Sky Info Solutions

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

NextDayPC was an online retailer of IT and office products delivering products throughout the US.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sky Info Solutions?

We needed a flexible coupon system to be integrated into our shopping cart.

What were your goals for this project?

create a finished module that was ready to deploy

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We had several exchanges through an intermediary and then an interview by skype or phone.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

NextDayPC Gift/Reward Card System Customers who have received a gift card will be able to purchase products from our web site with these (virtual) cards. We also want to be able to use these cards to issue store‐credit in case of returns, etc. Gift cards will be listed on our store in certain denominations; $10, $25, $50, $100, $250, etc.

The gift card system consists of several components and should integrate into our current order processing system. We use ASP, .Net, VB, SQL 2008 and we have already designed the table structure for the administration.

The flow of the process is simple:

1. A customer purchases a gift card using the methods of payment we have on our web site
2. We process this order just like we process normal products, i.e. we process payment and “ship” out the product
3. An html email is sent out to the customer that contains a unique code and instructions
4. The person receiving the virtual gift card visits our web site and places an order using the gift card as a method of payment
5. Before the order is finalized we need to determine if the amount available on the gift card covers the total amount of the order. If not, we should ask for second method of payment to cover the remaining amount. This would normally be credit card information.
6. Once the order is finalized by the customer it is entered as a normal order into our order database.
7. Using a separate Intranet API we will “charge” the gift card for the appropriate amount and will charge the remainder on the credit card.
8. Once the gift card is charged, an email is sent out which has the balance and the latest charge on it.
9. The same intranet API should allow for us to add credit to an existing card, and create new cards.

What was the team composition?

I dealt with Akash Shah.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Unfortunately this project never came to deployment. We tested the product internally and it worked perfectly. Unfortunately our company had to close its doors before the project was implemented.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

we had weekly briefings with project updates.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Akash was very good in adapting to the way we do business. It was really easy to communicate our needs, and this translated into a quick turnaround.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not that I can remember

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Solaris Paper, operated and managed in Australia, manufactures and distributes high-quality toilet and tissue products throughout the country. I am the procurement and planning manager. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sky Info Solutions?

Our market footprint was growing, but the local company managing our domain was unable to keep up. We hired Sky Info Solutions to update our websites and implement online customer ordering. 

What were your goals for this project?

The goal was to quickly meet our expanding business requirements while keeping costs low.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

One of our business partners referred Sky Info Solutions to us. We invited them to participate in our formal tender process, during which we interviewed three companies. The marketing team and I selected Sky Info Solutions based on their quick understanding of our requirements. 

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The project list was extensive, with a vast amount of information exchanged between our marketing team and Sky Info Solutions. They developed solutions and worked with our team to overcome the many hurdles and roadblocks.

What was the team composition?

We were assigned four resources: two senior web developers, one graphic designer, and one team lead. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Sky Info Solutions met nearly 95% of our initial expectations. Their efforts helped improved customer service efficiency by 40% and marketing team efficiency by 30%. 

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We used Skype, Slack, and Git, and, despite the company’s offshore location, faced no communication barriers from either language or time difference.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We received proactive, continuous support from a knowledgeable team. 

Are there any areas for improvement?

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a project manager at the New York City Tax Commission.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sky Info Solutions?

We were short of resources for a critical application. We need to do some business process improvement and this application was much needed to get the process up and running.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a quick and easy to use solution for our users to be able for our business users to be able to schedule inspections in an efficient manner. Apart from the web application, we needed multiple batch processes for backend data processing.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We wanted a team that could offer strong business analysis and build the whole thing from the start. We brought them the high-level scope of what we hoped to accomplish and signed a deal that gave us access to all the resources they offered. They translated our concepts into an object model that met our code and general requirements.

That included back- and frontend development, UX, and design. We worked together for about four to five months, and they built everything out as we sent them the specs. The backend was built in ASP.NET, and the frontend was mostly Angular.js, though we used other technologies as needed.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

I hired Sky Info for multiple applications and batch processes. One application was Scheduling Application which is a web application done in ASP.net, AngularJS, SQL Server and few other batch processes which were console applications written in C#.

Sky Info designed prototypes based on the requirements provided in no time. It was extremely easy for us to get confidence in Sky info right from the start of the project.

What was the team composition?

We had two half-time business analysts, a project manager for a few of our projects, a full-time backend resource, two full-time frontend resources, and a full-time user experience specialist.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

With this new application and batch processes in place, we eliminated the paper based process. We are able to schedule 50% more inspections. The staff is re-allocated to other areas.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We were fortunate to have Akash Shah as our key Project Management contact. He has excellent written and verbal communication skills and was efficient in providing us day-day progress our the deliverables.

Team is extremely proficient with iterative development which made my life way easier. We had very bad experience with other vendors we dealt in the past. Thanks to Akash and Team for their terrific professionalism.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Sky Info Solution has a thorough understanding of how to design for enterprise applications. They found the best solution and delivered it in a sensible time frame. They helped our engineering team move faster. Together, we made the right design decisions and could subsequently defend them.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I don't have any suggestions apart from congratulating them on the terrific work they day. We rely on their expertise on many of our critical projects. We are extremely confident that they will continue to deliver quality work.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We provide childcare and pre-school education services in the Seattle region.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sky Info Solutions, and what were your goals?

For our establishment, we wanted to develop a full 360 degree software where we can manage Student inventory, School schedule as well as Parents section.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

A CEO of another company recommended Sky Info Solutions to us. After discussing our requirements with them, we found their analysis meeting our requirements and mutual vision, so we decided to move ahead with them.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We started with one module of day-to-day school management. Once that was developed as per our requirements, we moved ahead with Student module followed by Parents’ section. The whole system is mixture of web application with services and database.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

A total of 7 people worked/working on our project. The team contained very experienced resources. Project management is at par with our expectations, and we are impressed with the team’s proactive approach towards the system.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The timely deliveries of the module with utmost QA process. All in all, Sky Info Solutions have been an excellent companion in our journey till date.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

They're very accessible and responsive — we can always reach them through MS Teams. Daily stand ups and agile approach towards the work is commendable. They provide feedback where they feel it could improve project outcomes.

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

They are easy to work with and are always enthusiastic to achieve the common goal.

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

None

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a consultant that delivers web based content on behalf of various clients

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sky Info Solutions?

We used Sky info for a variety of projects, all web based. these included eCommerce sites, marketing websites and online data feeds

What were your goals for this project?

simplicity, ease of use and great customer experience

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Sky were known to me through other business dealings. They came highly recommended through word of mouth.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Sky would specify the need and then simply get on with creating the solution. They would regularly re visit the project and various stages to ensure it was running correctly.

What was the team composition?

myself and Sky

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The various projects have increased revenues.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

I would work closely with Sky as the PM as much as they handled the project management on their side.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I appreciated their professionalism, quality of work, and cost-effectiveness.

Are there any areas for improvement?

difficult to say they need to improve anything!