SoluLab

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Co-founder/COO of Now Open App, Inc.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire SoluLab?

We needed to develop a clickable and iOS prototype of our app.

What were your goals for this project?

The project goals were to complete the prototypes of our app within 4 weeks.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We have worked with SoluLab before on a small project and we like the worked they did on that particular project so we hired them to execute this project for us.

Describe the project in detail.

Once we completed the terms of the contract and scope of the work, SoluLab held a kick-off meeting with our executive team and explained the process for completing the work. Next they provided us clear communication throughout the project, via BaseCamp, as they reached key milestones. The communication was clear and concise. This was great because it helped prevent unnecessary delays in the process.

What was the team composition?

The team consisted of Project Manager and Lead, UI/UX Designer, iOS developer, and a Quality Lead.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

As a result, the work was completed timely and with a high level of quality that potential investors are impressed with.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was great. No issues.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The most impressive thing was their ability to understand the idea and concept of the app and bring it to life.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am co-founder and current CEO of Union Edge. We are engaged in publishing and broadcasting movies and aural programs via digital media to the public

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire SoluLab?

We hired SoluLab to develop a hyperledger fabric-based decentralized application for Media Industry to keep major financial transactions among stakeholders transparent and secure.

What were your goals for this project?

Among many goals, the prime goal of this project is to make real-time transaction data available to all stakeholders.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found them via one press release on Whatech. We had 2-3 rounds of meetings prior to signing the final contract.

Describe the project in detail.

We joined hands to develop a hyperledger fabric-based platform that ensures transparency and trust. Basically, CAMA (collection account management system) is a legal document that guarantees that all stakeholders with a financial interest in a film or television production, from producer to investor to profit participant, will receive their pre-agreed share of the revenues collected – timely, securely and with full distributed ledger transparency

What was the team composition?

The team consists of two blockchain developers, two designers, one quality analyst, and one senior project manager. My team used to communicate with the project manager on a daily basis and developers on a weekly basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The team is talented and attentive to details. Our concern is to complete the blockchain part of the project on time and under budget, and it's been taken care of. Analytics Dashboard is in the finalization stage, the entire project should be up within stipulated timelines.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow is flawless. Till now, not even a single instance of any clash or concern.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their commitment! We were in negotiations with other blockchain devs too. The demo they presented were exactly in line with our visualization. None can beat them in the prompt responsiveness and effectiveness they bring to the table in supporting project development and deployment.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Can't find, they have been fantastic throughout our journey.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the co-founder of Triller, a social video platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire SoluLab Inc?

We approached them to design and develop our mobile applications for us.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal was to create a social video community where creators could express themselves by capturing flawless videos and sharing them in seconds.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

After doing constant research, I found SoluLab to be the most promising technological partner.

Describe the project in detail.

Triller is an entertainment platform built for creators. People use it to create amazing music videos for trending challenges such as the Drake #InMyFeelings challenge. SoluLab Inc provided iOS and Android development and built a web-based admin panel for us. 

What was the team composition?

The team involved two Android and two iOS developers, two full stack developers for backend and admin panel development, a dedicated business/quality analyst, and a project coordinator.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The outcomes were wonderful. They were able to successfully execute on the project per our vision, timeline, and budget. I strongly recommend them.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They provided complete transparency with daily status updates and were responsive and supportive. Overall, it was a great experience.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their robust technical knowledge is probably the best in the industry.

Are there any areas for improvement?

For now, I can’t think of anything. It was all better than I expected.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a co-founder and the CEO of Bevvi. Bevvi is an online marketplace for alcohol. We connect enterprise customers to local alcohol retailers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire SoluLab Inc?

We hired SoluLab Inc to build an on-demand liquor delivery application that also serves as an alcohol marketplace, liquor store locator, and a rare source to find alcohol.

What were your goals for this project?

We hoped to build a platform that caters to enterprise customers who are looking to procure alcohol online for events.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We learned of SoluLab Inc through a business colleague. We made significant progress toward planning the project in our first meeting, and we felt comfortable moving forward with them from there.

Describe the project in detail.

We provided a rough set of wireframes, but SoluLab Inc fleshed them out quite a bit more to create a finished design. They then developed an on-demand liquor application for Android and iOS. The app allows users to compare prices and shop from a wide selection of liquor from multiple local stores in one platform.

What was the team composition?

Our team consisted of a project manager, two developers, two designers, and one tester.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Since our app’s launch in both app stores, we’ve received positive feedback and experienced high user retention rates. We’re very happy with this outcome. SoluLab Inc made excellent design choices that added a lot of personality.  

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They follow directions well, but I appreciate that they offer creative suggestions of their own as well. They adapt to scope changes, and they never charged extra when we added new features. Overall, I found them to be very cooperative and professional.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We believe that we now have the best liquor store locator and a rare source to find alcohol. Although our product experienced a few minor bugs and crashes in the testing stages, SoluLab Inc fixed them quickly and delivered a robust application.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, they have been fantastic throughout our journey.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company is a law firm in the default services field that’s looking to expand into client-driven SaaS solutions. I’m the data architect and am responsible for maintaining our data infrastructure and software development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire SoluLab?

We hired them to work on an in-house desktop application solution that invoked optical character recognition (OCR) document processing along with complex data analysis. We then re-enlisted their help to facilitate the development of a Hyperledger blockchain platform as part of our SaaS endeavor.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal of the Hyperledger project is to create a working conceptual demo that we can present to clients as part of our new SaaS endeavor tailored to a specific niche in the default services market.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

A third-party consulting contact put us in touch with them.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Much of the project is considered confidential at the moment due to the competitive field of emerging blockchain technologies. However, SoluLab has been instrumental in selecting the correct blockchain technology to use, development environment, test protocols, and additional software interactions that we need to accomplish the SaaS goal we have set.

What was the team composition?

The team consists of senior blockchain developers, full stack web developers, a project manager, a business analyst, QA staff, and DevOps.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

While the blockchain project is still under development, the custom desktop application has been rolled out and is currently in use within the firm, cutting the time taken for the task it was designed for in half since its rollout.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The team follows an agile development model, so we’re consistently in touch with their blockchain team lead and developers via weekly calls and daily status updates. They’ve also provided access to their project management platform and have their own time tracking software that takes screenshots of the work. This method of communication is very effective for getting answers quickly between SoluLab and our team.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their prompt turnaround time, flexibility, and careful attention to details as we moved past simple coding and into a realm that required a fair understanding of the industry that we operate in are remarkable.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None that I can think of at this time.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I founded www.HelpaNGO.com, an nonprofit online marketplace that connects donors with NGOs in India.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire SoluLab?

I hired SoluLab to develop the website and a companion mobile app for Android.

What were your goals for this project?

My goal was two-fold: to create a website where nonprofit organizations can advertise their needs and browse through donated material; and to build an Android mobile app for potential donors to offer money, time, services, or items. 

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

A friend personally referred them.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

SoluLab published the website and launched the app on the Google PlayStore. I received continuous feedback throughout the process and the turnaround time was great once we started Beta testing.

What was the team composition?

The team included software developers, quality engineers, UX designers, and a project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

SoluLab did everything to help me launch my idea to market within six months. 

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Their project management tool helped facilitate good remote coordination. We could open bugs, design change requests, and complete regular triage smoothly.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

SoluLab works within a proper software development cycle and converted all of my requirements beautifully, from wireframes and mockups to the minimum viable product and launch. I was impressed with the maturity of the team and their strong sense of ownership. I highly recommend them for any software development needs, especially websites and apps.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

Their quality could be improved slightly. I found a few errors after their initial review, but they fixed those issues quickly for a better evaluation the next time around. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Deals en Route is an application that allows businesses to distribute coupons through deal fencing. We provide applications for both stores and users, and we also have a website for the stores.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SoluLab?

We were looking to find a developer that could provide transparent and quality work—factors which we had been missing in previous collaborations.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We made a prototype app using another developer, but SoluLab told us that they couldn’t build on top of it, and we had to start from scratch. They took over, becoming involved in everything from design to back- and frontend development—anything related to the technology of the app. They also did patent research for us.

As a startup, we want to make sure that costs are low, and money goes to where it’s needed. The current app has been developed only for iOS, which could reach most of our target audience, namely college students. If the proof-of-concept testing goes well, we will look at the scope for the Android side as well, which will be built off the iOS version. SoluLab has started this process, and they have the right people for the development.

They are developing everything on the website as well. We use Stripe for coupon redemption. The app integrates with the website.

What is the team composition?

We currently have six developers, but there were four previously. They provide additional developers during crunch times, such as when we needed to deliver something faster than expected because of investor deadlines.

How did you come to work with SoluLab?

A friend who had worked for them connected me to the company. I told him about my problems with the previous developer—the high, no transparency whatsoever, and the atrocious quality of work. He connected me to Chintan Thakkar [CEO, SoluLab], who setup a business call. He explained his background and how the company worked. After the call, I received a spreadsheet with a breakdown of the cost and time for every feature, giving me an idea of what it would take.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $25,000 to $30,000 so far. We have $8,000 remaining in the budget.

Our previous developer was going to charge us $120,000 for the project, and the quality of work would have been lower.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with SoluLab in September 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’m very happy with the work they’ve done for my company. We’ve received good customer feedback, and they’ve always been there in terms of support. They proved that they had the right people and the right amount of experience to get the product off the ground.

I am not one of the technical founders, so I can’t speak to the code quality, but, functionality-wise, the first phase of the app worked as expected. There were a couple of glitches that required work, but, in terms of UI [user interface] design, the app is flawless. Bugs are expected with every app.

We received a wireframe before coding was started, in order to properly clarify everything. We could provide revisions for elements like the login screen color. We had the chance to brainstorm with SoluLab, and see their ideas as well. There were times when I actually accepted their inputs, because they looked better than what I had in mind. I have no complaints on the design or coding sides.

How did SoluLab perform from a project management standpoint?

Chintan Thakkar was hands-on in this respect, taking on a CTO role for us. I had confidence in him, and appreciated what he could bring to the table, based on his outside experience and innovative thinking. He was a good asset. He made sure to call his clients, even staying up late at night for it. When we needed help, he was always available, whether it was through a conference call, Skype, or email.
We received a breakdown spreadsheet in the beginning, detailing the cost and expected time for completing every phase of the project. I received screenshots of their work through a platform they provided. I found them to be very transparent, giving us screenshots of everything they did, every 10 minutes. This included things like keyboard activity.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The transparency, quality of work, and support we’ve gotten from SoluLab—for the amount of money we spent—were excellent. They made sure we got the best value for money.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We didn’t use a single platform for feedback, instead using Excel, Skype, or Google Docs. Some things were left out of the scope because of this. Having a single platform through which clients can send revisions would ensure nothing gets missed. I found myself struggling to find previous comments, and ensuring that those were included in the next revision. Everything else was perfect.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of Versifit, a sports and fitness app designed to connect people quickly with on-demand activities. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SoluLab?

I was trying to articulate our requirements and get SoluLab to build our grand idea. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SoluLab built our app from scratch. We had our own wireframes and mockups, as well as documentation of technical requirements, but the process was ultimately done from the start by working side-by-side with SoluLab. The first version of the app was released natively for iOS and Android.

The original aim of our app was to connect people to various venues and locations, utilizing geofencing technology. The main features of the beta released in 2016 included browsing maps and feeds in order to see available users within an area, as well as an Instagram-like feature that showed inspirational videos and pictures that people posted, promoting health and wellness. We also had a group chat function.

How did you come to work with SoluLab?

I found SoluLab through Elance after we put out a brief requirement for a fitness-style app. I could have included more intricate details that would have allowed me to find select candidates, but we did receive around 100 applicants. It was easy to vet most of them, and we ultimately had a list of 5 providers with actual experience developing fitness-related software. From those, we selected SoluLab.

How much have you invested with SoluLab?

The cost of their work was around $30,000 for both apps.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with SoluLab in October 2015. We released the MVP in January 2016. The bulk of the work was done by that point, but we continued to make a few tweaks. The engagement with SoluLab ended in May 2016.

The app has pivoted since that point, and it provides a different experience today. We made the new version using a different developer. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

SoluLab helped us test our idea and create a more tangible user experience. We gained some traction using the original model and were selected in an Inc. Magazine competition called The Coolest College Startups 2016. We also had a mention in an article about up and coming startups. SoluLab’s design gave us a little notoriety, which planted seeds with potential investors.

We were trying to build a pristine user experience with a number of features. We were trying to make a Ferrari, when all we needed to build was something simple, like a Ford Focus. We needed to let people grow the theme and add features as part of a natural evolution.

Our original business model was not scalable, and the changes we had to make led us to step away from SoluLab and look within our domestic networks for a software development team we could work with closely.

We gained a few thousand users during the 3 months when the app was live. Then, we shut it down in order to refine our business model and obtain funding. Certain aspects of the app needed to be simplified, and we had to focus on the core content—connecting people—instead of adding extra features like allowing users to upload videos. We didn’t need another Instagram.

The app had some initial bugs, but we did put SoluLab under pressure to release it quickly. There were some slight instabilities related to the app being a new idea. We released it in around 2 ½ months, compared to our current development run, which has taken 9 months.

How did SoluLab perform from a project management standpoint?

They were responsive overall. If we needed quick changes to be made, SoluLab set up meetings and kept clear lines of communication to understand and diagnose our ongoing issue. From a project management perspective, they handled the work well. We used Basecamp for tracking tasks.

What did you find most impressive about SoluLab?

I appreciated that they were able to help us grow our idea from a design standpoint. The wireframes and mockups we had were amateurish compared to what SoluLab was able to finalize. They manifested our concepts and were quite responsive. I emailed and called the team at random times, and someone was always available.

Are there any areas SoluLab could improve?

The app had some stability issues at times, but this problem goes both ways. SoluLab could have implemented some internal code review procedures, but we definitely pushed them to the max. They were trying to deliver to an American client within a rapid timeline. Our new company has taken 9 months to make a new release, instead of the 2 ½ months we gave SoluLab, and they had no frame to build from. They were still able to deliver some type of MVP within a short time. So, I can’t really hold this against them.  

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Clean Router. We sell a wireless router that filters the internet for kids.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SoluLab?

I think the first product we had them work on was an app. We had an existing app that they were referencing, but it wasn’t exactly the same thing. They started the build from an existing platform, but the app itself was new. We had developed the first app in-house, and we didn’t do a great job on it. Additionally, we just didn’t have enough bandwidth to do it ourselves.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve built three mobile apps for us so far, and now they’re building more of a whole platform, an end-to-end system. The apps are around our existing product. One is a parental control app, one is a filtering app that goes on the kid’s phone, and another is called Clean YouTube. We have CleanYouTube.io, so it’s a portal into YouTube, and SoluLab built an app to go along with that. Now they’re helping us build out some of the backend systems and such.

The apps are all available on iOS and Android. The technologies varied on the different projects. PhoneGap was on the first one, and some more recent ones they built native. The backend technologies varied between Python, PHP, MySQL, and a handful of other stuff. I don’t want to go in-depth with the backend system project, as some of that is proprietary and I don’t want it published.

SoluLab is very good at meeting the needs of the project, and not trying to pigeon-hole the project into a technology they already know. A lot of times, you’ll work with a contractor who knows PHP, so all they do is PHP. On the backend system SoluLab is working on right now, there was some code that we were able to use in Python. They extended that using Python. None of the other stuff we had was Python, but it was the right fit. They’re very agile and able to use the technology you need to solve the problem, not the other way around.

How did you come to work with SoluLab?

We originally connected with them on Upwork. Deciding factors in choosing them included cost and efficiency. They’re very cost-effective. When you work with inexpensive contractors, you often get poor results. These guys are actually really good to work with and they produce really high-quality stuff. My co-founder and I are both developers, and we know that the code they produce is very good quality.

How much have you invested with SoluLab?

We’ve spent in the ballpark of $30,000 to $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June of 2016, and our relationship is ongoing. I just had a meeting with them about an hour ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re very easy to work with, which is a huge factor when dealing with contractors. Their communication is fantastic, and the quality of work is great. The reliability and stability of the solutions they provide is as good as I would produce myself, which is rare to find among contract workers.

How did SoluLab perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is off the chart. For instance, with the current project, we’re using Basecamp for communication. Rajat, one of their leads on this project, and Chintan make sure we get updates in Basecamp at least daily, and often multiple times a day. Their written and verbal communication is phenomenal.

What did you find most impressive about SoluLab?

Frankly, it’s the cost-to-quality ration. You don’t normally find developers of this high-quality at that cost. Their thoroughness on tasks is probably the second most impressive. They architect everything out really well, they’re easy to work with, and they’re technical, so they get it. They’re obviously smart guys technically. They also communicate really well.

Are there any areas SoluLab could improve?

No. It’s been great to work with them, and we’ll continue to work with them in the future.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The project through which I met SoluLab is a product that is a wildlife identification app for enthusiasts. I’m the founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SoluLab?

My background is in startup business management, and before that design, but not development. I posted a job for native iOS development of the app. When SoluLab came on, we had our first version out, which was a very bare-bones MVP. They came on to take us to the next step.

When we originally started and made our technology choice, the technologies to build one code base that works well across platforms weren’t very mature. One of our core principles was to have a very high-quality application, and we knew we’d be loading a lot of content through the app. A lot of the apps we’re competing with are slow and have performance issues. We wanted to go native iOS so we could get the highest quality for the end user.   

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The backend already existed, and we continued to build on that. We definitely added new features and functionality and replaced some. There were a few that we had to refactor, and then there’s still some old, untouched stuff in there. So, I would say it’s a combination of a rewrite and modifications.

The main feature we added when SoluLab came on was in-app purchasing. Prior to that, we had proved out the model and made sure the backend API’s were working. When they came on, they were really looking to now add in an opportunity for a revenue stream. We also used ODR. We have thousands of apps that need to be downloaded, so we had to come up with a way for a user to only download exactly what they needed.

The way it works is that you can download one list, and it might have 500 wildlife with 3,000 images. Then you might download another list of wildlife for the next state beside yours. We don’t want that user to have to re-download all 3,000 images again. The system was built so it could determine what you didn’t have, and only grab the missing assets. They did all of that work. They also added sound maps for wildlife, like range location information.

They got the design upfront, but there were holes in the design. In some cases, they came back with design proposals where there were holes, and other times they came back to offer a better way to do something in the design we had. So, they were quite active with the design.

How did you come to work with SoluLab?

I found them through Upwork. The deciding factor in hiring them was the same reason we were happy with them the whole time; they made a point of reaching out and following up often. They put themselves at the front of the line. They were impossible to ignore. They were just very attentive, and throughout the project, they were like that the whole time. We worked with Chintan, and he was basically project managing us.

How much have you invested with SoluLab?

We’ve invested maybe $50,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in June of 2016, and the project is ongoing. We’re currently wrapping our planning for the next version of the app. SoluLab has been helping us with reviewing estimates.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One of the systems we used through Apple turned out to be inherently problematic, but that was beyond their control. Unfortunately, that was keeping our key metrics down. We’ve since replaced that, but I don’t have any hard metrics that would show their hard work.

The quality of the work was good. My partner is a very high-level CTO. I might give SoluLab an A, whereas he might give them a B. I felt they understood the requirements. They did the work, and they were timely. I just didn’t have any problems with them at all. They did what they were hired to do.

How did SoluLab perform from a project management standpoint?

I think project management is one of their strongest points, and maybe that’s why I was constantly impressed with their follow-up, organization, and communication. I was less involved in the details of the code. They were setting their own deadlines, and they were pushing us constantly to follow-up on comments or unblock them in some way. So, they were very motivated to move it forward rapidly. We used Skype, Asana, Upwork, Git, and of course, iTunes.

What did you find most impressive about SoluLab?

For an outsourced development team, the communication was impressive. I’ve been finding offshore development partners for about 15 years, and often there’s a language hurdle. The communication was really a strong point with these guys.

Are there any areas SoluLab could improve?

I think they probably need to have two tiers of development. They’re priced quite low, which is attractive for clients, but you get what you pay for. I think they could do a two-tiered system, where their newer developers are at a lower rate, and they have senior developers at higher rates, and they aren’t afraid to quote higher on a project.