App Dev for Commercial Real Estate Firm
- Mobile App Development
- $50,000 to $199,999
- Nov. 2019 - Feb. 2020
- Quality
- 5.0
- Schedule
- 4.0
- Cost
- 5.0
- Willing to Refer
- 5.0
“In hindsight, I would have asked them to do the project management from the get-go.”
- Other industries
- Sydney, Australia
- 51-200 Employees
- Phone Interview
- Verified
Appello Software improved a tenant app, fixing bugs on the back- and frontend, for a commercial real estate company. Focused on customer experience, they proposed a new UI and access integration.
Appello Software yielded a bug-free version and an excellent UI. The team addressed several challenges and was able to create a seamless solution. They managed the project well and were able to speed up development significantly.
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
BACKGROUND
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I am the CIO of a commercial real estate company. We are one of Australia’s private property companies and have been in business for over 50 years. I have been the technology leader here for 20 years.
OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE
What challenge were you trying to address with Appello Software?
We have been building a tenant app for our commercial precincts both in Melbourne and Sydney, and we had embarked on our own journey building a backend API system and a frontend. We have some very intelligent people on our team, but we realized that we weren’t going to meet the mark.
SOLUTION
What was the scope of their involvement?
We had quite a number of bugs, both on the backend and frontend. We put so much into this project, we agreed that the plan was to bug fix everything and then to propose a new UI. Their process is very streamlined — they utilize all of the technology we could imagine in addition to project management and all of the staging, and then the automation for pushing updates.
The tenant app is actually designed to do quite a number of things. It includes integration to public transport so that users can check out train times. For example, the precincts around the site in Melbourne have six commercial towers with over 10,000 square meters of retail space. We have some famous art in that precinct, so we have an art tour, we do special offers, we do concierge services, events, a wellness club, and a newsfeed.
All of these items are about customer experience. With that said, we got to the point where we got the interface bug free and then we opened up some ideas on the new UI and those have since been implemented.
The next stage for our Sydney project is to integrate with access control into the tenancies and essentially, instead of carrying a plastic card, people can use the app to open up access to the building.
We have three levels of login. One is for the general public, so anyone who wants to download the app and install it so that they get some basic information like what is going on and maybe some offers to the public. The commercial and retail tenants have the art tour and those types of things. Then we have non-tenants who can log in as well. They are people who want to engage a bit more, they do business a lot but they aren’t a tenant, but they can log in. All of that login information is stored. If the user will use their company email address, they will be granted tenant access, and of course, they get everything.
What is the team composition?
Cameron (Executive Director) has been the main lead.
How did you come to work with Appello Software?
We tried no less than four others, and on all occasions, we were very underwhelmed. In fact, one of them wasted a lot of time on code that was incorrect. It was a lesson learned.
One of my web designers found Appello Software online and had read some reviews and we reached out. From that moment on, we were given a lot of interaction and that is where it all began.
How much have you invested in them?
It is probably over $100,000 at this point.
What is the status of this engagement?
We engaged with them initially on a lesser basis in November 2019. In February of this year, we ramped up their services so that they became the project managers instead of us.
It has been about three or four months of them being more engaged. We didn’t set a contract term because we knew it was a moving target with new projects coming. We will probably be working with them until we get the results we need.
RESULTS & FEEDBACK
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We now have a bug free version and we are working towards a new integration with the SDK. It is quite a critical piece because people would have to use it every day because of the access control.
We can even target certain tenants with offers different to other tenants if need be. That was a really tricky thing to achieve for us and Appello Software ironed that out seamlessly for us, with us. The UI design and all the bugs that they fixed have yielded some really good results. The marketing and the other teams are thrilled. COVID-19 has put a bit of a slowdown on traffic at the moment, but we are confident it will change very quickly.
How did Appello Software perform from a project management standpoint?
Once we handed the project management over to them, the project started to speed up significantly. In hindsight, I would have asked them to do the project management from the get-go.
We communicate daily with them throughout the week. We have a stand up with about three or four people from the team and that has been ongoing.
What did you find most impressive about them?
It is hard to pinpoint one thing, but I would say the communication and their dedication to detail.
Are there any areas they could improve?
Not in particular. Our meetings were with people in other parts of the world, and a lot of the meetings were held at 8:30 or 9 o’clock at night. That isn’t a reflection of them, but it is a pinch point for people in Australia, but I think if you want a team like Appello Software, it is probably best to work within those hours.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
The thing about a successful project is that there are a number of items. It is a holistic approach that gives the results and that is the reason why Appello Software has been successful with our project. It isn’t a one-man show, it’s a team. To me that is critical in the success of most projects and in the case of our app with Appello Software, it was fantastic.
RATINGS
-
Quality
5.0Service & Deliverables
"Overall, they worked well as a team and brought about the solution we were after and didn’t err from that at all."
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Schedule
4.0On time / deadlines
"The overseas thing was a pinch point."
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Cost
5.0Value / within estimates
"Their value is fantastic, and I can speak from experience with four other developers."
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Willing to Refer
5.0NPS