18Solutions

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of Enytime, a startup that allows people to book hotel rooms for three-, six-, and twelve-hour periods. There are many use instances when travelers want a room for a very short amount of time.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 18Solutions?

My company was hard-pressed on time to launch our product. We needed somebody who could understand our requirements and develop our app on time. We also had a very small window to test the product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

18Solutions did three things for us. First, they developed an Android mobile app for consumers. Second, they developed a hotel partner app for hotels to update pricing and availability in real-time. Third, they developed our backend system in PHP. 

They provided development services for the first six months of our engagement, and then the last couple of months were for support.

What is the team composition?

I primarily interacted with the co-founder on the domain side, the financials, and what we were looking at. There were a couple of other team members.

How did you come to work with 18Solutions?

They were referred to us by friends who had worked with them. We had a couple of meetings with them, and they understood what we were looking for. One of the key metrics was the delivery time.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from December 2015– October 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

18Solutions met 90% of the timelines, which was critical. We didn’t have many issues with what they developed; 98% of it was good. We didn’t have to go back and fix anything. All of the features they developed worked well.

How did 18Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We mostly used Google Spreadsheets. We also used Trello.

What did you find most impressive about them?

18Solutions understood our requirements quickly. They didn’t do anything wrong, and they stuck to the timeline.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing I can think of at this time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the Founder and Director of Skyla Services Apartments. We’re an Indian hospitality branch, based in the southern part of India.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 18Solutions?

We were looking for a front- and backend solution. When we started the business, we were generating leads in more of a manual and rudimentary nature, with a very basic website unable to achieve the desired results in terms of lead generation.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They worked on a web application. We’re essentially like a hotel, so we were looking to build a platform with a frontend that would help our users and guests easily discover our services and make a reservation. From a backend point of view, we had our service departments in multiple locations, and we needed a way to manage the inventory and control our rates dynamically.

What is the team composition?

There were four developers assigned to our project as well as one project manager.

How did you come to work with 18Solutions?

We had multiple options and evaluated different vendors. We were looking for someone who could understand the business side of the requirements easily. Being a tech company, everyone might be good on the technology front, but it was important for us that they understand the business domain too.

We felt that 18Solutions were able to grasp our business requirements very fast compared to others and were capable enough to partner with us on this project.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent around $7,500.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from June–September 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our website impressions have gone up significantly. Previously, our online inquiries were 15% to 20% of our total revenue, but once we went live, we now generate around 50% of our business from the platform.

How did 18Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We followed a very structured approach. I work for a technology company, so I was insistent on following certain program management and project management structures. They have a very professional approach. We used Google Spreadsheets and Trello for project management, with a weekly Skype call on to monitor the progress.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were pleasantly surprised by the robustness of what they built. When we’ve engaged with other vendors, the projects were good, but we faced a lot of bug issues and the system went down. That is not the case with 18Solutions, which shows that they use the right methodology when it comes to testing on the backend.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They have potential and should pitch for larger projects; I think they are a little conservative about it. They have the capability to deliver and should go into the market and try and partner with bigger companies.