Net Solutions

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and managing director of a website security platform. The product is an anti-virus for websites. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Net Solutions?

I hired Net Solutions because we needed PHP development. We had a choice of hiring someone on staff or outsourcing overseas. The issue with employing overseas is that 99.9% of the time, outsourcing ends badly. It’s a bad model, but it is cheap. The issue with employing someone in-house is that it’s very expensive. Both the staff member’s salary and UK taxation are extremely high.

We’ve never been successful with another company before outside of the UK. But, we had a fantastic experience with Net Solutions. We were able to benefit from their expertise, which met our needs perfectly. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Net Solutions has done PHP work and testing, and they provided an Android developer who has joined our team. The delivery of all of their efforts has been perfect because they have monitors who audit the work before it comes to us. We have an account manager who’s the intermediary between us and the developers. She’s fantastic.

How did you come to work with Net Solutions?

We were trying to find new developers overseas because the previous company from India we were working with was a disaster. We spent a week looking at Clutch and calling different companies. We conducted an intense interview process with our top choices to find out how they worked. Overseas firms tend to claim they can do everything. We came across 2 companies that we thought were great. One was overpriced and turned out to be unreliable. The other company was Net Solutions. At the time, they were too busy to work with us because they’re clearly in high demand. For a later project, we managed to partner with them. The delivery was exactly what we expected. All of the time we spent finding them was completely worthwhile.

How much have you invested with Net Solutions?

We have spent $75,000 each year, on average.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in March of 2014.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We needed a PHP developer fast, and they were able to provide that. The work they delivered was almost exact in its quality. Nearly every software package has pieces that need to be corrected, but what Net Solutions provided was fantastic. We were able to take the system they delivered and start using it right away.

How did Net Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

The developer was part of our team and could log in and speak to us as if we were in the office together. Their English level was impeccable. They delivered ahead of schedule. In terms of communication, if I message them, they get back to me in under 5 minutes, even though they are hours ahead of us. Even if I contact them in the middle of the night, they’ll wake up and work with me. They are a fantastic company.

What did you find most impressive about Net Solutions?

I’m very happy with their team. They allowed us to scale when we needed to quickly. When we wanted an Android developer, they provided the right person immediately.

Are there any areas Net Solutions could improve?

I can’t think of anything. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a full-service common carrier transportation company in Canada doing less-than-truckload and truckload cargo. I am one of the partners and executive VP.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Net Solutions?

We wanted to create a radio-based Android application that would manage the equipment (trailers and tractors) in our yard. We needed an app for our drivers who have that hardware.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The objective of the solution was to reduce costs, increase visibility, and allow multiple users to have the same view of what everybody was doing. Prior to this app, we used a combination of things. The app’s role was to gather a bunch of semi-to-100% manual tasks that were performed by a number of different people without any visibility in between those groups. One person with a clipboard would have one function, somebody with a spreadsheet would have another function, and then everybody was communicating with radio. Everybody—the truck drivers, security guard, and the dock people—would have a radio and that's the way they would communicate with each other. But they would keep their records, either in their head, on a piece of paper, in a spreadsheet, or in part of our transportation management system. That was bursting with inefficiency.

We’ve gone through the wireframes, and right now they're working on the screen designs. The storyboards and what the app is going to do has been settled. We're almost ready to test. We just don’t have a beta version that we're using right now.

There's a lot of names on the interface that I log into; I'm an email kind of guy. I think at least half a dozen people are working on the app. The number of points of contact has varied from time to time. There's Michael Desjardins [Digital Transformation Specialist, Net Solutions], overseeing the whole thing. But depending on where we're at in terms of the project, I interact with two or three people on a day-to-day basis.

How did you come to work with Net Solutions?

I have done some work with tech solutions in the past but was not 100% satisfied with the result. We made a change this time around. I did some research and found Net Solutions. We did some due diligence and checked out three companies, including Net Solutions: one did not respond, and another one wanted to do something else (which was probably much more efficient). But for an old dude like me, I like the face-to-face; I got a better feeling from Net Solutions as I was able to talk to them face-to-face in a meeting.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been at this now for the better part of three months now (February 2017). This is the only app that they’ve done for us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Compared to people I worked with before, it might be an apples-to-oranges comparison: we had done custom software in the past and Net Solutions built an independent app. It might be a bit unfair to compare, but these guys have been great in my opinion.

How did Net Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

I have not encountered any problems. If there is a problem in communication, it's usually me because I like face-to-face, phone calls, or emails, as opposed to Skype. They've been very accommodating in terms of adapting to my style of communication.

What did you find most impressive about Net Solutions?

I don't think that I'm experienced enough to really offer an opinion on that, other than to say that, from my limited experience, they've been really good. I can send them bits of paper, spreadsheets, and Word documents about what I want. They interpret that and then explain how they've gotten from what I've told them that I want to what it looks like in their world. That's been great. This is the first app we have ever worked on, so I wouldn't know if they're fantastic or mediocre at their job, other than the fact that my experience has been good.

Are there any areas Net Solutions could improve?

No.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We have a couple products. We’re a training and consulting business. We do a lot of traditional training with sales forces at banks and pharmaceutical companies, and we develop a lot of proprietary off-the-shelf and custom technology solutions for our customers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Net Solutions?

Net Solutions allowed us to really scale up our development capabilities in terms of bandwidth and expertise and quality. They help us build primarily online applications for our customers, the tools that are being used by hundreds of thousands of sales reps around North America. They’re basically an external resource that works with our developers. Recently, they’ve started their first autonomous project with us; they’re the only resource on that project, and they’re providing the project lead as well.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

This project that they’re heading is an HTML5 web app as well as a native iOS app. It’s a coaching application, so some of the features are synchronizing between the mobile and web, uploading documents to be stored in the cloud, and keeping a database to keep tabs on all searching activity that’s happening at a company so that a manager or a coach can see when the last time some sales rep was coached and then correlate the amount of coaching and the notes and interactions with that rep’s performance. It’s really an enterprise solution for sales teams, but service teams as well. This is a product that we’ve been working on with them for a while. It started as a brand new product and it’s living, so we keep getting new projects going with them. This new project is further enhancements to a tool that is not new but is something that they created for us.

During larger sprints, we’ve had upwards of 20–22 guys working on it. Probably a little more than half of them have been in Montreal or Toronto, and then they also have guys in India when we need to scale up real quick and get some more resource. We can use their partners or their resources in India as well, which is great for us. For all those resources, we had a hand in picking them. We saw their CVs. Our product designer is a guy by the name of Brian Wilcox, who’s actually in Montreal, and we got to meet him in person, which is great. Our sales guys, Ranjit and Michael, they’re in Toronto and they facilitate meetings as well with some of these guys so we can look at CVs and meet them on the phone. Communication was huge for us.

There's another project they’re working that I don’t want to be publicized. It’s a large video platform that they’ve built from scratch for us, leveraging existing technologies like Amazon technologies with AWS and things like that. That’s a very significant project and it will hopefully be our flagship in the coming months.

How did you come to work with Net Solutions?

We were looking for an offshore development partner. We got really excited about paying a lot less for guys in the Philippines or India or China or Romania or anywhere, really, and so we ended up putting together a list of about 30 companies that we were going to contact and interview. We ended up shortlisting that to 15 and then down to three different companies, all of whom we awarded a small proof-of-concept type of project. We chose Net Solutions because of their feet-on-the-ground, close-to-home, local people who understand our culture. Also, the product they put out of the proof of concept was the best by far. Their communication was excellent; their methodologies and processes for getting these project done were the best. It was really just a no-brainer for us. They weren’t the cheapest because they’re dual-shore, but it made the most sense for us.

What is the status of this engagement?

I think we started in 2007, but I could be wrong. It’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve increased annual recurring revenue by about $600,000 since we’ve started working with them. We have lowered churn rate by about 25-30% on some of our Software-as-a-Service offerings. We’ve lowered churn rates. We’ve increased productivity.

I could tell you one of the reasons we decided to give them autonomy on some projects. When we were managing projects before, a client would come to us and say, “Hey, I want to modify XYZ.” We’d go back to the client with a six- to eight-month project scope and then they would say “No thanks; we just want to look elsewhere or stick with what we have.” So one time when this happened, we decided to involve Net Solutions, and it was the exact same scope with an eight-week turnaround. We won that deal and it was much more profitable for us, as well. The profit margins were a lot bigger.

This is the third project that we’ve given the complete autonomy on, but this is the first real big one.

How did Net Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

For all our projects, we use Basecamp as a project management platform, but we also use JIRA and Mantis for bug tracking and task tracking. We’ve used Aha.io for sprint planning. Most of the time, they recommend tools and then we take a look and we do it. They’ve influenced a lot of our internal project management and communication as well based on their recommendations.

They’ve also handled turnover issues really well. They provide shadow positions or shadow resources for all of our key positions so that if there is turnover, they have someone who has been able to soak in all the knowledge and can take over without any major hiccups. All the main guys, all the leaders and senior guys, they’ve been around since Day 1. They do a good job with their employees. I’ve actually been to their office in India in addition to their operations in Montreal and Toronto. It’s like a mini Google campus, so I don’t think their employees are ever going to want to leave. So the team that we do have, since they’ve been with us for so long, they have incomparable productivity.

What did you find most impressive about Net Solutions?

Their ability to integrate into our culture, take ownership of products, and invest in our products like we have. They live and breathe by our outputs, just like we do. I never thought that a partner company would be able to do that, but they’ve really become partners to us. They’re not vendors; they’re partners. It’s a hugely valuable relationship to us. We would be in big trouble if we lost them, that’s for sure.

Are there any areas Net Solutions could improve?

It would be counterintuitive for them, but if they had more senior architects, the super high-end software architects in Montreal or Toronto that would be great. Most of their highest-level architects are in India, and that’s where the best minds are, arguably. But I guess if they were in Montreal, it wouldn’t be affordable for us to hire them. As I’m saying this, I’m realizing it wouldn’t work. They have great soldiers on the ground here that do excellent work, but oftentimes some of the bigger resources are in India.

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

I’d say really engage Net Solutions in your decision process for the engagement model. By that I mean if you want to do dedicated resources or if you want to do it on a per-project basis, really compare and contrast the two. Figure out what works best for you. Make sure that you include more than just yourself or the project leader in communicating with Net Solutions. Make sure the teams are fully integrated. Make sure everybody there knows everybody from your office. That’s the most important thing.

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was updated by Ryan McHugh (Director of Client Delivery, Soaq) on August 5, 2020. The original star ratings were: Overall - 5, Quality - 5, Schedule - 5, Cost - 4, NPS - #5. New content is below:

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Soaq is content hub and custom technologies company. On the custom technologies end we focus building tailored software to a specific clients needs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Net Solutions, and what were your goals?

One of our existing clients came to us with a problem. They hire hundreds of employees, but have difficulty having consistent training across the board - depending on your region you would be receiving different training for the same task. They wanted to create a simple and easy to navigate system for new hires to receive their training.

We proposed a L MS-light solution where employees would have a select number of courses to take, each with a series of videos and quizzes. We built it on the backend of a WordPress plugin, but a lot of the out-of-the-box offerings of the plugin where not exactly what the client wanted.

They came back to us with number of changes they would like to see and that's when we reached out to Net Solutions - to help with custom features that would require us to build on top of the existing software.

SOLUTION

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

We have been working with Net Solutions for years now and every time we came to them with a new project or problem we needed solved, they had the solution and team to get it done.

So, for this project it was almost a no brainer. We know they have a skilled team of programmers, project leads and business analysts. We had an initial conversation with them to provide context to the project and they already had the solutions/answers we were looking for.

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

The production was essentially split in two. There was the work we did ourselves with the LMS plugin (essentially anything that came included with it). The second is the custom work that needed to be done - which Net Solutions handled. At the start of the project we provided them with the list of custom features the client required.

Net Solutions took that list and provided a detailed cost breakdown and timeline. When production started they would provide us with frequent updates on the feature's status. As features were being completed and ready to be presented we would have walk-through calls going over the custom features and their functionality.

All these custom features lived in a child theme on separate server so if and when our plugins get updated the custom features would not be impacted. Net Solutions kept us updated through the process and had very open communication with us. If they came across a problem or questions (and visa versa with us) they would be very open and quick to respond.

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

During production there was two team members we worked closely with. Our main contact was a Project Manager and we had a Lead Developer worker on the project as well.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The results of the project have been outstanding. We broker the project in phases. Phases 1 is now complete and the LMS is now live.

It initially was meant to be for one province, but it is already being presented around the country and US. Sr. Leaders from around the country are showing a lot of interest and the platform will eventually be pushed across the whole the company

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

We used Basecamp as a way to be kept up -to-date with their project. Our project manager would keep us up to date several times per week with any progress and questions they have.

We would also receive daily updates on the hours spent on the custom features and and on the specific features they were working on. Net Solutions would organize calls with us to demo the features and how they functioned.

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

I was always impressed at how well they were able to explain and illustrate complicated subjects or feature functionality. Their communication and mastery of the subject was exceptional.

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

We were working on the project during COVID. That comes with problems we all needed to deal with that were outside everyone's control.

Because of that the only problem we ever came across would be during our calls, sometimes the personal internet of whoever was speaking (including ours) was not the most reliable and there would sometimes be choppy connections. But, it terms of their work flow, ability to deliver and timeliness, Net Solutions is exceptional.

This review was updated again by Erik Vincelli-Gregory (Project Manager, IsaiX Technologies) on September 3, 2019. New content is below:

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Project Manager for a technology company with 31 years of experience in providing business process management services. Our applications serve to connect employees, foster leadership, and track performance.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Net Solutions?

One of our applications had not been updated in 8 years and was beginning to show its age visually. We wanted to redesign this application to look fresh with a more contemporary UI/UX.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to refresh our service offering with an easier to navigate user interface and to enhance the accessibility of our tools. We wanted to make our application fun and enjoyable to use while keeping with its professional use case in the workplace.

SOLUTION
How did you select Net Solutions?

We have worked with Net Solutions for the last 10 years and have formed a strong bond with all who have worked on our products. Net Solutions was selected from other remote companies due to their intuitiveness and how they quickly, with great passion, connect with our vision and goals.

Describe the project in detail.

The solution for this project was the use Google material design components custom developed with HTML5 and merged with our existing application architecture.

What was the team composition?

The team involved 2 full-time resources, an HTML5 developer and a Interface designer. As well we had a dedicated Project Manager from NSI who I connected with every day to review progress. The team grew to 5 people with the addition of QC testers who made sure the product was finished and without bugs upon delivery.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The redesign has re-energized our customer interest in the product and has received many compliments on its visuals from those client who have gained a glimpse and the new product. We are excited to continue expanding our product and to continue customizing its use case for our customers now with a new "skin".

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was effective due to NSI's daily communication with myself and our team. They were made available at any time we had a question which facilitated easy communication. Our Workflow was managed through Basecamp, Slack, and delivered through Google Drive. Basecamp was particularly helpful in delivering daily feedback and receiving a response from the NSI team on how to tackle the issues proposed.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

NSI is strongly intuitive and connected to what their customers want in the products they hire them to complete. They understand our requirements very well and they are as passionate about our products as we are.

They also have a strong initiative and strive to make sure the customer experience is as smooth as possible. They take responsibility and provide us with feedback that we need to hear (sometimes not want to hear) to develop the best product possible.

They are true partners in that respect, and they are expert problem solvers who jump into projects with fantastic enthusiasm that is hard to get anywhere.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nothing critical, more communication systems are always appreciated. NSI actually improved this themselves early in the project through providing Slack as our main line for communications.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a startup making a mobile application to fix a problem in the fitness and restaurant industry. When you go inside a restaurant, you have a menu. Instead of having a menu imposed on you, I'm flipping this backward—you impose what you want, and then the results come out based on that. Let's say you want to eat a thousand calories and you want the food to be vegetarian and gluten-free. It takes that all into consideration, along with how many kilometers you're willing to travel. From all of that, you will have your results populated based on your information.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Net Solutions?

When people are dieting, they usually have a problem tracking their caloric intake when they go out to eat at restaurants. I'm touching a bit on this area to fix that problem and make the information readily available. However, I'm not an expert in software development, so that's where Net Solutions came into play.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We're still at the early stages of development. We're completing the UI/UX designs and how the features should flow right now. The mobile app is going to be for both iOS and Android. I’m in contact most of the time with six people. I think the team is bigger (about 10–12 people), but I don't see the developers in the back because we haven't started that phase yet. We're progressing slowly but gradually every day.

How did you come to work with Net Solutions?

I originally considered two other suppliers, but what I like with Net Solutions is their commitment. For example, I had the idea already written the documentation of the app and how I wanted it to function. They came back with the resources they could provide, and that’s something the two other companies didn’t do. Net Solutions came back with a detailed breakdown of the app and a sample of how they envision the UI and UX. I saw that they were really serious about it. They really went out of their way, and it showed.

How much have you invested with Net Solutions?

There are going to be two costs. So far, we've spent $40,000 since the startup. We're working with the MVP, and we'll see from there. If everything goes well and according to plan, there's another $40,000 to follow as well.

What is the status of this engagement?

The process of selecting New Solutions—paperwork, meetings, and consulting with my team—took six weeks starting in October 2016. We started working together in February 2017. We’re expecting to launch in the third or fourth week of June 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The delays were on my side: I'd find something I wanted to be changed. They were flexible enough to do it, and that delayed it by a day, but that was on me. They always delivered on time and were very punctual.

How did Net Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

They are a very transparent team. For example, I had something I wanted to be changed and contacted them through Skype. They have two teams with one in India. When it’s late at night for me, I can ask a question and they answer quickly. When things need to be approved, Basecamp is usually where these formal things happen. But in terms of communication and transparency, they're very good at that.

What did you find most impressive about Net Solutions?

The main thing is they care. That's the most important thing for a client. They go beyond the standard. They go out of their way and bring alternatives. If I don't like something, they don't mind. They go back and work on it, and then the next day, they come back with the revised work. The relationship is really good right now, and that is really important in a big project like that, especially in a startup. We haven’t experienced any unexpected turnover in their team that impacted progress. Communication, their team, and the process as a whole are great.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are an online legal recruiting agency working with headhunters throughout the US. We find attorneys for the 200 largest firms in the country as well as for in-house legal departments of Fortune 500 companies. Our company is based in New York and Washington, DC. I am the founder and chief executive officer of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Net Solutions?

Our company is entirely virtual. While we do have physical locations in New York and Washington, DC, we have remote operations all over the country, particularly in California, Texas, and the Midwest. Given the way we do business, we needed a bespoke CRM and internal information management system. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

At first, we worked with Net Solutions strictly for the technical aspects of our system. They designed and implemented our CRM. Since then, we've used Net Solutions for the front-end design of our website, as well as for the portals used by our clients. As our company grew, we've worked with Net Solutions regularly in order to update our systems and make changes.

I don't know how many developers were assigned to our work; the range was 10–20 people. The interactions with Net Solutions have been primarily with lead developers and project managers. 

How did you come to work with Net Solutions?

We performed an exhaustive search for companies in India and elsewhere. We sent our requirements to developers domestically and overseas. Net Solutions came back with an exhaustive proposal which was much more detail-oriented than others.

How much have you invested with Net Solutions?

Over the last 5 years, the cost of Net Solutions' services has been over $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Net Solutions in March 2012.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

What Net Solutions has built represents the crust of our entire company. We've been around for 5 years and have grown exponentially, both in terms of revenue and team. All of that is due to the infrastructure built by Net Solutions. While we didn't use Net Solutions for design initially, we have started doing this. As a result, we have received a lot of positive feedback from users regarding the interface and general look of our tools.

Another example of their impact was earlier in 2016 when we doubled our team. As we started growing, we began having issues with speed. Net Solutions was able to come in and helped us scale and become productive.

How did Net Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

It's kind of a mixed bag. The first iterations will always come in within the deadline, but bugs and fixes can push the schedule back. For the most part, we communicate using Basecamp and Skype with Net Solutions.

What did you find most impressive about Net Solutions?

For a company not based in the US, Net Solutions' project managers have been great to work with. They are fluent in English and easy to communicate with. Net Solutions' commitment to fixing bugs is good. Since they're intimately familiar with what they've built for us, nothing requires extensive explanations or effort.

Are there any areas Net Solutions could improve?

Attention to detail could be improved, particularly with regards to copy. On the technical side, Net Solutions has been great, but we've often needed to fix basic language errors on our site. This could be because the developers may not be as fluent in English as the project managers.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a startup allowing companies to engage with and recognize associates through an enterprise solution. I am the founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Net Solutions?

Net Solutions is helping us develop our employee engagement platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Net Solutions has engaged in the full cycle of production, including design and technical components. Recognition, announcements, and leader boards are some of the core features of our platform. Another of its components will be integration with social media, for sharing content. We also plan to integrate it with various HRIS [human resource information systems] platforms, given that we have a B2B [business-to-business] model and importing schedules and other data will be important.

We've always had one project lead. There was a change during the process, but it was handled professionally, and the new person was knowledgeable about our goals and position. The number of resources used from Net Solutions's team changed depending on what we needed to roll out, ranging from 3 to 5.

How did you come to work with Net Solutions?

My business partner at the time had a friend who had utilized Net Solutions and said some good things about them and the product that they delivered. I chose Net Solutions based on that recommendation.

How much have you invested with Net Solutions?

The cost of Net Solutions's services has been around $65,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Net Solutions 1 year ago [in 2015]. There was a pause in our work due to unrelated delays, but Net Solutions was ready to pick up the project again when we needed it.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven't performed formalized tests, but some of our friends have tested the MVP [minimum viable product]. In the beginning, the company was only made up of my business partner and me. I'm an HR director and don't have IT [information technology] knowledge, but I had some ideas of what I wanted to do. I have to give Net Solutions 100 percent credit for taking those ideas and strategies, putting them on paper and making them come to fruition. The culture of our organization is pivotal to not only our business but to me personally. Making people understand our brand through design elements was crucial. Net Solutions nailed designs from the second round, after only a few discussions.

From the very beginning, we treated Net Solutions like a business partner and involved them in decision making and feedback. The process was collaborative, and Net Solutions knocked it out of the part in terms of design.

We demoed the product with the company for which I currently serve as an HR director and hit the mark with all executives. They all loved the software's user-friendliness and ability to target millennials.

How did Net Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

Net Solutions delivered 100 percent on time. We used Basecamp, as well as StoriesOnBoard, in order to capture stories and wireframes.

What did you find most impressive about Net Solutions?

I haven't worked with other companies, so it's a little hard to say, but I felt that Net Solutions was a true business partner, open to giving us suggestions and helping us improve our product. I will be forever grateful for this. Net Solutions was just as excited about the product as ourselves, and their team was saddened when we paused the project.

Are there any areas Net Solutions could improve?

Net Solutions could have better explained what was going to be built and for what cost. We were to blame for this as well, given that we had an agile approach, and simply went with the flow. As we pivoted the development, the costs increased more than expected. Other than this, there was nothing more that Net Solutions could have done.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are an equity research company using custom data surrounding global equity markets in order to decipher the cyclical timing of the market on behalf of clients. I am the founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Net Solutions?

I needed to create a website that would allow users to log in and have very specific content attached to their accounts. My website also has extensive interactivity behind the scenes as well as a direct-payment functionality. The field changed significantly during the last 5 years since my website had been built. At the time, there were no ready-made modules that could be bought and plugged into a site. Everything needed to be built by hand. I was working with a reputable firm in the Boston area, but they couldn't handle the work, making constant mistakes. My login and payment functionalities weren't working properly, particularly when it came to umbrella memberships allowing multiple logins per account per purchase. This led me to Net Solutions.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

During a period of 3 years, Net Solutions completely rebuilt the internal and back-end parts of the website, including member management and payment, and fixed some of the interactivity that my other firm couldn't handle.

My content management system uses ExpressionEngine and custom PHP coding. Net Solutions has recently moved the payment platform from PayPal to Stripe.

Net Solutions typically assigns 10–15 people on each project's team. I've worked with 4–5 lead developers with whom I communicated daily, but there were more people working on the overall project.

One of the things that most impressed me about Net Solutions is their communication. The team speaks very clear English, and they all have a drive to satisfy the customer and make them happy. The fact that Net Solutions takes the work so seriously is a component of its integrity. I wish that everyone in the United States had the same attitude toward work. Net Solutions was always upfront and honest and recommended better approaches whenever they identified one, sometimes at their own expense, in terms of cost.

How did you come to work with Net Solutions?

Net Solutions was first referred to me by my wife, who had worked for an accounting firm and had extensive interactions with Net Solutions there between 2005 and 2010.

I talked to one of Net Solutions's reps in Michigan and conveyed what I was trying to do at the time. During a week's time, we maintained a conversation, figuring out how to do things. I was impressed with him and was told that I would not believe how happy I'll be working with Net Solutions, compared to a firm in the U.S. My wife told me the same thing, and I also came to experience it firsthand. I have not worked with anyone else for web development since starting my relationship with Net Solutions.

How much have you invested with Net Solutions?

The total cost of their work has been in the range of $50,000 to $75,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I first contacted Net Solutions at the end of 2012, and the work began in 2013. We've had a continuous development scope with Net Solutions, with 6 to 8 projects over a period of 3 1/2 years as well as in-between functionality development tasks.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

My site is live, and I've been in the process of wrapping things up. The project with Net Solutions is finished, but there are no users interacting with the platform at the moment. I can only mention what Net Solutions has produced for me in order to make the site successful in the future.

How did Net Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We used Basecamp and Skype for project tracking. Net Solutions was always available to answer questions. The interactivity of the project was maintained on a continuous basis, until the end.

Being in the U.S., on Eastern time, I appreciated Net Solutions' setup. I was able to work with the team at 7 or 8 a.m., before my workday started and at the end of Net Solutions's day, getting a lot done.

What did you find most impressive about Net Solutions?

Net Solutions always delivered the work on time and often performed tasks beyond what I requested in cost quotes, just to please me. I find Net Solutions's conduct to be admirable. My wife works for a large accounting firm in the U.S. and has received quotes from Net Solutions. Net Solutions caters to large companies as well as entrepreneurs looking to develop businesses.

I have contacted one of the largest web development firms in the U.S. early on for a quote. The costs were 7–10 times what Net Solutions proposed, particularly for my member management functionalities. The other company was not only expensive, but they didn't know how to build certain features and gave a much higher timeframe. There's a tremendous inefficiency in the U.S., particularly when it comes to technology and startups. Net Solutions particularly caters to this segment and is looking to establish long-term relationships.

Are there any areas Net Solutions could improve?

Most of the billing in the U.S. is done on a monthly basis, whereas Net Solutions prefers weekly billing. This could be improved, and I have mentioned it with Net Solutions. Their account managers offered to accommodate me in other ways and manage my payment themselves. This isn't really a negative, it's just a difference in approach.

Net Solutions was always very flexible, and their account manager was exceptional. Working on so many projects during an extended period of time, there will always be something that doesn't go perfectly. Misunderstandings were always worked out, and my contact was always there on my behalf.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We make interactive video software that improves vision and cognitive skills. It is based on my wife's work, who is a doctor of occupational therapy and specializes in vision, cognition, and driving. The material is used by major neural rehabilitation hospitals for things like stroke recovery, as well as by schools working with autistic subjects, and end-users wanting to improve their driving skills. I am the president and chief executive officer of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Net Solutions?

We had the idea of being able to create a type of interactive video, something that nobody had figured out how to do in the past. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

On our end, we have very good UI/UX [user interface/user experience] designers. Net Solutions figured out how to implement our solution, and we've ended up getting patents on their work. We've collaborated with Net Solutions through a series of wireframes, creating the app flow.

The number of resources from Net Solutions has varied over time. In the beginning, we were using their architect and wireframe designers, eventually getting to backend and database developers. For a good part of 2015, we have used five resources and used a project lead for our interactions as the preferred method. I've also contacted developers directly, always Cc'ing our project manager.

How did you come to work with Net Solutions?

It was a blue-sky idea, not something that we put out for bid. I went through every developer in the US and Canada, parts of Europe, as well as several companies in India, before finding Net Solutions. I found them on the web and asked for some references and examples of past work. Net Solutions had never done it before, but found it to be an interesting project, and asked for a chance. Their willingness to give it a try and the preliminary ideas offered, convinced us to choose Net Solutions. We had a very limited start, seeing if the project could work. No one else had been interested or willing to do this, before Net Solutions.

How much have you invested with Net Solutions?

Our project has had a cost of between $150,000 and $175,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We first reached out to Net Solutions in November 2013 and started the project in the spring of 2014. We have an ongoing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our app is being used by 35 major neural rehab hospitals in the US, including 5 top-10 ones. From a user perspective, the app is very popular.

We have had very few if any problems or bugs cropping up. There was an issue with an Amazon Web Services server going down for the weekend. Net Solutions was very helpful in tracking down what was going on, at night, on a weekend. They've been willing to go above-and-beyond.

How did Net Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We started out collaborating through Basecamp, and still use it as a status reporting tool, but we now use Jira for ongoing project management.

What did you find most impressive about Net Solutions?

I've appreciated Net Solutions' willingness to take on our project when no one else would. This was a fairly high-profile project within Net Solutions' company and involved the engagement of everyone, from programmers to the CEO of the company, who provided ideas and excitement from his part. They are a part of our family now. 

Are there any areas Net Solutions could improve?

Something to watch would be the difference between British English and American English. We have identified differences in terms between our 2 countries. It's a minor point, and it's something that comes with the turf.

BACKGROUND

Could you provide a brief description of your organization?

I work for a media company. We deal with sales, sponsorship, TV production, and time management.

What is your position?

I’m the director of global applications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges that you were attempting to address when you first approached Net Solutions?

We needed solutions for our various marketing projects, some of the biggest ones being around our licensing division wherein we tasked Net Solutions with building an approval workflow platform. This is used by our global list of licensors and licensees. It has an ARC-like approval system, workflow, and connection of the load inputting data. All of those things, prior to the successful deployment of the solution, were manual processes.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of work in greater detail?

Generally, it falls into two categories. One is enterprise dotNET development, and those are typically ongoing types of engagements. We also have engagements during a period of time to build a number of public facing websites. This has included both custom development and front-end design.

How did you select Net Solutions as your partner?

A lot of it revolved around research into what Net Solutions did. We’ve grown our relationship with Net Solutions organically through the years, starting back in 2007, with several smaller projects, and then dealing with higher-level projects on an ad-hoc basis. We were very comfortable with their previous experience and with the estimates they were able to provide.

Could you provide a general cost estimate for this engagement?

The costs have varied on a project-by-project basis, and the amount of work that we delegate to them. It could range anywhere from several hundred thousands to a million dollars.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback you’ve received that would demonstrate the effectiveness of their work?

Generally speaking, our model of working with Net Solutions is different from the norm. We work as a team with them. The feedback that we’ve received is consolidated feedback, and it’s not simply a reflection of Net Solutions and their work, but also a reflection of our own internal team. The best performance feedback I can offer is on a platform that has more than 10,000 licensees and about 3,000 clients, the maintenance is far below levels of requirement than you’d expect.

From a day-to-day perspective, the platform is self-sufficient, self-managing, and the quality of the code is what should be expected at an enterprise level. We’ve had an independent code review conducted on the work delivered by Net Solutions, and it came back highly positive.

When working with Net Solutions, is there anything you’d consider unique about their approach or development methodology that distinguish them from other vendors?

They’re definitely very conscientious about their work. One of the common complaints against most outsourcing firms are that the quality of the solution, the quality of the code tends to be below quality expectations. There are elements of effective development that are generally not adhered to. I’ve worked with numerous outsourcing firms of varying sizes, and one thing that is common is exactly that. In fact, the amount of time you have to spend getting the delivered code into a shape is shocking. Net Solutions doesn’t fall into this trap, which has been great for us.  

They’re also relatively open to modifying their processes and procedures when the client requires it. When we have a certain requirement that we don’t like, a part of the process, they happily accommodate our needs after thoughtful consideration.

In retrospect, are there areas in which you think they could improve as a service provider?

Sometimes, you want to be less process-driven and be a bit more reactive. It’s a fine balance between the two. It bothers me once in a while, but it’s not a huge issue for me because we work it out well. So, our need for agility and process is well managed.

BACKGROUND

Busy Little Kids is an Australian based company, started around eight months ago with one main employee.

The app was developed to help children get away from technology, and rediscover the art of play and creativity. I manage the marketing, social media, accounts; pretty much everything.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

I needed an app built that was elegant and beautiful. The main goal was to develop an app that was easy to use. Usability was the key criteria, more than beauty.

SOLUTION

The project involved design and development by Net Solutions. I chose Net Solutions because their price was reasonable, and I liked their design ideas as well as their friendly manner.

I gave them a rough design layout, and examples of other apps I liked and we went from there. They were extremely helpful, efficient, and delivered all aspects of the project on time.

The cost of the project was around $3,000. The app was completed in December of 2013. The app was just developed on iOS, but Android porting will come later.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Both myself and the people who have purchased the app have been really happy with it. Busy Little Kids has been ranked in the top 10 apps in the Australian App Store since its launch.

The app was completed successfully on time and on budget. I am satisfied with Net Solutions' efforts. They covered all of the requirements. I have no complaints because the project was wrapped up smoothly.