Alexander Zaychuk

KindGeek developed transit management optimization software. They built the system in Java and worked with microservices. They also used AWS data processing.

Feedback summary

The system received positive feedback from the customer and the end user. They're a flexible team who can scale their resource commitment as needed, and they deliver on short deadlines.

Challenge

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CTO of a consulting firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with KindGeek?

I was looking for a contractor to help us. We had growth in the company and attracted new contracts and new customers. We were growing so quickly that we couldn’t cover all of our programming needs with our own in-house resources and we needed additional help.

Solution

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our system optimizes transportation routes. It essentially finds the optimized way to lower customer traffic for the cruise lines at the harbor where the cruise starts and also the harbor where the cruise ends. Cruise lines usually have thousands of people that arrive at the harbor at the appropriate time, and the agency books not only single seats for flights but also the entire airplane or the airline for specific dates such as a charter and things like that. This should be optimized years ahead of time, which is quite complicated.

We used AWS data processing with the logic covering optimization routes. The main technology that we used was Java Enterprise Edition with everything based on microservices.

KindGeek has also worked on smaller projects for us.

What is the team composition?

We had a team of six to eight people. From milestone to milestone, we had to change the team as the logic within the project changed. Sometimes we would need more resources from them as more parts needed to be developed on the backend, and sometimes we had to reduce our resources when only frontend development was needed.

How did you come to work with KindGeek?

I was born in Ukraine and I have a lot of connections there. Their team was recommended to me.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with KindGeek in November 2017 and the work is still ongoing.

Results & Feedback

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s natural to find bugs in any kind of software project, but those we found were minor. We didn’t have any conflicts, and we made all the necessary changes after testing.

Our end customer was also satisfied and they added new functionalities and increased the scope. KindGeek did a very good job and I am very satisfied with the cooperation with them.

How did KindGeek perform from a project management standpoint?

I didn’t have any problems. From a project management perspective, I think they have a reliable team. They were really flexible, and I am really happy that they could provide us with that type of support.

There were situations where we had to change some functionalities and this meant changing the development or rolling something back, and KindGeek’s management was very responsive. They reacted very quickly, and if we needed to scale up in order to meet the milestones, they also provided us with developers.

I felt comfortable receiving reports so that I could control the budget. I always have a contact person who provides me with daily information from the team. I never needed to talk to a separate developer.

This has been very good for me because I could control the development of my smartphone. I didn’t need to write many emails, and the information was short, correct, and quick, which is something I liked.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I had experience with other providers, and sometimes we ended up breaking our contract. The difference with KindGeek is that they are a young group of people who are open and reactive. They were much quicker than other providers, which I liked. When I receive an urgent need from my customer, I know I can ask them to provide me with additional help by the next morning and they will deliver.

In comparison to other competitors, I am glad their team is very organized and reactive to modern tools. Some of the other contractors I have worked with were slower and a bit more old school.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’m completely satisfied.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise anyone to work with them.