eEngine Software House

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Ferax is a large company in central Poland that serves fashion manufacturing and retail companies. I set up an e-commerce store.

What challenge were you trying to address with eEngine Software House?

We were searching for a business partner, not just a development team.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They were responsible for setting up the infrastructure between our ERP and CRM systems, while creating the entire e-commerce store.

We had to integrate the systems, create the e-commerce platform, and manage it. Their framework uses multiple technologies, including JavaScript, CSS, and PHP. It’s their own technology, not an open system. They combined a bit of everything to build our platform.

Although we had previously been struggling, the website’s design took maybe five days with their help. Their graphic designer talked with my fashion industry designers and communicated our ideas to the developers.

Our chief technology officer had a lot of questions and wanted to develop a link between our ERP, CRM, and e-commerce store. Our ERP is Microsoft Dynamics. We use mainly the Microsoft software in the entire company.

They found a specialist who solved the e-commerce problem and helped redesign the link between the systems. It took him hours to make it smoother, faster, and more efficient.

He was astounding. They have great people. If they’re not delivering what we expect, they can bring in new amazing people from the IT industry that we would never find. As a software house, they have access to dozens of people with narrow specializations.

What is the team composition?

They have a core team of 15 developers but bring on additional people (such as graphic designers) when needed.

How did you come to work with eEngine Software House?

For six months, I searched for a company that worked with Magento, open source software, and dedicated platforms. I chose them because we don’t need to explain much to them, just give them a development plan. Although we use normal language, they easily understand what I want and value. That is amazing.

Other agencies used a queue method. If I wanted to change something, I would need to jump into the queue and wait weeks for them to begin development. eEngine Software House can implement a new system or marketing platform within 24 hours. Since e-commerce is very volatile, that was important to me. Sometimes content works for a month or two; sometimes, other tools are better.

How much have you invested with them?

$337,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2014 and the work is ongoing.

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

When I came to the company, the e-commerce store was terrible. Its annual revenue was $200,000. Three and a half years after we started, we closed the year with $4 million in revenue. They did a great job.

How did eEngine Software House perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re fantastic from a Polish point of view. From an American point of view, I give them a 7.5. They use Trello and Excel. Everything is detailed, but they could improve a bit. If I were a different client, I’d opt for another project management software.

At one point they hired a new account manager. After three weeks of cooperation, it wasn’t working. I told them, and within 24 hours a new manager was assigned to my project. They respond very quickly. If we don’t like someone or the style of the cooperation is inadequate, they make changes right away. Their speed in finding solutions is amazing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Everyone on the team understands how important the job is. Our website is well-known in Poland and is visited by 18,000 people every day. Over three-and-a-half years, we have had two problems that brought the website down for about two hours.

They’re very collaborative and motivated, and they never put off a problem. They’re a great team from a small town. Rather than expanding to hundreds of developers, they prefer to stay the way they are. They are large enough to have access to prominent developers but small enough that everyone knows each other.

They included the human factor. Rather than seeing problems, they see opportunities to develop their own system. That was one of the main reasons behind our decision to work with them. Whenever I send them a large email about changes I need, they get excited about it.

Their communication and delivery are fantastic. They’re flexible with payment and understand our fluctuating revenue. They’re great engineers, great managers, and great human beings. I consider them my business partners. Our e-commerce store wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I can’t expect software engineers to perfectly understand the very small e-commerce fashion niche. They’re very unique. As we developed the website, I had to give them very detailed specifications. When I do that, they deliver. They couldn’t do any more than they’ve already done.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Choose the communication platform that you’re going to use. If you’re creating e-commerce, Trello is enough. If you are a giant company, Trello won’t be able to accommodate everyone.

Provide very detailed specifications of the work. Know what you want. Their team can advise you on the backend and IT development, but not on content.

They’re not cool, preppy fashion designers, but they will do exactly what you expect them to do. Don’t expect that they’ll create a perfect platform. From 1-10, it’ll be a six. The customer must specifically understand what they are searching for.