Dotsquares

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a software development company focusing mainly on product development for water markets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Dotsquares?

We wanted to have a testing resource to provide independent testing for the products built by our in-house team. We were also looking for Java developers who could undertake some R&D work, adding extra capacity to our team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Dotsquares has been involved in the testing of our water-accounting product and the provision of Java resources to fast track an R&D scope of work. We had a tight timeline to which we needed to respond quickly, so the first task for Dotsquares was to put together a test campaign. We invested some initial effort to get their team up to speed on the product, after which Dotsquares prepared a series of test cases for the new product. We ran the campaign for a couple of months, and also asked Dotsquares to undergo some security testing, after that part of the development was completed.

On the Java side of things, we engaged Dotsquares for some R&D tasks. They needed to have experience with payment gateways and similar components, to build an integration with our payment and accounting system, QuickBooks. For this work, Dotsquares maintained their own development environment.

Dotsquares also developed an internationalization proof-of-concept, converting their code to alternative language, in this case, Hindi. We worked with them using an Agile development methodology, with two-week sprints. The scope of each sprint was agreed to in advance and concluded with a demonstrated.

We worked with two Java resources, a test analyst, as well as project management and business analysis resources from Dotsquares.

How did you come to work with Dotsquares?

I was working for a different organization two or three years ago. Dotsquares had already been engaged by them for the development of a CRM solution. I worked with them through that process, and, when I moved to my current company, I looked Dotsquares up, since we were looking for an outsourcing organization.

How much have you invested with Dotsquares?

The cost of our project was between AU$30,000 and AU$40,000. [$22,000 to $30,000 USD]

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Dotsquares in October 2016. The project wrapped up in December.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We worked in two-week sprint cycles, and the key metric has been Dotsquares’ ability to deliver what they said they would. This was my experience with them in the past as well. We were able to leverage from Dotsquares quality practices and recommendations for the use of testing tools. This included artifacts to capture requirements and estimates. Dotsquares provided regular communication and were able to deliver to estimates. Dotsquares is good at putting together estimates and meeting them.

We’ve have launched a new product, and have sold the product to two beta clients. Dotsquares contributed to this successful outcome.

How did Dotsquares perform from a project management standpoint?

The project manager successfully set the scope, ensured delivery, and provided regular communication. We met with the project management resource from Dotsquares' side on a regular basis. The developers and testers took part in those meetings as well, but we generally dealt with one contact. I always try to bring the whole team into the same environment during these projects, to increase collaboration and provide a positive team atmosphere.

What did you find most impressive about Dotsquares?

As with any new resource, you have to invest time upfront in education them, but the Dotsquares team was flexible given our time constraints. They worked in a collaborative fashion to understand our requirements and deliver under tight time pressure. They were keen to make sure they were adding value and continued to work with us to improve service delivery. The test campaign did identify a number of issues - their security testing in particular captured issues for us to resolve before we shipped the product to clients.

Are there any areas Dotsquares could improve?

It’s always challenging to bring a new team to a project, and require them to respond quickly. Nothing stands out in terms of improvements from their side.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are an Indianapolis-based internet marketing and software development company. We provide services ranging from website design, development, and hosting, to enterprise and cloud-based app development.

What is your position?

I am the founder of the company. I spend time with customers and ensure that our services are delivered for highest satisfaction.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Dotsquares?

We needed some help with frontend UI programming.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

Since our first UI project with Dotsquares seven years ago, we've established a long-term relationship. We've spun out and worked on some PHP projects. Dotsquares is our development resource at this point in time, and we work with them on a monthly and weekly basis.

We've worked on smaller projects consisting of WordPress, Drupal and e-commerce Magento deployments. We've also used Dotsquares for PHP projects like smaller CRM applications, inventory software, and so on, as well as for larger applications requiring one year of development or more. These include everything from server to HR software for clients.

We have developed our own software-as-a-service application, namely a marketing app used by manufacturers. It has been in development for a year.

Dotsquares has provided us with a team that has remained unchanged for the most part. The same three lead developers have remained a part of our work. This consistency is one thing that I like about them. We also work with an IT-services provider who helps us with Amazon Web Services and Rackspace server maintenance, security, and new deployments. From time to time, we will use graphic designers, UI engineers, and database developers, as well as Android and iOS developers on an as-needed basis. The core team works with us full-time.

How did you come to work with Dotsquares?

We found Dotsquares online. They were fast and responsive in addressing our issues.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The cost of Dotsquares' work is above $150,000 per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Dotsquares in 2009.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Typically, Dotsquares works eight or nine hours per day, depending on the project scope and definition, and on how much handholding we require. For smaller projects, we don't have a very elaborate approach, but we want to be more disciplined on larger ones in order to make sure that all requirements are caught correctly on the first go. Dotsquares has been fairly good to communicate with over Skype and phone calls. In terms of work output, I would compare them to developers in the US, but we are able to save around 65% on the cost, according to an estimate we made three years ago.

How did Dotsquares perform from a project management standpoint?

Dotsquares provides daily reporting. I am also in contact with the team daily, or even twice a day. We also have an internal project management system through which we can ensure that our own clients are happy. We used to employ a project manager on Dotsquares' side, but we don't anymore. I can inform Dotsquares' management whenever we need more resources, but I can also ask the development team for this. Dotsquares will typically involve a sales rep, a project manager, and other resources, but our relationship doesn't require this. Any new resources we need are spun up quickly.

What distinguishes Dotsquares from other providers?

Dotsquares' team takes responsibility for the project, and doesn't come up with excuses, which is good for me. Being able to communicate is important, and making sure that a project is well-defined (especially for larger ones), and that its requirements are captured correctly. My team can come up with alternatives and suggestions for me to consider. I am a pseudo-developer, which means that I was one 20 years ago, but I don't do any coding at the moment. It's easy to communicate with Dotsquares to make sense of more complex programming issues.

Is there anything Dotsquares could have improved or done differently?

We could do a better job of prioritization by tweaking our workflow, which is an ongoing process at the moment.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a co-CEO of Ocean Holidays, an online travel business based in the UK. We run 3 brands—3 websites—and we sell holidays to UK consumers traveling mainly to Florida. I head up all the IT and technology side of the business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Dotsquares?

We needed an outsource agency for some of the projects we were building.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I’ve worked with Dotsquares on various applications, including travel websites using XML technology. These sites allow people to book travel products online—flights, hotels, transfers, and car rental. We’ve built a CMS and CRM back-office system to automate processes in-house. They’ve built internally-facing web apps for our users on the road.

One of the largest projects we built was an end-to-end CRM system that sits at the back of our whole business, across all of our brands. It’s a .NET application that allows us to maintain all of our customers’ contact and inquiry information. We have all of our conversations and phone system integrated with that. The first project was an online booking website for high volume, low-value holidays. We have a team of UK project managers and we work with 16 or 17 developers from Dotsquares.

How did you come to work with Dotsquares?

I was introduced to them by a colleague who had heard about them. Their CEO came to meet with us in London.

How much have you invested with Dotsquares?

We spend £220,000 per year on Dotsquares’ services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them 9 years ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We’ve grown our business in the last 4 years by at least 25% year over year. You need to have the best technology in travel in order to progress. The systems that have been built with Dotsquares have enabled the company to scale without adding so many human beings because the technology has automated a lot of the process. We launched the project 8 weeks ago and we’ve had a 20% increase in conversion rate. We’re really pleased about that.

How did Dotsquares perform from a project management standpoint?

They have a project manager with the teams that sit under them. Our project managers in the UK work directly with the developers. We use a tool called LinkIt by our choice, a cloud-based board system where we can have visibility of all the projects that are going on. We use Slack for live chat.  

What did you find most impressive about Dotsquares?

They’ve allowed us the flexibility to work with our style. We drive the developers directly and we trust them.

Are there any areas Dotsquares could improve?

The cultural difference in the design may not sit well with developers sitting in another country, that’s why we keep the design development in the UK.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of the company. Our main focus is attraction tickets for the Orlando area. We service the UK and European customers as an online reseller.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Dotsquares?

We needed to develop a booking engine, a database, and a bespoke hosting solution. We wanted to have developers on hand for any requirements.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Dotsquares initially provided hosting for our company. This snowballed into other projects, including app development and website maintenance.

How did you come to work with Dotsquares?

Dotsquares was recommended to us. Because the company is based in Brighton, I was able to have a quick chat with Dotsquares' owner at the time. I found him to be honest and transparent, so we decided to have an initial collaboration for hosting.

How much have you invested with Dotsquares?

The cost of Dotsquares' services has been around 60,000 GBP.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Dotsquares 10 years ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

When we started working with Dotsquares, our turnover was around 3 million [Great British] pounds. We now have over 30 million pounds in revenue. Without the platform that we've built alongside Dotsquares, that wouldn't have been possible. Their work is of a high standard and competitive.

How did Dotsquares perform from a project management standpoint?

Over the course of our collaboration, Dotsquares has remained extremely helpful and available at any time, regardless of the difference between our time zones. We handle most of the project management on our side, keeping in touch with the developers via Skype. Dotsquares does have a project management platform available. But because we have such a good relationship, having known many of the developers in our team for over 7 years, we tend not to use the tool. We speak directly to each member every day.

What did you find most impressive about Dotsquares?

The developers I've worked with in the past pretty much stuck to what they knew, without suggesting anything. Dotsquares' team will actually provide input for what they think will improve our system. They may not be good ideas at times, but that doesn't matter. I appreciate the fact that they're confident enough to throw them out there.

Are there any areas Dotsquares could improve?

Everyone could work cheaper, but that's not really relevant. There's nothing specific about Dotsquares that springs to mind.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We sell tickets for any sort of rail travel around the world through our own custom-built system. It's a broad solution allowing us to connect to various rail company APIs. Users can make live bookings online using it, via a number of different websites.

I am the operations director of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Dotsquares?

We had been put in an awkward position by our developer at the time because they were not available and we needed to make a change to our system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had an existing platform, and went through a due-diligence process with our company at the time, identifying a few core problems. Dotsquares started work on a completely new instance of the system, with many more features, which allowed us to have a more scalable solution. It's completely bespoke.

The size of our team has varied, but we're currently using 5 developers from Dotsquares. As part of our agreement, we can add and remove developers on an ad-hoc basis. At most, we've used 8 resources.

How did you come to work with Dotsquares?

We found Dotsquares through Google. We had a meeting with them, during which Dotsquares explained what they did. It seemed to be a good progression from where we were to where we wanted to be.

How much have you invested with Dotsquares?

The cost of Dotsquares' services has been around 100,000 GBP [approx. US$121,000] per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Dotsquares in March 2012.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The platform being developed by Dotsquares is the system we're using in order to manage all of our customer orders. It is core to the running of the company, and we wouldn't have been able to achieve the success we’ve achieved without it.

How did Dotsquares perform from a project management standpoint?

Going from a UK-based shop which we could visit whenever we needed, to a Skype-based remote collaboration with an Indian developer implied a bit of a learning curve. We have different cultures, and we needed to make sure that we were asking for exactly what we needed to develop.

Dotsquares has a custom project management tool which they're also licensing. We've used it to track milestones, bugs, tasks, and so on. The relationship is managed by 2 people in our UK team, while Dotsquares assigns a project manager for their developers.

What did you find most impressive about Dotsquares?

The quality of Dotsquares' work is fantastic. Any errors have come down to communication problems, rather than coding errors. Dotsquares is committed to us as a customer. We have a great relationship with the Indian office and visit them for a week once a year.

Are there any areas Dotsquares could improve?

I can't think of anything at the moment. Dotsquares has performed exactly as we expected.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of a security company .

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

1. Installation of equipment the electronic security industry 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Dotsquares to accomplish?

• To build an electronic labelling system to use within the electronic security industry

SOLUTION

How did you find Dotsquares?

Friend/colleague

Why did you select Dotsquares over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Dotsquares were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

• An app/program that enables technicians to save information about their installed work all through a random 6 digital code
• All overseen by an admin/super admin accounts 
• Including custom form builders and asset lists.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Additional work is still ongoing, but the feedback i have received to this point is very good, which gives confidence 

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

• Generally most items were delivered on time, but most important was the communication and ability to have a point of contact (Gaurav) available at all times, who was very patient, for any questions or queries i had, which was most valuable 

What was your primary form of communication with Dotsquares?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The team I dealt with was very knowledgeable, friendly, and approachable, where I could feel comfortable asking any question about the project 

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

When dates are set to try and keep to them as much as possible, this is not a criticism as very rarely happened 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Gurukul Academy

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Gurukul Academy

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Dotsquares to accomplish?

• Develop a website for CMS

SOLUTION

How did you find Dotsquares?

Online Search

Why did you select Dotsquares over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget

How many teammates from Dotsquares were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Develop a complete end to end website

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Weekly Review and Progress meeting

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

We received excellent support throughout the entire process, with regular reviews and a truly cost-effective solution. Everything worked seamlessly out of the box, and the team was always responsive—even during late evenings and weekends.

A special thanks to Sunil, Surbhi, Saurav, and the entire team, who are genuinely passionate about delivering the best service and ensuring not just customer satisfaction, but true customer delight.

We initially started with Phase 1, but thanks to their exceptional service, we successfully completed 3 phases of our website development with them, and we look forward to starting Phase 4 shortly.

I would highly recommend their services to anyone looking for a reliable, cost-effective and dedicated team.

What was your primary form of communication with Dotsquares?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The entire team was genuinely passionate about delivering the best service and ensuring not just customer satisfaction, but true customer delight.

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

NA

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Director of a property security firm.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Property security

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Dotsquares to accomplish?

• Zoho CRM setup

SOLUTION

How did you find Dotsquares?

Online Search

Why did you select Dotsquares over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Dotsquares were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Set up a new instance of Zoho serum in line with her business processes,

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

New instance of CRM setup

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Communication? Was on point and delivery was on time

What was your primary form of communication with Dotsquares?

Virtual Meeting

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

We were impressed with the speed of their response from initial enquiry through the development process to handover.

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

No

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Racer of zackmumbaracing

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Motor sport

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Dotsquares to accomplish?

• Polish my website

SOLUTION

How did you find Dotsquares?

Online Search

Why did you select Dotsquares over others?

Pricing fit our budget

How many teammates from Dotsquares were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

My experience with the team was excellent. They understood my requirements and delivered exactly how I needed the website to be. Great communication from Navdeep and his team, Ravi and Sunil did a good job on the website changes, making it better.
Thank you, Surbhi, as well, for your daily updates and for pushing the guys to finish within the specified time. Thanks all, great job!!

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

1

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Excellent

What was your primary form of communication with Dotsquares?

Email or Messaging App

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

communication

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

no

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Tech Lead of SQM Research

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

SQM Research is an investment research house which specialises in providing accurate research and data to financial institutions, investment professionals and investors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Dotsquares to accomplish?

• Website redesign and HTML

SOLUTION

How did you find Dotsquares?

• Online Search
• Clutch Site

Why did you select Dotsquares over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Had a local contact

How many teammates from Dotsquares were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Website Redesign - Figma designs
HTML
CSS
Images

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Clean, well-structured designs 
HTML files that aligned well with the designs

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

The team delivered clean, well-structured designs and HTML right on schedule, and were flexible whenever we needed tweaks. 
Their daily updates kept us informed the whole time and made the process feel really smooth and simple.

What was your primary form of communication with Dotsquares?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Daily updates
Understanding the requirement.
Flexible whenever we needed tweaks

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

Everything went smoothly