Kays Harbor Technologies

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are building a mobile app and digital services that help people to achieve and manage their life goals and tasks toward achieving their objectives, whether they are life objectives or career objectives. It spans across travel, education, career, lifestyle, health, family, and friends. I'm the founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Kays Harbor Technologies?

We started two years ago [in 2014]. The mobile app did not exist at the time. I looked at several developers in order to build the first version of the mobile app, and I selected Kays Harbor.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They've built both the iOS app and the Android app. They've taken charge of all the technical development of the app. I trust them to make the right choices in order to make sure that the user experience of the app is as optimized as possible and as close to what the customers want as possible. They've worked on the front-end of the app as well as the back-end. They've built all the back-end admin necessary to manage the user-generated data, and they are managing the hosting server.

How did you come to work with Kays Harbor Technologies?

I was using Elance [now Upwork] because I had used them before, and I know that they have a great pool of developers there. I had the possibility to be exposed to a diverse range of development costs as well because I would have access to developers in Asia, Pakistan, Ukraine, and so on.

When I described the goal of the company, they submitted a full-fledged proposal. I think that they went a mile further compared to other applicants in the sense that I think they proposed an initial design of the sign-up page. I thought that was a great initiative in terms of applying for this job and showing the level of work that they can produce.

How much have you invested with Kays Harbor Technologies?

In total for product development, it was close to £30,000 [approximately $38,000].

What is the status of this engagement?

I've been releasing several versions of the app. I engaged them in September 2014, and the first version was released in December 2014 – three months later – both on Android and iOS. Since then, there have been several releases on both platforms – at least three on Android and at least two on iOS. Right now, I don't have an active project for them because I'm building the product requirements for the next version, but I released a new version of Android in early August [2016]. It was actually a great achievement because I think the design and the user experience of the Android app has improved with this new version.

I plan to continue working with them because I know that my app is going to be more complex in the future when I add more functions, but it's possible that I'm going to have to look at other service providers just to make sure that the skill level of developers that I hire is as high as possible for the budget that I've got.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The statistics are not outstanding. I have more than 1,500 downloads across both platforms, which to me is not enough because it's been two years that I've released the app, and I was hoping to have generated more downloads. I haven't done enough marketing, and I need to improve the user experience of the app. I need to make sure that the functionalities correspond more to what the customers want. I haven't done a great job at that. Marketing requires a budget, and I'm a one-person company that works with the developers.

I haven't seen the latest figures of the ratio between viewing the download page and actually clicking on the download button. Last time I checked, about 20 percent of people who were looking at the download page in Android clicked on the download button.

How did Kays Harbor Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

I think that they can improve because, so far, they haven't been on time with the development or the release of the versions of the app. Each time I expect the app to be released at a certain date, they don't meet that date. A few times, I've been in a situation where I needed to provide additional funds because there were unforeseen features that were needed, like a sub-level feature they'd need in order to create the first-level feature or functionality. Sometimes, if I don't fund it, I have to give up on a particular functionality. It's a question of deciding whether this functionality is a must-have requirement or not. Being in a situation where they hadn't planned how much something was going to cost or last has been an issue. I've managed with them so far, and I continue to work with them, but I've told them that they need to improve on those aspects as far as being on time and being on budget.

What did you find most impressive about Kays Harbor Technologies?

Personally, I think that their response time is good. They love my app. They love working on it, and they show me that every single day, which is reassuring. I think that, in a sense, they are reliable because they are extremely faithful to the app. They're very candid in the way they are relating to me and in the way they are making sure that I'm not disappointed because I can be because I'm a perfectionist. Having this feeling that they've got my back even when there are some technical difficulties that they struggle to solve has won me over.

Are there any areas Kays Harbor Technologies could improve?

As I said, in terms of project management, they need to be more on time and more on budget. I think that some of their processes could be improved, such as the QA [quality assurance] process. I know I promised them that I was going to send them my ideal QA chart that details the step-by-step process of everything I want to be QA'd every single time they QA my app. I'm due to send that to them, but this is a commitment that they've made that they were going to work with me to improve the QA process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a company that deals with business-to-business computer software in terms of purchasing, as well as CIM [computer-integrated manufacturing] system, among other things. I am the CTO [chief technology officer].

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Kays Harbor Technologies?

I've been working with them for a number of years. They've helped me with additional software in one or two other companies I also own. The reason for using them was not a hard decision based on their previous work with my other companies.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They are lead programmers of our software system that is targeted at the business-to-business end of this particular market. They have been highly involved in the development phase and the think tank of this. They have participated in some part of the graphic nature of the system, although we did have external graphic designers to set up the initial site and the layout for that. They would consider it a service where the users would see it as an application. It is an online purchase portal. We have continued updates and developments going on. They are also handling all the service and updates.

How did you come to work with Kays Harbor Technologies?

I found them on oDesk [now Upwork]. I was hiring for another job in one of my other companies. I had talks with these participants who wanted to work with me, and then I ended up with Kays Harbor. They were a much smaller company than they are today. I think they've grown quite a bit bigger since I initially started working with them.

How much have you invested with Kays Harbor Technologies?

We've spent from $200,000 to $1,000,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

It's ongoing. There's no final date for when we're done working. We expect to be in business with them for a number of years.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Not at the present time. The current system is less than two years old. We're trying to keep all the statistics in-house and away from the competition. I don't want to share any statistics.

How did Kays Harbor Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

They perform nicely. I think they have a well-structured system that gives them flexibility on doing singular projects as well as bigger projects. They tend to hire or put people in groups that are capable of doing what you ask them to. They have a smooth-running project organization. There's a set line of communication where I can talk to the project lead, or I have access higher in the system if there are some pressing matters.

Are there any areas Kays Harbor Technologies could improve?

Usually with these projects, and the way I've worked with them for a number of years, is if there are items that I think could use some attention or that I'm not 100 percent happy with, I just address it, and it's usually fixed or talked about within a week. I haven't had any issues with either the way they handled projects or the communication at all. They seem to be more than willing to both contact and have great communication with their customers. I'm very happy with that.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Our company owns and operates athletic clubs, spas, and fitness centers throughout the United States.

What is your position?

I am the director of IT [information technology].

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Kays Harbor Technologies?

The first project was an online scheduling tool to set up time with a personal trainer. Kays Harbor Technologies was able to help us build something that would be responsive and be available through the web or on a mobile device. We also had a club management software that they had built. I asked if they had someone on their staff that had experience working on Delphi, and we started working with them. They took us from a system that couldn't run on Windows 7 to a system that could. It was a positive step forward, and Kays Harbor Technologies was able to fix bugs along the way. We also worked on a marketing system, the marketing team had four different systems and Kays aggregated all of them, which saved the company money.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

They handled development and consulting. They did responsive design work, C# work, and Delphi development.

How did you come to work with Kays Harbor Technologies?

I had looked on Elance [now Upwork] to get some bids on a project we had. I started them on the first project and liked what I saw so I expanded the projects. When I talked to them what most impressed me was they gave me a mockup. I was looking for someone who could provide us with this online scheduling app, and they were able to provide a mockup very quickly. The price was good, and I was happy with their presentation.

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

The project cost between $10,000 and $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I think they Kays Harbor Technologies continues work on the marketing system.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Everyone was happy with the work. It was very positive for the company to have online scheduling, which they had wanted to do for some time.

How did Kays Harbor Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very responsive and accurate with their timelines and budgets. We had weekly meetings, and they kept track of everything in an online system that I could look at. We had open communication.

What distinguishes Kays Harbor Technologies from other providers?

Kays Harbor Technologies came forward with many good ideas. That's what I liked the most about them. The communication was great. They were always open to conversations no matter what time. They laid everything out, and that was the best thing. We would talk through everything, and they would create a mockup. We would agree on the mockup, and then they would give us a timeline and cost.

Is there anything Kays Harbor Technologies could have improved or done differently?

Not really. I think when we had meetings it was important to have the business unit there. There were times we would work on something and the business unit said it wasn't what they wanted.

BACKGROUND

What business challenge were you trying to address with Kays Harbor Technologies?

In November [2015], I went back to self-employment and took Kays Harbor Technologies with me as a vendor. We needed an add-on to Freshdesk, a web-based help desk ticketing software that is a public offering. We wanted to monetize the process of submitting tickets, and they did some customization to support that. We've worked with them on multiple projects, the largest of which was at my previous 250-person field service company. We had technicians out in the field fixing security equipment like cameras, access control, and armed systems. They used a piece of software that they accessed from their netbooks. That product was developed initially as a Windows desktop application, and we worked with Kays to rewrite that as a web-based application. They did it from the ground up using some of the existing code.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Kays Harbor Technologies?

In November [2015], I went back to self-employment and took Kays Harbor Technologies with me as a vendor. We needed an add-on to Freshdesk, a web-based help desk ticketing software that is a public offering. We wanted to monetize the process of submitting tickets, and they did some customization to support that. We've worked with them on multiple projects, the largest of which was at my previous 250-person field service company. We had technicians out in the field fixing security equipment like cameras, access control, and armed systems. They used a piece of software that they accessed from their netbooks. That product was developed initially as a Windows desktop application, and we worked with Kays to rewrite that as a web-based application. They did it from the ground up using some of the existing code.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Throughout our relationship with Kays Harbor Technologies, we have worked with them on software development as well as some database development specifically on Avitas. They did project management and testing for quality control of the software they developed. They even provided design services, crafting the user interface.

How did you come to work with Kays Harbor Technologies?

I've known the people at Kays Harbor Technologies for six years. They were a vendor of mine when I was at a previous company. We came across them initially when we put out an RFP [request for proposal] on Elance [now Upwork] for a minor software modification. We got between 20 and 50 responses, and chose to work with them. When we began working with them, they were pretty small. We had selected them because their rate was competitive compared to some of the other freelancers we came across, and they had a more official vibe to them. They seemed to be more stable than a single person doing freelance work. Our relationship evolved to the point where Kays was an extension of our development team. In time, we began sending all of our software development work to them.

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

During the last two years, we did the bulk of our larger projects, and we spent close to $100,000 with them in that time.

What is the status of this engagement?

It's been ongoing for the last six years and both my previous company, and I still work with them. We haven't developed any new products recently, but they continue to work on existing versions.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

With the field service product, the time for the field technicians to get in and use the product decreased by 25 percent, before, they had to login to a remote desktop. Once we became web-based, the field technicians could access the application directly from their netbook. The application worked much better and would crash far less frequently.

With the work they did on Freshdesk, they took an unusable product and fixed it. The work that they did was very quick. We were able to roll our product out and brought it to market in three weeks, which was terrific for us. We are a startup and the longer a project takes, the more money it costs us.

How did Kays Harbor Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

I thought they did very well. There are a lot of companies that spend so much time on admin work that it ends up costing more to manage the project than execute it. Then, there are those that don't manage the project at all. Kays Harbor Technologies has the balance where they execute project management effectively without me feeling as if I'm being cheated out of a bunch of money for project management services.

What distinguishes Kays Harbor Technologies from other providers?

I've been exposed to 30 to 40 competing companies, and the thing that's stuck in my mind about Kays Harbor Technologies is their balanced service. From my experience with vendors, either you get an extremely low rate for bad service, or you pay a whole lot of money for a very senior developer. Kays has a perfect balance, and their quality of work is exceptional. Their rates are always in line with industry standards. They are not too expensive, but they are not the bargain prices, either.

They strike a great balance between being overly disciplined, which usually results in cost inflation and being under-disciplined, which usually results in bad project performance. Most software development companies don't have that. That's been the biggest advantage of working with them, they are very professional. They have a large team so there are no delays. The people at Kays Harbor Technologies are highly talented, and their products are very high quality.

Is there anything Kays Harbor Technologies could have improved or done differently?

We had what felt like a resourcing issue where I think they were very busy, they had grown rapidly, and their quality had slipped a little bit. It was noticeable in terms of the timeline. They resolved the issue after three weeks, and we had a conversation with them about it. It was growing pains for them, my constructive criticism would be that managing growth is a challenge and to be careful of that. It was only a one-time occurrence. We haven't had that issue again.