IceRock Development

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the founders of RubyRoad. We built an iOS application, which is already published, and we’re currently working on one for Android.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with IceRock?

We worked with another company who helped develop the first version of the iOS mobile app, but we had major issues with speed and cost. We started working with IceRock to help us with the mobile app development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They took the iOS project over from the previous team and continued developing. They helped with the frontend, but not the backend. They’re doing the interface in respect to the client. They weren’t involved with the design for the iOS version, however, they are currently working on design for the Android version.

What is the team composition?

In the beginning, they had three people working on the project, but it decreased to two people. Now that we have the Android version underway, we’ve added two additional people.

How did you come to work with IceRock?

We were trying to address the issues of speed and cost we had with our previous developer. Someone recommended IceRock to us, so we talked and decided we liked each other.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend $5,000 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February of this year, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The iOS version has been released, and the feedback has been quite positive. We also have a good rating in the App Store. We don’t have too many users at the moment, but that has nothing to do with the app. We’re preparing the Android version before we launch any marketing campaign.

How did IceRock perform from a project management standpoint?

They were good. We used Slack, and I would do conference calls through it and also Skype. The management of the process was quite good. We didn’t have any major issues in terms of the project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m impressed with the quality of their work. They did quite well, and they’re very professional and positive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

People who work faster and cheaper are always desired more. IceRock has been the best so far out of all the teams I’ve worked with.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a co-founder of a travel booking startup. We're going to publish it to the market at the beginning of next year.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with IceRock Development?

I specialize in business development for internet projects and my partner specializes in marketing for internet projects. We didn't want to hire full-time developers for our own company because we're still a startup. We just needed to create an MVP [minimum viable product], publish it to the market, and receive feedback.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

It was a requirements project. The developers started from the ground up for the frontend. They are also going to produce a mobile app later. We had our own designer who sketched the designs and they did the implementation and connection of the design. They created the layouts from the sketches.

They didn’t have a technical description of the project. We went step-by-step, guiding them with what certain parts of the project would look like. They're like our own team, but outsourced. They used PHP and the Yii framework.

What is the team dynamic?

I worked with 5–6 people.

How did you come to work with IceRock Development?

I was familiar with them before we started work. I knew the founder and the CTO [chief technology officer] from a previous project. That's why I decided to work with them on this project. I trust them and had seen their portfolio myself, which showcases a good range of different projects. I talked to a couple of their clients and received positive recommendations.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from July 2016 to October 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have not launched the project yet. We're preparing the database and some SEO [search engine optimization] as well. I'd like to work with them again for the mobile application.

How did IceRock Development perform from a project management standpoint?

They were an average outsourcer. Some things came after the deadline, some before the deadline, and some things were overestimated — but that’s a normal situation. We mostly used Skype because we are all in different cities. My partner and I take a lot of business trips, so we are always in different time zones and different places. We also used Trello as a task tracker between them and us. Internally, they also use JIRA as a task manager.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I'd like to work with them again. The e-commerce aspect was a little tricky for them because most of their development is for mobile, which is their specialty. They're very customer-oriented. A lot of outsourcing teams do each task exactly as you say, but this company tries to help you create your product. It's a different style of work, and I like it more.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They need a bigger team. Sometimes, they couldn't do something on time because they didn't have enough human resources. But that’s always the case with good developers: if you are a good associate developer, you'll have a lot of requests, a lot of customers, and you can't do everything in one minute.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder of AllWomensTalk, and we are a media company. We have offices in Ukraine and New York.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with IceRock Development?

We were looking mostly for expertise, and speed of development for our iOS application.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a native iPhone app which a few people from our internal team had been working on, for basic things. We started working with IceRock to execute some pilots on the side. They had some ideas and implemented them. We were able to check those out without disrupting our process and core element of the application. They did some basic UX, in terms of button placement and things like that, but not much in terms of design.

They did a lot of integrations with different libraries. They did an Appboy integration, which we are still using. They also did some work which was hard for our internal team to do, it was a type of article creation and editing for the iPad application. We never released it, but we tested it with them and understood how we shouldn’t do it from a UI point of view.

What is the team dynamic?

I worked with around 5—7 people from their team.

How did you come to work with IceRock Development?

We found through a referral from someone who had just started working there, they had suggested I talk to them.

How much have you invested in them?

Under $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in November 2015, and the project ended in August of last year. I plan to work with them again in the future.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have had no complaints and received good feedback. They didn’t do much work that was user-centered, as it was more integration.

Most of the feedback I gave them was if it worked. There were no complaints from other developers regarding how it was integrated, which was great, and they did a pretty good job.

How did IceRock Development perform from a project management standpoint?

They were good. We hired the developers, as opposed to outsourcing the whole solution to them. Therefore, I didn’t work too much with a project management team, as we worked directly with developers and provided guidance for the project management.

We most often communicated through Skype chat, and also had a few video calls to discuss specific details.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They find interesting developers. I needed someone with specific experience, and they found me that person. I am unsure if they already had that developer on staff, or if they went out and found him. It was a very positive experience.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing that I can think of. If they would move to New York, it would be great. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO and one of the owners of Trend Technologies. We have 15-20 employees.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with IceRock Development?

The challenge from my side for IceRock is to develop unbelievable, user-friendly, easy to use MVPs for my projects with Fixed price approach. I realized how they could deeply understand what I need to implement and what is important for me. It was impressive. IceRock developed a great MVP for the market because my customers were happy to use mobile apps and giving back very good feedback.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The first application acts as a sort of marketplace catalog. Users can select the market they need, open it to see prices and make choices, then place orders for delivery. These markets include supermarkets, restaurants, and drugstores, as well as fresh food and vegetable markets. When a user orders something we don’t have in our marketplace, our customer service will locate it, suggest a price, and if the user accepts it, we will buy it and have it delivered.

The second app is called Taxisto, which is an app that allows users to find and request rides. However, we stopped developing it because Uber started operating in our location.

Both apps are developed on iOS and Android native technologies (Swift, Java), and we used Java, Node.js, and PHP for backend development. IceRock has provided ongoing support for the apps since developing them.

How did you come to work with IceRock Development?

My friend is the Vice President of a fairly large tech company producing games, and she recommended Alexander Pogrebnyak [CTO, IceRock Development] and IceRock to me.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2014, and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Every day we receive feedback from our staff and customers. We test different variances of the main interface, and we pay our staff using our application. We try to check all professional marketing metrics daily with DAU/MAU [Daily Active Users/Monthly Active Users], which displays customer retention.

Most people tell us the application is very good, but that the service isn’t. We have problems with couriers not being as fast as we want them to be. This is not an issue with IceRock, but with us. However, users have told us our application is quite easy to use, and that they like it.

How did IceRock Development perform from a project management standpoint?

I have a product owner who communicates hourly with IceRock’s team every day via Skype and telephone. Our offices aren’t very far away from each other, either. I communicate personally with Alexander Pogrebnyak, although not very often. I also communicate with Alex Mikhaylov [IceRock Development], who is a mobile development technical lead.

What did you find most impressive about them?

IceRock delivers good quality when it comes to mobile development, which is the reason I continue to work with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We tried to use them for website development, but we were not satisfied. We decided to only work with IceRock on mobile app development, and we now have another company providing website development.

I also had some issues communicating with Alexander. He’s originally from a technical background, and I come from a business background, so it was sometimes uncomfortable trying to discuss certain topics, but we know that we can find the best solution and we do it.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the project department director at Smart Driving Lab LLC. We develop services for connected cars.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire IceRock Development?

We hadn't updated our mobile app for a while and wanted to add new design and functionality.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to make our app more user-friendly and maximize customer loyalty.  

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Our partners recommended IceRock Development.

Describe the project in detail.

IceRock Development completed the redevelopment.

What was the team composition?

The team included a project manager, a team lead, and iOS and Android developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We increased sales and received significant positive feedback from our customers and partners. IceRock Development was a flexible partner and understood our goals thoroughly. We never experienced a misunderstanding.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We communicated via Trello, Slack, and weekly video conferences.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Direct communication with the entire team benefitted results. They were committed to achieving a high-quality product.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, I can’t think of anything.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the COO at ENDO, a blockchain and data verification service. We provide trustworthy data instantly and safely.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire IceRock Development?

We hired IceRock Development to build a mobile app for our company.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed a quality mobile application that would satisfy even the most demanding customers.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I read reviews of several companies and determined IceRock Development was the best fit.

Describe the project in detail.

ENDO Legacy is a mobile application for iOS and Android that confirms the authenticity of goods and products of companies. When buying an item, the user can verify the product, and the company can consolidate the purchase directly. Users can avoid purchasing counterfeit products and prevent the invalidation of items. Goods are tied to an identifier, QR code, and NFC label.

What was the team composition?

I worked with a project manager and several backend developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app is now available for download.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The communication between our teams was phenomenal. Their team promptly answered our questions and made helpful suggestions.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

IceRock Development focuses on their customers. They provide an exceptional quality of work in a timely manner.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, nothing during our engagement.