Development for Financial Services Platform
- Web Development
- $50,000 to $199,999
- Nov. 2011 - Ongoing
- Quality
- 4.5
- Schedule
- 4.5
- Cost
- 5.0
- Willing to Refer
- 5.0
"They’re very cost-effective for us. You could not get a stronger partnership."
- Financial services
- Boston, Massachusetts
- 1-10 Employees
- Phone Interview
- Verified
Boston Technology built an enterprise-class platform that is being used by financial planning advisors. BTC provides functional specification, technical design, open-source coding, and acceptance testing.
BTC stands out because of their ability to develop both backend and frontend features, which makes them a cost-effective option. Their strengths include a commitment to quality results, project management, and an accommodating attitude.
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’m a managing partner at AdvisorAdit. Our business serves the independent financial advisor space. We cater to any stakeholder in the independent advisor community, from fund families, to custodians, to the various associations that serve advisors e.g. the Financial Planning Association, and the advisors themselves.
OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE
What challenge were you trying to address with Boston Technology Corporation?
Our company is based on a technology platform, so we needed to have an outside company to build it for us.
SOLUTION
What was the scope of their involvement?
About four years ago, when we were trying to figure out our technology direction, we knew we were not going to be hiring internal staff. We needed to have a company to provide end-to-end services. In addition to helping us with the design, build, deployment, and support, we also needed a company that could handle both the backend and frontend well. We learned that a lot of companies were good in one or the other. Given that we wanted our system to be an enterprise-class platform, it was very difficult to find a company who did that cost-effectively.
We wanted to go with a Java backend, so an open stack, Linux, Java backbone. Our frontend at the time was just your standard HTML. We are starting to move towards HTML5, so some aspects of our system have that for a frontend. We’ve toyed with the idea of going with a native app, but that can be expensive and hard to manage on an ongoing basis. We are interested in learning more about Facebook’s new proprietary front-end code for our next generation user experience.
BTC [Boston Technology Corporation] helped us with the functional specification, then the technical design, and the build. We continue to engage with them when we want to do statements of work for enhancements or adding new features. We talk to them at least once a week, and sometimes twice a week. Their service model with us is that their development and QA environments are in India. When any new code passes that, we have a user acceptance testing environment here. That’s where I evaluate the code and approve it, then it goes into production.
When we first started, we had a project manager, a QA manager, a team lead, and two developers. The team lead and developers were really the folks working on the project. The project manager made sure things were on track and served as an escalation point. During the build, we always had the ability to be in touch with the president. Now, on a day-to-day basis, we will work with the team lead as our main contact, and he has someone working with him. From a development standpoint, there are two people day-to-day. Sometimes, the project manager will get involved when we scope out projects, and then we’ll talk to the president every once in a while.
How did you come to work with Boston Technology Corporation?
We found them through a web search. We reviewed many other companies. BTC stood out because they were able to cost-effectively manage both the frontend and the backend, given that our backend was Java and open-source.
How much have you invested with Boston Technology Corporation?
We started with a chunk that was around $50,000. Throughout the years, it’s been in the $100,000–$150,000 range.
What is the status of this engagement?
We began working together around November of 2011, and the relationship is very much ongoing. We depend on them.
RESULTS & FEEDBACK
Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?
The most important metric is that, out of the 4 ½ years that the platform has been live, we’ve only had a few issues. BTC has been right there for those issues, which is especially important given that they are based out of India. They have an office here, but their developers are over there.
We needed them to really build. Whenever we want to design anything, we have a web developer here, a local guy, who will help us design things. He either gives us the code or lets BTC know what to do. BTC then actually implements that. When we first started with BTC years ago, they did not have a lot of frontend native app folks. I think we were one of the first customers that had a frontend with them, but they quickly ramped up. Right now, a lot of their business is app design. We just happen to have our own person with experience working with our platform for the frontend.
How did Boston Technology Corporation perform from a project management standpoint?
They’re very good. We’re really hands-on, and that’s one of the reasons they’re very cost-effective for us. For project management, I take on a little bit of that role. I overlap into their world a bit because we know them so well. You could not get a stronger partnership. We use Redmine, which helps track bugs and enhancements. If I want an enhancement done, I will scope it out and upload to Redmine. As these lists build up, I can create a report and review. That’s how they give us pricing and all that.
What did you find most impressive about Boston Technology Corporation?
I don’t have much to compare them to, but they are very accommodating to us. They’re not always holding their hands out for money every time we talk on the phone. There’s none of that a tall, which is so refreshing. Maybe other companies operate this way as well, but our experience with them is nice.
Are there any areas Boston Technology Corporation could improve?
Early on, it would have been nice for them to have more of a user experience team, but they have that now. It’s not a valid critique at this point, as they’ve addressed that. I really have no complaints with them.
RATINGS
-
Quality
4.5Service & Deliverables
"They delivered a great product. Every once in a while, I will come across a bug, but it’s not bad."
-
Schedule
4.5On time / deadlines
"They always make meetings, but they don’t always get things done on time. It’s not bad, just the normal course of business."
-
Cost
5.0Value / within estimates
"They’re outstandingly cost-effective."
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Willing to Refer
5.0NPS
"I recommend them all the time. In fact, we’ve served as project managers for clients of ours who wanted to engage with BTC for projects related to our service.