Classic Informatics

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of Bloonaway, an e-commerce company. We sell balloons and partyware online.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Classic Informatics?

We were a startup so the first thing we had to do was build a platform. It had to be a highly-customized platform, and we had to make sure that we would be able to work well in both the front- and backend.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Before we started coding, I spent at least six weeks with them daily discussing the requirements. They designed some aspects of it, but we gave them a lot of information and wireframes. Classic Informatics then planned the project and developed a Magento platform. 

What is the team composition?

In the beginning, I was in contact with three teammates: one who wrote the requirements, one who did the coding, and then a project manager. Once we had all of the requirements done, we only worked with a developer and an account manager. 

How did you come to work with Classic Informatics?

I did a lot of research on Upwork, and after I posted the job, I received a lot of applications. I looked at a lot of UK companies, but their prices were 3–4 times higher than those in India. Classic Informatics wasn’t the cheapest, but they inspired a lot more confidence than other companies. 

I also decided to go with them because they were professional, their English was impeccable, and they did other highly-customized work for their clients. I was also looking for a bigger team so that if something were to go wrong, there would be someone to step in, and they had that. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about £50,000 (approximately $64,9500 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in about November 2014. Although that project was completed in about a year, we work with them whenever we need an upgrade.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I wanted something, and they got it done. I never heard them say that something was impossible. The product works smoothly, and they’re coding was amazing. Their work cost less than what other companies would’ve charged.

How did Classic Informatics perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management was incredible. It was a well-organized endeavor. I had their WhatsApp number, and they were always available even in UK time. We used Basecamp for project management, and we also used Skype.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Classic Informatics’ organizational skills and approachability were impressive. In addition, they gave us a much cheaper quote for the first phase than other companies.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there were no areas of improvement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Plan everything in advance, and don’t start coding before you finish planning. The more you plan, the less it will cost you. The less it costs you, the quicker it will go.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Product Owner of the website Quaestiones.com, which is a service integrator platform for university students.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Classic Informatics, and what were your goals?

Our website was created in 2000 and needed to be renewed from a technical and graphic design point of view.

SOLUTION

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

Since we haven't in-house developers to invest on this project, we decided to hire developers from Classic Informatics thanks to the good reviews the company has.

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

We had a first kick-off meeting where we defined our goals. After that we start working on the project of the website refactoring. Technology required is based on Angular and Mongo DB.

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

We work with a Technical Project Manager and a full stack developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After a first significant release we are still working on the platform. Refactoring has fixed usability of the website and of the admin panel. Now we're moving on new features that will increase traffic and incomes.

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

We have weekly calls and a constant dialog, which allows us to discuss the tasks that are being worked on. Communication is done mainly via Jira and Skype. The developer is very responsive.

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

They always help us with any issues that arise and are available to me. It is a very competent, service-oriented, and communicative team.

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

Sometimes we've found some minor issues after the releases, but the developer has always been prompt to fix them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Software Development Manager for Lateral Profiles Limited, a company in Auckland, New Zealand.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Classic Informatics?

We wanted someone who could design a totally new UI/UX for our product and implement the same using HTML, CSS and javascript, using our backend API's.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal was to provide us with a unique design and a cost effective implementation for our product as soon as possible.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We shortlisted Classic Informatics from a number of clients via Upwork.

Describe the project in detail.

• Classic Informatics provide Basecamp access for File transfer.
• We uploaded specifications via basecamp to our project.
• Specifications were discussed with the manager
• Mock- Ups were delivered to us for review.
• We reviewed and authorised the mock-ups.
• Changes were sent for another iteration.
• Authorised mock-ups were sent for development.
• Finally, delivered implementation via basecamp for us to download.

What was the team composition?

We were assigned a team manager with whom we would liaise and under whom there was a UI/UX designer and couple of developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The UI/UX design from Classic Informatics were world class. Definitely the usage increased! My seniors were very very pleased with the result and will never hesitate to utilise or refer them to other clients.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The communication channels were always open with prompt responses whenever required.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Every thing about this company was spot on. - Cost-Effective - Efficient - Knowledgeable - Communicative - Creative

Are there any areas for improvement?

There were hardly any issues that we encountered...so will pass on this.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Provides mental health screening service. I am the technical lead.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Classic Informatics?

Build a mental disorder screening application. Build and support the associated website.

What were your goals for this project?

Deliver into production a working version of the mental disorder screening application.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Through web search and response to proposal.

Describe the project in detail.

Develop the application to provide screening for mental disorders. Designed to run off a database so future edits are database driven rather than code driven. Also designed to support language options other than English,

What was the team composition?

Technical lead from PsychProfiler. Development and build team from Classics.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

There were some difficulties to be overcome, but the application was delivered and has been in production for multiple years with very few issues. It is a good sound application. The website is maintained by Classics. The biggest issue is virus infiltration to some files.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow is usually very good. Classics are responsive.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They have skilled resources to perform the work required and it comes at an internationally competitive price.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We have had discussions about some cases where responses were not meeting expectations. They had answered yes, but but not perform. On further discussion they advised they did not have the resources available. This was accepted as a perfectly acceptable response, but should have been made up front, not explained six weeks later. Apart from this one key instance, responses have been very good.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

VINDAME is a wine importer in Brazil. I am their CEO and supervise the implementation of the IT projects as well.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Classic Informatics, and what were your goals?

First, Classic Informatics developed our Magento E-Commerce Website. We had a WooCommerce site previously, which they had also developed.

We are now upgrading to Magento CE 2.3, creating a stable environment and an easy-to-be-accessed website was the main goal. We are now improving the site further.

SOLUTION

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

We had contacted various providers and on the basis of track record and interviews, and decided to select Classic Informatics.

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

Initially, Classic Informatics developed a Magento site with most of the basic information that we had used on the WooCommerce site. They were in-charge of selecting a theme, creating the proper integrations and now the upgrade to a new Magento 2.3 version were the main projects.

Classic Informatics is now integrating a Brazilian module for integration of a Brazilian ERP software (caused the problem with the new Magento version, and we were very dissatisfied with the Brazilian developers).

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

We had two main contacts, plus occasionally one or two other people being in touch with us e.g. on design questions for parts of the template. Also, from time to time, we had recourse to the server team that is responsible for keeping our site running on the Amazon web server.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website is running smoothly and we are very satisfied overall with the results.

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

Communication is done mainly via Basecamp. The team leader is very responsive, and our requests to check or take care of issues are always responded to swiftly. Excellent communication and management style.

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

It is a competent team, service-oriented, and communicating very well. Also, they appear to have excellent Magento knowledge, something hard or impossible to find in Brazil.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Perhaps, they can give some proactive guidance and suggestions in respect of integration with Google and website traffic.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the app development manager at Interdent, a dental practice solutions company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Classic Informatics?

We needed help with internal software development using Microsoft ASP.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed our internal software using ASP and we’ve since graduated to .NET and C#. Our applications range in many different areas, including dashboard reporting. There were internal KPIs that were developed. 

We also had a doctor payroll application that they helped us build. There’s a fee schedule application that figures out the appropriate fees for procedures based on the insurance plan. There’s the back office for claims management. 

There’s also a very lively application called call center popups. They helped us build an application that would allow our call center agents to effectively find patients when they call. Based on what number they’re calling from and what number they’re calling to, we’re able to present the call center popup screen to help our agents communicate with those patients very effectively.

Everything they've done was built from scratch, so the process and systems have been put in place by them. 

What is the team composition?

At one point, we had about eight people on a team. Currently, we have 4–5 people. We communicate with the project manager and the key developers. Many times there is interaction directly with developers and the team leads.

How did you come to work with Classic Informatics?

I worked with them in 2003 at my previous company where we used them for our e-commerce site.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $3.5 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2006 and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to get the applications done faster and cheaper by hiring them. They’ve delivered quality work and have helped improve the business process. We’re able to streamline our processes to reduce the costs.

For example, in the doctor payroll application, they helped us automate how we calculate the payroll for doctors; each contract and how they get paid based on either performance, salary, or the procedure. It reduced the number of hours it took for a human to come up with the actual amount along with more accuracy.

There were all different departments doing their own reporting and there was no consistent, single source approved through the reporting. Their work in that area helped our application gain credibility as a business.

How did Classic Informatics perform from a project management standpoint?

The majority of the project management is done on our side and the way we set it up. They manage their developers for the projects. Delivery time and getting the job done within budget is excellent. The communication has worked well for us. We use email, phone calls, Skype, WhatsApp, and Asana.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Even if they don’t get it initially, they will take the time to make sure the project is delivered. They’re patient and stay calm throughout the project; they excel in everything for us. They always help us with any issues that arise and are available to me.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’ve seen big improvements since 2006. At this point in time, I can’t think of anything. They just need to stay focused as they have been.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you define the requirements clearly and document as much as possible. Don’t make any assumptions. Make sure there’s tight communication especially when you’re getting started.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the Founder and CEO at Hubbed. We are an Australian start-up working as a logistics parcel network for courier companies and receivers through partnerships with hundreds of agents & physical retail outlets that serve as pick-up/drop-off points.

Some of our popular partners include TOLL, DHL, TNT, UPS, Couriers Please, Sendle, BP, Pack & Send, Repco and 7-Eleven.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Classic Informatics?

Classic Informatics acted as our technology partner in building and enhancing our product. Hubbed solution is an interactive online platform for carrier management that could handle thousands of transactions daily by hundreds of partner networks & chains.

Once they took over from the existing partner, the development team at Classic Informatics helped us with all stages of the product development - from fine-tuning the product roadmap, core development to support.

What were your goals for this project?

Our product looks to help logistics providers simplify deliveries to home by minimising missed deliveries.

It is an ambitious project and requires a scalable technology team and stack that could easily accommodate the nationwide traffic and thousands of transactions we do on the daily and support the strategic partnerships we had lined up. It also needed seamless integrations with a number of tools and systems.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

In the initial phases, we were working with a business based in Sydney to manage the solution. The technology strength we had previously was not able to keep up with our growth and we started looking for a technology partner that would allow us to scale at free will. We came across Classic Informatics while sorting through different profiles and decided to go ahead with them.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

RoadMap Management: CI worked with us to refine the product road-map and define tangible timelines. CI moved our project management to cloud tool i.e. JIRA for better management and visibility for all the involved stakeholders. Managed Product Development CI worked with us to collect the user feedback and update the product roadmap.

CI scaled up the development team to build the required features into the product and nurture it. CI assisted us in scoping and building platforms for our partners and deliver to high-value customers. CI followed an agile model of development where we could prioritise their feature-set and see fortnightly progress through demos.

DevOps CI helped us to create and manage a continuous development and delivery process. The setup was configured to be cost-friendly over cloud allowing us to save on the cost during the down-time and scale-up during peaks.

On-going Support Since the tool had gone live and is being used by the intended users, CI had been monitoring the backend and ensuring that the performance is optimum CI take care of noted bugs or enhancements required.

What was the team composition?

The product was managed by a team of 6 involving backend, frontend, APIs & architecture scoping easy scalability for Hubbed. For the next phase, we even increased the number to 15 with 9 new members dedicatedly managing a project with a high-value partner. The Classic Informatics team also helped in managing our cloud infrastructure.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

With technical strength on our side, we were able to speed up the delivery of the product and new features. This also prepared us for next expansion - strategic partnerships with industry leaders like 7Eleven, Toll, DHL etc. The idea was to utilize easy accessible 7Eleven stores and introduce available kiosks and lockers to automate the whole delivery/pick-up system.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The product was fully managed by their team and they did a good job at that. They were pretty transparent with the scope and the deliverables, providing us with timely progress updates. A dedicated project manager and a local business analyst was assigned to help with smoother onboarding.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

As a rapidly growing business, scalability was crucial for us. We wanted to have the flexibility to expand on feature-sets, team and servers as and when required.

In a short period of time, we were able to expand our partnerships and, with that, the team size grew. They also helped us configure a cost-friendly cloud set-up for our tool so we could save on the cost during our down-time and scale-up during peaks.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I think they are doing a great job. Communication is good, the deadlines are met, and overall it is a great experience working with them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We build bespoke products in PropTech space. I was the manager of this project.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Classic Informatics?

Initially, we have hired Classic Informatics to augment our team of full-stack web developers. They have provided us with the talented Angular / NodeJS developer. Later on in the project, near its completion phase, they have also provided us with a QA engineer to ensure we deliver the best results to our end-users.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal was to completely rebuild the existing product with the new technology and automation in order to make it more scalable and cost-effective.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

The manager from the agency has contacted us and we have set up the interview with the engineer who they hand-picked for our project from their team.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The engineer they have provided worked as a member of our internal project team, within our own

What was the team composition?

There has been one full-stack engineer and later on a QA engineer has joined as well. Throughout the whole engagement, the Classic Informatics' manager has maintained proactive communication, helped us to address some challenges and feedback. He was able to quickly source any additional talent we might need throughout our project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Team augmentation worked really well for us because we could add new members to our team and apply the same management process as if they were our employees. 

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We were also happy to give engineers from Classic Informatics enough independence and freedom to choose their solutions which resulted in minimal overhead and great implementation.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a software development company that provides an end-to-end digital loan origination platform and a regulatory reporting platform to financial services companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Classic Informatics?

To assist us in creating the interface layer for our products and some of the underlying infrastructure.

What were your goals for this project?

The major goals were to design the interface in line with the business requirements and to be able to consume data and show it in the charts designed. This included setting up some drill-downs and links through to other charts.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We had considered several vendors and decided on Classic Informatics due to the way in which they operate the business in terms of providing a cross-functional team, including BA and PM resourcing.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We provided business requirements documents. Classic Informatics provided input and guidance in relation to the appropriate visualisation technology to use, which we did. Once there was a mutual understanding of requirements and scope the project was run in weekly sprints and was completed in the specified timeframe and within budget.

What was the team composition?

The project team had a lead developer, a tester and a project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everything was delivered in line with our requirements and we were very happy with what was produced. Since the engagement we have had several opportunities to showcase what was developed and have received positive feedback. This will enable us to continue to add functionality over time.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project management of the project was extremely good. We had regular meetings, communicated via Basecamp and the projects were completed on time and within budget. We also used Jira to track and monitor progress which worked well.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

It was great to be able to have access to a broader range of team members with all relevant skills. This helped make the process easier.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Area's for improvement are limited, it would just be around ensuring more rigorous documentation for migration into the clients environment.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Technical Application Manager at a small internet agency which belongs to a bigger media company. Our company has about 10 employees and we serve mid-sized companies in our region. We also offer software development for our sister companies. I am responsible for the development and technical concept of our digital products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Classic Informatics Pvt. Ltd.?

For our five regional job portals, we needed a mobile application. Since our inhouse development focus is on Java Enterprise Web-Applications, we needed a reliable partner for creating native apps for our job portals.

What were your goals for this project?

The aim of the project was to build the native apps for our job portals and make on-going enhancements & maintenance on it.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Our previous outsourcing partner was purchased by another company and was no longer available to us. We searched online for an outsourcing development partner (Mobile-App Development, Wordpress and Typo3 Development, etc.). After a few phone calls with the Business Development of Classic Informatics Pvt. Ltd., we made the decision to give them a try.

Describe the project in detail.

The project was to work on the existing code of Native mobile applications that was developed by another team. They were a few issues in the current code which had to be fixed. Also, a few additional features had to be implemented in the mobile apps.

What was the team composition?

The team comprised of an Account Manager, Project Manager, iOS & Android developers, Tester

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Classic Informatics Pvt. Ltd. was able to quickly resolve existing issues in the mobile apps. They were able to stabilize the performance of the application & make the necessary changes. Now their team is involved in continuous development & improvement of our apps. They followed a structured process where they gave a project plan, and then a first design draft of the app, followed with prototype and the build.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They are extremely easy to work with. The communication between both the teams is perfect. They are quick to respond and also provide good suggestions and recommendations.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are a professional outfit & provide top quality work. The committed deadlines are always met. We will certainly work with them for all our mobile app requirements in the future

Are there any areas for improvement?

There is none that I can think of. But I know they always want to improve.