BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the owner of BuyHawaii. I also have several intellectual properties, patents, and trademarks. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd.?

I needed a company to make modifications to my code — I'm a programmer and gave BigStep Technologies access to my development work. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

BigStep Technologies has helped create a social environment for me that runs like larger social media platforms. My company has created BuyHawaii.com, and BigStep Technologies provides technical knowledge to guide me through tricky situations in the code. Their team writes modules that exist on top of my social media platform. 

What is the team composition?

I'm currently working with one teammate from BigStep Technologies, but throughout the years, I've worked with 8–9 of their team members. 

How did you come to work with BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd.?

I found BigStep Technologies through an online search. 

How much have you invested with them?

I've invested around $10,000–$15,000 with BigStep Technologies. 

What is the status of this engagement?

My ongoing engagement with BigStep Technologies began around January 2003.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

BigStep Technologies is quick to fix bugs — they ensure the site continues to look great. Everything they deliver looks great to me. 

How did BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd. perform from a project management standpoint?

Whenever I have a problem, I fill out the questionnaire they provide. Then, BigStep Technologies' team goes in and fixes the issues within 2–3 days. If they don't understand something, they'll follow up with me to get more clarity. Outside of that, they don't do any project management. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

BigStep Technologies has the best modules out there in regards to social engine platforms. Their team, which is located in both the US and India, is one of the best. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

BigStep Technologies is great all around — it's easy to submit tickets, and they always respond. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CTO of TotalVU. We provide a new experience for watching and playing online Esports.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd., and what were your goals?

We hired BigStep Technologies to do custom React Typescript web app development related to UI/UX, webRTC and real time messaging. Our goals included implementation of a long list of requirements and a UI design in Figma.

SOLUTION

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

We found them through a referral and found they had unique expertise in the areas we needed. They put together a team including sales, bizdev, project management and developers, created an estimate in time and $$. They fully understood a complex specification and accurately bid the project.

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

The scope of work encompassed a large list of complex real time communications issues, incorporating code from us and developing substantial amounts of new code to implement our design and spec. We jointly managed the project... weekly standups with us and daily standups with their team.

We used Bitbucket and Jira for SCM and sprint management. We used Postman and Axios for API development. We also used AWS services including Route53, Cloudfront and S3 and CLI. We used Heroku Postgres for backend services. We also used Figma, Markup and online whiteboarding. We used Agora real time services.

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

We interacted with

• 2 sales/bizdev staff
• 2 project management
• 5 developers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project estimates were accurate on their side. The work came in on time and on budget. This was despite some delays from our side which they accommodated.

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

We prefer an informal, fun working environment. We prefer transparency and acceptance of how things really are at all moments. They participated and blended with our culture beautifully. We used traditional management tools, Jira, Bitbucket, Slack, Google docs, Google Meet.

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

The whole team participated on the weekly calls (except sales) which created a great feeling of team. They were extremely creative in coming up with complex technical solutions, and brought deep experience in the tech we needed.

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

As a team, we jointly overlooked the dependencies of some requirements on the API. As a result we could have had a shorter development time if we moved the API development to earlier in the project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the President and Founder of a Non-profit Christian Ministry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd.?

Originally to install Social Engine on the Hosting Company's server. Then we have had upgrades done, and plugins installed. We had an issue with menu's and they repaired those issues.

SOLUTION

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

We chose SocialApps.Tech because the Webmaster was familiar with the company and had used their services. He was pleased and recommended we use them.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

We contracted with the SocialApps.tech team to do the installation of the software and plugins. As upgrades come available, we contact SocialApps.tech to do the upgrade.

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

We had two people work with us from Socialapps.tech. I am not sure of their position, but they were friendly, consistent, and got the job done in a timely manner.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The upgrades worked well. The plugins worked well and a menu issue was repaired.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Considering we were in two countries on opposite sides of the world, our ability to communicate and work together went amazingly well. It took a little longer than working with someone in the same time zone but was not a problem.

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

The speed with which they worked and the friendliness of the staff was impeccable.

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

I am sure there are areas that could be improved, but at the moment, cannot identify a specific issue.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Im a small business owner just starting out

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd.?

We had them help with assisting in customising a pre built script through a template and plugins.

SOLUTION

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

I had previously worked with them years ago and so I knew they where helpful and that they held great customer values.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

They began by helping me with a problem with my server this was a big issue that took a lot of work, and they worked tirelessly to provide help with this. They then worked on checking each and every plugin and the new template.

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

We worked directly with a developer but they used their whole team at certain points, they literally went above and beyond to resolve my issue.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

I now have a fully working and functional site which will attract plenty of people Im sure.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was very easy even though we are on separate time scales, there was no problem keeping in touch and at every stage I felt well informed.

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

They really seemed like they cared about what they where selling. They've gone above and beyond to ensure my happiness and it has been a total success.

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

I really can't think of anything negative, this company really is all about customer satisfaction.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a Technology Lead for a multinational professional services company that specialises in IT services and consulting.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd., and what were your goals?

We needed to quickly scale up the team to handle tight deadlines, we needed to find an organisation that could work with us on the scale required and provide the technical capabilities as well as the focus on quality.

SOLUTION

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

They were highly efficient in working with us and quickly changed the profile to match our needs. Ujjwal worked closely with us and maintained an open line of communication which helped to quickly build up trust.

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

We are working on a large scale modernisation government based program defined to be agile in nature, operating in squads with sprints of 3 weeks, each member of the team contributed to the overall success of the program and delivered on the product.

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

4 members from BigStep joined us, both Senior and Junior Developers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to deliver ahead of schedule with their help.

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

The open communication and candidate calibre.

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

None, would work with them again.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of small software company and this was my first startup project.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd.?

I hired BigStep's Social Engine developers to build a social media website for me.

SOLUTION

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

I selected this vendor due to their specialization in social media platforms and the wide array of plugins they had at their disposal.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

The website is a platform for content creators to monetize their content. It required a lot of custom plugins from the developers, which had never been done before.

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

I had a representative from the development team and a representative that helped handle financial matters.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

They were able to successfully implement the vision that I had for the site, despite it being much more complex than the typical websites they were commissioned to create.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication was very efficient and streamlined. We had conversations regularly, to discuss the project.

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

I was impressed with the work they did on the custom plugins. They were very professional and courteous during the whole development process.

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

I had to give very specific instructions and it felt like I was micro managing, at times. The site had to go through many revisions, but in the end, they were successful in creating what I had asked for.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am developing online open-access education initiatives.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd., and what were your goals?

I'm working on interactive content (interactive video, quizzes, etc.) and needed some way for content creators to upload files and display them as web pages.

SOLUTION

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

I found this company online. They seemed to offer the kinds of skills I needed.

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

The aim was to create a platform for uploading and displaying interactive content online (H5P files). We had several online meetings to discuss objectives, review progress, go over issues that arose, etc.

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

Mainly, there was a project manager and one other person who was actually working on the content of the project. There were one or two others who were keeping track of things and joined in some of the meetings, but they were the main players.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

At this stage, it's not really possible to say very much. The project has only just been finished. It's going to take a while for me to familiarize myself with it. We've reached the stage where the required content can be uploaded and viewed, but there's more work to do, so the project will go into a second phase in a few weeks' time.

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

Things took rather longer than I had expected, but for me the outcome was more important than the time frame, so I wasn't too bothered by that. The project manager was good at keeping everyone on board and there were fairly regular online meetings, so I felt I was kept reasonably well in the picture.

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

The online meetings were very helpful. We were able to use them to clarify things on both sides.

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

I think communication could have been a bit better at the stage where they created the scheme of work. They based it on my early discussions, and we had to spend a bit of time revising it to bring it into line with things that had come up in the meantime. Itemizing the cost for each element in the scheme of work would also have been helpful.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the product manager of Bizabbo, an event management software company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd.?

We needed help in developing a simple video conferencing solution that has added features relevant to virtual events. We were looking for a partner that had experience building video solutions to help us develop a proof of concept.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided BIG STEP with a detailed RFP. They bid and got hired, and they created a project plan. They executed once everything was finalized. 

BIG STEP worked closely with our development team — we worked on the back end, and they focused on the front end. We reviewed the app’s design and code together to ensure optimal work quality. We worked with them as an extension of our development team. 

BIG STEP has already finished their part of the project, but the app’s development is ongoing.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager, a QA specialist, and two developers. 

How did you come to work with BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd.?

We were introduced to BIG STEP by another company we worked with. We did due diligence by talking with their customers, reviewing their code, and asking them to do a small project as a test. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement lasted from June–September 2021.  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

BIG STEP provided good quality work. They were very flexible in dealing with our requirement changes and project development issues such as last-minute modifications, API issues, and logic changes. They were very accommodating, and they were focused on getting the project done correctly. I only have good things to say about BIG STEP.  

How did BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd. perform from a project management standpoint?

BIG STEP was excellent at project management. Their project manager was a seasoned and experienced professional who understood our problems. They went deep to address our issues and solve them. Additionally, they made sure that we didn’t have any language barriers. 

We had daily stand-up meetings with their team; we communicated through Slack. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

BIG STEP’s ability to absorb and accommodate changes on the fly was impressive. They came up with exceptional solutions — I can only praise their work. Their developers could understand our problems and assist us with our requests.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. BIG STEP did an excellent job. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be prepared before starting to work with them because they’ll be eager to start the project. That said, they will be accommodating if you need more time. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and founder of two websites and apps.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd.?

BigStep works with us on our websites and apps. One of them is a potential competitor of Facebook, and the other is a potential competitor of Twitter.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They work on our turnkey apps and for both of my websites. As part of their work, they’ve created an API call to and from a database. For the websites, they create templates, themes, and plug-ins. End users can install these plug-ins and themes to customize their websites; the plug-ins change the look of the website and apps while providing various functionalities. 

What is the team composition?

We work with one salesperson and three technical developers.

How did you come to work with BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd.?

I found them via SocialEngine.com, a PHP-based framework for website development. Within that engine, there was a marketplace for plug-ins, themes, and customization, and that was where I found out about BigStep. They were the largest and most competent plug-in and theme provider on the SocialEngine marketplace, so we hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

Our total investment so far is around $6,000, including two prior projects. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them around June 2014, and the partnership is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since I’m only starting out on all these projects, I don’t have any quantitative metrics. The way I measure success is around technical capabilities and the quality of the plug-ins. I also check the quality of BigStep’s support in terms of whether they get back to me within 24 hours to discuss every bug or issue that I want to talk about. For the most part, all the plug-ins, themes, and customized work they’ve done are 95% bug-free. 

How did BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd. perform from a project management standpoint?

BigStep’s project management is fairly organized, though I’ve dealt with no project manager. They may have project managers within their divisions, but I mostly deal with their technical support and salespeople around fixing bugs. We communicate 90% of the time through support tickets on their website and 10% via instant messaging.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their customer service is impressive. Other companies also make plug-ins and customizations on SocialEngine, but their response time and the number of bugs aren’t as good as BigStep’s. 

I’ve tried one of their competitors, but that provider only copied a bunch of plug-ins. In the end, I spent $2,000 with them, and they wouldn’t give me a refund. They also hardly responded to so many bugs. By contrast, BigStep’s customer support services have been great. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’ve been raising their prices over the past couple of years, so it’ll be nice if they give discounts or special pricing for their existing long-term customers.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be patient. There’s a significant time difference between the US and India, so response times can be a little longer, especially on weekends. For instance, when we have new users and something breaks out of nowhere, we have to wait for 24 hours to get it fixed. As a result, clients need to be patient. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the VP of Technical Services of YourVoyce, Inc., a Social Media Company taking on the Big Tech firms with true Freedom Of Speech initiatives. Our company provides an inter-active Social Media Platform available to the general public, with a combined feature set similar to what the Big Tech firm offer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd., and what were your goals?

We hired BigStep Technologies as the overall project lead and design of our Social Media platform engine. As we started our research into various existing open source and paid platforms, we knew immediately that we would need a firm that could step up to the plate and accomplish huge revisions of a basic and bare bones platform shell. Our goals was to find an existing web based platform that could be easily modified to perform at the level of the Big Tech companies, and then find a company willing and capable of doing just that for a reasonable price.

SOLUTION

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

We found BigStep Technologies through a simple web search while looking for existing products that could be used to meet our goals. After narrowing our search down to three, we chose BigStep Technologies due to their experience with our chosen starter package.

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

Using an existing Open Source Social Media platform skeleton to start with, BigStep re-designed and developed a fully functional platform from the bare bones starter package we chose, achieving a near duplicate platform of an existing Big Tech Social Media firm. Their skill set consists of the utilization of several team members, all who have specialized skillsets and/or combinations of skills, and in particular, PHP, JavaScript, HTML5, CSS and other development tools.

The key deliverable was to duplicate, in as close a fashion as possible, the platform of one particular Big Tech firms platform, with the added goal of adding in certain features of another major Social Media firm. The steps to achieve this were several, starting with the organizational itemization of the task at hand to achieve the overall mission, working the mission on a daily basis, and the follow-through by communicating closely with our team and updating us on a daily basis of their progress.

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

The core team that worked with us consisted of a Company Manager, a Project Lead and a few key programmers. The company manager kept in touch on a less frequent basis, but was involved in larger business decisions when necessary. I can't say enough about the Project Leader and the Core Programmer. The Project Lead was always responsive, extremely well versed in personnel communication, and she always took care to be sure our Action Items and major project steps were followed and completed in a timely fashion and to our satisfaction.

The core programmer worked diligently and was well versed in his own skill sets, and he worked hard on the core aspects of the platform. Others that were involved also did professional work when certain skills were necessary beyond the core focus, and as coordinated by the Team Lead. I was very pleased at the professionalism of this entire team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Although our outcomes are yet to be meaningfully measured because we are too early in the growth stage of our own firm, it is our estimate and belief that we can now comfortably and confidently release our product to the general public with a spirit of pride.

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

It is easy, as a customer, to complain on timeliness. And we did complain from time to time. However, when we look back at the milestones and achievements that our companies worked on together, it is also very evident that time is the solution to all good outcomes. The project lead kept us focused using action item lists, allowing us to prioritize elements and updates to the platform in an orderly fashion. Although we were looking for a fast and quick outcome, it can be said that a timely outcome was accomplished in the end. For communication tools we used daily emails, chat session and even on direct communications platforms such as skype and Microsoft Teams when necessary. All of those communication tools were used frequently and professionally.

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

The most impressive thing about the team we worked with was their attention to our project. They answered questions in a very timely fashion and they were always responsive to our questions, with quick turn-arounds. They also seemed to work amongst themselves in a very professional manner as well, evidenced through the Team Leads daily planning process.

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

Follow through on certain aspects would be my one concern. In some main project instances, the larger focal points would be completed, but details were missed. And although this can sometimes be annoying, when we brought those detail issues to their attention, they quickly remedied those for us.