Susco Solutions

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the IT / Development Supervisor for a subsidiary of the ship building company Bollinger Shipyards. We are a logistics company that handles every thing an newly built ship needs to leave the dock.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our custom ERP software written in VB6 was aging. We needed upgrades and changes and finding experienced VB6 developers was a challenge.

SOLUTION

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

We sent RFPs to four companies. The each sent us proposals and showed us sample work.

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

The scope was to replace the legacy software with the same modules and processes. The UI was to be similar and the database would have minimal changes. We divided 200 features and components into 7 releases and gave the vendors source code for the original application. The front end application was written in Angular. The api was written in C#. Original development was on a VM on the local network, but that was moved to an Azure VM during development. The original plan was to run parallel systems connected to the same database but the technical challenges with the legacy system was more than expected and we changed the plan to have one release.

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

There were four main people from the team. The project manager, lead developer, a mid level developer and a backend developer. There were other resources brought in during some phases of the work

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project did move to the right by several months. There were a few processes in the legacy application that has very complex logic and those took much more time to convert than was originally estimated. Susco stuck with us and continued to make adjustments to the application. There were bugs and issues when we first released. Susco fixed all of the issues and the software was stable soon after release.

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

The project management was organized. Susco uses an QuickBase application to track the features and components. From the features, they assigned PBIs. We would write a brief requirement doc and submit it to the site. They would schedule the PBI for work. We would be notified when a PBI was complete through the system and provide feedback. We had a weekly meeting to over the status of all of the tickets.

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

The organization of such a large project was impressive and they had very good developers. The code is very organized. In projects like this code often gets in places where it really shouldn't belong. This was not the case with the code in this project. The logic is in the services, controllers handle the endpoints, and the data layer handles storage. The code was easy to find and used a very good naming convention on the front end and the back end.

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

Susco did exactly what we asked. I wish they would have asked more questions and provided more options. For example, we asked for a UI to look like a legacy VB6. Susco did an outstanding job to make a great UI that look very close to the legacy software. However we lost the ability to have a responsive website that can easily be viewed on tablets

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a new company called Perfect Track Record, an asset tracking program.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Susco Solutions?

We needed someone to provide us with custom software development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We were primarily looking to develop a software that’s going to track assets in a geological sense, but it has since evolved to utilizing the technology to also track the health of the asset.

One of the app’s main features is users can log in to the platform and enable outside vendors to update and maintain the asset.

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact is Adam (Business Growth Specialist), but we’re working with about six people from their team.

How did you come to work with Susco Solutions?

I originally found them online, but they were also recommended to me by two separate mutual acquaintances.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve invested close to about $30,000 USD.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership started in October 2021, but we’re going to continue to the second and third phases of the project with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve sent the beta of our product to three different companies and so far, everyone’s been pleased with it. We’ll be continuing to advance a lot of the features in the app but right now, we’re extremely happy with what we’ve produced.

We’ve done a lot of QA testing and the features seem to work flawlessly.

How did Susco Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re great from a project management standpoint as they’re consistently in contact with me. We utilize Azure and SendGrid for project management and communicate mostly through email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed with the timeline in which they’re able to work and the quality of the product they were able to deliver.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, I have no grievances whatsoever with the way the project went on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Even if you don’t have a lot of technical experience, I would suggest providing mock-ups as much as you can beforehand so the development would go smoothly. I gave them a clear picture of the end product of what I wanted, and I believe it helped out quite a bit in the process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a hotel management and real estate development company. We own more than 20 hotels and currently manage 18 of those. I’m on the area executive team at our home office. My team oversees the collection of properties and the folks that operate on the ground. I don’t have an official title, but my focus area is organizational development and expansion.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Susco Solutions?

Our operations methods were pretty outdated, and we realized that we couldn’t keep adding new properties with third-party management using our existing system. We hired Susco to help us streamline our document management.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Susco built a dynamic document manager that we call the J collection portal. It’s an enterprise-level document management solution. You can think of it as a repository that can be used to share critical documents with various permissions across a single organization.

The product exists as a web portal, and we had Susco work with our IT specialist at the beginning to set up our Azure cloud account. From what I understand, they’ve added a number of different pieces to our stack to accommodate each functionality.

We’re planning to add new features moving forward. Susco helped us discover ways to modify the product to match the changes we’ve seen in our business. Right now, we’re working on a home page that users can customize based on their department. We’re also building a preview feature so that documents can be viewed within the portal, instead of requiring a download. 

Even farther down the road, we’re hoping to revisit our branding and make our user logs more robust. We would also love to integrate the portal with our payroll system to streamline that process.

What is the team composition?

Daniel (Director of Projects, Susco Solutions) was our project manager, but we had another team member who completed a majority of the work.

How did you come to work with Susco Solutions?

Neel (CEO, Susco Solutions) made a few trips to our office to sit down with various stakeholders. He consulted with us to make sure that we understood our own needs and what we wanted to build.

We talked through a tremendous amount of use cases, providing context on what’s worked in the past. We were able to refine the scope and generate a project timeline, and soon after, we officially decided to engage with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $70,000 so far, and we’ve already set aside another $50,000 to continue doing additional work.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started phase one in August 2019, and finished in October. They’re still doing user acceptance training, and we’ve signed on for another scope of work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The impact has less to do with ROI and more to do with how mature we are as a company. I’m predicting that it will have a significant impact over the long term regarding our internal communication and external partnerships.

At this point, we’ve been able to leverage the product as a sort of sales tool, especially as we keep adding more hotels. It creates a new level of legitimacy for our operational procedures. Not only will it increase efficiency and productivity moving forward—but we’re also expecting to see it generate additional revenue.

The product is reliable, and we’re happy with the initial functionality. There were a few bugs in the early stages when we started interacting with it, but Susco was quick to fix anything that we found. 

We’ve also remained under budget for the project, even though the portal they delivered is exactly what we asked for. When we started using it, we realized that we wanted to increase the scope and spend more money. We sat back down with the team to have another discovery session and came up with a plan for features and functionalities that we want to add.

How did Susco Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

Daniel, our project manager, is great, and typically responds within minutes. Also, during phase one, Neel was copied on every email that we sent. There’s been plenty of transparency, and no need to escalate because everyone from their end is eager to collaborate and provide insight. 

They did an excellent job of laying out each piece of the scope, which helped us track each part through to completion. Feedback was open and fluid, and they finished everything way ahead of schedule. Aside from email, we used video calls and screen shares to communicate. We were able to have demos using these live screen shares. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We interviewed a couple of other local vendors, and Susco stood out in terms of their availability to meet and the nature of their deliverable. Some of the other vendors we spoke to were vague in their presentations and seemed to be more concerned with hosting or owning the product. That was unappealing to us because we didn’t see any value in paying high monthly rates for that, which is what those other firms wanted.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I shared this with Neel, but I had unrealistic expectations due to my lack of experience with custom software development. There were times when I wish they’d held my hand a bit more, and I don’t think they always understand my concerns.

For example, I was mainly focused on the branded elements of the product at the beginning rather than the functionality. I wish they’d been more direct with me about what I should’ve been focusing on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Look into the other systems and solutions they’ve built. I didn’t start asking those questions until later on, and that’s how some of our upcoming features came to be. You might have a fleshed-out product in your mind, but if you go a bit deeper, you may discover new ways of looking at it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the senior vice president of Worley, we operate in the insurance claims space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Susco Solutions?

We’ve been in the growth phase for the past four years where we’ve acquired a number of companies that operate in our space whether they were competitors or just ways for us to diversify our business. We have an internal development team, but due to the growth of the company we haven’t ben able to keep up with the pace of growth and business needs from a development standpoint.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Susco Solutions helped us with a major integration effort related to our workforce management system. They operated within a staff augmentation model for that effort and extended the bandwidth for our internal development team. Their team works in the Microsoft stack, including .NET and SQL Server.

Their team helped automate background checks for our workforce since we have some regulations we have to comply with. There’s some nuance to that so they developed a tool that integrated our background check provider and built our compliance rules into the system. 

Their team has handled a bunch of other projects for us. They have worked on software efficiency projects for us, often automating processes that were at one point manual. They helped us with a mapping tool with one of our contractor networks that helped us geographically understand where we were at risk for a business perspective.

A lot of our workforce is continuing their education and their team integrated our learning management system into our platform. Susco Solutions has developed an integration that pulls all of that information into our workforce management system so that we have a better understanding of how trained and skilled our resources are.

What is the team composition?

The size of their team has varied throughout the year, right now it’s a team of five developers. Neel (Founder & CEO, Susco Solutions) is our main point of contact. Other members of my team work directly with members of the Susco Solutions team.

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested about $500,000 at this point.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement with Susco Solutions began in October 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Susco Solutions has helped us run our business ever since being hamstrung by our own resource constraints. Having them be able to step in and provide value has been our saving grace. They have a genuine understanding of our business that has helped us not miss a beat.

Thanks to Susco Solutions we haven’t had to delay projects. We’ve been able to continue growth while completing integration projects on schedule.

How did Susco Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

Susco Solutions is integrated enough with our internal development team to where they’re using our software stack in some cases. They have their own issue tracking system but have adopted Jira, which is what our team uses. It’s been a seamless partnership. Any issues are typically resolved within a day.

We have frequent conference calls with members of their team. They consistently email a follow up of the call with the action items and takeaways we discussed. We haven’t had any scope or budget issues or any delays. They’ve checked all the boxes. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Susco Solutions is flexible and responsive. They don’t have rigid internal practices that prevent innovation. They’ve responded well to our internal changes and requirements. Susco Solutions’ ability to integrate with our internal development team was an added benefit. We didn’t have to entertain multiple technologies and coding practices.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. Anytime you engage with partners, there are things that you have to figure out along the way. Our teams have a continuous feedback loop, so any issues that arise are smoothed out very quickly.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t treat the relationship as a traditional vendor/client relationship. That has it’s benefits, of course, but we’ve been able to maximize our work by treating each other as partners. The rigidity of those relationships prevents both parties from being able to maximize the relationship.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an accountant for a casino gaming company. Our company owns and operates equipment, delivering it to sites for customer use. We monitor their performance after that.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Susco Solutions?

We needed a software solution for our cashiers who issue payouts. They needed to be able to better report on balances.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, they were briefed on our mission and daily operations. From start to finish, their team examined our back-office responsibilities and processes in order to gain insight into our business. Since then, they’ve been involved in overseeing our workflows, listening to our challenges and building software solutions from scratch to prevent issues surrounding data reporting. 

They’re providing a web-based solution to improve our management capabilities. Because of the software, we’ve been able to get real-time reporting on balances in ways we couldn’t before.

What is the team composition?

I work directly with two people: Neel (CEO, Susco Solutions) and Sean (Application Developer, Susco Solutions). Sean is my main point of contact, but Neel also checks in to ensure that I’m being serviced properly. 

How did you come to work with Susco Solutions?

We found them through their reviews on Clutch. They had great ratings, so we called them for a consultation. Neel came to our offices and explained Susco Solutions’s capabilities. Based on the meeting and their proposal, we decided that they were a match. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work started in January 2019, and it's still ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Now, we’re better able to manage and collect data. That’s improved efficiency by far because we have access to real-time information as opposed to having a lag in our reporting. The software has been reliable and functional. Their team also addresses any issues within 48 hours. On top of that, everything was delivered on time and within budget. 

How did Susco Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very efficient communicators. Sean took the time to do a walkthrough of our office to get a better understanding of our operations. In one pass, he was able to really nail down our processes. Their ability to catch on to a niche set of operations was pretty impressive.

The grasp of our business helped inform the software development. We communicated mostly over email, but our software also has a support ticket feature that we used with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I often have difficulties providing detail on what our operations entail. Like I said earlier, they understood our back-house processes right away. While no software is perfect, they were able to work out kinks in our beta testing phase quickly. They were very responsive in that effort.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Lately, they’ve been gaining some traction because of their quality services. The only negative thing I could say is that this has the potential to limit their capacity. Still, they’ve never been behind schedule, and projects are always completed on time.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know what you want in your product in order to shorten the time frame. They can’t provide a service to you if you’re not sure what you’re looking for. This was the only thing that ever delayed us.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and owner of Alphapex, a construction subcontracting firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Susco Solutions?

We needed to create a scheduling system that would allow our field team to get the information they needed in an efficient and timely manner. We were unable to find anything like this in the marketplace.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

My team knew the result we needed but didn’t know how to get there, and Susco Solutions walked us through the process. They explained what they could or couldn’t provide. The team created an outline based on our expectations. Once we reviewed the outline and made a few adjustments, we moved forward with development.

Susco Solutions developed a web-based app for field scheduling and managing construction jobs. We told them what features we wanted, and they implemented them. The app allows us to input data, schedule jobs, and send text messages to our team members.

After they finished development, my team realized there were a couple of things we hadn’t considered. Susco Solutions went back in and made all of the requested changes very quickly. We’re going to start phase two with them shortly.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Daniel (Director of Projects, Susco Solutions) and Brent (Senior Application Developer, Susco Solutions).

How much have you invested with them?

I would say we’ve spent over $30,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work together began in August 2019, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They deliver exactly what they promise. Everything is working well. Our partnership with Susco Solutions allows us to be the most technologically advanced subcontractor and remain at the forefront of our industry.

The feedback from our team has been overwhelmingly positive. The web app allows our field team to get the information they need quickly and efficiently, which ultimately enables them to do a better job.

How did Susco Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

Susco Solutions was very thorough during the frontend process of information and expectation gathering. Then, they were great to work with during the development process. Their team provided excellent feedback.

All of their work has been delivered on time and within budget. Even though it was outside of the original scope, they went back in and made changes to the final product when we requested it.

Communication is one of their strong points. They know how important it is to properly vet all of the client’s expectations before beginning, and they’re very communicative throughout the process. Whenever we have questions, they explain everything in layman’s terms. We’re not a tech company, and they’re understanding of our lack of technical knowledge. They work with us throughout the process and give us all the information we need.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I think where Susco Solutions really excels is in their ability to communicate and have all information well-delineated before beginning development. This makes the process smooth, easy, and predictable.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nobody’s perfect, but at the moment I don’t think there’s anything I’d change about this process.

Any advice for potential customers?

Don’t wait on engaging them; I wish we had two years ago.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of CareRise, a healthcare risk management company. We utilize web-based software technology to manage risk in healthcare facilities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Susco Solutions?

Our goal is to minimize risk and drive quality of care to benefit patients and healthcare facility owners while stabilizing insurance premiums. We rate and score hundreds of different factors in healthcare facilities each month to develop risk profiles.

My company wanted to create a software platform that would allow registered nurses to visit facilities and, while on-site and with or without internet access, easily record the various factors we use to determine risk. The platform would then generate reports and graphs. Various levels of users need to use this platform, including administration, field users, and business partners.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Susco Solutions has helped us on several software development projects. First, my team provided tremendous amounts of documentation, including blueprints, sketches, and workflow processes. We white boarded what we needed the platform to do, and from there, Susco Solutions developed a scope of work. Once we approved their proposal, they built out a Microsoft-based platform using Quick Base. They added additional code and built around the foundation platform to meet our business needs.

Susco Solutions also developed a booking app for care coordination. Hospitals are under constant pressure to quickly discharge patients, whether that’s back home, to a nursing home, or to assisted living. The app allows healthcare providers to see where rooms and beds are available so that they don’t have to make back-and-forth phone calls.

Susco Solutions has developed other software for us, all of which they built coordinating apps for.  I know they developed iOS apps because our internal sales team does presentations using iPads. I’m not sure if they developed for Android.

Currently, Susco Solutions manages our servers. They also ensure that Quick Base is up-to-date.

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact has always been Neel (Founder & CEO, Susco Solutions). The number of team members we work with varies based on the project, but I’d say we engage 5–10 people at any given time.

How did you come to work with Susco Solutions?

We were looking for a new provider to build software for us, and Susco Solutions was among the top three vendors that we came across. Although I have various professional connections to Susco Solutions, my company’s COO at the time found them.

How much have you invested with them?

My company has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together 4–5 years ago, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve completed all projects to our satisfaction. The platform has created extreme efficiencies and flexibility, as nurses can now score hundreds of factors, with or without an internet connection. Once data entry is done, the platform generates analytical reports and different graphics. They seamlessly made all of our software iOS-friendly.

The software’s primary users are our internal team, and we’ve been very happy with the functionality. Anytime we build software or do an update, the goal is to vastly enhance our team’s productivity, as this improves our customer service and saves us money. Susco Solutions has definitely achieved that goal.

As you go through builds, it’s important that the team you’re working with is flexible and available seven days a week, and for this reason we’ve remained a consistent client for Susco Solutions. When we have a project on deck, I put a lot of pressure and demands on my partners to get it done. We’ve worked with Susco Solutions for several years, so we’ve gone through a lot of different situations together, and they’ve always come through.

As a service provider myself, I think the most important thing when dealing with a vendor is being able to trust them to complete a job, through thick and thin. Susco Solutions has always been committed to us.

How did Susco Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

If I need to get in touch with them, they respond right away. My team members have also been pleased with their response times. We mostly communicate via email, but if I have an urgent matter, I can text them. They’ve always been there in urgent or emergency situations. I’d imagine that they have a lot of long-term clients because they’re very consistent in handling customer service and client relations.

My experience has been that when building something from scratch, the process entails lots of details, edits, and hard work. Being able to work through this process is very important, and Susco Solutions has been able to do so quite well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’d say three things. First, their work is solid. Second, they’re consistent. Third, and probably most importantly, they’re committed to meeting or exceeding client expectations. They strive to make the client beyond satisfied.

Are there any areas they could improve?

My chief administrator and I don’t have any serious complaints. Susco Solutions has been spot-on, and we’ve been totally satisfied. They meet our needs, and that’s the bottom line.  

Any advice for potential customers?

If possible, have a meeting with Susco Solutions’ ownership and upper management so that you establish a personal working relationship from the beginning. Don’t try to kick off the partnership over the phone. As the project goes on, there will be less personal interaction, and it’s good to know that you met the team in-person.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m co-owner of MD Claims Group, an independent adjusting firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Susco Solutions?

We needed a software program to help track assignments and files of property and auto liability claims as well as invoicing for the work performed.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Susco Solutions built the entire system for us. The program tracks everything associated with a claim including claimant information, activity logs, files like documents and photos, and invoicing. Users can create and manage profiles. The program also automatically calculates commissions when services fees are set.

We initially met with them to give them an idea of what we wanted. We brainstormed together, decided the best options, and they built the program to our specs. The program was completed in July but we continue to revise and update.

What is the team composition?

We worked with the Director of Projects and a lead programmer. We’ve dealt with as many as six developers over the years.

How did you come to work with Susco Solutions?

I knew three of the colleagues at Susco Solutions that had previously worked for a company I worked for. They understood what we wanted to it was easy to get started on the project with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent more than $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in February 2016 and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The software has helped our payroll tremendously. We can target our resources. If, for example, we need an employee in a specific state with a specific license, we can filter to find what we need and target those specific people.

The system works well. It has never crashed on us. We sometimes find bugs but they’re minor fixes that are corrected within 24 to 48 hours.

How did Susco Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate via email, phone, and text. The lines of communication are always open including to their owner.

Our work is highly collaborative. We describe what we want and they respond with ideas of what would be better, both from development and design perspectives.

They did great work. They’re responsive to our needs and, if something arises or there's an issue that needs to be fixed, very quick to get everything resolved for us. We've worked with them for three years and haven't had any issues. Everything has been on point.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Open communication and knowledge of what we were trying to get accomplished.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Everyone always works to get better but I can’t think of anything right now.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you can explain exactly what you're looking for in sufficient detail. They're good at translating what you want into the best possible system that can do what you need.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the vice president of a company that offers a crime-fighting application used by a few police jurisdictions in Louisiana.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Susco Solutions?

We hired Susco Solutions to build our mobile application that allows citizens to report crimes using an app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I provided documentation of the specifics we requested, and we relied on Susco Solutions to design and develop the application for Android and iOS. The app is built so that citizens can report crimes through the app, which alerts officers patrolling the neighborhood. They respond to calls using a tablet-based application. Information about the alert is recorded and stored in a database that authorities use for administration and tracking.

Susco Solutions delivered three versions of the application: the citizen app, which is available for Android and iOS; the officer app, which is exclusive to iPads and not available to the general public; and the web-based application, where all data are stored and reviewed.

We intentionally made a rudimentary first version because we wanted to determine its viability. After a few months of operation, we ruled it a success and devoted more money to make it more robust. We’ve continued to advance its capabilities since then, resulting in our current fifth version.

What is the team composition?

We’ve had the same project manager from the beginning, and we interact with 5–6 developers.

How did you come to work with Susco Solutions?

My business partner knew of their work from previous application projects.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost of their services would be in the $200,000–$500,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement began in January 2015. They completed our first version two months later. We’ve worked with them as necessary since then for small enhancements and our yearly updates.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I estimate that we have tens of thousands of users at this point. We receive fairly regular feedback from our users, and their input is mostly positive.

We’ve never had a failure as a result of Susco Solutions’ work. The only difficulties we experience are a result of Apple making changes to its operating system. In those cases, our app doesn’t work correctly, but Susco Solutions makes the appropriate fixes each time.

How did Susco Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

Our project has succeeded because of the stability of the project manager role. We’ve worked with the same person since the first day. We regularly interact now, even when we don’t have a contract in order. Whenever we are ready for enhancements or additions, I know their team will be responsive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re predominantly a young group of developers, but nothing’s impossible to them. They’re energetic, they want to do well, and they’re very responsive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We negotiate our contract down to the minimum budget necessary to complete our stated tasks. That doesn’t leave a lot of room for testing. Whenever they send me a version of the product to test, I’ll find elements that I believe should have been fixed before delivery. They test the application, but not too extensively. The root of this problem is partly our responsibility because of how we structure the contract.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

It is critical to document and specify the requirements of the project. This notion is true for any provider, but especially so for Susco Solutions as a small company.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a project manager for an HVAC services company. We repair and provide project work for HVAC systems.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Susco Solutions?

We have over a hundred field technicians across our two major offices. Our system required that they record their hours and equipment usage in person at each office weekly. We wanted a solution that our staff can access from anywhere with an Internet connection. We engaged Susco Solutions to revamp our logging system as a web application.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Susco Solutions rewrote our existing Windows system as a web application. Instead of installing software on every team member’s desktop, users can access the system through a web address and a login ID. Susco Solutions added new features, screens, and modules. They incorporated more intuitive business logic that can constrain or seal data types as needed. Prompts now guide users through the system, helping them take the correct steps in performing each task. The web application responds to different screen sizes—from smartphones to desktop monitors—and is accessible through Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Microsoft Edge.

Susco Solutions used Visual Studio to make an MVC in C#. A SQL database holds client login information while an Oracle database houses the rest of our backend data. The team also used JavaScript in Kendo UI.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 4–5 people throughout the project. Their project manager was my main point of contact, but we reached out to developers directly for more technical questions.

How did you come to work with Susco Solutions?

My boss found them through a colleague’s recommendation.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent over $130,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March 2016–June 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our technicians no longer have to come into the office to log hours and equipment usage. We also can automate processes within the new system. Altogether, Susco Solutions' web application saves us over 100 hours per week. Nearly every staff member—from our field technicians to executive-level leadership—uses the app; they find it intuitive, engaging, and highly responsive to different screen sizes.

How did Susco Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We ran into misunderstandings with the project manager at various points. Specific technical details seemed to fall through the cracks, and they didn't always follow timelines. However, I suspect these are problems in any large project. We coordinated mainly via email, but we also had calls and in-person meetings to discuss more complicated issues.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their developers had in-depth knowledge and quick response times. They truly went above and beyond for us. Susco Solutions also offered services outside of our original scope for no extra charge. They set up our databases and implemented Microsoft Azure for us, which we appreciated.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their rates were on the higher side compared to other vendors we considered. However, Susco Solutions offered excellent service and technical expertise throughout our engagement.

Any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that the project manager is aware of all deadlines in advance. It can be difficult to predict how long a large software development project might take, but regular reminders about timelines may help keep progress on track.