SPsoft

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO and Founder of Switchback Health a physical therapy home exercise software platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire SPsoft?

SP has worked in many roles including standby maintenance, software updates, website development, and everything needed to keep the platform running smoothly.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal is to have a stable, flexible and secure platform for our clients at all times

SOLUTION

How did you select SPsoft?

We selected SP Soft for their reputation in the industry as an innovative and efficient company with only the best developers on hand for the tasks needed to be executed.

Describe the project in detail.

This project is a new start up in the physical therapy industry that is completely changing the way home exercises are created and delivered by physical therapists to their patients.

The completed project, Switchback Health is a very simple but powerful app that allows physical therapists to save time and produce a much more personalized program for their patient that never before.

What was the team composition?

Our Team includes myself as CEO, a Director of Business Development, a Director of Sales and Marketing, an industry Technical Advisor, a Creative Advisor and SP Soft handles all of our development tasks

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are well on on our way to 100 happy physical therapist users and over 7,500 patients using Switchback Health.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow is very efficient between our team and theirs especially because of their project manager.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their quick response to any need has been most impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I cannot think of any significant area of improvement needed at this time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of an audience relationship management startup that helps creators reach, engage, and monetize their audiences. We have a CRM that allows users to run ads, schedule social media posts, send emails, and much more.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SPsoft?

SPsoft is our contract development provider. We were looking for an external team to scale our product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SPsoft was responsible for developing our entire web application. We started with an initial consultation where they provided a scope of their services. We put together mockups and designs, they put a quote on them, and then they put together a team.

On the platform, users can sign up and create an account for free. After that, they can connect their social media accounts and navigate to different sections of the product. Our “promote” section allows users to create and schedule social media ads. Other features include creating emails, putting together marketing text messages, and purchasing a business phone number. Users can input all of their clients’ contact information.

We developed two versions of the product – one was an initial MVP, and the other was an alpha-beta version. Some of the key technologies were PostgreSQL, Ruby on Rails, and React. It is hosted in the cloud, and we have about 7–8 API integrations.

What is the team composition?

We work with a small team of engineers, but our main contact is Michael (Founder).

How did you come to work with SPsoft?

My advising CTO worked with them several years ago, and they advised we do the same.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $230,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with SPsoft started in July 2019. We have a service-based contract, so it’s an on and off relationship. We finished our last release for the product last October, but we regularly communicate on different aspects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our platform wouldn’t exist with SPsoft’s hard work. They’ve done a great job of delivering the product. It’s always hard to estimate software development because there are often moving targets.

Whenever we’ve had issues or bugs come up, Michael has been very accommodating to resolve them as soon as possible.

How did SPsoft perform from a project management standpoint?

For the first version of the product, we had a project manager that managed the team very well. I’m based in the Bay Area, and they’re in Ukraine, which made time zones challenging. For the second part of the product, I was assisting more with project management.

If I had a choice, I would make sure there was a project manager on their team to facilitate the time zone difference and be in the same room with the development team. It’s important to have someone that can make sure everybody is on the same page.

We used Atlassian and Jira for project management tools but communicated using Google Hangouts and Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

SPsoft dives into projects that they believe in. I felt the support from a business objective side. Everyone involved in the project believed in our solution, which led to a good business relationship. They go above and beyond to help support in any way they can.

Michael takes a partnership approach. He’ll introduce me to other clients he is working with and find ways to accelerate and take our business forward.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We went through many developers that weren’t a fit, but Michael did his best to get that sorted out. I would say their team could be a bit more proactive and take more initiative. I’m a non-technical founder, so I think they could step up and suggest what we can improve on. I would ask them what needed to be done instead of them coming to me and saying what’s done. I felt like their time efficiency could improve, as well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Come as prepared as you possibly can. Come with a game plan and a clear idea of what you want to do. With a clear vision in mind, it facilitates all of the conversations from the initial meeting forward. It will make everything go a lot smoother.