Yalantis

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive and co-founder at a cybersecurity awareness startup. We help organizations deal with highly targeted phishing and social engineering attacks.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Yalantis?

We hired them for development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Yalantis provides us with ongoing development work for our web app. They work with our internal development team and help us with front- and backend development, DevOps, and product management. When the project started, the app's backbone was already there, so they studied the existing codebase. 

The team is adding new features to the existing version of the app, and they're also building the new version of that app that we'll release by the end of 2022. They've used Python, a flat API structure for the backend, React for frontend development, and AWS for cloud management. 

On the platform, our customers can do phishing and social engineering attack simulations. The app has a dashboard that presents several statistics, such as how many employees fell for the attack and which strategies have worked. Users can also distribute education and content to their employees through the app. They can also configure surveys to question why they fell for the attack tests, and then the dashboard can generate analytics about the answers. 

What is the team composition?

The team has been gradually growing. We started with three teammates and now work with six people from Yalantis. We have several points of contact, including the project manager and the product manager. 

How did you come to work with Yalantis?

We found them on Google looking for recommended outsourcing companies. I read several reviews for Yalantis, including on Clutch, and I was impressed by the feedback they'd received and their website, so I approached them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent roughly $300,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them around March 2022, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We perform code reviews, and so far, we’re happy with Yalantis’ work. We have the features we want, and they’ve been able to implement them within the required deadlines. 

How did Yalantis perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is their strongest point; they’re great at communicating, and the way they operate is very clear. They achieve our deadlines and let us know when a timeline doesn’t work so we can plan it differently. We use Jira for project management and Slack and weekly video calls to communicate. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m impressed with Yalantis’ communication and how they manage and operate everything — their management is clear and organized. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only thing they could improve would be their pricing; they’re a bit expensive compared to other outsourcing companies. However, their quality is very high. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Yalantis’ communication is very good, so discuss your expectations with them, and they’ll come up with an excellent plan to respond to your requests. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there. 

I’m a director at an online religious organization. We use multimedia services such as videos, articles, and social media to spread the gospel’s message. I manage our web design projects.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Yalantis?

Our goal was to create a one-stop-shop learning center to house our videos, articles, and study guides so that users could easily access our content.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had been working with another development company that handed our project over to Yalantis. The prior team had built the framework and foundation of our platform, so they shared their documentation with Yalantis, who took over from there.

Since coming into the project mid-way through, they’ve helped us build a learning portal for our multimedia content using Ruby on Rails. We’ve based the website around addressing questions from our users seeking answers. 

They’ve finished developing our Netflix and YouTube-style watching experience, which enables users to bookmark videos and create profiles and user dashboards to keep track of their bookmarks, notes, and study plans. They’ve also developed a news page for us, where visitors can find daily news in one place. 

Our website prompts users to select from our popular content options or type in what they’re looking for via the search box. They can also click into the “watch” section to browse our video library, categorized by topic. Each video has a tag that shows users what they can generally expect, and users can click the tags to view similar content. 

For example, if users are looking for information about the second coming, they can click the tag, and our platform will accumulate the appropriate content to display. Since some of our videos are lecture-style, once a user creates a profile, they can return to a longer video if they don’t have enough time to finish it.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with a dozen people at Yalantis, but our main point of contact is Anastasia (PM). We also work with three project engineers, an account manager, client care specialists, testing specialists, designers, and TV architects. 

How did you come to work with Yalantis?

Yalantis was recommended to us through our prior web development partner, who we found on Clutch. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Yalantis in July 2020, and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our most tangible success metric is the functionality of the platform. Yalantis has delivered a highly functional website that loads quickly and is easy to navigate. Our response from users has been largely positive; 95% of our satisfaction ratings are five stars, which is great. We’ve tracked user insights via Hotjar and have seen nothing but positive results so far.

How did Yalantis perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re the best project managers I’ve ever worked with, both from a budgeting and execution standpoint. They’re highly organized and have effectively kept track of tasks using Jira, GitHub, and Confluence. We typically communicate via email and meet via Zoom.  

Yalantis excels in meeting us where we are. Our meetings are productive; they always keep us informed and keep the project on track. It’s one thing to run efficient sprint models and keep track of tasks, which they do, but they communicate progress in a very organized manner. Working with Yalantis has been a totally different ballgame.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve been most impressed with their thoroughness. Yalantis has highly defined the roles within their team; each team member is hyper-focused on the responsibilities specific to their position. 

We’ve worked with other development partners who’ve tasked their team members with too many responsibilities, which creates project delays and budget complications due to staff being overwhelmed. 

Yalantis knows their team members' capacity and allows them to dedicate 100% of their time to their role, which improves quality. They implement the proper oversights and diligently keep track of the checks and balances. It’s clear that their internal dialogues and team discussions are productive and consistent; as a result, all of our meetings have been thorough and clear. 

They’re an excellent team for larger-scale projects because they do a nice job of conforming to our business operations and meeting our needs. They’ve implemented feedback and accommodated scope changes without disrupting the process or veering too far off the budget and time frame. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have nothing Yalantis could improve on; they know what they’re doing.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know your scope and budget, and communicate your needs. The more clearly you can define your plan and provide examples, the more accurately Yalantis can deliver. 

Yalantis is well equipped with experience, talent, and know-how. If you can come in with a well-defined idea, your project will move quickly. On the other hand, they’re adaptable, so if you’re unsure what you want, they can help you shape and mold your ideas into concrete plans.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the technical engineering manager at a fintech startup that provides a capital marketplace for small businesses. We allow small businesses to raise capital and investors to connect with companies they usually won’t invest in. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Yalantis?

We needed help building our technology. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Yalantis is helping us develop our fairly complex web and iOS apps. They provide project management and frontend development using React and JavaScript. In addition, they help us with QA testing.

There are parts of the app that Yalantis has built from scratch, but they’ve also inherited some aspects of the project. 

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with two backend developers, an iOS developer, a project manager, and two QA specialists. 

How did you come to work with Yalantis?

Yalantis has been with our company since the very beginning, even before I’ve come on board. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $50,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

They’ve been working with us since January 2017, and our partnership is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our engagement with Yalantis has been ongoing since 2017 — that’s the strongest indicator that they are delivering according to, if not more than, our expectations. 

We’ve encountered bugs and setbacks, but Yalantis’ team has been remarkably resilient. They are in Ukraine, and we’ve had a dicey situation after Russia invaded. Nonetheless, Yalantis has stepped up to the plate and remained communicative. 

They’ve had a contingency plan, and we haven’t experienced any downtime. They are dependable despite working through bombing raids — that’s a testament to their willpower and commitment to the project. 

How did Yalantis perform from a project management standpoint?

Yalantis’ project management is good. Their project manager is very proactive and stays on top of things. It’s unusual that I have to remind them about tasks — they take the initiative and bring up ideas. 

Additionally, Yalantis has helped create the next version of our project management. I’m very impressed, as they’ve done an excellent job managing the relationship, considering that we’re in a dynamic environment as a startup. 

We use Jira, Confluence, and other tools to collaborate. We communicate through Slack, daily stand-up meetings, and weekly planning meetings. We also do code reviews, and everyone is involved in reviewing and understanding the code.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Yalantis’ dedication is impressive — I’m confident that they can figure it out when we assign tasks. They have a lot of resources, so even though one of their developers is stuck on something, they can reach out to other teammates to get information. That diversity of talent is a significant advantage that they have over their competitors. 

Additionally, Yalantis integrates well with resources from other vendors and our in-house team. They’re good at working cross-collaboratively. They’ve gotten into a product mindset and think about the product and users. They also take on bits of leadership within each of their roles — they take the initiative and contribute with a sense of project ownership. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. We consistently have channels of communication to provide feedback, which is great. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They prefer clarity in requirements. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the VP of engineering at Minera, a SaaS company. We create Google Chrome extensions and SDKs that allow users to create interactive how-to guides for their customers and employees. It helps them easily navigate SaaS products. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Yalantis?

We brought on Yalantis for website development and to create our Google Chrome extension. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Yalantis provides us with back- and frontend development resources. Their backend engineers are working on API development in Goland. The frontend team is focusing on the web and Google Chrome extension development, using Vue, Linux, and VanillaJS. I like to embed Yalantis' developers directly into my team. I make sure the work I have for Yalantis is suited for each of their developers' focus areas — we work with resources with a range of skills and experiences. We signed a long-term contract, so Yalantis will also provide maintenance services. 

What is the team composition?

We work with four teammates, including two mid- and senior-level engineers, a client engagement specialist, and a project manager. 

How did you come to work with Yalantis?

I worked with Yalantis at my previous company; my personal engagement with them started in 2014. 

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent a little over $30,000 with Yalantis so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together on this project in February 2022, and it's ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We measure the pull requests that we're opening and merging — we expect those metrics to increase as we bring on more engineers, and they have. Starting in January, our pull request openings and merges and feature work have been much higher than last year. Yalantis is very accommodating — they've made changes when an engineer hasn't worked out for us. We can exchange engineers as needed. I think Yalantis has exceeded our expectations in some ways; the first engineer we brought on has done a lot to increase our efficiency. 

How did Yalantis perform from a project management standpoint?

We pay Yalantis to work a certain amount of hours a month, and they always stick to those times. Yalantis has met their internal deadlines and our project timeline estimates. Their timeline assessments are good and always deliver when they say they will. We usually communicate with them through email and Slack. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I keep working with Yalantis because of their technical skills. I've worked with other outsourcing companies that are also very technical, but Yalantis invests in their employees to ensure their communication is superb. They put a lot of effort into English-language communication and their engineers always have excellent communication skills. They can convey precisely what needs to be conveyed. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I haven't been disappointed in Yalantis, so I don't have anything for them to improve. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I'd advise customers to be clear about their needs and ensure they don't change dramatically every month. Customers need to be clear about what they need to get done and what skills they need to get it done. I'd suggest developing a three-month roadmap before engaging Yalantis. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Astraeus Health Corporation, a health technology company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Yalantis?

We needed a company that could help us develop a mobile app, build the MVP for our web app, and assist us with the integration of various hardware components.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Yalantis is helping us with the development of a web platform MVP and a mobile app. The web app, which is a video engagement platform for patients and hospitals, was built using React, and the Android app was built in Kotlin and Go. We’re focusing on developing the app’s Android version for now, but it’s eventually going to be cross-platform.

We started off with a one-month discovery phase, where we went through all of the specifications of the web app and the mobile app. After all of that was done, we developed all the user stories and generated all the features that we required. They then transitioned all of that over to their software development team.

Aside from that, Yalantis is in charge of QA and bug testing. They track all the bugs and let me know when they're resolved, after which they upload new versions of the application and make updates.     

What is the team composition?

We work with a project manager, two business analysts, two designers, two mobile app developers, and about eight engineers who work on the web app’s front- and backend.

How did you come to work with Yalantis?

We found Yalantis on Clutch. I searched through 50-60 different companies and looked through all previous works. I specifically chose companies that have specific healthcare experience so that they would be familiar with the industry’s compliance and data privacy issues.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $170,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven't launched the products yet, but I’d that the apps are excellent in terms of their reliability, performance, responsiveness, load times, and overall user experience.

How did Yalantis perform from a project management standpoint?

Yalantis has performed well in terms of project management. We communicate regularly via Slack, and we also have 2-3 meetings per week. We use Confluence and Jira for project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Yalantis’ strongest points are definitely their software engineering and design expertise.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything they could have done better. They’ve done a great job for the amount of time that we’ve been working on the products — we’ve had a ton of progress in the last six months despite the large scope of the project. Their pricing is also reasonable, especially compared to the other vendors I reached out to.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Having a detailed proposal at the beginning of the engagement would be helpful. As long as you’re very clear about what you want out of the engagement, everything will go smoothly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Husto. We’re building an online travel agency that takes a different spin on our business model and technology than other established companies do.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Yalantis?

They’ve been working on our frontend, but now we’ve started working with them on further developing our platform’s backend to help us access a larger supply of hotels and airlines.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I’m not sure what technology stack we’re using but I’m fairly certain it’s Ruby on Rails. We’ve been working together for so long that we’ve already established a working process. Rather than send them a scope to deliver, we create one together, collaborating on what we should and shouldn’t do.

What is the team composition?

The team has expanded since we started on the backend work. It now includes a project manager, two business analysts (they handle research), a QA resource, two backend developers, a frontend developer, and a designer.

How did you come to work with Yalantis?

We looked at and interviewed a number of places, but Yalantis’ price and quality of website and services got us in the door. After many months together, their price and diligence have kept us working with them. They always bring good suggestions that either cut the price or deliver a better product, or sometimes both.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent north of $350,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since January 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One big milestone is that we’re about to launch our beta. This is a long time coming for us because our industry requires lots of work before public release. It’s an amazing accomplishment.

What’s unique about Yalantis is they’re not used to releasing a beta with bugs. Normally, they do all of the bug fixes before the public release. This perspective helped with our beta; in the last week before launch, they’ve fixed a whole ton of bugs, including 9-10 in a single session.

How did Yalantis perform from a project management standpoint?

One benefit of working with Yalantis is the time they spend on research. Rather than just saying “yes” and building something without thinking, they find the best way to accomplish every task. They won’t be the people to start coding and then find the best pieces along the way.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their adaptability has impressed me. We have a few internal developers, and where most vendors dislike working with in-house developers, Yalantis is more than willing to collaborate and be a singular team. Our people share tasks and work together on timelines and managing the work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

While there was a small language barrier initially, it doesn’t exist anymore. There’s nothing else they could improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

To save time and money for yourself, come to the table with a cohesive idea that you’ve spent time researching. Yalantis can build a product with something loose, but it will take time and money to do the research for you. The more information you provide, the better.

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was published on September 14th, 2018.

Kevin Moreno

CEO, Half Cost Hotels

Hospitality & Leisure

1-10 Employees

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland, Ohio, United States (26144)

$50,000 to $199,999

Jan 2018 - Ongoing

Project summary

Yalantis is building a travel booking website from the ground up. They refined a broad project scope, designed the frontend interface, and are currently developing the platform’s backend.

Feedback summary

Yalantis delivered an innovative UI/UX that’s engaging and user-friendly. They took the provided creative direction and produced a truly ambitious design. Their team works diligently to construct a stable backend infrastructure. A proactive management staff ensures a transparent experience.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Half Cost Hotels. We’re an online travel agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Yalantis?

My partners and I have solid technology backgrounds, but we wanted to bring in expert-level coders to develop our site. We initially hired Yalantis for their frontend design prowess. However, the engagement evolved into a more comprehensive project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Yalantis began the development process by working with us to establish a project scope. We gave them as much information as we could over the phone to communicate how we wanted the design to look. We also sent links to existing websites, even some outside of the travel industry, to demonstrate our vision. They essentially approached the project from scratch and provided a mind map that detailed the scope. My partners and I looked it over and made some minor changes, but we mostly stayed true to their original design.

Yalantis’s team is currently building out the front- and backend of the website per the agreed upon outline. They’re using Ruby on Rails and a host of other technologies to create a custom platform. We have bi-weekly calls with them to discuss development issues and review feature demonstrations. The project is set to total around 10–11 programming sprints before the site is complete. They make sure to send detailed reports of each sprint upon completion.

What is the team composition?

We primarily interact with three resources including a project manager and a requirement analyst. However, we occasionally speak with their design and development leads, respectively. In that sense, we work with a total of five people from their team.

How did you come to work with Yalantis?

I was doing market research on the travel industry and stumbled upon an article they’d written about online travel agencies. I followed the article to their site and realized that were web developers. That happened to take place around the time we were looking for a development firm, so I decided to reach out. Our relationship continued from there.

How much have you invested with them?

The finished project will likely cost upwards of $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We first contacted them in January 2018 and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re all blown away with what they’ve been able to produce on the frontend. We can tell their inspiration comes from what we’ve provided, but they’ve also taken the project in a new direction. We appreciate that level of creativity. My internal team is currently tapping into the site’s backend to test the durability of the platform. That process is ongoing, but I haven’t heard any bad news thus far.

How did Yalantis perform from a project management standpoint?

Our contacts regularly communicate with us via phone and email. We also utilize Slack on a daily basis. Each person has a different role and they’re forthcoming about who they manage. It’s been a smooth process so far and they’ve performed admirably.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their product is great and they perform as advertised. Combine that with their excellent customer service and it’s been a fantastic experience.

Are there any areas they could improve?

A slight language barrier can create the occasional miscommunication, but overall they’re skilled communicators.

Overall rating: 5

Quality: 5

Cost: 4.5

Schedule: 4.5

Willing to refer: 5

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of engineering for a startup acquisition marketplace. I’ve been working in this capacity since June 2021, and I oversee all of the engineering efforts within our company alongside our VP of product. We come up with new features and innovations and find ways to get those to production and, eventually, to release.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Yalantis?

Our main product is a marketplace for buying and selling startups, so we launched a side project with the goal of building a platform that could come up with valuations for startups. After our users have created their accounts and connected their Stripe accounts to our platform, we wanted to be able to draw data from their Stripe accounts and other external resources to come up with valuations for their product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired Yalantis for two phases of our project, one of which happened prior to me joining the company. I came in towards the end of phase one, which Andrew (Project Manager & PMO Associate) mostly helped with. We then launched phase two of the project and took the product to market.

Yalantis built the platform from scratch using React on the frontend and Golang on the backend. We deployed it on AWS. 

What is the team composition?

Because of a bit of a delay on our side, there was a shift in personnel between the phases of the project. Generally speaking, however, there was one frontend developer, one backend developer, a DevOps engineer, a designer, and a project manager. 

How did you come to work with Yalantis?

I wasn’t yet involved when our company found Yalantis, but when I took over for phase two of the project, I had reviewed all of their code and found it to be very organized. I had also heard from people involved in phase one that the Yalantis team was easy to work with. 

How much have you invested with them?

It was within the range of $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from April–November 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When working with an outsourced company, we look out for three key things: trust, competitive pricing, and reliability. Yalantis checked all of those boxes; they were very open and transparent about their pricing and the use and release of credentials. They also put a lot of diligence into breaking the project down into engineering hours per person. They went on to track that on a weekly basis, which was key to making sure that we were on track with our goal while staying within our budget. 

On top of all of that, the Yalantis team wrote really great code and was flexible in terms of the process. A lot of outsourcing companies either stick to their own process or hope that we would be the ones to implement our own while they provide the muscle. Yalantis, however, adapted to our toolsets and straddled the line between working within our existing infrastructure and bringing in new ideas. It was really turnkey.

How did Yalantis perform from a project management standpoint?

Despite the fact that we had a little bit of personnel turnover due to delays on our side, Yalantis was able to restart the project and get the new people ramped up quickly. By the time we were ready, it was like we hadn’t missed a beat, which was great. Yalantis was so good at detailed and high-level planning that we even had to take them a step back when everything was good enough. 

We used Jira for project management, Excel and Google Sheets for cost estimation and tracking, and Slack for communication. They were very responsive and highly involved in making sure that the project was proceeding the way we wanted.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Yalantis’s impressive organizational structure and project management system really made us feel like the project was progressing in the right direction. We always had deep insight into what they’re working on and how they’re tracking that against our goals and budget. They’re easily one of the best outsourcing companies I’ve worked with in terms of high-level planning.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we had a great experience with them. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Yalantis is happy to drive the project by putting their own structure in place or by adapting to yours, so you can expect that level of flexibility whether you want a hand-off type of project or want to be heavily involved in the process. My advice is to think about how you want them to fit into your organization and guide them on how much of their own process you want to use or how much you want them to integrate with yours. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of product software for an electric vehicle (EV) charging network.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Yalantis?

We hired Yalantis to fill the gap in our engineering resources. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Yalantis team is helping us develop a piece of software for our business. The details of the software are confidential.

What is the team composition?

We’ve requested multiple resources for Yalantis, including a project manager, an iOS engineer, an Android developer, and a QA engineer. 

How did you come to work with Yalantis?

We found them through an internal reference from our company; we also saw their known work. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent somewhere around $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Yalantis in December 2020, and the project is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The KPIs on this project are limited because the goals are moving targets. Our business has had a lot of changes in direction since we’re a startup, so success metrics are pretty hard to nail down.

Anecdotally, the team is proficient in mobile development. They can use some more strength in terms of backend Node.js development, but they also seem to quickly find new resources and meet our high standards. 

How did Yalantis perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management and communication skills are great. In fact, I’m planning to turn their project manager into a program manager because he’s going to take on multiple projects. In other words, the individual I’ve been working with directly has been going way above and beyond his responsibilities. In terms of tools, we use Jira. We also use Slack for communication. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

What sets them apart is their dedication to the project and availability. Our working hours are different, and they essentially work when we’re asleep. However, I’m still able to reach their iOS engineer at around 2:30 in the afternoon our time, meaning it’s 12:30 at night in their time. He doesn’t have to tell me anything or need to be on Slack, but he’s there. He answers questions and does tasks. Simply put, their dedication to the project is a bit unexpected but highly appreciated. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Some of their practices work well with ours, but some don’t. That’s partly because they’re firmly used to those practices while our startup has an open-ended format. This problem occurs on the engineering side. 

To be fair, we’ve only worked with them for over a year. It’s a little hard to criticize their process knowing our own processes somewhat get in their way. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Come as prepared as you can; the more prepared you are, the more Yalantis will be able to help you. Set the urgency and scope of the project if you want, but their team is totally capable of taking the project off of your hands as long as you know what you want — they can be a powerhouse for your project. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of Rakwireless, an IoT manufacturer. We’re in the business of hardware and software and we deliver modular, semi-, or completely finished solutions, depending on the industry and need. We are mainly focused on B2B.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Yalantis?

We wanted to create a solution to help customers manage a fleet of devices more efficiently, so we approached Yalantis.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Yalantis is collaborating with third-party designers and security specialists, as well as with our internal architecture team, to create a web application using Node.js. They are focused on the development of an application that could interact with our gateways. The architecture is Circulus. 

After each delivery, Yalantis stresses the system to see how it performs under pressure and to ensure that the APIs are able to handle the load.

What is the team composition?

The team from Yalantis currently exist out of the following roles:

- Project Manager
- QA Engineer
- BE / FO engineer
- Performance engineer
- AT Engineer

How did you come to work with Yalantis?

We searched online and considered a few companies. Yalantis gave a rather detailed proposal for a good price. We had a good feeling with them, so we chose them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2020, and our partnership is ongoing. Yalantis is currently involved in three other active projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The Yalantis team does a good job of meeting our requirements, and we find their codes to be of good quality. As many teams from different companies are involved, it took some time to get adjusted to each other in the beginning but Yalantis was able to pick things up quickly. 

Yalantis quickly resolves any issues we bring to their attention. They produce satisfactory work 99% of the time, and I don’t see the partnership ending any time soon.

How did Yalantis perform from a project management standpoint?

We missed the first deadline because the team slightly underestimated the project. That was understandable, though, since the work is really complex and difficult to estimate. We have since collaborated to prioritize tasks and they’ve met all of our deadlines. 

For project management and communication, we use Slack, Jira, Confluence, and a few other tools. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Yalantis has proactive management, solid technical skills, and good inputs for solutions. They work quickly and precisely. We see them as part of our team and treat them as such.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’s easy to underestimate the work required for complex technology like ours, so for our projects, Yalantis should (and already is) including more technical people in the beginning stages to ensure that there is a full understanding of the project scope.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If they are a good fit for your needs, I definitely recommend working with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Truhoo.es, an internet real estate portal company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Yalantis?

We needed a development partner so we hired Yalantis.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Yalantis developed our web portal and also still handles UX design for me. The design is created according to our brand book.  They’re an extension of our own team and are still working with us as we try to put the scope of the rental process fully online.

For the development, there is a comprehensive search algorithm that’s involved. Our portal is the first one in Spain that can search for houses based on amenities and features both inside and outside the house. For example, if someone wants a gym close to their apartment, they can look for a place within those parameters. With Yalantis, we created an app that integrated with Google’s mapping resources and some additional APIs. This allows us to pull the data and search the surrounding elements.

What is the team composition?

I work with a project manager and business analyst. The business analyst spends a lot of time considering the decisions we make to ensure they make sense — asking us why we want a feature or solution. There are head architects, back- and frontend developers, and a DevOps team. We also deal with UX teammates and their customer success manager. We have direct channels of communication with each person.

How did you come to work with Yalantis?

We selected Yalantis because they offered us the highest amount of due diligence around helping our investment team, keeping a record of progress, tracking money being spent, and developing the concept much further. 

Before we selected them, we looked at a total of four companies across multiple locations. We compared not just their experience, but also what they could do for us, their pricing, timeframe, and the professionalism of their sales people, and how well they understood our needs. Yalantis ended up winning over the other companies.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent between €500,000-€600,000 (approximately $606,600–$727,900 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2019 and our project will be finished in April 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The portal is working, so far, and we’ve had incredibly positive client reactions. Looking at the metrics we’re tracking, typically, we get more value for our money with Yalantis’ work. There are always times where it’s impacted by teammates being out, but they always perform above what we expect.

If we create a scope for two sprints, they often outperform the scope. I’m more than happy to recommend them. The work they’ve done has gone beyond our expectations.

How did Yalantis perform from a project management standpoint?

We use a project management tool that works around the schedule performance index (SPI), cost predictive index (CPI), and the KPI. It shows us if we’re tracking our costs effectively in terms of how much money we’re putting in and how much work Yalantis is completing. There’s also a timeframe index to track if we’re completing our tasks at the speed we want to achieve. 

The project manager is my main point of contact. They set up direct Slack channels with us so we can all connect and have real-time communication. We have a 24-hour channel that we can engage during any downtime for us. We use Jira to track all the tasks and timeframes, and we use Confluence to unify all documentation.

I have a weekly meeting with the project manager to track the progress of the team and their overall project performance. We meet to understand if there are changes needed or how we’re being affected by general situations that happen.

The scope is all laid out and the project manager organizes the sprints into tasks. We have a sprint on a biweekly basis. If we have a task we need to quantify in terms of costs or hours, he will engage with the developers and quantify how many hours they expect something to take, what anomalies could happen, and best- or worst-case scenarios. 

Communication happens between our teams often on a daily basis. We engage with the team quite closely during sprint reviews to track what we could do differently. Yalantis is pretty transparent about any issues they find or how their work can be improved — they often request feedback. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’ve worked in very trying times with Yalantis; times that most companies wouldn’t have to deal with in their first year of creation. We’ve been impressed by their flexibility and facilitation during really difficult situations. 

More than anything else, I’m incredibly impressed with the effort that they’ve made, not only during these situations but also in terms of managing my investment team — the investment team was very concerned about investing further in a project during a pandemic and financial crisis. 

With Yalantis’ level of detail in project management, they've saved me several hours by not having to recalculate everything. I trust the work they’re doing because I verified it so many times before. The numbers they put forward are consistent — I know we’re going to overperform every sprint. I know the team is willing to put in the extra effort. That combination makes it really easy to deal with an investment team in the worst conditions we could imagine.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’re such a small company and we work with them as an extension of our team. I may be stretching to find something to improve, but it’d be cool to get to know some of the developers that don’t partake in the day-to-day. For example, the backend developers tend to be more passive — sometimes they might leave the team and we won’t know that they left until we have a new backend developer later.