Sogo Services

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and co-founder of a software startup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Sogo Services?

We needed someone to develop an SDK and cloud service that would interact with our hardware and software systems that would enable an online and offline connection.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us define what was needed and execute on that. We had a plan for what we needed, but they also expanded on our ideas by sharing their knowledge gained from past experiences. 

What is the team composition?

I worked with two people. Gil (CTO) and a project manager. 

How did you come to work with Sogo Services?

They were recommended to us, and they had experience doing similar projects. We had good chemistry when we met, and I liked their attitude. They seemed flexible and agile. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2019, and our engagement is ongoing. Their work is complete, but there are a few things that they need to do for us once our in-house team finalizes the end-product. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They built two-thirds of our key system. The product isn’t out on the market yet, but they’ve been a significant part of our work. 

How did Sogo Services perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve performed well. The team is agile and easy to work with. I’ve never been delayed because of them. We mostly communicate with phone calls and emails, but we also meet in person. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The SDK and cloud service they built is great. In comparison to other vendors, they’re more knowledgeable and experienced. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

For the SDK, we needed a demo app. They told us from the beginning that UX design was not one of their specialties. While it’s not a flaw, it would be nice if they also had UX capabilities. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

Be honest and share the big picture with them. I think it’s also helpful to allow them the opportunity to share their ideas because they can add value to the project. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO for a gaming and hospitality group.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sogo Services?

We needed a team to help with getting some automation marketing initiatives off the ground quickly and efficiently.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They worked on two products, each with multiple stages. We collaborated on specifications, taking the business need and converting it to a manageable product. They developed software and maintained it to ensure it was working and accessible.

What is the team composition?

Gil (CTO) was the main point of contact. There was also a project manager and a team of developers.

How did you come to work with Sogo Services?

I worked with Gil in the past. I trusted his capability to deliver on time and within budget. I appreciated that he would be honest with his quote, not just try to sound cheap.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together on the project from January 2019–April 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They saved us a lot of labor and frustration with personnel. They automated many tasks that used to be done manually and with low frequency. The errors are also minimized now. There has been a tremendous uplift in business, which they are partially responsible for. We had good interaction, and their turnaround times for handling issues were quick.

How did Sogo Services perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed well. It was a little rough in the beginning, but once they assigned a dedicated project manager, things ran smoothly. They stuck to the quoted price and delivered on time. We used Slack for communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were very good on the technology front and contributed a lot to the project. They dug in and understood the vertical, making it relatively easy to work with them. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would’ve been helpful to have a project manager from the beginning.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Rely on them when it comes to planning the system engineering and technology stack. They are experienced. Give them some freedom to come up with their own solutions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the engineering group lead for AT&T.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sogo Services?

We needed help developing a web portal.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sogo Services has worked on a few projects for us. For the first one, they developed the portal’s backend with Java and frontend with Angular.js — completely from scratch. For another project, they augmented a solution that we had started using Java for the backend and Angular 6 for the frontend. They also used Node.js for a different project.

What is the team composition?

We work with about five people.

How did you come to work with Sogo Services?

I’m not sure because they were working with the company before I joined.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $700,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I began working with them in January 2019, and our partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We mainly tracked delivery backlog completion, deployments, and made sure they developed and implemented the products on time.

How did Sogo Services perform from a project management standpoint?

They did well. We held weekly meetings with the project manager.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They provide the level of flexibility we require by adding or removing people from the various projects as needed. Sogo Services takes ownership of their work. Their team has a Scrum master who handles communication, such as offshore calls, etc.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their level of automation and testing skills needs some improvement. They don’t always provide whole-cycle testing of automation.