OptiSol Business Solutions

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of an online gym for people with specific health conditions. I manage most of the company’s strategy myself. Since I come from a technical background, I also handle a lot of the development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OptiSol?

We were moving at a faster development pace than I could handle myself, so I started to look for extra resources. It wasn’t for a specific project, but rather our general development pipeline.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

OptiSol provides general development for my platform. The web stack is Node.js, alongside HTML5 with the Bootstrap framework. We use SQL for the backend database.

They have also worked to set up our server infrastructure, including a test server using Amazon Web Services. This has helped handle and streamline those server loads.

I always provide web designs, so they haven’t worked on those. OptiSol has interpreted those designs and developed the backend framework that supports them. They’ve also handled project management.

What is the team composition?

OptiSol provided a project manager who takes my specifications and describes them in more detail. I speak to her daily. Another member takes care of invoicing and other business details. I am also in touch with the project's lead developer.

How did you come to work with OptiSol?

I found them on PeoplePerHour.com, a U.K. freelancing site. I chose OptiSol based on their ratings and certifications on the site. They offered a good balance of price when compared to U.K. or international developers. After finding a review for their company from one of my friends, I contacted her, and she recommended them.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with OptiSol 18 months ago. The collaboration has been flexible; I used them when I needed to use them. One large project, for a specific piece of functionality, extended to 12 weeks. After that, I no longer needed support, and we certainly didn’t have the money to outsource for quite a while.

I have asked OptiSol to complete little pieces of development since then. I’m currently recruiting them for a monthlong project, and we have a 10-month project coming up. I will be engaging with them for most of 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The tasks I’ve given OptiSol are based on our business decisions about which functionalities need to be developed. Our three-month-long piece of development failed as a feature, so we need to iterate on it. This is in no way their fault, though.

Our internal team consists of three people, and the other two are non-technical. They don't have any input on the quality of work, but they have enjoyed the fact that we can speed up the development process.

How did OptiSol perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve surprised me by performing very well in this sense. OptiSol has been flexible about workflow, but they also suggested using the Pivotal Tracker platform. I’ve adapted it to work for me, given that I am a developer who needs a lot of input on testing results. They’ve endeavored to put a good system in place.

We tried to have weekly meetings, but I didn’t feel that was necessary. We did overrun timelines in certain weeks, based on what we thought we could achieve, but I wasn’t charged for the extra time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re easy to contact and accessible at any hour of the day, despite our time zone differences. I can always get a quick answer from them, and they fix any critical bugs fast.

They don’t work on a time basis so much as they work on projects. If a feature is quoted as taking a week, OptiSol won’t overcharge me if it takes two. They work to complete the project and the features they promised. I was never asked for extra money.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Toward the end of the project, there was a point when I felt that their development work wasn’t as good as it had been in the beginning. I should have managed it better, but I believe that a different developer was assigned to the project. Keeping in touch with the client about changes in the team would be useful for managing the quality. I’ve been happy working with them, and continue to be satisfied.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Stars Branding Network, a social networking platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OptiSol?

We wanted an app developer.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed the entire platform for web, Android, and iOS. They’ve done a great job with our streaming services and our payment gateway.

What is the team composition?

We have a team of about 12 people. We communicate directly with an iOS development lead, a team member who collects information and translates it for the developers to code, and a project manager.

How did you come to work with OptiSol?

I found them through the internet and some reviews. I contacted about 10 developers and companies in the U.S. and abroad. They were professional and really quick to answer my questions, which got me excited and motivated to move forward with them. They built a working platform for me within about six days, which was very impressive.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together about a year and a half ago, around September 2016. We’re still working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s an innovative platform. We started with nothing and are now up to 800 users and growing. We start advertisements and a TV campaign next month ahead of our full launch on March 1, 2018. So far all our users came to us through word of mouth during our beta testing.

How did OptiSol perform from a project management standpoint?

They're doing an A+ job. We use a number of tools, including InVision, Pivotal Tracker, Skype, and the app itself. We also communicate through phone and email, and we have a free conference call service we use. We can contact them at any time, either in off hours or during the business day.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The main thing is their communication. They’re very well organized when gathering information, even more organized than we were, and they gave us what we asked for.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Our experience is pretty flawless. We didn't really have any issues with them at all.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of technology for an information technology company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OptiSol Business Solutions.

We wanted to create a mobile app as a side-project but didn’t have the time for it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a business idea and provided them with a specification of the app we wanted in very simple words, not a technical specification. We went to them and asked them if they could build such an app, and if so how they would work technically.

They developed a fitness application, but for house exercises with video. The user could start a video and do the exercises, and the video would pause during that time and then resume afterwards. They developed the framework in Ionic and the backend in Firebase. One of the main technical challenges was that it had a lot of synchronizations.

What is the team dynamic?

We had a project manager who we mainly worked with, but they’ve got quite a large team.

How did you come to work with OptiSol Business Solutions?

I found them on an Ionic forum where they had posted for another project. I contacted them and liked the small size of the company, and particularly liked the references that they provided.

How much have you invested with them?

Around $2,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2015, and the project was completed in January 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They developed the app in accordance with the original specification I had sent them and the functionality was great. It was a super small project.

How did OptiSol Business Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

They did very well. We used Pivotal Tracker and Skype for communication on a regular basis.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are very friendly, and apart from that, they have a large team and I have a feeling they have plenty of resources in the background.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes, the Skype connection could have been a bit better. Otherwise, I was very satisfied with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder and CEO of a tech startup in the e-commerce space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OptiSol Business Solutions?

We were trying to build our product and needed design and development services for a web app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We scoped an MVP, mapped-out and planned it, and iterated based on customer and market feedback through dozens of development cycles over a period of 18 months. We built a platform which did what we envisioned for it to do at the start of the project. It took a significant amount longer than we thought, but we did get there in the end.

OptiSol built a batching algorithm which was one of the technical challenges we faced. The software itself wasn’t technically-challenging because it used existing tech. The batching algorithm and the open-order book were the most advanced parts, though both are basic in terms of functionality. If we do develop anything remotely more advanced, it will be at a later point.

We used MongoDB, the Express.js, AngularJS and Node.js. I’m not a developer, so OptiSol made those choices based on our final use cases. I believe the stack is called MEAN, and it’s standard for what we built. They are up-to-date with the latest techniques.

What is the team dynamic?

Jayakumar Radhakrishnan [Co-Founder, OptiSol Business Solutions] acted as our business analyst, and we had a lead developer. I mostly worked with them during my time with OptiSol.

How did you come to work with OptiSol Business Solutions?

I initially spoke with one of their business development people 5 years ago, on a now defunct platform called Elance.com. They understood the parameters of what we were trying to do quickly, which is why I chose OptiSol.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost has been between $150,000 and $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with OptiSol in April 2013 on a different initial project. The current one is still ongoing. We’ve paused development while we get some feedback from the market.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have a good product market fit. The platform is converting well, and is functional from this point of view. We don’t have any technical risk, given that it’s doing what it should be doing, after the usual bug-hunting process. We haven’t properly launched it yet due to a remaining market risk with our model.

How did OptiSol Business Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

This was a bootstrapped project. For the first startup project we did with OptiSol, where we were funded, their project management was excellent. We had a dedicated product manager then, but didn’t have one this time, because the project was bootstrapped. When OptiSol has the budget for product management, they’re very good at it. I couldn’t fault them there. We used Trello, Slack, Skype and Pivotal Tracker.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve worked with an awful lot of freelancers over the years, and OptiSol is head-and-shoulders above most of them. It’s still not perfect, but they are better than the vast majority. They do what they say they will do eventually, even if they will sometimes be slow and methodical. Thinking about it, we’d prefer the work to be done slowly and right, rather than quickly and wrong. I’ve stuck with them through two projects, and I’m pretty happy.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wish they would spend more time in the initial stages of the project to scope it out better. This is more of a reflection on the project we’ve just finished than a criticism of OptiSol. It would save everyone a lot of time in the long run, but I can understand why this stage would be brushed over by OptiSol in order to get the business in the door. It can be costly for everyone concerned, eventually, which is a bit of an issue.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the owner of a fintech startup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OptiSol Business Solutions?

The app is a money transfer platform that can be accessed via the computer, and we have it available for Android and iOS. I was looking for a partner to help build the software for both the web and mobile app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, I was looking for an individual programmer to perform some specific development for this project as the rest of the development had already been completed by my business partner and his team. We had been in discussion with OptiSol, and after my business partner and I separated, I had asked OptiSol to provide me with an offer for the entire development of the product. They proposed an offer and I was satisfied, and then we moved forward from there. They ended up developing the entire software for the web and app. They were my personal development team.

It was important for me to have a very secure software. As it is a money transfer software, all the language and the cloud based software had to be secure. It was a challenge for OptiSol to choose the architecture platform. We had been in discussion regarding which language to use, and where the software should be based. In the end, we decided to base it in the Amazon Cloud, and use JavaScript languages, as well as other languages that they chose to add.

How did you come to work with OptiSol Business Solutions?

I found them through PeoplePerHour.com as I was initially looking for a developer to perform a small frontend job, and had contacted them last year when I was at the beginning stages of development. My business partner at the time had looked at their profile and saw they were knowledgeable in all the languages we wanted to use. They also had the full expertise in terms of their ability to perform future jobs which may be necessary to continue in the development of the product. What I really liked about them was that they were available at the time, which was a necessity for me.

How much have you invested in them?

We have spent around $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2016, and the project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app has not been published yet.

How did OptiSol Business Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

They were able to deliver the first phases on time and the communication has been quite good. They are very engaging. Because of the 12-hour time difference, their project manager collected all the information and provided great support. He communicated with the team and provided the project plan. They had offered me the use of their project management tool, which would allow me to contribute; however, the project is quite complex so it was easier for me in the end to establish a relationship with particular team members for a specific aspect, whether it was the Android leader or iOS leader, who I would connect to directly. The project manager would then follow up on all the communication and record everything within the tool, and made sure that everything was on time. It was easier for me to communicate in this way.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Although I provided them with specific documentation, as we were building a brand new software, it was not very detailed. As it is money transfer software, we needed to build an accounting system and had to be able to connect to the Visa card network, which was quite complex.

I was surprised by how enthusiastic and inspired they were, and even though particular details of the project were not explained, they were able to deliver it how I wanted it. I also like that they use InVision, which in a way replaced the project management tool, as they were able to present the product in a mock-up way. We could then follow the progress, and they designed it precisely as I wanted it, and that was impressive.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My organization is Molecule Corp. We are a startup that's a little over 3 years old. We're an innovation company focused on 3D printing and industrial inkjet. We design and sell the chemistries going into those markets. I'm the founder and CEO of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OptiSol?

During the R&D cycle within the chemical industry, there's a consistent issue with keeping track of formulas and sharing information within the organization while keeping certain parts of that information confidential within the organization.

Most of the industry uses lab notebooks to keep track of their formulas. When a person is done with the notebook, it goes on a shelf and it's not very secure. Somebody can walk out with a lab notebook and have all of the work you've done.

Excel is also commonly used in the industry, which again is an insecure method since anybody with a thumb drive could walk away with your technology. It's a bad way of sharing knowledge within the company.

I wanted to create an efficient way for people to formulate new chemistries and share them within the community while protecting the IP.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We designed the software internally. It's called Albert. OptiSol Business Solutions created the software stack that we've utilized to suffice our needs as an organization. The software they designed solved the problem that we had, and we've actually re-engaged with them to develop more technology.

They designed the software which also includes a project management solution. We define all of our projects' targets and divide them into phases. Those phases are shown on a calendar where we can visually see how far along our in-house projects are. As people work towards these targets, we can see exactly how each project is meeting the demands of the customer. We also implemented APIs that bring in a huge amount of additional information from the internet so that the innovators and chemists have access to that information at their fingertips.

What is the team dynamic?

We had a whole team of people. We worked with Prem, Selva, Karthik, and Ravi. We met with Ravi every single morning from 9 to 10 o'clock for the last 7 months. He was the day-to-day lead on our project, but all of them were very, very accessible.

How did you come to work with OptiSol Business Solutions?

They were our first partners. I have an employee here that worked in the software environment for a few years. He was aware of OptiSol and actually built a software package with them in a previous career. We put together very detailed requirements documents and put them out to bid. Not only was OptiSol incredibly competitive financially, but their response to our document was incredibly thorough.

How much have you invested with them?

The costs that we have incurred is about $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We engaged with them the first week of January 2017. The project has been completed. I've invested in this software independently of this company, so I have a separate company that is holding the software and licensing it to my other company. We plan on deploying it into the chemical industry as a revenue source amongst itself. I expect to be engaged with them for at least a couple more years.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I now have all my intellectual property protected. The entire company has visibility of the things that I need them to have visibility of, so the efficiencies there are phenomenal.

The number of chemical formulas or batches that make have doubled. With the new tool developed by OptiSol, we can make more batches and get results from those batches, which we are then able to make decisions on. With the same number of people, we are performing twice as much work.

How did OptiSol perform from a project management standpoint?

They do extremely well. Luckily, I have an employee here that is incredibly good at project management. I think that we have actually helped OptiSol in this respect. We utilized a couple pieces of software where we put in our requests in phases to keep track of what we're expecting and how they're performing. We've worked together constantly to improve that process, but I've been very pleased with it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I didn't feel the pain of them being in India, and I think that's unique. One of the biggest concerns I had going into the project was the fact that they were in India. Like a lot of people in India, their English is phenomenal; it's not difficult to understand. Even with us being on the West Coast, they made time to ensure that we had plenty of time to work with them in our comfortable mornings.

If we needed to have longer discussions, they stayed into the wee hours of the morning working with us without complaint or without even mentioning the fact that they had missed dinner and bedtime in India. It's very comfortable to work with them in our hours to get the project done. It was easy enough that it was largely unnoticed; no different than working with a company in the US.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They're very responsive to suggestions and will pull a meeting together to ask how they could do something better. One of the things that we improved on in the last 6 months is the method that we utilized to keep track of the project. I think we both learned a lot from that process. It's our first attempt at developing the software, and I think that they improved dramatically from the beginning to the end.

As we were deploying parts of the software, we learned a lot of things that we wanted and therefore the timeline would slip because they were taking on more effort. I don't think that was a negative. I thought they were very open and didn't push back on any changes we asked for, which was really nice. The project would creep a bit timewise, but I always blamed it on us for adding more effort that they were required to do.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We provide a social application for event sharing. It includes photos, videos, and other types of media. We have been around for one year. I am a co-founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OptiSol Business Solutions?

We needed help building our app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

OptiSol Business Solutions started working with us at the beginning of our product's lifecycle. They were in charge of the backend, including AFP web service calls and SQL procedures, as well as the front-end for both our iOS and Android apps. OptiSol Business Solutions assigned a backend team as well as user interface [UI] designers to our project. We started the process with InVision storyboards focused on making the best user experience possible. We're a young team, so it was nice to have partners within OptiSol Business Solutions who had experience with the different technologies we were trying to implement.

How did you come to work with OptiSol Business Solutions?

We evaluated a few of offshore and onshore companies, looking for a team with full-stack capabilities, from the backend SQL servers to the frontend UI design. We looked at teams in San Francisco as well as Ukraine and India. The price was the first decision factor. Onshore companies were simply too expensive, quoting us between $500,000 and $1,000,000 for just an initial prototype. That would amount to a lot of risks before we even validated the product in the market. We started looking offshore, taking into account the passion and capabilities of the teams, more than just the price. We ultimately chose OptiSol Business Solutions because they were incredibly passionate about our vision, and they liked working with small dynamic companies.

How much have you invested with OptiSol Business Solutions?

The cost of OptiSol Business Solutions' work has been around $80,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We signed our contract with OptiSol Business Solutions at the end of December 2015, but the actual work started in January 2016.

Our initial plan was to simply use an offshore team as a catalyst for our company, instead of having a continued relationship. We have been slowly transitioning parts of the work to our office over the last year, which makes it easier to maintain the codebase. We see OptiSol Business Solutions as eventually becoming a support organization for us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have recently released our apps, which makes it hard to have good statistics for them. The main result has been the validation of our initial assumptions in terms of the market value of our product. There is still a lot of work to do in order to reach our goal, especially in terms of user experience. That's our weakest point at the moment. The logic and codebase are solidly-built, but we haven't focused enough on user aspects. We have been beta-testing for a couple of months, and have seen people adopt our technology.

How did OptiSol Business Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

OptiSol Business Solutions has used the standard industry tools in order to manage our project backlog and user stories. We work in a modified scrum environment, assigning different project managers for each project. There will always be issues and miscommunications, especially given our time difference and language barrier, but everything revolves around putting processes and tools in place. We use InVision, Pivotal Tracker, Slack, and other standard tools in order to ensure that everything is done timely and efficiently.

What did you find most impressive about OptiSol Business Solutions?

I appreciate OptiSol Business Solutions' passion. Many people can write software, some better than others, and their team is in the middle. OptiSol Business Solutions isn't exceptional, but definitely not bad. The passion that they've had for the project, all the way up to the top of their organization, was fantastic. One of the company's founders has been present for all of our calls, helping interface between developers, handling project management, and providing ideas for additional features. This was definitely unexpected, and it's a reason for choosing OptiSol Business Solutions.

Are there any areas OptiSol Business Solutions could improve?

We like their work, but a big challenge has been the 12-13-hour time difference. It leads to one or both of our parties working at an inconvenient time for them. We have mostly made that sacrifice, working from 9 PM until deep into the morning, ensuring that everyone's aligned. Both of our companies have been growing and learning at similar rates. OptiSol Business Solutions has improved many of its processes over the course of our relationship, managing GitHub better and ensuring that releases are more well-planned, and don't conflict with our own work, especially since we've started to work on the same codebase. This type of setup requires good synchronization between developers, which can be challenging for any organization, no matter how large.

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

Clients should get consultants beforehand, who can provide a structure for OptiSol Business Solutions to work within. They're a dynamic company, and they will work in the way they see best if the client doesn't provide a structure. It's often a matter of perspective, and not of right or wrong, but different clients have different preferences.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

ExQual is involved in materials tracking and documentation for verification purposes. Our primary target is oil and natural gas, but we're branching out into multiple other areas. I am the chief executive officer of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OptiSol Business Solutions?

We have developed a naming system for iOS which allows us to photo-document items outside of the scanning tracking system. We needed to create an Android version of the app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

OptiSol Business Solutions has provided software development for Android. The app has FTP [file transfer protocol] integration, allowing the system to upload files directly to our servers.

How did you come to work with OptiSol Business Solutions?

OptiSol Business Solutions was recommended to us by another developer we approached. We started working with them based on that recommendation.

How much have you invested with OptiSol Business Solutions?

The cost of our project has been $3,100. By comparison, the iOS version had a cost of almost $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our project began at the end of June 2016 and is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had a hamburger menu overlay as a part of the system's functionality, the implementation of which has led to some regression in our progress. OptiSol Business Solutions is close to resolving it, and they've moved quickly overall.

How did OptiSol Business Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

OptiSol Business Solutions was the most professional partner we've had in this respect. The clarity of identifying what we desired was excellent. OptiSol Business Solutions asked relevant questions.

What did you find most impressive about OptiSol Business Solutions?

The clarity of communication offered by OptiSol Business Solutions was excellent. Our previous developer had the notion that we were a huge company, so they had no sense of urgency or completion, as a result. Ironically, they were our most expensive developer and didn't even complete the job. We went to 3 other companies, but none of them were very clear in what they were doing. OptiSol Business Solutions was forthright and asked the right questions.

Are there any areas OptiSol Business Solutions could improve?

Reaching targets has been a point of frustration. OptiSol Business Solutions should assign additional resources to our work, given that we're 3 months removed from having a functional product for our clients. OptiSol Business Solutions is starting to get there, but it's been challenging.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder of a tech startup providing an app for meal ordering.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OptiSol Business Solutions?

We needed to build our mobile app. I had worked with a UK company but decided to look for an option with better pricing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

OptiSol Business Solutions developed my app for Android and iOS. It is a swipe, touch-dial app with the option of auto-calling menu options.

How did you come to work with OptiSol Business Solutions?

I found OptiSol Business Solutions on PeoplePerHour. I had a look at their previous applications as well as the feedback they'd received. I contacted OptiSol Business Solutions and was impressed with their understanding of my requirements.

How much have you invested with OptiSol Business Solutions?

The cost of OptiSol Business Solutions' work was around $8,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with OptiSol Business Solutions in July 2016. The app is about to be completed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did OptiSol Business Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

OptiSol Business Solutions was very good in this regard. They provided a project tracking tool, but I haven't used it.

What did you find most impressive about  OptiSol Business Solutions?

OptiSol Business Solutions was quick to understand what I was trying to do. Compared to UK rates, their rates have been beneficial. I was worried by the project management side of things, given that OptiSol Business Solutions was a cheaper option, but I was very impressed.

Are there any areas OptiSol Business Solutions could improve?

The overall completion of the project could have been quicker. There were a few 1- to 2-day delays, which added up to a few weeks. The delays were similar to what I’ve experienced with the other companies I've used, so I can't really complain about OptiSol Business Solutions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our organization is in the automated retail industry. We distribute retailers’ products via very high-end vending machines that are fully automated. Many of our clients are very high-end Fortune 500 companies who have brick and mortar stores in various parts of the world, and they would like to penetrate into various other areas with their presence using our automated retail kiosks.

I am the vice president of software.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OptiSol Business Solutions?

To take our business further, we use various kinds of new technologies, one of them being applications on digital mobile platforms. We needed to outsource the development of a mobile app for one of our clients based in Los Angeles. That’s where we hired OptiSol.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The client provided their design of how they wanted the app to look and feel, but it was entirely up to me to translate their requirements to the developers. Over various meetings and discussions, we were able to nail down how the technology would be, how there would be a web service outside of our existing automated retail kiosk server, and how the two would communicate. The technology was nailed down first, then the development happened, which went very smoothly. Moving forward, we did not deviate much from the kind of technology that we used. The one feature that we spent some time on was how the app would accept payments through the mobile devices, but eventually, that also was ironed out.

How did you come to work with OptiSol Business Solutions?

After doing some research and interviewing various providers, I came across OptiSol. I did my due diligence and did some research on their background. Their proposal sounded reasonable, so I hired them to build our first mobile app for our client.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Optisol in March 2015 and our engagement is ongoing. They continue to be our preferred outsourced partner.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project was completed on time and it was very successful. There were some issues in the beginning. There was the first beta version, the first build, and the second build. I then bounced them off of my client until eventually, the final version in production is exactly as per their specifications. Unless there are some new features requested, the final app covers the entire project very well.

How did OptiSol Business Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

It was transparent, which was my biggest concern. The communication between the project manager, myself and the client was very smooth. Of course, there is a lot of communication required. There is a huge time difference between North America and India, but they were mostly available during late hours which suited us. We did not have any issues or delays because of that.

What did you find most impressive about OptiSol Business Solutions?

There’s one thing that caught my eye: the team size. That was a big requirement for me. I didn’t want to deal with a company with just one or two people because of problems I had read about on forums. OptiSol has a pretty large team  and the resources allocated for the project are also substantial. That’s why they were able to keep to the timelines.

Are there any areas OptiSol Business Solutions could improve?

If I’m speaking to that one project, then I don’t see any room for improvement. For this particular project, I had practically no issues that I can point out.

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

If you rely on them to come up with the designs that you would like, it may delay the project. I would advise having some designs already made or giving them as much information as you can. It’s not a matter of improvement, it’s a matter of expectation. You have to be realistic with what you are asking for.