Bluelupin Technologies

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the founders of a health and wellness business with 2 verticals. The first vertical is called Blue Terra, which consists of about 11 health centers across 5 states in India offering therapies such as body massages, treatments for various ailments, and ayurvedic therapies.

The second vertical of the business is called Blue Nectar, which is an e-commerce website selling health and wellness products. It includes massage, slimming, and stress relief oils and beauty creams.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bluelupin Technologies?

A lot of our customers find our centers online and actively look at our website and evaluate us to find out what kind of treatments we offer. Then, they visit our centers.

The website is a very important factor in the way we present ourselves to our audience and the one we had wasn’t up to date and wasn’t representing our growing centers effectively. We wanted to revamp the website to properly show our positioning and what we offer.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did the entire overhaul of our health center website and because we were happy with the work, we also had them develop our e-commerce one. We have a large product range that falls into a premium kind of a segment, so we wanted a high-quality website that could make our products look premium. We had to ensure that our customers got a premium experience through the look and feel of the website as well as with its process flow. We wanted a listing of all of our products for the categories on our website, along with a payment gateway setup.

We also used their website hosting services because we really liked their approach.

What is the team dynamic?

There were 3 team members, one of which was in charge of the user interface.

How did you come to work with Bluelupin Technologies?

We had clear requirements as to what we were looking for and wanted a company with a good reference. Bluelupin was recommended by one of our friends, so we met them a couple of times and really liked their proposal and the way they worked. We were also really impressed with the kind of influence they had by using a hands-on approach.

They had done a lot of similar work on WordPress and understood our requirements easily. They presented some sample framework templates and we just knew that they were the right guys to build our website.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested $12,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2015 until September 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The overhaul of the website really helped our business because it was much more in line with our positioning. We got great feedback from customers and saw a significant increase in organic traffic which has had a direct impact on the increase in our revenue. It’s one of the biggest measures of success that we’ve had on this project. We really liked their service overall.

How did Bluelupin perform from a project management standpoint?

They had a lean team working on the project and the timeline was short. Project management was pretty good; we had a single point of contact for all interactions.

What did you find most impressive about working with Bluelupin Technologies?

They worked as an extended IT team for us—it was more than a client-vendor relationship. We were comfortable with each other and as a result, I could bounce off my other technology related questions with the team for their advice and guidance

Are there any areas that Bluelupin can improve on?

Nothing I could think of. They were pretty good.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a system general manager and the head of technology and applications for Vodafone; I represent the external development department in India. We primarily work on corporate social responsibility projects aligning with the Vodafone technology-as-charity mission. We have a global market campaign called Connecting for Good, and primarily work with social, development, or government organizations to implement solutions which can have social impact in people’s lives.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bluelupin Technologies?

We work with partners in order to gauge the scope of ongoing activities and digitize them whenever possible. In this context, we worked with them for a digital education and financial literacy campaign in India, in 2016. We built a platform called Sanvaad, the Hindi word for dialogue. The name was chosen because it could be a synonym for the Connecting for Good campaign name.

We built a tool which allowed trainers to work with beneficiaries in remote regions of the country. The trainers have a grade-12 level of education, or are graduates, while the trainees have an education of up to grade 6 or 7. The purpose of the program was to educate them on how to use a mobile phone, and make them more aware of its possibilities. Research showed that most people in remote regions do not use mobile devices for banking or even general education purposes, so making them more familiar with smartphones was needed. The technology burst happened about 2 ½ years back, but almost 60% of the Indian market still didn’t possess a smart device. We targeted 2 or 3 districts for the training effort.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Bluelupin helped us build a mobile education platform, and also worked on the curriculum content. Their MobileKonnect proprietary technology was used as a CMS [content management system], and they gave us an inherited platform which we own the intellectual property of. It exists in the form of a tablet and mobile application used by field-level trainers.

It was a complete project, from inception to the training of the field educators. Our audience was between the ages of 17 and 21, graduates at most. Since the product was not made for an established market, the initial phase involved 5 or 6 workshops with Bluelupin, with the purpose of making them understand our target audience. We wanted to keep the UI/UX simple, without too many transitions or animations within the app itself. The buttons and call-to-action elements would be clearly visible on the screen.

We also had discussions about the level at which the content was to be built up for the application, and had on-field interactions with end-users and prospective trainers. Bluelupin spoke to them and gave them a questionnaire, in order to understand what kind of experience would be acceptable.

We had 2 final workshops with our implementation partner, where they tried to understand the requirements around the editors publishing content on the app, in terms of number of departments, rules, moderations, spell-checks, and so on. Once the app was built, the editorial department started using the CMS.

We finally went through a wireframing stage, where Bluelupin presented us a few options for the backend and frontend.

We had a short timeline of about 6 months, from inception until going on the ground, including the content creation phase which comprised of around 27 course videos across 7 chapters, each with 3-4 topics to be covered. Their team handled the content, and we reviewed the content itself, including the scripting for every video piece. We approved scripts after a few iterations. Once a few sample videos were agreed upon, in terms of flow and timeframe, we moved on to the next script.

For the CMS, Bluelupin first presented a prototype for us to test and figure out ways of making it more user-friendly. They uploaded sample content on it, and we determined around 45 user stories to implement on it. We had a product log in place for the next 3 months, and once everything was ready, we went into a new iteration mode for brand colors.

After a 6-month period, half of their team went on the field in order to train the users of the app. We also had a 1-day training session for the backend usage. A product manual and mobile user guide were also shared with us.

What is the team dynamic?

I was in direct contact with a lead Android developer, a junior developer, 3 backend developers, and 6 resources on the content side. We used Skype screen sharing for demo purposes. Since the developers were close to our location, 70% of workshops happened physically. Email was used for documentation purposes, or sharing project status on a daily basis in terms of the user stories being covered. I was the product owner for the company, and had daily scrum meetings with Bluelupin.

How did you come to work with Bluelupin Technologies?

We had a limited budget, as is typical for social projects, so we had an open RFP, releasing it to 8-10 partners. We found Bluelupin through web research. My previous company had also used the group, although I didn’t work directly with them then. Bluelupin turned out to be the most cost-effective solution at the time.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost of their work was 75-80 Lakh rupees. [7,500,000 rupees, or $115,000]

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Bluelupin in February 2016, and ended in August or September. They continue to support us for maintenance and new feature development. The program is continuing with a new financial literacy drive.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app is available publicly on Google Play. We’ve measured impact primarily through baselining and end-lining, looking at how it impacted the learning levels of end-users. The mid-lining is already done, while the end-lining is still in progress. It’s been a 2-year project with 8 months for building the solution and content curriculum, and around a year of training, during which we were supposed to train 100,000 targeted end-users. We have already reached 50,000, where learning levels have improved by 20%. Approximately 40% of the trained users have used at least one of the services shown to them, whether it’s mobile banking, ticket booking, making printouts, or applying for a job.

How did Bluelupin Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

I would give them an 8 out of 10 in terms of responsiveness. It was a small project, and they were eager to work at a slower pace than that of typical business partners. They’re agile and adaptive in terms of making iterations.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve worked with almost 50 technology partners so far, and Bluelupin has been one of the most open in terms of iterations, accepting what was necessary. They contributed their own ideas in terms of making the solution acceptable.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They work with the latest technologies, and were one of the first partners to provide an RFP for AngularJS 2.0, but we’ve had to give them feedback around the design. Our audience was much more basic, and they initially gave us modern designs with multiple shortcuts. We struggled initially, but Bluelupin adapted to our paradigm. They could be better in terms of understanding the target audience at the conceptualization stage.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

They didn’t provide us tools for the tracking process. If an organization is looking to work with Bluelupin on long-term projects of more than 6 months, they should try to follow scrum strategies, and have project implementation tools in place. This can play a significant role in making Bluelupin more productive. They’re responsive when any lags are pointed out.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

At the time of this project, I was working as the CIA for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bluelupin Technologies?

We did two projects with Bluelupin Technologies that involved development work. The first project they worked on was for a tire brand. The client wanted to develop a web portal, as well as a tailored management system for onboarding clients, handling the warranty process, and replacements.

The second project was for a government initiative, and the goal was to develop a scholarship portal for students.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We worked on two development projects with Bluelupin Technologies. Both projects involved building custom web portals. The team handled the entire development process using these key technologies: Laravel, Angular, and MySQL. We handled the UI/UX design work, but their team helped us create the UX journey. We shared design assets via Figma and Sketch.

Bluelupin Technologies also helped us with setting up the AWS server and provided maintenance services for three months after delivering the websites.

What is the team composition?

We worked with various people from their side, including a scrum master, the founder, a project manager, and front- and backend developers.

How did you come to work with Bluelupin Technologies?

One of my ex-colleagues recommended them to us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $60,000 on both projects.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from January–December 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Bluelupin Technologies fulfilled our expectations; the websites they built were performing really well.

How did Bluelupin Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

They delivered on time. We used Slack and Google Meet for important group meetings. We also used Jira to manage tasks.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were impressed with Bluelupin Technologies’ insights and approach to working with clients. Their team handled the entire process really well and suggested ideas to improve the website’s loading speed and overall UX. Their founder was also very hands-on, and he had a good team on board.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything that Bluelupin Technologies could’ve improved on. Overall, I think they did a good job of living up to our expectations.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend working with them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Technology Head for the Connecting For Good Program

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Bluelupin Technologies, and what were your goals?

We are working as a Non Profit to delivery solutions which can be good for social sector and hence under a program we find problem from the sector and then deliver solution accordingly.

SOLUTION

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

We found them basis on the market exploration and RFP basis. The deciding factors were flexibility, cost effectiveness & hunger to deliver the project.

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

They designed a full fledge project management and financial analysis system and also delivered a education project for us. Both were based on different technology stack.

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

There were 7 people team starting from designer, developer, tester, operations vertical.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The projects were delivered successfully keeping in mind the users from social sector and also different challenge in terms of concept at effective budgeting. We always wanted a partner rather than a vendor and they were able to work like a real partner and always go the extra mile as per the requirement. Also helped us in enhancing the solution with new ideas to add more value. We believe the services are offered perfectly and feel that our products are in safe hands.

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

Weekly Meet ups and daily standups were performed to take the stalk of the situation and project delivery.

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

Flexibility and Accessibility.

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

Not want to comment

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I was the senior director of engineering and operations for PureSoftware. It’s a leading software development company in multiple domains, using almost all kinds of technologies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Bluelupin Technologies?

We had a project that required a quick turnaround for a specific technology and didn’t have enough skilled resources immediately available. Therefore, we sought help.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a working demo that met our initial requirements to be delivered in a few weeks.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Considering our short timeline, we spoke with several organizations and selected Bluelupin based on their proactiveness, skilled team members, and previous work.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

They handled software development for a mobile app, following our clearly-defined requirements. They also contributed ideas for the product.

What was the team composition?

They provided a developer and a QA specialist.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The project started within two days of agreeing to work together and was delivered before time. They met our business expectations.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We handled project management together.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their sense of ownership for the work and commitment to the agreed-upon results were remarkable. They were also open to our ideas and changes.