Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol)

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an executive at a chemicals & biotechnology company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a precision health platform with both b2b and b2c lines.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol) to accomplish?

• We required a trusted partner who could guide us in technology strategy and launch our offering.
• We required a team to build our commerce, telehealth, dashboards, and lab, physician, and admin portals along with ML analytics.
• We required a team that would be nimble, responsive to our needs, and come up with pragmatic, yet forward-looking solutions.

SOLUTION

How did you find Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol)?

• Referral

Why did you select Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol) over others?

• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol) were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

From crafting our technology strategy and selecting platforms to designing and developing our entire tech stack, Ignite Solutions has been our CTO and tech partner. Here are components of our technology that IgniteSol supported:

• pre-launch website with emphasis on our science and ethos
• main e-commerce site with complex products and fulfillment processes that span weeks
• complex logic-based health intake forms
• onboarding flows for new customers who have received a skin test kit
• machine learning to recommend the right serum based on skin DNA.
• customer dashboard that informs, alerts, and helps users manage their accounts
• physician, lab, and admin portals

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Launch of features and functionality in a timely manner as per the release plan
• Use available technology platforms so as to minimize the cost of development while delivering complex functionality

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

They are responsive and communicative re: timelines. When things need to take longer, they are upfront. In general, delivery is usually on time.

What was your primary form of communication with Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol)?

• Virtual Meeting

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

They are thoughtful in their approach and push back when they don’t agree with a decision and discuss why. They help guide decisions irregardless of whether the outcome yields more hours or not.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol) could have done differently?

Some members of the team are younger than others and by far, Anand (the owner) brings the most experience to strategic conversations. By no means is this a knock, as everyone is great, but the younger members of the team would benefit from his mentorship re: business acumen and strategy.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the President of Smart Power Inc.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We provide software and consulting services to Retail Electric Providers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol) to accomplish?

• Build & Support Our Software Platform

SOLUTION

How did you find Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol)?

Referral

Why did you select Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol) over others?

Referred to me

How many teammates from Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol) were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We set out to build a platform that provided many operational services related to a segment of the Retail Electric industry called Supply. These services are things like Load Forecasting, Trade Management, Settlements, Mark-to-Market, etc.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The software was built from scratch, piece-by-piece, with very specific specifications. Each major module within the system stands on it's own and can be reviewed independently and many of the features within each module present the same opportunity.

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

They are truly incredible to work with in this regard. It has been an absolute joy to work with them because they are so good at project management. They routinely turn in work ahead of time; I would estimate that at least 90% of the time, they complete the work well ahead of time. And it's not a matter of under-promising to make themselves look better; their timelines for proposed work are often significantly shorter than I'm anticipating. 

They are responsive to my needs, but more impressive is their ability to familiarize themselves with the processes and requirements of a niche industry with myriad complexities. They were not just executing wrote instruction, but continually learning about the industry and the software's big picture purpose as they worked, which resulted in an ability to contribute ideas or catch problems before they occurred and even to help with design conceptually.

What was your primary form of communication with Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol)?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Most programmers, if not all, I've encountered in the United States are notoriously bad at delivering project's on time and/or on budget. Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol) delivers projects ahead of time, under budget, and often with improved functionality. It was shocking to juxtapose my experiences with coders in past to my experience with Ignite. It is not hyperbole to say that they are the only reason our company exists. 

They helped us build the software that is the core of our business for a fraction of the costs of our competitors and they continue to support the system and help us improve it. Their initial technical design work around system architecture, when we were just starting out, has proven to be a major competitive advantage. I can not rave about their professionalism enough, but it's ultimately their ability to deliver a high-quality product for such value that sets them apart.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol) could have done differently?

The only thing that ever presents any difficulty is the time difference. Only if there is something that needs to be addressed urgently could it sometimes be cause for concern. Meetings generally need to take place very early in the morning or in the evening.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an Executive of Machine Cover, Inc.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Machine Cover has created a set of new products for the Property & Casualty Insurance market in the US, and it seeks to sell them to insurance buyers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol) to accomplish?

• Develop an Underwriting Engine that operates on this data
• Develop an end-to-end insurance platform that enables our products to be sold.
• Absorb and analyze large masses of data from various sources.

SOLUTION

How did you find Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol)?

I knew them from prior experience

Why did you select Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol) over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Trustworthy -they do what they say they'll do

How many teammates from Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol) were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

We rely upon IgniteSol to entirely handle our technological needs, which are central to Machine Cover's existence. First there's the need to regularly download/ingest vast amounts of data (by which I mean hundreds of millions of records a week). Then there's the need to analyze this data both via classical statistics as well as via machine-learning heuristics. 

Finally there's the need to develop, test and deploy an end-to-end software platform which allows the sale and service of the insurance products which are developed using the data analyzed above.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since I'm a (former) software engineer myself, I didn't require outcomes that were (quantitatively) measurable - I was and am able to examine their output, have it tested independently here, and determine its quality. I have no complaints on that score in the years they've worked with me.

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

Yes they consistently delivered on time and on budget - this predictability was one of their strengths, particularly since they are located pretty far from us. 

I was able to make minor changes merely through an email or a Google Meet exchange, and I appreciated that they did not expect or require an explicit alteration of the project details in each such case - in my experience, minor zigs and zags are inevitable and I much prefer to work with folks that take the same view and are flexible/informal rather than being rigid or sticking to 'the letter of the law'.

What was your primary form of communication with Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol)?

Email or Messaging App

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

The fact that they are both knowledgeable as well as reliable. To begin with, if they don't happen to possess a skill in-house, they make the effort to go and find it, as opposed to "oh we don't do that". 

Furthermore their work product is relentlessly on time and on budget, so I don't need to worry about whether something will or will not be delivered months down the road. Finally, unlike most similar groups I've worked with, they aren't afraid to suggest alternatives when we're proposing obviously bad designs, rather than passively accepting marching instructions from us.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol) could have done differently?

Not within the ambit of what we need. Of course someone else might find shortcomings - we haven't.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Chief Technology Officer of OptIn, Inc.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

As an early stage startup in steath mode, we are providing a unique solution to transform the the hourly workforce by operating in the nexus of workers and businesses to engage with the workers and optimize for the business. This is in the HR tech space. I have also worked with this team in a previous startup in the Fintech space. They are very versatile.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol) to accomplish?

• UX architecture, experience, and journeys (using Figma)
• Provide Technical Leadership in Frontend Development (Native iOS, Android, and Flutter)
• Provide Solution Architects
• Provide Technical Leadership in Backend Development (Python)
• Provide high quality staff for delivery using Flutter and Python
• Reduce risk in implementation and deployment
• Provide business analysts
• Provide white box and black box testing resources
• Support extreme Agile
• Provide architects and engineers for Devops (AWS & Azure)
• Provide CI/CD framework for near continuous deployment to production and for testing

SOLUTION

How did you find Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol)?

Worked with them previously and was highly satisfied with their skill and professionalism

Why did you select Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol) over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned
• Highly skilled people with an extremely professional approach to clients and a GREAT PARTNER

How many teammates from Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol) were assigned to this project?

14-18

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

We are a very fast paced delivery with an extreme agile with CI/CD and near daily/weekly releases to production. This involves:

1. Business Analysis 
2. Solution Architecture 
3. UX Design 
4. Data Architecture 
5. Backend Development using Python 
6. Frontend development using Flutter for Mobile and Web (with slight enhancements for Web) 
7. Workflows 
8. Testing (White box/code coverage, Blackbox, Regression) on mobile, web, and backward compatibility for one release 
9. Devops for AWS As a startup time to market is key both from the point of view of:
   • a) Satisfying current customer needs 
   • b) Acquire new customers 
   • c) Showcase to investors

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

1. Great partner to work with since startups and organizations have ebbs and flows. Anand and team are head and shoulders above anyone that I have ever met in my 30 year career 
2. The people have to hit the road running within a few days since we are a startup (and I have been in two startups working with them) 
3. I needed skills that varied continually starting with iOS/Android development to Flutter, Python, AWS Devops, Mobile Devops for CI/CD, UX, Business Analysis, Testing, AI/ML, Generative AI. They had resources for all of them at a very high skill. 
   • Case in point: The team converted the 2 year old application from native to Flutter in less than two months. 
4. When resources left they were always there to backfill with the same high caliber people so that we do not miss a beat 
5. The OptIn Board of Directors were extremely satisfied with the progress and these are CTOs and CHROs (Chief Human Resource Officer) of very large companies like Workday and Home Depot 

Hard criteria: 

1. Daily/weekly releases 
2. Extremely low defect rate - we still have near zero defects in production and we have had only one outage in production which was also due to an incompatibility between AWS operating system (AMI) and some library. Our support costs are extremely low due to the high quality code development 
3. Ability to pivot and pick up - we have, as a startup, constant changes in demand and the team is extremely agile in both the ability to accommodate and in delivery. 
4. We NEVER missed a deadline in 3 years and delivered over and above market expectations - this team excels at it and 100% of my development was with Ignite.

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

I used a Solution Architect for the project and a teclead for Frontend, Backend/Devops Business Analysis/Testing, UX They are a highly self-sufficient and motivated members and they conduct local meetings and we meet once a week, to every other day, to daily based on the release window. 

Collaboration was offline (messaging, emails) or in virtual meetings (Zoom, Teams, Skype) The beauty of this team is that they DO NOT NEED TO BE MANAGED! They understood my Agile approach and we cut all overhead in the interest of delivery and the imbibed that culture excelled at it. The Ignite management provided top cover for all things personnel related.

What was your primary form of communication with Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol)?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

1. Great Partner - when the chips are down they WILL stand by you and get you out of tight corners. No equivocations. 
2. They always go over and beyond what is asked. 
3. Everyone in the team is extremely articulate, especially in English, and communication is a breeze. 
4. They are HIGHLY professional. 
5. They are extremely highly skilled so can hit the ground running on multiple fronts, or pivot very easily. 
6. The quality is extremely high. 
7. They require little or no management. 
8. The feed of expertise is very vast and in each of those areas the team is highly skilled, which is impressive. 
9. They are a great thought partner and a sounding board to refine concepts. 
10. They push back if I get it wrong and don't allow you to make costly mistakes.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol) could have done differently?

No. My plan is to continue expanding with this team.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an executive at Journal Club

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We have built a platform for medical entities to network, curate, create, distribute and monetize professional content.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Ignite Solutions to accomplish?

• Develop a platform for facilitating Continuous Medical Education (CME) for medical professionals.
• Allow medical institutions to form “Journal Clubs” to review, discuss, and adopt research, and publish their newsletters for broader dissemination.
• Enable peer review of research articles authored by professionals in any Journal Club and solicit feedback, adoption, and broader dissemination.
• Provide Continuous Medical Education (CME) credits for contributions and participation in Journal Clubs.
• Distribute this content through emails, social media and on client webpages

SOLUTION

How did you find Ignite Solutions?

Referral

Why did you select Ignite Solutions over others?

• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Ignite Solutions were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

The scope of the project involved the entire process from conceptualization to branding/ logos to page design (including responsive design for all functionalities) to the development of novel curation and creation technologies, the integration of external AI technologies and social platforms, and optimization for a variety of users from individuals to groups of large institutions and their needs and workflow patterns. 

The first stage involved the conceptualization, branding/ logos, page design and the usability and value to individuals looking to curate content. The second stage was for alpha testers to develop their own pages and then respond and adapt the technology to deliver for a variety of user needs. The third stage involved streamlining this development and adding new technologies such as AI-based summarization, third party distribution, automatic posting on social media and more.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• New journal club signups, user validated functionality and reviews
• Usage and adoption by members of journal clubs
• De-novo and other articles published in the journal club

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

On balance, all deliverables were on time. This was particulary noteworthy because there were some technologies that were novel and involved R&D prior to actual development. Ignite were excellent to work with when it came to the changing nature of the requirements since we would have alpha testers come back with differing requirements or additional use cases that then got added in to the project. Their communication of status, issues, timelines and recommendations was exemplary.

What was your primary form of communication with Ignite Solutions?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

We were building a first of a kind platform for a complex scientific entity. What was most impressive was that all members of the Ignite team, from the designer conceptualizing the logo and the page designs to the actual architects and the QA team had an excellent grasp of what the project was about and what the user needs could be. 

This not only sped up the process but, in several instances, led to Ignite team members at different levels and in different teams providing valuable input and suggestions on how to improve the project. This seems to be because of the unique structure of the company where the CEO functions as the client's CTO and the lead architect supervises all aspects of the development. 

This interplay leads to a better understanding of the outcomes needed and not just the development work to be completed, as well as an ethos where the Ignite team is vested in their client's outcomes and not just completing the project.

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

We were very happy with all aspects of Ignite Solutions' work on this project. While everything did not go smoothly, most things did and the things that ran into problems were not because Ignite should have done something differently.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the General Manager of an Engineering Equipment Wholesaler

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are importers and distributors of Taccto brand engineering consumables and equipment, we serve resellers of hardware, building materials, engineering consumables and equipment across UAE, Oman, and Qatar.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol) to accomplish?

• To create an E-Commerce application to serve the needs our customers
• To stay connected with our customers through mobile
• To make transacting with our company easy and friction-free for our customers.

SOLUTION

How did you find Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol)?

• Referral
• Other

Why did you select Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol) over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fits our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol) were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Creation of an ordering platform on a mobile application that our customers can use to place orders for the products they require from our catalog. This order would be collected, through the application, invoiced, and then delivered to the customer by our logistics team. This is alongside our traditional ordering-taking method where salespeople visit customer sites and generate orders. 

Along with the customer side of the application, there is the internal side to it. Our sales team also uses the application to take orders from our customers on the application, which is then sent to our back-office team for invoicing and delivery. There is also a loyalty points system on the application which our customers collect whenever they place an order on the app based on the formula we set. 

Furthermore, the customer is able to see if items are in stock, low stock, our out of stock. We can also set the currency based on the location of the customers. This is important for us since we have customers in different countries. 

Along with the development of the main app, Ignite has helped us very thoroughly with aftersales service, publishing the application on Google and Apple app stores, making new versions, and also helping us develop and implement new features in the application as well.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

1. We have increased the total number of orders we receive every day since our customers can also place orders.
2. Our team is able to work faster and more accurately than before. This frees up more time for our sales team to generate more business. This time would have been otherwise wasted in relaying orders verbally or otherwise to our backend team. 
3. Our Company stays top of mind more often since our customers see and use the app which is designed with our company brand theme and colours. 
4. It adds another layer that helps us differentiate from our competitors.

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

They worked in a timely and organized manner. They clearly stated to us what they needed us to do and how to provide them with the data they were looking for. They are good communicators and easy to reach through phone, email, and messaging. They delivered items on time, they attended meetings on time. 

They helped us clear any issues we had with the application being developed and were quick to address any bugs that arose. They carefully listened to our needs and pain points and also gave us ideas on how to implement features to address them as well.

What was your primary form of communication with Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol)?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their team is dedicated and very easy to work with. They go above and beyond to make sure you are satisfied with the product.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Ignite Solutions (IgniteSol) could have done differently?

No, nothing as of now.