Konstant Infosolutions

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of a mobile app for downloading and listening to audiobooks.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Konstant Infosolutions?

We were looking for someone to develop our website and app; we already had the specifications and design layouts.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We wanted Konstant to build iOS and Android apps natively. We divided development into three phases, with the first focusing on requirements and wireframes. We created the flow of the app and the landing page, which was static and minimally functional.

The first phase centered around the core functionality of each stage. The app was supposed to have multiple end-user functionalities, including a marketplace to build and buy content sold through the app, but we ran into a problem. We discovered that Apple had a policy around in-app purchases that Konstant wasn’t fully aligned on. That oversight delayed our iOS launch by about three months. The second phase which included app enhancements, website rollout and back-end reporting is still not finalized and causing us lots of trouble.

How did you come to work with Konstant Infosolutions?

I found them on Clutch. We looked into multiple vendors, and the selection process was long and in-depth. We selected Konstant based on their proposal, client references, price, and our discussions with them.

How much have you invested with them?

Our contract value with them is $45,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since January 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have about 13,000 registered users out of 30,000–40,000 downloads. Around 2,500 books have been downloaded so far, and we just started in June of last year. Both our book userbase and downloads are growing, even though we haven’t put much into marketing since we’re having tech issues.

The functionalities for the website aren’t finished yet, so it’s not released. The financial reports aren’t done yet, which is a serious problem because it’s put me at risk of a lawsuit from the producers of the content on the app. The reports were due in December, and we’re still waiting for them. The tremendous delays in phase two are impacting me very negatively.

Once, when our app was operational, Konstant took it completely out of the system. Instead of just upgrading the app, they withdrew it from the store, and all our users lost access. It took three days to fix and was incredibly damaging to our brand. Their QA isn’t very effective, and I often have to find issues myself that they overlooked.

How did Konstant Infosolutions perform from a project management standpoint?

I’ve had to check in with them a lot in order to get things finished. Whenever I talk to them, they say they’ll do something, but it requires a lot of oversight on my end for it to actually get accomplished.

They don’t clearly explain what’s going on. I’ve asked for a project plan multiple times, but they’ve seldom provided a concrete plan.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They have smart and skilled people, but they seem to be overloaded. They don’t have a system in place for escalations, and I have a hard time getting in contact with any of the partners that sold us the project at Konstant.

They don’t provide any strategic direction or proper QA. For example, our subscription engine hasn’t been working properly for over six months. After customers pay, they still don’t get access to our services, and that’s a huge problem. It’s happened to half of our customers. We’ve told this to Konstant, but it’s still not solved. The quality of the products they’ve built isn’t where it should be.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Only hire Konstant if you know very specifically what you want and don’t have a strict timeline. Their price makes them worth it. Otherwise, if you don’t fully know what you want or need it by a certain time, don’t use them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We're an app startup and our app is a social network for moviegoers. I'm the founder of the startup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Konstant?

We created the idea of the app ourselves; we designed everything. Once we had that, we went and started looking for a development firm. One of the features of the app is the ability to text in movie theaters without annoying other people. It could be neither seen nor heard, so the app needed a very discrete interface. Even all the alerts had to be very subtle. There also had to be a privacy feature that would allow the user to text in theatres without their screen being visible to people sitting behind the user and looking over their shoulder.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We asked them to build something that was very discreet and very minimalist; the more minimalist, the better. We only wanted things on the interface that were absolutely necessary: maximize black space, minimize the use of color, and we had it down to very specific color codes. For the check-in portion and the movie rating portion, we wanted to have images to go along with it to make it interesting when you post to social media. Another requirement was to find an API that would provide high-quality images and accurate movie data. We were willing to take a look at whatever technologies would make that happen and go from there.

Within the app, there's user history. Whenever you check in or whenever you rate, whether or not you post to social media, it saves those things to your user history, but then also to a news feed which is seen by the people who you're friends with on the app.

How did you come to work with Konstant?

I think we spent several weeks looking for a development firm, and none of them could come up with anything that fit our needs until we got to Konstant. 

I recall going through Clutch. We spoke to a couple of the references and asked them about their experience, and if they would recommend who they had worked with. We initially spent a couple of weeks going back and forth speaking with Konstant, making sure that they would be able to help us out. Their professional approach was evident immediately. That was a big part of our decision to work with them, and we've been with them ever since.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent close to $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2016. Now, they’re mainly doing support work with minor adjustments here and there. They finished what they were supposed to do on time, so we’ve also been working with them on new projects. In fact, we're about to get started on a big feature for the app.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have nearly 1,000 downloads so far. I haven't really been promoting the app much because I'm waiting for us to finish what we're doing right now. I've been deliberately suppressing it until that point comes.

I'm suppressing it to the extent that I've had bloggers contact me and then I've been basically telling them to hold off a little bit until we're done, and then I can provide them screenshots that I’m proud of. The app has had a really good response based on screenshots alone, so I'm pretty confident about it.

How did Konstant perform from a project management standpoint?

They've been impressive overall. They're always on time and seem to be very organized. They're responsive and give you input. We sometimes feel like they have a better idea of what we're doing than we do. If we get distracted with things we want to do, they remind us to prioritize what is being done first. 

They have software that allows us to go and see what they're doing. In terms of organization, reliability, timeliness, and cost-effectiveness, there's never been a time where they gave a cost and they came back with something different. They've always been pretty much right on the money in terms of everything.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're great at staying within budget and making the impossible possible. Some of the top firms would hesitate when I would say what we needed as they just wouldn’t know. Konstant would do some research, and then they would come back and be able to do it. Problem-solving and staying within budget is important. They're impressively organized.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything. They're really good at what they do.

Advice for potential customers?

I would say you should definitely hire them. They're really good at explaining everything, and a project like this can be daunting at times. They lead me down the right path and don’t let me make mistakes. 

They really know how to talk to you and are really patient. They're just masters at what they do. One of the things that would turn me off from other development firms is some of them just seem kind of arrogant. Konstant lured me in just out of sheer professionalism. I'm really confident in them and would recommend them to anybody who's never done this before, or is on a budget — which is pretty much everybody — and who wants really good results.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder of a ticketing solutions company. We serve the events industry as promoters, and we also help people who want to buy tickets.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Konstant?

I needed a company to help me build the ticketing engine and the platform from scratch. I needed a system that was robust and could handle a number of features, which I had already mapped out myself.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?  

Konstant provided all of the technology, including the content management system and frontend design. I believe they built the CMS with Venus, and I know they used kPHP for coding. We initially started off with just a website as a web platform. Eventually, Konstant developed a client-facing iOS app as well.

They provided us with software specifications, a very robust document that highlighted all of the features for the ticketing platform. The most basic feature was a listing of events. Users can select events, get more detailed information about them, and save the events on their profiles. They can use the app to create an account for booking tickets and tracking what kind of tickets they’ve purchased in the past.

The ticketing app also has several payment gateways that give users the ability to purchase tickets. Instead of PayPal, we’re using local e-payment gateways in Nigeria. Konstant helped us install all 5 of these payment gateways. When somebody purchases a ticket, it’s sent via email to their address. Each user has a unique ID and each ticket has one as well, and these 2 are matched together. That’s what the CMS reads and transfers to the customer via email.

After about 2 years, we built the mobile component, which is native to iPhone. It allows the promoter to verify and sell tickets by scanning a bar code.

How did you come to work with Konstant?

I was referred to Konstant by a friend of mine, who owned a development company in Nigeria and had worked with them in the past.

How much have you invested with Konstant?

We paid about $26,000 for their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have been working together since March 2013.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re still trying to pull all of the data together. Currently, we probably have about 15,000 subscribers on the website.

How did Konstant perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re good. They’re responsive, attentive, and stick to their timelines. If they give you a schedule, they stick to it unless there’s something serious. They’re solid.

Konstant’s team have good attention to detail. I was quite specific about what I wanted to do and what features I wanted, and I would describe that feature to the developer. I would liaise with both the developer and the project manager simultaneously. We’d have a quick group discussion, and then the project manager would send a quote based on that discussion.

When we first built the app, they had their own project management tool. I scheduled tasks there and the tasks would be prioritized based on whatever decisions we made in-house. Then they would provide an update on that system. As of now, we just communicate via email and Skype.

What did you find most impressive about Konstant?

Konstant had the website up and running in less than 2 months from the sign-off of the SRS [Systems Requirements Specification]. In contrast, it would have taken a less experienced company about 3 –4 months to build a similar product.

Are there any areas Konstant could improve?

Maybe they could have a stronger front-end design team. They’re very strong on the backend.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I run a new company that was created following the development of my application. Chow App is a platform for food sharing on which people can add foods that they plan to cook or have already cooked, and can be used by either regular people, restaurants, and chefs. They can share their meals in order to provide ideas to others.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Konstant Infosolutions?

I initially had another idea for building an app but found that it had already been made by someone else. I changed my direction and contacted Konstant Infosolutions for the development of another application. 

Konstant Infosolutions was tasked with building a platform which could meet the needs of users looking for food ideas and the needs of chefs to sell their products. This was the starting point for my app, and it was based on Just Eat, an app focused on restaurants and takeaway food.

I wanted to create an app that was a mix between Just Eat and Uber, which would allow people to post their own menu and sell it at the price they want. We decided to offer 3 fulfillment options to the people looking for food: getting the food from the chef’s place, eating at the chef’s location, or having the food delivered.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I wanted the app to be available on both Android and iOS so that people using both platforms could have access to it. Payments can be done through the app using Braintree, and we receive a fee for every transaction.

How did you come to work with Konstant Infosolutions?

I searched online and reviewed a number of companies in the application development sector. Konstant Infosolutions was ranked in the top 100 companies on Clutch.co and gave me the sense that they would be available and would offer a good price.

How much have you invested with Konstant Infosolutions?

The cost of their work has been around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with Konstant Infosolutions in October 2015. The project was finished in February 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t marketed the app yet, so there is a low number of downloads. I plan to build a team that will handle marketing. Konstant was able to understand my ideas and had a very prompt reaction; I’m very happy with the job they did.

There has been some good feedback in the app stores, and I have tested the application with regular people during the beta phase. They were interested in it and liked it very much.

How did Konstant Infosolutions perform from a project management standpoint?

I’m very happy with their performance. Konstant was able to transform my ideas into reality, and my contact from their side was a competent and communicative person, with whom I was able to maintain very good report and share opinions on improving the application.

There was a development team working in the background. I was always told that my ideas would be transferred to the developers working on the application.

What did you find most impressive about Konstant Infosolutions?

The whole platform has been built well. I am not an expert in mobile apps, so I cannot tell you what is or isn’t good about it, but I’m happy with Konstant’s job.

Are there any areas Konstant Infosolutions could improve?

No.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re the leading retail commercial corporate bank in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We have been open for the last 15 years and are a leading innovator in terms of payments and banking solutions for the Congolese people. I am the head of digital banking, which includes all online payments, mobile banking, ATC banking, and any other digital product the bank wants to offer. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Konstant Infosolutions?

We were looking for a designer for an application we were planning to launch. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Konstant Infosolutions initially provided the design for our application’s screens. We used another vendor for the backend of the solution, but they did a terrible job in terms of design and had no expertise in providing a modern look. Our management was very happy with the designs proposed by Konstant Infosolutions. They finalized the work and provided all the slicing, but our application vendor was not able to integrate those, as they were provided by Konstant Infosolutions. In the second phase, we had Konstant Infosolutions actually develop the frontend of the application and integrate it into the existing source code.

Our functionalities include making bank-to-bank transfers, doing ATM withdrawals, buying airtime from local mobile operators, opening virtual accounts, managing balances, a Contact Us option for sending emails through the app, feedback submission, and location features showing users all the nearby banks and ATMs on a map.

How did you come to work with Konstant Infosolutions?

We made an online search and visited Clutch.co, among other websites. We looked at reviews for Konstant Infosolutions and checked their references and previous work. They were high on the list from Clutch.co, so we decided to go with them. Konstant Infosolutions made a very good proposal for our app design, as opposed to other companies that simply gave us quotes. They gave us a proposal which we could use for envisioning what the product would be.

How much have you invested with Konstant Infosolutions?

There have been a couple of initial investments for the integration and design development, amounting to $10,000 for a complete project. We paid extra for on-site development, namely $2,000 per week, per developer, for a period of three weeks. The total has been around $21,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Konstant Infosolutions in January of 2016. It took us six to eight weeks to complete the design phase. The application has 50–60 screens. Once those were approved, we moved to the development part, which took around four weeks, starting in April. We’re just about to launch. We will be using Konstant Infosolutions on an ongoing basis for new features. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have any metrics as of yet since we’re just about to launch. There are around 200 internal users testing the application, but other than that, I cannot mention anything else until we’ve launched. In the first three to six months, we expect to gain around 50,000 users. The ultimate goal for the next two to three years is to have more than a million users.

How did Konstant Infosolutions perform from a project management standpoint?

I’ve worked directly with Konstant Infosolutions’ project manager. I have also been in contact with their designers; once the developers were brought on-site, I was in contact with them as well. We used one Android and one iOS developer.

Once we gave Konstant Infosolutions a timeline and an estimate of the resources we needed, they performed well. Our iOS developer was quite good, compared to our previous experiences. The Android one could have been a bit better, but he delivered the project, so we had no issues. In terms of timelines, Konstant Infosolutions has been good in conforming to our feedback.

What did you find most impressive about Konstant Infosolutions?

We made many changes from our side, and Konstant Infosolutions has been very much on-par with those changes, not requiring a lot from us in order to implement them. We have constant communication, speaking with their team every day. They’re very good at following up, as well as providing resources. Konstant Infosolutions has interacted with us and gave us whatever we wanted. Whenever we had to build small websites, we gave the design task to Konstant Infosolutions.

Are there any areas Konstant Infosolutions could improve?

They’ve been very good from a mobile point of view. In terms of web development, Konstant Infosolutions could do a better job, though. We were given app designs in the form of HTML pages, which loaded well on all phones, but, because of varying screen sizes, those designs didn’t look as good during development. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

All Pro Color is a printer that supplies print products in store and from online transactions for our customers. People are able to walk in or place orders via our website. I’m the founder. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Konstant Infosolutions?

We needed a new website built. Originally, I was dealing with a company, but they were unable to accomplish what I was trying to get done. We switched to Konstant Infosolutions and have been working with them ever since. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had an existing website, and Konstant Infosolutions built a new one from scratch. We wanted to move to an Ajax solution to get off the Microsoft platform. Our website was previously ASP.NET, and now it’s built on PHP. We’re on the third generation of the site that Konstant Infosolutions built. The site we have now is more robust and mobile-friendly. It works a lot better than our previous site did. I provided mockups and told Konstant Infosolutions how I wanted the site to look. Users are able to pay for orders on the site using Authorize.Net as the payment gateway.

How did you come to work with Konstant Infosolutions?

A friend of mine recommended them to me since he had a good experience with them. They were the third company I had worked with from India, so I knew what I was getting myself into.

How much have you invested with Konstant Infosolutions?

We’ve spent close to $300,000 with them over the course of our relationship. We’ve spent around $50,000 a year for the build and updates.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2009 or 2010, and the work is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They don’t drive any sales. They’re just giving us something that we’re publishing, and we get sales from it. They haven’t done any SEO or marketing. I don’t have any customer feedback on the site itself.

How did Konstant Infosolutions perform from a project management standpoint?

My initial conversation was with Manish [Jain, Director], but now I work with a project manager and another developer. I’ve basically worked with the same developers throughout the course of our relationship. I talk with Vipin [Jain, CEO] about payment, too. The communication is okay.

What did you find most impressive about Konstant Infosolutions?

I like the fact that when they’re on, they’re on. I like their communication, but I wish they were a little more versed in English. I’m not saying their English is bad. I appreciate how they try to figure things out to the best of their ability.

Are there any areas Konstant Infosolutions could improve?

They don’t communicate when they’ll be off for holidays or when people are gone. I get frustrated with the amount of detail I have to provide in order to get what I want. Not being clear leaves the work open-ended so that anything can happen. I have to define the requirements very closely, and then I always have to check the quality of the work. When the project gets so big and there are so many loose ends, there comes a point that when you change something small, you have to check it out from top to bottom. If they don’t recognize the situation, you learn to adapt to it so you can recognize the situation. If you’re not going to check everything out, you’ll have to have somebody checking it out all the time for you.

I think the QA component is something they offer, but I didn’t get with my contract. It seems like that should be included with the development in order to make sure it’s working right. My customers and I are the ones who find the problems and have to figure out what’s wrong. If they’re not going to do any R&D or QA, they probably need to offer an opportunity to get edits or live feedback to them instead of having to wait for a whole day to do it. It’s hard to reenact the scenario when you have issues. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am in charge of internal communications for Volkswagen India.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Konstant Infosolutions?

We needed to develop an application for the Pune plant of our company. It needed to provide basic information to employees on events and updates from Volkswagen Group.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Konstant Infosolutions developed our Android and iOS app. We are also looking at developing a Windows version. It provides information on the events being organized within the plant, as well as other news related to Volkswagen India, both the brand and the group as a whole. There are photo and video galleries, and the app is more or less an information source.

How did you come to work with Konstant Infosolutions?

I was looking at online reviews for the most popular app developers, and saw some good testimonials from Konstant Infosolutions’ clients on LinkedIn. I looked at their previous websites and found some interesting samples, so I got in touch with them and a few other companies. I shared my idea with three or four candidates, as part of the internal sourcing process, and Konstant Infosolutions was the most prompt in their reply. They understood our brief to the T, and made suggestions in line with what we wanted. Whenever I experienced confusion on any element, Konstant Infosolutions put me on the right track, and they delivered perfectly when we were clear on what we wanted.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Konstant Infosolutions in December 2016. We started the actual development in January 2017. The app was ready in mid-February, and was launched by the end of March. We are continuing the maintenance work for the app using Konstant Infosolutions. There are still some issues with the registration and notification process. All the content input is handled on our side, including stories and images.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Konstant Infosolutions fulfilled our requirements completely. We have around 3,000 employees in the Pune plant, out of which around 470 have downloaded the app. We have a mix of direct employees working on the cars, and indirect resources, both blue and white-collar.

We are looking to improve those numbers, but there are still some problems with our registrations. As soon as we sort those out, I see numbers going up further.

How did Konstant Infosolutions perform from a project management standpoint?

After the deal was signed, I got in touch with Konstant Infosolutions’ development team. Once they became clear with our expectations for the project, we sat together, had some conference calls, and I received a first draft of what had been designed. I suggested some font and layout changes, we worked through two or three drafts, and finally agreed upon a look-and-feel of the application. It was taken to our internal IT team, who worked on launching it. There were some small hiccups with the Apple Store and the naming of the Android version, but we were able to figure them out in one day. It’s been a very good collaboration with Konstant Infosolutions.

I visited their team at their location and had a number of discussions, which led to fruitful results.

What did you find most impressive about Konstant Infosolutions?

Konstant Infosolutions is able to understand our requirements well. I’ve had to deal with a good number of agencies during past digital assignments, and have needed to repeat myself again and again, leading to frustrations. There are also times when the quality of a product is not up to expectations. Konstant Infosolutions made a special effort to research our company’s standards and corporate identity, so I haven’t had to go back-and-forth discussing these issues.

Are there any areas Konstant Infosolutions could improve?

The promptness in Konstant Infosolutions’ responses was much better earlier. Now that the app has been launched, and people are downloading it, the response time has become longer. This is when I would need them to respond even faster, since not solving users’ problems instantly can affect the image of the application, so they will be discouraged from downloading it. I would appreciate having more responsiveness from Konstant Infosolutions.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We provide a sports matchmaking platform for people who want to find partners for dancing, tennis, running and so on.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

They've helped on our web platform for many years and more recently have provided a dedicated team. We plan to work with them now on mobile app equivalents soon.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

Konstant Infosolutions developed our PHP web platform from scratch. We are planning to build mobile apps in 2017, and we've had a mobile-first strategy for the last two or three years.

We initially created a scope and received a quote for every new release. We have come to use a dedicated team from Konstant Infosolutions that consists of a project manager, two developers, and one designer. I am not a developer myself, but I can speak the language when requesting work.

We bring Konstant Infosolutions graphical and user-interface designs in the form of Photoshop files. They handle everything from that point on, from creating mockups, backend and HTML code, stylesheets, and testing.

How did you come to work with Konstant Infosolutions?

Around nine years ago, I did some research on Upwork, which was called Elance at the time. I posted a project, received pitches from a few companies, chose a few of them for online interviews, and went ahead with Konstant Infosolutions. The collaboration went well.

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

We've worked with them for many years, but starting for the last two years they've provided a dedicated development team and that team runs us $3,500 per month or $42,000 annually.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our most recent project with Konstant Infosolutions in February 2015. They are still our development partner.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The platform is stable and working well, but it has had compatibility issues with some mobile devices. In general, the quality is better than average, but not brilliant.

How did Konstant Infosolutions perform from a project management standpoint?

The process is not very fancy, but I appreciate it. It's very simple, pragmatic, and doesn't involve too many tools. We do use JIRA for communicating scopes, bugs, and issues, and we also use Skype. We are in touch constantly throughout the day.

What distinguishes Konstant Infosolutions from other providers?

Although the coding quality is not necessarily better than local developers here in The Netherlands, I have found Konstant Infosolutions to be a very customer-friendly group. They are not satisfied until we are. Konstant Infosolutions has made mistakes at times, but they remained flexible and pragmatic in fixing them.

Is there anything Konstant Infosolutions could have improved or done differently?

This is true for all developers, but they could have better testing procedures in place for the code.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

United Medical Clinic delivers patient care through a family practice clinic. I’m a physician. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Konstant Infosolutions?

I needed someone to help design my website and later an Android app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They designed my website and newsletter. They also helped me design an Android app for patients to log in and give us information prior to their visit to the clinic. They could tell us their past and active medical history. They could list vaccines and all annual physicals, print that out, and hand it to us. This is a custom product, and the information is stored on Amazon Web Services. We plan to build an iOS app also.

How did you come to work with Konstant Infosolutions?

I found them on Clutch, and Konstant Infosolutions had some good reviews. They weren’t the first ones I contacted, but they were the first to respond. They were very willing to help me, and I decided to show them what I wanted. They gave me a quote and transferred me to another person who listened to my ideas and performed the work.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with them in September 2016, and the work was completed in February 2017. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app decreases time spent finding the patient’s information, and we don’t need to have someone sit down with them to go over their medical history. Medicare now wants this type of information in our system so that when we get audited, we have that available.

How did Konstant Infosolutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated almost every day.

What did you find most impressive about Konstant Infosolutions?

They’ve been great at customer service, and I get along with them well.

Are there any areas Konstant Infosolutions could improve?

The only difficult thing is the time difference, but they’ve been willing to work with my schedule. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Our company is specialized in multiple business segments, from mining to marble processing and cement manufacturing and distribution. Our organization has more than 2,500 employees across all segments, and we are located in India. We operate in more than 8 states within the country, dealing in the import and export of marble with more than 20 countries, including Vietnam, Turkey, and Middle Eastern nations.

What is your position?

I am the chief executive officer of the business group. Our IT processes are centralized with common applications across all business entities. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Konstant Infosolutions?

We engaged Konstant Infosolutions for the development of our Wonder Cement mobile application. It was meant to be used by all our channels, including distributors and dealers, as well as business and logistical partners. We wanted to bring them to a common platform, enabling them to book orders, look at account statements and credit, and give feedback online. We have a backend CRM [customer relationship management] and ERP [enterprise resource planning] system in place, but we wanted to develop a mobile application as well. 

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

Konstant Infosolutions developed a couple of mobile applications which we integrated with our backend system.

We have close to 600 ERP and CRM core users. For the mobile apps, the user-base is approximately 4,700 dealers, distributors, and retailers.

How did you come to work with Konstant Infosolutions?

We were trying to find a partner who not only understood mobile development technologies, but also one who really understood business processes across different areas. We spoke to a couple of developers from around the country, as well as some companies from Germany which had ready-to-deploy solutions. During our discussions, we identified that Konstant Infosolutions had an excellent understanding of business processes. They had never worked in the cement production industry but had good experience with application development and process automation and could bring a lot of perspective from the other industries they'd operated in.

We had a few discussions with Konstant Infosolutions' team, during which I explained our business processes. After 3 or 4 days, I received a document from them, detailing their understanding of our processes. We were amazed by the crystal-clear understanding that Konstant Infosolutions was able to gain after spending 30–40 minutes with us during each call.

We shortlisted a couple of companies in the end, but after the evaluation process, we found Konstant Infosolutions not only to be better in terms of business process understanding but also in terms of project planning and the level of their resources. They were the best in the lot, and our experience with Konstant Infosolutions has been excellent so far. We are looking to keep them as a long-term mobile partner.

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

The cost of 2 projects with Konstant Infosolutions has been around $50,000. We have additional scopes under discussion at the moment.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Konstant Infosolutions in June 2016. They are still on board, acting as our partner for all mobile applications. The bulk of the project has been done, but we have a third application still in development, as well as other tasks in the pipeline. We have decided to adopt a cloud and mobile approach and moved all our applications to the cloud as a first phase. We are in the process of extending all our business processes within the mobile area. It's a long-term engagement, with each application requiring around 6 months to complete. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The apps have not been formally published since we are still developing functionalities, so I don't have any metrics.

How did Konstant Infosolutions perform from a project management standpoint?

Konstant Infosolutions provides full communication, reporting, and project management online. Before the development was started, they shared wireframes with us, allowing us to visualize how the application would be deployed, from functionalities to the color combination and other design elements. We were able to take feedback from our team and users and have it consolidated into the project online. There was no need for anyone from Konstant Infosolutions' team to come on-site during the development. The approach has been fantastic, and the deliverables are quite impressive.

What distinguishes Konstant Infosolutions from other providers?

The unique aspect of Konstant Infosolutions is their way of providing wireframes well before delving into the actual development. This is unique in my experience of working with software partners. Also, Konstant Infosolutions' resources have a good understanding, not only in terms of technology but also of business processes. I can give them a 15- to 20-minute brief and have them come back with an explanation of what I was trying to convey.

Is there anything Konstant Infosolutions could have improved or done differently?

The initial cost could be improved, but quality requires more money. Other than that, we haven't found any problems with Konstant Infosolutions.