Two years ago, eezyimport.com, an Israel-based company, faced a software challenge. Its platform for DIY U.S. customs clearance needed additional manpower and expertise to keep up the development of its product vision smoothly. eezyimport.com required a new software service provider and found it in CactusSoft.
In 2021, eezyimport and CactusSoft celebrated two years of successful work. What started as a temporary project with only one developer on board, became a multi-year relationship where the service provider and the customer created a mutually beneficial partnership.
Here’s the story of how eezyimport and CactusSoft made the partnership work.
How It Began: A Match Made On LinkedIn
Once Kate, Customer Success Manager at CactusSoft, contacted eezyimport on LinkedIn, the Israeli company knew immediately they found the provider they have been looking for.
Gregory Kaidanov, CTO and PM at eezyimport : “We started working with CactusSoft in January 2019. Katerina was very professional and the developers were up to our standards.”
Hence, the work commenced, and CactusSoft became the main development power for the eezyimport.com project, providing the necessary implementations as the project evolved. In addition to online communication, both parties traveled back and forth to Israel and Belarus, visiting the offices and having face-to-face meetings. Communication was and still is the main key to the successful partnership, as the teams work in an agile methodology with sprint planning, estimations, daily and retrospective meetings, creating standard procedures, and working as one towards the goals.
eezyimport.com launched in the final quarter of 2019 as a Software-as-a-Service (SAAS) solution to ease the process of importing into the U.S. It provides an online DIY platform that enables SMB importers to file their own imports with the U.S. customs. eezyimport removes unnecessary third-party involvement and simplifies the import process, all while reducing associated expenses for the end-user.
Challenges and Solutions
Two years is a long period, and no project could exist for so long without facing bumps on the road. It wasn’t all sunshine and unicorns for the eezyimport project too.
When the collaboration between Cactus and eezyimport began, the existing product needed a facelift to be ready for the U.S. market.
During that pre-production time, eezyimport and CactusSoft have done process analysis, discussing every single end case and building state machines to make the customs clearance as easy as sending an email.
Working together on the logic processes and system resilience allowed the deployment of the product to the U.S. market as scheduled and with tremendous success.
Among the solutions proposed by CactusSoft-eezyimport expert team members were:
- Using flexible architecture to make sure there is room for future maneuvers
- Creating a layer to convert from an old API to a new one. This allowed the saving of the original frontend pattern
- Simplifying the schemes and features proposed by the customer to ensure the efficiency of the implementation
- And much more, as CactusSoft developers have become an integral part of the eezyimport startup.
Another aspect of the collaboration and problem solving was the ability to complete missing manpower as eezyimport demanded, whenever personnel array changed.
Kate and Gregory managed to place the right people for the project. The employees are the most valuable part of the startup and a part of the eezyimport family.
How It Is Going
In 2021, eezyimport and CactusSoft celebrated the second anniversary of working together. In these 25 months, the scope of work has grown significantly, from one developer to four.
Gregory Kaidanov: “Self-motivation, self-responsibility, and caring are the main mottos for all employees of eezyimport, including the CactusSoft developers. We see them as an integrated part of our company.”
But what is the main tip for success? According to eezyimport and CactusSoft, it is not only the ability to work hard and overcome difficulties as a team, but also having fun. During one of the IT events attended by CactusSoft in Tel Aviv, Gregory from eezyimport helped distribute CS marketing materials to attendees, becoming an impromptu CactusSoft sales manager for a day.
What the Future Holds
Two years and four developers later, eezyimport and CactusSoft have no plans to put a stop to the partnership. eezyimport intends to keep on working with CactusSoft, widening the usage of the company’s services in the future and providing professional growth for existing participants.
