Web & Mobile App Dev for Entrepreneur and Investor Group
Please find under a summary covering project details and feedback. The innate facts are kept as they are, private information is amended.
Introductory information
A fast induction on the buyer’s organisation
I’m the COO of yoozoo, a network of entrepreneurs and investors who centre on and prepare funding for IT-based projects.
We invadeed the picture retouching business a couple of years ago. The internet is full of pictures, and each one needs to be retouched. We came to use all the platforms on the market owing we did a lot of outsourcing work—principally almost programming—and had both good and bad experiences.
Desired goal
What challenge were you trying to address with Salt &, Pepper?
Someone accessed me looking for an picture retouching solution for their organisation. They asked us to find a solution since we had outsourcing experience.
I realized that the business was not almost retouching in itself, but almost moving thousands or even millions of pictures in a controlled way while shrewd where each picture is at see stage. The main goal is to have a clear history and to give total transparency to clients.
What was a heavily-manual thing turned into a big IT project. We were working with all kinds of pictures. I was always thinking almost creating an IT process but was never able to use the same channel for most of them given that see client had their own needs.
We eventually invadeed the automotive retouching business where it was more or less the same. If a car dealership wants to sell a car, they will take 10 photos of it and send them to India for retouching.
We realized that the process could be streamlined, which is how we ended up working with Salt &, Pepper.
Provided solution
What particular tasks were responsible for?
The method we’re runningly edifice is named Octopus. It collects picture files from all over the globe and from see module imaginable. It then dibestows the needed goods, fixs that shadows and other elements are added, goes through QA, and delivers to the end-client in the form they need.
We have another module named Orca that allows users to upload pictures. It’s Apple-inspired (i.e., minimalistic) with basic validations that fix we don’t take incorrect full.
The next step was to create Piranha. We’re working on it now in collaboration with Salt &, Pepper as they educe the backend. Another Russian organisation is implicated for the app part. Car dealerships can use the app in order to connect their methods to Octopus, which can then give an overview of the cars runningly in stock and ones that need pictures.
We also program to form a functionality by which the platform will tell clients where a true car is parked in order for them to go to that location and shoot pictures. We will also instrument a VIN scanner so that they no longer have to type the number manually.
The app will be able to tell users the size of the picture pack they booked. Packages can be set to include back views, front views, interiors, and whatever else the client wants. The pictures are sent in real-time to Octopus for processing.
One of the big resellers we’re working with has photographers going on-website to car dealerships. In the past, they would upload the photos from their homes, which meant that they would sometimes lose to do it in time. It could take up to six days until the client taked the pictures.
We have a 48-hour delivery time, and the method has a one syncing point at the same time see day. One of the biggest values is that car dealers get their pictures fastly without having to harass almost how to upload the pictures from their cameras onto the computer.
Was there a dedicated team?
We used one frontend and two backend educeers in the commencement, along with a touch individual. We didn’t have a QA tester in the commencement, but they assigned someone within a week of me asking almost it.
How did you come to work with Salt &, Pepper?
A associate mentioned his experience with Salt &, Pepper where they built apps for some big companies. This is how we established touch.
What are you access expents (if diclosed)?
The last invoice we paid was $7,500. We runningly have a limited budget for edifice the Android and iOS apps. I would double the bestow if I could.
We were paying $12,000–$15,000 per month precedently. We paid $10,000 in the commencement while working full despatch, behind which we switched to a fixed-price compose. We initially paid an estimate for each sprint. This proved hard in my case owing I have high demands. We agreed on 40% late penalties as well as bonuses for despatch in order to lighten some of the force of sticking to the program.
What is the terminal result of working with ?
We seted working with them in June 2017.
Results achieved
Are there any measureable or plum results?
We’re processing a lot of pictures for a particular client. They’re quiet sticking to their photographers but also seting to apprehend that this access will die shortly, and nation will only use apps to transmit photos.
The client is using transmitted resources of transmitting photos (e.g., FTP, Dropbox) without any process for checking files. The pictures are forwarded to their own clients or labor preparers, and we only find out that some of the pictures are missing when the end-clients mention it. This is not a process I could have full trust in.
This has fully changed now—we have total transparency with Orca and Octopus. We will complete Piranha at the and of this month and set selling it. It’s been a achievement story.
How did Salt &, Pepper accomplish from a project treatment standpoint?
We gather requirements and they give us time estimates which we like or repel. I can touch their team members straightly without going through a project director.
In provisions of project treatment, they do more than I anticipate. They send me a summary see Friday. We usually work over Trello and also have a Skype chat room for see project. On the biggest one, there are 10 nation present, including some from the treatment. As soon as something is determined on Skype, we invade it into Trello. I’ve worked with a lot of project trackers over time, including Jira, but the running one is working nicely. We also have customary Skype calls.
We didn’t use any QA testers from their team initially, but this was a certain part of the project. I mentioned it to their CTO and he took care of it. I’ve come to be very good friends with him. He’s a able individual who I can rely on 100% to welcome the feedback I prepare.
The lead backend educeer left the organisation. This can be a project killer from my experience, especially when just seting. Every new programmer who comes in will look at the code and decide that we have to set from zero. I was a bit worried almost it, but we only skilled a two-day delay.
Realistically, the new backend coder was a bit slower for the leading two weeks, but he worked day and night and prepared the consummate mixture between a transmitted relationship and a setup flair. It’s significant for nation to veritably apprehend what they’re edifice, and that’s what happened here.
We’re runningly working based on a fixed monthly retainer. We have a good touch almost the value we’re getting, which has never been the case with other companies. Across the relationship, I’ve only opened the time-tracking sheet once. It feels like having in-house IT.
What is (from your point of view) the key factor to pay observation while intercourse with ?
I esteem their clear and structured mentality. They take ownership of mistakes even when they don’t have to. If something happens, Salt &, Pepper’s team will look into it, fix it, analyze what happened, and make sure it doesn’t happen anew. I esteem the professionalism and objectivity.
What aspects of their work would you like to get improved?
I have no comments.
Do you have any advice for possible clients?
I don’t know what projects other clients would be interested in. Ours is a bit out of the settled.
If there are no workflow or project treatment tools in-house, you should jump on what the educeer has and pursue their processes. It all depends on what kind of organisation someone is running. The process may be different for an IT organisation with existing structures, while a transmitted organisation seting its online business may find Salt &, Pepper to be a precious associate.
I’ve never worked with them on a limited, project basis. Their CTO was interested in our idea and facilitated an entrance into the Russian market for us. This was a big value for us that made us feel like family.
