Frequently Asked Questions

about Working with Gigster on Digital Transformation Projects

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How can we help you?

Find answers to common questions about Gigster’s terms of service or contact support.

The Gigster Business Model

How does Gigster ensure that our business goals are met?

Gigster’s process begins with a Rapid Results workshop that enshrines your business objectives and bakes in success metrics. Our business outcomes database contains metrics from over 5,000 milestone deliverables, enabling us to optimize the productivity of our processes and ensure business impact.

How are projects typically structured?

Every project kicks off with a Plan phase, followed by a set of Build sprints that lead to a Minimum Viable Product that enables user testing of the basic product concept. Your application will be broken down into releases to address key functionality that achieve certain business results over time.

Do you use Agile Project Management?

We employ modified agile processes focused on fast iterations and pushing new releases every 2 weeks after the initial launch.

How does Gigster ensure the work is getting done if team members are located all over the country or the world?

The Gigster delivery solution includes technologies and communication platforms that enables virtual teams to work effectively together to deliver high-quality software applications independent of location. This platform also gives our Engagement Managers clarity around key project risks and status to manage progress towards outcomes for clients.

Do you use open-source libraries? How can we be sure we aren’t paying to reinvent the wheel?

Gigster incorporates standard, best-of-breed technology stacks, including open source, based on the business objectives and for clients who are comfortable with open source. Our best practices also include internal templates and code reuse developed from hundreds of similar projects to accelerate milestones and business value.

What does Gigster do to ensure application quality?

Peer review within the Gigster Talent Network ensures deliverable quality, and our teams are compensated on meeting milestones with an incentive structure that ensures collaboration and high-quality output. Our methodology provides quality assurance throughout the entire delivery lifecycle including stress testing, user acceptance testing, as well as devops support.

Getting Started

How do we get started with Gigster?

If you have a funded digital transformation initiative with an executive sponsor, tell us more to begin a conversation. Our basic offering is a Rapid Results package that includes our full Lean Lifecycle approach: a plan for your full application, building a Minimum Viable Product, and maintenance until the next release.

Once a contract is signed, how quickly can my project start?

We can schedule the planning workshop to gather requirements and define success metrics within a matter of days. This Rapid Results workshop is typically conducted within two weeks, and in parallel, Gigster will work with your team to produce a plan outlining the product roadmap, solutions architecture, and initial plan for a Minimum Viable Product. Additional specialist roles for the Build phase will be added as needed to your Gigster Delivery Team so they are ready to start upon your approval of the plan.

How is the best team for my project assembled?

After the Rapid Results workshop, Gigster has the necessary information to assemble a full best-of-breed technical team with the right roles, skill sets, and experience to build your Minimum Viable Product, as well as to add key functionality per the product roadmap. Selected project information is shared with the Gigster Talent Network, and qualified prospects compete to be selected for your team. During the project, your Engagement Manager adds or subtracts team members as your needs evolve, ensuring your project has exactly the right skills mix for every phase.

How fast can you build my project?

Our iterative methodology focuses on quickly building out a Minimum Viable Product with core functionality to enable user testing and prioritization of other features in many successive releases. Your Gigster Delivery Team will produce software deliverables in two-week sprints that can be tested with users or internal stakeholders to validate requirements, with an MVP typically completed in 6-12 weeks. These insights combined with our deep experience with similar applications focus subsequent releases on additional, value-added features.

What is the minimum project size Gigster will work on?

Gigster’s focus is on “applications that matter” or those that will be truly transformative for our clients. While many of our projects are multi-million dollar engagements, most of these started much smaller, with initial Minimum Viable Products in the $300k range.

Working with Gigster Delivery Teams

What is a typical team composition?

Gigster staffs full project teams of five or more roles, including an Engagement Manager, Product Manager, Project Manager, Solutions Architect, Designer, and Software Engineer(s) part- or full-time as needed. For larger or more complex projects, we may add a Program Manager role. Our model includes flexible resourcing to ensure the right resources are applied at each project phase.

How do we know that we’ll be working with the best talent?

We go to great lengths to find and recruit the best product and project managers, designers and technical talent, who can deliver high-quality, complex enterprise applications at startup speed. Gigster was started by software professionals seeking to feed talented developers interesting work to create high business impact. We built a community around the Gigster Talent Network (GTN), who refer other A-list professionals to join GTN. Many are startup founders who have direct entrepreneurial experience, which is necessary for bringing startup product development methodologies to the enterprise space.

Will we be working directly with the development team?

Gigster provides a fully managed application development service, so clients work directly with their Engagement Manager and Project Manager, who are accountable to ensure Gigster meets business objectives and keep the entire Gigster Delivery Team focused. However, clients also have access to communicate directly with particular roles or the full team as needed.

Building Your Application

How does Gigster ensure that our business goals are met?

How are projects typically structured?

Do you use Agile Project Management?

We employ modified agile processes focused on fast iterations and pushing new releases every 2 weeks after the initial launch.

How does Gigster ensure the work is getting done if team members are located all over the country or the world?

Do you use open-source libraries? How can we be sure we aren’t paying to reinvent the wheel?

What does Gigster do to ensure application quality?

After the Application Launches

Who is responsible for maintaining the software applications?

Rapid Results includes a Run phase that includes maintenance and support for applications after the go-live date unless a customer explicitly opts out. We partner to address issues and deploy updates to run and scale your application in conjunction with client support teams, hosting, and service providers.

How do you define maintenance and what does it include?

Our standard Run phase includes bug fixes to maintain the latest release during user testing until the next release or when the Statement of Work concludes.

Security

How do we know your process complies with our corporate security guidelines?

We collaborate with your CISO to ensure that Gigster adheres to your security requirements.

How can I be sure my project is kept confidential?

All members of the Gigster Talent Network are under a strict NDA with Gigster, and by extension to any client project. During the bidding process, client names are not revealed. We only show your project’s details to the team that works on it.

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