WalkingTree Technologies

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am an investment banker with an investment firm, but also do some hobby work as a coder. As part of my "coder" profile, I I was looking at developing a script for training AI on financial documents.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Walking Tree Technologies, and what were your goals?

We hired WalkingTree to help with managing initial software development, which included developing libraries to parse downloaded data, use the data to create a training dataset, run named entity recognition on it, use that to develop a Q&A mechanism for finanial documents.

Goal was to get to a beta product.

SOLUTION

How did you select Walking Tree Technologies and what were the deciding factors?

Key factor in selecting Walking Tree was excellent relationship we had with the founders, their technical knowledge and willingness to put resources to work to solve our unique problem.

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

Technologies used were python, NLP, Spacy, HUggingface and like.

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

3 people worked, one project manager, one developer and the founder.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It was good work. we are extending the library they developed for our own use. Team was easy to approach, work with and competent. They knew new technologies and had a desire to deliver a concrete product.

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

Slack, emails and calls were all used to manage the product. they are flexible in what you want to use and will help you decide.

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

High level of communication and technical competence was impressive.

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

NA

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of Engineering for a payment platform. I’m responsible for building out the data platform and the business use cases around it.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Walking Tree Technologies?

I needed some business intelligence professionals with data engineering experience.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, they primarily did BI and analysis of our tools. They helped build our platform, created dashboards and reports, and handled the backend system and data warehouse. They handled the entire data pipeline integration and built external dashboards. 

What is the team composition?

There were a couple of senior people who worked from their office, guiding the junior resources who were on-site. 

How did you come to work with Walking Tree Technologies?

I met with roughly 45 vendors. They stood out because of their expertise, quick responses, and good price. They were very strong compared to the other candidates. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested between $50,000–$75,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from October 2018–November 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Without them, I would have struggled to get the right people for the team, and it would’ve taken much longer. It would’ve also taken a lot longer to build the platform. They provided good quality and were able to do quick iterations. I was quite happy with the engagement. 

How did Walking Tree Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

I was the project manager, for the most part. If there was an issue, I would speak with the senior people, and they also provided feedback to me from their team. They kept me up to date and were quite responsive. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very knowledgeable and have great attitudes. That sets them apart from other teams I’ve worked with in the past. They did well in trying to understand our business and became part of the core team. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they did pretty well. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open and transparent about your needs. They’ll be honest about their capabilities, pointing you in the right direction for whatever they don’t have the expertise to do.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the director of Ransmooth Software Pty Ltd located in Australia. We partner with a construction company called Ranbuild which supplies Steel buildings for the industry. I also run the Ranbuild located in South East Queensland and have since 2002.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Walking Tree Technologies, and what were your goals?

We didn't have a product that linked our sales tools and our hand over the project along with invoicing combined into one solution. We found orders were being missed and invoices were not being sent to the end user.

We needed a system that combined all these services into one centralized place. Hence, we sought Walking Tree Technologies services.

SOLUTION

How did you select Walking Tree Technologies and what were the deciding factors?

We searched a few companies at the time and it came down to two who could offer what we needed. We spoke with both parties and felt that Walking Tree could deliver what we needed and could also communicate clearly with us. Plus, keep our project within budget constraints.

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

We started within our business first to identify how a system would look like and what our staff would be comfortable using along with what Walking tree could offer.

They had a few systems they were working with and we managed to adapt our requirements with Adempiere and Walking tree's System called EagleRP. We would consult with WTC every second day and hold meetings with them until each Deployment was generated.

We would test the deployment and come back with Bugs/fixes to be updated over the coming phase. This process took some years as we really wanted our system to be customized to our liking.

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

We mainly consulted with Alok, but we had about 5 of his team working closely with us in communication. However, I think there were about 15 people who looked after us over the time it took to produce the end product.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have used our system created by WTC since the final deployment in 2013. It still is in active use today and we wouldn't be without the system. The delivery and accuracy from WTC was exceptional.

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

WTC would set out a timeframe to create what we had drafted together and communicated with us using Skype or GoToMeeting. We would also utilize Team-viewer to see the progress of the system.

We were constantly updated every few days on the progress of the Project from the WTC team. No stone was left upturned by WTC, and when we came up with an obstacle, WTC had the solution.

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

WTC was the best communicator when it came to the development of our system. We couldn't have picked a better company.

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

No, I cannot think of anything that could have been done better.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

It is one of top private banks based out of Mumbai, India. I am working here as a mid-level executive.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Walking Tree Technologies, and what were your goals?

We wanted to develop a financial dashboard for one of our clients. The goals were to provide our client with an intuitive dashboard with near real-time financial data reporting.

SOLUTION

How did you select Walking Tree Technologies and what were the deciding factors?

The timelines to complete this project were very tight. To put it into a perspective, we had to deliver something in 2 months' time which would otherwise take 4-5 months easily. Hence, the main factor was to select a vendor who can deliver in such crunch timelines. Therefore, we went ahead with Walking Tree among other vendors as it had done similar projects in past.

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

They were to develop a financial dashboard with nearly 16 screens. Key deliverables include:

1.  BRD finalisation
2.  Design Document preparation
3.  Development
4. UAT release
5. Production implementation

Java was the key technology used for development.

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

There were 5 resources continuously involved which includes:

• 1 project manager
• 1 UX/UI designer
• 1 senior developer
• 2 other resources

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As the timelines were pretty much sacrosanct, we could launch the project on time. This was really a big achievement. Further, the quality of deliverables was also up to mark such that client demos also went pretty smoothly.

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

Project management was also done smoothly that included daily huddles, daily project status updates, etc. Deliverables timelines were also met every time. Just to mention, on a couple of occasions, we were before time.

The project management was done keeping an agile frame of work. Communication tools used were GitHub and MS Teams along with the usual email route.

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

The entire team was available round the clock. And, whenever there was something which was not going as planned, it was taken up by higher-ups very quickly and effectively. It ensured no delay in deliveries.

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

It is really hard to pick any areas of improvement as of now since the project was delivered as professionally as you can get. However, on one of the occasions, the delivery was about to get missed but that was picked up smoothly later on.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Exceldots. We’re a Swedish company working on sustainability products. Right now, our main focus is safe groundwater. We build technologies and digital platforms for providing safe groundwater access.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Walking Tree Technologies?

We’re using Walking Tree’s services for full-stack development of our cloud infrastructure and mobile app. They’re building an end-to-end IoT system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They made the full frontend design of the React mobile platform. They built and configured a full Microsoft Azure cloud infrastructure for us. We’re integrating different Azure services with the mobile platform with several third-party SDK integrations.

The challenge was digitalizing the groundwater scenario. We used analytics for tracking sediments, which was the hardest part of the project. The IoT system brings data to the Azure platform, to create visualizations on the mobile end. This is the heart of the application.

The mobile app was built on React Native, so it can be deployed on both Android and iOS. We’ve asked them to build it on Android first because that’s primarily what our target users are on.

What is the team composition?

Walking Tree brought a team of experts, including a technical architect and a couple of developers.

How did you come to work with Walking Tree Technologies?

I’d spent a number of years in India and had heard about Walking Tree. They’d worked on an ambitious security program in the country, which gave them credibility. I hadn’t had the chance to work with them on a professional assignment, but Walking Tree’s credentials convinced me to choose them.  

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $60,000–$70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Walking Tree in February 2019, and we’ve worked through multiple phases. Development is almost done, but we’re planning new iterations based on customer feedback. Development activity has come down, but we’re still involved with Walking Tree for maintenance and support.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re quite accomplished, in that they have a mix of domain experts and junior resources. Many of their people don’t have a lot of experience, but the kind of structure they have in place prevents major delivery glitches.

We’ve had to work closely with the team in order to get going. This domain was quite new to them, but they’re working to find additional resources that can assist with analytics activity. 

Their team is experienced, and they work to fill in gaps. In as far as the productivity of the team is concerned, I think it’s a fantastic value for any customer.

How did Walking Tree Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

The team that worked for us was very professional. They were balanced, and they stuck to the timelines.

They used Redmine as a project management tool. I’ve played the role of the project manager, and I’ve used a number of tools. Here, I could monitor all daily tasks and bugs. As a customer, I had huge transparency into every activity going on, which was fantastic and unexpected.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Many vendors will provide very attractive pricing, but the delivery is always a challenge. We were quite concerned at the beginning about whether they’d be able to pull off this kind of work. Luckily, though Walking Tree is offshore and not a very big company, they’re very professional. I can certainly vouch for their delivery capabilities.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If they managed to get competencies in machine learning and AI, it would be a huge value addition for the company.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Anyone interested in working with Walking Tree should have a brainstorming session with them. They have excellent designers and architects, who can be very pragmatic in breaking down problems and getting into different levels, from prototyping to real development. Walking Tree has an experienced team that’s hands-on with recent technologies. They also have an interesting engagement model for startups. It would be fair advice for clients to leverage those things.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of AcelrTech Labs, a B2B software company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Walking Tree Technologies?

We wanted to build a small mobile app for content and payment collection. We needed someone to create a modern UX/UI design for the app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They designed the UX/UI design. On our platform, we wanted sales team members to be able to log in and mark their attendance for the day. It’s also a payment system that accepts payments from customers via cash, check, or Unified Payment Interface (UPI). 

The app has a main dashboard where sales team members can view the day-to-day activities on one screen. It also had a voice-enabled feature so that the salesperson can speak and it gets transcribed into text. It also has a dashboard of tasks. 

They designed several domain use cases for us, and then we selected the best one.  We didn’t end up having them develop it because of our own cost constraints.  

The application was to be made for both iOS and Android using the same technology. They used Adobe PSD files and some Adobe cloud services. 

What is the team composition?

There’s one designer, one project manager, and sometimes, we interface with the CEO. 

How did you come to work with Walking Tree Technologies?

I knew Alok (Co-Founder/Managing Director) from college.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from January–February 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They did a good job on the design. For understanding and coming up with the overall solution I wanted, I give them 8 out of 10.  There were 2-3 extra iterations we had to do in order to make the team aware of the domain use cases. Other than that, it was all smooth.

How did Walking Tree Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was good. We communicated via email, Zoom, and Google Meet.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their project management is impressive. They are more professional compared to other software companies we’ve engaged with. The deadlines were adhered to.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve on understanding the domain use cases. Sometimes the team takes a little time to get the hang of it. They may be a little junior in terms of skillset. Other than that, everything was fine. They just need to get a better understanding of the requirements and use cases quicker.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s better to have a discussion with them upfront in terms of what kind of skillset the team has before you start the project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CTO and co-founder of machine learning and AI company that provides marketing performance effectiveness solutions to large brands.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Walking Tree Technologies?

To help with Google Tag Manager related implementations on our client projects. These implementations were used to collect, organize and harmonize first party data.

What were your goals for this project?

Establish a very large multi-site universal GTM implementation to collect and organize data for marketing analytics.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Based on their pitch and pricing. They had the right proposed solution at the right price.

Describe the project in detail.

Walkingtree helped us gather requirements, establish design, develop, test and rollout the GTM implementations.

What was the team composition?

4-6 people with skills in Javascript and web analytics.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

This was a highly successful solution that has set the foundation for analytics foundation for a brand with 60+ large website experiences.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

High effective, co-ordnated and well managed. WalkingTree was able to bring in program management as well a technology expertise.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Reliability in delivering high-quality work, on time. You give them a scope of work, and they get it done.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None, I am impressed by the quality of work and timeliness.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am CEO and Founder of a company providing a digital platform for the provisioning of coverage on the point of sales for the logistics industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Walking Tree Technologies?

Development of a clickable mockup for our digital platform as well as the development a first MVP

What were your goals for this project?

Development of a clickable mockup for our digital platform as well as the development a first MVP

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Recommendations

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Design and development of a clickable mockup- Development of the end to end MVP (including architecture design, front & back end development, testing, and deployment)

What was the team composition?

Consisting of a PM, 5 Developers ( 2 Senior Developer from WTT) and a Senior UX Designer form Walking Tree Technologie (WTT)

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The solution was extremely critical in helping us to secure our first fundraising and get early funding to develop our start-up

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project was managed according to the Scrum agile development approach. The communication were done through Jira, Github, and email. StandUp meetings were done with GoogleHangouts

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They had great team spirit, open communication, and collaboration. Very flexible and solution-oriented especially as far as the pricing was concerned.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No