Accesto

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am one of the co-founders and the CEO of Notebookrank.com. We founded it 4 years ago as a website that advises on laptop purchases. It is like the “IT guy”, a friend of yours, that you would ask for help to find a good laptop for you.

But instead of a geeky mind, it is powered by AI algorithms that review benchmarks and offers to understand the market and suggest the best gear for you.

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

We got a great traction on a Polish market and wanted to go global. That required a bunch of services like IT consulting, web development (PHP & Javascript), architecture redesign, infrastructure migration and code refactoring. Was great to get it all from one provider.

How did you select Accesto and what were the deciding factors?

We knew that we had a great product and that competition in other countries is quite poor. We wanted to scale, starting from english speaking countries.

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

Goal was to make Notebookrank ready for scaling from relatively small Poland to countries like the USA or India. This required handling significantly more users.

Accesto designed and implemented new software architecture for us and provided a couple of additional optimizations. They also improved user experience and conversion rate so we could be more competitive on new markets.

Core technology was PHP & Angular.

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

Hard to say exactly, I think that at least 5 developers were involved in the process. Their project manager did a great job to introduce new team members to tasks that required that. We had a single point of contact for most of the time and contacted other team members only to discuss some details.

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

Yes, we try to measure as much as possible. As a result of cooperation we were able to reduce our load times by 83%. Also, their work on user interface and performance helped us to improve conversion rate by 65%.

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

They provided us with a single point of contact, a dedicated Product Owner. That was really convenient and worked really well.

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

We were looking for a technical partner who will make our product more mature, prepared for a global scale. They have a long history of building startup projects and know what works in the long run.

Their technical expertise and experience in working with existing software are impressive. They helped us to take our product development to the next level.

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

They could have planned the timelines in a more realistic way - especially at the beginning. But in the end they managed to catch up and delivered even before the deadline.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the COO and Co-founder. Plenti - rent tech on-demand is a platform that offers access to the latest consumer electronics on demand - without paying the full price for the product. 

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

Not having sufficient technical background, we sought for a company that will act as our CTO, suggest and implement the best solutions. We've been looking for a partner who will be able to deliver an early MVP of our platform, but also taking future development and maintenance into account.

We knew we will need to scale fast in the nearest future, so maintainability and extendability was our core focus. A partner that will use modern tools and techniques and also allow us to launch quickly, collect feedback and reiterate within days.

How did you select Accesto and what were the deciding factors?

We have been working with Accesto before and we knew they can deliver what we need.

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

Our goal was to quickly launch an early version that we will be able to test with our test group. The work was split by Accesto into short sprints. Each sprint delivered an improvement that we were able to test and adjust our platform. The technologies used were focused on quick deliverables (hybrid mobile apps), and easy maintenance in the future.

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

The team was adjusted based on current needs, but in most cases this was a backend developer and a front-end/mobile app developer. A manager was also involved and assisted us in the product owner role.

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

We managed to launch our app on time. The customer base is still growing, and we got founded by a VC. There were no major bugs despite the complexity of our payment process, and we were able to continue the development with our newly hired development team. We currently work with Accesto again on extending the functionality.

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

We had constant contact with the manager at Accesto by e-mail and video calls. We also had recurring demo sessions and access to task progress reports.

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

Accesto really did great work with understanding our product. They suggested changes and improvements. They also had great ideas how to validate some ideas without writing too much code. After we decided to hire our own team they helped us a lot with knowledge transfer and assisted our developers in their first days.

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

In my opinion, the mobile app framework was not the best choice, but it was quite popular at the time the app was written.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Placker BV creates placker.com. I'm the Founder and CEO of Placker.

Placker.com is the work management platform that makes complex work simple and gives focus to get work done. It is best suited for teams that work on multiple projects, need to collaborate across many teams, have complex work breakdown structure and need an uniform way of working. Placker is flexible to adapt to the users workflow.

For what projects/services did your company hire Accesto?

We created the first version of the platform in house and needed to scale up our team with the right knowledge in the scaling phase of our business, to more easily extend the platform with new features, professionalize the development process and make sure we can monitor and scale the platform.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to make sure our development process was up to standards to make sure it is reliable and to allow us to introduce changes quickly without breaking the product, we wanted to make the architecture event driven so it is easier to extend it and we wanted to continue to develop new features.

How did you select this vendor?

We invited a number of candidates to respond to our request, Accesto was referred to us by a contractor who worked on our infrastructure before to help us scale. Accesto was selected because of the experience they have with our backend framework, and the fit with our culture; pragmatic, knowledgeable and result driven.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We consider the Accesto team as part of our team and continue to work with our team members going forward. Accesto is key in driving our technical roadmap, accessing new technologies and planning, scoping and managing delivery of new features and technical upgrades from (technical) design to production for our client and backend.

We create the functional and UI/UX designs that are picked up by the team and scoped in bi-weekly iterations. We also still do some client and backend development ourself.

What was the team composition?

We initially started with one front end and one backend development and have extended the team after that, overall 3-5 resources are involved in the ongoing activities.

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

Placker would not be in the good shape it is in today without Accesto, since we have a small team ourself, it is good to have a trusted party that handles technical assessment and development that allows me and other to focus on growing other aspects of the business.

The alternative would have been to either find a similar party or establish an in-house development team, which would not give us the same level of experience and knowledge.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We are fortunate to have a great tool (placker) and use slack and meet for daily and weekly communication. We plan the work in 2 week iterations which works well in managing changes. We have occasional on site visits for roadmap discussions as well.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their culture was the key reason to select Accesto compared to others, which is close to us. Knowledgeable people with an pragmatic attitude to get work done and acknowledge when things are different/not working out to resolve it. In the end it's the ability to respond to unexpected events. Accesto is very knowledgeable in the Symfony framework that we use.

Are there any areas for improvement?

For us there are not typical areas for improvement, we have a continuous working relation with 2 week sprints in which we discuss things that can be improved based on lessons learned.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We aggregate user opinion on events they attend to help other event goers when buying tickets. I am the Founder and CEO.

For what projects/services did your company hire Accesto?

We wanted to outsource platform development away from London to an offshore model where we could scale a development team of senior developers quickly.

What were your goals for this project?

The offshore team needed to learn a large system quickly, work in an agile way, self manage, code review and QA.

How did you select this vendor?

Introduction from a trusted colleague.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Symfony development with Vue.

What was the team composition?

One front end developer, one back end and a team lead covering architecture, code review and devOps.

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

We are still evaluating the outcomes of the various development projects.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Management and agile ceremonies improved over time.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They had a positive approach to challenges and code quality.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Team lead sometimes lacked time for the project due to other project commitments.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am founder, and owner of Graduate Surveyors a global job matching platform that matches top talent to the best opportunities within the Built Environment. We provide an end-end solution through an intuitive platform that helps provide value within the global labour market. The organization has been running for 8 years, however formally established in 2018 in the United Arab Emirates.

For what projects/services did your company hire Accesto?

Accesto were responsible for the custom development creating advanced and convenient internet application to cater for our hiring needs.

They provided an integrated solution which covered the lifecycle of the build including early stage advisory, planning, integration execution and operation of the SaaS based platform. They also help create synergies with Visual71 a prominent UI/UX designer.

What were your goals for this project?

To create a smart, intuitive and seamless platform, that would revolutionize the end-end recruitment process for those looking for an opportunity within the Built Environment. Implement technology which would not only enhance customer experience, however, automate human interaction to create value to the global marketplace.

There is a growing demand for automated recruitment platforms; bringing job-seeker and employer onto one platform and removing cumbersome processes, paperwork and admin.

How did you select this vendor?

Accesto were chosen through competitive tender. They were prequalified, tendered and shortlisted based on their technical ability, experience and commercial competitiveness. The tenderers were geographically spread and ranged from SME’ – multinational corporations.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Accesto provided the front and back end (database) development of the project. They were responsible for custom development which included slicing of UI/UX designers work and the integration of API’s and third-party plugins.

Accesto also provided support on hosting, domain management, payment gateways, cloud storage and aspects of marketing to ensure a fully developed solution. They took a hands-on approach to the project which help improve project collaboration.

Accesto help define the Scope of Works and deliverables before a contract was signed. This was extremely beneficial. The production started within brainstorming sessions followed by weekly sprints. A well-organized outfit that provided structure to overall delivery.

What was the team composition?

The project team compromised of Graduate Surveyors, Accesto, and Visual71. At the project realization phase, we introduced additional marketing team to support the handover between project completion and pre-launch. I was responsible for client decisions with support of additional third parties.

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

The platform is at the early stages, however since our initial launch in January we have had over 150 candidates register onto the platform. This is above the figure estimated within our business plan.

For us this, is an MVP+ which we hope to build over the years into a premium solution. We are also receiving interest from employers (both MNC’s and SMEs), universities and others within a vested interest in our platform.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Accesto deployed a dedicated project manager coordinating with all parties ensuring compliance, coordination and delivery. This was very effective as it help keep everyone aligned and focused on the end goal.

An agile approach was also adopted to ensure that at each stage of the project we were building a robust platform. Testing also took place during and after implementation which help reduce quality issues at key milestones.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They had a clear understanding of our brief and were able to utilize their local and international experience to add value at every stage of the project planning phase. They have great attention to detail, adopting a methodology of continuous improvement. This helped to ensure quality throughout the life cycle of the project.

Please describe your company and your position there.

The company where I work, TestArmy, is one of the fastest-growing tech companies in Central Europe based on Deloitte ranking. We’re veterans on the field of quality assurance in software development. In the last 5 years, our team has grown to 72 employees. We’ve managed to accomplish 500+ projects in Central Eastern Europe and worldwide. During that time TestArmy capital group has expanded to three different fields: • training and workshops for B2B and B2C, • quality assurance services, • cybersecurity support for companies and products. In the company, I hold the position of Marketing Manager. My responsibilities include taking care of our websites to make them the most useful for our current and potential clients.

For what projects/services did your company hire Accesto?

We were looking for an experienced software house which would redesign our company’s website. The new version was supposed to include a custom CRM, the look consistent with our brand, the possibility of signing up for training and automatic payments. Our development team wasn’t big enough to handle this project. Also, we haven’t had enough time to do it. The decision was made: we have to find a responsible partner and outsource to him redesigning our website. That’s how we started our collaboration with Accesto.

What were your goals for this project?

The main goal of the project was to merge the current website with the training’ catalog. The reason for it was providing our clients with the possibility to buy courses straight on the website. Also, we wanted to unify the calendar of courses and enable users to check the number of available places on each course. We assumed that the new version of the website has to not only came with a fresh new design, but also with new functionalities, shorter loading time, and better UX.

How did you select this vendor?

With their broad software development experience, Accesto seemed like a perfect partner to redesigning our website. Also, great Accesto Clutch’s reviews helped us to select this vendor. We've considered several companies. Accessto gained the advantage thanks to a large and experienced team of programmers and the fact that they were available in the same city as us. Thanks to this we were able to meet and discuss the progress on an ongoing basis. The decision-making process involved the management of the training department in cooperation with development and marketing departments.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

From the new version of the website we were expecting: - the possibility of buying training directly on the website, - standardize calendar for all courses, - the possibility of checking the number of available places, - intuitive service architecture, - training catalog structured by category, - the possibility of searching for training taking place in a specific location (city). Accesto was responsible for the design of the whole architecture of the website, the administration panel, and the front-end.

What was the team composition?

Acessto contributed to 4 specialists, including architects and developers. Their teams always embrace a Project Manager to facilitate engineering tasks and monitor performance. Our part of the team included Graphic Designer, Project Owner, and Marketing Manager.

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

We’ve analyzed traffic from the three months after developing a new version of the website, and noticed observable growth. We are convinced that an increased number of training attendants comes from the new, intuitive design of the website. Also, we conducted tests among our employees and found out that they perceive the new design as definitely more user-friendly. Besides, our clients also confirm that now is easier for them to find information on our website. The number of page views increased and more people use LiveChat now. We notify fewer questions about courses dates and lecturers. The clients are more aware of what they bought.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

For managing this project, we created a Slack channel and Trello board, that were dedicated only to communicate about the project. Also, we were regularly exchanging information via video-conferencing. We appreciate the punctuality of Accesto: the team always met deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The most impressive what we find about Accesto is their complex approach to the project. They have always been there for us - they have been advising on servers, better service architecture and IT technologies used.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, the cooperation was just fine.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the managing director for Skylegs, a collection of BI (business intelligence) tools and applications and online flight operations software.

For what projects/services did your company hire Accesto?

We've been actively developing a new solution for one of our clients. We needed skilled AngularJS developers to design the architecture and implement the application.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed to prepare a good architecture plan and deliver the product on time to our client. We also wanted to assure that we'd be able to independently make adjustments to the app in the future. The project had to be scalable and delivered using the serverless architecture approach.

How did you select this vendor?

We'd considered many companies but chose Accesto after several meetings with them and a recommendation from one of our subcontractors.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

After engaging with them, they provided a plan of the suggested architecture approach and solutions within a few days. Upon approval, we started to work in two-week sprints, each ending with a demo.

What was the team composition?

We're working with one full-time senior frontend developer.

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

The delivered software complies with our expectations and objectives, and the suggested approach worked flawlessly. It was built on time, taking into account unforeseen circumstances.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We were able to use Slack and GitHub for project management—tools we were already used to working with. Communication between our management team and Accesto's developer was good. We're planning to meet with them in person soon.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We really liked their proactive approach and how they always challenge themselves to deliver a better solution. Also, the knowledge level of their developer is great.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I can't think of any.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We provide both business strategy services and software development services.

For what projects/services did your company hire Accesto?

We've been developing a CRM extension for one of our clients, and we needed skilled React developers to deliver the frontend.

What were your goals for this project?

To deliver the project on time and with proper quality. The responsive web design and UX had to be flawless. We also wanted the code to be easy to maintain for us in the feature.

How did you select this vendor?

We reached out to seven companies that provided the required services. We selected Accesto as their approach and blind-CVs were the best ones. My partner and I were both involved in the decision.

Describe the project in detail.

Once we selected them, we started with a series of meetings to get a common understanding of the project. Within a week, they provided a detailed plan of the architecture and suggested solutions, all of which we approved. After that, we started to work in two-week sprints, ending each with a demo.

What was the team composition?

There was one full-time frontend developer and one part-time architect-consultant.

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

They delivered all objectives on time and in a more efficient manner than estimated. Some of their suggestions about React were not common at that time but are now considered as best-practice. We were able to deliver the required features and still had budget left for other improvements.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had direct contact with all members and it was easy to communicate with them on a daily basis. We used a Slack channel. Every month we received a detailed timesheet from their project manager.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They're proactive and seek out the best solution. It's something we've never experienced before.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm CEO of a software development house in Poland.

For what projects/services did your company hire Accesto?

We were developing an app for helping publishers manage their processes. We needed to speed up its development and have an individual developer assigned to help us stay within our budget.

How did you select this vendor?

They’re the best Symfony developer in our area. I know that it isn’t possible to find more skilled people than the ones working for Accesto.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Working together as one team, they proposed several ideas on how to speed up the project and recommended solutions for boosting efficiency. They developed very good code.

What was the team composition?

They assigned five backend developers, two frontend developers, two testers, a product owner, and an analyst.

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

We’re now able to use more tools from the Symfony framework. We would develop our own solutions before, which had to be tested and often produced even more issues, but now, we have greater flexibility now. Accesto also sped up our project, which convinced our client to continue collaborating with us.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We handled project management internally.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are ingenious, proactive, and flexible.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO and founder of MediaHQ, an SaaS based software company that provides media intelligence and enables users to contact journalists.

What challenge were you trying to address with Accesto?

We needed someone who could develop new features and software while dealing with legacy software development issues.

What was the scope of their involvement?

A project manager took the specs, which they used to build the software. Then it went live. We did the technical spec documents, and they took care of the design and development work.

The software is for public relations and communications professionals who want to send stories and pitches to journalists. It enables them to get their content to the media quickly and to target and find journalists.

What is the team composition?

We had three or four people working on the project, and a point person on their side.

How did you come to work with Accesto?

We found them through Clutch and met them because of that.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in June of 2016, and the relationship is ongoing.

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

Their work meets a very high quality standard. They are very professional; they do what they say and say what they do. They are easy to deal with, keep our best interests at heart, and deliver what they promise within the agreed-upon budget.

How did Accesto perform from a project management standpoint?

Their timing was good, and they delivered to the project specs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We used them to build the "beyond the login" product for us, and they understood us well. Their approach to business and their ability to sense our needs were impressive. They always wanted to do a good job and deliver on time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They were very pleasant people to deal with, and they delivered what they said they would on time. Their vibe was very similar to our, so we found them very easy to work with.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know what you want when you contact them; that makes success easier. Have a budget, concept, and product roadmap in mind, but also let them do what they are good at. Don’t stand in the way of their work. Having a roadmap, dealing in bite-sized chunks, and setting deliverable margins worked very well.