9series Inc

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-owner of the company and my position is to be responsible for the technical side of the software.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 9series Inc, and what were your goals?

Our original software in the field of Time and Attendance was developed more than 10 years ago in the days of Microsoft Silverlight. With Silverlight being discontinued and unsopperted by Microsoft, the goal was to rewrite this software on a new tech platform, but keeping it as close as possible to the original software to minimize the impact on users accustomed to the current version but yet enhance the look and feel.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

This vendor was selected based on the positive experience from another big software company with whom we are associated.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

After the initial kick-off meetings they would develop a mock-up so we could evaluate the look and feel against our expectations so we could sign off on the fundamental design before actual programming would commence.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

The project manager was the main point of contact with the CEO also involved at times where necessary.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The deliverables were clearly defined and scoped and 9Series were/are delivering accordingly.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Regular meetings with the project manager.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They walked the extra mile to accommodate our requirements which in some cases were outside the ordinary.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

For certain type of requirements especially the more complex ones, they could have done more detailed testing prior to handing over to us for testing.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

eSoft Development and Techlogies is the software development house catering to Soutj African Market for past 12 years. I am Managing Director

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 9series Inc, and what were your goals?

Mobile Application Development Goals User friendly Tight timelines Tight Budgets Quick Navigation

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

9series team was able to tick off all our goals. Our customer was very satisfied We could take the app to market live within the stipulated timelines.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Mobile app development Roles Dealers client admin Customers Modules Dealer Management Customer Managerment Appointment booking Review and feedback Reporting Technologies Flutter

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

4 Team leader Senior developer Intermediate developer QA

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The App was taken to market within the stipulated budgets and timelines. The team proactively delivered the project outcomes with minimum errors

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We followed agile methodology We use teamwork Pm for project management

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Proactiveness Adoption of emerging technology Impact analysis for any changes request These factors assisted us with quality delivery to our customer

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

We could have actually done entire analysis as well remotely for much efficient delivery. We instead chose to do analysis locally. This did delay some decisions due to multiple people involved In communications. I would say this is learnt lesson for both the organizations

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Technical project manager of an IT services firm. We're a pure-play digital engineering services firm focused on helping companies accelerate their digital initiatives from strategy and planning.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 9series Inc, and what were your goals?

Our client's vision was to build a digital B2B platform to augment its workforce to businesses having urgent labor needs. This platform provides opportunities to helpmates to earn money by providing services to businesses nearby.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Past working experience in domain/technology as well as professional company and expertise working with international clients and their business needs.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

• Goal: To develop B2B business portal Project executed with agile methodology
• Key deliverables: Working product of business portal, APIs, Test case, and architecture document. (End to end execution)
• Technologies used: ReactJS, NodeJS, AWS

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

There were 9 people working from the vendor's team:

• 1 Project Manager
• 1 Solution architect
• 2 Frontend Engineers
• 2 Backend Engineers
• 1 DevOps
• 2 QA  Engineers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We were able to complete all sprints on time and deployed the project on the client's environment along with all deliverables like Test case document, API document, Architecture document.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

The project management was good. They were following agile methodology, so all blockers, risks identified at the right time. Communication was a bit challenging at first, but then they have improved and it had a positive impact on project as well. Tools used: JIRA, Slack in a project

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Easy to communicate with them. They were willing to put in extra work if there was a sudden business need or any kind of priority work. They understand the business impact and time is never a constraint for them.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

They are 3 areas where they can improve: - Timely Communication - End to end Risk & Priority Management - Need to utilize tools to streamline processes

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of an online marketplace that facilitates connections between certified mechanics and partners. Our goal is to offer a one-stop-shop for the automotive industry, where we provide services and repairs. We aim to care for cars from the point of purchase up until they no longer need their care anymore. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 9series Inc?

We needed to build out our development and engineering team but were unable to hire our own internal employees. Therefore, we decided to look for a technology company to be our tech partner.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We wanted them to look after our infrastructure as we upgrade and progress various aspects of the site. They manage, maintain, and improve upon our existing technology stack, acting as our engineering team. Currently, they’re doing this for our web app, but they’re also working on a mobile native app experience to provide a better mobile experience for users. They’re working with Python as our core programming language, and we’re hosting the platform on DigitalOcean. Whenever we run into an issue, like a bug or customer-facing problem, they make themselves available to solve those problems. 

What is the team composition?

They have a competent team of engineers, an engineering manager, a QA engineer, and a business analyst. I work most closely with one of their managing directors and a tech lead. When we encounter problems, our tech lead will address them himself or delegate the work to the rest of the team. He is our point of contact for any issues, though.   

How did you come to work with 9series Inc?

We were introduced to them through my co-founder, who had a positive experience with them in the past. Working with them sounded like a better option than hiring our own employees because they were able to provide many resources and services all packaged into one engagement. We knew we could contact them for a multitude of skills and talents because their team was so well-rounded. Additionally, they’d already worked on projects for Kenyan companies within our own industry, so they seemed to understand us well from the beginning.  

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent about $5,000.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since October 2020. As our main tech and engineering partner, we intend for them to work with us for a long time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had to create a brand new platform with them using different technologies after realizing that we could majorly improve our technology with them. They catered to the new vision and roadmap to meet our needs. Their coding standards are high, and the code follows all relevant security protocols.

On both the front- and backend of the system, they over-delivered in a very short time. Within two months, we had a state-of-the-art platform on the market.  

How did 9series Inc perform from a project management standpoint?

They have a great team and top-notch project management skills. At the start of the project, everything was well-documented. Their analyst and project manager worked hard to make sure that we always had the proper documentation when introducing new features to the project, for example. That process made sure we captured all of our goals and requirements before sending our information to their developers. 

They’re located in a different time zone, but they’ve always been able to help us when needed. Even if it’s late at night their time, they’re committed to solving our problems. We communicated through Slack.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re flexible and bring a unique perspective to our work. Many companies are rigid in the way they work, which wouldn’t work for us as a startup company because things are changing all the time on our end. They had perfect industry knowledge and were an ideal culture fit for us. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We would love for them to grow their team and skills further as we grow and expand on our end. It would be great to introduce even more new technologies to our platform. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d recommend them as a professional, invested technology partner. We kept changing our requirements because we’re a startup, and they understood our situation without complaints. That would bother some vendors, but they were incredibly understanding and flexible.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a cofounder of a consumer carbon offsetting company. Our main product is the Earthly App that 9series helped us develop.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 9series Solutions Pvt. Ltd, and what were your goals?

We hired 9series to build the production grade iOS app required to further launch our consumer carbon offsetting.

SOLUTION

How did you select 9series Solutions Pvt. Ltd and what were the deciding factors?

We evaluated many different providers across the globe. Developers in Canada, Eastern Europe, and India. We were recommended 9series from a colleague that had worked with them in the past and had a good experience. We went with 9series after considering factors such as price for value and certainty around the degree of quality output.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We held 15-30 minute standups three times a week. We started with presenting our wireframes, and the 9series team had a great designer help us flesh out the wireframes into a much more polished design.

Once a design and user stories for functionality was agreed, we began development tracking what had been agreed against what had been completed. The functionalities include Apple auth, Stripe, notifications, connection with Firebase backend.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

One designer, one business analyst, one web developer, and a head iOS developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The app launched to our beta users with very positive feedback and the app functioned as expected without any errors.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

We used email and google meet for communication. We also used google docs and Airtable for project management.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They are very great to work with. Flexible yet professional, and we are impressed with their work.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Nothing that comes to mind. Sometimes communication on the phone was difficult in the beginning, however, as long as we could write out requirements, the team understood them clearly.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are on on demand workforce provider.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 9series Solutions Pvt. Ltd, and what were your goals?

Building of our custom on demand workforce management platform.

SOLUTION

How did you select 9series Solutions Pvt. Ltd and what were the deciding factors?

They easily understood the business requirements and were able to successfully convert the brief into technical requirements for the system. They worked with us well, not just on the development but in crafting the solution that would answer our business requirements as well.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

They designed the various modules of the entire on demand workforce module. Then developed Android Apps for both customers and the field workforce. They built the entire administrative platform and its corresponding API's.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with 4 key people; Rajnikant and Ashwin in Management, Kaushik as our Project Manager and Kruti is our lead developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The system was built within time and continues to be evolved. We have achieved market acceptance and have gone through around 10 iterations of the product experience.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

We use Jira and WhatsApp to collaborate. The speed of the team to feedback is very high.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their attention to detail and follow-through impressed us.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Testing prior to launch and speed of development tends to be slow at times but manageable.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the IT manager of Spinners & Spinners, Ltd., a textile manufacturing company based out of Kenya. We have B2B and B2C customers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 9series Solutions Pvt. Ltd?

We were looking to build an e-commerce and customer care portal.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

9series designed and developed our website. It was done from scratch in JavaScript and other languages, without using third-party platforms. In addition to normal e-commerce functionalities, the platform has different funneling for B2B and B2C customers. The pricing varies based on the account type.

What is the team composition?

9series had a whole team behind the project. We spoke to their two directors, especially during the initial business analysis when we were starting to form a relationship. We had initial conversations with their head of business development, and they introduced us to the whole team that’d be working on the project. Then, we interacted with a project manager, a UI/UX designer, the development lead, and the main software engineer.

How did you come to work with 9series Solutions Pvt. Ltd?

We found them by luck. Our CEO was talking to a peer from another company who happened to mention 9series. He put in a good word for them, and we were already on the lookout for such a company.

We also considered a couple of Kenyan companies and other ones in India. Compared to those, 9series was really interested in the solution we were trying to build. They were a little on the higher side in terms of cost, but we chose them because of the quality of their engagement, flexibility, guidance, and unwillingness to take shortcuts in certain areas just to keep the cost down. 9series was focused on the solution much more than the pricing, and they were vocal about it.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost so far is around $45,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with 9series in August 2018, and we went live with the first phase in July 2020. The collaboration is ongoing for support and enhancements.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

9series has a good team from a technical standpoint. We’ve faced some challenges, but everything was resolved in good time.

The prevalence of e-commerce platforms isn’t that high in this part of the world, especially in the B2B segment. That said, we do have an 8% adoption rate on the B2B side, out of all our customers. We also measure website traffic, bounce rates, cart abandonment rates, and other metrics, but we’re still in the early days.

We appreciated having their directors on the front lines. This is generally overlooked during these kinds of collaborations. It was nice to have visibility into the whole team and relationships with members at different levels.

How did 9series Solutions Pvt. Ltd perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very professional in keeping us in the loop during the requirements gathering and development phases. They delivered on time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their customer relationship management is pretty strong, along with the technical skillset of their team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I would’ve taken a more iterative approach on how the project was delivered instead of a waterfall one where the whole website was built out then tested and launched. Building it in pieces and rolling each one out separately would’ve allowed us to integrate customer feedback into the solution.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Clients should be really clear about what they want to get out of the engagement. In addition, I recommend engaging 9series in an incremental and iterative manner in order to create the most relevant and beneficial solution for customers.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CTO at eSense Learning Pvt. Ltd. eSense is a fast growing digital education company that is focused on providing eLearning solutions to schools and students in India. eSense is precisely an attempt to contribute to the process of learning by making it effective and engaging in innovative ways.

At eSense, we engineer solutions that enrich teaching and learning experience. The emphasis here is to go beyond the chalk & talk method and stimulate the learning environment. Our focus is to integrate technology with learning.

At eSense we not only adopt new technology, but also modify them to meet the needs of teachers and students eSense believes that leadership in any field is essential. In order to be an effective educational leader one must foster a conception of excellence within the classrooms.

This is where we hand out. Time has proved that Navneet is the part of Educational Revolution and now as a sister concern of Navneet. It's our part to play. We provide a number of eSense Solutions so as to boil down the complex issues of education and provide a concise statement of what needs to be done.

With the future of the country in the hands of educationalist, eSense has taken on the responsibility of cultivating the future leaders by equipping our children with syllabus based 2D and 3D multimedia animations

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 9series Solutions Pvt. Ltd, and what were your goals?

We had to deliver platform neutral, secure and offline software solution to schools. Since the solution was offline, security of the data was the biggest concern. We hired 9Series to develope a custom solution that could match our business requirements. Target was to have secure solution to help us deliver our audio visual content to schools in offline mode.

SOLUTION

How did you select 9series Solutions Pvt. Ltd and what were the deciding factors?

We decided to work with them because during our past projects experience, we found the team result-oriented and highly motivated. Our project was high-priority and wanted to have partners like them who can deliver high-quality solution in timely manner.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We wanted to have platform independent and secure solution. We started with small PoCs keeping in mind windows and linux environments. Based on PoC results, we choose ElectronJS and VueJS for solution.

Team started with requiremet gathering and came up with FRD and wireframes. Then they gave us workflows and design mock-ups to approve before starting production. Project was divided in bi-weekly sprints and delivered on time for UAT.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

There were 4 people assigned to our project, including a project manager, 2 senior developers and a designer. Other resources would be on and off the project as per the requirements.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Project was delivered on time which proved encouraging for our sales team. We could deliver solution to the schools as per commitment with desired results. They also collected feedback from our customers on possible improvement in the solution.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

Overall project management was good. They regularly met sprint deadlines and we had frequent project reviews. We mainly communicated over skype.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Important part was we had access to entire team and team was available for reviews as and when needed. Their turn around time for any feedback shared was very impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Overall work was as per the expectations. They could have been more diligent about overall performance of the solution. We'd shared feedback with the team and they're working on it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of MyLitBag app, which is put out by LFW Enterprises. It’s an application that helps lawyers use their iPads to review documents in litigation.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 9series Solutions Pvt. Ltd?

Our iOS app wasn’t working so we hired 9series Solutions Pvt. Ltd to get us ready to launch.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped develop the app, integrating it with AWS. They’re also helping with marketing and upkeep. They’ve optimized the app and have created graphic content.

What is the team composition?

I work with 3–4 people directly, including an account manager, a developer, a marketing lead, and someone who is in charge of the backend integration.  but I know there are others involved.

How did you come to work with 9series Solutions Pvt. Ltd?

They were recommended by a friend.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working on the project in January 2020 and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re responsive, thoughtful, and they act like team members.

How did 9series Solutions Pvt. Ltd perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Skype to teleconference, but also communicate via email. They also let us know what they are working on and when they will get back to us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciate their responsiveness, and I like that they’ve taken some ownership over the process by proposing new ideas. They treat the project like it’s their own.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any criticism for them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s important that new clients walk them through what functions they need and how they want the product to work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a Canadian-Indian startup working on various products and services. Right now, we’re working on a product search engine and a hyperlocal delivery system. I’m the founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 9series Solutions Pvt. Ltd?

They’re helping us with our second venture, the hyperlocal delivery system. The idea is to help local merchants speed up local customer deliveries.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

9series is our partner in developing the entire platform. It consists of apps for iOS and Android and a web backend control portal.

We shared our idea and project documents with them. Based on those, 9series came up with the execution model.

We’re using a GPS-based algorithm to ensure that all deliveries are timely and cost-effective, with a focus on respecting customer data privacy.

We did a proof of concept with native iOS and Android apps, but we decided that we didn’t want to invest in two different sets of code as we went on. We chose Flutter, which allows us to have reusable and scalable code and saves on cost.

The aim was to build a simple UI/UX for a moderately complex application. We’re working with small shopkeepers, who tend to be busy dealing with customers. We’re using an algorithm that allows merchants to book deliveries by just long-pressing a key and speaking to the application.

The deliverers are on foot and using different vehicles, from bicycles to motorbikes. The algorithm matches them with merchants based on the requirements of the delivery, ensuring the optimal use of available resources.

The platform hooks into customer POS and e-commerce systems through APIs.

What is the team composition?

9series assigned a business analyst, a UI/UX designer, a project manager, a three-person Flutter development team, a QA specialist, and someone responsible for documentation and API integrations.

Rajnikant (Director) is our main contact. He has a tech and business analysis background, which made him the right person for us.

How did you come to work with 9series Solutions Pvt. Ltd?

We wanted a partner that could deliver a working application that could be used by customers right from the start. Oftentimes, the initial version will be quite buggy, which would have an impact on our business. We didn’t want to have too many iterations and bug fixes after launch.

We spoke to a few developers. I knew a bit about 9series’ founder, and I spoke to him. He had a very strong background in quality control, especially in app development, and that was a key criterion in choosing them. 9series was a bit higher on the cost side, but our main concern was launching a bug-free platform from day one.

How much have you invested with them?

The first agreement was for $30,000, and we’re paying them $3,750 per month right now. We’ll be spending $50,000–$60,000 by the end of 2021.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with 9series four or five months ago, and development went on for about two months. We launched the first version in July 2020, and the second version is going to be launched in January 2021. We have an ongoing contract with 9series until October 2021.

We’re currently at version 1.2, which is working in three hyperlocal geographies. We’re in a closed beta test right now, and version 2.0 is in the process. We plan to sharpen the system and add more features over the next year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The platform is being used by about 100 merchants and is processing around 500 deliveries per day. We track metrics for onboarding and delivery times. Ordering deliveries is quick, and downtime has been almost zero, and the only instance was due to Google Cloud, not 9series.

Key metrics on the business side are our responsibility, in terms of how many customers we acquire and how fast. 9series is making sure that the app has a seamless UI/UX and is working bug-free.

How did 9series Solutions Pvt. Ltd perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Google Workspace a lot, where 9series has spreadsheet templates for managing our APIs, work schedules, and so on. Our team isn’t that technical, so we use Google spreadsheets to give inputs to them. They used InVision during UI/UX design, which allowed us to work collaboratively.

What did you find most impressive about them?

9series stand out in terms of quality control.

Are there any areas they could improve?

9series follows UI/UX principles, and they’ve done a pretty good job, but I’ve reviewed their work with my team and found areas that could’ve been done better.

Documentation quality is another area of improvement, not that they’re bad.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

If the customer is clear on their expectations, 9series will be a great team to work with. 9series comes with a strong technical background and a strong quality control culture. They’re not a very creative team in terms of coming up with ideas and solutions, but, if the client has a clear idea, 9series is definitely able to execute it.