Kellton

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the Founder and CEO of Terra Global Capital. We are a company dedicated to providing scientific and technical consulting for forestry and agricultural projects around the world that have climate change mitigation benefits. We also source and manage investment funds for those types of projects.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tivix?

We have worked with Tivix on a number of different projects, however the largest was a web-based platform and mobile app quantifying the amount of greenhouse gas emission reductions resulting from changes in rice farming practices in California and the Midwest.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Tivix was able to design and develop both the web platform and mobile application we were looking for. The platform is able to quantify the changes I mentioned under strict international standards. It also required the efficient collection of numerous types of data including fertilizer type, location, harvest date, etc. The data then had to be input into a bio-geochemical model, error checked, and converted into a readable format. Suffice it to say, the project was extremely complex, but Tivix was able to prepare everything, run the model in an easy and efficient way, and manipulate it in a manner that made it presentable.

We provided Tivix with a summary of what we wanted the platform to do and the type of data that would be collected, and from there they were able to design and develop it. Any time we began a new stage of the project we would meet to go over the design before they would take over. It was a very collaborative and effective process.

What is the team composition?

We have worked with around six team members, included a senior designer, some of the company’s principles, and at least two developers.

How did you come to work with Tivix?

A member of my team had met with them some time ago, so when we were looking for a development company we reached out.

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested around $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in January 2014 and continue to do so.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have experienced very positive feedback from our users. Those who understand the complexity of the model have been amazed by how we were able to take something so complicated and put it in a form that can be used efficiently.

How did Tivix perform from a project management standpoint?

They are very good at communicating and are always responsive to us. They are both disciplined and flexible when things come up unexpectedly, and are always able to accommodate our needs. We often have in person meetings, but will also communicate through Slack or over the phone.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I have worked with a lot of different developers throughout my career, and Tivix is by far the best at designing smart and effective functionalities. What they create is generic enough to build upon in the future, but also thoughtful and effective. Additionally, a large amount of our funding comes from grants with very specific requirements on how we spent our money, however Tivix always delivers the highest value no matter the price point.

Any advice for potential customers?

I would encourage anyone to research Tivix and hire them. They are a great company to work with.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a project manager at Black & White Design, a graphic design agency based in Campbell, Calif.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tivix?

We needed help building a website that could host a variety of design assets for one of our clients, so users could find and download requested materials easily from a central location.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Tivix collaborated with our team to build a website that housed various design assets for one of our clients. Our team did a lot of the backend work alongside Tivix's developers. The site allows us to archive various assets, while making a gallery of images and copy (including translations) available to users to download.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two main programmers and a project manager.

How did you come to work with Tivix?

One of our founders knew someone who worked at Tivix. When they pitched and demoed their approach to our project to us, we decided they were a good fit for the job.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2010. Although the work is mostly completed, we still engage them from time to time as needed to make updates.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Tivix helped streamline tasks that previously took up a lot of time. Having the gallery and copy database available to users has significantly streamlined processes, minimized errors, and improved workflow. Our client and many of their users are extremely happy with it overall.

How did Tivix perform from a project management standpoint?

They've been great about communicating quickly with us. Our programmer goes over projects in-depth through WebEx meetings, and the project manager does a great job at keeping us up to date and organized. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team is not only responsive, but also good at providing input when it comes to the best approaches to achieving our goals.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Tivix is a great team to bounce ideas off of and engage for additional feedback, but it helps to have a clear picture of what you want to create and what all parties involved in the project want to get out of it from the start.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a lead generation website primarily in the personal finance space. We source users through SEO [search engine optimization] and paid marketing. When users come on the site, they tell us a little bit about themselves in a form. From there, we have a backend rule engine that matches them to the best solution provider. We get paid a commission when someone buys a solution in that way. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tivix?

Our designer and I had all the frontend design, user flow, and the business logic but no code. We didn’t have a working prototype.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built the platform originally from scratch. The rule engine on the backend was the most complicated. It was straightforward, linear type of logic in which you have to account for thousands of different possibilities and the answers for a set of questions. We mapped it out and grouped those in 10 or 12 different segments. What was most complicated around all of it, and most useful for me as a non-technical person, is the way that Tivix built out the admin. It’s like a standard off-the-shelf admin, but there’s a lot of CMS [content management system] work with Wagtail. They had to change the code so that I could actually edit it; that stuff is really annoying. They built all that out for me, knowing that I wouldn’t have a CTO directly after, so I would need to be able to change the logic, text, and copy. The solution is well thought-out and useful.

A team of 3 from Tivix worked on this. We interacted regularly. We had a daily standup call and an in-person meeting every 2 weeks or so.

How did you come to work with Tivix?

We reached out to Tivix because they had worked with other financial services and fintech companies before. In addition to that, they were mostly onshore. They were an indirect referral. I’m in the investment space, and I looked at a company that they had worked with in the past. That company spoke highly of them. It was very nice to go to their office, speak to them, and get to know their leadership team, including the folks who would be working on the project. It was a pretty straightforward screening process. I talked to between 5 and 10 other development shops around our site, and I felt that Tivix wouldn’t do the bait and switch that’s prevalent in the dev shop world where they say you’re going to get the CEO of the firm and the best people here. But, before you know it, it’s someone’s first project. They were straightforward and honest about what their lead developer/CEO was going to do and which team we’d be allocated. That was unique and ideal, in my opinion.

How much have you invested with Tivix?

It’s around $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August of 2015. The project took about 4 months. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The work was very much a success. We went over budget a little bit. I suspect that’s normal and would happen anywhere. Tivix worked with me to make sure it wasn’t company-crushingly over budget. Everything was delivered in the way that I wanted. The result was very user-friendly. They explained everything well to me. The website has a pretty clean frontend design. The deliverables included a road map of what they did. We had some questions afterward, and they’re generous with their time in terms of answering them. It’s definitely a very good experience. I’m one of the few proponents of outsourced development, especially building early products through this channel, because I actually had a good experience, whereas most people in my world have a pretty negative experience with a lot of cutting corners. I thought they did a great job. I can’t compare their productivity or performance to another company since I’ve never used a different provider.

How did Tivix perform from a project management standpoint?

We used Basecamp and Slack. Slack is where we spent the vast majority of our time. I don’t think we did anything over email. We had video calls. I live in Los Angeles, and they’re in San Francisco, so the entire team is onshore and working out of their office. I was there about 10 days cumulatively going through things, which was really helpful.

What did you find most impressive about Tivix?

Their lead developer/CTO spent a lot of time with us. In general, his involvement was crucial as an access point and a go-to advisor. I would suspect that’s unique in a shop that has a number of different projects ongoing at the same time. I thought that was really useful.

Are there any areas Tivix could improve?

My only constructive criticism would be beefing up the transition aspect of moving the work to an in-house team. We were asking for help a lot, so it would be an interesting package to offer to have a live document or a day where they could implement the transition. They were generous with their time on the phone. No 2 developers are the same, so we had a lot of initial confusion because the documentation wasn’t built for people who don’t do things the way they do.

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

Come in with a defined scope, very limited functionality, and an understanding of what functionality is needed because anything open-ended won’t turn out well. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

In addition to FormForce, our family owns three service businesses with operations throughout California, proudly employing over 600 people. We set forth to conduct business safely, responsibly and ethically in diverse industries with customers who share these same key values. We currently have customers in the energy, agriculture, government services, healthcare, property management, financial institutions, education, and transportation industries. These industries are very safety-sensitive and require the highest level of accountability, transparency, and compliance.

In accordance with our annual Continual Improvement Plan (CIP) and the priority to constantly differentiate ourselves from others, we have invested and implemented technology solutions into our business. Operational control is important so that we can maintain our core competencies of safety, service, support, and supervision. Technology and our other layers of accountability help us ensure that we keep the promises we make to our customers in all of these areas.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tivix?

Many of our customers audit our company’s performance at varying rates and gathering that data throughout our organization proved to be challenging. We knew every time we were tasked with an audit, it would take six weeks to sift through boxes, file cabinets, and databases, hoping the data was there, legible and complete. Four years ago, we decided to it was time to improve the process. We started with where the challenges existed, where could we improve, where could we increase our operational control, etc. We believed technology could help us solve some of these issues.

Our CTO spent some time researching available software applications, but it became clear it would require multiple platforms to accomplish our goal of comprehensive compliance. We wanted this platform to be easy to use, and having to log in and out of multiple applications was not an issue we wanted our employees faced with. Multiple applications decreased the efficiency, kept the information scattered across the database and led to inaccurate data. In addition, they didn’t provide real-time access to our field employees and they couldn’t generate notifications. It was time for us develop our own software. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

With assistance from Tivix, FormForce was created as a web and mobile application based on compliance. Tivix was integral in the development of FormForce from the beginning, offering guidance for application development, suggestions for the proper framework and process mapping. Tivix was extremely helpful in successfully translating the core concepts and functionality we wanted the product to have and translating that into a working product on the web and mobile side. We wanted FormForce to be completely customizable so it would fit our unique businesses, but we discovered through the development process that this could apply to virtually any business struggling with compliance. At that point, we decided to think outside of our organization and take FormForce to market.

Tivix was tasked with designing and developing the web and mobile applications, as well as initiating and maintaining the database behind the applications. They continue to be involved in maintaining the platform, performing enhancements and feature sprints.

How did you come to work with Tivix?

After identifying we would be developing our own solution, we narrowed down development firms based on geographical location. Through online research, we identified several medium and large firms worth interviewing and began that process. Ultimately, we decided to move forward with Tivix because they shared our work philosophy, we connected with their culture and felt like they had the broad experience to assist us in achieving our goal.

​​​​​​How much have you invested with Tivix?

We have invested a significant amount of resources with Tivix and towards FormForce.

​​​​​​What is the status of this engagement?

We first began working with Tivix in January 2014, our application launched in the Apple App Store in January 2015. Our relationship with Tivix remains ongoing; we work with them continually on application maintenance, feature enhancements, and full feature sprints.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did Tivix perform from a project management standpoint?

A lot of our original meetings were onsite with the Tivix team. During this period, we would map out the core concepts, processes, and data flow. From an operations standpoint, we had to identify what our goal was, map how we get there and then go through the effort of closing any gaps in the process. Tivix was excellent at walking us through this; we felt like they understood our end goal and that was crucial to keeping us on track.

During development, our team at Tivix consisted of approximately six members. Since the application launched, our team has consolidated down to 2–3. We have had consistent team members throughout the development and maintenance process, which has been great for our organization.

Working with Tivix was extremely straightforward and easy. Their employees are very talented and had a great work ethic. We truly feel that this is what made this venture successful. One of their slogans is, “Get stuff done.” This is essentially what we expressed as the goal for our project during the interview. We appreciated their focus on getting a product and a result that works. Tivix was organized, they provided tools to help us communicate, track ideas and progress when we weren’t meeting together.

What did you find most impressive about Tivix?

We know plenty of people who started similar projects but did not achieve similar results. It was critical for our other businesses that we have a realistic timeline resulting in a fully functioning product. They were great at avoiding scope creep and challenging us continuously on this. If we wanted to shoot for the moon and add new features, they would rein us back while also meeting our goals and expectations.

​​​​​​Are there any areas Tivix could improve?

There have not been any challenges that we couldn’t work through pretty efficiently.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a media company with digital-only news on sports, entertainment, health, and business. It’s geared towards the Philadelphia market but also has a national footprint. I’m the director of product development and ad operations. I run all the product site and development cycles through our partners and anything to do with our advertising efforts

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tivix?

We were looking for someone to build our site and our CMS platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Tivix customized the CMS for our needs but it’s based on an open source platform. We wanted a platform that would be simple for new users to learn and use. We’re built on Django and they also used Wagtail, which is a simplistic CMS platform. We incorporated Google Analytics, DoubleClick for Publishers and other analytics software. They’ve built out custom feeds as we pull in feeds from different publications such as Associated Press. They built an engine to pull the feed in, sort it and quickly publish it live with the click of a button.

In regards to the site, we were looking for a narrow set of templates to manage as we launched an MVP and built out from there. We wanted something quick and something that was easy to manage but that could handle a lot of automation. We had a lot of tags and topics with a lot of dynamically generated pages. Not every page needs to be manually touched for it be filled with content. 

Tivix continues to handle all of our DevOps for us. They help us keep the site and the CMS updated as changes and problems come up.

How did you come to work with Tivix?

We did a search of the market to see who would suit our needs.

How much have you invested with Tivix?

We have spent between $50,000 and $200,000 over the course of our relationship.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in August 2014, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve reached 2.5 to 3 million users per month. We launched in January 2015 and we were at zero users at that time. The growth we’ve seen took place over two years and three months. There have been down times, but it’s never been long. Tivix helped us identify the issue and once we figured it out, they worked with us to solve that problem.

How did Tivix perform from a project management standpoint?

In the beginning, we used more of their team but we've used fewer resources since six months post-launch. We have a primary project manager who handles the vast majority of things we need. They pull in different people from their team as needs arise. We’ve never been lacking in help that we need. They have people located all over the world, and that’s been nice for us: we’re centered on the east coast so we have coverage during the hours that we need someone. We asked a lot of them and we had a lot of people involved on our side. They’re really good at delivering what we need as we describe our priorities.

What did you find most impressive about Tivix?

They’ve done everything well. There’s been mission creep but they’ve always delivered what they said. They delivered a complex product for a new site that’s up 24/7. They’ve done a great job of listening to our needs and helping us create what we were looking for even when our message was unclear. They helped us sort through the various disparate messages and ideas to create a product that we were happy with.

Are there any areas Tivix could improve?

I only wish we would have done better on our side to know things or say things differently.

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

Have a well-thought-out plan of what you’re looking for. They helped us greatly to figure out what we needed but it would’ve streamlined the process if we had a sense of what we wanted and what our end goal was. Our business changes monthly but it’s good to have a sense of what you want to roll out in 6 months to a year and what that structure should be.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Muster is an online application that serves associations and other organizations by helping them create online advocacy campaigns that are data and analytics driven. I’m the president and founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tivix?

We had a very extensive database already in place that was essentially the engine behind the Muster app. However, we didn’t have any product or solutions with features wrapped around the database. That's when we decided to develop and implement that product ecosystem around the existing database.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Tivix built version one of Muster with an interface and the analytics suite. They also determined the business logic of how the app would actually serve associations. We did a lot of wireframing and they built the whole workflow of how a campaign is created and then managed thereafter. Tivix came up with the email infrastructure that delivers the call to action to all the members and supporters of this organization. It’s a nicely designed email that says, “Click here to take action.” It’s web-based, and they used Python and Django to create it. The copy is written by all the customers, so we built the template. Our database matches people with the appropriate target based on their address. They also built the analytics suite that records everything so our customers, who are associations and charitable organizations, understand the efficacy of their campaigns.

How much have you invested with Tivix?

We’ve paid $300,000 for their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2014. The project timeline was about a year and it was completed 18 months ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The key performance indicator we look for is engagement rates. When our customers are sending out these emails, they want to see people not only opening them but also actually going on and taking action. If you look at the competitors in our space, which are VoterVoice and CQ Roll Call Engage, they have these benchmark standards. Not only were we meeting all these benchmark standards with the first version that Tivix built, but we were probably exceeding them. It all comes down to engagement with our business—we were getting numbers we were expecting and even better. They had some great solutions. At the time, we were very pleased with what they delivered, not only with the design but the execution of the frontend UI.

How did Tivix perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management part was rather easy. They were very clear in their communication. When they said that they were going to deliver something, they did so on time and it always was within reason of what we talked about. We used Basecamp, Pivotal Tracker, and Google Hangouts in our management.

What did you most impressive about Tivix?

I've worked with a few consultancies and Tivix was hands down the best one in terms of talent, communication, and meeting deadlines. When it comes down to it, they met every deadline and accomplished every goal we’ve set out to accomplish.

Are there any areas Tivix could improve?

I had zero problems working with them. As far as I can tell, they really are top-shelf.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a tech company. I'm the co-founder, and I primarily work on the more technical side–engineering, development, product design, and hardware and software. My partner, the other co-founder, handles the business and strategy side of things. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tivix?

Our company is actually the parent firm of multiple smaller ones. Some of the LLCs that they're working on are MetConX and SportConX.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I work with 2 points of contact. The team ranged from 4–12 people. I provide a functional stack, and they come back with their suggestions. On the sports side, they created an app for a company that had integrated with sports games. They had a social app back-side similar to Facebook, so it had a social aspect to the app. The other parts like chat and streaming were simple, which I wasn't too concerned about. They were heavy on the database side, which I liked. They're also heavy into going into logic and artificial intelligence, which was pretty much the single differentiator.

How did you come to work with Tivix?

I did research online and found they were the only company that had touched on all aspects that I needed. The product itself had many variables, and they had experience in every single variable. We interviewed them. I asked them what they were strong at, and they pretty much came out with it. There was no faking it. They were very upfront about their skills and limitations.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them 12–16 months ago [late 2015 or early 2016].

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

What I liked was their mean time to repair [MTTR]. Every time I find a bug, they're quick at finding the root cause, fixing it, and getting a patch out. The entire failure-analysis side of it—they can whip out stuff in anywhere between 15 minutes and 2 hours. The hinge would be how quickly Apple can get the next build in. That's what I liked about them. They also were prepared compared to their peers on defect density. They either met or exceeded industry norms with low-defect density.

How did Tivix perform from a project management standpoint?

It's been easy to manage them. We first started with twice a week, and it's been so smooth that I moved it to once a week. We use cloud-based systems like Pivotal and another bug-tracking system. I could always hire someone else. It's up to me. But, so far, their team has been solid.

What did you most impressive about Tivix?

They're agile. I believe their company is built on agility, and I like it. For example, if I said, "We're gaining traction on this app, and I need Android and desktop versions built out. Send me a quote, and when can it start?"—which is something I've done a couple of times—every time they've come back and they're like “We can start that in as soon as 2 or 3 weeks.” If you need velocity, they could scale.

Are there any areas Tivix could improve?

I can't think of any.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a healthcare-related startup currently operating in stealth mode. I am the president and CEO of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Kellton Tech Solutions?

We needed to develop our company's website. We aim to provide web-based solutions, so the site will be an important part of what our company is.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Kellton Tech Solutions is developing our website. We've had many discussions around our technology options. In our first meeting, Kellton Tech proposed an architecture which we didn't see as a right fit. After deliberating, we chose AngularJS, JavaScript, and Django Python as our technologies. Kellton Tech arrived at the same conclusion.

How did you come to work with Kellton Tech Solutions?

Kellton Tech's senior VP of marketing for the US is a good friend of mine. Even so, I wanted to make sure that the company had the right expertise and scale for delivering our expectations. We talked to several companies before deciding that Kellton Tech was a good fit. We visited their offices in India and had discussions around our plan. After the groundwork was completed, we negotiated a price and selected Kellton Tech.

How much have you invested with Kellton Tech Solutions?

I cannot disclose this.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Kellton Tech in October 2016. We have started our fifth development sprint, with 2 more to go.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The product hasn't been launched yet. As a startup, we receive feedback constantly and have fast-evolving requirements. Kellton Tech's team was quick to respond to our changes, some of them major. From a success point of view, this is a good example.

How did Kellton Tech Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We receive status reports at the end of every sprint, showcasing what was accomplished and what is planned for the next sprint. We have conference calls and in-person meetings with Kellton Tech.

I have a background in IT consulting and have managed large programs, so one of my first questions was around how the collaboration would be managed. I was assured that the pushing will be done from Kellton Tech's side, and that they would be proactive on the project management front. I was happy to find that the team came up with the right questions, and were proactive in looking at requirements and discussing issues ahead of time. This gives me a lot of confidence in their capabilities.

What did you find most impressive about Kellton Tech Solutions?

I am very happy with the proactive nature of Kellton Tech's team, and with the effort they've put into researching issues, proposing alternate solutions, and discussing them with me.

Are there any areas Kellton Tech Solutions could improve?

I would appreciate having access to a portal for checking the project status. We've only started working with Kellton Tech 3 months ago, but I've been very happy with the team so far.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

FirstRain Business Analytics Platform enables high-quality decisions by executives, sales, marketing, and finance professionals. For over 10 years, FirstRain has assisted Fortune 500 companies in building their go-to-market strategies, creating smart context-aware lead generation campaigns, discovering and developing new sales opportunities, and identifying business risks.

I am working as senior program/product manager for FirstRain. I maintain the overall product roadmap. I own the product feedback and work in close collaboration with the customer support organization and enterprise sales team. I also closely monitor the trends and feed the same into the product roadmap. Besides this, I am the go-to person for clear visibility for executive management at all times on what is coming in releases as well as the broader product outlook. I’m responsible for efficiently managing the Agile product development cycle of the FirstRain product which consists of a web app and mobile apps for iOS and Android.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Kellton Tech Solutions?

We were rolling out a completely revamped product, and one critical need was to update our mobile apps also in time for the launch. We lacked the resources and skills to get this done in-house. Our previous mobile partner was acquired and no longer available. So these were the key goals for finding a new partner who had the skills, manpower, and experience of building a product of our nature.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

For the launch, we had to completely rebuild our native apps for iOS and Android. The timeframe available was around 4 months to do so. We required native app development, testing, design, and business analytics services.

How did you come to work with Kellton Tech Solutions?

We received a list of recommendation from our previous vendor. We went through a rigorous selection process in which we asked each new possible vendor to do a proof of concept for us. It was a time-based, small project. Besides that, we looked at factors like size of the company, pool source, and previous experiences of app development, customer profiles, and intent to work for us. It was critical for us to find a vendor who would understand our dynamic and slightly demanding needs. Those were the key decision criteria. Kellton fit us the most.

How much have you invested with Kellton Tech Solutions?

The initial major project of building our new mobile apps, which we continue to engage with them for enhancements and maintenance, had a cost between $40,000 and $50,000. We had a 8 member team: 1 project manager, 1 business analyst, and 6 developers (3 each for iOS and Android).

What is the status of this engagement?

It was an 8-10 week project in order to launch the new apps. The new apps were launched/published in November 2015. After that, we have continued to work continuously with Kellton in a much scaled down way for incremental enhancements and bug fixes.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project was successful. Our primary goal was to make our new mobile apps live with our revamped web app. We were able to achieve it.

What did you find most impressive about Kellton Tech Solutions?

In my opinion, what sets them apart is their commitment to their customer and the availability of a good pool of resources for both iOS and Android platforms. I have also found them very fair in billing practices.

Are there any areas Kellton Tech Solutions could improve?

I think one area for improvement I see is where more focus needs to be given on doing more than what the explicitly said/discussed requirements. What I am trying to say is that we look at them as a technology partner and not just executors of requirements. So more suggestions, best practices, and options for building better solutions need to come more from their technical team.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

SpryTech Solutions is a software product that powers a client called Doorstep Delivery. The software itself is a management tool for any kind of courier service, but specifically for restaurant delivery.

I’m the COO of Doorstep and the project manager for SpryTech Solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Kellton Tech Solutions?

The product was built by another firm but it was not successful. We moved to Kellton to rescue us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We needed them to take over the emergency support and high-level support. They built new products for us and manage the SQL servers. The first project was to rebuild brand new native iOS and Android apps from scratch.

How did you come to work with Kellton Tech Solutions?

We knew we were leaving our tech company so we got references and did interviews. We spoke to many firms, but they were the ones we felt most comfortable with. The knowledge transfer took about 6 months because the company that had built our software had no documentation. They were great throughout that process. Considering the situation, it was as organized as it could’ve been.

How much have you invested with Kellton Tech Solutions?

We’ve spent at least $100,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the knowledge transfer in March 2015 and began work in October 2015. The project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our native apps are better than they were. The ratings are higher and the crashes are down.

How did Kellton Tech Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve done very well. There have been moments of high-stress emergency but that’s not attributed to them. They were handed a project written with old code and many issues. We use JIRA to manage the projects and Skype to communicate every day.

What did you find most impressive about Kellton Tech Solutions?

It’s a challenge that they’re in India and I’m in the Eastern time zone. My product is at peak usage when it’s in the middle of the night for them. I’ve had to call them in the middle of the night with different issues, but they’ve helped me right away every time.

Are there any areas Kellton Tech Solutions could improve?

It is a challenge to work with someone in a different time zone, but that was my choice.