AddWeb Solution

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of a website development firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AddWeb Solution?

We needed help to resolve a Drupal issue.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

They used Drupal 7 for the web development. The goal was to launch a Python API and we wanted to integrate Drupal with Python. Even though there were difficulties, they were able to do this well.

What is the team dynamic?

To my knowledge, there were 4 developers working on this project.

How did you come to work with AddWeb Solution?

I found them via Freelancer.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them on this project in June of this year and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They have allowed us to grow quicker and enabled us to deliver services to clients easier and more quickly.

How did AddWeb Solution perform from a project management standpoint?

We used Skype to communicate and I managed tickets on my end using YouTrack, which is a tool that we use internally in our company. The communication was good and very transparent with the project manager, which is why we kept them on to do the second phase of the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They know the technology well as the code they did was very well done and well written.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have been pretty satisfied with the service they have provided.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a research institution located in Cyprus. I work digital cultural heritage data, mostly with Drupal.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AddWeb Solution?

We use Drupal as our digital platform for publishing cultural heritage objects. I was trying to develop a module for expectorant transformation image. It was quite a complicated task I couldn’t achieve by myself, so I asked AddWeb Solution for their knowledge, and they developed that module for me.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They used Drupal for my project. I saw on their website they are using PHP, Java, JavaScript, and many other applications. They have a deep knowledge of Drupal and the content management system [CMS]. They are quite good in what they are doing with regard to Drupal technology which is also related to many other things.

What is the team dynamic? 

I spoke with 2 resources, but I’m not sure how many worked on the project.

How did you come to work with AddWeb Solution?

I found out about them through a conference that was related to Drupal. I was presenting our work in New York, in the United Nations office, about cultural heritage and Drupal. I got to know some people including someone working for AddWeb Solution. After that, I went to their website to learn more about them.

It was quite a challenge to find a company to trust. There are a lot of companies doing development. A lot of friends have told me that developers in India are cheap but they can’t deliver and are unprofessional. I was lucky to find out about this company, and I was happy to work with them. Clutch is also a great tool to find trustable companies.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2016. The project is completed, but I have plans to work with them again for development or a future project. I am currently planning to have a different project that I will need their help with.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We published a paper about the project and presented our solution in a couple of universities. I was in Oxford last year presenting the whole project including that package. Some other universities found out about the work they did because I have it on our website and used that module for their own purposes. Because I have it in GitHub, they can download it and use it if they want.

How did AddWeb Solution perform from a project management standpoint?

It was quite easy. I told them what I wanted, and they asked for a formal email explaining exactly what I needed so they could understand. In a couple of days, they had the solution ready. I tested it, and it had some small, minor bugs; I mentioned them, they fixed the bugs, and it was good to go.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I found them very friendly. Anytime I had a question, I could Skype with them. I could write an email even at night and they would respond by the next day. They really paid attention in a personal way. They didn’t use any management tool because the project wasn’t very large, but our communication was perfect.

Are there any areas they could improve?

As it was my first collaboration with them, I cannot suggest any improvements. Maybe in the future, I will have some. Their English is quite good. It’s much better than mine.

Do you have any advice for potential clients?

I believe if you are clear what you need, they can provide you the exact cost. They don’t add on fees after they provide an estimate. They were quite straightforward during our collaboration.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are an Indian jewelry retailer and wholesaler. We have physical stores in the country and are also considering foraying into the e-commerce segment. I am the director of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AddWeb Solution?

We wanted to start selling our jewelry online. Unlike other websites, we require various customization functionalities for our products.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

AddWeb Solution developed our PHP Magento website. We continue to work on maintenance and updates for it.

How did you come to work with AddWeb Solution?

I was involved in a political action committee which used AddWeb Solution for building several online properties. I was impressed with their work and chose AddWeb Solution for the current e-commerce venture. Their costs were reasonable as well.

How much have you invested with AddWeb Solution?

The cost of our project with AddWeb Solution was below $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with AddWeb Solution at the beginning of 2015. Development was stopped midway at one point, but it resumed 2 months ago without any issues.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven't yet started marketing the product because some additional features need to be developed. I was happy with the user experience of the site. I checked AddWeb Solution's codebase; best practices were followed and design patterns were good.

How did AddWeb Solution perform from a project management standpoint?

AddWeb Solution provided excellent communication. They were available 24/7, listened to what I was trying to say, and made the process easy.

Are there any areas AddWeb Solution could improve?

I don't have any complaints. AddWeb Solution did a good job overall, and we have a good relationship.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Labbit started in 2008 and our main activities are web application development, system integration, and IT consulting. We gain our customers’ confidence through competence and deep IT knowledge, delivering quality software and strategic technical decisions. We promote business sustainability through adoption and mastering of open source technologies. Our technical skills focus especially on open-source technologies such as Linux, open source programming languages like Java, PHP, Python, Ruby, and open source integration tools like Apache Foundation’s tools, Talend ESB, etc.

I am the Chief Technology Officer and co-founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AddWeb Solution?

We wanted to evolve a Drupal 7 intranet application developed inside an enterprise context. This application also had to be integrated with Oracle, Memcached, and OpCache. We needed a partner who would be able to deliver assigned tasks with a high standard of quality.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

AddWeb Solution was responsible for analyzing the tasks assigned, understanding the requirements, and implementing them for our Drupal 7 target.

How did you come to work with AddWeb Solution?

AddWeb responded to us on freelancer.com and I was impressed by their portfolio and skills. The fact that they had built Drupal modules for the community is a plus for us.

How much have you invested with AddWeb Solution?

Unfortunately, I cannot disclose this information.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work began this year and is still ongoing. It’s projected to continue into 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We test our work and we also get weekly feedback from the customer. We usually check for the following:

• Code readability and syntax optimization
• Code organization
• Use of Drupal-specific APIs and concepts
• Code performances
• Complete functionality tests

The feedback and the checks have been good. AddWeb Solution has performed well. The developer allocated for this project does a good job understanding tasks and requirements, and can implement tasks using Drupal concepts and API’s.

What did you find most impressive about AddWeb Solution?

Their strongest asset is that they really know Drupal.

Are there any areas AddWeb Solution could improve?

We haven’t spent enough time collaborating with them to answer that, so far.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Lingora is a platform that helps connect people who are learning languages with native speakers. Learners can upload recordings of themselves, and other people in the community can post feedback. For example, someone learning French might post a recording of themselves, and get feedback on their accent, intonation, and pronunciation from native speakers. It's a completely online resource at the moment, and it went live around April 2016.

I am the founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AddWeb Solution?

I needed assistance to create my solution. While I do have some technical and design skills, my expertise is more oriented towards actually teaching languages. I was looking for an agency that knew Drupal well and was independently verified on Drupal.org.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

AddWeb Solution has helped me with the technical requirements around the project, while also providing good design tips. I had my own ideas, but after speaking with them, we ended up completely changing the layout and making the site far more user-friendly, simpler, and to the point. AddWeb Solution had regular conversations with me before kicking off the project, which was a great thing about them.

How did you come to work with AddWeb Solution?

I was specifically looking for companies who had experience with Drupal, since I knew that would be necessary in order to achieve my goal. I searched on Drupal.org for development companies, looking for firms who were well-established on the website, and had worked on numerous relevant projects. Many of the companies that I contacted took a long time to get back to me, probably because I wasn't a large organization. I had a new idea but a relatively small project.

AddWeb Solution became passionately involved from the start. They were keen to organize a conversation with me as soon as possible, even though their headquarters are in Ahmedabad, India, and the time difference with the UK was an issue. This continued to be the case even after we started working together.

How much have you invested with AddWeb Solution?

The initial development cost with AddWeb Solution has been between $5,000 and $6,000. I have a responsive multilingual website with some advanced features, including the ability to add audio comments, recording via browser, searching for users learning a certain language, filtering audio clips by language, and unique user profiles. I couldn't have asked for much more without greatly increasing my budget.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started initial conversations with AddWeb Solution around November of 2015. The project kick-off was delayed because I needed to ensure that my platform would be available in numerous languages. Sourcing different translations took some time, and it was the responsibility of the companies that I hired for that purpose. The project went live in April of 2016, and right now we're ready to start more work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within 6 months, the platform sparked interest with around 200 registered users. I regularly keep up with the number of contributions people have for the language community. The numbers are low at the moment, but this is partly due to the project being new and the marketing around it. I've gotten some good feedback at the moment, and many people have contributed to the platform.

What did you find most impressive about AddWeb Solution?

In addition to meeting my requirements, AddWeb Solution has also suggested features that could make the project better. Even though AddWeb Solution was simply an agency involved in the project and not a co-founder, they got involved in the strategic planning. They worked towards the success of the Lingora app in the best possible way. On the other hand, many of the other developers I spoke to simply asked for requirements and told me how much the work would cost, without suggesting potential tweaks or improvements.

Are there any areas AddWeb Solution could improve?

I performed much of the testing within the end phase myself. We were all keen to get the project launched, and I felt that AddWeb Solution rushed out bits of it. I've needed to go back to them and ask for modifications on certain items like navigation, cross-browser functionality, etc. AddWeb Solution was always willing to quickly resolve issues, but I would have liked for them to handle some of the testing themselves, instead of relying on the client.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a web agency working in Brussels. We offer web development, SEO, referencing and social media marketing.

What is your position?

I am the owner of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with AddWeb Solutions?

We provide WordPress design for small websites. For bigger e-commerce pages, we hire subcontractors.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

AddWeb Solutions has provided Drupal and WordPress web development for us.

How did you come to work with AddWeb Solutions?

I found AddWeb Solutions on a web development forum, where they were quite active, helping people for free, and finding new clients. They have very good client service, comparable to an American company. There are numerous companies in India, but we found that AddWeb Solutions provides a good price/quality ratio.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The total cost of AddWeb Solutions' services has been around $5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have been working with AddWeb Solutions for 2 years, on multiple projects. We have 2 ongoing projects with AddWeb Solutions at the moment.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Everything that falls under marketing and strategy is handled by our own team. Whenever we've asked AddWeb Solutions for development, the result was concrete. I am happy to work with them.

What distinguishes AddWeb Solutions from other providers?

I've appreciated the fact that AddWeb Solutions is very clear. Most of the time, when working with outsourcing companies, they won't have a good understanding of the client's problems, even though they agree to everything during meetings. AddWeb Solutions has always been clear and honest with us in terms of scheduling and any unexpected issues.

Is there anything AddWeb Solutions could have improved or done differently?

AddWeb Solutions is quite expensive for an offshore company, but the quality is there. I'm overall happy with them, and prefer to pay a bit more.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company offers Drupal development for small to medium-sized businesses. We also offer technical SEO [search engine optimization] services.

I am the technical director of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Addweb Solution?

I was looking for a supplier with Drupal 7 experience, who could commit to working within projects with tight timelines.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Addweb Solutions provided maintenance work on existing sites for our clients. They converted a few themes to mobile-responsive versions. Addweb Solution also built some new sites for us, from the ground up, as well as providing WordPress development and maintenance work for our own site.

How did you come to work with Addweb Solution?

There are many developers offering similar services, many of them offshore. I met Addweb Solution's team at a Drupal event in the UK. Their company makes an effort to meet new clients and to participate in events. We offered Addweb Solutions some small pieces of work, in order to evaluate their skills. I was happy with the results.

How much have you invested with Addweb Solution?

The total cost of Addweb Solution's services has been under $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Addweb Solutions one year ago. We have an ongoing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Addweb Solutions has worked on a few sites for us, which are now live. One of them was a charity site, which had a form registration section, as well as moderation functionalities. Addweb Solution turned it around quickly, working with a bootstrap budget. Addweb Solution also optimized a Drupal site for a client, making it compatible with tablets and phones.

Addweb Solution worked on a WordPress site for probate claims, updating modules and sorting our parts of the code, making it load faster.

Addweb Solution has an internal quality control process, which means that we don't have to worry very much about issues with their deliverables. Any issues which we did encounter were resolved quickly.

What did you find most impressive about Addweb Solution?

Addweb Solution has been very responsive and quick in turning work around.

Are there any areas Addweb Solution could improve?

I've been generally pleased with the work that Addweb Solution did for me. In the Drupal community, one of the recurring issues I've heard about Addweb Solution was that they didn't contribute enough to the modules and code of the platform. Addweb Solution has changed that, making their developers more committed to the project. Addweb Solution does listen to people and has made an effort to improve.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a photography company with two main focuses: training photographers through photography classes which we organize in different cities around Europe and North America, and also taking images from clients in the real estate business and optimizing them through our graphical team.

What is your position?

I am a co-owner of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Addweb Solutions?

I was working on developing a website with a company in India. The project wasn't going well and I needed another vendor.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

Addweb Solutions continued the development of my WordPress website. They took it to where I wanted it to be, identifying the flaws in the previous team's work and putting new solutions in place. It was a very good experience. Even though I'm not a developer, I could get critical information from them. They always told me when an approach would not work well. Addweb Solutions is proactive in bringing out solutions, instead of waiting for the client to tell them everything.

We worked on a second project which involved the development of our website for training courses, thephotoacademy.com. We started the second version from scratch, using Drupal.

How did you come to work with Addweb Solutions?

They were referred to me by a friend and colleague in Brussels. He worked with Addweb Solutions on a regular basis and they were very efficient compared to some other development companies, so I contacted them.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

For our initial WordPress project, Addweb Solutions had a low hourly rate. The total development cost was under $10,000 for that. For the second project, the cost was between $10,000-50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in December of 2015. We still have ongoing projects for which we've kept two fulltime resources.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any feedback from this engagement?

Addweb Solutions brought my WordPress site to a functional version. It's set to be taken live within a few days, and I'm excited about it. I don’t have any metrics yet, but I’m happy with the work they’ve done.

How did Addweb Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

Timelines were discussed precisely in the beginning and their time estimation was very good. We collaborate through GitHub and Skype. Back-and-forth exchanges with them are always very clear.

What distinguishes Addweb Solutions from other providers?

Their technical skills set them apart. Addweb Solutions has identified many problems and found solutions for my sites, using custom code. A friend who is knowledgeable about web coding looked at their work and thought that it was very good.

Their Chief Technology Officer is very experienced, and compared to our previous team, they are very structured.

Is there anything Addweb Solutions could have improved or done differently?

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I am a freelancer working in Germany. I work with small companies and NGOs.

What is your position?

I have functioned as an independent consultant on most of these projects.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with AddWeb Solution?

I have several client projects which I can't handle on my own due to lack of time. I decided to reach out to AddWeb Solutions.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

We initially worked on a feature enhancement project for a real estate client. The client had several issues which other agencies weren't able to fix. I thought it would be the perfect project to collaborate with AddWeb Solutions. Once it's finished, I plan on working on other projects with them.

They have worked on various module configurations, as well as some custom programming for gluing the platform together. It features a system through which users can bookmark apartments. It didn't work out-of-the-box with Drupal, so it required some custom coding.

They're now working on social media elements, including login functionalities and Twitter integration. AddWeb Solution also worked on some small CSS and JavaScript fixes. 

How did you come to work with AddWeb Solution?

I attended DrupalCon Asia in Mumbai, in February of 2016. I was looking for outsourcing partners and found that most developers were large companies which catered for bigger projects of $50,000 or above, which was not quite the budget that I had. I met some freelancers, but I thought that it would be better to at least have access to a small team of professionals with different specializations. I met AddWeb Solution's principal and had a nice conversation with him. He didn't push to become a partner and I didn't mention the project for which I needed help until three days later. We simply got along well, went to a party together and got to know each other. At the end of the conference, I asked if he would be willing to work with a smaller partner and he told me that that was their specialization. They had small partners in the US, so someone like myself would be a natural fit. I visited their office in order to get more information about their work process and the conditions of their staff. I didn't want to work with a sweatshop-like company. They were very kind and it was pleasant to talk to them.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The budget for our initial project has been set at $10,000 in order to get an impression of their quality level. Upcoming projects will be closer to $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I initially met with AddWeb Solution in mid-February, 2016. Our collaboration started in March. If the collaboration works out, I plan on assigning them bigger projects. The work is open-ended.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I've had experience with another agency from Ukraine, as well as with a freelancer from Romania. AddWeb Solution was successful with tasks that my previous partners could not accomplish. They understood the problem and fixed it, even though it took a bit longer than I expected. I am happy that they managed to do it nevertheless. I was given several approaches and we decided on the best one. The result was good and I have nothing to complain about.

How did AddWeb Solution perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication was good. I think that meeting them personally has helped because I'm not very comfortable with talking to people that I've only met through the internet. Having a personal relationship was important.

Is there anything AddWeb Solution could have improved or done differently?

Quality assurance could be improved. I identified glitches for assignments which they delivered, so we needed additional back-and-forth sessions. It wasn't a very serious problem. It's a learning process for AddWeb Solution as well. They usually work with end-clients who don't have the necessary technical expertise in order to understand the work. It's possible that they work differently with others, but I wanted to see AddWeb Solution's process. Getting up-to-speed with what they were doing took some time and any glitches that I identified have added to that.

BACKGROUND

Can you give a brief description of what your company does?

It’s a mobile classified blog, custom-made with a lot of unique features, specifically a niche site tailored around cellphones and tablets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your main goal or objective going into the project with AddWeb?

My goal was to get an honest experience with the company.  My previous experience with a previous designer from the U.S. was bad. I was spending about $7,000 to build the current website.  I had found some information from the American company that I hired that they were outsourcing all my work to a company in India.  And once I found that information out, I was frustrated and disappointed because the work never really turned out the way I wanted to and they never listened to what I asked once they got their final payment.

I was so anxious to get the job done so I reached out to the Indian company. I explained to them what I needed to have done, they said they could do it and I could trust them.  I took their word for it, I laid out everything that needed to be done and they over-exceeded my expectations. I think it cost me a lot less but I received much more based on the results and the initial bill.

SOLUTION

Can you talk a little more about the scope of the project?

They customized a classified print and they also entailed a Wordpress blog custom-tailored to my needs for the personality of the website, which is unique and different from what’s out there on the market.  I haven’t released it yet so I don’t want to go in too much detail but it entails a blog functioning classified website with more person-to-person interaction whether it was a consumer or just a company speaking directly to the customers.  There was a lot of custom work going on, a lot of things that I still want them to do but not sure if they can handle it.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How satisfied are you with the work they’ve done?

Very satisfied. Communication was difficult in the beginning but once we had a formal understanding of what was required and what was expected, it was basically a breeze from that point.  They got the job done and if there was anything that I felt that wasn’t up to my standards, they made the simple correction with no resistance at all.  I made a lot of changes, I was really nit-picky and they dealt with it and got the job done.  They didn’t try to milk me for every little thing that I need to have done or try to add things that weren’t in the initial contract.  I’m happy with them.  I’m actually in the process of upgrading another project for them to get started on.  I recommend them to anybody that’s looking to not just save money but get more for what they pay for with peace of mind knowing that you won’t be ripped off.