Sirin Software

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a CTO at a software development company.

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

We needed experienced specialists to conduct in-depth, non-commerce smart city research and build a full-on hardware-software smart parking solution based on complex technologies and consisting of sensors, cloud storage, web dashboard, and mobile app.

How did you select Sirin Software and what were the deciding factors?

We knew from the start that Sirin Software is a well-tried-and-tested team of specialists that we and some of our partners had worked with in the past. One kick-off project discussion was enough to understand that the guys have what it takes to cope with the task.

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

The smart city research was only an initial phase of the software/hardware-powered parking project. Based on it, the devs at Sirin had to create a flexible, easy-to-use smart parking solution working for both operators and customers.

Namely, the team had to implement a system that can be accessed via a web dashboard or a mobile app to monitor and interact with interconnected parking sensors, and store all the accumulated data in the cloud.

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

4 specialists in total - 3 Software Engineers and 1 Project Manager.

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

Not a single deadline was missed and the guys really tried to analyze our specifications as closely as they could. We were glad to receive recommendations and practical improvements to what we had in mind and were generally very pleased with an all-around expertise-driven approach.

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

We had regular meetings and discussions to set goals, clarify milestones, analyze the work done, settle with deadlines, and go through deliverables. Everything was smooth, subsequent, and hassle-free.

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

We enjoyed the most the easy-going manner of communication that we established with the guys from the get-go.

The rest just came naturally - Sirin Software specialists have enough background to clearly structure even a complex project, build it step by step most productively, and delivering a turn-key solution that should both benefit us and save our users’ time and money.

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

I really don’t think so.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company is a Consumer and Industrial electronic hardware company. I was the project manager for the project.

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

We wanted to offer a web-based interface for a simulation tool that we previously offered to partners and customers as an executable file to simplify the process of sharing the tool and improve discussions and demonstrations on the partners side. The goal was to provide a nice looking and functional tool including some UI/UX capabilities in a short amount of time.

How did you select Sirin Software and what were the deciding factors?

We selected Sirin based on customer testimonials and our own assessment of their capabilities and professionalism.

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

The scope of work included implementation using third-party UI toolboxes and cloud solutions, and algorithmic implementations as a solution that we could integrate within our website.

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

We worked with a team of two people.

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

The deliverables were provided to us in a timely manner according to our specifications, including some refinements based on early tests. We are highly pleased with the result.

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

Communication and project management is very efficient and effective. We had scheduled regular meetings, and clear milestones with target dates and deliverables. The process from start to finish was incredibly smooth.

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

The ease and efficiency of communication, the clarity in the scope and process of the project, and the ability of Sirin Software to work productively with and make the customers satisfaction their highest priority.

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

No

Please describe your company and your position there.

We make industrial wearables and cloud enterprise software for a variety of industries including warehousing and military applications. I am the VP.

For what projects/services did your company hire Sirin Software?

We have custom firmware that we use for our main wearable device that runs Android and we needed an upgrade to improve wifi connectivity.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed to increase the wifi performance and ensure our customers had a better user experience.

How did you select this vendor?

After speaking to a number of different vendors, we decided to go with Sirin because they were knowledgeable about firmware, they were highly detailed, and they were willing to work with us on pricing and leadtimes.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They took our source code and upgraded the wifi firmware to a more recent release. They tested several version for us and found the one latest one that was compatible and implemented it. After a round of feedback from our customers who were testing it, they made a revision to complete the work.

What was the team composition?

We worked primarily with their developer that they assigned to us and their lead business development manager. The CEO occasionally stepped in when necessary as well.

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

Our wifi was preventing some critical customers from using our platform and the work that Sirin did helped resolve that. This will undoubtedly make a positive impact in our business relationships and the performance of our product.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We have no complaints about project management, we were updated via email whenever there were updates. Project management tools were not necessary in this project because it was small and straightforward.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Even though Sirin is in a different country than us, we could communicate easily and effectively. We felt like they kept us in the loop well and we could ask for whatever we needed at any point. The relationship was very open and honest.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The only area for improvement would be on development side of things. There was one issue we ran into because something was turned off without our knowledge to get the main task completed, except the feature that was turned off was needed by some customers. In general, the vendor should always ask the customer if it's okay to do something like that before making modifications just in case it's a needed feature.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of Inovit Animation Studio. We connect brands and people through animated video content.

For what projects/services did your company hire Sirin Software?

We needed to create a distributed system for video delivery.

What were your goals for this project?

The main idea was to find a solution which would be easy-to-use for both clients and our staff.

How did you select this vendor?

We’ve dealt with them as a customer and ascertained in Sirin Software’s expertise.

Describe the project in detail.

Sirin Software helped us to create a system with many features such as: the system login, choose the video which was created exactly for them and download or record it to a disk. 

I must admit that the process of downloading video from our side became easier and saved our managers from mistakes and misunderstanding with clients.

What was the team composition?

There were two engineers working on this project

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

The solution allowed us to accelerate and simplify the process of video delivery for customers.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

During the cooperation/development, we used an agile model hence the communication was absolutely transparent and clear enough. Our responsible manager could monitor all of the project’s stages in real-time.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

First of all, we were amazed by how they studied the provided information by us. They executed deep research on our project, customers, business models and gave recommendations for the solution. The final result lived up our expectations. 

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not sure. We are absolutely satisfied.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the global CIO for a big retailer with subdivisions in many countries.

For what projects/services did your company hire Sirin Software?

We needed them to create an app for the automation of warehouse workers’ routines.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted the mobile app to communicate with 3D barcode scanners to help warehouse workers automate their daily routines.

How did you select this vendor?

We created our own shortlist of agencies, interviewed all of them, and chose Sirin Software because they showed the highest level of expertise and engagement.

Describe the project in detail.

We gave them a technical statement and they built a mobile system that combines a device for scanning barcodes with functionalities for processing data and inventory creation. They also proposed the use of other scanners to better process the data.

What was the team composition?

I worked with a mobile developer and a project manager.

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

They delivered an effective system. We only had to make a few minor corrections before launch.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Their workflow was perfect. They delivered the system extremely fast.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They demonstrated impressive expertise and capabilities and they lived up to my highest expectations regarding my project. I highly recommend them as a trusted software partner.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, we’re completely satisfied.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the former COO of EuroMD Ltd., an international medical online portal. One of our portal’s distinctive features is its integration and communication between European countries in medical tourism.

For what projects/services did your company hire Sirin Software?

Our internal team developed a cloud network for the company’s units in different countries and we hired Sirin Software to create a stable VPN connection between offices and ensure an uninterrupted working process.

What were your goals for this project?

Our previous vendor failed and we were urgently looking for a new vendor who could design a site-to-site VPN connection within a tight deadline.

How did you select this vendor?

A connection of mine referred them. He had been working with Alex (CEO, Sirin Software) and his team for years and highly recommended them.

Describe the project in detail.

They created wide area network (WAN) gateway to ensure a VPN connection among all of our company’s divisions. Also, they designed a simple app for VPN adjustment.

What was the team composition?

We worked with three software developers.

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

They delivered exceptional work.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They immediately joined our process. Due to their previous experience, their developers completed their tasks extremely fast. Although our in-house engineers were in another country, Sirin’s developers became a real part of our team and they cared about the result like our own employees.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their expertise, experience and ability to meet deadlines stood out. I would definitely hire them for future software development projects.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, I can’t think of anything.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the co-founder and VP of sales at Tower IQ, Inc.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sirin Software?

We had a system that needed to display several different forms of information. We created a rudimentary system on our own, so we wanted to find a vendor to help us develop a more polished product that we can then present and replicate over and over again.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sirin Software did PCP work and developed different types of software interfaces for us. They used DFSI (Digital Fixed Station Interface), G.hn, and combined other kinds of technology. They've been able to keep up with our requirements, helping us grow our product.

What is the team composition?

They assigned at least 15 developers to our project.

How did you come to work with Sirin Software?

They were recommended to us. We also came across some examples of their work while doing an online search. We had a pool of applicants, but Sirin Software kept surviving round after round. When we got in touch with them personally, they gave us the confidence to fly out there to meet them. We're delighted we did, and we never looked back.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2017, and the relationship is ongoing.

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

They do high-quality work. As we were growing, Sirin Software adapted and gave us more resources, taking on more complex tasks. Before we engaged them, we were an integrator. We took other people's technologies, put them together, and then sold the product. With the work that Sirin Software has done for us, we have our own product. We turned from an integrator into a manufacturer.

How did Sirin Software perform from a project management standpoint?

They challenge us and let us know if our ideas won't work. At first, their team didn't have perfect English skills, but they invested in their employees to take classes. Now, their language skills are impeccable.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They do what they say they will, so I have high confidence in them. They were willing to grow their team and hire additional people to ensure they can accommodate all of our needs. In some instances, they even outsourced the tasks to a third party, while still managing the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and founder of a radio telecom systems firm. We provide two-way radio communication devices for first responders in high-rise buildings.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sirin Software?

We needed software and hardware support to develop a dedicated radio console. The console needed to function as a fire alarm control panel for use by first responders as they control and monitor two-way radio communications.

What was the scope of their involvement?

These type of systems typically rely on a microcontroller-based series of relays and LEDs, but because of our business plan, we needed to have more flexibility. Our user interface needed to be LCD-based and adaptable enough for use in a number of markets, including New York City and Boston.

We provided a graphical user interface outline. From here, they used Qt Linux to develop the interface software from scratch, ensuring it could communicate with the APIs. They also developed a few automated, industry-compliant software packages for us. In terms of hardware, they used a System-on-Module that they developed for a specific platform.

While we provided a broad overview of the system architecture and the necessary radio frequency (RF) protocols, we handled the RF side ourselves.

Nearing completion with the initial job, we’ve hired Sirin for two additional projects. One involves our Amazon Web Services custom cloud API that connects the web interface to our field devices. We expanded the cloud interface to act as both a monitoring and programming suite. They’re currently engaged in a third project.

What is the team composition?

We initially worked with a primary system architect and they then rapidly scaled up to four developers. Having expanded the scope after completing the MVP, we now have a team of 11 people.

How did you come to work with Sirin Software?

My business partner had previous development experience in Eastern Europe. We did an online search for technical engineers and found Sirin Software. While they’re based in Europe, they also have a small presence in the U.S., which made us more comfortable.

We started with a very small contract. We gave them our product owner requirements and they were able to develop a system architecture within six weeks. My business partner and I visited their headquarters for a presentation and an in-person knowledge exchange. We were very impressed by the results, so we decided to move forward with the full development.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent between $500,000–$1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2016 and our relationship is ongoing.

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

They produce quality software. We find occasional bugs, which is normal for any large development project, but they’re always willing to work after hours or on weekends to make the necessary repairs. The hardware also has occasional issues, but nothing out of the ordinary. The quality has exceeded my expectations.

How did Sirin Software perform from a project management standpoint?

The time zone difference has actually worked to our benefit. It allows them to focus on development without interference from our end, and we see the results at the end of each day. Their team also speaks excellent English, so we haven’t run into any translation issues. We communicate regularly through Slack, phone, and web calls, and we have full access to their Scrum boards through Jira.

They’re always able to provide remote field support if needed. Additionally, they provide detailed documentation, especially as it relates to bug repairs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have an excellent ability to acquire impressive talent. They also take ownership of their products. This is greatly appreciated, especially since we’re working together to create a safety product responsible for saving lives.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sirin is completely transparent, but some difficulties arise when working with a Ukrainian company. Shipping components into and out of the country can cause delays due to customs.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the CEO and owner of Sabai Technology.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sirin?

We were migrating our embedded platform from Metabase to an OpenWrt base. Aside from OpenWrt embedded development, we needed help addressing driver issues.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sirin resolved our driver issues very quickly. After Sirin’s initial success, I decided to engage them in larger projects. More and more, we started relying on them to do our OpenWrt embedded development. Aside from embedded Linux, they also handled driver development and remote control development. We developed a system that was heavy on the wireless Wi-Fi side because it could be remotely updated and controlled.

What is the team dynamic?

We usually had 2–3 developers working on our projects. When we first talked to them, there was only Alex [Founder, Sirin Software]. When we engaged them on a full-bore project, they had expanded to four staff. By February this year, there were about 40 of them in the company.

How did you come to work with Sirin?

We originally found them on a contracting website, where we had a fixed and limited engagement to find developers with the expertise we needed.

How much have you invested with them?

We paid $25,000 for their work.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2015, and the engagement ended in February 2017.

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

Alex and his team got it right the first time. They knew exactly what they were doing and got it finished. Previously, a lot of developers had attempted to solve our problem, but they failed to finish the work.

One of the biggest things about them was their high responsiveness. Also, it was easier to work with Sirin than an in-house group because we could expand or contract our involvement as needed.

How did Sirin perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management skills were weak in the beginning, but it got better as time went on. I saw an increased focus on project management during our collaboration. While they may not have always hit the deadline, part of that was my fault because I often had shifting goals. As a result, the deadlines and scope were constantly changing.

The communication was great. We had a fairly open flow of communication on Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their level of professionalism was outstanding. It was refreshing to work with people who could discuss the issue clearly, understand what was being said, and come up with solutions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Any time they identified a weakness, you could tell that they were taking steps to fix it. As they grow, they need to make sure that they’re getting the in-house skills and resources they need for certain areas.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief technology officer at a startup based in San Mateo, California. We’re focused on improving the Wi-Fi experience for connected products in the home. They’re typically products that don’t have screens or keyboards, like home security cameras, lightbulbs, video doors, music speakers, talk boxes, and that type of thing. We’ve been in the market almost three years.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sirin Software?

The way our solution works is we have an agent, who we call the wireless connection manager, that goes into the connected product. We were looking for developers who had experience with embedded products who already had experience with real-time operating systems and C level programming for these smaller form factor devices

What was the scope of their involvement?

It’s a software solution. They do C programming for us either on a Linux environment or on the different real-time operating systems.

What is the team dynamic?

We typically have about three full-time developers assigned to us; the engagement is coming up on two years now. There has been a little bit of turnover. As they’ve hired new people, they’ve replaced others. We’ve had a pretty steady state of three developers.

How did you come to work with Sirin Software?

Our founder found them on Upwork before I joined the company.

How much have you invested with them?

Three full-time employees for the last 18 months. We don’t do it on a per-project basis anymore; we do it as an hourly rate.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them over two years ago and the work is ongoing.

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

They’re very strong developers. They deliver high-quality code. We’re very happy with the results. Their stuff isn’t that isolated, it’s various parts of an overall service, including technology they’ve developed and technology we’ve developed and technology that another group has developed. It’s hard to speak specifically about theirs, but in general, we’ve been very happy with the results.

How did Sirin Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We tell them what to use. We use Slack, Atlassian, and JIRA. We are basically project managing. They’re part of a bigger group. Their three developers are working very closely with two more developers in our head office. All five of them are managed together.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very strong and hardworking engineers. They contribute at a high level. Of the three developers, one is a little more senior than the others. The senior guy contributes at both the development level and at the architectural level. We treat them as members of our team and they act as if they’re full team members.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we’ve been very happy. We’ve given them feedback along the way in terms of what we need. Early on, we probably struggled a little bit with them not necessarily having the full picture. As a result, sometimes the decisions they would make wouldn’t make sense for the nature of our product. We’ve addressed that through better communication; and we have a monthly all-hands-on deck, which they’re a part of. We give them broader context.

Since we’ve started doing that, we haven’t run into these issues anymore. It used to be that they took a fairly engineering-oriented approach. They’d solve a problem in a way that made the most sense for a developer, but not necessarily the most sense for an end user. By working harder to make sure they understood the scope, the context, the target audience, and the other aspects of the system, they were able to start making better decisions in context.