Uptech

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Aspiration is a FinTech company that’s trying to bring the best financial investments to everyone. We have a large focus on socially responsible investing. In general, we want to democratize access to high-quality investment products. 

Another thing that makes our company unique and is a core part of our mission is that all of our products follow a pay-what-is-fair model. People can pay from $0 up to $2 a month for the use of our products. We believe that increases the accessibility of these products and helps us avoid the fee gouging we see in the news.

We have another important program, Fines Worth a Difference. We have a commitment to give 10% of our top-line revenue to charity every year. Currently the charity we partner with is called Accion, which is the largest provider of small business microloans in America. 

We are a modern-day, socially conscious financial institution who really wants to help people save and spend money better. We do this by bringing them the best financial products and technology to help them improve their investments and spending. I’m the head of product and data.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Uptech?

As a startup, it doesn’t matter where you are—everyone is always looking and competing for the best engineers out there. Knowing that we want to build a lot of great technology and build out our platform to help our customers, we were looking for ways to augment our mobile teams for both iOS and Android.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our development lead had already started to develop the iOS app and we had completed portions of it when Uptech started working with us. Since we were so pleased with Uptech’s level of service, we recently added an Android engineer from their team to work with our full-time Android lead. The Uptech engineer just joined in the last 3–4 months.

When the Uptech team joined our mobile efforts, we hadn’t launched the iOS app yet, but we did have a prototype that a previous in-house engineer worked on. They really did an amazing job of picking up that code base and understanding it.

We launched the iOS app 2–3 months after they started working on it. We’ve been working closely with them since then to improve and release new versions for our iOS app.

One feature is called AIM: Aspiration Impact Measurement. As a FinTech company that’s focused on socially responsible investing and benefitting the world, we thought it would be really cool to help users understand how their spending influences the people and the planet. We built a proprietary database that rates companies where people use their debit cards. Categories include environmental, social, and governance (ESG). We have a lot of ESG data on these companies and assign each one a people and planet score. If you made a purchase at Walmart, its scores would show you how they treat the people and planet. We give users a score based on where and how they spend their money. This was a feature that we did mobile-first, and despite very tight deadlines, they did a fantastic job on it. They’ve been helping us with iterations on this feature since then.

What is the team dynamic?

Uptech provided the lead engineers on this project. We had project managers, data scientists, mobile engineers, and backend engineers working to launch this novel feature. We currently work with one Android engineer and two iOS engineers. There’s also a project and sales manager and a technical lead.

How did you come to work with Uptech?

We have an onsite Android engineer and were in the midst of finding some iOS developers when he recommended the Uptech. He had past experience working with them. Through initial phone calls and working with them, we saw that they have a good product sense and care about the product and our customers, despite being a remote team. We discussed the features and shared a spec on how it should work.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in July or August of 2016, and the relationship is ongoing. There’s still a lot of work to do. They launch new features and improve the existing app. They fix bugs, help with UI designs and UX enhancements, do code refactoring, and improve analytics within the app.

They are responsible not only for product features but also for engineering quality, performance, etc. They make sure the product is functional, reliable, and scalable.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They were part of the app development even before it launched. They get a lot of credit for the success of our iOS app. We’ve had good reviews indicating that it’s a high-quality release with a minimum number of bugs. We have a high level of user engagement and adoption. Over 70% of our customers have downloaded our iOS or Android checking account app. There’s a high degree of daily user engagement. We didn’t have the app when a lot of those customers joined, so the fact that they bought into it is great.

In Google Play Store, our average rating is 4.4 out of 5.0, and we’ve had 500,000 downloads. 

How did Uptech perform from a project management standpoint?

We do biweekly standup meetings where we do sprint planning. We communicate through Slack and email. They’re very easy to reach despite being in different time zones.

Both our team and theirs have been flexible to make ourselves available. We’ve been able to create a clean workflow to hand off assets using Sketch and Zeplin. They’re very responsive when we send a request to them. Despite the challenges of working with backend developers, they did a good job of learning the APIs, asking questions, and understanding how to use them. They check their quality of work before they ask us to do a full task test review. They’ve been doing well with deadlines, communication, and understanding the purpose of the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They provide a high quality of work very responsibly. We’ve built a strong relationship and get along well. I appreciate the level of interest they have expressed in Aspiration.

Rather than just coding without providing feedback, they’ve always been thoughtful about the product and the customer. They work like a true team. They’ve treated all the work that they’ve done like their own, even though both our team and their team did it together. As soon as we started working with them, we realized that they were able to deliver the quality of work we were looking for in our mobile development.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m CTO of Freebird Rides, and we’re making Uber rides free in Los Angeles. Basically, we’re convincing bars and restaurants to contribute or pay for Ubers to bring customers in. We have about 20 people working with us, and we’re located in Venice.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Uptech?

We had landed a couple of big gigs, including an NFL/Superbowl premier party in LA, which we were trying to spread the word about. We needed more hands-on development for both the iOS and Android app, as well as the MAC end of the API. We’re a startup and only had two people working at the time.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us prepare quickly by adding 6-7 developers to our team who helped build many cool features. They created an AirBar that pops up when you log into the app, which is basically a search bar at the top with a subpanel of Smart categories. If we’re doing an event, NFL can pop in below it, and it’s very optimized and sophisticated. As you scroll down the list, the main navigation at the top shrinks into a pinned header. Uptech even asked if they could open source this on their GitHub as an example of their work.

They really helped us get the app out the door and into the market. We launched the iOS version in LA in June, but won’t be launching the Android version for a couple months because we’re still iterating the marketing and messaging on the iOS version. We operate with over 400 bars and restaurants in LA alone where you can get discounted Uber rides. Uptech was very supportive and they made a beautiful UI. They integrated our branding guidelines and theme elegantly throughout the app.

Although we’ve recently been hiring internally, if we ever get another big project, we will definitely reach out to Uptech again.

What is the team dynamic?

We had 5-6 developers staffed at any given moment who we would rotate depending on their skill sets. Once the backend was built, we moved on to the frontend, which required different developers. They were very supportive and worked well with us on a weekly, day to day spread schedule.

How did you come to work with Uptech?

A friend of mine who had worked with Uptech strongly recommended them. At the time, availability was the decision making factor. After I sent Uptech a small test, I went with them because they knocked it out of the park and seemed excited about the project.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $150,000-$200,000 over 7 months.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2016, and recently paused the engagement in June 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re receiving good reviews, and have had a lot of customer support. The only issue has been with some of our messaging, which isn’t bad, but we’ve had to explain to people how to use the app. There’s also been some confusion regarding marketing terms and appeal. Other than that, everyone has been really honest about how happy they are with it. Uptech’s code quality and unit testing are excellent, and they’re really on top of business.

How did Uptech perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication was good, and they were very professional and easy to work with. The burn down charts and invoices they sent us were great, also. We had a couple of hard deadlines but they nailed it. We were in the exploratory phase, so it was more about producing the quality rather than hitting the mark. The few times we had a deadline crunch and wanted to get a build out, they helped us get the job done.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’ve been using a new technology called RX, and they picked it up well and were very eager to learn about it. The unit testing they conducted outside of coding was awesome, because being test driven during development of a big product is extremely important. Many developers will just code and build it, but the moment you try to add or change a feature, you don’t have the unit test support or coverage and this leads to quality drops. They brought the unit and UI tests, and they were knowledgeable about devops as well as project development. I’d give them a gold star on that one.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s room for improvement with time management, including boarding and figuring out what the payment structure is going to be like. Overall, they were great, and when I instructed them to log their hours and tasks worked on, they had no problem with that. Every agency probably uses different tools, but we just plugged them in and started running, then it took about 3-4 weeks to figure out management. They jumped right in on the project with us, but looking back, it may have been wise to frame it better instead of just getting to work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Art Kive has an app that serves parents by storing their children’s art. I’m the lead developer and full-stack engineer. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Uptech?

We were looking for a solid Swift iOS developer to augment our team in working on a native iOS app. We also wanted to make sure the team we found was able to solve problems with an existing code base. Part of the issue with working with overseas teams is availability and time differences. UPTech was very flexible, even staying up late and getting up early to work on the project. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We are transitioning the app to a subscription module. This project was not a conventional sprint system where the UX and UI team identifies, designs, and resolves issues and then implements them. I was still building the subscription module and the Rails server, so we were designing and developing at the same time. We added some capabilities to detect if a user has a subscription, needs a subscription, etc. There’s a feature that presents and gives discounts in the UI when users go to checkout. The problem the app solves is storage, but the point of sale is converting items into high-quality coffee-table keepsake books and other items. We’re aggregating some hotfixes and feature additions that we’ll have Uptech tackle in the future.

Uptech dealt with the presentation of price changes, member plans, and also some core logic around whether a user needs a plan and what to do in that situation. They were very understanding and flexible and dealt with the process really well. I was directly managing the team from Uptech. Andre, the project manager; Oleg, the iOS developer; and their company were awesome. They both speak really good English and are funny. I know Uptech also does Android work, but we’re not using them for that right now.

How did you come to work with Uptech?

One of our owners reached out to our circle and got a recommendation for a gentleman named Shervin, who is the team leader in the US for Uptech. He finds the work and funnels it to the developers overseas. Usually, that’s a scary business model and something I wouldn’t contract, but they did a great job and beat the odds. They were good.

How much have you invested with Uptech?

We’ve spent between $7,000 and $10,000 over the last quarter.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2017, and we continue to contract them for version releases, hotfixes, etc.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Uptech solved all the needs we had. I haven’t received any complaints about bugs, which is rare. There had been existing bugs, but Uptech’s work has yielded no new bugs. That’s the best part of their work. They solved the need and were able to be extremely Agile with us as we were being fluid in our process, which isn’t normal development.

How did Uptech perform from a project management standpoint?

They dedicated as much time as we needed to our project. When the project began to taper and we were working on other things, they did other projects. Oleg and Andre were both available on the weekends and nights for us. They did a 3-week focused sprint with us; after that, they made the time to finish what we needed. They did a good job. We didn’t have moments where they weren’t focused on us. They would communicate that it might take them a couple of days to start a new task, but they always got to it in a reasonable amount of time.

What did you find most impressive about Uptech?

They were fluid and available. They produced good code that has shown no new bugs. They did their job and did it well while being cost-effective.

Are there any areas Uptech could improve?

I don’t have any complaints right now. They did what they needed to do. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The name of my company is Photo Ops, and it’s a photo-sharing platform utilizing scavenger hunt game mechanics, photo sharing and mobile devices to create a fun and engaging experience for users to interact with brands. I’m the founder and CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Uptech?

We were trying to obtain a quality development team that was also cost-effective. We needed them to do ongoing development work on both iOS and Android.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Uptech stepped in to provide both front-end and back-end development for the iOS and Android platforms for our mobile app. In terms of CMS, they provided all the user experience and visual design work. I provided them with the initial layout and design, and they’ve made recommendations and changes that we’ve agreed to. I had full visibility into the composition of the team, which was one project manager, one front-end iOS developer, one back-end developer and two Android developers.

How did you come to work with Uptech?

I was referred to them via a contact of mine at another company. They recommended Uptech because of their great rates and the great work that they do. I had a couple conversations with Uptech’s senior management and really liked what they had to offer.

How much have you invested with Uptech?

$10,000-$20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in November 2016 and the development is ongoing. Interestingly, we launched the first version of the app this morning. We’ve reached a very important milestone and we’re going to continue iterating on that until we’re satisfied.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We just launched today so we don’t have any real feedback yet. But to give you a little more information, the app was previously built by another developer, and we came to a point where we were outgrowing that developer’s skills and the app needed to be rebuilt to be more effective. In contrast to the original build, the current build is incredible. It’s amazing.

How did Uptech perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management has been great. They’re extremely communicative. They’re everything I could ask for. I have full visibility and communication channels with everyone on the team.

What did you find most impressive about Uptech?

The guys at Uptech are extremely good at what they do. I know that’s broad, but it’s hard to find developers who are both responsive and accountable to their work.

Are there any areas Uptech could improve?

In the interest of always getting better, they could improve on the testing of the app. I come from an interactive background and I know what’s it’s like, but just making sure the app is 100% before presenting to the client would be the only thing I could suggest.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company is Butter, and we’re a social discovery app. I’m the cofounder and CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Uptech?

We had our app in the market for a number of years, and we were looking for a team that could help us update our existing apps and also provide both design and development with the real goal being user downloads and user engagement.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have both an iOS and an Android app, and based on their team’s expertise, we decided to focus in on the Android app. There are a number of strategic reasons for that, among them being that it would give us a better international footing. We were starting to see use and downloads across some different markets where we felt that a really solid Android version would be a very good thing. Unfortunately, our previous Android team wasn’t very skilled, and so there were some issues related to crashing and bugs and so forth. UpTech brought in their Android team and really stabilized the application. In doing so, they also did some teaching and QA. The next thing was to improve the usability and functionality of the app so that we would make it more attractive to end users and also reduce the number of taps it would take to do any given thing, whether it was looking at a photo or viewing comments or looking at someone’s profile or just browsing through content. That involved the development team and a design component as well. We had them work on a new design that leveraged our old feel and approach, but with the goal of making usability that much easier, reducing the amount of actions that users would have to take to be engaged with the content. They developed and implemented that design in the app itself. When that was completed, we did see an increase in downloads and engagement in Android, along with an increase in in-app purchases and revenue as well.

The next phase of the project was to implement native ad units in the app. The design team determined the best places in the app to add native advertising and then the development team went ahead and integrated that into the app. Right now we’re in the process of doing a similar approach for our iOS app as well.

How did you come to work with Uptech?

Our company had gone through an accelerator in Los Angeles, and we had built a relationship with a developer/consultant there. He had worked with a number of different teams, so we reached out to him asking for a recommendation for a skilled team that could take on the project. He referred us to Uptech.

How much have you invested with Uptech?

We have built an interesting relationship with them where part of the cost is based on revenue share; we wanted to incentivize the team to meet the metrics we had established for in-app purchases and ad revenue. So they were very flexible in working with us in a way that would incentivize them and work well for us. But I would say over the course of that year, I would think we spent around $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

To the best of my memory, we began working together in February 2015. We accelerated the pace of that work through the second half of 2015. The work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One of the big problems with our previous Android app is that we would experience a lot of crashes. That was a source of consistent complaints. We’ve been able to absolutely minimize that if not eradicate it. That was the biggest metric, just getting an incredibly solid application out of this. What that has done, along with the user interface improvement, is that it has helped increase our downloads by about 200%. After the launch of that version of the app, our revenue has gone up by 150%. We’ve had some really good numbers that can be attributed to the fact that the app is incredibly solid. People have a good experience. And from a design perspective, it’s a more enjoyable app too. That’s resulted in fewer user complaints, more downloads, and more revenue.

How did Uptech perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve had a great experience. We use Slack and Trello to manage our projects. There will be a lead for any given area of the project. There’s an overall project lead that we can always talk to, then an Android development lead, an iOS development lead and a design lead. We can communicate with whoever we want via those channels, and then we have Google Hangouts where we can discuss things face to face. But that’s how we’ve been working and it’s been great. They’re always responsive; someone’s available. They’re very proactive: there may be things that we’re not asking for and they will reach out to us and say, “We need you to check this,” or “Here’s a recommendation we have; let’s try this.” Or “Here are the three ad networks we want to use. Can you take a look and let us know if it’s okay.” I see them as being helpful, available and proactive, which is something that I like. I like to know that I’m working with someone who is not just following the spec of the project or doing the bare minimum, but they’re very active in looking for the best solution or coming to the table with their own suggestions. I always want someone who’s going to step up and improve things with their own skills and knowledge.

What did you find most impressive about Uptech?

Based on my past experiences with other outsourced software developers, the communication is always great. There has never been a challenge on the communication side. Again, they are very on-the-ball. If anything, we’ve been the ones who have dropped the ball or haven’t gotten back to them. The communication has been very impressive. I was also very pleased and surprised by their design acumen. They have some very thoughtful designers working on their team that helped push the project forward. I really do prefer designers and developers to be on the same team and working closely together, so that was something that was very pleasant. They’re a team that’s willing to work collaboratively and take feedback.

Are there any areas Uptech could improve?

Off the top of my head, I don’t think so. Their available skill set matched really well with what we needed. I would say that there might be certain areas when it comes to back-end development that there were some skill sets that weren’t immediately available, but that has never held anything up. In those cases, we’d just need to be more proactive in scheduling things. We might have to work that resource into the schedule down the line. But that didn’t hold us back or impact us in any way. That’s the only thing that came up. I love working with them and I want to do more, so it’s always a challenge to map your need to the availability of the team.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I have 2 companies that they do work for; both are mobile software companies. The name of the app they do the most work on is Geeking App. The app is pretty large.

We’re 2 people right now. I’m one of the partners.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Uptech?

We had previously done all our development in-house. I’ve been doing software for a long time so we did it domestically over the years. We didn’t have enough work nor did we want to spend as much as was necessary to have a full-time US-based person. Our part-time US-based guys were not readily available. That’s the main reason we tried to find a company to help us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Uptech is doing mobile Android and iOS development for me. They’re doing the same thing for both companies. They’re only doing Android for 1 company, while they’re doing Android and iOS for the other one. They didn’t start anything from scratch. They took over existing stuff. For 1 company, they took over a fairly complex iOS app that we had been developing for 3 or 4 years. The app was complicated because it was very deep and very messy. The Android app was also pretty poor. It had been developed initially by a different overseas firm that did not do a good job, and then it had been hacked together by various other developers. They jumped in on that, which is always stressful and challenging.

We’ve done 2 projects with them and they continue to work on the same apps. We don’t develop new stuff but we do develop new features. The biggest thing they did on one of the apps was revamping the Android app. Now, it uses the latest Android user interface guidelines and Android methods. It was very out of date, so that was a substantial project. It was behind the scenes stuff, although the UX did get updated so users saw that. But most of their work was on improving the stability and performance of the app.

We tend to have 1 person who leads the project. There’s 1 person that oversees. We have had times where the person we used got busy on another project because we don’t have anyone dedicated to this full-time. We’re not guaranteed a certain person indefinitely. Sometimes we do 40 hours a week, sometimes we do 80 hours a week, and sometimes 20 hours a week. If that person gets allocated to another project, then they’ll put someone else in. That’s happened once or twice.

How did you come to work with Uptech?

I didn’t go seek them out. There’s a guy in LA who is a broker for them. He introduced us to them and he takes a fee from that deal. So, they met us through him. I don’t really have to deal with him now as I work directly with Uptech.

How much have you invested with Uptech?

We paid $60,000 for their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working for about 9 months with them. It started in February or March of this year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They reduced the crashing on the Android app massively. It was just a very poor app. They’ve reduced it down to 98.7% non-fatal crash on a daily basis. We were probably 75% prior to that.

How did Uptech perform from a project management standpoint?

We mostly speak through Slack and we use Pivotal Tracker to assign them tasks. Occasionally, we have Skype calls to go through larger scope things. I’ve been developing software for 20 plus years and I’ve outsourced big projects to other countries maybe 10 to 12 times. They’ve been total disasters 11 out of 12 times, or at best they barely skate by. Uptech is the only company I’ve ever used in my entire career that was as good as someone I’ve used here in the US. My only concern is as they start taking on more clients, they won’t have time for me. They know we’re one of their earliest clients and I think they want to take care of me because we’ve been a good client. It’s very difficult to find international developing firms that actually know what they’re doing.

What did you find most impressive about Uptech?

They’re good at understanding what the spirit of the action item is and then recommending an alternative solution if that’s not the best way. At best, most developers will do exactly what you ask for. A lot of developers will do way worse than that, meaning it won’t even be what you asked for. But the best developers will develop the best solution for what you ask for. That means they’re not going to do exactly what you said; they’ll suggest a better way of doing it. That’s what really good developers do and that’s what Uptech does. It’s a rare find.

Are there any areas Uptech could improve?

They’re not on US hours so it sucks. I have to wait. It takes longer to get things done than having someone in my office. But that’s not them specifically, it’s just the nature of outsourcing internationally. We have 1 person, so we’re subject to that person’s availability. They work full- time. But based on the speed they get things done, I suspect they’re probably not working every single hour on our project. The speed is acceptable for what we’re attempting to do, so I’m OK with that.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the Senior Designer at Dollar Shave Club for their iOS and Android apps, and I am the Partner and Creative Director at TwoScoops Studio.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Uptech?

I had clients who needed different websites developed. One was a custom WordPress site for a law firm. The other was a tech company that needed their own site built from scratch. Uptech handled both of these.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Law Firm required a responsive site that they could update themselves when needed. Dima suggested a custom WordPress site to make this possible. I worked with Dima and Andriy to set a roadmap for them to let my clients know when their site would be completed.From there, we set mile markers and a QA schedule to get us to launch on time. Uptech handled all of the development for a custom, responsive site build that we for a start-up that sells mobile advertising.

I worked closely with Dima, the team lead. He made sure that I had one dedicated full-time staff person working on each project.

How did you come to work with Uptech?

Uptech developed the Android app for Dollar Shave Club; that’s how I got in touch with them. When they separated from the company that they were with before, we decided to continue working together on TwoScoops projects.

How much have you invested with Uptech?

In total, they charged $5,000 to $10,000 for their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

It’s been about a year. Uptech started working together last September. We launched the Android app at Dollar Shave Club in March. Since then, we've continued to keep creating work. We’re getting ready to build a new site this week for an outdoor 5-on-5 soccer tournament and have a few other projects coming down the line.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don’t have exact numbers, but I do know that all of my clients have relayed to me that they’ve had an increase in traffic. All of my clients love the sites. We haven’t had any issues with bugs that pop up or any issues with the sites crashing or being hacked. They’re really quick with their response time in case anything does come up. I know everyone that has had their site built through me and Uptech is over the moon.

How did Uptech perform from a project management standpoint?

I think they’re great. When we first started working together, we were still trying to find the right process. We were running like a fly-by-night business for a bit, but I think we’ve got it down to a science now. They’re extremely quick to respond in case anything comes up or if I have clients who need changes. For example, I had one of my clients move to a Chicago office, so I had to update the website. They sent that to me yesterday and it was fixed this morning.

What did you find most impressive about Uptech?

One of the reasons I love working with them so much is that they go above and beyond for me and for whatever I need for my clients. They’re always super clear and transparent about what they’re working on. They tell me when and what they need from me to get things done. We’ve had times where we had to swap a developer out in the middle of a project, but they told me a week in advance. Everybody onboarded properly and work was done on time. It was a really seamless transition from one developer to another. I always know what’s going on because they’re constantly checking in. I always have the ability to hop on Skype or send them an email. For all of those reasons, I trust them with all of my projects. The work is great, the development is awesome, and you can’t beat transparency like that.

Are there any areas Uptech could improve?

I would have said that we could be better about VQA in the beginning, but I just heard that they've added a few dedicated QA people to the team. We also just started using Trello for VQA and bug-tracking which has been very helpful so, I think we're already improving.

BACKGROUND

Please introduce your business and what you do there.

My company is an IT [information technology] service company. My title is director of U.S. operations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Uptech?

The challenge was that we did not have the specialists with the specific skills we needed for some of our projects. Uptech had those specialists. They were of higher quality than anyone else we knew, and they were there when we needed them.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our company is itself a service company. Uptech would fit into our projects as a subcontractor and just become part of our team. For example, one of the projects that we engaged them with was a mobile app, which involved writing iOS and Android apps using all the latest frameworks and technologies. Also, in some cases, they needed to do some work on the back-end. The other challenges involved needing to work with legacy code and having to work in this time zone.

There are basically two models of projects. One is where an individual resource works as a remote dedicated person and is involved and engaged in the client's process. Then, there's outsourcing, where someone just comes to us and wants us to make something. We go away, we make it, and deliver it. We used the first model with Uptech, and their people shined. It made it much easier to work from a remote situation.

Please describe some of the key features in the mobile apps that they designed for you.

One app required very slick, smooth animations. It involved a lot of rapidly changing UI [user interface]. They designed a very modern interface using the latest in both design practices and code practices. The app had a high level of complexity, good performance, and appearance. They designed and developed the app in a very short time window.

Another app that we worked with them on was for designing clothes. It was done on iOS, but not on Android. We faced a real challenge because of a lack of documentation. There were no Android-specific designs, and many developers would be stuck just constantly asking questions. Uptech was very good at just jumping into a situation with a lot of uncertainty, asking the right questions, dealing with the social challenges of the project, and getting to work.

How many projects have you worked on with them?

At this point, I would say six projects.

How did you come to work with Uptech?

I reached out to them through Upwork. It was an emergency. I needed help over some holidays, and we went from there.

How much have you invested with Uptech?

We have spent less than $50,000 working with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work with them began in January 2016 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In the case of two of our bigger projects, the stakeholders set a very aggressive timeline. In one of those cases, they had to get the app done in time for the 2016 Democratic and Republican conventions. Uptech took our estimated time and cut that in half. They managed to hit that deadline and release a stable app that did well on day one – something that is very tough to pull off.

With another app, the challenge was that the previous developer had just left, which created a lot of unknowns. Uptech jumped right in and worked with our team to figure out what was going on. The final quality of the app was so good that it was featured by the Google Play store. In addition to that, the clients were so happy that they wanted to keep doing more work with us.

The main thing I can say about them is they're very consistently reliable. There's never a day when you just can't get a hold of them. They always respond very quickly, even in little things. They're very good with email, communication, and doing what's being asked. A lot of times with remote work and outsourcing, problems happen when a simple communication issue spirals out of control. That has just not happened with Uptech.

Uptech is very good at working with people here in America and reading between the lines, working not just as a programmer but also as a developer. They are very good at understanding business needs and communicating clearly. Everyone around here says that they have been among the best that anyone's worked with offshore. In terms of the quality, I'm a developer myself and know when I see a good code with few bugs.

How did Uptech perform from a project management standpoint?

They were pretty good. They were very organized. They delivered detailed reports summarizing everything and kept everything tracked. They tracked their time quite accurately. At any point, they could tell me what's going on with a project and where we were at with it. I have no complaints there.

What did you find most impressive about Uptech?

They take the time to think about the project and the business behind it – to understand what's important for that business. They care a lot about the work they do, about the end result for the client, and about what a project means for their clients in terms of their business needs. They are not about just getting the job done and getting paid. That's not something I find everywhere. That's probably one of the things that really make them shine – their level of dedication.

Are there any areas Uptech could improve?

They are still a small company with a young team. They are good at what they do, but they need to shore up their skills in some areas. They're not yet at the place where they can provide everything a client might need.

I subcontracted with them because what they do, they do very well. They just need to get better at a wider range of specialties.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO and founder of an app that connects voters with politicians that support them.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with the Uptech?

We wanted to take our iOS app and build an Android version of it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had an app that was completely native for iOS. The Uptech interpreted the code, went back through it, and developed a version for Android. They also did some quick redesigns and offered many suggestions. I'm a UX/UI [user experience/user interface] designer, but I'm more familiar with Apple – not so much with Android. We implemented subtle changes to the look and feel of the app so that Android users are more comfortable with the conventions that they're used to.

We gave the Uptech a hard timeline. If they got it done within that timeline, we could launch by a certain day. It was a short timeline – doable but quick.

How did you come to work with the Uptech?

A friend of mine has worked with the Uptech in the past introduced me to Shervin [Delband, director of U.S. Operations at ITRex Group]. He is their point of contact here in Santa Monica. I liked that we had someone in person in Santa Monica that we could interface with even though most of their team is not here. We had someone here in Santa Monica that we could talk to, but the price was definitely more reasonable because the development was outside the U.S. Obviously, development in the United States is super expensive. Development elsewhere can be much cheaper, but then you risk having some quality concerns. I liked that we had the best of both worlds in the Uptech.

How much have you invested with the Uptech?

We have spent $10,000 to $50,000 with the Uptech.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with the Uptech in early June or late May of this year [2016]. Again, their pricing model is a lot more cost-effective than anyone that we could find in the United States. The quality of their work is right on par, so it's made a lot of sense to continue working with them. We've made some changes to the Android build. They have some talented iOS engineers as well.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They were able to get an Android app developed within a month and a half, and it was a pretty quality build. They are almost entirely responsible for our Android app. I'm pretty sure it has a five-star rating in 20- or 30-something reviews in the Android store. Our iOS app has had many downloads. They've had some involvement with that, too, but it's been marginal at the moment. People have been quite impressed by how quickly we were able to get the Android stuff out there. Again, I don't use Android, so I don't have a huge frame of reference to what's the best and what's not so much the best. But, I can tell you that the app works very fluidly. It has all the components and features that the iOS app has, just similar or a little reorganized. I'm a pretty critical developer, and I'm very detail-oriented. There's nothing that I wasn't happy with about it.

How did the Uptech perform from a project management standpoint?

They're very organized in terms of project management. They'll keep you involved in that process as much as you want to be. During development, there were times when I was more involved and checking in multiple times a day via Skype calls. There were other times when I'd only exchange a couple messages for an entire week. It depends on how busy I was and how much leeway or direction they needed for certain aspects. If they knew where they were going, I'd let them go. I would just wait to hear back once they'd finished with every milestone they were working on. If there was anything specific that needed constant contact, they'd be updating me consistently. They're very responsive.

What did you find most impressive about the Uptech?

I think it's very cool that they have contacts here in the U.S. That way, we can talk to local people and still have face-to-face communication to some extent. I like that they're very game to jump on a Skype call at any time. These guys are super-hard workers because I know that the time difference for them is a little wacky. Whenever I'm doing a Skype call with them, it's 9 or 10 a.m. here in Los Angeles, and it's 8 p.m. where they are. They're always willing to work around my schedule, which has been very nice of them. All around, I've been very satisfied and very happy with the work that they have done.

Are there any areas the Uptech could improve?

I actually wish that some of the developers that I've been Skyping with consistently were here in the U.S. Sometimes, it's just easier to get a point across in person. That would probably be my only critique.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a software engineering manager at GreenFi, a banking platform that empowers users to align their financial decisions with climate impact. We offer transparent and sustainable banking services that support environmental solutions without compromising performance or trust.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Uptech to accomplish for GreenFi?

We hired Uptech to build our iOS and Android native apps.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Uptech works daily and extensively on building new app features, fixing bugs, and improving our architecture and performance. The team has built features like Savings Pods, Impact Dashboard, Plant Your Change, and Green Marketplace.

What is the team composition?

We work with 2-10 teammates from Uptech, depending on specific needs.

How did you come to work with Uptech?

We have a long-time relationship with Uptech. They were already working with our company when I joined.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Uptech in 2015, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Uptech has built our apps from the ground up and continuously ships new features on schedule.

How did Uptech perform from a project management standpoint?

Uptech’s project management is very consistent. Each team member is conscientious about getting things done well and on time. We communicate via virtual meetings, emails, and messaging apps.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Uptech’s technical skills are impressive. Moreover, it’s easy to work with each team member and the team as a whole.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s very little that Uptech could improve on. We’ve had some occasional hiccups, as expected in a years-long collaboration, but the team always gets a great job done.