Innuy

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Working with schools, industry partners, and communities, the 114th Partnership converts real workplace challenges into Spark 101 Videos, explores high-growth fields with Snapshots, and brings communities together via Accelerated Impact - all programs designed to increase engagement in high-skills coursework and interest in high-opportunity careers. I am the VP of Operations, responsible for all financial and logistical aspects of the organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Innuy?

Transfer of an old and outdated website to a new one and redesign of the user experience.

What were your goals for this project?

Our website was clunky and outdated - the old vendor had not kept up to industry standard (the situation proved to be much worse than we had known previously) and a redesign for improved, modernized design and more user-friendly visitor experience was critical.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Recommended by our Amazon Web Services (AWS) provider.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Migration of the site to AWS, movement of media storage, redesign of backend admin site, redesign.

What was the team composition?

Company owner for initial discussion and proposal, VP of sales for contracting, planning, and budgeting, developer for technical movement of site, functionality, and backend work, designer for site appearance

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our redesigned website launched just a few weeks ago, but to date we have added hundreds of new users and seen a 124% increase in site traffic.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Most communication was via Basecamp - one member of our team communicated daily (sometimes multiple times daily) with the developer and/or designer. Others - company owner, AWS contact - would jump in every now and then to address a question, etc.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The personnel was absolutely amazing. Despite English not being the first language of the owner, developer, or designer, the communication was clear, the response times were lightning fast, and they have a great sense of humor to boot! Their price was also very reasonable, which is critical to us as a small nonprofit.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The only issue that we had was a bit of confusion about what level of redesign (vs just transfer) was involved and what the cost would be, but it was professionally and quickly resolved to the satisfaction of both parties.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I run an investment company that automates its trading.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Innuy ?

I hired Innuy to help my company with automating our trades.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal of this project was to pull information from social media and be able to trade investments based on that information.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Innuy found me and reached out to me. We found that my company's goal aligned very well with INNUY's capabilities.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They coded an investment program that pulls information from social media and makes trades based on that information.

What was the team composition?

The team that was used for my project was small but effective.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

This project will help my company compete in a fast-paced, rapidly changing investment market.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management was efficient.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Innuy made the most out of every hour worked. Innuy refused to submit a project that was only 99.9% complete, and would only submit one that was 100% to my liking. Innuy did not stop at making an algorithm for me. They also made it easy for me to customize, edit, or delete certain aspects of the algorithm in the future in a user-friendly fashion.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There was very little that they could have done better.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CPO of a company that is developing an autonomous online marketing manager based on AI technology.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Innuy?

We’ve relied on Innuy to serve as an extension of our development team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Innuy’s involvement has helped us launch one of our primary services relating to the AI platform. Our product was developed using Django Python, among other technologies, and it is hosted on AWS.

What is the team composition?

We work with nine developers from their team.

How did you come to work with Innuy?

During our search for companies, we learned that they have a high level of experience in all of the technologies we use. They are clearly experts in backend systems and mobile applications.

How much have you invested with them?

The overall cost of their work has been close to $1.2 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement began in November 2015 and remains ongoing. Our initial collaboration was so successful that we decided to extend it and work together for the long-term.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They have been a great partner. Their team takes quality very seriously. They always raise additional ideas and suggestions for how we could further improve the quality of the product, and they initiate and make innovations in that area. Innuy is committed to delivering high-quality work.

How did Innuy perform from a project management standpoint?

We have solid communication practices with them. Their English is excellent, and they are open and collaborative. We use Redmine for our project management tasks, and Innuy documents every activity accurately. Whenever we have an issue or a special request, they immediately understand and take the appropriate actions to address it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their interest in understanding the business and operation of the company is remarkable. They strive to learn what the goal of our software is, which is admirable. That’s not something I’ve found with most other development partners.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I cannot pinpoint anything that needs improvement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder and managing partner at Kolinx.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Innuy?

We wanted to create a mobile application, so we were looking for a company to help us with development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a proof of concept, but it was not ready for market. Initially, we were planning to transform this proof of concept into a working application, but we decided to expand our target audience. Innuy ended up developing a new application for iOS and Android from ground up. The application brings into the modern age the idea of allowance by creating an account that children can use under their parents' supervision instead of a bank account, a piggy bank, or a credit card. The app can also be used by adults.

We have third-party vendors, so Innuy integrated the APIs as well as our internal database and our internal proprietary software. They also helped us submit the app to the App Store and the Google Play Store.

What is the team composition?

We worked 5–6 members of their team, including their CEO, a project manager, iOS/Android developers, and a UI designer. 

How did you come to work with Innuy?

They were recommended to us by someone who had worked with them previously. Also, we were attracted to the fact that we could get very good developers for a lower price.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in July 2016 and it was completed in July 2017. After that, we were using them for other projects and we'll be starting a new development stage with them next year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They delivered everything we needed and we were very pleased with their work. They were open and honest about what could and couldn’t be done. We'll be using them again next year for another technological piece, which we'll be developing in collaboration with American financial institutions.

How did Innuy perform from a project management standpoint?

We mostly used Slack to communicate and we used Planio to track different stages of the project and provide feedback. It was a very collaborative project. We had multiple tasks within each stage and I had to approve each round before the next one would start. They always got back to us within the same day, if not within hours or minutes.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They've really become part of our team. They were very responsive and accepting of feedback. They were committed to implementing our vision and were flexible if we wanted to change the direction. Our app evolved a lot and the technology evolved, so I appreciated that they were not resistant to change (unlike our previous vendor).

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. The developer we were working with moved on and they assigned a different developer to us, who was just as good. The whole process was seamless.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Insurance and Financial Service. Vice President.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

To build a consumer life insurance quoter and application.

SOLUTION

How did you select Innuy and what were the deciding factors?

The coherent proposal and communication.

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

They built a UI for a quoting engine and form submission.

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

2

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They met all milestone goals on time.

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

We spoke weekly and daily and worked through tasks.

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

Their ability to understand small and large aspects of the project.

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

No, they were great.