Notch

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Tech Commerce Solutions Managing Director of 1Worldsync

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

1WorldSync produces or receives product content to ensure high quality and accurate specifications, images, video, certificates and marketing are all stored in one place, adhering to retailer, distributor and market requirements.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Notch to accomplish?

• Replacement production data input tool giving research analysts improved functionality
• Automated tasks in one place
• Ability to review produced tasks completing missing information
• Using multiple types of AI/ML to prefill in fields from other data inputs
• Reviewing output quality based on other product values
• Link to historic and new systems to update and input content

SOLUTION

How did you find Notch?

Referral

Why did you select Notch over others?

Referred to me

How many teammates from Notch were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We required additional software engineering resources to complete a project to modernise and ultimately improve the research tools. The project had multiple phases, including moving from Google to Azure, building new functionality, testing different AI/ML models to deliver the highest quality and accuracy, multiple testing/QA , and launching to the production team. The team from Notch included 3 people with different skills to support the project. Having worked with other agencies, we were immediately impressed with the dedication, ideas and support they gave the whole team. The advice given on AI models made a huge difference and delivered better than expected results.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The expected efficiency gains from the new tools were initially expected to be around 10%, with a longer-term goal of 30%. We are in the early stages of rolling this tool out and loading different inputs; the results so far have far exceeded our expectations. 

Everyone, including the analysts, is very positive about the tool and the improvements it brings. The advice from the Notch team was key to this success.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

The team hit timelines as expected, despite some unexpected challenges due to influences outside of Notch's control.  

What was your primary form of communication with Notch?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The team were quick to pick up our systems, offer advice and also support others if they had experience in the area. Given the opportunity, I would have liked to take on two of them full-time, as we were so impressed with them.

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

None

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of delivery for a technology startup currently building an HR SaaS tool. We’re developing an extended workforce platform for large enterprises to manage their outsourced workforce. People like non-employees or contractors aren’t always easily managed by existing systems, so our platform will allow them to manage those workers and give the enterprise a complete view of both their internal employees and outsourced resources.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Agency04?

We needed to scale our development capabilities quickly, so we engaged with Agency04 to help us with that.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Agency04 has collaborated with some of our senior engineers remotely to build specific web apps for suppliers and workers to manage their interactions with their enterprises. These apps help them with various things, for example, assigning workers to certain jobs, submitting timesheets and expenses, and other HR-related tasks.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with three junior engineers, two mid-level engineers, and two senior engineers.

How did you come to work with Agency04?

Another provider of ours recommended them. When we reached out to them, they impressed us when they told us how they wanted to do the work. They wanted to create a partnership with us for both of us to grow our companies.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent around €400,000 (approximately $395,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in April 2021, and our partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our success is mainly based on the fact that we can get our software into our customers’ hands. Agency04 has brought a lot of good and solid engineering practices with them, allowing us to share software releases with our customers daily and get their feedback to keep improving our offerings. Since working with Agency04, our app usage has increased significantly.

How did Agency04 perform from a project management standpoint?

Agency04’s project management is very good. They actively monitor support requests from customers and address technical issues quickly. Overall, they’re very customer-focused, and they always ensure that our releases don’t impact them negatively.

We also have regular meetings with our account manager to address issues that arise, which they quickly solve to our satisfaction. We mainly use Slack for daily communication and Zoom for weekly meetings, although we occasionally communicate via email as well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Agency04’s ability to quickly get up to speed with our project and understand our complex technology and business is impressive. Additionally, I really like that they aren’t interested in building technology for the sake of it; instead, they always want to build technology that solves our customers' needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. They’re pretty good, so nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Establish a partnership, work closely with them, and allow them to understand your business. If you do so, they’ll immediately start helping you improve your product. Treating them as part of your company makes them more likely to get high-performing results for you.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

The Football Company is a startup with the vision to drive football culture through technology.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Agency04, and what were your goals?

We have hired Agency04 to fully develop our next generation Football Fantasy Manager, and NFT Marketplace for digital goods from backend to native mobile applications frontend.

SOLUTION

How did you select Agency04 and what were the deciding factors?

We have selected Agency4 out of several candidates. The agency had the right size, not too small, not too big. The first contact was very positive. We met the people remote and in person. They asked the right question and gave us the feeling they understand what we need and want.

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

We are working with real time data from an external data provider that we need to process and push to a huge audience in real time in order to give our users a vibrant experience.

The goal here was to create the fastest engine on the market. In order to achieve that we've built the backend with Java, Spring Boot, Micronaut, Rest API, k8s and use Firebase Cloud Messaging. We are also using ReactJS and Kotlin for the frontend.

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

We are working with a team of seven developers and one project manager. From Junior to Head.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The outcome is very good so far. Everything is working as expected and is built exceeding our expectations.

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

The project management is built based on our requirements. The team is basically self organized. Everything is on time and the communication is seamless.

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

Now we are coming to the most interesting feedback. Every person involved is very dedicated to the product they are building for us. We can feel a lot of passion, enthusiasm but also responsibility and everyone is self driven. Solution oriented by always finding a good solution to our challenges.

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

We have a very direct and open communication and fix things on the go. There is nothing to improve here.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Sr. Principal Program Manager at a full-service digital agency

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Agency04, and what were your goals?

We wanted to develop an app that our client would use to present their products in an exciting new way to their customers. This means access to whole product ranges and showcase of unique selling points - practically all relevant info for the customers in one elegant app.

SOLUTION

How did you select Agency04 and what were the deciding factors?

We were looking for a partner to help us scale our projects with a large client. We needed support especially in the area of ​​frontend development with Angular.

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

Development of a Progressive Web App that sales representatives can use during their customer meetings. Focus was on showing novelties and direct interface to CRM

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

Five people are working in our team: two Junior Frontend Developers, one Mid Frontend Developer, one Senior and a Project Manager. We plan to introduce more frontend developers in future phases.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The first project phase is about to launch in April. The reviews with the client were very successful. The feedback about our deliverables was great!

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

We used SCRUM with 4 week sprints. Communication tools were Jira, Confluence, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet. Development Kickoff was in November. Go-live is April 1st

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

The motivation of each team member to achieve the best possible result is amazing.

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

The team did very well. An area for improvement would be to to favor the faster solution over the more flexible one.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We provide national IT services for universities and research institutions in Croatia, for almost 50 years. International projects also play a big part in our daily operations. I am the Head of Information Systems Department.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire AGENCY04?

We hired AGENCY04 to help us with development of national Current Research Information Systems (CRIS). We are in need of extra developers to give a helping hand to our own.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal is to create a new national research information system, which will be integrated or interconnected with a number of other information systems in Croatia and several international systems as well. It will consist of approximately 50 different modules, all implemented using Spring Boot.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

For this project, the public procurement took place. AGENCY04 provided the best offer with regard to both value for money and the expertise and experience of their developers, which was important to us.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They are helping design, develop, configure and deploy a number of modules for our system. Their developers bring the necessary experience and provide a valuable insights and suggestions to improve all of the key factors of each module.

What was the team composition?

The project team has about ten people, and some of them come and go depending on the skill needed at certain point in time. Their developers are integrated in our team as equals, with our own project manager. An agile development approach is taking place, with very frequent releases of new versions.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

This project represents a national research information infrastructure. It is going to be used by all of the people in all the fields of science and research in the country, as well as many national agencies, ministries and other organizations.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management is communicated via regular weekly meetings and daily via Slack, Jira, Confluence and GitLab. Their developers regularly inform about any possible delays and suggest other paths that could be follow. They are generally proactive and creative, thus giving the project manager more options and flexibility.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The most impressive part of our collaboration are skillful developers that they not only do what is expected of them, but also think ahead, ask difficult questions and yet try to find many answers themselves, communicate clearly and thoughtfully, and on top of that, understand the common goal we're working on.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The only area of improvement would be to train all of their developers in social skills. We had some of them in our previous collaborations who were not so skilled socially, and that could generate a loss of time, which is our valuable asset.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm VP Growth at Spotsie. Spotsie is a startup for improving conferences by applying innovative IoT ideas to make life easier for both attendees and organizers. Lots of conferences today have mobile apps that eliminate the need for printed material by pushing schedule updates or important announcements. But for Spotsie, that was not enough. Envisioning how to help attendees meet each other by matching mutual interests, and how organizers could act on real-time reports on congestions of conference space, Spotsie architectured a Bluetooth-based beacon system to handle indoor attendee location.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire AGENCY04?

For the system to work, the conference mobile app needed super-easy onboarding and opt-in user profiles, while providing a seamless configuration of beacons that come with conference passes. The complication is, this had to work no matter which phone an attendee was using!

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a white-label, feature-rich event app that will improve the visiting experience by applying IoT technology and using Bluetooth devices – beacons.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We made a shortlist of companies, including AGENCY04, and provided requirements.

Describe the project in detail.

We started with discovery workshops and result was visual prototype and mockups by UX/UI design team and even a list of additional features. We were concerned our requirements would be difficult to understand but we were relieved to see that team understood the concept of the product quickly. The application was developed natively for both platforms, iOS and Android.

What was the team composition?

iOS team - Senior, Mid and Junior Developer, Android team - Senior Mid and Junior Developer, UI/UX Designer, Senior Fullstack Developer, Junior Frontend Developer, Mid Backend Developer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

MVP’s performance in real conference surroundings went smoothly. Ratings and adoption were high and users were engaged from the start to finish, which proves the simplicity and functionality of the app that is created by the highest world standards.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They were highly professional, always providing the best tech and innovative solutions, which is certainly desirable while developing such a complex and sophisticated product that needs to impress and engage users and provide them with exceptional UX.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

It was not just an Agile development of native apps. For the system to work, the mobile app had to have super-easy onboarding and had to have opt-in user profiles, while at the same time providing seamless configuration of beacons. Thanks to the AGENCY04 mobile team, their knowledge, skills, and dedication, this works beautifully.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The collaboration continues, the Spotsie team can’t imagine a better partner in developing such a complex and powerful product.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of custom software development and work in the near real-time sector for Končar. We primarily work for utility companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AG04?

We required help with two software development projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team is developing two custom software programs from scratch. Additionally, they’re testing the platforms for bugs and issues.

What is the team composition?

The AG04 team provides 3–4 dedicated individuals for our project.

How did you come to work with AG04?

I used my connections within my network and contacted several developers. After three months of research, I interviewed the entire AG04 team and chose them for the project.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $350,000 on the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in November 2017 and the project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The work they’ve produced completely satisfies our expectations.

How did AG04 perform from a project management standpoint?

To keep up with the fast nature of the project, we worked in the same location and formed strong connections. They have a solid, unique approach and our process is smooth because of it. Their team communicates with us daily through email and in-person meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We appreciate that the team has remained consistent throughout the project. They have a strong understanding of our needs because they’ve been involved since the beginning. They’re eager to learn from us and solve our issues creatively. Overall, they're a great team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There's nothing they could improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You can educate yourself about software development by working with AG04—they’re a strong team to learn from.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of StackState

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We're an observability company that provides software for business to increase the reliability of their mission critical applications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Notch to accomplish?

• Development of our frontend
• Development of our integrations into other IT platforms

SOLUTION

How did you find Notch?

Referral

Why did you select Notch over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fits our budget
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Notch were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

• The team has contributed to the development of our Agent, a small component of our platform that is harvesting observability telemetry. 
• The team is still contributing to our UI, the interface where our customers interact with.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We had very clear deliveries, and continuous evolvement of our product. The colleagues from the Notch team became a true integrated part of our development teams.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

They always deliver on time. Since they integrate entirely with our teams we work in the same way and philosophy.

What was your primary form of communication with Notch?

Virtual Meeting

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

The deep understanding of technology as well as their efforts to mentor people on their side as well.

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

Not that I can dream about.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Position: Scrum Product Owner Company: European-based technology group for construction services, with more than 75,000 employees.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Agency04?

To develop a custom we solution in Java and Angular.

What were your goals for this project?

A digital cockpit solution with access to relevant business and client data anytime from anywhere, via smartphone or tablet.

SOLUTION

How did you select Agency04?

Recommandation.

Describe the project in detail.

This Web application aggregates and visualizes data in real-time from 13 different ERP systems. Access is possible at any time from anywhere, including via smartphone or tablet. From quarries to landfills and from asphalt to concrete mixing plants, the app is used by a majority of building material production operations.

What was the team composition?

Two Frontend developers, two backend developers, one UI/UX Designer and one Quality Engineer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The application has been running for 2 years now and on a daily basis by hundreds of users use it in our company.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Although we work 100% remote and as a distrubuted team, communication has never been an issue, and we were are able to introduce a very effective workflow that we keep on improving.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Lots of very motivated and commited people, excellent know how and flexible when it comes to team constellations and distributed working.

Are there any areas for improvement?

All challenges our projects faced were solved together quickly!