Scalefocus

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder | CEO of Bedrock Learning

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Bedrock helps schools build subject vocabulary, strengthen reading and deliver whole-school literacy across academic subjects.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• To rebuild our platform into a modern, impactful architecture.

SOLUTION

How did you find Scalefocus?

Online Search

Why did you select Scalefocus over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Scalefocus were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Our partnership with ScaleFocus is an ongoing and highly valued collaboration supporting the development of the next generation of the Bedrock platform. ScaleFocus provides dedicated backend, frontend, and UX/UI capability, working as an integrated extension of our internal product and engineering teams. Together, we are building a modern, scalable learning platform designed to deliver personalised learning experiences for students while providing powerful tools for teachers and school leaders.

The team operates within our agile delivery model, collaborating seamlessly alongside our internal team. This has enabled consistent progress while maintaining strong alignment with our product vision and technical architecture.

ScaleFocus has played a key role in delivering core functionality across several major platform services, including the Learning Experience, Student Service, Staff Service, and Reporting Service. These services are being developed within a modern microservice architecture designed to support scalability, maintainability, and future platform growth.

In addition to engineering capacity, ScaleFocus provides our UX/UI capability and works directly with the product team to translate requirements into clear, intuitive user experiences. Their design work has been exceptional, helping to create a modern, accessible platform that aligns closely with our brand and product requirements while ensuring usability across both student and staff-facing features.

This has included the successful design and implementation of complex interaction flows, such as school organisation management, where clarity and usability are critical for school administrators. The team has consistently demonstrated strong attention to detail, balancing technical constraints with thoughtful design to ensure workflows remain simple and intuitive for users.

Key deliverables to date include production-ready microservices, frontend application components, UX/UI design systems and prototypes, and the ongoing delivery of new platform functionality through agile sprint cycles.

ScaleFocus continues to be a trusted partner in the development of Bedrock’s next-generation platform, bringing strong technical expertise, high-quality design capability, and a collaborative approach that has been instrumental in moving the project forward.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We now have a mission-critical platform that supports learners’ literacy development and reduces dependence on a legacy system that could limit growth.

Adaptive learning paths and next-step recommendations are now supported by the product foundation, making personalized learning a core capability rather than a future roadmap item.

We achieved great satisfaction with Scalefocus’s external engineering support, and we greatly enjoy the smoother collaboration and higher delivery trust compared to prior vendors.

During internal pre-screenings in schools, where parts of the system were presented and tested, we received very positive feedback. We were especially pleased with the new UI and UX, which were thoughtfully designed to be accessible and usable for children with disabilities.

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

We ran the project using an Agile approach, with regular planning, clear priorities, and frequent check-ins that kept delivery aligned to what we needed. The Scalefocus team responded quickly to changes and new requirements, adapting without friction as our needs evolved. They worked as a genuine extension of our internal team, and the 

Collaboration was professional and dependable throughout. The delivery process felt controlled and predictable, and we remained confident in progress and outcomes.

What was your primary form of communication with Scalefocus?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

What impressed us most about Scalefocus was the caliber of its team and the depth of its engineering capabilities. They did not simply deliver features against a specification. They took the time to understand what we needed and then shaped the work around outcomes that mattered to us. The team has shown strong ownership from day one, keeping execution smooth, and it has helped maintain focus when priorities shifted. Just as important, the cultural fit was genuinely strong, so collaboration felt natural. 

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

As with any new partnership, there was an initial ramp-up period while the teams aligned on processes, domain knowledge, and ways of working. However, this was handled professionally, and once alignment was established, delivery became smooth and predictable.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of TerraQuest, a software engineering company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Scalefocus?

We needed to build extra capacity to deliver a planning application submission platform that could be used across England and Wales. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Scalefocus provides us with development resources, including back- and frontend developers, to augment the scrum teams building our web-based platform. Those teammates are tasked with supporting our development sprints and delivering several user stories per sprint. We haven’t provided Scalefocus with any wireframe and didn’t need their design services because we already had a UX/UI team on board. 

What is the team composition?

We work with seven teammates from Scalefocus, including a delivery manager and six full stack developers.

How did you come to work with Scalefocus?

I found Scalefocus on LinkedIn through an intermediary. Scalefocus seemed capable of providing a variety of development resources we needed. Their team was right regarding partnership expectations, company culture, and development approach. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested £200,000–£250,000 (approximately $260,000–$330,000 USD) with Scalefocus. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with Scalefocus began in August 2021, and it’s ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Scalefocus has delivered exactly what we need from them and ensured we went live on time. Since they were working within our team, I don’t have any specific metrics that can be specifically attributed to their work. However, 365 local authorities and 80,000 additional users, including architects, planners, and the general public, are currently utilizing the platform. 

How did Scalefocus perform from a project management standpoint?

Overall, the project management was good, although we did have some initial challenges regarding team workflow. We use Azure DevOps to manage work and Miro for project planning. We also use SonarCloud, SonarQube, and an external partner to audit and QA our technology stacks. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Scalefocus is mindful of how they can improve our engagement and the quality of work they’re providing us. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve had some challenges fitting together culturally, so we’ve been having conversations about bringing in more capable communicators. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d advise customers to implement a strong onboarding model to ensure they get the best out of the partnership with Scalefocus. We treat each resource as if they’re a new employee, which has been fundamental to our success.  

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm Managing director of a leading messaging solutions and CPaaS provider in Europe

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

In 2020 in the middle of covid crisis and uncertain strategy execution we needed a fast and professional support from developers and solution architects helping us going forward with our plans to develop our own messaging platform in .NET. We selected Scalefocus as our partner to help us with the solution architecture and build 2 development teams for the execution of complex goals both in backend and frontend.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We approached them by reputation on Bulgarian IT industry and considered them along with 4 other vendors. The most important for us was the demonstration of technical expertise and resource potential, their solution orientated approach, smooth communication and flexibility. During the negotiation process they demonstrated experience, understanding of our necessities and flexible approach. They offered a well-thought solution.

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

Scalefocus has built several dedicated software development teams, delivering end-to-end solutions on various projects for us. These include providing high value-added services and feature implementation in the areas of business logic, telecom messaging services and standards, banking and third-party system integrations, API gateway solutions and others.

Scalefocus’ engineering teams are involved across the entire lifecycle of feature and functionality implementation – from discovery and analysis, through planning, delivery, support on production, ensuing microservice and multitenancy architectures and high-throughput. The majority of the team are engaged with .Net based technologies, SQL databases, non-relational Data Bases like Mondo DB and Redis DB, Azure DevOps, Git repositories, cloud agnostic technologies like Kubernetes, Docker, Logical Aps, Webjobs, Azure SQL, Network security, implementing CI/CD pipelines for deployment.

In addition, Scalefocus have several teams engaged with implementing PHP and JAVA based solutions with Java EE, PHP, Linux, CentOS, Puppet, Elasticsearch/Kibana, Jenkins, Bitbucket, Scripting, Icinga and DockerSwarm.

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

Scalefocus’ dedicated teams consist of 12+ software engineers and consultants, delivering solutions for several divisions in different countries. The teams are led by 2 system architects, being responsible for discovery and research phases, proof of concepts, documentation preparation, company-wide guidelines for monitoring and logs implementation, security and system integrations. The remaining consultants are implementing end-to-end features and functionalities across the technological stack described above.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Because of our partnership with Scalefocus we were able to staff new operational teams 2 times faster than our plan. Those teams delivered 10 epics from 4 initiatives from our roadmap within numerous releases in 6 months.

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

The management from their side has been always very flexible, customer-oriented and tailored to our needs. They always found solutions for us and communicated over the channels of our convenience. They always delivered to their commitments or found compensation methods in unexpected situations.

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

During our continuing partnership, we received an excellent service tailored to meet our challenges and specifics. Scalefocus always responds to our requests in a timely manner. The consultants provided are of high quality – the needed level of specific technical knowledge and experience in a variety of software development areas that allows them to rapidly grasp the project requirements, offer and build solutions. In addition, they are also very flexible and motivated to join or form an effective team and quickly start to deliver on commitments.

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

Can't think of such.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Evtim Arsov and as Head of IT. I have lead operations and the digital transformation of the UPS InTime in Bulgaria for the past 19 years. I have always been passionate about streamlining business processes into simple and efficient IT solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ScaleFocus?

Scale Focus was selected to create a variety of technological solutions especially tailored for the needs of our company. We were experiencing severe problems with our legacy systems. They were operating at increasing costs while KPIs were not met. As a company which deals with transportation of items of various shapes, sizes and level of fragility, it was important for us to have a system which helps us take care of all aspects simultaneously. Hence, Scale Focus became our partner and stepped into this exciting project.

What were your goals for this project?

Ultimately, we were aiming at increasing our market share by extending our presence in the B2B and B2C segments. We wanted to enhance all our processes and interactions with key business customers. We targeted an improvement of the quality of courier services and customer satisfaction and loyalty. We realized that we would need a custom-made solution as we wanted to keep our designated business processes. We were also focused on automating our largest part of the shipment management process.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We’ve had previous experience with software partners, who were not able to properly complete their assignments and did not understand our needs. Our team was looking for a solid partner which incorporates dedication and precision into their work. We researched various options, but eventually Scale Focus stood out as our premium choice. Despite being then recently established, Scale Focus demonstrated very effectively their aim for meticulousness.

While working with Scale Focus on the implementation of our core logistics ERP – Focus Courier, we witnessed the diligence, reliability and congruence of their team. Still we were also considering and vetting other vendors to make sure we make the most feasible decision for our business. As our research and vetting process was progressing and we came to choose between two options, Scale Focus was the definite leader in all fields.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Focus Courier is a system which integrates all front-office, back-office and logistics operations. It automates our core processes. The platform is web-based and automates the processing of bills, lading, tracking, invoicing and reporting of orders. Additionally, Focus Courier provides a generic web-services module and easily integrates with 3rd party software systems to streamline the overall business process within the organization. It supports interfacing portable devices like handhelds, smartphones and tablets for facilitating the mobile workforce.

“My InTime” is an interactive, flexible, b2b self-care portal which provides InTime’s services to end customers. It enables customers to book a courier, track packages, manage invoices and payments, generate bills of lading and also import orders from files generated by 3rd party systems. Scale Focus developed a custom solution to fit our needs. It is an end-to-end solution with audit and testing of the information security and IT infrastructure we are using for it including validation of procedures and control mechanisms related to data access, load testing, auditing of network security, penetration and vulnerability testing, procedures for change management, physical access and accident recovery.

Scale Focus also had the opportunity to supply In Time Ltd with high-tech professional and consulting services – including business analysis, technical analysis, documenting requirements, delivery, installation, putting hardware and system software into operation, project creation, modelling, development, integration and software testing, creation of project documentation, training and warranty and post-warranty support. When it came to the development of functionalities and their implementation, Scale Focus made sure that there are code reviews, status report preparation and test cases.

What was the team composition?

Through different stages of development the size varied, but always had a business analysts who were transforming our business needs to technical requirements and specifications. There was a team leader, software engineers and quality assurance team from Scale Focus. As we are into maintenance mode we have a team, focused on new functionality as well as a software support team. Scale Focus is also assisting us with the required software infrastructure in terms of monitoring, configurations and optimization.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were very pleased with the result. As we deal exclusively with transportation, we value optimization and improved quantitative estimation as these affect directly us and our clients. After the introduction of Focus Courier, our yearly revenue increased by 14%. Moreover, both our employees and clients benefit from the new system which is user-friendly and ensures a pleasant experience.

Additionally, the deployment of MyInTime drastically increased customer satisfaction by introducing a number new features, improving existing ones and reducing the time and effort needed to book a courier. Internally it reduces the time needed to process orders which in term leads to reduced costs and better performance.

Furthermore, MyInTime was integrated with Focus Courier, which streamlines customer information and provides better overview and opportunity to analyze client behavior patterns in order to improve current services. Eventually, we were able to use a set of various solutions, integrated by Scale Focus with our core and b2b self-care platforms to drive our business forward. We optimized our human capacity as orders were automated. This allowed us to focus our employees on more high value added tasks.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Scale Focus displayed high level of professionalism and effective style of work in management, delivery, integration and support of complex information systems. Scale Focus proved that the company has highly qualified professionals and a very competent managerial team, which took part in all phases of the project. Executive management attention was always there when needed in key milestones of the project, including consultancy for external than our relationship services.

Once we presented our idea and objectives to ScaleFocus, they started planning and executing immediately. They were constantly communicating how the project was developing throughout the different stages. We were able to coordinate our actions, and the final products have been working impeccably since day one.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Our partnership with ScaleFocus dates back to the period when they were freshly founded. In spite of the being new in the field, their professionalism and attention to detail were on a premium level. They managed to see all potential hurdles along the line of the development process and act accordingly so that we overcome them efficiently. They also finalized their tasks in a timely, concise and competent manner.

After the successful completion of this project, Scale Focus became a preferred and long-term partner in the field of development, delivery and support of software systems and customized IT solutions.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The project was executed using a conservative plan-driven (waterfall) methodology. Although this gave us ease in overall budget planning and expenditure control we had to sacrifice agility in the overall scope. Especially during the first phases of execution it would have been better for both sides to test a more iterative development approach.

Thankfully our team and the project team of Scale Focus were able to transition from a plan driven to a full agile delivery process in the after the release of the first version of the system. Thanks to this we are now able to enhance the system and implement new features and functionality much faster than before.

Additionally, I would have given more stress on mutually defining KPIs to meet together. KPIs, which are crucial to our business and which can be correlated to changes in our systems. This, however, comes with trust, which we have now built, but as a new relationship could not afford based on previous engagements we’ve had with others.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

UPC is the largest cable network operator in Switzerland. Nearly 1.5 million customers place their trust in our various products for television, Internet, telephony, and mobile services. Since late 2014, UPC has offered their customers Switzerland’s biggest free Wi-Fi network, giving them the opportunity to browse the web at around 500,000 locations in the country and over six million in Europe free of charge.

I’m the digital marketing manager of the company. With my expertise and innovative and energetic personality, I’m constantly open to give my best to UPC next-level digital world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ScaleFocus?

UPC’s B2B marketing unit is pushing hard to update and transform the digital B2B portal to make its service offerings more transparent and easy to navigate for the different target groups. Our company needed a mature and reliable partner to escape quality degradation and the poor timeline execution issues we faced with freelance and other partners regarding the digital B2B portal.

What were your goals for this project?

One of the key requirements that UPC looked for in the new partner was the ability to steer delivery output instead of delivery capacity and bring in fresh ideas, UI/UX best practices, and telecommunications domain expertise.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

ScaleFocus was chosen as a partner for this initiative because they were a perfect match for the above-stated requirements.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

To begin, ScaleFocus’ team visited the UPC premises in Zurich to set up the project, meet the key stakeholders, and discuss business requirements and the roadmap for 2017 and beyond.

ScaleFocus was tasked with transforming the frontend for UPC Switzerland’s entire B2B portfolio. They worked with an agile methodology and quick release cycles, so we had something to implement every week. This also facilitated early user feedback and continuous QA.

The solution is based on top-notch UX practices, particularly regarding the content, structure, and flow of the main page and all sub-pages, the main and sub-navigations, and product categories and product detail pages. ScaleFocus’ experts work with technologies and software languages such as Adobe Experience Manager, HTML5, CSS2, CCS3, jQuery, JavaScript.

What was the team composition?

At the heart of the team is a project manager that’s also a senior UI/UX consultant, who acts as a single point of contact for all UPC stakeholders. She covers multiple roles from taking care of overall engagement supervision, main communication, escalation channels, and key knowledge build-up of the ScaleFocus team by regularly visiting stakeholders at UPC premises. She also manages the backlog and acts as the lead developer of the team.

Other team members include a UI/UX designer as well as QA specialists that perform early design test cases and validate functionalities before user acceptance testing. Also, part of their work includes end-to-end testing against functional and business requirements specifications.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

ScaleFocus’ work did accelerate our scope analysis validation process and the prioritization of our requirements, leading to faster release cycles, early feedback, improvements, and pivots in the newly implemented digital assets. Also, by providing a dedicated team, ScaleFocus’ specialists can provide flexible budgeting for UPC.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Thanks to ScaleFocus’ experience in delivering advanced nearshore services and managing such engagements, we were able to quickly gain velocity and build a distributed team comprised of UPC and ScaleFocus members. Communication is always direct and open, which helps us quickly build trust and cooperation on both sides.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their developers and designers demonstrated an outstanding level of professionalism and in-depth knowledge of UI/UX development. We’ve had a positive experience of working with ScaleFocus’ team. Professionalism and outstanding results are intrinsic parts of their performance.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We’re very happy with the entire engagement. Their team in Bulgaria has shown to us that the work ethic there is probably the closest one to Switzerland when comparing to other nearshore destinations like Portugal or Poland.