CMARIX

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of CouchShopr. We’re an on-demand delivery service that connects customers with our drivers, who then deliver the ordered items. The concept is that our drivers get paid a delivery fee, pay for the order, and get reimbursed by our company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CMARIX?

Because I didn’t have the coding or development experience to create the app, I needed a team of developers. We wanted the iOS app to have chat and payment functionalities.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, we explained our goals for the app, regarding features and visuals. They incorporated their ideas into our concept and, after getting our approval on their proposal, began development. Their team built a chat feature to allow for contact between drivers and customers and implemented an element for blocking unwanted, inappropriate communication. They are still working on the payment tool, which will manage reimbursements and fees.

What is the team composition?

Kiran (Business Development Executive, CMARIX), initially reached out to begin the project. We also work with Mitesh (Business Development Manager) and Sunny (Business Development Sr. Manager). Our project lead is Piyush (PHP Lead, CMARIX), and he provides two other members from the development team.

How did you come to work with CMARIX?

After I posted the job on LinkedIn, Kiran contacted me with a proposal. I found them to be promising and the price was lower than expected.

How much have you invested with them?

By the end of the engagement, we expect to spend around $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began the project in July 2018, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Though the app hasn’t launched yet, we’ve received glowing feedback on the look and concept. The product is exactly what we envisioned—they’ve incorporated all the features we wanted. There is excitement from those who have previewed it, and we’re anticipating a strong launch.

How did CMARIX perform from a project management standpoint?

They provide daily progress updates and keep me in the loop throughout the project. They track process in Excel spreadsheets and send us emails about milestone updates.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Despite the significant time difference, they communicate effectively with us and proactively handle any issues. Additionally, they’ve done a great job of guiding me through my first app development process, and have helped me learn the ropes.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Though the language barrier and time difference are sometimes a struggle, they handle it exceptionally well, and it hasn't become an issue.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Giving them your requirements and vision for the project upfront makes the process simpler. If you can provide a detailed scope and stick to your plan, they’ll be able to do the project more efficiently.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a private consultant who has just started a company called Tephra Solar & Schwen Consulting.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CMARIX TechnoLabs?

One of our clients is a fast-growing solar sails company that wanted a CRM with a built-in project management app. The platform would allow his salespeople and installation managers to log in, see account data, track leads, and so forth. At the time, we looked into Salesforce along with a few other out-of-box CRMs and realized that it would be more cost-effective to develop our own. After finding little success with other developers, we partnered with CMARIX TechnoLabs to build the custom CRM.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

CMARIX TechnoLabs inherited the project from our previous vendor who wrote the original CRM in C#. The tech stack included a .NET MVC framework, a Microsoft SQL Server database, Bootstrap, and JavaScript. However, the team didn’t know how to fully utilize the technology and developed a novice structure that left us open to bugs.

Once CMARIX TechnoLabs took over the collaboration, they quickly pointed out the flaws in the original structure. We decided to start over, and CMARIX TechnoLabs redid the architecture for the whole project within a week. They also supported me while I set up the development environment on Microsoft Azure. Although they didn’t have much experience with Azure, they quickly came up to speed and can now use it to test for bugs, make changes, and deploy updates. We’re currently focusing on the built-in project management app.

What is the team composition?

I primarily work with Parth (Senior Software Developer, CMARIX TechnoLabs) and Mitesh (Business Development Manager, CMARIX TechnoLabs). Mitesh acts as their project manager. He keeps track of the budget, making sure that we’ve discussed and scheduled the payments to ensure a smooth process. He also ensures that my needs are in the appropriate pipeline so that we have the right developers on the job.

How did you come to work with CMARIX TechnoLabs?

When we left our previous vendor, we sought resources who were communicative, professional, and cost-effective. I posted the project on LinkedIn and received some local and offshore bids. After a rigorous background check, CMARIX TechnoLabs ended up being the least expensive option, so we reached out to them.

I appreciated that Mitesh took the effort to fully understand our requirements. Well-spoken and knowledgeable, he made a point of being available when needed, often staying up until 2 AM his time to discuss the project. I felt good about their team and decided to move forward with them.

How much have you invested with them?

They typically charge $16 per hour for full-time work; that’s 40 hours per week with four weeks in a month. On a week-to-week basis, they charge $18 per hour.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in August 2018 and have another 6–12 months of work planned. We’re also looking to take the CRM to market, after which we’ll send all the development work to them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Overall, they produce quality work that’s both functional and reliable. We’ve had a few different release goals so far; after a soft launch, our client’s sales team found a minor bug and design flaw. CMARIX TechnoLabs resolved those issues quickly without overcharging us and worked to make the CRM more intuitive. The longer we've collaborated on this project, they better they've envisioned our needs.

How did CMARIX TechnoLabs perform from a project management standpoint?

Since there’s a 12-hour time difference between us, it’s nice to have daily standups via Skype to coordinate the project. They update me on their progress, and I provide instructions for tasks. Typically, we manage the application lifecycle with Trello, storing any changes on Bitbucket and deploying them to Azure. Since I have a strong background in testing, I’m able to test their changes before we deploy them, however, the team is also fully capable of doing the testing themselves.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I completely trust CMARIX TechnoLabs and cannot say enough good things about working with them. The team is committed to retaining long-term customers at all costs, even if it means making sacrifices on their end. In particular, Parth works hard to help us meet deadlines. He has excellent architectural design ideas and excels at UI.

Furthermore, the team has worked on several CRMs in the past, so they have a lot of experience in the field. At the beginning of the engagement, I only had to explain to each developer what to do once. After a month’s time, they’d done three times as much work as my previous vendor for a fraction of the cost. I’m immensely satisfied with CMARIX TechnoLab’s work and see them as part of my own team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’d like for the team to be more proactive in giving recommendations. Whereas some developers list everything they know and promote their skill sets, CMARIX TechnoLabs prefers to keep quiet and code. This was good in the beginning because we were getting to know each other. But, having worked with Parth and his developers for months, I trust his input. If he says something should be a certain way, it probably should be.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the IT manager at a startup when we worked with CMARIX.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CMARIX?

We needed a total redesign of our original website. The existing site that the in-house team had built was bloated and slow.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

CMARIX redesigned and rebuilt our website using Angular C# on the front end and server side and SQL Server on the backend. We collaborated on the design and provided them with wireframes. They integrated a blog and a chat functionality similar to WhatsApp. There's also a transactional component.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager who managed their internal team.

How did you come to work with CMARIX?

I found them via a Google search. A friend of mine had used them and recommended them when I asked.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $72,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together between December 2015 and June 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We experienced a huge jump in traffic after the site went live. Customer engagement also improved. An app on the site that tracked customers’ clicks showed a threefold increase.

How did CMARIX perform from a project management standpoint?

We used Atlassian for project management. We met every day as a team to talk about issues or items that might take longer than expected. They were very hands-on, which was great because you don’t always have that.

Our project manager was wonderful. He kept the team in line and on schedule. He consolidated what they needed from us to move items forward. It’s hard to find outsourcing teams that have that kind of project leader managing the team. It’s hard to have that kind of connection from such a distance but they made it very easy. I don’t think it would have been possible without their project manager.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It was amazing that you could reach them—or at least the project manager—during the business day in the US. It’s nice to be able to reach someone during your working hours if you have a question rather than waiting until 10 p.m. to call.

They were quick to research different technologies and come up with solutions that best fit our needs. I appreciated the quick turnaround. Obviously, no company is going to know everything that’s possible. The ability to research available technology and learn enough to be able to implement within a few weeks was great.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s important to be accessible to the team. When they outsource projects, people often take the mentality that they just send the design and the firm builds it. In reality, it’s more of a give-and-take process. Make yourself available to the team to provide feedback and receive feedback from them. Not talking to each other throughout the process does a disservice to both sides, especially since so many projects fail due to communication breakdowns.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the product manager of a VR gaming studio.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CMARIX?

We needed to develop a responsive web application geared towards VR arcades. We wanted to show an aggregated list of all VR arcades to drive traffic to them.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

CMARIX helped build our web app using a PHP framework. The frontend was fairly straightforward, but the backend was more complicated. We had to integrate Stripe APIs to determine complex splits between us and the VR arcade owners. To do that, we had to maintain open communication with CMARIX’s U.S. product development director and other third-party companies like Stripe.

CMARIX was familiar with various payment gateways, like Apple and Android Pay. They kept the project moving forward through each phase, and once the product launched, they set up Google Analytics.

What is the team composition?

I mainly worked with their sales director and a sales representative. They had web developers from India and a U.S.-based product development director.

How did you come to work with CMARIX?

I saw a post they put online that talked about their tech stack. The post was informative and intelligent, so I reached out to them to discuss our RFP.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from June–November 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our user tests went well; we didn’t see any bugs in the product.

How did CMARIX perform from a project management standpoint?

We had a short timeline for this project, but CMARIX still delivered our product on budget. I have no complaints with their project management. They were prompt and always available, talking with me on a daily basis. We had a 24-hour work cycle, which helped us build something in a short period of time. We used Google Docs and Jira to track progress.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They did great work and accommodated our tight schedule. The product development director provided valuable insight that helped us make quick decisions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their web developers should be more proactive in getting involved in the design side of projects. A profile on their website where we could handpick resources would have been incredibly helpful.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We were a little skeptical about how the workflow would pan out since the developers were in India, but it went well. Make sure to provide interactive design prototypes so the developers can understand the user flows. If you provide clear direction, you won’t’ have any surprises in the final product.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the director of Sairam Tech Solutions, a company that provides project management consultancy services to its clients. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire CMARIX?

We required end-to-end development for a customized website. 

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to develop a website that is accessible to the visually impaired and wanted to implement features that allow us to accept donations, provide event details, organize event invites, and generate membership reports and details.

SOLUTION

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

The website was built on WordPress and includes back-end management. This allows users to easily update its content. It also includes a few very important plugins in order to provide different functionalities that the nonprofit required. The website is currently in the final testing phase.

What was the team composition?

We work with a project manager, a web designer, a developer, and user training/QA experts.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They are testing the final stages of the app and all its features are currently functioning as required. Their work was top quality. 

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

They initially scheduled two meetings each week to communicate clearly on deadlines and expectation. They still conduct weekly calls and their project management is excellent. 

What did you find most impressive about this company?

CMARIX fully understood the requirement of the project. It was easy to coordinate with them despite their team being in a different time zone.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

I don't see any areas they can improve so far.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’ve worked as the senior technician at ABC+ for over 10 years now. I also handle technical research and project management for our customers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire CMARIX?

We had a very old financial management platform which we developed for a customer eight years ago. It was expensive to scale that system due to the technologies involved. We needed to redo our frontend interface using Angular, optimize our database performance, and add new features.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We came across CMARIX on Google. They had written a lot about Angular on their blog, which showed that they were experts in that area. We shortlisted three other vendors but ended up choosing CMARIX.

They gave us the best practices and coding standards that they follow, along with client references which we could speak directly to. Interestingly, they had a few clients who were exactly in the same scenario as us, which gave us more confidence in them.

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

We developed a 12-week frontend revamp plan with them. Their designers created PhotoShop documents, which based on our approval got sliced into responsive HTML followed by Angular implementation. Step by step, we got our product revamped with a new Angular-based interface.

What was the team composition?

We prefer working with an agile method, so were hired three of their senior Angular developers. They provided a project lead as well as a QA specialist to help us expedite the process.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have a much better looking and faster platform now which is scalable.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We used Jira and Slack to manage and control things.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are essentially technical people and their communication is fantastic. Even their sales representatives knew a lot about technology, which I didn't find in other companies. Also, their pricing was attractive and the quality was definitely great.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

I wish they had a local presence in Switzerland. Many people here still prefer to talk with their developers in person. They did tell me that they are in process of setting up an office in Germany, so this shouldn't be much of a problem in the future.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of development of CunningPiranah. I’m in charge of hiring offshore teams for our client projects, creating quotes, splitting the work into pieces, and testing it.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CMARIX?

We were working on a desktop and iPad application for the customer recovery system of an electricity company. We created the server landscape in-house with some artificial intelligence components.

Client emails reach a communication server that’s connected to six other servers that are running several apps. The communication server can analyze the email and provide an answer to the question without involving service people.

We also needed a dashboard for making human decisions based on how many people cancel, how long the average contract is, and so on.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our server communicates with the software which CMARIX developed in order to provide information on client activity. It has a customer map divided into thousands of possible areas all over Germany that are marked in various colors. It also provides an option for customer recovery based on a 1–10 rating system. The system decides whether the company should call and attempt to win back the customer or send a salesperson in.

Agents can log in on the field and see a list of customers to recover, as well as all the relevant information along with an optimized route. The iPad app also has different contract types. Agents can choose custom options in terms of monthly plan and bonuses. When a customer accepts a contract, they can sign it on the iPad directly and have the information sent back to customer service. This also cancels the contract with any competing electricity companies. The contract data is automatically updated on all company servers.

The app can work offline temporarily and then update when it connects to a network. This was necessary given that electric meters are often in cellars and other isolated places.

The entire process is viewable via the web app: the customer value, average contract length, cost per acquisition, and whether the customer is connected to the company’s infrastructure or not. We can sort all the data by year, branch, and customer type (e.g., private individuals or businesses).

They used JSON and PHP to build the apps. We have high security standards from our customer, which meant that we couldn’t leave any APIs open.

What is the team composition?

I work with one of their owners who is also a personal friend. He’s in charge of taking requirements, putting together  quotes, and acting as my main contact for development. We’ve created teams on our task management system.

How did you come to work with CMARIX?

I’ve had a hard time finding good, offshore partners who really pay attention to detail. I’ve know CMARIX’s owner for more than 10 years. He used to work for another company and ran a 400-person team. He’s very straightforward and it reflects on the whole company. We had a good connection and I knew he was reliable, so I contacted him when I needed to develop a task quickly with no room for error.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost of their work has been around $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in the last quarter of 2017. The development and change requests from customers were finished in 12 working days. We’ve continued to work with them on other projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The only relevant statistics for us are quality and speed over price. CMARIX is our main partner based on that criteria for time-sensitive projects. I know they can assign resources easily from one day to the next. They’re able to deal with customer change requests during fast-paced projects.

We made a lot of changes and came up with ideas for our side of this project. Our client was completely happy with CMARIX’s work. They have an internal IT department who were all surprised by our ability to deliver the project in such a short time frame.

How did CMARIX perform from a project management standpoint?

We use an in-house task management system and Skype for communication. We also use Basecamp on occasion. They contact us directly when they have a question and send me emails when required.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’ve worked with companies in Pakistan, Gaza, the Philippines, Singapore, and Brazil, but CMARIX is our vendor of choice when we need attention to detail and reliability in terms of time.

This was a time-intensive project given that we needed to present an minimum viable product (MVP) version at a fair. Development on a solution like this would normally take between two and three months, but we did it in 12 working days. CMARIX is our second most expensive partner, but I’m confident that they will deliver in time for cases like this one. They stand out in terms of flexibility and reliability.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could do our scopes and job descriptions a bit quicker, but this may not be possible since their documentation is so detailed.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

It’s hard for me to provide insight on this since I already had an established relationship with CMARIX before my project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of a book rental and mentoring company. We are an intermediary for people who want to sell, buy, or rent books, especially academic books.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CMARIX?

We needed help with developing a platform for our company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In the beginning, I had an idea of how it would work, but once I started talking to them, they told me about other things that I hadn’t accounted for and needed to have. Throughout the project, I thought about more features I wanted to add, and the project price went up because of that.

They developed a platform for buying, selling, and renting books. They also helped us develop a mentoring platform with mentors on one side and students that want to start a business on the other side. Students are able to upload their business plan and then work with the mentors to find investors for their businesses. The platform works on the web as well as on mobile devices. It is also an e-commerce platform and people can pay directly on the website or on the phone. They also developed features for different modalities.

What is the team composition?

We were in contact mainly with Atman (Executive Director, CMARIX). We were in touch weekly or every three days depending on the stage of the product.

How did you come to work with CMARIX?

A friend had worked with them. I met Atman, and after that, I sent over projects to test how they would do. They earned my trust with the test. Everything was really clear, open, and straightforward. We began on a small piece of the project and then continued on until both platforms were finished.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent around $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from April–December 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are very happy that the platform works perfectly. We are still working with them to make it look better. There is always something we can rearrange and fix, but it has been a very good experience.

Business has been going well and users are happy with it. We received a lot of feedback, which we used to make improvements.

How did CMARIX perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed pretty well. They met their deadlines. Even though they are based in India and there is a time difference, they always asked for the best time to speak with us which made it easier. It has always been pretty good.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They know their business well, and they know what they are doing.

Price and payments were always very clear. It is a very honest relationship relative to pricing. When the cost was a little high or if I found someone that could do the work for less, it was simple to speak to them about it. They either tweaked the price or recommended we go with the other developer to get the work done if they felt it was a good price, and they offered to help the other developer.

Now that the project is complete, they still offer ongoing work. That is great. I appreciate their honesty and straightforward agenda where nothing is hidden. It didn’t feel like we were working with an external team; it felt like they were part of our company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes I find it a little difficult to understand them due to their accent, but other than that, it has been pretty good.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear idea of the project. If you don’t have ideas that are down to earth, it will make it difficult for people to work on it. CMARIX helped us with that. You can give them your ideas or websites similar to what you would like, and they help make your idea happen.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an entrepreneur. As I prepared for my wedding, I came up with the idea to combine various tools and create an end-to-end marriage app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CMARIX?

The app helps with planning for the entire wedding process. I needed help building the app in iOS.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I gave them a lot of the requirements I wanted. I came up with some design ideas and a list of issues I faced. I’m not very technical, but I knew what I wanted. They came up mockups and solutions to problems. I wanted the app to link to the guest list, a list of venues and wedding vendors, and a dashboard view to build all the costs per person. They met all my needs and made everything work within the app.

The guest list portion was important. I wanted to add guests via email or phone number and allow them to fill in their address and RSVP. I wanted an export function that allowed users to export the guest list to Excel or PDF.

What is the team composition?

Piyush (PHP Lead, CMARIX) worked with us on the technical side, and our project manager was great.

How did you come to work with CMARIX?

A friend of mine worked with them in a similar space and recommended them. I had conversations with other companies, but I wasn’t confident with them. CMARIX gave good ideas that made me want to work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

The overall cost was around $43,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from September 2017 to about February 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

There have been a few delays on my side, so I am in still in the testing phase. As a part of the prime target audience, I think it’s great. I’m using the app for my own wedding and will go live with it soon.

I’ve shared it with a few of my colleagues, friends, and family members. They all think it’s got great potential. There’s nothing else on the market quite like it, which is part of the reason I’ve invested so much in it.

How did CMARIX perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re fantastic. They were really encouraging and added value. They went beyond just delivering my product and prompted a lot of thinking on my part.

We mostly communicated by email and phone. They were really on the ball and managed most of the project on their side.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re obviously focused on the development of the app, but their commercial awareness was really great. They helped my thinking from a commercial perspective and gave me business strategies and solutions I hadn’t considered.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communicate with them. They were really forthcoming and encouraging, which was valuable. They have a lot more resources available than you think they might. Take the time to engage with them and find out how they can help you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Paymentix, a financial technology (fintech) company. We’re working on bank software for a unique insurance offering, among other things.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CMARIX?

Our users had issues with different templates. We were also trying to automate the software.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I worked with CMARIX on projects for two large banks in India. They automated our web APIs and used technologies such as Node.js, AngularJS, MySQL, and PHP to develop our products.

What is the team composition?

There were 10 developers involved.

How did you come to work with CMARIX?

We did an online search and saw that they were knowledgeable in different technologies.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $60,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from August 2017–February 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I was extremely happy with the quality of their output. They’re one of the best I have seen.

How did CMARIX perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated regularly. Their team had good language skills and execution.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their management is good, and they’re very transparent and responsive. They’re a good company to work with and I highly recommend them.