AndPlus, An Ensono Company

BACKGROUND

We are an outdoor advertising company with about 70 employees and operate in markets around the US. I am the company's contract system manager and I was hired in 2012 to implement and manage our custom-built software application which allowed us to electronically and centrally manage many parts of the business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

As a growing company, we needed a partner who could help us continuously make enhancements to the system in order to improve user functionality, reporting capabilities, and overall business flow.

SOLUTION

As I researched development companies, I came across AndPlus, and after interviewing multiple companies, we decided to choose them as our partner. We could tell they already had a proven track record and good reputation, and they offered their services at a fair price. We have worked with them for about 8 months in order to make many important changes to the contract system that have helped our business tremendously.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

AndPlus performed very well and stuck to their agreement with us. I worked with an account manager, project manager, and two developers who were all extremely responsive when I had questions. They were all very adaptable when our needs changed and if we wanted to add/drop things from the project. They stayed within our budget and were very transparent when it came to time and work logs. Overall, we were very happy with the relationship and I would highly recommend them.

BACKGROUND

Medica Corporation manufactures simple-to-use, highly reliable diagnostic blood testing analyzers. Actively engaged in developing new technology, Medica specifically designs products to enhance productivity and the quality of care in small to medium-size in vitro diagnostic laboratories. Medica’s clinical chemistry, blood gas, electrolyte, and hematology analyzers are focused on the global need to lower health care costs.

As program manager, my job was to lead the development of our next generation blood gas analyzer, the EasyStat 300.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Our flagship blood gas analyzer, the EasyStat, was approaching 15 years since being introduced into the marketplace. During those 15 years, little new development was done, while our competitors continued to advance their systems with the addition of new technology, analytes, connectivity options, user interface, etc. We found ourselves in the situation where we were losing sales/tender opportunities because our product was lacking features that many customers/tenders now required.

One of the strategic objectives with the new product was to significantly overhaul the user interface. The legacy systems utilized an outdated LCD display and membrane keypad, which was being replaced with a 7" color touchscreen in the new analyzer. We decided to leverage Android for the development of our user interface in order to provide the richest UI/UX experience to our users and to most effectively take advantage of the new touchscreen hardware that we now had at our disposal.

SOLUTION

We interviewed a number of different firms specializing in Android app development. It became increasingly clear, however, that the majority of app developers had little to no experience interfacing with hardware, especially a complicated medical device such as ours. This Android app needed to be the brain of our system and continuously communicate back and forth with our embedded system firmware running on a separate processor. Therefore, demonstrated experience creating apps that interfaced directly with hardware became one of the most important selection criteria.

When we finally met with the team at AndPlus, we instantly knew that we had found exactly what we were looking for. They also happened to be located within close proximity to Medica, which proved to be a huge advantage as the partnership progressed. Their very hands-on, personal approach to the entire bidding/proposal process showcased their experience and professionalism, down to the smallest detail of sending out hand-written thank you notes, a gesture that definitely left an impression with some of our key stakeholders.

The scope of the project evolved over time as more technical/integration details emerged, however, they were always extremely flexible and able to allocate the appropriate number and type of resources to the project at any given time.

I would have to say, however, even more important than the actual coding that AndPlus provided was their assistance in setting up a much-needed software development process at Medica. Medica had typically followed the traditional waterfall approach to software development, however, we wanted to move toward the Agile development approach. They were able to leverage their extensive knowledge and experience with the Agile development process to set up, configure, and train us in the ways of Agile through the use of the Jira and Confluence cloud-based tools.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

The AndPlus team always performed to the highest level. It's clear that their developers are highly qualified and passionate about what they do and take their commitments to their clients very seriously. The administrative staff at AndPlus were a pleasure to work with as well and proved that they are a company that holds themselves to the highest possible standards.

BACKGROUND

Established in 1994, privately held NexRev LLC focuses exclusively on multisite energy management and control systems, making us one of the largest such groups in the world. Our hundreds of customer relationships include small-to-large box retailers, quick-service restaurants, convenience stores, casual dining restaurants, and entertainment/theater companies.

I am a project engineer for NexRev Technologies, a subsidiary of NexRev LLC responsible for all of NexRev's product development. My responsibilities include using technical expertise and management skills to turn a concept into a marketable product.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

We were using an excel spreadsheet we had built as a tool/record keeper for the installation of one of our product lines. We were looking to build a tool to clean this up and make it easier for the end user to utilize. Additionally, we wanted to take a lot of our IP and embed it behind the scenes in the software, so that we could share our tool with others without exposing our "secret ingredients".

SOLUTION

Our initial discussions and phone calls with AndPlus had us very impressed. They were confident in their abilities and seemed to conduct their business in a manner very similar to ours. After discussing what we were looking for, AndPlus put together a comprehensive scope of work, laying out the design and development of our application. This included both software development as well as hardware/software integration.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Overall, I have been very satisfied with my experience with AndPlus, and plan to do more work with them in the future. I have been impressed with all of their personnel, from the programmers to the project management team and their sales team. All team members have been incredibly knowledgeable and display immense chemistry with each other. No one is afraid to speak up with ideas, and all work cohesively towards the best possible solution.

The actual results we have seen have been very impressive as well. The software has met our expectations, and I have been impressed with the way AndPlus tackles challenges. No request of mine was met with a "that may be tough to accomplish" response. AndPlus finds a way to get it done.

BACKGROUND

Our firm provides products and services to help public agencies manage risks particularly in terms of safety. We are based in California and work primarily with public agencies and special districts. I am a managing partner of the firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

The project was to develop a cross-platform mobile app (iOS, Chrome and Android) for lockout and tagout (electrical safety) procedure development and use. The app needed to be designed for a range of users, from engineers to workers with limited education and experience. The development process needed to be streamlined and intuitive but also robust.

The target market initially is wastewater agencies in California. Going forward, any business with equipment that needs to be locked out is in our target market. We currently have a financial partner that represents 60 public agencies who will all be using the app. There are approximately 500 additional agencies we will target with this first version. In the next six months, we will start Version 2 of the app which we expect to roll out by the end of 2016.The target market initially is wastewater agencies in California. Going forward any business with equipment that needs to be locked out is in our target market. We currently have a financial partner that represents 60 public agencies who will all be using the app. There are approximately 500 additional agencies we will target with this first version. In the next six months, we will start Version 2 of the app which we expect to roll out by the end of 2016. 

SOLUTION

While our business is in California, I am based in Boston and wanted to work with a local firm so I could be more hands-on during the development process. I found AndPlus through a simple Internet search. What made me reach out to them was their track record with industrial clients. Most other developers I contacted were more interested in apps with an entertainment or marketing focus. What I needed was a firm that could get excited about a more technical app.

From the beginning AndPlus seemed to be interested in our project, not just as a sales opportunity, but also as a project to dive into and figure out. The sales team (for lack of a better term) was not functioning as a separate unit, but rather an integrated part of the team. Once we decided to work with AndPlus, the sales team stayed connected to the project. During the onboarding process, they were in on every meeting helping me communicate the vision we had discussed during the sales process. 

I was assigned to an excellent development team consisting of a project manager, a designer and two developers. It is clear that they have a strong company culture. The team members had a very high level of trust and confidence in each other, which gave me a lot of confidence in them and made the process very enjoyable. The enthusiasm of the sales team was also reflected in the team members, who seemed eager to dive into the project.

The scope of the project was to design and develop the app, and later to provide technical support. My initial meetings were in March 2015 and we are launching on January 1, 2016. Because of our schedule and funding constraints, we did not begin development until early August. The team stayed on schedule and delivered on time. 

Their initial cost estimate was in line with other developers. Unlike other developers we have worked with in the past, AndPlus delivered on budget. They were very transparent about the finances and helped me make educated decisions about adding additional features as we went along.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

My development team was excellent. The project manager kept us on track and worked behind the scenes to make sure everything ran smoothly. The two developers were clearly highly skilled, and coordinated their responsibilities efficiently and effectively. The designer was excellent, bringing together a modern aesthetic and an industrial design. While each team member was very impressive individually, what made them unique was how well they worked together. I enjoyed seeing them bounce ideas around until they came up with a solution everyone was satisfied with. They were not territorial and were able to coordinate the various elements of the project seamlessly.

Overall, I am very impressed with AndPlus. They have a unique mix of youthful energy and old-school professionalism. I am looking forward to developing version 2.0 of our app within the next six months or so, and I have a few other ideas I would like to work with them on as well.