Upscalix

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Executive of VA For Everyone

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Resolve productivity issues by providing additional staff from overseas to international technology companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Upscalix to accomplish?

• Build our company website
• Develop our internal staff management tool

SOLUTION

How did you find Upscalix?

Referral

Why did you select Upscalix over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Upscalix were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Company Website:

We contracted Upscalix to revamp our company website and make it more modern and sleek, providing more values to our visitors and clients. Below is the list of key deliverables:

• Wireframe design: after the workshop, we received a wireframe design, showing where pages are and roughly what's on each pages. We signed off on the wireframe and Upscalix started on the Hi-fi design.
• UI/UX interactive design: we received a Figma prototype link that contains the interactive design of the upcoming website. We suggested changes and make sure that the design is what we wanted before the development commences.
• Website development check-ins: every 2 weeks, we had a meeting with the project team to discuss the progress and also review where were they up to. These scheduled meetings continued until the end of the project. By the 4th week, we were given the first iteration of the completed website for review.
• UAT phase: we gave feedback on the website and the developer made changes accordingly for a week. After that Upscalix deployed the website to the live server and we have been enjoying the continuous support and maintenance package from them.

Staff Management Software:

We contracted Upscalix to develop a web application for our clients to book small jobs with us, and for us to assign those jobs to VAs. Below is the list of key deliverables:

• Wireframe design: after the workshop, they gave us the wireframe design, which outlined the functionality of each pages. We signed off on that design.
• UI/UX interactive design: after the wireframe, we received a Figma prototype link that allows us to click around to see how clients interact with the tool, and how our VAs interact with it. We suggested a few changes and they were fixed by the Upscalix designer.
• Custom app development check-ins: every 2 weeks, we had a meeting with the project team to discuss the project progress, what did they do in the last 2 weeks and what were they planning to do for the next 2 weeks. I feel like I was up to date with the project and was able to give feedback in a timely manner. We changed some workflows because of those meetings.
• UAT phase: Upscalix gave us a staging link to use the platform after they finished working with it. We used the staging link to test the workflows and give them feedback about the bugs, text copies, etc. Overall, there wasn't a lot of changes as we were very close during the development phase.
• Roll out to production: Upscalix rolled out the platform to a production server, and we have been using the platform since.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Company Website:

• We enjoy a newly designed website and increase our interactivity of visitors by 50%.

Staff Management Software:

• We allow our clients to book small jobs with us, which observed a spike of 70% new jobs comparing to previous periods.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Project team constantly kept in contact with us via bi-weekly meetings. And we could provide our feedback for some items before it was too late to change.

The projects were delivered on time, and we were happy with the outcomes.

What was your primary form of communication with Upscalix?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their project management process is quite engaged. I was very clear on the progress and know exactly what they were up to in every step of the projects.

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

Not that I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Software Engineer of an it services company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We have provided high-quality, innovative, and customised technology solutions to our clients since 2003.

We work closely with our customers to genuinely understand their business. This enables us to provide best-practice services that are delivered on time, within budget, and aligned with desired business outcomes.

With a large team of professional staff, we pride ourselves on delivering cost-effective, responsive and reliable IT support to our clients. 

Our IT services and IT Support range from Helpdesk Support to monitoring IT Infrastructure, IT Consulting, IT Strategic Planning, IT Risk Management, IT Security, Website Development, and Software Development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Upscalix to accomplish?

• Strengthening our Software Development team
• Help us with our marketing content creation & social media management

SOLUTION

How did you find Upscalix?

Referral

Why did you select Upscalix over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Upscalix were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

This scope of work focuses on resource augmentation for our internal software engineering teams. They helped us in gathering and providing skilled personnel, including dedicated individuals for specific projects, to expand our team's capacity and expertise. This helps us scale efficiently by integrating external resources directly into our project execution.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Project Completion Rate: The team achieved 100% project completion for all assigned software engineering development projects, ensuring they wrapped up within their defined timelines.
• On-Time Delivery: The vast majority of projects were delivered on or before their scheduled deadlines, showcasing the efficiency and timely output from our augmented teams.
• Reduced Development Cycle Time: Projects leveraging this team saw a marked reduction in the overall software development lifecycle (SDLC) duration compared to previous projects and our internal benchmarks.
• Increased Feature Velocity: We observed a substantial increase in new features and functionalities developed and deployed per sprint, directly reflecting the enhanced productivity and output capacity gained from the additional team.
• Bug Resolution Rate: Critical and high-priority bugs were resolved in a timely manner, underscoring the effective quality assurance and maintenance support provided by the augmented team.
• Team Utilization Efficiency: The team maintained a high utilization rate, indicating they were effectively deployed and fully engaged across various project phases.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Their project management approach was characterized by proactive communication and clear organization. They seamlessly integrated with our existing workflows and adopted a collaborative mindset.

Did they deliver items on time?Absolutely. They consistently delivered all items and project milestones on or ahead of schedule, directly contributing to the successful completion of our software engineering development lifecycle and projects within measured timelines.

How did they respond to your needs? Their responsiveness to our needs was exemplary. They demonstrate a high degree of flexibility, quickly adapting to evolving requirements and providing timely solutions. Communication channels were always open, ensuring that our requests were promptly addressed and integrated into their work plan.

What was your primary form of communication with Upscalix?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

What stood out most about this company, and what felt quite unique, was their ability to fit in smoothly and reliably deliver on time across the entire software engineering development lifecycle.

They brought a capable team that didn't just blend with our existing work; they actively helped finish projects within set times. This team was always reachable, effective at solving problems, eager to learn, and very adaptive to our projects' dynamic pace. This combination of good integration, dependable results, and a highly responsive and adaptable team made them particularly valuable.

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

At this point, we're happy with what Upscalix have to provide.