Saritasa

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the brand marketing manager of Black Radiance, a division of Markwins Beauty Brands.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

We contacted them to create an AR experience by creating avatars and characters to help celebrate 30 years of Black Radiance as a brand. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Saritasa has created an AR experience for us. Initially, we described the characters we wanted and gave them a storyboard. Once the team understood what we were looking for, they brought in certain partners to help shape what they could do. They created a design brief and scope of work. They also offered options for what we could do with the characters that we weren't aware of, which were added to the project.  

Saritasa has designed four avatars with personas for us that would resonate with our target customers, including people who have used our brand over its 30-year history and people who use it now. These avatars had to resonate with Generations X, Y, and Z. As we created these personas, we looked at what their job descriptions and daily activities could be. 

The team has handled the character creation, animation, and video portions. The videos have been focused on making the characters feel breathable and alive. The AR beauty universe Saritasa has created for us is called Beyond Radiance. Phase one has been completed and has been launched for two months. We're currently considering what to do with phases two and three, including incorporating our retailers or adding more avatar characters. 

What is the team composition?

We work with Michelle (Custom Software Sales Consultant & Principal Technology Consultant), who acts as our account manager; Aaron (VP of Immersive Technology), who is in charge of the technology aspect; and Sarah (Project Manager), who was assigned to us after all the contracts were signed. One of Saritasa's partners has joined some of our calls, though that's infrequent. 

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent close to $100,000.

How did you come to work with Saritasa?

We found them through a Google search. We had initially engaged another organization for this project, but it turned out to be too much for them. Therefore, I went on a search to find another AR development organization that understood our vision, goals, and timeframe. Saritasa answered our call. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around August 2023, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Saritasa has delivered what we initially hoped for and then some. We've been having a lot of fun with phase one; we're putting together a contest for users to engage with the platform. We've also created an Instagram account all around the AR experience, and some of our posts from our launch day have gotten up to around 8,400 views. At our launch event in Los Angeles, we had influencers who all posted about the AR experience. 

We'll continue to work with Saritasa; their AR work is part of our brand's future marketing strategy. Our team is very excited and feels like we've just touched the tip of the iceberg in terms of what Saritasa has created for us. Overall, we're super pleased with the results of Saritasa's work. 

How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?

Saritasa's office isn't far from our offices in California, which has been a great plus because we're in the same time zone. Even though Sarah is in a different time zone in Florida, the project management aspect has worked well. Sarah has scheduled a call with us every week to ensure the process is moving along. 

The team has always communicated well with us using Zoom and email. Although we use Trello internally, we haven't set up that tool to work with Saritasa. As for the timeline, any delays we've experienced have been on our part due to an Apple issue that Sarah ended up helping us figure out and solve. Saritasa has been able to complete the Google portion of our platform quickly. 

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

Sarah has been our go-to person. She has kept us on track, understood our needs, and taken any concerns we had back to her team. She is 100% the reason we've gotten so much accomplished. Sarah has given us assignments and hand-held us through developing each persona's looks and makeup. Overall, Sarah has been super thorough. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Working with Saritasa has been my pleasure. The team has gone above and beyond in their performance, exceeding our expectations. The team has even participated in interviews; Aaron did an interview with a publication about the project, and Sarah did a podcast with me.

Additionally, the team has taught us a lot. They've not just designed the avatars and handed them off; they've taken us through the process step by step so that we can teach users how to use and download them. Moreover, Saritasa has made suggestions for our launch and recommended a contractor we ended up hiring who did an amazing job. Saritasa's team feels like family to us now.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't think they could have done a single thing better; our experience with them has been top-notch. 

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Understand that Saritasa is the expert, and their success is your success. The team has always wanted us to succeed, which we've done. I recommend you listen to their expertise and what they offer, and you'll develop an amazing product. Ultimately, I highly recommend Saritasa for building an AR solution.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Business Manager / Financial Secretary of Ironworkers Local 433

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Ironworkers Local 433 represents over 5,000 Ironworkers in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and the surrounding areas. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Saritasa to accomplish?

• creating an accurate experience, giving others a better understanding on the work we do.

SOLUTION

How did you find Saritasa?

Online Search

Why did you select Saritasa over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

The idea was to create a VR experience showing your first day on the job. Since our trade has various elements, the experience also has various elements. Each floor has a different scope of work that the user has to complete before continuing on. It was important to us that this experience be as accurate as possible and Saritasa delivered. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Throughout the development of this project, we had weekly meetings to review the progress of the experience and answer any questions regarding the system. These weekly meetings were extremely beneficial, allowing both us, the customer, and Saritasa to stay on the same page. 

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

We always had someone from Saritasa there to answer any questions we had regarding the VR system. If a question could be answered via email, they would; if not, they would set up a virtual meeting where we would discuss the issue at hand in great detail and come up with solutions. 

What was your primary form of communication with Saritasa?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They knew how important it was to have this system be as accurate as possible, and they did everything they could to make that happen. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something Saritasa could have done differently?

Overall, we had such a good experience with this company that we would not suggest anything be done differently. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.
I'm the COO of a private contractor that provides crossing guard services across the US. We serve in 22 states to hundreds of school districts and elementary schools. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

We needed to develop a custom mobile application to manage our scheduling and communicate with our 8,000 guards across the US. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Saritasa has designed and developed a custom application for iOS and Android devices using Python and PHP. The app enables us to provide our staff with their schedules and generate a service matrix for our clients. When I started working at my company, the app's foundation was already built in terms of the framework. 

I started to work on the project three years ago, and my involvement was collaborating with Saritasa to enhance the app's different user profiles that work inside the app's system. The app has different access points for users depending on their job positions and titles. Saritasa has also supported us in the initial steps of developing our invoicing process.

What is the team composition?

We work with 4–5 developers from Saritasa. We also work with a project coordinator and Stan (Senior Client Partner). 

How did you come to work with Saritasa?

My company's engagement with Saritasa precedes my time working here, and I'm unsure how they initially found the team.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend around $100,000–$120,000 yearly on this project. 

What is the status of this engagement?

I began working with Saritasa in May 2020, and our engagement is ongoing. However, the team has a longer working relationship with my company.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Without Saritasa's development support, we would be at a significant disadvantage as a company. The team is an integral and important part of ensuring our software functions on a daily basis. Saritasa's work quality is excellent, and the team is a very strong business partner for our company. The team does a tremendous job for our company. 

How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?

We have weekly Zoom meetings with Saritasa's project coordinator, who is very organized and responsive when we have questions for the developers. In these meetings, Saritasa gives status updates on any pending bug issues or new tasks. We don't communicate via email because Jira sends notifications when something is added to the Jira board, allowing instant visibility for Saritasa's team and ours. 

Whenever we encounter bugs or glitches in the team's work, we communicate it via Jira. We collaborate with Saritasa on Jira to share files and snippets of error logs, and the team fixes issues quickly. Regarding the budget, Saritasa provides us with reasonable quotes according to the enhancements we request. Some projects have been a little over budget, but on a holistic look, we're on target with the provided budget and estimates. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I'm impressed with Saritasa's overall performance. Saritasa is a strong firm that has good key management, and all teammates I've interacted with are highly professional. The team meets their promises and follows through. I've been directly engaged with them for four years and haven't been disappointed at any time. 

Saritasa offers a positive experience and is a pleasure to work with. The team is a strong stakeholder for us and a strong business partner. We've had an instance when Amazon servers went down, and they threw their whole team at our project to get us back up and running even though it wasn't directly involved with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything Saritasa can improve on.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

You need to have a clear idea of your requirements as a customer. Maybe not having a complete picture, but a clear idea of where you want to go and the problem you're trying to solve with your project. The better you define that, the better any service provider can support you. I recommend having a clear picture of your business case.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a director at a nationwide telephone answering service company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

We needed to redesign our application since it was no longer compliant with security standards. Our goal was to have a secure messaging platform and an app that was compliant with iOS and Android security standards.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Saritasa redesigned and developed our existing iOS and Android application. The team conducted a testing process and provided work updates until the project was completed. 

Our app alerted medical providers that they had a call waiting for attention. The app displayed the message to the medical provider, and they had to acknowledge it by clicking a button after reading it. The acknowledgment info went back into our system, and users could dial back the patient or hospital using a link without displaying the caller ID phone. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager and different programmers.

How did you come to work with Saritasa?

I found Saritasa through a Google search and selected them out of our interviews with several companies. We were confident Saritasa was able to meet our needs based on our initial calls and interview process.
How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $60,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Saritasa between June–October 2023.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Saritasa delivered an application that was compliant with security standards. We didn't encounter any functionality issues, and we had around 1,000 users. Saritasa's work quality exceeded our expectations.

How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?

Saritasa delivered work on time and on budget. We had excellent communication via phone calls, text messages, and emails. Saritasa's project manager kept the team on track and provided reports a couple of times a week. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed with Saritasa's communication skills and ability to work on an out-of-the-box project and design it well. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything for Saritasa to improve. 

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I recommend outlining your project completely and not leaving out any information when engaging with Saritasa. Explain your expectations depending on what you need to get back and keep good communication with the team during the project. Saritasa is quicker when they receive feedback from their customers, and the more information you provide and the quicker you respond, the better. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.
I'm the software and firmware engineering manager for a company that makes powersports aftermarket tools for tuning vehicles.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?
We needed help with building an iOS and Android mobile app. Our ultimate goal was to improve our customer-facing app. We had already worked with other developers previously, but our app wasn't as good as it could have been. In a sense, we wanted a better app to improve sales.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?
Saritasa developed a pair of iOS and Android mobile apps for one of our devices. Initially, we provided them with our existing app, showed them how it worked, and showed some YouTube videos that further explained how it worked. Still, the existing app had some issues, so Saritasa built the new version from scratch. Their work also included a little design work because they stuck with the original design but enhanced it to make it better as well.

As for the technology stack, they used Figma for the design. The project also required some Bluetooth Low Energy development to communicate with our device. This app required a few features, including device scanning, so we also had to do a firmware update of our device. Therefore, device implementation was also involved in their work for timing optimization. Other development pieces included a lot of Rest API calls. The app's main functionality is the ability to reflash an engine controller.

What is the team composition?
We worked with a technical manager, a project manager, and an account manager from Saritasa. There was also a team working behind each of those managers, but I don't know how many teammates included each team.

How did you come to work with Saritasa?
I don't have a clear idea of how we found Saritasa. I believe our CTO contacted them.

How much have you invested with them?
We spent around $270,000.

What is the status of this engagement?
We worked together from September 2022–December 2023.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Our app has been launched, and it has around 2,500–3,000 users per platform. Unfortunately, we're sitting at about a 1.5-star review on the Play Store and the App Store as well. We've recently hired a new developer, who has looked at the code and told us that it looks pretty good, is well-organized, and is easy to take over. Therefore, the quality of Saritasa's work was good overall. Moreover, Saritasa worked pretty quickly, and the app worked very well, all things considered. 

How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?
During the discovery phase, Saritasa did a good job of asking a lot of questions to get a decent idea of the app we needed. Still, they didn't get a full understanding of our app's depth. Therefore, they first provided a fixed estimate, but they then ended up doing a bit more work than initially thought. However, that issue was probably on us too for not the details as well as possible.

Sometimes, it was difficult to communicate well and get complicated features figured out. Saritasa was great about asking us for really detailed documentation, which we built. However, they didn't follow all of it, leaving out some key details or not implementing certain parts. Overall, they were great, but this seemed to be a complex project for them. We communicated via email and Microsoft Teams.

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?
Thien (iOS Developer) did a great job on our Bluetooth code — it was excellent.

What did you find most impressive about them?
Saritasa's discipline was their biggest strength. Their work was well-structured; they required good documentation for everything and forced us to write that documentation, which was wonderful. Their way of working really changed our practices moving forward altogether. Moreover, they had great technical resources, so they were able to figure out just about anything we needed to do.

Are there any areas they could improve?
I wasn't very thrilled with Saritasa's project management. I usually wound up going through the project manager and talking directly to the technical manager because I didn't feel there was as much communication as it could have been. Additionally, I felt that they weren't well-prepared for everything. Whenever we jumped into meetings, they didn't have much to report, so our meetings usually were pretty short.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?
Ensure that your project is well-documented and detailed upfront. Then, walk Saritasa through all those details before you begin the process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the COO and chief sales officer of Visix, Inc. We create software to help organizations communicate better. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?
We hired Saritasa to build a new software product for us. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?
Saritasa created a brand new software product for us from scratch. We provided them with the product’s specifications. From there, we started the design stage. They designed the look and feel of the product’s UIs — an AR-based UI and a web-based UI. The web-based one was for administrative purposes for setting up the software. We had some back-and-forth with their project manager and designer until the designs were completed.
We’ve since switched gears and started the development of the actual software. They’ve completed the initial version of the product and made it available to users. Regarding technologies, we’ve used ASP.NET for the backend and JavaScript for the web interface.
What is the team composition?
We’ve worked with around 10 teammates from Saritasa, including the project manager and the software development team leader.
How did you come to work with Saritasa?
We did a broad search for a software development firm that had experience with .NET and AR/VR products. What made Saritasa stand out was their experience not only in traditional software products but also their extensive experience in AR technology. Our team interviewed them and talked to a couple of their references.
From there, we asked them to put together a proposal and a budget quote based on our specifications. Once we got those back and were happy with their references, we decided to move forward with the project.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together in November 2022, and the partnership is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Saritasa has been quick to address any technical challenges we’ve run into. They can provide solutions to whatever technical hurdles we face. Overall, they deliver high-quality work — the software they’ve built for us has been truly reliable and robust. We’ve encountered minimal bugs along the way.
How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?
Their project management has been great. They’re ahead of their deadlines for building the project and have stayed within our budget. The project manager has been great in terms of communication. He’s done an excellent job of managing our tasks from week to week. For communication, we use Google Meet. They’re effective at using this tool, especially when sharing screens and looking at the software together.
What did you find most impressive about them?
We’re impressed with how quickly they can build software to our specifications while staying on budget.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, there aren’t any.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Start with detailed product specifications and give them to Saritasa. This is the best practice for getting them started on the right foot. 

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.