NCode Technologies, Inc

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the owner and CEO of Heberi, an online tourism and advertising platform. We provide holiday management and booking services internationally for professionals.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire NCode Technologies, Inc?

We sought resources to develop our web-based booking platform. Because we offered multiple services and had a complex user base, we needed a consolidated web portal for each user and product.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a functional site that was easy to navigate.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We reached out to them based on their strong references. Looking at their past work, we were confident that they could handle our project.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Initially, they reviewed our business needs before developing a technical solution. They built a sophisticated, easy-to-use platform featuring multiple user types, product pages, and third-party payment integration. Users could look at service/property listings and book their trip accordingly.

What was the team composition?

They assigned a senior developer who was incredibly talented and patient. He led a team of developers who worked in the background.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

NCode Technologies created a simplified, cost-effective solution to a complex premise. We’ve just launched the site, so we currently don’t have any hard metrics. However, from what we’ve seen, users are interested in our services. We were skeptical about whether the team could add all of the required functionalities, but they managed well and delivered a strong product.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Throughout the project, we never had any problems with communication. They typically used email, Skype, and TeamViewer to coordinate with us.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

NCode Technologies’ team was very talented and overcame even the most sophisticated challenges. We had no problems with them, and I was confident in their abilities.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

While NCode Technologies is a strong developer, there are times when they might not fully understand exactly what the client expects out of the final product. During those times, it would be helpful if they reach out for clarification. The client also shares this responsibility and needs to be explicit in their vision. This allows their team to understand the situation and offer solutions.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CTO of a financial services company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire NCode Technologies, Inc?

We needed a system that allows financial advisors to book—and pay for—mentorship calls with our coaches.

What were your goals for this project?

We have wanted to create a streamlined experience for our advisors.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

NCode reached out to us via email.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

They are building the application’s UI, UX, domain logic, and database.

What was the team composition?

We work directly with a project manager, whose team consists of multiple developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The system is in its beta stage and has already generated over 100 mentor calls.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project manager has been handling project management arrangements well; despite some translation issues due to a language barrier, they always provide high-quality results.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

NCode is very responsive to our needs and willing to work through challenges.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

We have not received the best financial reporting for invoices and agreements. We would recommend a more streamlined approach to costs and project implementation communication.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We provide logo design, websites, and e-commerce solutions for Finnish companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with NCode Technologies?

We needed outside development and design help.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Most of their work has been web and app development—primarily HTML, PHP, or database-driven—for new and existing platforms and based on our designs. Their work spans multiple industries.

What is the team dynamic?

We’ve worked with the founder and CEO a lot. Right now, we have six of their people working with us, but it depends on our needs. It could be anywhere from 2–10 people, including designers, HTML developers, PHP developers, and mobile app developers.

How did you come to work with NCode Technologies?

We’ve worked with many other offshore vendors before. We asked NCode to build one app, which they did very well. Plus, it’s a good price.

How much have you invested with them?

At the moment, I spend $6,000 a month. The price has increased over time as we hired more people.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them since 2014 and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They've done a lot for us and the clients like their work. If there were any issues raised, they fix those immediately, so there have been no problems.

How did NCode Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate with the CEO and the developers several times a day. They answer any questions we have and address any concerns promptly. For example, when a member of their team performed poorly, they’d replace them by the next day.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their professionalism, customer service, and responsiveness stand out. There have been no major issues, but when any concerns do arise, they react quickly. It’s good service at a good price. We get everything we need, so we're not looking to change anything or find another company because there's no need for that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing I can say.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Just call them and you'll definitely get the best service.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We sell party supplies to end users and event companies that organize events for certain businesses or parties. They buy supplies from us. We are a retail business. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with NCode?

We started with a brick and mortar shop. We had an outlet, and 6-7 years ago we decided to go onto an online sales platform. We needed a company that could handle that for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They started doing basic design for us. From there on, every year, we added features we saw on other websites that looked better. We kept adding on through the years.

There’s a payment gateway and that made the website more user friendly for our end users. The search engine is friendly, like the UI, the meta keywords, and the description. We work on the osCommerce platform. They did coding to make the features we wanted to implement on the osCommerce platform possible.

What is the team dynamic?

Every project, they assign a different project coordinator. We had 5-6 people on the team.

How did you come to work with NCode?

We searched through the Internet. After talking to a few companies, we found NCode. We were skeptical in the initial phase. We are not in the IT business and aren’t familiar with coding. We asked a lot of questions and got a lot of details. They were attentive and attended to our inquiry with patience.

How much have you invested with them?

$15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2010 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The customer feedback is positive.

How did NCode perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Skype, phone, and email. They are on time with scheduling. We are happy with the on-time delivery of the features.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We are quite impressed with the speed of their response.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They need to improve the appearance and design of the website. We look at our competitors’ websites and we have to show them how it should appear.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re a bit pricey. Other than that, they are all right.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of a business process organization. We also have an IT part of our company that deals with cloud solutions. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with NCode Technologies?

I own and am a partner of a secondary company. We needed to develop a particular solution, a portal for mentors. We have a group of mentors who work with financial advisers and help them with their businesses. Those mentors and advisers need a place to schedule and book appointments. We’d looked into a variety of ready-made solutions but chose to custom-program our portal with NCode. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We needed to allow advisers to log in and schedule appointments that would go directly to the mentors’ calendars. Our mentors are all decentralized, so they have their own calendaring systems. We actually used Calendly for that feature, so NCode didn't program that part of the solution. They simply created the integration of the feature into the site, and then we needed an e-commerce capability so that once the advisers use their free monthly credits, they’ll be able to buy more credits. NCode built an e-commerce capability that worked with PayPal Pro and was all built on DotNetNuke.

What is the team dynamic?

Ashish [Founder and CEO, NCode Technologies] acts as the high-level project facilitator in the sense of if there's a roadblock, we send him an email and he makes sure the issue is resolved.

Fali [Team Leader DotNet, NCode Technologies] is their project manager. I don't know if he’s doing the programming or if he's got a team behind him. If Fali goes on vacation, another person would step in, but we have not had any real contact outside of those two people.

How did you come to work with NCode Technologies?

They sent marketing materials at the right time. We had interviewed other companies, and they had a good price point. I had never worked with an offshore organization, but they seemed to communicate well and were responsive.

How much have you invested with them?

We've probably spent around $6,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2016, and our engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We just launched the app about three months ago, so concrete results are hard to determine at this point. We still have some programming-related issues with the site that we’re trying to work through. They don’t charge us for minor revisions. Sometimes, they'll make changes without sending invoices, but we’re still working through some of the normal challenges you would expect after launching a piece of custom software.

How did NCode Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

They're good over email, but our collaboration has been difficult because of the language barrier over phone calls with them. They’re willing to hold Skype calls to clarify issues, but it’s not as smooth as working with a company that's based in the United States. On top of that, because they don't have a presence in the United States, the time zone difference can create other difficulties.

Most of their work happens in the middle of the night here, so we have to be proactive at getting all of our tasks to them by 5 p.m. our time. Of course, the quality depends on how well we wrote the tasks and how well they interpreted them.

Generally, by the time we're up and moving, they've moved through the tasks, and so we're at the mercy of how they chose to approach the work. We’ve certainly had some issues, but I would say they've been accurate 80%–90% of the time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Overall, their communication could be greatly improved. For instance, I'll send them an email about a particular idea, and then they’ll respond with questions about an unrelated idea. As a result, my original idea keeps getting buried in the same email thread. They don't organize their communication well; it’s just a constant thread of back-and-forth. When I need to go back to verify what we talked about, I have to wade through a lot of unhelpful content.

They could offer a support ticketing system or something to allow them to provide a better client experience.

Advice for potential customers?

As with any IT company, spell out your requirements clearly. Developers can only accomplish what you tell them to do.

For small businesses like ours, IT experience is essential. The scope needs to be manageable. It's important to spend enough time in due diligence at your own level before you engage with a software company. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We deliver tailor-made PIM websites for information boards.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire NCode Technologies, Inc?

We hired NCode for design and production of websites.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to create something new within the PIM market to better use a site's information

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found them through a reference on the web.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

They developed and launched our PIM sites.

What was the team composition?

We were provided a project manager that always kept track of our project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They understood our project well and helped us increase our business.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Their project management was very good.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were impressed by their great cost, management, and their competence in web development.