Fingent

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the technical director for Click n Collect. Our company manufactures electronic lockers for click-and-collect e-commerce delivery and fulfillment. This includes custom electronics as well as custom web and handheld app development for our kiosks.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Fingent Corp?

We wanted to develop multiple apps to support our business, including a desktop app for our kiosks, a cloud server app for management and control, and a handheld app for end users and couriers. Although we had a small in-house team, we didn’t have enough people to take on such a complex project. As a result, we needed a team that could deliver all aspects of our project's development, ranging from design, coding, and QA testing to graphics and ongoing development and maintenance.

What were your goals for this project?

At the time we were looking to complete the initial project scope at a reasonable price while still maintaining the flexibility to evolve the project over time.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found them online and decided to go with them based on their professional response, quality project scope, and reasonable costs. Fingent Corp’s had an hourly pricing model for each specific resource type. This allowed us to cap the monthly development costs but still have the flexibility to continue adding features on an as-needed basis. The size of their organization and breadth of resources also played a significant factor.

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

In the beginning, we submitted a high-level design overview to Fingent Corp, which we discussed in various meetings. This evolved into a high-level project scope that went over time line estimates and costs. After we cemented our engagement, their team drafted a detailed scope of the project for the initial works.

Since then, they’ve added subsequent modules and features every month since the first project release. Typically, we prepare a high-level feature request and conduct an online meeting with their staff to go over the objectives and logistics. Fingent Corp then does the rest—preparing a detailed scope, drafting wireframes for approval, and then completing the module.

So far, they’ve delivered managed software releases for a variety of different applications. We do the final QA, customer release, and documentation ourselves.

What was the team composition?

The 4–6 person team consists of a technical lead, an assistant lead, and programmers. They also assign a graphic art specialist and a QA tester part-time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

With their collaboration, we’ve developed a complete and robust software suite for our lockers at a fraction of the cost. As it stands, the product has evolved a long way from our initial scope. We’ve grown it to encompass multiple industries and locker applications. We’re currently using our application with some of the largest retailers in the world and have deployed our locker solution to companies on every continent.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management is done jointly between our team and their lead and assistant. They manage every feature, enhancement, and bug through their software, which we have access to. The tool helps us track the project by assigning each item to a specific release. We determine the releases and release dates together.

In terms of pricing, Fingent Corp has the right level of overhead to enable a successful outcome without investing unreasonable effort and costs. This is partially due to the fact that we engage them on a monthly-retainer basis. Moreover, the team’s work has remained mostly unchanged over the course of the engagement. As a result, our development is cost-effective and efficient.

As for communication, we regularly interact with the team leads on a weekly basis. I’ve also visited their headquarters, which has provided confidence in their size, structure, and capabilities. Because we’re using an Indian agency as our off-shore partner, there are no linguistic barriers.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Beyond their reasonable price structure and technical knowledge, their team is reliable and productive. It’s easy to communicate with them, and we don’t have to go through a lot of red tape. Furthermore, they approach the project with a high level of integrity.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder of SimpleRent, which is property management software for single family homes, and possibly in the future for multi-complexes such as apartment complexes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fingent Corp?

I needed help to develop the software for my business. There’s a lot of property management software available, but most are not simple or easy to use. The property management area is a complex space and it is hard to make some of the functionalities simple.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They took care of the design and development work for the .NET site, doing a very good job with it. I didn’t have wireframes, so everything for this project was done by them. They also worked on the UX.

It is a software as a service (Saas) platform. I wanted online payments and the ability to distribute rent to multiple parties. I also wanted the website to log maintenance requests and the functionality to pay property managers an editable percentage.

What is the team composition?

I worked with four or five people from their team — a project manager, developers, and their sales person.

How did you come to work with Fingent Corp?

I had posted about my requirements on a website and they reached out to me via LinkedIn, letting me know they were interested. I asked for multiple references and touched base with all of them. We then discussed what we could get done within my budget.

How much have you invested in them?

I’ve spent around $250,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in October 2016 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The product is sellable right now and we are in a beta stage. I’ll be using them for features and to simplify the product even more in the coming months. The quality of their work is excellent. The UI is great and I’ve received positive feedback many times about the look and feel of the site.

How did Fingent Corp perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed well and did a great job. I met with one person from their team in person, then we mostly communicated through email and on Google Sheets. They use a project tracking software, but I used it rarely.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most impressive thing about them is the price. They have created a product that would have cost me a lot more with another provider.

Are there any areas they could improve?

In the beginning, we had some audio issues because of the language barrier but they took care of that right away.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’ve recommended Fingent to 10 people who are doing a project right now. The time difference has been the only challenge, so we have to schedule our calls. Be prepared to know if you have a problem in the middle of the day, there is a good chance that you won’t be able to address it until their workday starts.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for an online advertising platform based in New York City.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fingent?

We needed to figure out how to implement an idea I’d developed based on 25 years in the commercial TV video business. I had to educate them about the industry, and convey our vision for taking this to a global level. Fingent helped us put pen to paper to figure out how to bring this plan to life.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our whole process was consulting based, rather than sales focused. We had a breakthrough moment when they really understood what our project entailed. The design work was done 100% under my directive. Rather than taking ideas at face value, they enhanced them and added more value. The development was PHP based. 95% was custom programming, rather than off the shelf development.

Fingent built a custom technology platform that uses different algorithms to achieve the common goal functionality. It’s a patented technology that enables people to upload video spots using any links, and place them in a targeted geographical region. The platform instantly calibrates user searches by zip code. We have two different types of clientele: the regular broadcast community, which is sponsor produced, and everyday sellers who want to target users in the most localized format possible.

What is the team composition?

We worked with between four and eight resources, including a project manager and developers. I never met the design team, but my points of contact always referred to them when we worked on that facet of the project.

How did you come to work with Fingent?

An associate of theirs referred them to us. He'd never worked with them, but had heard good reviews. After I looked at some of their work, we decided to move forward.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent between $100,000 and $250,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in June 2016, and they provide ongoing support. After we finish the desktop, they'll begin work on the mobile and web apps.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Fingent’s philosophy focused on brainstorming flexible new ideas, rather than just selling us a generic service. The team was responsive, courteous, creative, and caring. Our success hinges on their ability to create a great product, which we created collaboratively. Our beta testers have said the platform is amazing, organized, and well put together. We had to fix a couple of things, as always, but the overall feedback has been very good.

How did Fingent perform from a project management standpoint?

The process was very organized. The team was extremely professional, warm, and inviting. They made me feel totally ease, and were able to understand my needs and solve my problems. We used Open Project as a communication tool. I met the CEO and their domestic developers in New York, and communicated with the India-based developers via Skype.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They treated me like a business partner, instead of just a number.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The biggest area to improve on involves English translation. The copy in the site’s pre-populated fields had abstract verbiage, and their interpretation of correct diction was often off base. We had to make constant corrections, because we're communicating with a domestic audience.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It's always good to talk to an owner; start top down, not bottom up. It all depends on what kind of work they want to do. Every project involves different requirements and feedback.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an IT project manager with three separate jobs. Currently, I’m building software for a business I founded to help college officials recruit high school athletes. The goal is to help the athletes fund their education with athletic scholarships.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fingent Corp?

I needed the right developer that would understand my goals and process. As a project manager, I work backwards from the end result in designating workflows.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The software measures athletes’ skills sets for each sport. Coaches record results in real time, which are then automatically saved to our cloud. College recruiters can subscribe to and access our database. Recording is either automated or manual depending on the data. There’s a built-in stopwatch for time-based metrics.

The app, which is in final the final development stage, will be developed for iOS and Android mobile and tablet devices. The team is waiting for me to obtain an LLC and a tax ID, which I need for the integrated Braintree payment system, before moving forward.

What is the team dynamic?

The team comprises 5 people including an account manager, project manager, and web and app developers.

How did you come to work with Fingent Corp?

I posted an online listing and contacted several companies, but found many didn’t grasp the project’s nuances. I had a few phone calls with Fingent. They were proactive in their pitch and follow-up. Their customer testimonials convinced me to hire them. The team charged more than others, but I was happy to pay extra for quality.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Work started January 2017 and is on-going with continued support.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I have personal relationships with over 1,000 coaches. Some have already tested the app and were impressed by its functionality. They’ve already stated their intent to use it.

We haven’t had any software issues. The app has yet to freeze. It’s performance advances my business plan because I can show parents and coaches a tool that works well for their objectives. I expect more parents to sign up for my business’ recruiting services.

How did Fingent Corp perform from a project management standpoint?

We used WebEx and held weekly phone calls. The project manager kept track of every timeline and deliverable and even reminded me of my deadlines. The team also helped me coordinate setting up payment centers with third parties.

The team is offshore, but spoke English very well. While there were never communication issues, I did have to make them adjust date formats from European to American styles.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Deliverables were timely and completed in a highly professional manner. The project manager was fantastic. I never had to ask for anything twice. I have nothing but the highest regard for them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’ve been wonderful. I can’t say enough good things about them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Hold several calls with the team at the project’s start and get acquainted with everyone individually. They provided a PowerPoint with head shots, which allowed me to put a face to each name. That level of familiarity made a huge difference for me.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am an associate tenure professor at the University of Toronto, in the Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design. I teach undergraduate and graduate courses, as well as advise theses and conduct research on ecotourism in arid landscapes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fingent Corp?

For the first time in the stream of research I’d been doing in the past 10 years, we decided, along with the Moroccan Ministry of Tourism, the sponsor of the program, to publish the outcome of the work through a mobile app. We needed an expert partner who could handle the technical aspects. More importantly, since it was our first time publishing research in this format, we needed someone who could help us design the user interface and advise on the best way to present and showcase the research on mobile phones. I knew what our goals were, but didn’t know how to achieve them; this is where Fingent was helpful.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Fingent was understanding in finding a way to work with our limited budget. We made preliminary storyboards. We are architects and knew how to use the design tools, but the process with Fingent was collaborative from the initial brainstorming about our goals and app design.

We spent a month fine-tuning the first storyboard, after which Fingent made a full redesign. We were not specialists, and realized that our version was not at all user-friendly.

We developed a series of tours for a relatively unknown area in Morocco, and needed a mapping of all the different tourism attractions and existing infrastructure in the area. The app needed to work without internet access, since this is an issue in that part of the world. It displays the nearby attractions available within a given circuit, along with all local crafts cooperatives, hotels, restaurants, and projects being planned for the future, for the development of the region’s ecotourism.

We had all the GPS locations of the attractions, but didn’t know how to use the Google technology for actually creating the circuits. Fingent helped us better set our goals and build the correct user interface, so that the app could be accessible to not just people in academia or architecture students, but to any single person travelling to Morocco who wanted to discover the area. There are no guidebooks at all for this area, so our project was a first.

The app was only developed for iOS, but we are signing a sponsorship contract with the Ministry of Tourism for an Android version, as well as for French and Chinese translations of the app.

What is the team dynamic?

Stephen Cummings [Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Fingent] was our team leader. We also worked with the head of their development team in India, and with 2 other people. We used OpenProject, and had weekly meetings during which we discussed different points and shared wireframes. We could either approve the work or make comments on it.

How did you come to work with Fingent Corp?

I shopped around online and found their group to be the most responsive. Stephen Cummings and I are Harvard undergrads, and I looked through the alumni network. I contacted 2 other freelancers, and the big difference was that Stephen was on-point during meetings and extremely generous with his time, even before signing a contract. I wasn’t sure if they could actually build our app for the cost, so it was important to figure out how they could work with our limited budget.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost of their work was around $12,500.

What is the status of this engagement?

I first contacted Fingent in May 2017, and the project officially started in June. I spent several hours with Stephen in the beginning, brainstorming how we could make it happen within budget, and what the best approach was. The project was supposed to finish at the end of August, but we extended it until the 15th of October, simply because it was the first time we’d built an app. We didn’t realize the amount of extra work necessary for every single GPS coordinate. The territory we had to cover is a third the size of New York State.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The Ministry was happy with our work, and will probably commission us to start on a new region on Morocco. This shows that our relationship with Fingent went well. We’re extremely pleased with the work and are looking forward to a new collaboration. This was the first time our school published work in the format of an app.

I have very high expectations of myself, my students, and the people I work with. Fingent has exceeded them, and we’ve struck a very strong working relationship. I respect them as professionals, and feel I’ve learned a lot from the team.

So far, we’ve done 2 improvement runs, following the testing phase. The app is functioning fine. Someone in Morocco will test it on-site within the next 2 weeks, to see how it can perform without an internet connection. It uses the Google Maps technology, so there shouldn’t be any issues, but it’s the only item we haven’t tested. Everything else we requested has functioned like Fingent told us it would.

How did Fingent Corp perform from a project management standpoint?

I highly enjoyed using OpenProject for the collaboration, and plan to use it for my own work. We communicated weekly, and any question I had was answered within 24 hours. Fingent’s management and dedication was incredible.

GPS data needed to be formatted into Excel, for them to enter, and we completely misjudged the time it would take to do. Fingent was very patient with us, which I can appreciate. They understood that it was a novel project for us, and we had a small budget. The project has made me realize how much work an app is.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciated the care with which they listened to our needs, and their ability to find the most user-friendly and appealing approach. Fingent knew that this project was important to us, and that we needed to succeed, since it was the first app of its kind in Morocco. In the end, they gave us more than we expected, which I find incredible.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They handle the data part of app projects as well, but, in our case, because we didn’t have enough money or experience, it took more time for us to gather the data ourselves. I wish they would have told us in advance, but it probably wasn’t something Fingent could have assessed. A future improvement would be planning for more time during projects with inexperienced customers. Fingent has been accommodating and understanding. No other firm would have accepted letting us take on that responsibility.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

For clients like myself, developing an app for the first time and without a huge budget, especially in academia, I would highly recommend working with Fingent. They taught us how to provide raw data, but planning for an extended schedule on a first-time project is recommended.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Rentmoji, a property management software platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fingent Corporation?

There was a pretty massive gap in the available out-of-the-box solutions and larger, enterprise-level solutions. That gap dealt with property management for the single-family asset client, which didn’t exist before. We wanted to create our own platform to fill that gap.

The business that we were in was willing to downturn the real estate market. Also, institutional funds were coming to the market, so it was really a trade play. They wanted to know how fast they could buy the assets. We went from buying 10–20 single-family houses a month to buying 500– 600 a month. We had to do that quickly, so we had to put solutions in place. Whatever the need of the day was, we were building that out on the fly.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

For Rentmoji, Fingent assisted with developing our platform as well as building our software and mobile applications. Fingent built native apps for Android and iOS, while our core software platform was built on a .NET and ASP framework. We sent information about our workflow and business methodology to Fingent, as well as some ideas and wireframes.

Our platform allows users to do real-time bidding at the acquisition of foreclosed and distressed assets. That meant we could bid on assets out in the field via mobile devices that are connected to the platform. From there, we would roll those into a construction rehab workflow. We were able to create large-scale and multiple regions on the platform.

As we rolled into property management, we had full syndication marketing with third-party services like Zillow, Trulia, and HotPads. Fingent provided some marketing pieces for us. Based on their value proposition, they had done this in the past. We had some ideas we would give to them, and they would bounce back with better ones. We would use a big portion of their market and some of their insight. Those were pieces that we used.

Fingent also helped set up our entire backend payment processing through some large merchant services. We were able to do online screening by integrating with another third-party. At the end of the day, we wanted to create a holistic platform—we didn't want our users to leave the platform in order to do all of these required actions.

How did you come to work with Fingent Corporation?

We interviewed several companies before hiring Fingent. We knew we wanted to outsource our services and wanted to find a cost-effective provider. Since we were going to be doing a lot of the work after hours, we wanted to find an offshore team that fits our working schedule. We felt we had a unique connection after talking to Sam (CEO, Fingent). They had a tremendous amount of value and other verticals in this space. It turned out to be a good fit, and choosing them added a lot of value for us.

How much have you invested with Fingent Corporation?

We’ve spent more than $2 million but less than $10 million with Fingent.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with Fingent for about four or five years. I think we started working with them in November 2011. I eventually sold that business in December 2016, which sunsetted for reasons unrelated to Fingent’s services.

I’m still working with Fingent today. We’ve actually built several platforms, including a similar one for another company I’ve started.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were definitely able to scale our business with Fingent’s help. We grew our business from two employees to 160 employees in two years. We were able to cut our overhead significantly with the platform. Fingent would think about things we had missed, which shortened the time frame it would have taken to build the product. Having a proprietary software platform allowed us to raise massive amounts of capital. All in all, our technology platform was the catalyst for us to create enterprise value. Even today, we’re having conversations with other groups. We’re getting decent-sized enterprise valuations based on our current platform, which Fingent was a part of. The success of their original work has resulted in additional work for my new company.

Given the speed at which we were building, some bugs were expected. Our expectation of wanting everything to be perfect probably wasn’t aligned. At the end of the day, Fingent had clearly documented all the bugs, and then we re-documented a bunch back to them. They were very open to feedback. We discussed if the issue was caused by them moving too fast or by us making changes without giving real thought to what the trickle-down effect might be.

How did Fingent Corporation perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed very well from a project management perspective. They would come in generally at the estimated level or slightly below that. We also had a conversation about cost overruns well in advance, so we weren't caught off guard or had a “Geez, we have to spend more money just to make this thing work” scenario.

At its height, we had about 36 developers working on the platform. We also had three project managers. I would do weekly calls with the project managers and twice a week with the entire team, usually most of the tech leads. Together, we would set timelines and milestones. We would do some testing and then roll things out to production in a very Agile environment. I think they used Atlassian to do all their reporting, roll logs, bug checks, and so on.

What did you find most impressive about Fingent Corporation?

Fingent’s availability is impressive. To this day, I would call Sam 20 times a day at any hour, and he would always respond. They’re very responsive.

Are there any areas Fingent Corporation could improve?

It might be nice if Fingent adjusted their support hours. They’re in a different country and time zone, so if I have an issue at 1 p.m., that’s 2 a.m. their time.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Fingent Corporation?

I would highly recommend Fingent for any resources, whether it be for a small or large project. Given the scale of the platforms that we have built in a short period of time and the revenue that they have generated for us, it is definitely money well spent.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

TalentQuest is a talent management software provider located in Atlanta, Georgia. We have our own talent management SaaS product that we host ourselves. We have 250-300 clients, most of whom are in the United States but some are scattered across Canada, Mexico, Europe, and India. I’m the CTO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fingent?

Five years ago, we were starting to look at expanding our product. I was looking to augment my internal team in Atlanta with an offshore team that could help us deliver more on the product side. Fingent was brought in to do additional work on top of what my team was doing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially engaged Fingent to work on a couple of small assignments with one or two people on a fixed price basis, and they did a fantastic job. After the first year, we converted their contract from a time-and-materials basis to a retainer model and started building a team there. We moved from one person to four people, and then eight people, and at the peak of their involvement we had nine of their resources.

They worked side by side with my team. We started small with Fingent with just one person there. We tried out that person on small fixed-price projects. They helped built a feature for our performance reviews module called Writing Assistant and built part of our succession planning. We have different modules that cater to HR processes, so our software has talent reviews, goals, learning, succession planning, compensation planning, and so forth. We were continuously adding modules and features and enhancing features that we had.

They haven’t done work for us related to design or strategy. Our IT team at TalentQuest is working on this one software product. All of the work Fingent did for us over five years was on different pieces of that software.

How did you come to work with Fingent?

I worked at a firm that was acquired by Capgemini for over 10 years at the beginning of my career. Some of my contacts from then recommended different software shops in India for the size and type of work we do at TalentQuest. I went through an RFP process, and Fingent was one of the four that we vetted at the time. We tried Fingent and another provider on two separate projects and liked Fingent’s work better, so we just continued to use Fingent from that point on to help work on our software product along with our team here in Atlanta.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started the conversation with them back in mid-2012. It was March 2012 when we started the initial project-based engagement, and in September or October of 2012, we converted that to a time-and-material model before eventually bringing them on retainer. We just terminated our engagement with them in March 2017. We’re at the point where we are building our own offshore team now—we have an office in Bangalore—and that’s the reason why we terminated our contract with Fingent, not for any performance reason. It's just time for us to bring everything in-house.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One of the highlights of our relationship with Fingent is the quality and retention rates of their resources. Their resources are well qualified for the positions they fill, but what's rarer is that they stay on for a long time. Coming from an offshore-onsite model, I know that for companies where most of their resources are based out of India, turnover is a big problem. They frequently try and build processes around making it less person-dependent and more process-dependent.

The first person we got on our team, James, is still on our team as of this month. He’s been solid technically as well as for communication. He knows the product. It’s a shame we have to end that relationship, but retention has been a really surprising element with Fingent for me. There was some turnover, but most of our team was consistent through the years. That helped a lot, especially since we're a small company. Eight to ten people offshore in India is not a huge engagement, but that was part of the reason why we picked Fingent: they were small enough where we would be a significant client for them.

They have well-qualified resources. Communication was not an issue at all. In fact, I visited their facility about 2 1/2 years ago to meet the team who were very well structured. Their office is located amidst a huge technology park, so one of my questions to their executive team was how do you keep your people from going out and handing out their resume and switching jobs. They’re right in the middle of these tens of thousands of people who are doing the same job. They definitely have a culture and a model that attracts talent, so they didn’t seem to have any attrition issues going on there.

How did Fingent perform from a project management standpoint?

Their management was very easy to deal with. They did not raise prices on us for resources over the course of five years, which is also very surprising. They stuck to the original price point that we got from them four years ago when we switched to this time-and-materials model. There was never an issue about resources or unplanned vacations. It was always very smooth. In fact, we almost got spoiled by Fingent to a point where we now have higher expectations.

We worked in an Agile methodology where we did weekly checkpoints that included not just status updates but also demos. They got quick feedback that they could act upon, and they’re good at retaining feedback. Over time, the resources picked up new information and required little direction after the first year or so.

Our direct contact was with the team leads, and we used a variety of project management tools to keep track. At any given time, we always had an instant messenger tool like Skype or, more recently, Jabber. Most of my team interacted with their team directly on a daily basis. We had a weekly status call every Wednesday. We used WebEx or GoToMeeting for collaboration. For access to our QA environment, they VPNed and connected to our network. For most of the development collaboration, we used the Microsoft suite of tools. We are on Team Foundation Server for work item tracking and issue logging. We used Confluence for documentation in the last year and a half for knowledge sharing. We also used Visual Studio and Microsoft SQL Server.

What did you find most impressive about Fingent?

Their price point was one of the big drivers for us to pick them initially. When I went through the whole RFP process, Fingent had the lowest price point. I didn’t want to just pick the cheapest vendor, so I looked at two different ones. The other one was ISO 9001 certified, but their quality of resources was much lower than what Fingent delivered at a lower price point. That was a differentiator for us. As we went through the relationship, the retention was another big differentiator. We had a consistent team, which is a huge deal for a product company because the system knowledge they gain is invaluable. Those two are the highlights for me.

Are there any areas Fingent could improve?

In the big scheme of things, nothing really. We are very pleased with how they have done business with us. There were some quality issues: there was a six-month period when there was a weaker team on our project. As soon as we highlighted that to the managers, we got immediate attention. They took concrete steps to mitigate anything like that and monitored the quality of code. They responded very well. Again, that’s expected in this kind of engagement so I wouldn’t say the quality of resources slipping a little bit was anything out of the ordinary.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Fingent?

Whatever company uses them needs to be prepared to outsource stuff. Many companies fall into the trap of trying to outsource too much and not having a balance between owners here versus in India. We’re fortunate enough and had people with enough outsourcing background that we could determine what could be outsourced and what couldn't. Whatever we did outsource, there was a lot of definition on what needed to be done, and we always established communication protocols and checkpoints.

Be prepared for outsourcing. Document your requirements and establish good communication protocols and acceptance criteria. If you get a partner like Fingent with that in place, then it makes it very easy. I’ve heard people be skeptical about whether outsourcing really works. It works both ways—you have to put in some effort to make it work for you in the long term.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a software-as-a-service company that is focused on enhancing the wireless emergency alert industry. We have a product to help geographically target all mass notifications—both public alerts and other mass notifications—to people’s cell phones, devices, automobiles, etc. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fingent?

We hired Fingent to replace a previous supplier that was not working well. The other supplier was expensive, difficult to work with, and changing what they said they would do. We had reached a breaking point and decided it would be best to find an alternative.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We ended up having Fingent completely rewrite our website’s frontend and the iOS and Android applications, which are integrated with our web-based platform. The Android app was written, but we wanted to write one for iOS. We needed some changes made and features added to all of the platforms; they weren’t quite working the way we wanted them to. In the end, it was easier to rewrite the code instead of trying to debug what was written.

In our service, you create the alert you want to send and identify the geographic area that you want to alert. Then, the message is sent to the device, which would take that information and compare its own location with the alert area (known as the polygon); if the device is in the alert area, it plays the message and shows a map of the alert area to confirm why the device is receiving the alert.

Right now, the mediums are over Wi-Fi and cellular data. We are also working with Fingent to use a one-way broadcast medium to deliver the alerts, so our next step is to integrate this with the wireless emergency alert (WEA) system that’s been in place for about six years. Our goal is to integrate with WEA to give public safety agencies the ability to geographically target all emergency alerts so that they can direct them to the people for whom it’s relevant. Our system, while it is for demonstration purposes, is actively receiving alerts from FEMA’s [Federal Emergency Management Agency] integrated public alert warning system called IPAWS.

How did you come to work with Fingent?

Our chief technology officer had used Fingent on a project at another company. He highly recommended them and said they were trustworthy, they managed the process well, and they upheld their pledges to get things done in a good and timely manner. That was music to our ears after working with another software company that was difficult to work with, and that’s why we hired Fingent. We found Fingent to be exactly what we were looking for.

How much have you invested with Fingent?

I’d rather not share how much I invested with Fingent. Even though they were following code that had already been written, Fingent still was able to do all of the work that the others had done and then some, for less money than what we had already spent. They were economical in their approach.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Fingent in July 2015. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Although our company has been in operation since the early 1990s, our total focus now is on this new product, and because of that, we are not in a revenue position at the moment. Our focus is to integrate with the existing network and systems. In order to do that, we have been working with the Federal Communications Commission, FEMA, and public safety. We have a tremendous amount of support for our product. Our goal over the next couple of years is to integrate our system with WEA.

The highest compliment I can think of for Fingent is to say that they felt like they were part of our team, even though they’re not part of our company. They’re honorable. They keep in touch, follow up with us, and give us updates on their progress. I found them easy to work with and direct about what they could and could not do for us. We’ve had a good and supportive working relationship. They came up with creative ideas and helped us troubleshoot problems, and they also have been willing to do research to help us unlock some components.

How did Fingent perform from a project management standpoint?

We interfaced with Stephen at Fingent, and he would bring people onto the project as needed. I think there were two people who worked on the frontend, two who worked on the iOS app, and two or three who worked on the Android app. They had separate teams assigned to each part of the project. Fingent had some project-tracking software that they used more with our CTO than with me, and they set project plan deadlines and tracking points—basically all the things you do with that kind of software.

What did you find most impressive about Fingent?

The thing that impresses me the most about anyone is when they do what they say they’re going to do, and if they’re not able to do it, they explain why. Fingent does this, and in this day and age, it’s hard to find people who do. I would go back to Fingent with another project.

Are there any areas Fingent could improve?

I can’t think of any way Fingent could improve. I've been genuinely impressed with their work, their approach to business, and their willingness to work with their clients.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Eskoa is a company that develops curriculum targeted at youth aged 6–18. It’s primarily for use in low-income minority communities. Most curriculum out there right now is in the majority voice, aimed at middle-class kids, so a lot of the illustrations and other elements aren’t demonstrative of multi-ethnic communities. A lot of research has been done on this topic, but not a lot of curriculum has been written. I found a niche where I could help, developing curriculum for organizations that was to speak to these populations. I’m the founder and chief creative officer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fingent?

They built a mobile app and a website for me.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The website for this one contract is for teachers to go on and access the curriculum, but also track it as far as student progress. The platform has different levels for teachers and administrators, so there are four different roles. Teachers can access the curriculum, and then administrative levels are able to see where the teachers are and track their process. We added leadership development and continuing education elements throughout the website. And then students can go onto the app, access the curriculum and play games that Fingent has also developed and implemented. The mobile app also has a role for the parents to go in and see how the students are doing. It was a multi-user site and mobile app, and Fingent was able to deliver on all fronts. It’s really a product ecosystem: the apps integrate and work with the website. We have iOS and Android. Fingent took care of launching the apps for us.

I worked with three people on Fingent’s team over the course of the last 10 months, but I think the team was bigger than that. When we’d have calls with them, there were several people in the conference who never spoke but who would communicate to my team of three to get me the answers. But Sam was my main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Fingent?

I was alerted to Fingent from a colleague. For one of the contracts I’m working on now, the client wanted animation, so I worked with a wonderful animations company on that. For each lesson, we have some animated content. I was talking about how we would either put this up on a platform or find different ways to utilize this curriculum, and they had worked with Fingent in the past. They seemed to be a good fit for the project.

How much have you invested with Fingent?

I spent $85,000-$90,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

It took 10 months from the beginning conversations to completion. We just completed the project last week, so we started around May of 2016. We have them on retainer to help with any issues that come up with the site or the app, but the bulk of the work is done.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We launch this curriculum in May, so I won’t have that data until then. I’m just doing the training now so I can preview the content in my training sessions. Unfortunately, I don’t have any solid metrics, but I can tell you that the user base will be for churches. There are roughly 1,250 churches of this denomination that will be using the app and there will be about three users per church using the app and website. As far as the students go, there will be 15-20 students for each of the 1,250 churches that will use the apps.

How did Fingent perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re really good at having your back, you know what I mean? They lay out the project and then they have very measurable timetables for completion. We use Open Project, which is a platform that helps you go back and forth on a project. For every milestone, they respond, get your approval and move forward. It’s very consistent with each change, which was very helpful. All of them were right on, except for one where we made some changes right at the end. We actually used Redmine and just switched over to Open Project. We also used GoToMeeting a lot, because we did a lot of screen sharing.

We had four milestones, each with its own deadline, and they hit all those. We started out with a fixed budget. We did add a certain feature, so that increased the cost, but there were no surprises. We worked with the fixed budget, and then any changes were discussed so I could decide if I wanted to move forward with the change or not. Even right now, the parent client is paying the maintenance part, not me, and they want to do Spanish translation. Fingent is working with them on that. It’s been really great working together. They’re really helpful and detailed in putting together the cost and being flexible as the need arose.

What did you find most impressive about Fingent?

It was just a really easy project. The final products were all super intuitive, which is what you want when you’re developing mobile applications and websites. You want something that’s not going to take a huge amount of training for people to access and use. We had a very complex thing that we had to break down, and they made it very easy.

Are there any areas Fingent could improve?

I didn’t have any bad experiences whatsoever; they were on it in terms of making sure that the tasks were verifiable. We communicated really clearly about what we needed and they were able to meet all those needs. Even when things turned out differently than we expected, Fingent fixed them right away. One time the parent client of mine made a major change, and Fingent was super flexible in making that happen. We had a really fantastic working relationship; I don’t have anything bad to say. I can’t think of any weaknesses. Towards then end, there were a couple weeks where I was travelling around and doing meetings and I felt like I was delayed in getting back to them so they were delayed in responding, but that was also kind of my fault.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a nonprofit program that teaches life skills such as personal finance, time management, fitness, and dating to teenagers and their parents.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fingent?

I wanted to build a platform to host 10 high-quality videos on the 10 core topics in our curriculum. We also wanted to individualize the program so that we could group participants by demographics like “fathers with high school-aged boys” or “families with high school-aged girls.” We needed the platform to automate those small group communications such as meeting calendars and the distribution of invitations as well as accepts and declines, plus a payment platform integration that would enable this to be a self-funding program.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Part of the challenge was that nothing like this existed, so none of us knew what it should look like in the end. I supplied sketches, but they brought a lot to the table in terms of how it would ultimately look, feel, and function. We met weekly to continue developing the framework for the project, and they were really attentive and very capable. They did stuff that has never been done in this industry before. They built a platform that integrates two different databases into an automated CRM platform, allowing subscribers to receive automatic notifications via email and text. They also integrated Paypal into the platform and developed the frontend of the site, which is incredibly user-friendly.

Projects like this always expand as you go, and their attitude towards that has been phenomenal. We had so many different variations on possible user paths. We were charging for printing, shipping, and handling for our workbooks as well as a small monthly fee for the curriculum, but we wanted to integrate a scholarship opportunity for families that couldn’t afford it. That’s an incredibly challenging feature to develop. They also integrated complicated CRM features so that if you have an important milestone coming up like an anniversary, a birthday or a graduation, you’ll receive emails leading up to the date offering suggestions on how to make the event really special.

I began working with Fingent in April or May or 2015 and we’re continuing to work together. I’m really happy with their work.

How did you come to work with Fingent?

Fingent came highly recommended from another organization that had worked with them. In my previous work in corporate America, I had worked with multimillion-dollar tech budgets each year and had access to exceptional vendors, so my standards are fairly high. I liked Fingent’s portfolio of work; it gave me the confidence to try them out and test their capabilities—I am extremely impressed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re in the process of rolling out the platform now, so we don’t have a lot of data available, but people who are going through the program seem to love it. Everyone loves how convenient and user-friendly the app is. It’s such a flexible platform; it makes it much easier for all kinds of families to use. I’m really thrilled with how flexible and positive Fingent has been throughout the whole process.

How did Fingent perform from a project management standpoint?

They have essentially managed the project themselves. I didn’t have anyone on staff dedicated to managing it. It’s been really nice to have them be a one-stop shop for all of our needs, and I’m really happy with what they’ve done.

What did you find most impressive about Fingent?

From my perspective, their attitude and their willingness to work through opportunities to improve have been extraordinary. When we were doing design tests, we identified bugs or opportunities to do something better, and their attitude has been consistently positive. They have a consistent can-do attitude; they want the best solution for the client and the end-user, and that comes out in their work. As we’ve progressed, it’s only gotten more and more complicated, and throughout that whole process, they’ve been patient and willing to give it the focus required to achieve success. It's been very impressive. 

Are there any areas Fingent could improve?

They were so accommodating. Nothing is coming to mind.