Saritasa

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the digital marketing manager for ASCO Power Technologies, a company in the electrical space. We develop and innovate backup power systems. We have transformer switches that switch from utility to backup sources, such as generators, batteries, or energy storage units.

We’ve been in the business for over 130 years and have some of the most robust solutions in our industry. We also specialize in many industries, including healthcare, data centers, or anything that critically needs safety.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

We needed help with VR development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Saritasa helped us visualize and create a VR experience using Unity. They worked with our engineering and marketing departments to develop an application we could leverage for a digital product. The product would be used as a demonstration at a trade show or a training tool. In the physical space, the product was nine feet tall and 1,000 pounds; Saritasa created the application in VR so we could operate it and show it to our customers the same way as the actual product.

The VR application showed the transfer switch and its specific operating process in real life. We added a couple of branding assets and 360 customer tours. The app included videos where we showed customers what it looked like in a manufacturing facility, hospital, or airport, and Saritasa also made a small video. The navigation was simple, and users could wear the headset and do the whole experience in 5–10 minutes.

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with Aaron (VP of Immersive Technology), Nik (President & CEO), and a project manager.

How did you come to work with Saritasa?

I found Saritasa searching on Google for VR companies. I narrowed it down to them because they had the expertise we needed. I also saw their solutions and demos when I was researching, and they aligned with what I wanted from a partner. Additionally, Saritasa understood what we needed.

How much have you invested with them?

The initial investment was over $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2019, and they delivered in 4–6 months. If there are any Meta or software updates, they take care of that.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

At trade events, we stream the product on a big screen, and people can see what the user is doing with the equipment; it’s a great wow factor. Moreover, we’ve gotten positive feedback. Everybody takes off the headset without feeling headaches or motion sickness, which means Saritasa optimized everything, and the resolution quality is excellent. All in all, it keeps our company’s mindshare at a high level, so Saritasa did their job.

How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?

They used an agile process, so everything moved along quickly and on schedule. We never had issues with the delivery times or the budget. Saritasa aligned with their estimate and didn’t give us any under-used hours.

Communication was also on point. We used emails, phone calls, and meetings to stay in touch.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were excellent from start to finish. Saritasa listened to us and led the design, testing, and publishing phases.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they were pretty good.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure your scope is defined and ready before talking to anybody. You can create the scope and deviate out of it, but ensure you get more or less what you want.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of US Gymnastics Development Center, a children-to-teenage-years gymnastics, cheerleading, and ninja training facility. We offer programs from mommy-and-me classes one hour a week to competitive programs in gymnastics and cheerleading for boys and girls that train upwards of 20 hours per week.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

We have over 700 families and students in the gym, and we needed a CRM system that could process payments and where customers could see the schedule and register kids into the classes and see the schedule.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Saritasa provides us with development services. The project has had two phases; in phase one, they built a website. We told them the information we needed to see when registering a student and asked for a parent section linked to that profile. We also gave them our requirements when creating a class; the page should show the cadence and whether the class is hourly, multi-hour, or mandatory. They designed the site from scratch. 

On the site, we can log in to add students and classes and view or schedule. Parents can call us, and we can register kids for classes, input family data into the program, and add students to attendance lists to print for coaches. After the initial development, Saritasa worked on the website updates for 1–2 months. 

From there, we started phase two, which involves the payment and pricing system. The team has worked with us to create our custom system with specific and niche pricing based on our programs. We offer programs from 1–20 hours a week with early, sibling, and employee discounts. If there’s credit on a customer’s account, the system applies that. We also have an annual membership fee based on the day each customer joins us. Saritasa uses AWS for both the site and the payment system.

What is the team composition?

I work with one main point of contact from Saritasa. 

How did you come to work with Saritasa?

Around April 2021, our company’s CEO engaged online to find a provider and stumbled across Saritasa. After she reached out to them, they set up a call with us and talked through what they had done and what they could do for us. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $330,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2021, and they finished phase one in September 2021 and phase two in August 2022. Our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The program has completely transformed our ability to do business better for our customers. Before working with Saritasa, we were operating as if it was the 1980s. Now, we have a system where we can see customers’ data, add their credit card information, and store it safely. We can also run automatically instead of manually. 

How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?

Overall, their project management skills have exceeded expectations. From the start, we had a tight deadline to get the site live in September 2021, and Saritasa has fully delivered everything they said they could do. When we started phase two, we had bumps in the road. However, we got back on track, and they’ve met deadlines according to our expectations since then.

Our main point of contact is outstanding;  I meet with him weekly for a half hour or longer, and he gives me a status update. We email throughout the week if anything comes up. To organize, we use a spreadsheet to track all outstanding items and provide Saritasa with weekly status updates. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m most impressed by how Saritasa has achieved our vision, which no other company was willing to do. Our pricing is complex, so most providers told us to use existing programs for payment. However, we knew our specific system worked for us, so it was important to custom-build our system, which Saritasa has done, changing how we do business. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

In the planning stage, it might have been helpful for me to connect with more than just my point of contact. They’ve had to redo some things that they had already finished. Mapping out the pricing phase would have saved some time and bumps on the road. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They should request the same contact as web developers who work with me – I have the best of Saritasa!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Generosity, an online payment platform for churches and charities. We help facilitate donations electronically, including online, in person, or any other medium involving a credit or debit card transaction from the donor to the nonprofit organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

We were working with one developer on our platform, but our engagement didn’t work well, so we started looking for a new development company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Saritasa has helped us engineer, architect, and design our software from the ground up. The first step was scoping the project and outlining what we were trying to accomplish with our platform. Once we finished the scoping process, we divided the development process into two parts: UI/UX and frontend development and backend development.

During the design phase, Saritasa created sketches and different design elements to define what we wanted from a design point of view. As for the development side, they helped us architect our servers and databases to ensure we were compliant with the security standards involved in credit card processing and payments.

We already had a website, so Saritasa helped us link the login and signup buttons on it directly to the backend of our software. Additionally, they helped us organize and integrate our platform's screens into a generosityonline.com URL, and they also created an API with Wells Fargo.

Currently, we continue to develop new features every day. Saritasa has helped us navigate through changes so that we can stay competitive and have our software updated. Additionally, they help us maintain our software.

What is the team composition?

Initially, I worked with two people from Saritasa, but their team quickly escalated. Once we started the development process, we worked directly with a project manager and indirectly with an API developer and a design team. In total, we worked with around six people during the development process.

How did you come to work with Saritasa?

We found Saritasa online during a Google search and reached out to them to explore how much time it would take to set up, architect, and design our software platform.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around June 2020, and our engagement is ongoing. It took them six months to complete our software, but we’ve kept improving it and redeveloping it since then.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Saritasa has done their job perfectly. Our software works as intended, and everyone loves it.

How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?

Saritasa’s development process is very organized, and they help us see what is happening at all times. They move very quickly, and they’re completely professional. Our project manager is amazing, so I’ve never had to bring anyone else into the equation. He understands my needs and always does a great job. We used Jira for project management and Slack for communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Saritasa works really well with us on our hours. During the discovery and scoping phase, a lot of their hours weren’t billed, which was very helpful for us. We felt they were very fair regarding their quotes and work hours.

Additionally, once we launched the software, I talked with Saritasa’s CEO, who gave me a lot of insight regarding best practices moving forward. They offered a lot of launch support, and having a conversation directly with their CEO was a phenomenal addition to that support.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I couldn’t imagine a better partner for this venture.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Build your content and know exactly what you want your software to do down to the most detailed and complex scenario. Having everything mapped down will help facilitate the process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the EVP for Nationwide Rail Services, Inc., a transportation company in the Chicago area that moves loads to and from intermodal or railroad facilities for transportation and logistics companies. We pick up inbound and outbound loads from the railroad and bring them back to the customer or the other way around.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

We needed a customized software solution to track our loads coming in and out of the railroad for our customers in a time-sensitive manner. Our goal was to streamline the process and put information into a database where we could track loads and stay on top of things better.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Saritasa has built a customized software solution for us to track our loads coming in and out of the railroad. They’ve also built tools for invoicing tied to the dispatching solution so that we can tie loads in as soon as they move instead of inputting information manually, which all of our dispatch operations implement. The team has also built a driver-tracking solution for us. 

The dispatch solution lays out all our loads and highlights loads ready for us to pick up in one color and uses another color for loads coming in that day. Currently, Saritasa offers maintenance and hosting. 

What is the team composition?

I’ve mainly worked with three teammates from Saritasa, including a project manager and Peter (Technical Project Manager). 

How did you come to work with Saritasa?

I found them on Google looking for software development companies in the Chicago area. I called a few different companies, and when I called Saritasa, I felt comfortable with the conversation and the rapport we established over the phone. Therefore, I felt confident they were the right company for us. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $350,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in September 2020 on the dispatch program, and then we re-engaged them in February 2021 for the invoicing and driver-tracking solutions. Our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Saritasa's work has helped streamline our process. We were looking to save time, cut manual hours, and utilize our teammates' time elsewhere, and that's exactly what we've gotten. Before this engagement, we were inputting our dispatch manually on an Excel spreadsheet and using an outdated manual to track loads coming in. Saritasa has turned that process digital, and now we can just log in and immediately see where everything is.

Moreover, we've cut our invoicing time from 10 to 3–4 hours a day. As a result, teammates who were doing all those tasks can now use their time on different tasks. This result saves us money, making our company more profitable. 

How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?

They're great at project management; they deliver everything on time and respond to every email. They take care of everything we ask for and enact any change we want in a timely manner. We primarily communicate through Zoom calls, and we've also used email. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Saritasa's communication skills are impressive. They're on top of everything and ask many questions to get to know us really well. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't think they need to improve anything; they've done everything well. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Saritasa has taught me a lot, so my advice is to listen to what they say.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at an insurance agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

We wanted to update our outward-facing website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Saritasa redesigned and rebuilt our website from scratch. We started with a design session, which involved designing wireframes, the flow, and all the different capabilities we wanted so we could define the look of the screens. Consequently, we initiated the implementation and testing phase to solve any bugs that could arise, and after that, we went to the platform’s production.

Regarding features, the site is an information platform about our company and products. It also allows users to submit information for new businesses, which enables us to send them back a quick quote. Moreover, it allows our customers to look up billing and policy information and submit endorsements or cancelations.

Currently, they’re providing maintenance to the site.

What is the team composition?

We’ve been working with 5–6 members of their team.

How did you come to work with Saritasa?

We found them through online research.

How much money have you invested in this partnership?

So far, we’ve spent around $100,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve increased our website’s security compared to our previous site — we’re now up to the standards we need to be, thanks to Saritasa. Overall, it’s been a great partnership.

How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been able to overcome and resolve the issues we’ve had regarding processes and timelines. In addition, their team has stayed within budget. Regarding communication and tools, we use Jira, Confluence, and Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality of their developers and testers is outstanding. They’re committed to understanding our business and issues to move the process a lot faster and with better quality to help us achieve our goals.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could scope and plan the project better from the beginning.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Establish the specs and requirements of the product you want upfront, which will help move the process easier.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the area supervisor and COO of Allstar Consulting Group. We provide consulting and inspection services for elevators and escalators within New York City and across the country.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

We had been using a SaaS product from another company for the past 5–6 years, but we hadn’t seen any improvement in the software itself. Thus, we decided that it was time to create our own software with the help of a development company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Saritasa has helped us develop a custom software system based on AWS from scratch. Among its core features are automatic checks and balances of redundancy in information, as well as other automation features, such as one for sending email notifications. Although the main system is now complete, Saritasa continuously helps us add new features.

What is the team composition?

A sales representative from Saritasa is my main point of contact. He introduced me to the rest of the company initially, and he still checks on me constantly. I also work with a project manager, and there is a team of developers working behind the scenes. Additionally, there’s another person who fills in whenever the project manager is out.

How did you come to work with Saritasa?

I found them on Clutch. Initially, we were researching companies on Google, but we then started looking into review sites like Glassdoor and Clutch because we wanted to find a smaller company, and all the large ones kept appearing on Google. Although we do a decent amount of consulting work and inspections, we operate as a boutique agency, so we were looking for a partner with whom we could have a great connection.

Other people might go with a larger company and get a good MVP and then have another developer work on it, but we wanted to go with the right company from the beginning, which is why we focused on reading reviews. After our research, we had meetings with Saritasa and 2–3 other companies. When we finally met Saritasa, they matched our company’s core values exactly — a smaller corporation that can handle large projects.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since Q1 2021, and our engagement is ongoing. There’s no other company we would go to.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The software system that Saritasa has helped us build is now complete. However, we’re not using it because it didn’t make sense for us to implement it in the middle of the year. Still, we see ourselves operating completely off this tool in 2023. Additionally, we will soon be sending proposals through this system. We have close to 3,000 clients, and we’re confident that this software will help us go through that process.

Before having this tool, we had to double-check information and enter the same data into different forms, but now these information checks will be automatically done. It will also allow us to automate many of our processes, like sending automatic email notifications, which will protect us against any liability related to not filling out the forms correctly.

The feedback from our staff on the product has been very positive overall, and whenever we haven’t liked something, Saritasa has made changes and fixes very quickly. Their team has even helped us fix some of the issues we’ve caused. On occasions, we’ve made the decision to change something that then our officer doesn’t like, so they’ve helped us correct it.

How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?

Although I’m in a management position, I also do field work, so I’m constantly on the move. Thus, I’m hardly ever in the office, and I have a short amount of time to oversee our development project. If it wasn’t for Saritasa’s project management, we would be two years behind on this project.

He constantly pushes me in a courteous manner to get my feedback and get things moving forward, which is very good. I can also communicate with him whenever I want — we’ve even had discussions at nighttime because he’s very accommodating to my schedule.

Moreover, everyone from Saritasa is very responsive; whenever I think of a new feature, I simply reach out to them, and they implement it. They also always answer quickly to our emails. Our sales representative is very courteous and constantly checks up on me to see if everything is going well.

Regarding the cost, Saritasa isn’t one of the most affordable companies, but they aren’t overly expensive either. Additionally, we’ve felt that our money has been well spent, and we’ve got more value for the money with them than others.

We haven’t needed any sophisticated project management tools. Initially, we simply shared a Dropbox file with our requirements, and they got them done. Still, I believe that Saritasa offers the usage of collaboration tools for their projects. As for communication, we have meetings on Google Meet and chat via Google Chat. We also communicate via text messages.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Saritasa’s biggest strength is their customer service level — nothing compares to it. The company behind the SaaS product I used before changed sales representatives every four months, and I would have to explain my company all over again whenever a new one joined. However, My relationship with Saritasa now is very intimate, and we’re in constant communication whenever we want; I couldn’t ask for anything better.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’re very upfront about everything. Even when we had a price increase, they let me know in advance.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take the time upfront to meet with their designers and developers and leverage their expertise during those early discussions because they’re very good. Doing so will help you save time and money.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a former software manager for a sports medicine company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

We contacted Saritasa for software development on a project we were working on.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We collaborated with Saritasa on a 3D pre-surgical planning software using Unity. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with about 15 people to start with, but that team was narrowed down to about 3–4 as the project went on. 

How did you come to work with Saritasa?

They were recommended to us by a former colleague. We initiated an RFP process, and then decided to move forward with them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent more than $1 million with Saritasa. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Saritasa in April 2020. I no longer work for the company, but I believe that they are still working together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project was considered a massive success, and the work Saritasa provided was invaluable. The software is being used quite often and has had a huge impact. 

How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?

They provided really great work. Everything was turned in on time and stayed within budget. There were a few things that we hadn’t planned for, but for the amount of work that they provided, we were very satisfied. 

Early on there was a lot of communication back and forth because there was a lot to figure out, but our project manager was very knowledgeable and helped to answer any questions. We considered the communication pretty successful overall. 

Their team worked in a different time zone and there was a language barrier, but we mainly communicated with the project manager. We met a few times a week and they would share their Springboard board with us. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are perfectionists, so they focused on building something high-quality with a good foundation that could be built on in the future. They were incredibly thorough with their process. They had strong technical expertise, and wanted to make the software as close to perfect as possible. 

They were one of the best companies that we worked with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Some of their team is located in Ukraine and has been impacted by the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, so it would be beneficial if they diversified their team’s locales.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at a pet products company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

We wanted to start using VR in our new training experience to focus on increasing our new team members’ ability to empathize with our customers and solve issues on the first contact.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Saritasa did VR design and development from scratch for us. We started by having an initial call with both teams to define the project’s scope, and consequently, they assigned a project manager and a technical expert. We based everything on a script we provided them on how we wanted the scenarios to play out, and they provided consultation on how it’d look and feel within the environment they were building. 

After that, we continued with constant communication so we could give them our feedback and ensure they were on track with timelines. In addition, they helped us load all the scenarios we purchased separately.

In terms of the product’s functionality, it was an interactive training experience to provide our team members with different scenarios with different options and get a response on whether or not they made the best decision.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager and several designers from their team.

How did you come to work with Saritasa?

We looked through a list of potential vendors but chose Sritasa based on their quality.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from December 2021–March 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We ran a hire control group where one party got the VR experience and the other didn't. The results said that the group that got the VR experience scored an average of 800 basis points higher than the group that didn't get the experience. We also say 2,200 basis point improvement in our VR classes versus the non-VR classes and tenured agents. In addition, we didn't encounter any bugs within the system — they exceeded our expectations.

How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was great in terms of communication and staying within deadlines and budgets. They also updated me on high-level benchmarks via email and weekly Google Meet sessions. Overall, they were fantastic at keeping the project on track and being transparent with the changes and additional work we wanted so we could balance that with our budget.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The overall quality of their work was what distinguished them from other providers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I didn't think there was anything they could improve on — working with them was a wonderful experience, and I was delighted with the results.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Leverage their technical expertise; I wasn't familiar with VR, and they could steer me in the right direction with many of the project's pieces.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and CEO of YGM. We provide consulting services for chambers of commerce.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

We have a web-based system that our chambers use to trust their products. However, it was very old, so we needed help to enhance and update it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Saritasa first took our system and enhanced it. We’re currently in the project’s second phase, where they’re rebuilding it from scratch. Additionally, they handle its ongoing maintenance and troubleshooting. It is a multi-faceted system that includes a database for chambers of commerce.

What is the team composition?

I work directly with a project manager from Saritasa, who manages the entire team working on the project behind the scenes.

How did you come to work with Saritasa?

We found them on Google.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in the spring of 2021, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The system that Saritasa supports works beautifully, and our users really like the enhancements they’ve made. I hired them because they’re the experts, and they know what they’re doing.

How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?

Saritasa has met our deadlines and stayed on budget. We typically communicate via Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Saritasa delivers the products they promise with stellar customer service.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that I’m aware of.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Work with them and do what they say.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the global product line director at Industrial Physics, a physical testing equipment manufacturer that serves a wide range of manufacturing companies.

We sell testing equipment for QC to markets ranging from food and beverage to advanced composites and defense industries and everything in between. Our company has American and European divisions. As part of my role, I have a team of line-specific product managers that report to me, each of whom manages anywhere from 1–3 different brands and the products that lie within them.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

The challenge involved one product brand of our company that specializes in testing equipment referred to as universal testing machines. We acquired the brand in late 2017 and recognized that their existing control, electronics, and software packages for equipment were commercially obsolete, if not functionally obsolete. The software had been developed for a DOS system and patched to work in Windows, which was a competitive disadvantage. 

Initially, we thought we might be able to solve the issue through another acquisition. Still, when that was unsuccessful, we had to return to first principles and introduce a new software and electronics platform. We had the competency in-house to develop the control electronics and the firmware. Still, we lacked the number of engineers with the competency to manage both those things internally. We decided to partner with an outsource provider to develop the PC-based interface, including the graphic UI and the code to drive the instruments and the firmware.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Saritasa has developed a Windows-based custom software platform for us. We had already done our initial scope of work internally to determine the requirements from a deliverables standpoint. Our team decided what the product needed to look like, its primary functionalities, and the boxes it would need to check to meet the expectations of the market and our customer base. 

The team started by focusing on the graphic UI. They determined the user flow and mapped it out with the screens for the users. They also built an if-else diagram to show what would happen when users choose each option. As for development, we requested that Saritasa develop the code using commercially available and relatively off-the-shelf tools. We wanted the option to either bring the product in-house or move to a different partner. The team has built features for data acquisition, manipulation, export, and reporting using a typical SQL database architecture. 

There are three primary areas of functionality within the software product. The first area involves a graphic UI that enables users to input instructions for a piece of equipment. Our in-house embedded software and firmware control the command requirement. However, laboratory technicians or managers need a user-friendly graphic UI residing on a Windows PC, where they can input the commands in a way that makes sense to them, which is what Saritasa has built. These commands go down to the electronics and are converted into actionable instructions. 

Companies use our sizeable testing equipment to test the physical properties of raw materials of finished components. For example, we make testing frames that can weigh up to a ton to test large sections of underground pipe for crushing performance. The program tells the equipment how much force to apply and how rapidly and then measures the resulting responses of the materials. 

Once the commands are initiated, the second function involves moving to a data acquisition and analysis mode. The software solution takes signals from our testing equipment to measure resulting displacements, displacement rates, forces, and stresses. The signals come back into the software, which then databases them. 

The third feature is between the first two areas: a real-time graphic presentation and analysis of the data. The program shows a real-time display that shows results as they occur and provides some functionality to analyze or quantify them. Their software doesn’t directly control our instrument; it works through an intermediate USB controller and provides the instructions to our electronics, which are the machine code they’ve translated into actionable language. 

Although we’ve already launched the product to market, we have continued development with Saritasa. They continuously add features and expand the capability of the product. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with different teams from Saritasa according to the project phases. In the beginning, when they were focused on the graphic UI, the team had about 5–6 engineers. Of them, 2–3 teammates have continued to phase two, and we’ve had another 2–3 people come in and out depending on their expertise and the project’s demands. Throughout the development, we’ve mostly worked with 3–4 people at a time and 5–6 people at most. Within this team, we’ve worked with Konstantin (Managing Director) and Stan (Client Engagement Manager). 

How did you come to work with Saritasa?

Our team shopped around for a partner and looked at over half a dozen potential providers over a 6–8 month period while we developed the scope. We learned about Saritasa through referrals from other vendors we’ve worked with. 

How much have you invested with them?

By the end of this fiscal year, we’ll have spent $435,000–$450,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around August 2020, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of the product is fantastic and has exceeded our expectations. Saritasa has been exceptionally good and is often ahead of us. Although we've struggled to hit deadlines, these aren't Saritasa-specific metrics because the delays have been due to supply chain issues. We've struggled to scale prototypes when it comes to buying enough components to build beta units; this is something the industry at large has dealt with for the past 12–18 months. Any time there's a hold-up in the part we control, the whole project runs late, no matter how well Saritasa is on target. 

How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?

They're excellent to work with from a project management standpoint. The lead project manager is superb; they're extremely organized and has a well-developed process. They use boards on Jira to chart the process and development, and that's been great. Even thorough we'd been using our own tools, we've adopted theirs for this project because we like them so well. 

Since we have product groups and factories in the US, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK, and because we've grown through acquisition, everyone within our company has their own culture and internal engineering and product management tools. We've been trying to create some standardization, so we're also using monday.com. 

Additionally, Stan has been fantastic to work with. He's managed and smoothed things over when Saritasa is ahead of us, and we've struggled to keep them busy. We couldn't have asked for a more professional, understanding, and collaborative partner. Moreover, their turnaround times are very fast. As for communication, we meet with the team once a week at a minimum. Overall, I would highly recommend the way they run their projects. Our exposure to their higher-level project management has been excellent. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I've been really impressed with Saritasa's ability to listen to the information we give them to educate them about our product, customers, and vision. They had never built software like ours before and had no previous background in its end applications. We gave them a lot of competitive examples to provide them with a flavor of what a customer would expect, then gave them our ideas of how we could do better than that. Still, our project was very conceptual, and they've been able to take these abstract discussions and create concrete examples.

In most cases, what they've built has been exactly what we imagined, and in some instances, even better. Saritasa is very good at anticipating other ways to approach something. The team excels at relating to the graphic UI, and they've also helped us a lot in this respect. With this project, we've gone straight from DOS software to the coolest-looking Windows app in a relatively short time, which is remarkable. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We've had to work through a few things with them, which is natural when working with two groups of engineers and programmers coming from different ends of the spectrum and age groups. While Saritasa has seasoned teammates, they're on the younger end of the spectrum, and our engineering team isn't. Therefore, we've had to work through our cultural differences. 

Additionally, we've struggled with their internal testing. When they release a new version, it's been relatively buggy, and we've done a lot more debugging than we'd like. However, this is due to us watching our spending after blowing our budget during the project's first phase. For our second phase, we've co-managed our spending well, and more testing on their side would mean more hours we'd pay for. Therefore, the testing issues are an artifact of Saritasa trying to help us be budget-conscious. Still, when we find the bugs, they're responsive and fix them instantly, so that's the other side of the coin.