Steelkiwi by Globaldev Reviews & Company Profile

Steelkiwi provides full-cycle software development services, helping businesses address their technology needs. We have expertise in different industries, but our key directions are:

Locations

Ukraine

Odessa, Ukraine Odessa, Ukraine, Odessa, Odessa 65000

+1 415 449 8696

United States

Steelkiwi Inc. Alameda de las Pulgas, Belmont, California 94002

Focus Areas

Service Focus

Mobile App Development
Web Development
App Designing (UI/UX)
Web Designing (UI/UX)
Testing Services

Client Focus

Small Business

Industry Focus

Healthcare & Medical
Transportation & Logistics
Retail

Steelkiwi by Globaldev Executive Interview

Please introduce your company and give a brief about your role within the company?

Headquartered in Ukraine, Steelkiwi is a US full-stack software agency, offering mobile and web development services. I co-founded Steelkiwi with Anton Baterikov in 2011, positioning Steelkiwi as a Python/Django web development company. We formed a mobile app department in 2012 and things really took off. Now, Steelkiwi has 4 major departments: web development, mobile development, quality assurance (QA), and graphic design department.

While Anton is responsible for all technical aspects, I manage non-technical teams such as sales, marketing, and HR departments. My job is to manage and improve the company’s internal processes, analyze clients’ feedback, and make sure our infrastructure is convenient for clients and employees alike.

What was the idea behind starting this organization?

We wanted to offer an alternative to PHP and chose Python/Django as the foundation for our web development services. Being different from PHP development companies, allowed us to offer something new to our customers. We wanted to deliver high-quality products in a time-efficient way so going with python made a lot of sense. One more good thing for us is that today when data analysis and machine learning becomes an essential part of all big products, Python stack gives us all the power we need.

The industry has changed a lot and we therefore no longer focus only on the technology side of our solutions. Instead, we try to deliver meaningful value to our customers by using our technical experience as well as market expertise. At present, we’re building on our expertise in healthcare and restaurant technologies.

What are your company’s business model–in house team or third party vendors/outsourcing?

We have an in-house team and we run projects from two offices located in Odessa and Vinnitsa. Making a leap into the future, we plan on opening one more office in Kiev.

How is your business model beneficial from a value addition perspective to the clients compared to other companies' models?

Our primary focus is valuable and qualitative products that meet our client's business goals, make a positive impact on their business and give the possibility to predict ROI.

We achieve it through excellent communication, reliable technology, and project management. We follow the consultative approach while proposing a solution, not just code written. Therefore, along with classic engagement models such as project-based work and outstaffing, we offer the product development approach. Such type of cooperation means the Steelkiwi team is involved in the marketing and business sides of the future product, taking into account common goals (shared among our client’s team and the Steelkiwi team) and KPIs.

What industries do you generally cater to? Are your customers repetitive? If yes, what ratio of clients has been repetitive to you?

Some industries we cater to include healthcare (multichannel patient communication, clinical pathway management, schedule management, and online doctor apps), the restaurant industry (table booking, self-ordering kiosks, food delivery, pre-ordering, and loyalty apps). Also, we have experience in developing employment-oriented software, education platforms, location-based solutions, travel apps, and entertainment apps.

In terms of categories, we have expertise in building on-demand services, social networking apps, content and media focused solutions, and online marketplaces to connect businesses with clients.

Speaking of return customers, we do have them. When a client returns to us, they usually want to add new features or build a brand new product. The ratio fluctuates year after year because you can never predict whether a return customer may need something again.

Mention the objectives or the parameters critical in determining the timeframe of developing a mobile app. The feature set?

Generally, clients touch base with us to develop a mobile app from the ground up. Other than that, our clients want to improve their existing product or finish it in the case when they aren’t satisfied with their current software service provider.
Considering the above two scenarios, the timeframe always varies.

First of all, we prioritize features for the product from most to least important. Based on this, we decide on the stages of development. This allows us to release a product which comprises the most crucial functionality to the market ASAP.

To sum up, the timeframe depends on the project’s complexity, its features, and whether or not there’s the legacy code. Additionally, we try to evaluate the risks related to third-party integrations like connecting to uncommon payment gateways or tax services.

How much effort in terms of time goes into developing the frontend and backend of a mobile app?

Truth be told, there’s no solid answer to how much time it can take to build a mobile app. Every project is unique and requirements are usually different. A client may want an app with only a few basic features or they may want to include a GPS functionality or real-time data synchronization that require a complex backend infrastructure. The time will much depend on the type of an app the client is building and it’s business logic. Speaking about native app development, I’d say that it may take up 400 to 700 hours to build an iOS app and 500 to 800 hours to build an Android app. But again it’s just a rough estimate.

What are the key parameters to be considered before selecting the right platform for a mobile application?

Of course, choosing the right platform is essential. First of all, you should interview your potential users and find out how they’re going to interact with your app. To do so, you need to describe your startup idea to your target users. You can also ask them how and when they interact with similar existing apps. This will help you create the UX/UI design that’s logical and interactive.

Once you’re done with your target audience, you need to define your target location. This will help you determine which devices dominate the market. The ultimate goal of the app and whether it’s free or not drives the choice of the platform. For instance, iOS users tend to pay for apps they use whereas Android users are likely to download free apps. Finally, you need to make sure your objectives align with your budget frame.

What’s more, if you plan on integrating your app with third-party devices, you should study which platform offers better accuracy and ease of integration. You could always go with cross-platform development if you want to kill two birds with one shot. But everything really comes down to your users and the money you’re ready to spend.

Which platform do you suggest your clients to begin with when they approach you with an idea (Android or iOS) and why?

Usually, our clients have a specific platform in mind. In case when they’re not sure and seek our advice, we analyze the market they want to launch before suggesting the best option. However, if we see that the client can have a larger market share, by going with both platforms, we suggest they build for iOS and Android both. If a client wants to target both iOS and Android users, but the budget or time is an issue for them, we offer cross-platform development with Flutter.

Android or iOS, Native or Hybrid — which platform is best to use to build your app? What are your recommendations?

You must be clear about your objectives and functionality you want to power your app with, that’s number one. Then, you should also bear in mind that Android has a larger market share, compared to iOS. iOS dominates in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and Western Europe, whereas Android is popular in Central and South America, Africa, China, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and some other countries. So you should definitely take into account the demographics.

If time is not an issue and you’re not pressured to launch ASAP, go for native app development. Native applications perform well, offer excellent security, and UX. If you want to launch faster, you could go with hybrid app development. With hybrid apps, you get the source code with a native wrapper which allows you to capture web and mobile users alike. However, hybrid apps limit users in terms of functionality available on the web. So you need to think about whether you’re ready to sacrifice some features which are not essential for your user journey when accessing your app via a mobile device.

What are the key factors that you consider before deciding the cost of a mobile application?

In most cases, we rely on the number of features and the complexity of design to determine the cost of a mobile application. Additionally, we try to delineate the risks in regard to development which tend to influence the mobile app cost.

What kind of payment structure do you follow to bill your clients? Is it Pay per Feature, Fixed Cost, Pay per Milestone (could be in phases, months, versions etc.)

We usually keep to the three models. The first one is the “time and material” model. After receiving a request from the client, we start finding out the details (if there is no option to extract the scope of work). We write down detailed functional and technical requirements and assign developers to a project. We charge clients a set price per hour of work.

The sister model of the “time and material” is when we fix a team, let’s say 5 people, and charge a set price for their full-time workload.

The third “fixed price” model is built upon estimation. To define the total development cost, we write project requirements and create UX/UI design, which helps us figure out the number of hours needed to implement all features. According to this estimation, we tell our clients how much the development will cost. Any requests or improvements estimated by the team and approved by the client will require an additional charge.

In our billing, we try to be as transparent as possible, providing regular reports to our clients.

Do you take in projects which meet your basic budget requirement? If yes, what is the minimum requirement? If no, on what minimum budget you have worked for?

It’s hard to say in numbers what the minimum budget is. We analyze the functionality our client wants to include and offer different ways of implementation. Products vary, and so do their minimum budgets. The main point here is this: the minimum budget should cover expenses on a high-quality product comprising a set of features that meet the needs of the target audience.

What is the price range (min and max) of the projects that you catered to in 2019?

In 2019, the projects we worked on were worth $25,000 and above. Some projects were really big and the price range went up to more than $150,000.

Which business model do you suggest to your clients enabling them to generate revenue from mobile applications? Why?

Everything depends on the app business model and market, which the app is targeting. We always analyze competitors and offer relevant recommendations. It can be a subscription-based model, revenue through advertising, or it can be a paid app.

It’s essential to understand why users are going to use our product and the value our solution delivers. Once we’ve analyzed users’ pains and gains, we offer monetization model that best suits our client’s app.

Kindly share your feedback on how GoodFirms has been doing so far in increasing your visibility among potential clients.

Since the time our company is featured on GoodFirms, we’ve had 900 people visit our website. Out of these 900 visitors, we’ve had 70 leads.

Steelkiwi by Globaldev Clients & Portfolios

View Portfolio

European fast food restaurant chain

Our client from a fast food restaurant chain decided to change the business logic of their loyalty system in Europe. Previously, every European country fast food restaurant operated in had its own app for its loyalty program, with unique offers and discounts. But as the number of restaurants started to grow, it became challenging to manage all of these apps. This is why top managers decided to develop a single app for the entire European market.

In close cooperation with our client’s development team, we created a loyalty app for iOS and Android that caters to European users.

We built native Android and iOS apps. We used Kotlin for Android development and followed clean architecture principles. For the iOS app, we used Swift and implemented a service-oriented architecture.

Implemented features

Login
Invite friends
Pre-order food
Offer details
Digital loyalty card
Find the nearest restaurant
Customize orders
History

Web App

View Portfolio

Australian advisory company

Our client is an Australian firm that advises on investments, retirement and wealth management, estate management, income and cashflow strategies, insurance and lending, and portfolio construction. The company has 300 advisors serving more than 10,000 clients out of 27 offices around several states including Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, South Australia, and Tasmania.

The client tasked Steelkiwi with designing the product’s user interface and user experience (UI/UX), updating the frontend code, refactoring the existing backend code, and building new CRM modules.

We created a custom CRM system web app that allows our client's firm to collect, arrange, and manage client data in a single place, optimize sales and marketing processes, evaluate sales performance, and get detailed insights into client behavior.

The client's team consists of around 300 advisors in various departments. With such a large number of employees, we had to create multiple user roles and permissions. To do so, we organized employees into groups, with every employee being in at least one group. Access levels are defined for groups. Additionally, we included a super user role that has wide-reaching powers and permission to do anything in the system.

We started to work with the company in 2019 and are now continuing to develop new functionality as well as improve current features.

Web App

View Portfolio

CanTho

Damien Toulouse, the owner of a Vietnamese restaurant in Brussels called Can Tho, wanted to create a restaurant with an innovative user experience to attract customers and grow brand loyalty, taking a waiter- and cash-free approach.Damien contacted us with an idea to build an application for the kiosks that would automate business processes at their restaurant. These kiosks would offer self-service ordering and a point of sale system.

We developed an application for five self-ordering kiosks to help Can Tho serve customers faster and the restaurant's staff use their time more efficiently. Each Can Tho kiosk consists of a table, payment terminal, and wireless printer so customers can browse the menu, order, customize dishes, pay for an order, and get a receipt in one place.

Web App

View Portfolio

Hoopit

Øivind Husby came up with the idea of Hoopit ― a children’s sports management platform ― when he ran into difficulties managing his kids’ sports activities. He decided to build an app to make it easier for parents and sports organizations to manage activities and communicate.

To make his idea a reality, Øivind hired two student developers in the city where he lives. After around two years of development, the Hoopit team found themselves in need of help and were looking for a development partner. They came to Steelkiwi and asked us to fully refactor the applications and build the Hoopit mobile and web apps.

The first thing we did was refactor and optimize the existing code. Once we were finished with that, we moved to the actual development. In cooperation with the Hoopit development team, we built native apps for iOS and Android as well as a web app.

Web App

View Portfolio

Atruchecks

The client, manager at a UK GP Clini, decided to go in a new business direction. He had an idea for a platform where users could purchase medical test kits and have them delivered right to their door with everything needed for the test. With this in mind, he came to Steelkiwi.

We created an ecommerce healthcare website for Atruchecks from scratch. We also developed independent doctor, lab, and patient portals. During development, we followed privacy and security standards.

The Atruchecks platform allows patients to learn all necessary information about medical testing kits, buy those kits, store and view test results, and have doctors review these results.

Web App

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Snaapy

The founder of Snaapy asked us to create a platform for promoting small and medium-sized offline businesses – from hair salons and barbershops to car rental agencies to pet care services.

We needed to create both web and mobile applications as well as a comprehensive admin panel. This client-oriented system would let users book appointments with service providers for flexible or fixed timeslots according to their needs. Clients would also be able to leave comments and rate businesses.

Play Store App Store Web App

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MuslimKids.TV

Michael Milo, the founder and director of Milo Productions, came to SteelKiwi with an idea for a family-oriented platform focused on English-speaking Muslim children. This platform, Muslim Kids TV, would be a place for them to watch cartoons and play games while learning about their religion and culture. Milo Productions specializes in producing educational Muslim TV shows for children, and their work is popular and appreciated all over the world. Creating Muslim Kids TV to distribute and monetize their content was a natural next step.

Muslim Kids TV gives Muslim children a voice in the online world, cultivates a community celebrating Muslim beliefs, provides positive role models, and educates as well as entertains.

Play Store App Store Web App

Steelkiwi by Globaldev Reviews

Nikola Ninkovi, Senior Manager Product Marketing at Merck Group

Posted on May 07, 2018

Professional team with creative approach

Rating Breakdown

Quality
Schedule & Timing
Communication
Overall Rating

Project Detail

Review Summary

We had amazing experience working with SteelKiwi. Their level of engagement, professionalism and sufficiency impresses a lot. Developers have solid technical background and always give timely piece of advice to deliver top-notch product.

What is it about the company that you appreciate the most?

Professionalism

What was it about the company that you didn't like which they should do better?

Timing and schedule

Chris Bush, Founder at TipCow

Posted on May 29, 2017

Extremely professional and communicative.

Rating Breakdown

Quality
Schedule & Timing
Communication
Overall Rating

Project Detail

Review Summary

Works with your unique needs as a business, fast to respond to changing requirements.

What was the project name that you have worked with Steelkiwi by Globaldev?

Multiple projects

Anonymous

Posted on Nov 29, 2016

Finished the project as per estimated timeframe.

Rating Breakdown

Quality
Schedule & Timing
Communication
Overall Rating

Project Detail

Review Summary

The client is a design studio based out of Turkey and caters to start-up clients and their projects. They offer various design related services for mobile as well as web related apps. The company both designs its own apps and tailor made apps for their clients.

The client appreciates SteelKiwi for their timeliness and proactive approach and is very satisfied working with them. The client is very happy with their promptness and responsiveness and recommends them highly to their colleagues.

What was the project name that you have worked with Steelkiwi by Globaldev?

iOS & Android App Design for A Finance Project

Describe your project in brief

The client is a design studio based out of Turkey and caters to start-up clients and their projects. They offer various design related services for mobile as well as web related apps. The company both designs its own apps and tailor made apps for their clients. The client appreciates SteelKiwi for their timeliness and proactive approach and is very satisfied working with them. The client is very happy with their promptness and responsiveness and recommends them highly to their colleagues.

Anonymous

Posted on Mar 22, 2016

Impressive technical approach.

Rating Breakdown

Quality
Schedule & Timing
Communication
Overall Rating

Project Detail

Review Summary

The client is an individual entrepreneur who wanted to create an interesting game app to overcome parking fear. SteelKiwi Development was approached to convert the idea into a working application. They were involved in the development and design of an Android-based mobile game application.

The client is highly satisfied with the services of SteelKiwi Development and praised them for their technical skills and passion. The client highly recommends SteelKiwi Development to their colleagues.

What was the project name that you have worked with Steelkiwi by Globaldev?

Game Application for Android

Describe your project in brief

The client is an individual entrepreneur who wanted to create an interesting game app to overcome parking fear. SteelKiwi Development was approached to convert the idea into a working application. They were involved in the development and design of an Android-based mobile game application. The client is highly satisfied with the services of SteelKiwi Development and praised them for their technical skills and passion. The client highly recommends SteelKiwi Development to their colleagues.

Alex Dagil, Founder at Hang App

Posted on Mar 18, 2016

Flexible and provided useful suggestions.

Rating Breakdown

Quality
Schedule & Timing
Communication
Overall Rating

Project Detail

Review Summary

The client is Hang - a social networking application to better coordinate events among friends. SteelKiwi Development was involved in the development of an iOS based mobile application for the client.

The client is highly satisfied with the work done and services offered by SteelKiwi Development and praised them for their seamless coding and quality orientation. The client highly recommends SteelKiwi Development to their colleagues.

What was the project name that you have worked with Steelkiwi by Globaldev?

Social Networking iOS App Development

Describe your project in brief

The client is Hang - a social networking application to better coordinate events among friends. SteelKiwi Development was involved in the development of an iOS based mobile application for the client. The client is highly satisfied with the work done and services offered by SteelKiwi Development and praised them for their seamless coding and quality orientation. The client highly recommends SteelKiwi Development to their colleagues.

Anonymous

Posted on Mar 04, 2016

Always deliver what they commit.

Rating Breakdown

Quality
Schedule & Timing
Communication
Overall Rating

Project Detail

Review Summary

The client is an IT Consultancy based out of Egypt and offers many IT related services, majorly web and mobile, to users. SteelKiwi Development was selected to provide development and design services for web-based ecommerce website.

The client is content with the services and deliverables of SteelKiwi Development and praised them for their skills in handling complex projects. SteelKiwi Development is highly recommended to others.

What was the project name that you have worked with Steelkiwi by Globaldev?

ehgezMASR.com

Describe your project in brief

The client is an IT Consultancy based out of Egypt and offers many IT related services, majorly web and mobile, to users. SteelKiwi Development was selected to provide development and design services for web-based ecommerce website. The client is content with the services and deliverables of SteelKiwi Development and praised them for their skills in handling complex projects. SteelKiwi Development is highly recommended to others.

Resources

Telemedicine App Development: How to Build a Doctor On Demand App

View eBook

How to Build a Food Delivery App for Your

View eBook

eLearning Website Development: Top 12 Tips for Creating a Successful Marketplace

View eBook

Steelkiwi by Globaldev

Focus Areas

Service Focus

Client Focus

Industry Focus

Steelkiwi by Globaldev Executive Interview

Steelkiwi by Globaldev Clients & Portfolios

Steelkiwi by Globaldev Reviews

Professional team with creative approach

Rating Breakdown

Project Detail

Share it on

Review Summary

What is it about the company that you appreciate the most?

What was it about the company that you didn't like which they should do better?

Extremely professional and communicative.

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What was the project name that you have worked with Steelkiwi by Globaldev?

Finished the project as per estimated timeframe.

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What was the project name that you have worked with Steelkiwi by Globaldev?

Describe your project in brief

Impressive technical approach.

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What was the project name that you have worked with Steelkiwi by Globaldev?

Describe your project in brief

Flexible and provided useful suggestions.

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Share it on

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What was the project name that you have worked with Steelkiwi by Globaldev?

Describe your project in brief

Always deliver what they commit.

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What was the project name that you have worked with Steelkiwi by Globaldev?

Describe your project in brief

Resources