QuicSolv Solutions

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Innovative Minds Marketing provides digital marketing and analytics solutions for non-profits and government agencies. I’m the founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with QuicSolv Solutions?

I used QuicSolv Solutions on multiple mobile app projects. We were looking for assistance in finding affordable developers for determining the backend solutions we would need.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

QuicSolv Solutions developed a spontaneous flight booking app and a hotel app in both iOS and Android. I left it up to them to develop the best platform. They helped with the user experience, designing wireframes and mockups. They had all the details in place for the Expedia API we use. They also were already very skilled, so we didn’t have to go through some of those hiccups that we would have gone through with a company who hadn’t already known the API.

They helped us get our product to market faster. I am a former flight attendant, so I was coming off with a lot of ideas for affordable traveling. These apps were meant to solve the problem I saw of not providing enough affordable hotel rates and flight rates for spontaneous travel for millennials to have the ability to travel like as I did as a flight attendant. We had to build out algorithms that worked on timing and pricing. We had to really get very technical, and they helped with doing the research for that. I’ve done the marketing myself.

How did you come to work with QuicSolv Solutions?

We were recommended to QuicSolv from Expedia’s team directly. One of their sales reps introduced Riyaz to me, who’s the founder and CEO of QuicSolv. We really hit it off and the pricing was just right. He’s really customer-focused, so we’ve built a very strong friendship. He’s a great guy with a great team of project managers and developers.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in early 2015, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The apps have launched and I do have a team of digital marketers working on marketing. Both apps are in the store; now, we need to work on our advertising budget to get it out. This summer, we’re really looking for a big push to get it out on social media platforms and get more brand awareness. We’ve done a lot of tweaking since launching it and have gotten a lot of feedback.

Collectively, we have 50,000 downloads. Our goal for the end of the year, after advertising, would be to have a minimum of 250,000 downloads. We’ve gotten a lot of feedback on the hotel app, which provides hotels for $99 and under. There’s a lot of great feedback on the flight app as well, which provides extremely low flights to desirable destinations. One of QuicSolv’s specialties is the usability they create; the users love the ease of use of the app.

How did QuicSolv Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re great project managers. I’ve had two project managers since I’ve worked with them. Riyaz takes pride in having the best project managers. They’re very respectful, timely, and very passionate. It was a great experience. We use Basecamp, Skype, Slack, Trello, and email to communicate. There hasn’t been an issue with the time difference either. You just have to be flexible since there are times you stay up late. Riyaz has been looking into having more reps available for US hours. I think it’s a good direction for any company doing business out in India to have some dedicated team members working on US time.

QuicSolv has also stayed within budget. I never get hit with additional costs. They’re very timely with communication, setting deadlines, and scheduling meetings.

What did you find most impressive about QuicSolv Solutions?

Riyaz’s guidance is impressive. I’m just a client of his, but I really feel very close to him as a friend. I think that personal touch that he adds to it really makes him stand out.

Are there any areas QuicSolv Solutions could improve?

Riyaz and his leadership team should continue to focus on employing the top tier talent in the IT industry.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Leading Edge Technology Solutions is a subsidiary of Subscription, Inc. which is a magazine servicing and telemarketing company. Leading Edge was the technology division focused on developing software solutions for order fulfillment and contact centers. I was the CTO when I worked at the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with QuicSolv Solutions?

The core business was consumer subscriptions to magazines in a club-based model, where consumers would subscribe for a fixed amount of magazines. Each month, they’d receive a varying number of different magazines that they subscribe to depending on their interests. The specialized CRM [customer relationship management] software used in that industry did not have a good solution. We wanted to build our own order fulfillment system for the industry.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

QuicSolv Solutions worked on a multi-faceted system that started with tracking the leads that went into the call center and telemarketing for sales opportunities. Upon a successful sale, the system would actually transition into the order fulfillment aspect where it would work with the publishers who order the different titles, update subscriptions, process payment, etc. It was a complete end-to-end solution, all the way from the receipt of the lead to the longevity of an enrolled customer.

How did you come to work with QuicSolv Solutions?

I had worked with a partner of QuicSolv’s in the past and was introduced to them through this partner. After doing my due diligence by evaluating their process and their CMM [capability maturity model] capabilities, we decided to choose QuicSolv.

How much have you invested with QuicSolv Solutions?

We have spent over $1 million with them over the course of our relationship.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in February 2013, and the project was completed in January 2014.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In addition to refining the initial requirements that we started the project with, we were rather dynamic both with QuikSolv and our advisory base of customers in changing the design as we went through to meet the changing needs of the business. The key aspect that stands out was their ability to adapt the architecture and the project deliverables as the environment changed for us.

How did QuicSolv Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We worked through Basecamp and we had a dedicated point of contact. The project management was excellent. We had full weekly status meetings to begin the week, and during the other half of the week, we had a short status meeting. We primarily used Skype where I would be in touch with the team daily.

What did you find most impressive about QuicSolv Solutions?

I’ve worked with a lot of partners in India and the biggest thing I noticed with them was their ability to stand firm and push back to me and other members of my team when what we were suggesting would impact quality or previously committed deliverables. You don’t often find that level of assertiveness in a development firm.

Are there any areas QuicSolv Solutions could improve?

The strength of the data architecture resources was a problem in the beginning but they’ve since solved that issue.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Horse Racing Simulation produced a horse racing simulation game. I’m the CEO/founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with QuicSolv Solutions?

We needed a development team to build the platform for the game.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

QuicSolv Solutions did the majority of the platform, including 60% of the frontend and 80% of the backend. They had one lead developer who I had a great relationship with. I let them work on the development side and my job was to build the brand and market the product. This is a web-based application. There’s a client portion that can be downloaded, so if they’re running a Windows based system, they’re able to download all of the application for a more immersed experience where they can actually get a more 3D visual effect through the download for the client.

QuicSolv didn’t develop the 3D engine but they did develop the communications from the database to that engine. There were up to five or six resources working on the project full time. When developing a game, it’s constantly evolving and expanding. Some aspects of the project were built in Visual Basic, some in C#, and some in ASP.NET depending what part of the function they were working on. This was a big platform that ran on five different servers, so there was a lot of coding done.

How did you come to work with QuicSolv Solutions?

Originally, I used a developer in the United States, but they weren’t that productive and the cost was high. QuicSolv was more efficient as far as the schedule goes.

How much have you invested with QuicSolv Solutions?

Over the course of the project, I spent between $300,000 and $400,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project in 2008 and I sold the game in November 2015. The company I sold it to had their own in-house development team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We built a new game from scratch and it generated a significant amount of revenue. I’m not very tech savvy, so my weaknesses were the inability to understand timelines, what can be done, and the coding itself. I can say that at one time, we had 500,000 active users.

How did QuicSolv Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

The lead developer was also the project manager and did a good job. I had calls every day with the project manager and I spoke with the owner of the company twice a month. You don’t stay that long with a development team if they’re not doing a good job. They may have used project management tools but I didn’t want to get involved with those. They were reasonably priced and there were never any billing surprises.

What did you find most impressive about QuicSolv Solutions?

With offshore companies, you have to be careful, but QuicSolv was reasonable. They really tried in everything they did. Their strengths are that they are very hard working, loyal, and they have good coders. They provided a good service for me.

Are there any areas QuicSolv Solutions could improve?

The biggest problem was my lack of knowledge. If I had someone on my side that was more knowledgeable, it would’ve helped in interacting with them. The platform could’ve been built better structurally, but I’m not 100% sure of that because I’m not a developer. We built something, made money with it, and sold it. They were efficient and got the job done.