Dcastalia Limited

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

BRAC University's James P Grant School of Public Health (JPGSPH) was established in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2004 to address unmet public health concerns in Asia, Africa, and South America.

BRAC, the world's largest NGO, reaches over 100 million people in Bangladesh and works in 11 African and Asian countries, is one of the School's institutional partners. Another partner is icddr,b is a leading international health research institute that promotes innovation in the creation and delivery of life-saving global solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Dcastalia Limited, and what were your goals?

We needed an online communication platform to inform the target audience about a scientific symposium: SISU-GCIS Global Conference on Implementation Science for Healthcare held under BRAC JPG Public Health Department. The website needed to be comprehensive and dynamic so that attendees could discover all of the information they needed.

SOLUTION

How did you select Dcastalia Limited and what were the deciding factors?

We discovered Dcastalia from a referral from another project. We chose to hire them after reviewing their work in a few meetings.

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

Dcastalia was in charge of the entire project, from scope to design to execution.

How many people from the Dcastalia Limited team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We had a project manager and two developers on board working on the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

There were a lot of features that needed to be implemented in a precise way, particularly the payment gateway with foreign currency, a detailed form with 30+ fields that needed to be filled by end-users where they also needed to submit research papers.

Dcastalia smoothly integrated the features into the website.

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

They used a hybrid of Agile and Waterfall project management techniques, as well as clear and simple communication. Technologies included WordPress, Brac payment gateway, Mysql and PHP.

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

Working with the Dcastalia team has been a pleasure. They have a couple of basic strengths that set them apart from other WordPress developers in the industry.

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

The team worked well together, and they resolved the issue and pulled it through.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Elite Paint, founded in 1952, was the first-ever paint company to have been established in Bangladesh. We produce a wide range of paints and coating for a variety of different industrial needs.

The company is also manufacturing paints to protect ships and offshore structures. Elite Paint’s product portfolio goes from economic to high performance, catering to the demands of every user. Md. Shafiqul Huq Shajal Sr. Manager - Brand & Communication Elite Paint & Chemical Industries Ltd.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Dcastalia Limited, and what were your goals?

To reach and assist our existing and potential customers, Dcastalia Limited designed and developed our website where we can showcase our diverse collection of paints and service packages.

SOLUTION

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

Dcastalia was referred to us through a professional network due to its rich portfolio of web development projects.

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

SOW: analyzing our company and its industry creating wireframes preparing mockup designs Deliverables: project proposals financial documents project documentation. Technologies: HTML5, Bootstrap, and other Front-end plugins, and as for the backend, they used PHP, MySQL, etc.

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

The executive director, project manager, designer, and senior developer were always there in need.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

My experience has been incredible. They over-delivered on every single sprint that we had.

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

The main communication tool was email along with multiple meetings.

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

I’ve been impressed by how well they’ve been able to manage the project. They do everything to make sure that we’re organized and on track.

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

There was a bit of miscommunication in the middle due to the project timeline but they quickly resolved the issue and got right on track.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Matador is a diversified business group founded in 1980 by our honorable Chairman, Mr. Shah Alam. The group’s business portfolio includes stationery, personal care products, food, building materials, plastic fabrics, hospitality, entertainment, and healthcare businesses. Matador is well known for innovating values in every industry it moves in.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Dcastalia Limited?

We hired Dcastalia to design and develop a user-friendly and appealing website and to include several projects such as Pearl Harbor, Amusement Park, Toothbrush, Stationery, PVC, etc. on our website. Our goal was to create a personalized portfolio website that showcased all of our projects and products in a single seamless integration.

SOLUTION

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

The reason behind selecting Dcastalia was their extensive knowledge and expertise in the IT sector. Also, as they worked with numerous leading and superior companies both at the national and international level, I believe that any company can put their trust in Dcastalia with their digital journey.

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

Dcastalia conducted research and analysis on our company, provided us mockup designs, and designed and developed a fully functional, aesthetically pleasing website which was included in the scope of the work. For deliverables, they provided us a project proposal, project documentation, including the sitemap, Gantt chart, content list, etc, weekly progress reports, complete working website, CMS documentations.For technology, they used ReactJs, Bootstrap, and other Front-end plugins, and as for the backend, PHP, MySQL, etc. were used.

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

From their end, there was a dedicated team of four members including the account manager, designer, senior developer, and content strategist.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Working with Dcastalia, we have been able to stay ahead in terms of tech. I get many compliments and positive feedback from clients as well as other folks in the industry. They comment on how the site looks and how easy it is to use and find information.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The overall collaboration is more than satisfactory. The main tool for communication and project management was email.

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

Dcastalia Limited surprised us with their speed at bringing really talented people to help us out.

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

Not that I can say right now

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

The Cox’s Bazar Beach Club is the very first 5-star standard shared ownership amusement hotel & club in Bangladesh that sells slot ownership of the hotel itself and shares ownership jointly with customers. It is the second project of Coral Reef Properties Limited after their successful completion and ownership handover of Best Western Heritage Hotel, Cox’s Bazar. I was working as the Manager, Digital Media.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Dcastalia Limited, and what were your goals?

We hired Dcastalia to design and develop our website as our goal was to deliver our services online and get connected to our existing and potential customers digitally.

SOLUTION

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

We selected Dcastalia as they have a well-known reputation for their work ethic and processes. They’re strong in providing documentation and they have a good methodology, and their work is cleaner and more efficient.

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

Projects steps:

1. Analyzing our company and its industry
2. Creating wireframes - Preparing mockup designs
3. Developing a fully functional website Key deliverables:
4. Project sitemap
5. Content list
6. Gantt chart

CMS documentation Technologies:

• Html5
• JavaScript
• PhP
• Yii2 framework

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

There was a team of one project manager, one designer, and two developers from Dcastalia.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have been able to continually grow and scale, and persist to iterate on our services digitally after the website has been developed.

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

The workflow was very simple, the resources were managed by official emails, and I had weekly calls with the project manager to discuss progress.

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

Their dedication and commitment to excellence were impressive.

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

No, nothing comes to mind; very satisfied with the services.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the MIS Expert in the National Malaria Elimination Program (NMEP) under the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). NMEP is responsible for malaria control and elimination activities in Bangladesh.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Dcastalia Limited, and what were your goals?

The website for NMEP needed a management information system (MIS) and Logistics Management Information Systems (LMIS) for all the data regarding the program. The goals involved having CRUD operations of a few modules, customized user-specific operations, product stock update, and report access to organizations.

SOLUTION

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

We found Dcastalia through professional network references.

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

When the project manager heard about our challenge, he assigned it to a high-level database expert, and then the project was divided in phases. They provided regular updates and communicated with us. The project was developed in the Yii framework.

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

The team consisted of a project manager and a senior database developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After the MIS and LMIS were developed and updated on the program’s site, database management was easier and much more efficient. Users from district and sub-district levels had an improved and advanced interface for data entry and analysis. The system is very user-friendly and easy to operate.

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

The project was divided into phases and the phases acted as a milestone. After each phase, we were updated and approval was needed to move onto the next phase.

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

I was impressed with their relevant experience, which aided the development of our value proposition. We've been pushed to our limits throughout the process, and it's finally paying off.

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

They can improve on communication a bit, but overall they provided good quality work.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Assistant Manager of the Supply chain at Star Porcelain Limited. Star Porcelain Limited is one of the leaders in the porcelain industry manufacturing World Class Porcelain Tableware with the successful combination of professional experience, creativity, unique technical know-how, attention to finesse, and the care given to the fine details.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Dcastalia Limited, and what were your goals?

We wanted to build an aesthetically pleasing website that would portray the company adequately.

SOLUTION

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

We were impressed with Dcastalia’s wide range of web design and development portfolios and hence contacted them.

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

Dcastalia consisted of cross-functional teams who responsibly took care of all the phases of web development, from discovery and research, design wireframing, final design presentation through the final product delivery.

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

We worked with the project manager, executive director, designer and senior developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website turned out to be highly interactive with a very interesting feature that allows the user to customize their dinner table by choosing products they desire. This feature brought about a lot of traffic and allowed our client base to know our products in detail.

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

Their project management style is very unique and uses a hybrid method of both Agile and Waterfall. However, they maintain the stages efficiently. As for communication, we mainly communicated via emails, meetings, and phone calls. Through emails, they sent weekly updates on projects.

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

Both the designer and the developer were very knowledgeable and had expertise in their fields. They were really interested in learning new things and were eager in getting our feedbacks.

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

We had a little bit of communication issue in a meeting but it did not leave a major impact on the project delivery.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

A prominent property developer in Bangladesh who exemplifies the best of architecture. Without compromising, relentlessly pursued "Creating Lifestyles." Senior Executive, Marketing

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Dcastalia Limited, and what were your goals?

We hired Dcastalia due to their expertise in designing and developing websites for Real Estate Developers. Our goal from the website was to allow users to properly engage with the brand and determine everything they need to know about the company and our services. We wanted the look and feel of the site to reflect the luxurious supreme feel of Rang’s essence. The website had to be robust, responsive, mobile-friendly, SEO optimized, secure, and informative

SOLUTION

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

There were many impressive digital firms in this market, but we were intrigued by Dcastalia because of their unique and customized web development package, up-to-date knowledge regarding the technology involved, huge portfolio, and very cooperative team.

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

At first, we talked to the team regarding the design to get confidence in their knowledge and ability to implement the strategy. After walking us through the design process, Dcastalia built wireframes and established user personas in further detail. After taking our feedback and approval, they constructed a website using technologies like Jquery, GSAP, Yii, and many more.

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

A project manager, software team lead, senior developer, designer, and QA specialist were assigned.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website turned out to be one of the most premium real estate sites in Bangladesh and stands as an example of luxurious design and feel.

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

The degree of professionalism in their project management style was outstanding. They briefed us well in terms of the project progress level. In terms of communication, it was pretty fluid. We did not have just a single point of contact but could reach anyone on the project.

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

I would say they can improve on their timeliness. They did meet the project deadlines,many but improving on their timeliness can take them further into success.

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

The backend system could be developed using any popular framework to be used generally if we wanted to work with any other agencies in the future.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Edison Real Estate is one of the successful ventures of the top conglomerates in Bangladesh: Edison Group. The company offers modern real estate solutions and the most up-to-date building procedures in relation to global standards.

Job Title: Product Manager

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Dcastalia Limited, and what were your goals?

We needed a website with an aesthetic design that would communicate with our clients and educate them about the company and our services. We hired Dcastalia to design and build a website for us and write the website’s content according to the information and style provided.

SOLUTION

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

We selected Dcastalia by checking their vast portfolio of real estate website design and development projects. After communicating with the team, their extensive knowledge of modern trends, their welcoming nature, and their efficiency made us believe that we made the right choice.

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

The project step included: Requirement analysis of our company Wireframe and prototype to build a structure of the site Intricate designing of the website Development of a fully functional, aesthetically pleasing website Key Deliverables included these below and many more: Project Proposal Financial Documents Project Documentation, including the sitemap, Gantt chart, content list, etc. Wireframe designs and mockup Weekly Progress Reports Complete working website and CMS Documentations ReactJs, Bootstrap, and other Front-end plugins, and as for the backend, they used PHP, MySQL, etc.

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

CEO ( Via another department head, Ref: Pickaboo CEO) Project Manager Executive Director Designer Senior Developer Content Strategist

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After our website went live, which is aesthetically designed, optimized, and mobile-responsive, we observed a significant gain in online traffic.

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

We met the Project Manager and lead developer almost weekly, both in-person and online. In terms of communication, they have been prompt, professional and kept us informed about the process via phone calls and emails. Also, they incorporated our suggestions at every stage.

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

The team had determination to provide and develop to match our vision no matter what challenges they had to solve. For example, the Google Map customization and integration risked the site running slow, but they optimized the load speed to tackle that.

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

Even though the team seemed enthusiastic about the project, they started a bit slow but then worked very hard to meet the deadline.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Founder and CEO of Foodpeon. It's a food ordering app that allows customers to order healthy food from neighbors. It also helps women to empower themselves by cooking

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Dcastalia Limited?

We had a workable website to show our vendors' foods and let our customers to order. But we did not have any mobile app. As our competitors had mobile apps, we were facing negative growth in number of daily orders. Besides, we had to redesign our database architecture to develop our website based on same database.

What were your goals for this project?

We simply wanted to have an user friendly lightweight android app that our customers can download on their devices - regardless of the android versions. We also wanted to build our website based on the same database.

SOLUTION

How did you select Dcastalia Limited?

We posted on Linkedin that we were looking for a company to develop our adroid app. Our inbox was flooded by emails from software companies during next few days.

We initially looked for a company that had work experience in Android, larabel and yii2 simultaneously. Later we sorted companies by their years of experience and client base. We had conduct meeting with 4 companies to see their presentation. Dcastalia was the one who met all criteria along with our budget.

Describe the project in detail.

The project had several bumps during its life cycle as we, the company, changed our initial requirements several times. Once the project was initiated, Dcastalia came back with different layouts.

We sat with them multiple times to fix the design. Once the design was secured, Dcastalia assigned two developers for us who were dedicated for the project. The developers kept connection with us and shared the buckets of codes with updates every week.

Once the architecture was fixed, the app took another month to develop. We took one more month to do the bug fixing. The final app was released after 3 months of our agreement with Dcastalia.

What was the team composition?

Initially we were contacted by a project manager. Then the UI/UC designer worked with us under the mamager's supervision. Then 4 backend & frontend developers kept working on the project and 2 of them were fully dedicated to the project. During the entire time, the project manager was overseeing the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within first 3 months of launching the App on Play Store, our app was downloaded 5000 times. We had to change a part of the layout after receiving some feedbacks from our customers and Dcastalia was happy to do that for us as their goal was to build an user friendly app too.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The communication was smooth as the project manager communicated with us via email and phone every week to give us updates, to listen to our feedbacks and to share his experience. The workflow was good overall.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The vendor was quite impressive with their knowledge of the App and website market and with their insights of food delivery companies. They were smart enough to lead us to choose the right decision to increase our app dowloads

Are there any areas for improvement?

The project was done nicely. Perhaps vendor could takes a bit less time to do the project. But the quality might drop (might not).

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the brand and experience manager of InnStar Limited, one of the niche real estate companies in Bangladesh.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Dcastalia Limited, and what were your goals?

1. To develop a website for InnStar Limited
2. To maintain, update, and troubleshoot the website related jobs

SOLUTION

How did you select Dcastalia Limited and what were the deciding factors?

• We were referred by the professionals some other top companies to start with them.
• We valued the feedback clients Dcastalia worked with.
• We evaluated the already finished websites by dcastalia.
• They had a pitch presentation and they won the pitch by a huge margin from some 3 competitors.

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

1. Dcastalia provided us a website that is outstanding and precisely what we wanted from such a reputed IT firm.
2. Dcastalia maintains the precision expected for our segment of luxury branding, and their work standard is exclusive. With minimum supervision, they deliver impeccable services.
3. The personnel at Dcastalia is well trained and they walk the talk. I know less about technologies. Therefore, refraining from commenting.

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

• CEO
• CTO
• Programmer
• Analyst
• SEO specialist

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

First, it felt daunting to reach the quality we expected as we have been trying some different layouts. Dcastalia made our jobs easy and they provided relentless services. We tested the site's usability and experience- for which we had to seek for continuous development. They were always friendly and open to last-minute changes.

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

Mostly via email and Whatsapp. Atypical to other Bangladeshi firms, they are prompt to act. Always open to hear the demand of the clients, even sometimes, they provide you other angles to consider so that you can make informed decisions. Considering the context of Bangladesh, they are pretty respectful of on-time deliveries.

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

Whatever your idea is- Dcastlia can materialize it. Just matter of the ideation time, they will provide you insightful feedback.

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

They should seek out more international clients who value and know what it takes to be creative and deliver the promises. They are SAP in the making.