VTRIO Solutions

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Founder of a weather forecast site and mobile applications

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire VTRIO Solutions?

Vtrio helped build dynamic maps to help with weather and surf forecasts. The images were dynamic and had image overlays from our various data sources

What were your goals for this project?

Vtrio was hired to build the maps for our website and mobile application.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Vtrio was recommended from a colleague. They were very professional and were very easy to communicate with.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Vtrio helped research the software needed to build the maps and integrate the forecasts. They also built the maps from start to finish.

What was the team composition?

Ajay was the project lead, but he has a few developers that were also involved in the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The maps work very well on desktop and mobile and work well in our digital experience. These maps help drive daily usage of our technologies. We hope to make these available for a subscription in the future.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Ajay was the project lead. He would communicate the progress and occasionally bring in a developer to talk through the details

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Vtrio worked quickly and efficiently. They were also competitive in their pricing

Are there any areas for improvement?

No

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the e-commerce manager for a product marketing company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with VTRiO Solutions?

I needed someone to manage the Amazon Web Services (AWS) hosting service. I also needed Magento support. Previously, we were with a development company whose service wasn’t good.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They needed to configure AWS based on Magento requirements. One of the complexities is a failover, which means one region is down; the second region should available without interrupting the end user.

They started the Magento development recently. They’re doing a migration from an older version to a new version.

What is the team composition?

I work with three people at most.

How did you come to work with VTRiO Solutions?

I found VTRiO Solutions online. Based on their communication and interview, they seemed good. I gave them a trial, and it turned out well.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $6,000–$7,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2018 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They configured based on our requirements, and it’s running well. So far, since they did the server configuration, we haven’t had any downtime. They did a great job. I recommend them because of the success of what they’ve done.

How did VTRiO Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Skype and Jira. They’re good at project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

If there’s an emergency, I can contact the CEO directly. He’s available and will take care of the issue if I have one. All the staff is knowledgeable. They’re not only talented on the AWS server side, but they’re good on the Magento side as well. It’s hard to find a team like them. They can help us on an application level or a server level. They’re able to multitask.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They have a ticketing system, but I’ve not used it yet. I recommend that they keep track of any issues. I’d like to see an issue-tracking tool put in place.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend that they have a project management tool.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Jesse George (Respondent 1): I am Jesse George the managing director of L. Tremain Inc. and reviewing with me is Lisa Tremain, the CEO. We manufacture and distribute the original Butter Bell Crock.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with VTRiO?

JG/R1: We hired them to fix and maintain a Magento platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

JG/R1: VTRiO first helped us fix the mobile version of our website, which was not designed properly by the original creator.

Lisa Tremain (Respondent 2): They also had to remove some hacks and malware from our website because some of our links were leading to third-party Chinese sites. Their team still provides ongoing code review to eliminate errors.

JG/R1: In 2017, they helped us set up our servers on AWS. VTRiO is currently working on a redesign for the site and updating our Magento version. 

What is the team composition?

JG/R1: We work with one account manager and three developers. Majority of the time, we work with a single developer to fix the backend of our Magento platform.

How did you come to work with VTRiO?

JG/R1: We found them through a third-party marketplace. Their account managers were well-spoken and explained things fairly well.

How much have you invested with them?

LT/R2: We invested $20,000 altogether.

JG/R1: $20,000–$26,000 since 2016, but this might increase as we start the Magento update.

What is the status of this engagement?

We hired them again in 2016 and the work in ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

JG/R1: Their repairs allowed our mobile platform to function properly. This increased and shifted the majority of our sales from desktop customers to mobile customers. Their code review secures our website against bugs, bad links, and hackers.

How did VTRiO perform from a project management standpoint?

JG/R1: Initially, it wasn't the best because of our time zone difference. Since working with them in 2016, we found a way to be flexible working with them. We don’t have any major issues with them. We communicate mainly through Skype, but we also use Google Chat, Hangouts, and email. We also tried using Evernote, but we didn’t like the application. We contact them whenever anything needs coding, or if we have server issues. They are fairly competent, and we trust what they're doing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

JG/R1: They're thorough in answering our questions. VTRiO knows we want to focus more on the marketing aspects of our product.

LT/R2: We are a small business and need to be budget conscious. They're fair in keeping costs under control and never overbill us. Their team works efficiently and implements best practices.

Are there any areas they could improve?

JG/R1: It would be great if they are available during US standard time, but they are always available whenever we schedule ahead of time.

LT/R2: If you have an emergency, it's more difficult with a foreign company to troubleshoot problems, but that's not necessarily their fault. It can be a bit challenging.

JG/R1: However, they assign a system administrator to be locally available when we are testing outside their hours.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

JG/R1: Have them break down how they're going to accomplish what your goal. We are always honest about what we want, and they tell us what they can and cannot do. They are usually good at helping us find the right people if they can’t handle it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a full-stack digital marketing agency that serves the association and nonprofit market. We primarily set up marketing automation platforms and email marketing solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with VTRiO?

We needed a trusted partner to help with web development and design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We mainly outsource graphic design and HTML development to them.

We’re continually bringing them in to learn the system in order to design and build templates within each particular platform, each of which has its own nuances. Email is quite complex in that there isn’t any standardization, unlike websites. The most complex thing is giving them a completely new marketing automation platform and asking them to deliver functioning, tested templates in a short timeframe. We have to trust that they have the capacity and capability to learn the system and take ownership of it as if they’re an employee.

We haven’t really sourced backend development to them, but we’re thinking about it. They mostly provide all frontend UI design. They employ a lot of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

What is the team composition?

We have three people at VTRiO who are full time. We work with their designers, who are also frontend developers. They also help with functionality apart from graphic design. There have been periods over the years when we’ve had a .NET developer get involved. We’ve worked with some of their project managers who oftentimes have been my main contact. In addition, we work with their finance person in making sure everything is running smoothly.

How did you come to work with VTRiO?

I’ve worked with them for at least nine years across multiple different companies. Each time I enter a new organization, I typically try to convince the leadership that we should outsource and get a trusted partner. I continually look to VTRiO to be that partner.

I chose them because I trust them and they’re fast. We have many international clients, so working with someone who has a global perspective is beneficial because it allows us to look at our work from different angles. The cost differential is huge and gives us the latitude to actually do multiple revisions with them. We have more time to explore.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $140,000–$150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2013, and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had a time period where we had an external graphic design shop that we were sourcing to along with VTRiO. Over the course of the last couple of years and in relation to graphic design, we’ve decreased our cost of goods sold by 50%. We’ve been able to decrease our cost of goods while simultaneously increasing the amount of what we can deliver and push back into our client base.

They’re part of the extended team, which allows us to operate 24 hours a day. It expands our ability to deliver on time, serve our clients, and provide a really high-quality product. Also, having a team we can collaborate and try different things with means we can go to them and say something isn’t working, and they have no problem starting over. It makes for a much more seamless project experience. When we look at our project schedule and ask ourselves where the milestones are that we have high confidence we’re going to hit, it’s with VTRiO. We know we can trust them to deliver.

How did VTRiO perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re flexible and extremely fast. We can talk to them directly. Most of the work is done through Basecamp. We have main contacts who we can talk to on Skype in real time, even during early morning or late at night. We also use email.

I’ve always liked that I’m able to direct and actually have a dialogue with them about the project, what the desired outcomes are, and work with them as regular colleagues or teammates. It’s very different from offshoring and sending stuff to people we don’t know. I know and have a really nice rapport with the people at VTRiO, which makes all the difference when working in a global environment.

Since we’re fulfilling work for end clients, we ask VTRiO to fill out timesheets for not only themselves, but also so we can break it down to create bill-back codes. It’s very important to us that they keep accurate time and document which client it goes to. Their capability to keep up with this requirement is fantastic for an outsourced partner.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Vinu’s [Owner, VTRiO] English is impeccable. He comes over to the U.S. 1–2 times per year to visit his clients. When we need to expand, we inform him, and he tells us we need to give him some lead time. He has to go through his process to hire quality people and make sure that their employees have vacation time since they have set holidays. They’re a very well-run organization, and it provides us with security to know that. So many organizations don’t know how to outsource. If people looked more at the positives, they’d get on board quickly. It’s impossible to argue with the numbers. They’re great at production.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There is a significant time difference. Many outsourced companies will work on U.S. time, but VTRiO doesn’t. That’s part of their creating a professional firm and allowing their employees to have regular lives. It does make it difficult because we have very little crossover, and we either have to ask the U.S. staff to be online at 11:00 at night or at 7:00 in the morning. It is something to take into consideration depending on the flexibility of the staff.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Clients have to be open and unassuming. VRTiO is coming from a completely different worldview, and it’s a great opportunity to learn about different cultures. They’ll do anything as long as they’re asked. It’s all about getting to know how to work well in remote teams. Otherwise, it can lead to a lot of frustration. It’s important for clients to understand that they run their office differently. They have a time during the afternoon that they go for meals, and it’s important to not get annoyed that they don’t follow U.S. labor hours. After getting a working relationship going, it’s great.

There’s a trust factor there that many U.S. clients will appreciate. The idea of outsourcing is very complicated for many organizations, and it’s something I face every time I bring them in to work with a new one. I have to break down the barrier with a finance accounting person about what it means for our taxes, how we’re going to pay them, and whether or not we’re taking U.S. jobs away. We have to go through all of these very pedantic issues to finally get to the realization that VTRiO is a professional firm. Their people are experienced, accomplished, and smart.

People sometimes get frustrated because they want an outsourced engagement where they can just put in an order and get something back. VTRiO wants to have a relationship with their clients. This is an organization that wants to have the capability to ask their clients questions for clarity, and I appreciate that. They aren’t a good fit for clients who want a distance online ordering process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are an email service provider and data validation company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with VTRiO Solutions?

We wanted to outsource some of our goal and software development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve participated in several projects over the past ten years. A recent complex product was an online data scrubbing tool that enables our marketing customers to run through our platform and remove any dead or invalid emails or those from any complaints. Most of their work is built on a LAMP stack.

What is the team composition?

They provide a dedicated project manager that we communicate with, with a group of programmers and developers who work under that individual through the development cycle.

How did you come to work with VTRiO Solutions?

I initially considered four or five companies. One of our long-term contacts at another company recommended them. I had email and phone conversations with them, and they sounded like they knew what they were doing. They were true to their word and delivered good work.

How much have you invested with them?

All of our billing is time-based, so our monthly expenditure varies widely, depending on how many people are working on a particular product at a given time. Over the course of our relationship, we’ve probably spent somewhere near $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2007, and they continue to work on projects for us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their work has a positive impact, but the nature of the work keeps us from disclosing specifics.

How did VTRiO Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

The time difference means we only have a couple of hours each day that we can speak directly. They’re more responsible than any company I’ve worked with. If we ever have an issue, their techs will stay late into the night to fix it for us as soon as possible.

Our primary communication is through email. Occasionally, we have to send a second email to clarify our needs, but other than that, they do a great job.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are forthright, and are never afraid to recommend another company to provide the pieces that aren’t in their wheelhouse. I have a confidence level in them because of their honesty. That’s the most important factor in working with a company you’ve never met. We worked for years with little face-to-face interaction, but their reliability keeps the relationship going. If ever I find a point that I dislike or is inharmonious to the way I want something done, I let them know and they make changes.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a vertically integrated e-commerce company. We manufacture goods, and we sell those goods on various platforms and on our website.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with VTRiO Solutions?

As an e-commerce solution, we use the Magento platform. We hired VTRiO to manage our Magento platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Magento, out of the box, is a great platform, but it’s a generic solution that needs to be customized according to the needs of the store and e-commerce. VTRiO implements all these customizations on Magento for us. All of our requirements are based on these customizations that are specifically done for our stores and our requirements.

What is the team dynamic?

It varies because of the seasons. During Q4 and end of Q3, a lot of requests come in from the business team and marketing team because of the season. We want to cater to users better during this phase. Currently, I work with 5 developers both from the Magento and infrastructures.

How did you come to work with VTRiO Solutions?

They were hired before I joined the company. We were using another vendor that we were not satisfied with, but we had worked with VTRiO before so we decided to go back to them. Based on their past performance, we chose VTRiO to continue our Magento platform maintenance. VTRiO specializes in Magento platforms.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent approximately $8,000­–$10,000 per month for the last couple of months. Before that, we spent around $5,000 because we were only using two resources. The total is around $30,000­–$40,000 since we started working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The productivity that we get from VTRiO is far better than the previous vendors. I can see how fast they implement the requirements. The quality of their deliverables is also very good. We are very satisfied, and we are going to continue with VTRiO in the future.

How did VTRiO Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

Our company was beaten down in the last 2­–3 years, and now we are going through this turnaround phase. We were setting up proper project management mechanisms, but right now, we are communicating with VTRiO requirement by requirement. We are not doing Scrum; we are purely waterfall based right now. When requests come, I prioritize and communicate with VTRiO through documentation.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Since they have discrete teams for infrastructure setup and infrastructure maintenance, they’re available on-demand 24 hours a day, seven days a week, giving us flexibility both time- and resource-wise. They also take ownership of their work and will work long hours to make sure that all issues are resolved to our satisfaction.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could plan better with their resources and their leaves and inform me in advance. They could be more professional.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They have been asking me to use Jira, but it’s not set up yet from our end. Their quality and speed are good.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Experience Advertising is a digital marketing agency based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We do all types of digital marketing services, and I consult with companies on their digital advertising and social media marketing strategies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with VTRiO Solutions?

Outsourced IT companies are hard to find. I had actually gone through a few before them. They do all my programming for me as well as some web design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Most of our work is in PHP. I use them mostly for website-related programming. They do web design and create landing pages for me.  

One project involved building a completely customized quoting engine for a customer window shutter company client. Customers can enter their window sizes, choose their products, and it delivers out pricing then lets them either save their order or check out online. We built that thing from scratch, which was pretty complex.

What is the team dynamic? 

There are people that I’ve worked with for several years, but I don’t require a certain person to be dedicated to my projects. As long as my projects are getting done in a timely fashion and getting done properly, that’s all I really care about. I would say I’ve worked with 4 or 5 different developers over the years on different projects.

How did you come to work with VTRiO Solutions?

I tried a few other companies and the level of work wasn’t up to par. I found VTRiO through a programming forum called SitePoint. They have a section where you can find programmers and I put a post on there. VTRiO reached out to me and I started working with Vinu [Owner] who I have also met in person in Miami. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them for around 10 years.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They don’t mess up. A lot of times with programmers, you have to worry about them not doing the work properly. With them, I don’t have to worry about that. They’ve never done something that would cause me to lose a client. They’ve always been a solid partner for me and got things finished in a timely fashion.

I can think of a few times where they’ve been working on something, and I was expecting it at a certain time then I’ve woken up and it’s not done. I go on Facebook or Skype and find their programmers and hit them up. Even if it’s 3:00 am, they’ll fix it. They have a “do whatever it takes” attitude to make the client happy. That’s pretty invaluable, to be honest with you.

How did VTRiO Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

Sometimes we use Skype, but we communicate by email about what I need done. They’re overseas so it’s not a typical 9 to 5 working arrangement. You have to know how to work with overseas programmers to really maximize it. 

I refer them several clients a year. That’s how confident I am in their ability to get things done on the web. They are capable of taking the ball and running with it. If I want something designed, I’ll give them some examples to look at. I tell them I want something similar but different and better. You have to be very descriptive. There’s always back and forth with these types of projects, but they do a good job and they deliver.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve been flexible. There were times where I needed something done as soon as possible, but I was waiting for clients to check the work. They didn’t make me pay them before they worked on more stuff. They kept working on the strength that I told them I was going to pay them within a certain amount of time. That helped me a lot because my clients don’t want to wait.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Any company could update the client more. I don’t even do that enough, so I’m not one to criticize. They could also add some weekly reporting which could help me out to see what was done. They don’t really have a formal workflow updating process. Maybe that’s just how we work together as we don’t have a lot of formality in how I request things.

They were trying to move me over to using Upwork, but I’m not organized enough. Instead, they keep track of the things I request and they put a dollar figure on it. Sometimes they do round up. For example, I know if something takes 5 or 10 minutes, they still might charge me for half an hour or an hour. If I’m paying $20 an hour for someone’s time, it’s so minimal anyway that I don’t mind paying the hour of work when I know it took 5 minutes. That’s part of the relationship of working with an outsourced company.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder of a startup for community-based discounts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

VTRIO provided web development services for the startup.

SOLUTION

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

I got their reference from one of my friends. The technical expertise and cost were the major deciding factors.

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

Scope included developing the website front end and back end with a minimum 90% coverage of the requirements. The technology used includes React, PHP, and MySQL.

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

Two developers and one manager worked with me during the whole duration of the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website is not published for public yet.

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

VTRIO was good to keep me informed on the progress.

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

They generally had a positive attitude towards any minor changes to the requirements.

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

Documentation could be improved as it was very short and missed some of the details of the implementation.