Kiwi Universe reduces project administration efforts by 25%
Hear more from our customers and their experiences with Backlog here.
Industry: Software development, AI development, startup investment
Location: Vietnam
Employees: 60
Kiwi Universe is an IT company that offers services in blockchain, web/mobile app development, and business investing/matching, and they are one of the first companies in Vietnam to develop artificial intelligence (AI) software. They have four offices throughout Vietnam — two in Hanoi, one in Da Nang, and one in Ho Chi Minh — with a fifth office in the works.
Executive Summary
Kiwi Universe needed a tool that could help them manage their growing list of client work without adding significant onboarding time or project management resources to their workflow. They began using Backlog to manage projects, track tasks, and create reports. Compared to other project management tools, they found Backlog easier to use and have come to depend on features like issue filters and Git that support their work. Using Backlog allowed them to reduce time spent on day-to-day project management by 25%. Now, they recommend the tool to all their clients.
Nguyen Thai Ha, CEO of Kiwi Universe.
Challenges
As a software development company, Kiwi Universe has to manage many projects at once, keeping track of various overlapping and interdependent tasks and deadlines, while also generating regular reports on their work for clients.
Coordinating the work of 8 development teams across projects is, as you can imagine, both intricate and time-consuming. They needed a project management tool to help streamline their workflows and cut down on the work necessary to keep projects on track.
They had tried many other project management apps, but they either found them too complicated to practically onboard larger teams, or lacking in the features they needed, for e.g. subtasking.
Kiwi Universe staff at work
How Backlog helped
Kiwi Universe finds Backlog’s user interface and navigation easier to understand. This means they can easily add and remove members from projects, create tasks and subtasks quickly, and get new members up to speed fast.
“If you want to create a subtask in other tools, you have multiple ways [to do so], so sometimes it’s a bit complicated. But in Backlog, you have only one method of creating a parent task and child task. I’m happy with it. It’s quite handy to use.” – Pham Viet Duc, Kiwi Universe CTO.
Developers’ code review.
Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Pham Viet Duc says one of the most important features in their workflow is the Issue Filter. Filters can be created and saved, making it easy to collate issues/tasks according to different attributes (assignee, issue type, due date, etc).
At the start of each workday, Kiwi Universe’s team members use filters to check all unfinished issues and tasks. This has been critical in helping them better track their project’s progress, and they have even designed an internal guide on using filters.
Backlog’s Gantt and burndown chart features also help them to monitor projects. During sprint reviews, they use them to monitor any tasks yet to be completed in the project’s timeline.
Aside from Backlog’s project management features, Kiwi Universe also enjoys using Git repositories for version control, and they love that commits can be linked to issues. Whenever they start a new project, they do a task breakdown and create a Git repository for development.
“In Backlog, it’s easier to change the task status and status of pull requests, etc. So it saves time as a project manager, and as a developer, it’s easier to use and learn to use.” – Pham Viet Duc, Kiwi Universe CTO.
From left: CEO Nguyen Thai Ha; CTO Pham Viet Duc; Kiwi Universe developers & staff.
Results
Using Backlog for project management has helped Kiwi Universe reduce their time spent on project management by 25%.
“Generally speaking, for managing projects, just on tools alone, it used to take 12 hours. But with Backlog, now it’s 9 hours. So it saves 25% practically.” – Pham Viet Duc, Kiwi Universe CTO.
CTO Viet Duc has also saved time with reporting. He uses issue filters to filter tasks and then sends the url link to his team members so that they can also see what needs to be done.
“Previously, with another tool, I needed 30 minutes to prepare my daily report. But with Backlog, it’s literally like 5 minutes. Saving my time is the thing I appreciate the most about using Backlog.” – Pham Viet Duc, Kiwi Universe CTO.
Sometimes Kiwi Universe’s clients require that they use other tools to manage projects, and Viet Duc acknowledged that each has its pros and cons. But when given the choice, he would choose Backlog for all of their project management needs because it has the best overall product offering.
2018: Kiwi Universe signed an MOU with Elumi Co. to develop the first AI legal consultation system in Vietnam.