QBurst

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Biocom is a trade association for the biotechnology and life sciences industry in San Diego and other parts of California. I am the associate director of operations. I manage the technology for our company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with QBurst?

Our goal was to rebuild our database off a proprietary platform that had been developed by a consultant.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

QBurst has built a website as well as the overall CRM and some event management tools and other applications. We needed to move our platform to Salesforce. This required setting up integration between the 2 databases and ultimately moving all of the data over, keeping it synchronized.

We've continued to use QBurst as our company scaled up and moved to new areas. We've improved our existing systems and built new applications in order to manage newer territories. Everything was developed for the Salesforce platform. QBurst also helped us build a website on Site.com, have developed a number of Apex classes and Visualforce pages, and worked on custom metadata.

We've worked with 5 resources from QBurst's team. We've recently put a project manager in place in order to assist us with the scale up.

How did you come to work with QBurst?

We were searching for a company that would be affordable enough, given that there was a good amount of work to be done. We ultimately decided to outsource the work. I saw that QBurst had a good reputation and had done some app development for the Salesforce platform. I gave them a call, had an initial consultation, and found that QBurst understood the needs of our company.

How much have you invested with QBurst?

The cost of QBurst's services has been around $100,000 in 2016.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with QBurst in 2014 and have an ongoing collaboration. At the moment, we're working with QBurst on tools development as well as a vendor and affiliate portal.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

QBurst has a very talented team. I don't have a baseline in terms of delivery time, but it was definitely reasonable, considering the complexity of our tools and data.

QBurst scaled up well to our needs and continues to deal with any issues quickly. Their team has recently flown to San Diego in order to understand our needs better, which I've appreciated, considering their pricing.

How did QBurst perform from a project management standpoint?

Whenever we've had fire drill situations, QBurst pulled late hours, making sure that everything was completed. Any issues were taken care of quickly by QBurst. We implemented Agile Accelerator within our Salesforce platform and have used it to manage our development.

What did you find most impressive about QBurst?

QBurst is a very patient team, and they've worked with us in understanding any problems we may have had, offering different solutions.

Are there any areas QBurst could improve?

Sometimes, we've encountered a language barrier with QBurst. It was a problem initially before getting a project manager who was better at breaking things down for our side. Whatever issues QBurst had, they were able to overcome.

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

Although QBurst has fantastic developers, clients still need someone on their side with a technical understanding of how development works. This has been helpful for us and allowed us to keep things on pace, understanding critical issues which came up.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company brings professional athlete guest appearances virtually, focusing on televised sporting events. We contract professional athletes to watch a sporting event from their homes. We also host a sweepstake that gives sports fans a chance to win a virtual hangout with the athlete. I am a co-founder of the company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with QBurst?

We had limited funding, so we wanted an opportunity to get a product to the market at the cheapest cost. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

QBurst developed a custom web-based platform for our company. There were some API integrations for streaming capabilities on our website. We had one project manager from QBurst. Up to 3 resources working underneath him.

How did you come to work with QBurst?

We were referred to QBurst by an advisor who had used them to develop a mobile app. He told us that they were a good company to use and were cost-effective.

How much have you invested with QBurst?

The total cost of our project with QBurst was around $17,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with QBurst at the end of May 2016. We had a 1-week discovery phase. The development had a duration of 5 to 6 weeks. Our project was up and running by the end of July. We're currently working with QBurst for improvements to the site.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

 We've only been live for a few weeks, but we already have 35 to 40 users. We've also hosted our first experience. We received good feedback from it. Everything is functioning well, and it seems that our initial customers like the experience. We have some upcoming events in September.

How did QBurst perform from a project management standpoint?

We had a set game plan from day 1. If a resource from QBurst wanted to leave, they'd let us know. We were always on the same page. We communicated changes and bugs throughout the development process. Through testing, we found some miscellaneous bugs or malfunctions within the site. Our project manager and the QBurst team were very engaged with our needs and wants. The main issue was that we were working out of different time zones. That made it difficult to communicate. We could reach QBurst through email or Google chat, but it still was difficult. QBurst was working when we were sleeping, so it was hard to find a common schedule. We worked around this, and we were able to get our initial product launched. We were able to clearly get our points across, so it worked out. We continue to work with QBurst, so it was an overall good experience.

What did you find most impressive about QBurst?

QBurst is extremely cooperative and persistent. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We provide a mobile and web application to homebuilders in order to help them manage their customer experience during the home buying process. Our platform helps communicate construction progress, home contents and so on.

What is your position?

I am a cofounder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with QBurst?

We needed resources for building our mobile application.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

QBurst build our app for both iOS and Android. The iOS version was built first, after which we started on the Android one. They were involved in scoping out technical requirements for the project as well.

The app we've built is data-heavy. They also support onboarding data and adding new builders from a technology standpoint.

The ability for the app to display home contents and details about what is installed at a location is one of its key features. The information if retrieved from both a relational and a nonrelational database. It is a technically complex functionality, allowing us to gather a vast amount of data into a mobile device. We can also take photos of locations using it.

The app was built within a custom environment. We haven't integrated third-party elements into it like Kendo UI or social login functionalities. We've built a self-contained application and environment. Much of the information that is created by the builder is exposed into the mobile environment for the benefit of the homeowner.

Our team consisted of eight people, including a project manager, three or four iOS and Android developers, a UX [user experience] designer, back-end server developers, business analyst, and quality assurance resources.

How did you come to work with QBurst?

We found them through a reference from a previous client.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The total development cost has been $500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The initial project duration was set for six months. Due to issues on our side, the development was drawn out a bit more. We continue to work with QBurst on updates and changes for the app.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Overall, our application has been adopted and used well. We've won an award for it from the International Builders' Show for best home technology product. This definitely provides a sense of its quality.

How did QBurst perform from a project management standpoint?

For the most part, they were able to deliver their work within time and budget. If anything was ever missed, it would likely have been due to errors in scope on our side. Some of the key things that QBurst do well are project management and understanding of the agile life cycle. They try to make sure that all requirements are well understood from a project management standpoint and that the scope is defined.

We used JIRA and Confluence for project tracking. The tools were used based on our request.

What distinguishes QBurst from other providers?

They have quality resources who understand the software development process as well as the technology itself. QBurst didn't simply put some coders or hackers on our team. They made sure that our assigned team members understood the business practice and why we do the things we do.

Is there anything QBurst could have improved or done differently?

They could work on improving status updates. From a project management standpoint, QBurst did a good job of wrangling in our scope for what was going to be delivered. The only area of improvement is their communication around the progress being made and bringing up issues earlier in the sprint cycle. This didn't always occur, though.

Any client looking for a similar provider should define the scope of the work being done clearly, down to specific items. This is something that will ensure the clarity of whatever needs to be completed, not leaving room for interpretation. Also, a focus on prototyping by making a mockup of the application before coding it is important.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Our company is an operator of drone aircraft for commercial customers.

What is your position?

I am the managing director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with QBurst?

They have been a trusted resource for our company for some time. Any time we have an in-depth or complex project to develop, they are the first group that we contact.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

When we began, our project was in its initial discovery phase. QBurst worked with us in drafting our requirements and making sure there weren’t any oversights. The development itself was sourced to a different freelancer because of unrelated concerns.

One of our previous projects consisted of an end-to-end build of a web application that worked as a search portal for aircraft parts through which buyers and sellers could make exchanges. The solution was built using MongoDB and Django, based on QBurst’s recommendations. They were also involved in visual design for the application’s UI [user interface].

How did you come to work with QBurst?

We’d used them in the past and had a level of trust in their company. We simply contacted them, got an estimate, and began our work.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The total cost of our development work has been between $30,000 and $45,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our last project was completed in November 2015. We’re currently [March 2016] in an interim period, but we plan to start new projects with QBurst within the next six months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Their work has helped us improve our user flow and general tracking of user data as well as internal administrative reporting.

How did QBurst perform from a project management standpoint?

Our communication was primarily done through Skype, email, and phone. QBurst never missed any major deadlines and their work has not had major defects.

What distinguishes QBurst from other providers?

I find them to be reliable. QBurst is a trusted resource in a sea of other companies with which we’d be very skeptical hiring.

Is there anything QBurst could have improved or done differently?

There were certain key requirements that were missed by QBurst during our development. We had to rehash those items, which ended up costing us a few thousand dollars. This was significant for us as a small business.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My company remanufactures parts and components for major mining trucks, mining equipment, and off-highway construction equipment; anything related to the mining industry. These are the parts and components for the bigger-than-your-house trucks.

What is your position?

I'm a CRM analyst. I manage Salesforce and the integration of our different subsidiaries. We purchase companies throughout the globe. When we acquire companies, my job is to integrate their existing CRM solutions into our own Salesforce system.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with QBurst?

We were looking for an inexpensive alternative for getting custom development done. We always have a lot of custom development, integration and configuration work, but we don’t have the resources to do it all in a timely fashion.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

Our most recent project with them is integrating custom Visualforce into the quoting platform of one of our subsidiaries. It has to be done in Spanish.

Some other complex work was calculating market shares and estimating growth potentials using various data rules, where existing trucks and the prices per component are queried, stored, and used to obtain a result. We can go into an account, and are shown how much it's worth, based on the number of equipment pieces there are. If a piece of equipment is out of commission, it will automatically be factored in.

We usually work with only one developer, which is assigned by the project manager, based on the complexity of the requirements that we provide.

How did you come to work with QBurst?

We searched the internet for different Salesforce vendors. They came with high prices for the amount of work they were doing. We didn't see the reasoning for paying hundreds of dollars an hour for work that could be done by someone with basic programming knowledge. I can't remember how I came across QBurst, but I'm thankful that I did.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them since early 2014.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The feedback from all our subsidiaries has been entirely positive. Our Australian company has used them a couple of times for complex development work and are very pleased.

One of the projects for market share and potential was well received by the executive team. They've used some of the data for board meetings with stakeholders. At the end of the day, we haven’t given them anything that they haven’t been able to complete. They’re very reliable.

How did QBurst perform from a project management standpoint?

They always delivered within budget, and mostly on time. They've been a little late sometimes. We're working on a project that we're trying to finish by the end of the month, but there were some unforeseen circumstances (flooding in their area), so there's been no one in the office. Typically, they're close to being on time. I do set my deadlines a bit early, just to offset hiccups like this.

We use email for tracking issues. They're very responsive, so I never have to sift through conversations. They give me weekly status reports and post stats on the website about their advancement, like how many hours have been spent, etc.

What distinguishes QBurst from other providers?

The main thing that distinguishes them is their pricing. You get a lot of value our of QBurst for what you pay. I've used other companies prior to QBurst, but I still continue to use them. I'm very pleased with their work. They have knowledgeable teams; sometimes I can go to them with a problem, and they'll give some ideas, and come up with solutions. We have good back-and-forth dialogue trying to come up with a solution. I've only used three different developers and found them to be pretty much the same, except for pricing.

Is there anything QBurst could have improved or done differently?

Speeding up their delivery time would be good. They do regularly communicate where they are within a given project, so I'm happy with them. On our latest project, they did send an email to inform me there's a natural disaster, and when I conveyed to them that something must be done by a certain date, they'll work it into their schedule. They always seem to find a way.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We focus on consulting work and SalesForce services.

What is your position?

I'm the project manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with QBurst?

I was looking for the right API [application programming interface] for connecting SalesForce to a custom payment processor. I reached out on SalesForce forums and QBurst replied. They were the best organized and priced and spoke the best English. That won the vote for me. I've used QBurst for development work on some of my own projects.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

All their work has been SalesForce-related, either Apex or Visualforce. We've mostly worked on forms, websites, payment processors, and custom pages, depending on what the customer wants. They've built an extensive e-commerce site using SalesForce. We haven't hit any roadblocks, in terms of what we can't create. Pretty much anything the client asks for, we've been able to do.

We've used three or four developers from them. We originally started with two people, one of whom I've worked with for about a year. He will bring in other people, depending on the need of the environment. I interact with them directly and take on the project management role on my side. I meet with clients, assess their requirements, and QBurst will do all the code. I'm a SalesForce developer myself, so I review some of it.

How did you come to work with QBurst?

There's a forum on Salesforce.com. I posted a job there and ended up receiving 30 to 40 applications. They were one of them. They had the best English and the best presentation. The price was also low. I met them in San Francisco a few months later in order to continue our relationship and build on it from there. I exposed them to my personal clients, and they do work for them as well.

At first, I wanted to find an offshore team to handle my own specific requirements, so I wouldn't mess something up with a client. I pushed them and gave them some very hard requirements that no client would come up with.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

We've probably spent $1,000 to 5,000 per month for the last year and a half [beginning in 2014].

What is the status of this engagement?

The relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I don't have any specific metrics. They have an extremely quick turnaround time. All of my clients have noticed that. As we're in the United States, QBurst will work while we're asleep. We usually wake up and see our work done.

How did QBurst perform from a project management standpoint?

They're upfront with relaying where issues might show up. I talk with the developers every night on Skype, so I'm more or less the project manager. If things aren't met on their timeline, it's going to fall on me. There've been nights in which they stayed up for extended periods. They're definitely hard workers and will push to get the project done.

I created my own project management tools using SalesForce. We track all our projects using those. They use Google Docs internally, but also translate much of that into my system.

What distinguishes QBurst from other providers?

I haven't worked with many offshore teams. I can tell you that I do feel extremely lucky. I haven't had to look for another offshore provider. In any relationship, you will come across problems, but they've definitely resolved all of them, and they're looking out for my best interests. I never felt that they've done something bad intentionally.

I want to expand my business with them. The price of the development hours is very cheap, only $20 to $30 per hour. I found a few cheaper companies, but I'm skeptical about the quality they'd offer. Also, Rajiv, who runs the Salesforce team there, will address any issue that I may have. It's good communication all around. 

Is there anything QBurst could have improved or done differently?

It goes back to project management, so I wouldn't put that entirely on them. We both have acknowledged that we need to build more collaboration between the clients and them without exposing who they are. I don't want my clients knowing that I outsource their work.

Tidying up requirements and more source control on code is something I would work on. I have put some suggestions out there, but we haven't put anything in place yet. Overall, it's been a great relationship, and they've helped me out a lot. I don't have anything explicitly negative to say.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a multi-faceted, multi-family land development, land acquisition, construction, and development company based in the Washington, D.C./Baltimore metro region.

What is your position and responsibilities?

I am a director. My department is the marketing technology department that oversees the web and digital implementation of our various platform across 200 remote properties from Boston down to Washington, D.C., and as far west as Denver.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with QBurst?

We've retained QBurst for an ongoing list of services. Most of their work is very technical in nature. We rely heavily on their technical expertise to support our own efforts, and we gain efficiencies because going offshore is much more affordable than hiring full-time developers here in the United States.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in more detail.

We work with them closely on all of our web development platforms. We've created a Bizzudo standard web platform where we have all of our new development deals and all of our new business deals. They all require separate and custom website development, so they do all of the HTML coding. We also use them as our primary server administrators for all of our server banks. We have about 12 different servers, and some of them are AWS [Amazon Web Services] clouds, some of them are independent freestanding server banks. They also manage our intranet portal.

They are a very multi-faceted tech firm. We even ended up using them in some of our video editing projects. We contract with them on a yearly basis, but we tend to sub-contract a lot of other work to them. The quality of their work is great, and we couldn't find a better and more affordable provider here in the U.S., hands down. I've worked with overseas companies before my time here, and they are, by far, the most reliable and most consistent offshore provider that I've worked with.

How did you come to work with QBurst?

Essentially, there are several companies that we brought in to provide these solutions for us. We released an RFP [request for proposal], and they came in and proposed their services, one of which I will admit was a recommendation from someone who has used their services before. They provided their pricing structure and a lot of their past work. We immediately felt a good connection there on a working relationship and their willingness to be flexible with our unique industry and standards.

They have grown tremendously with us, so every project we have initiated with them they have taken it on and kept a very uniform process with us. The process to select them was an evaluation of three different providers, one of which was an onshore company. I would call QBurst a nearshore provider. They have offices in the U.S., but they do all of their development work offshore. Another provider was a completely offshore company. In evaluating all of those, QBurst was by far the front runner.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

If you're including our website, we've invested easily half a million dollars at this point.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Aside from giving you my approval on them, we have a huge portfolio of custom websites that they've developed for us. All of the sites that are hosted on our server and managed by QBurst, and all of the sites that are developed by QBurst, have a 24/7 support center. Anytime we have an issue with a property that is on our servers that is supported by QBurst, the response is within five minutes in terms of email response.

Depending on the severity of the issue, the resolution is determined to be within the hour. If it requires development, they will then contact an emergency developer depending on the time of day. The response time and the ability to repair issues are exponentially quicker and more efficient, for my team, than any of our other properties that are not hosted on our servers.

We do use Basecamp in some aspects with them, but most of our stuff occurs via online, email, or a specialized automated system. Any of the requests we provide are submitted through this system, and it goes to them, and they immediately respond.

How did QBurst perform from a project management standpoint?

To my knowledge, anything that was missed or an issue, was a result of a coordinated misstep or we did not provide the right information or guidance, but it was based on an equal share of fault. There have been things that have gone awry, but not because they dropped the ball, missed an email, or didn't respond. It's usually been because we didn't provide them with what they were asking for.

What distinguishes QBurst from other providers?

For an offshore company, QBurst's fluidness and understanding of American culture and business practices, even our colloquial terms in conversation, has made it extremely easy to work with them. I haven't had that experience with a lot of other outsourced companies that I've worked with in the past.

Is there anything QBurst could have improved or done differently?

I don't have anything negative to say about them. They're kind of a godsend. They have been crucial to me being able to get my job done here at this company. If it wasn't for their support, I wouldn't have the efficiencies that I have. The overnight support and the amount of manpower they provide is fantastic, so I really can't say anything negative about them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My company is an educational development consultancy. I help mostly public learning institutions design and develop more compelling and effective academic curricula. 

What is your position?

I'm the founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenges were you trying to address with QBurst?

When I was first considering hiring a developer, it was for our mobile app. I'm not a technologist by trade, so I couldn't build out the solution, but I had the concepts and the designs prepared already. The app was to be developed for iOS, Android and Windows devices. Timing and cost were both a factor. The idea was to work closely with a developer until we got a minimum viable product ready to test with end-users. We could then work incrementally to improve the app features, layout and design.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Once I hired QBurst, I handed over all of the design schematics and visual materials. We worked together to really flesh out the specifications and make sure everything was understood before they started with the development. I don't actually know the size or composition of the development team assigned to my project because I only interacted with their project lead. They were ultimately responsible for the back-end development, testing, configuration, and implementing the interface design based on the materials I gave them.

How did you come to work with QBurst?

I first came across them while doing some online searches with Google. I had considered some high-end American development shops beforehand, but the majority of them were just too expensive for me, but at the same time, I needed to make sure that whomever I went with had the necessary expertise. QBurst was one of several offshore providers I reached out to, which led to Skype call and a demo of their previous work. I went through the same process with the few other providers under consideration, but with their capabilities on balance, it seemed to me that QBurst would be the best fit. 

Could you provide a general cost estimate for this engagement?

In total, I've invested around $20,000.

What is the status of this project?

The mobile apps are now live, but we're still improving it on an ongoing basis. They've also worked with me on a web-based project wherein they're developing a course assessment platform using HTML5 and AngularJS. That's also ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback from these engagements?

I don't have any real metrics to share. My own end-customers and their users have conveyed mostly positive feedback. Most of the compliments are related to the visual design and layout of the mobile apps rather than the specific features, but the apps work exactly as they should, and I rarely receive reports of defects. I'm also very pleased with their work. It's always completed on time and within budget. Perhaps more importantly, they've been great at providing me with accurate time and cost estimates. They're great at managing expectations. 

Is there anything unique or special about their practice that distinguishes them from others?

They're real flexible with their clients and QBurst seems to be rather unique when it comes to resource availability and responsiveness. Most of my emails and calls are returned within an hour or two, and all of them within 24 hours. They're great at keeping me updated as to their progress, and they aren't afraid to ask questions when they aren't sure about something. 

Based on your experience, are there any areas in which they could improve as a service provider?

Not that I can think of. It's been an entirely positive experience.

What advice, if any, would you give to a future client of theirs?

The two biggest things are having your requirements really honed and being open to asking questions. Definitely give them a chance to offer insight and recommendations. There will be times when they suggest a more efficient or effective solution to the challenge, and you want to take advantage of that. 

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your organization?

I run a custom software development firm. We perform custom application development for mobile and Web applications. We also provide IT [information technology] consulting and some software implementation services.

What is your position?

I’m the chief executive officer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenge that you were attempting to address when you first approached QBurst?

I was looking for a partner that we could outsource some our custom development work. We had a resource challenge, and we tried QBurst for a particular development project and really liked them, so we started working with them more.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

It’s been custom development. We’ve worked together on custom iOS development, Ruby on Rails, and Android application development. We carve out a project, we provide the technical requirements, and then have them build out the solution. QBurst provides the developers and testers. They also do their project management in-house, so that works nicely.

How did you choose QBurst as your partner?

They actually approached us. A lot of companies approach us for outsourcing our work, I’m getting almost one or two requests every day. That request came at the right time, so I followed up on it and it worked out. I was talking to multiple candidates. I didn’t have a particular location in mind. I was open to finding anybody who could do the work and do it well. They had the expertise, and their rates were very reasonable.

Could you provide a general cost estimate for this engagement?

The project was between $50,000 and $70,000.

Does this engagement remain ongoing?

Very much so, we still use them for ad hoc improvement and maintenance-type issues.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics or metrics that would demonstrate the quality of their performance?

They did terrific work, and we got very positive feedback from our clients and end users. The system is robust, and the user interfaces are developed extremely well. The solutions are very user friendly. It was a pretty complex and challenging application that we had them build. It had a number of things that we had to integrate with, so it was not an easy application to develop.

When working with QBurst, is there anything that you’d consider unique about their approach that distinguishes them from other vendors?

I haven’t really worked with a lot of other offshore developers to be able to make an educated comparison, but I really like working with them. They’re a good, competent group of people, and I enjoy the working relationship. They’re very good from a project management perspective, too.

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

Not really. I think they’re a good resource for us and we plan to continue using them.

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your organization?

We offer a medical research platform on Web and mobile. We provide physicians and other medical professionals with access to medical research content.

What is your position?

I’m one of the co-founders.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We started as a Web platform, and we had a beta version of the app. We were looking to launch a full-fledged app that we could then continue to add enhanced features to. We needed programmers for an iOS and Android app.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

They were involved mostly in the functional development. We provided all of the design collateral, and other technical specs. They performed the custom coding and helped us deploy the apps once they were fully functional and tested.  

How did you choose QBurst as your partner?

A friend of ours recommended QBurst to us.

Could you provide a general cost estimate for this engagement?

[It was] $3,000 to $5,000 a month. They were very flexible in terms of ramping up and down. Some months we’d double that, and some months we’d cut that in half, depending on what our needs were.

When was the project completed?

We’ve been working with them for one and a half or two years. It’s an ongoing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the quality of their overall performance?

Our iPhone app was selected by Apple, in March of 2014, as best new app for medical professionals and featured in the medical section of the iTunes store. It has now been featured in more than 50 countries. They’ve adopted our project management system, which is great because we didn’t have to change our workflows; they adapted to our needs and us. They respond usually within 24 hours. They’ve been great. 

When working with QBurst, is there anything that you’d consider unique about their approach that distinguishes them from other vendors?

I think they really adapt to what the client needs. We manage the project directly, and they have developers that work under our supervision. We also have the ability to have a project manager and quality assurance person on their side, if we wanted. We’ve used that a little bit in the past, but mostly we’ve done the testing, the quality assurance, and the management. They’re flexible, and we were able to add a developer or cut a developer’s time in half on relatively short notice, depending on the needs of the project.

In retrospect, are there any areas in which you think they might be able to improve as a service provider?

I think it’s worked out well for us. I can’t make any recommendations for improvement based on our experience with them. Assuming they operate this way with their other clients, I’d venture to say they have a fantastic team there. Client satisfaction is clearly a priority for them.