videos, all of which .wrk has helped implement. They’ve been involved in our content delivery network integration, along with site performance optimizations. They’ve made updates for new content type output templates, and worked on our content management system, enabling it to build content faster and better.

.wrk has also worked on our header bidding configuration using Prebid.js. They helped develop a fully responsive website along with working on the desktop version. They’ve helped provide general maintenance and support on top of building new features.

What is the team composition?

We have used two full-time developers and a part-time UX designer from their team.

How did you come to work with .wrk?

We found a developer who was an expert in our video technology, and engaged him to work on a video player integration build. Upon the successful completion of that project, we identified more skills that we were in need of, which he possessed. We engaged him on a more permanent basis for Drupal site development.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with one of their developers in December 2011. We’ve had a continuous engagement since then. The earlier days were not as structured or as substantial in terms of work hours, but they’ve become full-time.

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

We’ve had success in our SEO operations, increasing the amount of traffic and the number of users finding our site through searches. For our recent project with .wrk, one content type resulted in a dramatic decrease in bounce rates and in an increase in pages viewed per session, which has been meaningful to the site as a whole. User behavior has shown that they are consuming more content and going deeper into the site.

How did .wrk perform from a project management standpoint?

We engage them as developers and handle project management on our side. The communication is done through biweekly video conferences, email, and Slack. Our project management tool is Jira where we track everything with tickets. Their communication is excellent as are their skills and pricing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The people we’ve used from the .wrk group have been highly skilled and experienced in their areas. Their code quality is good, and they are able to work in a team addressing whatever is needed in a quick and urgent manner.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We have a small team without many fail-safes. I would like to see more checks and balances on their side along with a greater ability to identify issues that may cause problems in production.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Communication is the key to all engagements. Clients should have a good sense of what they need and what they hope to achieve. They should work with the team in a clear and open manner.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the vice president of digital strategy and solutions for a company whose mission is to promote healthcare through technology. I'm responsible for all public facing technologies: mobile apps, email, website, etc.

What challenge were you trying to address with .wrk?

I wanted to be able to scale my team by relying on both in-house and offshore hiring. If I get a heavy workload request, I needed an offshore agency I could rely on to scale my team to match the size of the project.

What was the scope of their involvement?

.wrk does a variety of projects under a variety of conditions. They’re familiar with our code base and work with the in-house team. Typically, we provide the design and wireframes and .wrk helps with our systems and building our databases, using Drupal as a framework. They also assist with maintenance and support.

.wrk doesn’t build our apps—they work with the feeds. If a program requires access to different databases from different vendors and stakeholders, .wrk builds the middleware to manage all of that and creates an API for the mobile. I have to make another app next year, and I can use their middleware even though the app will have different databases.

All of our projects move at different speeds with varying levels of involvement, so when I don’t need .wrk’s help, the expense goes away. When I do need them, they’re able to provide top talent quickly.

Recently, for a video-related project, .wrk severely reduced the amount of time it required. Instead of my videographer saving the video files in numerous different sizes, shapes, and frame speeds, I was able to put it into .wrk’s server, and the system automatically created all the versions I needed.

What is the team composition?

I have four developers, one QA analyst, and two frontend developers.

How did you come to work with .wrk?

I worked with them at previous jobs, and I knew them before they were .wrk.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent at least $300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership began in January 2015, and it’s ongoing.

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

Our traffic and engagement metrics are up, and some of our flagship products’ traffic has more than doubled from last year. You can always improve a website, but .wrk has taken significant strides in making them more effective.

How did .wrk perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re incredibly flexible about project management. Our team has regular scrums with them, and they suggest tools to facilitate communication (like Jira). They’re goal-oriented, deliver on time, and take ownership of and pride in their work.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their work ethic is amazing. If something isn't done to meet schedule, they put in the extra hours to fix it, including on weekends. I’ve worked with a lot of offshore companies, and it’s unusual to find one that goes beyond just doing whatever you tell them. They push back and provides suggestions that have significantly improved my products. It’s hard to find that kind of involvement in offshores agencies.

They also pay attention to the client/vendor relationship and check in regularly to make sure you’re satisfied. They take an active role in ensuring they’re meeting expectations and adjust if they aren’t. If a team member isn’t performing up to their standards, they’ll replace them. They have solved every single challenge we’ve given them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’re a great team.