Prismetric

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

We are a startup with three partners. We decided to build mobile apps, and this is our first one. We are located in Newark, N.J.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I am one of the partners.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Prismetric Technologies?

We hired Prismetric as a developer for our new website.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

Prismetric developed our mobile app. They also created a website and a responsive website.

What was your process for selecting Prismetric with which to work?

We searched online for a lot of companies. Out of those, we short-listed three companies. We did not know many companies that could do this work for us. We selected Prismetric out of those final three after calls and meetings. We needed apps for iOS, Android, and Windows platforms.

When was the project completed?

The last project was completed in early 2014. We are hoping to complete Phase 2 in the third quarter of 2014.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

Phase 1 was about $95,000, and Phase 2 is around $50,000.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the results of Phase 1 of the project?

Phase 1 is completed, and we are happy with the product. We thought about adding more functionality in the app. We will add some new features in Phase 2.

Are you satisfied with Prismetric Technologies' performance?

Absolutely. They did a good job

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

I don’t have any stats or metrics to share. They satisfied many partner groups so that is the main goal and metric.

Is there anything unique about them that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

One of their principals was my main contact. The main strengths were communication and timing. If I asked for a meeting in the afternoon my time, they were online to speak to me. I didn’t need to manage my schedule according to their time zone.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you might do differently?

I cannot think of anything to mention. Not all of their people speak English. If they can improve on that, it would be helpful.

BACKGROUND

We were developing an e-commerce website for a small retail chain. I was taking care of this project for the retail group. We have three stores. We wanted to give online buying services to all our customers, so we developed a new site.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

We are bombarded by customers on the weekend because most of the customers are working people and they prefer to shop when they are free. Sometimes, they do not have time to visit the store, so online shopping is ideal. We have a retail store, so we target all consumers.

SOLUTION

They used Magento to develop our website. We contacted four different companies and got a proposal from each. Later, we talked to all four of them and selected Prismetric as our vendor. We selected them as they have done similar work many times and their cost was reasonable. Other companies did not work on Magento, and our director wanted to develop the website with Magento.

We were trying to search for vendors via Google, and we found them. We saw their strong reputation online, so we decided to contact them.

Prismetric handled the design and development. We gave them guidelines where required. They came up with few mockups, and we had to do some revisions before approving the design. The project was completed in late April of 2014. We also received six months of technical support at no cost.

The project took three months. The site was designed and developed by them from scratch.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

The website is working very well and is fast. It definitely has met our expectations. We selected the right provider, and we will potentially work with them again. I would recommend Prismetric to anyone who is looking for website development. They did cover the full project scope within the price quote. They are very good communicators. They were always available when we wanted to speak with them.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

The problem was to communicate between higher management in private instead of talking on the phone. It was difficult to speak among each other if there [were] any private topics to discuss.

SOLUTION

Prismetric Technologies analyzed the problem and created an iPad chat app that helps management to chat and discuss things in private. We contacted a few other companies before choosing Prismetric Technologies. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

They are always there if you need help and the product was delivered in one month, which met the deadline. The product was delivered in systematic phases. Overall, we had a wonderful experience with Prismetric.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

I have a small business that specializes in baseball training for youth baseball players. We provide baseball camps, private lessons, and sell baseball training aids online. Our target market with this particular project is the youth baseball coach. We are trying to help educate youth baseball coaches so that they understand the fundamentals of the game of baseball better, and will teach it the correct way.

What is your role and responsibilities? 

I am the owner and head instructor.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for the work with Prismetric Technologies?

We developed the mobile app for iPhone called "My Coach: Baseball Instructor" last year with a different developer in the United States. However, since the iOS 7 update, our app had bugs that needed to be fixed in a timely manner with a tight budget. Developers in the U.S. were giving outrageous quotes for what we thought was a minor fix. 

SOLUTION

What was your process for selecting Prismetric Technologies?

Prismetric Technologies gave me a quick and competitive quote. I was hesitant to go overseas for the work on the app, but the communication was very clear and the team at Prismetric was very responsive to every need and question that I had with the project. They are a very trustworthy company. They explained everything in a manner that I can understand. Definitely no language barrier being from India, and no ‘techie’ language barrier as well.

Can you describe the scope of their work?

While other app development companies suggested that I start from scratch, Prismetric was able to use the existing code and fix it. They updated it to work with iOS 7 and the iPhone 5 perfectly. They also updated some of the artwork on the app to bring it up to date as well. 

After speaking with multiple software development companies from India, I spoke with Karan [Raj, a project manager] from Prismetric. I knew right away that I was going to do business with this company because of how he immediately connected with me, and understood my project. He guaranteed that the project would come out exactly how I wanted it, and they did not disappoint.

When was the project completed?

Duration of this project was approximately two weeks. It was finished in December of 2013.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement?

I do not have metrics yet, but the iOS app works perfectly, and should meet the needs of my company and customers. 

Was the project successful?

Yes, I would definitely recommend Prismetric Technologies to anyone looking to create or update a mobile app. They met and exceeded my expectations. 

What is unique or special about them compared to other IT vendors?

One of the project managers went through graduate school in the U.S. This was a major reason why I chose Prismetric rather than other companies in India.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

We’re a graphic design company, and we are based in the northeast of England. We undertake quite a few different products. We do signage, print, websites, and graphic design as well. We have quite a few products and try to provide our clients with a one-stop shop, such as a corporate identity when they’re starting off a business, all the way to websites, signage, and everything that they need within the business to do with print.

What is your role and responsibilities?

My role is managing director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was the challenge that you were trying to address when working with Prismetric?

From the website side of things, we employ a couple of web developers. One of the members left to start his own business. So, we were in a situation where we still needed to maintain the same level of products that we provide to the clients, such as web design, web management, and the like. One of the staff members wasn’t at that level, so rather than employing a person, we just called Prismetric and developed a relationship with them. They handle a majority of our work and our clients now.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work?

They do a mixture of web design and web creation. We rely on our own designer files to illustrate in Photoshop, and they’ll convert them onto a Wordpress site or make them live on the web. They also manage our servers, so we don’t have the need to get involved, Prismetric passes the website to us to upload. We register and buy the domain name, and they do everything else. We can pass a web project on to them, and they make it go live using our servers.

What was your process for selecting Prismetric to work with?

It was a mixture of price and responsiveness because they came back to us very quickly with proposals. To be honest with you, it was a little bit too quick, which made us hesitate initially. We put the tender out for one of the first projects to three people. We researched them and we liked what we received from them, especially the response and the Skype chats that we had. It was immediate and answered our questions straight away. They won the project. There are a lot of people who say they can do jobs, certainly with websites because the market is saturated. It was a matter of picking them out, narrowing it down, and letting someone get on with the project,

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

The most we spent with them would probably be between £5,000 to £6,000 – probably $10,000 U.S. Also, there have been projects at the $200 and $300 marks, or sometimes even less to upgrade or update the site.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How have they performed so far?

They’ve performed perfectly well. I can’t complain. Once we’ve looked at the initial time zones and when we can talk to them, we have direct contact with them. If I send an email or a Skype to them, they get straight back to us. Sometimes, we get the corrections and updates that day, which is very good. We can present them to our client that afternoon, it looks like we’ve worked for them that day as well.

Is there anything unique about them that makes them stand out, compared to other IT vendors?

I would certainly say the service, judging by who we’ve used in the past. We haven’t really given them a project that has been anything other than what we’ve already undertaken ourselves or outsourced. I couldn’t answer in terms of the specialty. It does bode well that the actual response, and the level of service we get from them, in terms of the level of updates and turning things around is great. All of our customers want everything yesterday, and are very impatient. We pride ourselves in being able to turn things around as quickly as we can for people, and winning the work.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you might do differently?

I haven’t found anything as of yet.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

We get projects from our clients and then outsource it to other developers who are outside of the country. Prismetric does some of that work and some work for us directly also.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I am a co-founder with several friends. I only work part-time at this company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for the work with Prismetric?

We worked with them on two projects. One was a real estate project for iPhone and Android applications including website development. We also had them make an admin panel. There was another project around advanced social networking with chat and connections to other social networks like Facebook, Twitter and more.

We also hired them for ourselves. We are working with Prismetric right now because the first phase of that social network app is completed, but we are starting the second phase of that app. We want to take that app live whenever that second phase work is completed.

SOLUTION

What was your process for selecting Prismetric to work with?

We searched on Google for better partners for development because we were not satisfied with our previous development partner. The search yielded Prismetric. Prismetric was the best option after the interview.

When was the last project completed?

It was completed three to four months ago but now we’re working with them on the second phase of that social networking project.

Can you provide us a sense of the size of their work with a general dollar figure? 

I cannot give you an exact figure but it was around $30,000 and the social network one was closer to $50,000.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the results of that project? 

It was successful, but I do not want to go into the details.

What is unique or special about them that really stands out compared to other IT firms?

The best thing about them is their communication. They are always available right away.

Looking back on that work, is there anything that you think they could improve upon or something you might do differently?

I cannot think of anything right now.

BACKGROUND

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

SOLUTION

This is a regular job. Every three months, I entrust Prismetric with the development of a new application for the manufacturer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

The large French manufacturer and I are very satisfied with the work done. The reliability and skill of Prismetric make them the development company I work with because they won my complete confidence.

BACKGROUND

Can you provide a brief description of what your company does?

We are a system design documentation company. We provide professional system design for residential audio/video automation systems to AV contractors around the country and around the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your primary goal or objective before initiating the project?

We were creating an estimating application to help our clients help their clients. We’re, in essence, an outsourced engineering company. So, our clients are the contractors that sell and install audio/video systems in homes. Our app assists them. It’s kind of like having a little budget calculator. So, when they sit with the client and the homeowner, and the homeowner says I want music in six rooms, I want to share a DVD player to four TVs, and I want a home theater. I want lighting control. Our app makes it easy for them to go through system by system, and come up with a rough order of the magnitude kind of a budget for that system.

What platform was this application designed for?

We designed it for iOS. 

SOLUTION

How did you select Prismetric as your solution partner?

To be honest with you, they showed up on LinkedIn. I had done a search on one of the eSites, I can’t remember which one, at one point and had received some bids. We exchanged correspondence, and he quoted a reasonable price. It was more than it would have been with some of the other bids, but still reasonable.

Could you describe the scope of the project in terms of components? For example, did it include custom design, development, training, or support?

We had it in a Microsoft Word doc, in terms of the format. We have been using it in a handwritten sense before. All I was really trying to do was have my handwritten version of the app converted into. It has flyers. You have a good, better, best version. There’s a budget range for good, better, and best for each one of the system categories. We needed them to take our formulated framework and implement it. 

When was this project completed?

It was completed around May.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How satisfied are you with the work that they've delivered?

I have no idea about the quality of the coding. As a residential AV automation person, I know in programming, there’s a million different ways that a programmer can write code. On the outside, if you push a button and the system works, then you have to assume that the code is good. On the inside, some code is good and some code isn’t written as well. The end result, from my perspective, is it does what it’s supposed to do. I have no way of knowing how it’s coded and if the coding is good. From my perspective, in terms of usability, it functions properly.

I asked them to do it, and they did it. We had some back and forth in terms of communicating what I envisioned. I run a team of engineers, so I’m used to troubleshooting and proofing. I applied the same approach to this. There were things that had to be corrected along the way. They were always very responsive and accountable. There was no issue with additional charges. 

BACKGROUND

Can you provide a brief description of what your company does?

We have a software product company, better yet, a technology company. We have a product that is in the document management area for the legal markets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your main goal or objective for starting the project with Prismetric?

We had a website that we had that needed refreshing. It was done in a technology that we were not comfortable with, and then we had them migrate it to another [Content Management System] CMS system. From what I understand, that’s what had happened. It just went from being in one CMS like Drupal to WordPress.

Okay. So you ended up going with WordPress?

Yes.

What were the main factors or reasons for switching over to WordPress?

We like to change content fairly often, and Drupal was proving hard for us to manage. We had a small startup company, so we don’t have dedicated people who can just change content. Our marketing people manage the content themselves, and WordPress was easier from what we had heard to manage content in websites.

SOLUTION

How did you originally find, and then choose Prismetric to work with?

We had put up a project on Elance and we had gotten a bunch of applications – a lot of companies applied. It’s been a year and a half the first time I hired them. I’m not sure how we picked them. I think what I did was – me and my IT guys – was we looked at their references, and then we looked at their expertise in Drupal and WordPress and the cost factor. So, the combination of the three is how we picked them.

Could you tell me a little more about the scope for the project?

Yes, it was just basically a normal about a 15- to 20-page website. Twenty pages with forms, some landing pages, and they were done in Drupal. We wanted them to create the exact, same look and feel copy of the website in WordPress. So, that was the first initial project.

Did they handle design work as well?

I did not give them the design work at all because for the first go-round, I wanted to keep the risks to a minimum. I didn’t want any variables at all. I just said this is the look and feel. I like the look and feel. Just move it over to WordPress. So, I don’t want any changes done to the website at that time. I just wanted it to be – phase one just change it to WordPress.

Can you provide a general cost estimate for the project?

I don’t remember. I’ll have to go back and look at Elance, but it was less than $1,000. I know that. It was definitely less than $1,000. I was very cost conscious, so I was looking also for somebody who was not very high priced.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How happy are you with what they delivered?

It was very good. In fact, what I found out in engaging them, they were very responsive and very proactive in asking questions. Wherever they didn’t understand the scope, they would chase me down as opposed to I chasing them to get the work done. So, it was a very good experience. They delivered pretty much when they said they will deliver. We went through a few iterations. I did make some changes midway through for them. I changed my mind on a few things. I made them make changes as opposed to keeping the site exactly as is. They took all that. They didn’t charge me anything additional for all those changes. They were able to deliver it on time.

How happy are you so far with WordPress as a platform?

I’m actually pretty happy because our objectives are met. Drupal used to be a lot of problems for us. We just didn’t need the complexity of Drupal. Drupal’s probably good for a lot of people when you have a lot of pages. For a simple site like ours, initially, it was a mistake to go with Drupal. So, we are fairly happy because we can do the changes ourselves. It’s very easy to manage for us versus a Drupal site.

When working with Prismetric, is there anything that you found to be unique or special compared to other developers that you’ve worked with?

Yes, the thing that I like about them, which really makes me want to work with them again and again – and it could be different for different people – I’m a little bit unstructured when it comes to getting work out of such companies. Sometimes, with Elance providers, you have to be very structured. You have to tell them what you want exactly, put it all down and, sometimes, I don’t have time to do that. They can take my unstructured parts. I’ll just jot down 10 bullet items and say, “Hey I want this done. Can you get it done?” Like. just two days ago, I gave them another job. I’m doing SEO on my website. and there’s another vendor I’ve hired to do the SEO for me and he suggested a set of about 10 or 12 changes. which were bullet points, and I just handed it off to Prismetric and told them, “Hey, can you estimate what it will cost and can you do it?” They just take it and run with it, and if they have any questions, they’ll come back, chase me down and ask me. But, they just run with it. So, it’s very good.

Looking back on the project is there anything that you would do differently a second time around or think they could improve upon?

The only thing where I feel like they can improve, but that goes kind of with where they are and the geography or region that they are in, is that sometimes the verbal communication is not at the level that I’m used to. Written communication is good, but the verbal communication is not what I’m used to, but that has not caused me too much of a problem. It just some other customers it might take a little more time if they insist on doing some verbal kind of communication. That would be the only thing that I would say. I’m perfectly okay. I understand where they start having a little bit of issue in the verbal communication. I definitely understand where they're coming from, so I’m able to correct that or understand that much better.

BACKGROUND

Can you give me a brief overview of your company?

We build iPhone apps. This is the first one I built with them, and it was called the Beauty Mirror. It’s like a beauty mirror app, but it’s the world’s first mirror app that’s integrated with the Instagram. That app is our first project, and I worked with them on that. We have a lot more in the works.

What is your position within the company?

I am the owner/founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your main reason for undertaking the project?

I found them through Elance and looked at all their reviews. That’s how I got in touch with them. I saw their previous work and all their graphic work. I worked with my partner, so we just needed something where they could add the functionality. They understood everything from the start, so I just decided to go with everything.

SOLUTION

Could you tell me about the scope of the project?

We did all the graphics on our side, and they did all the functionality. You can use the mirror app at night time; it’s not like there are lights around. You can increase intensity, change the colors, and zoom in. So you have all the functionality and can share it on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. We also integrated a lot of different analytics just to see how the app is being used. I’m actually still working with them with this app.

Is the app just available for IOS?

Yes.

How long ago was the app initially released?

It was released last July 6 and came out in the AppStore.

If you’re comfortable sharing it, what is a general cost estimate for the project? 

Under $10,000.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How happy are you with the results of the project?

I’m very happy. It was my first app, so it was definitely a new experience for me. I tried to read as much before I got into the process, but you can’t predict everything. It was definitely a good experience with them, and they helped to shorten the learning curve for our company.

When you are working with Prismetric, is there anything unique about them compared to other developers you may have worked with in the past?

One thing that really speaks out is their support. They definitely want to work with you and stay along with you, even after the whole process is done. They have very good support after the project is done, and they still like doing work for me. Of course, I’m paying them for these little modifications, but it’s not really about the money. It’s more about like the user—the relationship you have with the person.

The opposite side of that question is, when you look back on the project, is there any area that Prismetric could improve or that you would do differently?

I wouldn’t change anything.