Intuz

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We're a financial technology company based in South Africa.

What is your position?

I'm the founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Intuz?

The challenge was to find a smart software company that could develop a world-class website and crowdfunding platform.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Our product is only available on the web.

How did you come to work with Intuz?

I chose Intuz because of the recommendations I saw online and the accolades they displayed. They seem to be caught up with all the latest technology in the financial services space.

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

It was less than $50,000. They were not expensive at all. I still feel they under price their resources.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I think Intuz's value proposition was that they went the extra mile and their communication is very astute. They are able to keep to a schedule, which is unheard of when it comes to software development. They're fast in executing.

How did Intuz perform from a project management standpoint?

In Africa, our financial institutions can be a bit backward. Intuz was patient with us in terms of communication and understanding the program scope. We didn't have a spec for the whole website because the previous developer had challenges in terms of executing on the job that we wanted. Our partnership with Intuz was based on communicating often to develop the website to our expectations. They did exactly what we wanted and spent more time than expected on a daily basis trying to figure out exactly what we wanted. We also made mistakes on our side, but they gave us additional time to rectify our mistakes and to maintain the website at no charge at all which I thought was a magnificent value add. They did not complain, and they proceeded as expected.

What distinguishes Intuz from other providers?

I think what made the project easy was that they had more than one developer on our project as opposed to working with a freelancer. They had promised me only one developer, but they appointed a number of resources to assist us given the magnitude of the problem, which made it a very easy and smooth process. We didn't have any hiccups at all. They trusted us to make payment after they had completed some of the tasks although at the initial stages we paid in advance. 

Is there anything Intuz could have improved or done differently?

I'm not too sure if I would change anything from what they are currently doing, but it would be great if they had an office in South Africa.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My company, Virdition, is an online auditioning platform for the entertainment industry. It allows agents and talent to audition online virtually.

What is your position?

I'm the founder and CEO of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Intuz?

I've been working with Intuz from the very beginning, since 2009, when I started developing the platform. They've been extremely helpful because I'm not a tech guy – I just had the vision. They were able to walk me through this whole process and complete the project as per my specifications.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

They've been the only developer doing work on the platform since 2009. We have a web-based application. We use .NET and PHP, so it's available online, on Android, and any device that logs onto the Internet.

How did you come to work with Intuz?

Actually, to be honest with you, it was just luck. Intuz was the first company that I dealt with. I didn't shop around. I didn't look for anybody else. I just landed on them. I felt comfortable, and I was fortunate. I hear a lot of horror stories, and when I tell people I've been with this company since 2009, and I've never had an issue with them financially, in getting work done, us paying them, or them doing what they're supposed to, people marvel at it because they hear a lot of bad stories about working with companies overseas.

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

It's been six years, and I would say we've spent with them about $100,000 to $150,000 a year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We still keep some members of their team on full time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What distinguishes Intuz from other providers?

Intuz has always been very patient with me. Like I said, I had no knowledge of the Internet, development, code – anything. They could have really ripped me off if they were a bad company because I wouldn't know any better, but they were very patient with me. They worked within my limitations. They suggest and they apply better ways of doing things that I'm not aware of. Intuz is constantly improving my platform based on the latest technology. Any requests that I have, they're always on time, taking care of it. We talk almost every morning on Skype. They have a dedicated person that works with us on a regular basis every day. I don't even feel like I'm working with an offshore team because I talk to them on a daily basis like if they were just next door.

Is there anything Intuz could have improved or done differently?

I really can't criticize Intuz in any way because they always meet my expectations. Whatever I wanted to do on my website, they've always managed to do it and do it well. I really don't have anything negative to say about them. They've always been on time with what they've done.

BACKGROUND

Please briefly describe what your company does and the role that you play there?

I am the owner of a staffing company that is involved in developing apps and tools for other businesses to use to delegate assignments to the workers on hand that day. In addition, I have developed some communication tools for ALS [amyotrophic lateral sclerosis] and stroke patients and their families. They are able to use these tools for more efficient and better communication.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was the business challenge that you were trying to address when you approached Intuz?

I am an innovator, designer, and developer if you will. My challenge is that I have not taught myself to build apps or code yet. For this reason, I searched companies that did this for a living.

SOLUTION

Can you tell me about the scope of the project, what were the exact services or methodologies Intuz provided or implemented? 

I am the type of person that sees in pictures. When I am designing something, it is easier for me to show you in pictures and diagrams than it is for me to tell you. I provided detailed information, slide by slide, on what I wanted to see when my app was completed. From that information, Intuz was able to build the app. When questions were brought up, Intuz was able to provide solutions as to how to make it work within my app. They are very knowledgeable and, if they don't have the answer right away, they will find one to complete the problem if at all possible.

Can you give a sense of the size of the initiative?

Personnel work hours are impossible to guess at. I have worked for years in my spare time working on these ideas. The dollar amount seems to be around the $5,000 to $7,000 range per app per platform for example iOS and Android.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Is there anything unique or special about Intuz that really makes them stand out?

Yes, Intuz is very considerate, respectful, and nice. They were timely and answered my questions in a very timely fashion. I never have gotten the runaround from their team as has happened to me in the past with other development teams. Intuz is top notch for sure, and my account manager, Simon, is awesome.

Looking back on the project, is there any area that they could improve upon or that you would have them do differently?

The only thing I would say is given the constant upgrades from Apple and iOS, it is almost impossible for someone trying to get app off the ground to continuously deal with maintenance fees of $1,000 or more just because of an iOS upgrade. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the creator of a mobile application. My app allows users to share photos side by side with their friends and then those friends can vote on which photo is better between the two.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Intuz?

I needed to develop a photo comparison app from start to finish. I didn't have the resources in my company to complete the task.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Intuz developed my app working for both the iOS and Android platforms. Originally, I only wanted to take the app to the iOS platform, but it was such a success that I felt comfortable transferring it to an Android platform as well.

How did you come to work with Intuz?

I started by going to Elance. I interviewed some people, and I wasn't thrilled with the responses I got. That's when I came across Clutch. I liked the fact that Clutch filters through companies and can really focus on groups that I am interested in. After I had found Intuz, I followed up, interviewed them, and asked them to write a sample code.

How much have you invested with Intuz?

The app development cost between $1,000 to $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The app was completed, and we have a working app in the App Store. But, with a growing company, you never really finish. We're incomplete in the sense that we're continuing to make improvements, and Intuz is helping us with that.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I have four metrics that I'm tracking right now which are the number of downloads, the number of registrations, the number of engaged users, and the percentage of people who invite a friend onto our app. The app and its backend platform are working as specified, and the app looks good. 

What did you find most impressive about Intuz?

When I was searching for companies, I was constantly afraid of hidden fees being sprung on me. I did not want the company I paid for to charge me extra to fix mistakes that they made. Intuz was good about being upfront with their cost and fixing small things free of charge.

I'm pleased with the final product, but I found the process to be troubling. I'm not sure if Intuz has grown over the last year, causing them to have less time and resources. Product-wise, the app is good, but it was a struggle to get it to that stage. 

The biggest benefit of working with Intuz is the value that they offer. Intuz does development for cheap, which is hard to come by. 

Are there any areas Intuz could improve?

I think there's always room for improvement. When you're describing changes, and you can't see the process as it's happening, sometimes something is lost in the mix. We had one or two issues where I would give Intuz a wireframe and the end product would be built differently. The solution to this problem would be to ask for more documentation or transparency with the project's production.

My biggest challenge with Intuz was in terms of communication. There are many gaps, it's hard to get people on the phone, meetings have been skipped or ignored, and I've had to hound Intuz' team for answers. The work, at the end of the day, gets to where it needs to be, but it will take many rounds of iterations and fixes. What Intuz first puts out is not good.

Based on the scope of work and timeframes, they'll do something with many obvious bugs and issues. Everything has bugs, but there are many things which could be avoided with a quick check. An example would be the first iteration of an option for sharing things via text message. When clicking on "Share via text message," nothing happens. Quick tests of built features don't occur. 

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

For people under a tight timeframe, Intuz may not be the right group. I suggest that clients allow themselves more time than they feel the project would take, try to come to every meeting prepared with what they want to discuss, and take diligent notes, getting everyone on the same page. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization. What is your role and responsibilities?

I'm an app developer. Right now, I'm building an application that shows hotel vacancies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Inutz?

I needed help developing my app, I had the idea, but I needed help implementing it.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

Mostly Intuz worked on the design and development side of the application.

What was your process for selecting Intuz?

I worked with another company, and it was a bad experience, so I decided that I needed to make a switch to a new company. It turned out that Intuz was that company.

Can you give a sense of the size of the initiative?

The app in total will cost about $10,000 to $50,000.

When was the work completed?

We started working with Intuz in March 2015, and the project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Are you satisfied with their performance?

Intuz did a great job. I didn't expect such good-quality work but it turned out really well.

Is there anything unique or special about Intuz?

The design is amazing, and the application works seamlessly. There were no problems that couldn't be solved. There were a few issues with communication because we didn't speak the same language and I needed Arabic content, but we worked together and were able to translate the content I needed with very few mistakes.

What advice would you give to future clients of theirs?

If you're going to work with Intuz and you speak a different language, be very clear with your communication. They answered my questions quickly, and if I sent them an email, now I'd get an email back in one to two hours, but it's important that you speak and communicate clearly with them.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you might do differently?

No. Not that I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization and your role there.

I'm the owner of a marketing solution startup. We allow people to place their ad for free on our app platform. We develop IT [information technology] solutions that connect companies providing Web design and application development solutions with clients. We are a middleman.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Intuz?

When we started working with Intuz we had been working on this project for 18 months with a different company that failed to meet our requirements.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

We needed Intuz's help developing a mobile app. We have just completed the iOS version. We are now working on the Android version.

Can you give a sense of the size of the initiative?

Our total project will cost in the range of $20,000 to $30,000.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any statistics or metrics on the project?

We are happy with the service we are receiving from Intuz.

Are you satisfied with their performance?

The quality Intuz is providing is much better than the quality we've seen from other Indian companies.

Is there anything unique or special about Intuz that really makes them stand out?

I like the way Intuz treats their customers. Even though we've only completed one project with them, they treat us like we are really special. They are available 24/7, and we can reach them on Skype anytime. They are flexible with any changes we have. We didn't have that with the other companies.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you might do differently?

So far, everything is okay.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization. What is your role and responsibilities?

I'm the founder of a startup. We are targeting real estate agents globally and inviting them to submit their comparable sales against a property listing to avoid appraisal disputes down the road.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Intuz?

I needed an app developed that would help agents avoid appraisal disputes and help them do it in a convenient way via their mobile.

SOLUTION

What was your process for selecting Intuz?

I was using a local Australian developer who was failing me. I decided I would look for an alternative, somebody in India or another location. I went through and looked at 20 firms. Just examining their websites. I short-listed and interviewed six of them. In the initial selection, they were very professional from the outset. Their website showed me they had an appreciation of what it takes to be a startup and what it takes to run a business. Their website openly addressed those challenges. Beyond that, I found that Intuz interviewed me as much as I interviewed them. They were very good at communicating out front what it takes to have a successful relationship with them. Intuz didn't do the over-promise, under-deliver approach. They were very up front about what it takes to design a project, what it takes to deliver it, and what those costs would be to do it well.

Can you give a sense of the size of the initiative? When was the work completed?

My partnership with Intuz is ongoing and will land in the $10,000 to $50,000 range.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Is there anything unique or special about Intuz that really makes them stand out?

Their project management staff has been exemplary. There's a fellow by the name of Simon Michael, who manages my account. He's very technical, but also understands the business side of things. He's a very solid communicator. I'd say it's the lead person that's assigned to my account that has made my experience with Intuz great.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you might do differently?

I would probably suggest Intuz to have just a little sharper focus on key deliverables. It would be lovely to have a project management framework or tool that helped both sides to be more accountable.

BACKGROUND

We are a California software manufacturer and creator of health care-related mobile applications. I am the founder of the firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

We needed to find a reliable mobile app development partner to update and maintain existing applications for iOS and Mac. We also wanted to enter the Android market as there was little competition in the Google Play store.

SOLUTION

Intuz was selected to provide mobile app development and design. Work began in October of 2014 on the iOS application. After that was updated successfully, Intuz was tasked with creating an Android application from scratch.

The last project was for Mac desktop application development. This last portion wrapped up in December of 2014. The total cost was very affordable, less than $10,000 total.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

The client is extremely satisfied with the work delivered by Intuz. They are reliable, quality driven, and get the work down in record time. Also, their pricing is very affordable. The staff is extremely helpful and professional, they are just kind people, too. I would refer Intuz to anyone in the right circumstances.

My long-time programmer retired after many years of service, and Intuz really stepped up to the plate to expertly complete the job.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

We specialize in doing marketing for roof contractors.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I’m the owner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Intuz?

My goal was to get a solid team in place that could take care of website design and WordPress development. The idea was for my team to come up with a wireframe mockup, put up the text and pictures, but then someone else would actually make it look nice and functional as well. 

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

Intuz does design and development. We also had them fix security issues when hackers were breaking into one of our clients’ websites.

What was your process for selecting Intuz with which to work?

I think they reached out to me. I worked with a couple other guys in the past, both in the U.S. and offshore, and either their skills weren’t there, or they were unreliable.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

I would say the average project is about $800, they have done many small and larger projects for me during the engagement.

When was the project completed?

All of our work is ongoing. I plan on working with them as long as their rates don’t skyrocket, and they continue to provide great service. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

The main metrics are satisfying our clients and delivering quality work. They have delivered on these metrics.

Is there anything unique about them that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

In two words, it would be: customer service. I was very impressed with that aspect. I can come up with a new website project and need a mockup immediately and, in a couple of days, it’s done and it looks amazing.

That makes us look great to our clients. I would think most companies would take a week or two just to do that initial work. I know that they work in what would be night hours for us here in the U.S., but in the mornings, they’ll typically send me their projects. There might be a lot of steps and complicated instructions that we send, but it makes sense to their team every time. Most designers aren’t good at catching the crossed T’s and dotted I’s. They miss stuff repeatedly. I’ve never seen anything like that with Intuz.

Also, when I ask them to do something, they do it. I don’t have to track them down and follow up. They deliver what I need, I check on it and move on with my day.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or something that you might do differently?

The one thing issue involves Indian holidays, they don’t match up with U.S. holidays. When they take off for three days at a time, it can be hard for me to explain to clients why we can’t get anything done for several business days. It’s not a big deal, and I’m more than happy to sacrifice that for all the other major benefits they provide.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

We are a marketing and communications consultancy based in London.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I work within business development and project management for our clients. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Intuz?

We do marketing and communications on behalf of our clients, which involves a whole range of deliverables that we produce. We help with the brand and the strategy, and then when we move onto offline deliverables. With offline deliverables, we work with different agencies. 

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

Their services are all website-related currently, they provide primarily development as in the programming of the website but no design. We do all of the strategy and design here. We provide final PSP files to a programmer, so we just needed somebody who could literally follow our designs and do the best programming for the websites.

After they do the programming for us, they also help us out in different aspects related to digital work. For example, they help with hosting. They’ve set up our hosting service, and help us out when I need additional technical help, which I’m not able to do myself. On top of that, when we have other technical questions outside of the scope of the project, they’ve happily done that at no charge.

What was your process for selecting Intuz with which to work?

In terms of digital deliverables like websites or other digital projects, we used a partner within the U.K., a London-based IT [information technology] firm who were initially fine, but they weren’t as responsive and dedicated to the work as time went on. So, I had a look around for a new vendor, and I found Intuz online. I must have looked at 20 or 30 companies, and spoke to a few of them. I was looking for a digital partner, and I looked for agencies in the U.K., India, and Eastern Europe.

Intuz were able to answer all of my questions to my satisfaction. They are also cost effective. I initially gave them a small project, which was seamless, so I started using them for more projects. We’ve worked them for a couple of years now, and we’ve found them to be a very responsive agency. Their knowledge in the digital space seems to be very strong, especially on projects we’ve used them for so far. It’s very good.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

An average project for us would work out to be about $10,000 to $15,000. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the results of the project?

The work is ongoing. I’m using them for all my digital work right now. I even transferred some of my existing work with my old partner to them as well, where it made sense.

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

Up to now, I’ve had no issues with what they’ve done in terms of programming, account management, and their cost. I have two main things to gauge a supplier by. One is their responsiveness; whether they’re able to resolve an urgent matter within an hour or two. The second part is the cost: how they are pricing their projects upfront with us. As the project develops, obviously, there will be changes to the structure and content, and sometimes agencies tend to take advantage of that process and drive up the budget. To their credit, Intuz has stuck to their original quote when possible. They’ve satisfied me on that element as well.

Is there anything unique about them that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

They have the main assets I need in my digital partners, which are expertise and good pricing.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or something that you might do differently?

No. They’re based in India, and if they had an office in the U.K., that might make it better. However, this isn’t necessary because remote work is convenient with modern technology.