NCompass TechStudio

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

PhoneX Inc. is a SaaS company focusing on building a specialized digital B2B e-commerce platform. I'm the EVP of technology at PhoneX.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire NCompass TechStudio, and what were your goals?

As we discovered the product market fit, we recognized the importance of having a technology partner we can trust to build the right team and share ownership of delivery.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

The key deciding factor was the DNA of the company. The leadership team was unlike the team of any other vendor we evaluated. From the very first meeting, the focus was on solving our problems. They had expertise in areas we needed help with and demonstrated flexibility in accommodating our conventions in other areas. We also reviewed their internal processes for talent sourcing and established that they could, when needed, rapidly extend our core teams, such as dev, QA, customer support, etc.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

The partnership with NCompass TechStudio touched all facets of our technology landscape, including development, DevOps, QA, DB administration, cloud architecture, monitoring, prod support, customer support, etc.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We run multiple agile scrum teams. Key participants include front-end developers, tech leads, java developers, NodeJS developers, AWS architects, MySQL DB admins, prod support engineers, manual testers, automation testers, DevOps engineers, etc.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The quality of engineers here is top-notch, and almost all of our well-defined work packets reliably get delivered overnight. The speed of delivery is impressive.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We have a scrum meeting every day with all of the offshore resources, followed by several break-out sessions led by onshore team leads with folks working on specific modules. We use JIRA for managing work. Apart from day-to-day activities, the leadership team is prompt and responsive to administrative requests and diligent in making sure that there is a plan in place for offshore events that can impact work, such as holidays, leave of absence, etc

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The leadership team is well aligned internally and focuses clearly on the project's success more than just growing the account. This mindset trickles well to every team member; there is always a sense of urgency in getting things done fast and a sense of ownership in producing quality output.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I can't think of any at the moment.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the product head for a media platform that provides live streaming and broadcasting services for under-commercialized sporting organizations globally.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with NCompass TechStudio?

We hired them to help us with web and mobile app development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

NCompass TechStudio provided a specialized service wherein we could expand our team and have an extended tech arm. Initially, I provided some documentation and basic designs to give them something to start with.

From there, they proceeded with the work, using Angular and Node.js for web development and Java and Swift for mobile app development. The mobile app is being built on both Android and iOS platforms. For the website, users need to sign up and log in to be able to use it. They can also contact us through the site.

What is the team composition?

I’m in direct contact with their project manager and developers.

How did you come to work with NCompass TechStudio?

We met them through a referral from a friend. Our relationship actually goes way back where we used them in a previous project about 10 years ago. I reached out to their team again for this project.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we have spent between $100,000–$200,000.

What is the status of engagement?

We started the project in December 2020, and our engagement is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s quite hard to provide specific metrics since they’re building a very bespoke application. Our business is still up and running, so that's a good indicator at the very least. Also, we’ve experienced a few bugs on the app, but they addressed them right away and delivered a bug-free application in a matter of days.

How did NCompass TechStudio perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve delivered all the requested work on time and within the agreed budget as well. We use Rally as a project management tool to track and manage the project. For communication, we have daily meetings on Google Meet and keep in touch through Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their skillset is unmatched, and their eagerness to learn more and willingness to work with us is impressive. They’re also quite flexible; they scale their team as we continue to grow.

Are there any areas they could improve?

In terms of technical skills, they're quite solid but can keep revisiting and upscaling in this area.

Any advice for potential customers?

Don't hesitate to let them know exactly what you want to achieve with your project and trust them to deliver exactly that.