Perfomatix Solutions

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder of eNeGotz LLC. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Perfomatix Solutions?

We needed a partner who could advise on and develop our software.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They held a three-day business requirement workshop where we talked about our project goals, and they put together a proposal and estimate for the work. They outlined their documentation process and analyzed our requirements. They also put together the architectural design for the overall software layout. Now that that phase is over, we’re moving into development.

What is the team composition? 

My main point of contact is their chief business officer, but I also interact with one of the founders and the dev team.

How did you come to work with Perfomatix Solutions?

I knew the chief business officer and had been wanting to work with his company for a long time. When this project came up, I knew they’d be a great fit, so I hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent $3,000. The total project will cost $277,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We partnered in August 2018, and the work is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re satisfied with the quality of their work, and the entire engagement has been a positive experience. Their designs and reporting are good, too.

How did Perfomatix Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We talk weekly, and they provide updates and clarify what they’re working on. During the business requirement phase, I interacted frequently with the main analyst. We use Slack, and their team is incredibly responsive. They provide updates before I even have to request them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re attentive and add extra features to our product. They communicate well and are cost effective.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They sometimes work slowly, but it’s because they want to deliver high-quality work instead of just meeting deadlines.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Give them a chance and look into working with them. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing director at NXT Offshore, a technology company that supports our gas operations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Perfomatix Solutions?

We needed someone to develop our asset management platform for tablets. We use the application to inspect offshore platforms, remote yards, and workshops, and the data is then made available to asset owners through a web-based platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Perfomatix developed and designed our asset management platform. They spent the first six weeks working on a two-year roadmap of the product lifecycle and then started the wireframes. We just released the first version of the software and are continuing to work with them on the next stage of the roadmap.

What is the team composition?

They supplied all the design engineers, UX engineers, project management resources, and developers. My point of contact was a project manager.

How did you come to work with Perfomatix Solutions?

They have an office in Singapore, so I liked that we could have face-to-face interaction if I wanted. I got a good feeling from them because they were responsive to my questions.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $80,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since May 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve been patient explaining the process to us and educating our team about development and coding. We tell them what we want, and they walk us through what can be done and what can’t.

How did Perfomatix Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

The project manager is based in India, and I enjoyed interacting with him. I’ve been blown away by his ability to manage the project. We use Slack to communicate daily, and they always answer within a couple of hours. We also use Trello to track and add comments and have a weekly conference call to review the backlog. The development follows an agile model, and we communicate any extra tasks that come up.

What did you find most impressive about them?

After visiting them in India, I knew they cared about the end-client more than simply fulfilling our requirements. They learned about our industry and did everything necessary to develop our product. They’re transparent and great at problem-solving.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their development team is in India, but it would be beneficial to me if everyone were in Singapore. This separation hasn’t caused any delays or issues though.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Spend time with these companies and sit down as a group to understand their workflows. I used to think managing a project in India would be difficult and that it would be hard to communicate. Thankfully, that hasn’t been the case at all.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder and CEO of Hakovo. Hakovo builds an ecosystem by connecting the parties within the international supply chain to simplify the process, bring transparency to the users and improve the efficiency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Perfomatix?

Our IT development was extremely delayed due to the poor quality of the previous development team. Besides the lack of dedication and professional IT skills, the team’s project manager had no project management skills and no communications with us. The language and geography gaps between the project manager and the developers were also a key reason for the delay and poor quality.

In the short term, our challenge is to deliver the minimum viable product (MVP) to achieve market launch within 2–3 months. In the long term, we hope to achieve sustainable business growth and expansion with them.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their scope includes fixing the current development so our customers can test the general process and creating new UI and modules to enhance our customer experience, deliver new products, and allow Hakovo to manage transactions.

How did you come to work with Perfomatix? We selected them based on the following criteria: 1) We need a professional project manager. Perfomatix has a local representative in Singapore who is available to attend meetings with us. 2) We need flexibility in our arrangement for the size and expertise of the development team to accommodate our changing needs. 3) We require experience. Perfomatix provided the resumes of the developers and case studies on similar projects.

How much have you invested with them?

SGD 100,000–200,000 p.a.

What is the status of this engagement? May 2017 - Ongoing

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The first phase of the project has been completed. The deliverables were all met. It was delivered later than scheduled but still within an acceptable timeframe. The current phase is still ongoing. They have given us good details on their plan and there are no issues on timeline or quality.

How did Perfomatix perform from a project management standpoint?

They have good project management skills. They are able to help us to set the right expectations on the timeline and deliverables. They use the right technology to communicate (e.g. Slack, Google Docs, InVision, etc.). They are generally proactive and responsive in communication. For example, they always set the next call date, time, and agenda, and reply to messages most of the time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a sizeable team to swap resources if they need to and they are quite experienced. They are all very customer-oriented.

Are there any areas they could improve?

• Set up backup structure if engineer/developer is sick or off.
• Some of the developer’s English accent is quite strong so we have to talk longer in order to understand each other.
• Some developers tell a long story about what the problems and fixes are. Explanations can be more succinct.
• Initially, they chose to use Google Hangout, which caused quite a bit of frustration. They switched to GoToMeeting after a few times.
• They did help on one weekend when the issue was urgent but they do not work on weekends in general. As an entrepreneur, I would like my team to have a similar passion to mine. They do not need to put in full days of work every weekend but I would hope they could catch up more when the timeline is slipping.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Food Cowboy, LLC is a for-profit company that uses technology and other services to help food companies donate inventory that’s wholesome but non-sellable to food charities. I’m the co-founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Perfomatix?

We had to communicate a burst of information to a wide group of people and give them the information they needed to decide whether or not to take further action. For example, a grower might have 20 cases of bananas they couldn’t sell and wanted to get rid of. We need to communicate with a number of food banks in several states as well as some food pantries and tell them what the product was, what the condition was, where it was, how much there was, etc. They needed to be able to get back to us and let us know if they wanted it. We needed an app to communicate with them.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They used Parse to do the web and app development from scratch. [Parse has since shut down (2017), but still exists as open-source.] The app had a database backend. A lot of our team doesn’t have a technological background, but we gave them a process flow diagram. We needed to be able to understand what was feasible and affordable and do everything in a certain timeframe. We also had to accommodate the different user environments, including truckers, growers, and food charity volunteers. We needed to refine what the data was and make decisions on the different data points. For example, at one point we needed to know what the packaging was and whose pallets they were on because that affected the chain of custody and cost. Perfomatix is pretty dynamic and were able to go and think about it and come back in a day or so with a solution. They’re very responsive.

How did you come to work with Perfomatix?

We met Joe Sumpter at the New York City BigApps Hackathon several years ago. We came up with something too complex for the time we had to do it in, but some good thinking came out of it. We kept in touch with him and, a year later, we contacted him to get started. We looked at 1 or 2 independent developers and they just didn’t have the experience, responsiveness, or capacity.

How much have you invested with Perfomatix?

We spent between $250,000 and $500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in October 2014, and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve moved a couple million pounds of food, which is how we keep track of our progress. The big agencies that use our services are pushing for a lot more. They wanted to be able to track volunteers and process receipts online, and we got a lot of those things done. There’s a huge potential to serve this market. Small non-profits don’t use a lot of technology. The people who use the app liked what they saw and wanted more.

How did Perfomatix perform from a project management standpoint?

Joe responds very quickly. His partners come back with good questions. We talk over the phone when we need to. We got the sense that they’re good engineers. I would use them again for anything.

What did you find most impressive about Perfomatix?

They’re good at understanding what we don’t get. They came back with diagrams and documentation that we could understand. They were very patient with us.

Are there any areas Perfomatix could improve?

I don’t think so. If you’re not an IT professional and you hire technologists, you have an idea of what should happen. They were good about keeping our expectations realistic.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of an online social venture. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Perfomatix?

I entrusted the development of my web platform to them. They were asked to create a marketplace with seller and buyer sides and integrated payment systems. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I don’t know the technical details of Perfomatix’s side of the work. I described my vision to them in detail and received a detailed scope of work and a quote two weeks later. From then on, Perfomatix divided the work into a few stages, giving me weekly updates at the completion of each stage for our conference calls. They also released various versions of the platform and asked for my feedback. This back-and-forth exchange of ideas and products went on for about 6 months.

Essentially, we wanted the transacting platform to be built as 3 different apps for Android, iOS, and web. They also made an admin website through which I can check on the platform. The product is a marketplace with an interface through which buyers can browse and purchase available items. Sellers can also review the items that are available and make their own listings.

I asked Perfomatix to create lots of filters. We want to reduce food waste, so we allow people to post items that were close to their expiration date at a discounted price for individuals and entities like NGOs and non-profits within disaster zones.

The platform has a user side for buyers as well as for sellers, who are connected through a payment gateway. There are built-in features around this process like filters, expiration dates, seller location, and so on.

Overall, 5–6 different people were involved. There were 3 teams in place—for iOS, Android, and web—but I interacted with the project manager, who relayed my feedback to each team. I also coordinated with a UX person with whom I’m still in contact in order to beautify the app and make it more user-friendly and appealing.

I also worked with a testing team that identified and fixed all bugs, as well as with a payment team. A business advisor helped me link payment channels and the gateway. For example, we needed to use Stripe and had to integrate with its APIs.

How did you come to work with Perfomatix?

I was introduced to their business development officer by a friend, who arranged a conference call with Perfomatix’s software developers. They asked me about my requirements and vision for the end-product. After some deliberation on the cost, we decided to go ahead.

Before we hired Perfomatix, I did make a few initial inquiries. I knew that I had to develop my platform, and Perfomatix’s project manager seemed to understand my goal. Since the quoted price was reasonable, I simply decided to start working with them.

How much have you invested with Perfomatix?

The cost of developing such a platform is definitely not low. Going online and trying to figure out prices will show a huge variation. In the U.S., the work could’ve cost $400,000, but it would only have been $50,000 in Poland, although I wasn't confident of the quality. I had to decide how much I could afford, whether Perfomatix could deliver within that budget, and whether I could sync with their team and have them understand my goals.

I wouldn’t call Perfomatix’s development cheap by any standards, but it’s also not at the upper end. It’s worked out somewhere in the middle. I know groups that could have done the work for 60% of the cost, but I thought that Perfomatix had a good team, so I stayed with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Perfomatix in the second week of December 2016. The product launched in July 2017. It’s been deployed and is available online. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve just launched marketing and are in the process of trying to attract potential sellers, supermarkets, and so on. This is essentially a social venture, and much of it depends on the goodwill of people and their sense of responsibility towards society in general.

Perfomatix tried to connect me with their other clients, which I really appreciate. They’ve worked on many projects and recently introduced me to some well-connected people, in terms of networking. We are making significant headway, and I’m grateful for it.

I showed the MVP to a few friends and family members. They identified some initial problems, which we’ve fixed. The people who’ve seen the current platform are pleased with what has been created, but I have no numerical evidence for this fact.

How did Perfomatix perform from a project management standpoint?

We did overrun the schedule by a couple of weeks, but this was primarily because we were trying to fix some issues around the payment gateway. Generally speaking, Perfomatix has been on time, and I am satisfied with their performance. Their business office was quite accommodating. I could set face-to-face meetings with Perfomatix’s representative within 1–2 hours.

Because the development team is in India, not Singapore (which is where my office is), explaining ideas through conference calls can be difficult. If I was next to a person, I could simply point to an item that needed changing.

The project manager has been consistent and tried his best to meet deadlines. Once in a while, there were delays, but some of them happened because I couldn’t convey some details over the phone, so we had a couple of misunderstandings.

What did you find most impressive about Perfomatix?

I haven’t actually worked with anyone else, so it’s a bit difficult for me to comment on this. I don’t know how Perfomatix compares in terms of customer support—whether they do more or less than other firms—but I’m satisfied with what I’ve gotten so far.

I do appreciate that Perfomatix’s business development team made every effort to connect me to other clients and used their networking to move the product forward after its creation. They were not really obliged to do that, so it’s something I appreciate.

Are there any areas Perfomatix could improve?

During meetings, we had a project manager, but the team leads for the individual platforms were not present. I had to depend on my ability to convey ideas to the project manager and further depend on his ability to convey those ideas to the respective teams. This created some miscommunication. I told Perfomatix that it would be better to have at least one representative from each team present in order to clarify whatever doubts they might’ve had. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder and CEO of ArkLabs, an Internet-of-things [IoT] company providing a smart water-monitoring device. Our hardware is connected to the cloud via Wi-Fi or cellular, and it utilizes machine-learning software to analyze water data. Users connect to the device via an iOS or Android mobile app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Perfomatix?

We had a challenge at the residential/commercial level, trying to prevent leaks. We also aimed to help both apartment and multifamily owners focus on the inefficiencies in their systems and become more conservation-minded.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Perfomatix was responsible for the development and they’ve also helped us with launching and marketing the apps. We began by building the Android and iOS mobile apps and, most importantly, the machine-learning software. Our algorithm-driven decision-making platform uses Elastic Search and other components at the server level. Perfomatix has also been integral on the hardware side, making sure we had the right coding and firmware in place and helping all the parts work together.

Through the mobile platform, people can monitor their water flow, understand how water is being consumed at the end-user level, and control the water flow by shutting it off from their mobile devices. Users can see a 30- to 90-day historical log of their water consumption and make better decisions around the consumption and conservation of water.

We’re using the Particle.io platform for tying our system together. I’m not sure what technologies were used for the mobile apps themselves. On the machine-learning side, we’re using the Apache Spark platform and its machine-learning components and algorithms. We’re also using Elastic Search to dig through the data.  

How did you come to work with Perfomatix?

Liju, their CEO and co-founder, took part in an accelerator program called GIGTANK 365, which was offered by CO.LAB 2 years ago in Chattanooga, Tennessee. We became friends and realized that Perfomatix would be an integral part of our service. We did interview 3 other companies—2 onshore and 1 offshore—but we chose Perfomatix based on their skill sets, willingness, and compatibility with our company culture.

How much have you invested with Perfomatix?

The cost of their work has been close to $100,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Perfomatix in October 2015. It’s a continuous process, given the scope of what we’re doing. We don’t have strict start and stop dates. Perfomatix is our development, troubleshooting, and support team for any type of issue we come across. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t reached the point of telling the world how many people are using our system. Without Perfomatix, we wouldn’t have arrived anywhere close to where we are today. They’ve gone above and beyond every time we needed help. We’ve gotten together and brainstormed, and the working relationship has been great. They’ve been quick to adapt and nimble, which we appreciate as a startup going in so many different directions. They’re proactive as well and will come to us with ideas to make the system better, stronger, and higher-functioning. Perfomatix is truly a part of our team.

How did Perfomatix perform from a project management standpoint?

The process is detailed. We’re always on the same page, and I know when things are going to be done. They usually deliver before the due date.

What did you find most impressive about Perfomatix?

They have an incredible work ethic that’s almost as crazy as mine, which says a lot. Perfomatix always completes the tasks I gave them. For example, we had an iteration for our hardware, and I received an email at what would have been 2:30 AM on Perfomatix's time, or 3:30 AM in Alabama. I gave them a list of what needed to be done according to the info from our hardware manufacturer, and Perfomatix handled everything. They took on ownership (figuratively more than literally) in our company and have a deep interest in our success.

Are there any areas Perfomatix could improve?

They could move to our backyard and eliminate the time difference, but besides that, I have no complaints. I actually brought a developer from Perfomatix here and embedded him into our team for 90 days. The flexibility they’ve given us has been amazing.