Appinventiv

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of GoodMood. We develop apps and app games. We’ve launched a relaxation and sleep app with unique features. Our focus is on helping people to relax, sleep better, and bring about self-improvement. People are our main focus.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Appinventiv?

My partner and I are the product owners. We define the functionalities of the apps as well as hire designers and developers. This project was quite a challenging process because I’d already had a bad experience with an app developer and lost a lot of money.

I started in this industry in 2016, coming from a completely different field. I had to learn everything from scratch. We always have to pay “apprentice money”, as it’s called in German, or pay for our own mistakes. Life is the best university.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Appinventiv developed my app completely from scratch, based on the UI design I delivered. We’re building the app natively, only for iOS only at the moment. I’m a team player and organizer, and I don’t see myself as the boss.

The goal is to create a really good product, and this is what I’m striving for. I don’t want to have app #1,000,001 in the app store; I want to have an outstanding application that really helps people.

My intention is to have an app of the year, either in the App Store or Google Play Store. I can only create an outstanding product if I have really good team members. Everybody should give good input, and we’ll discuss those ideas.

What is the team composition?

There are 17 people on Basecamp, and I’m usually in communication with 7–8 people from Appinventiv. The project manager is my main contact, and I talk to the developers when needed.

How did you come to work with Appinventiv?

I found them on a freelancing platform. I chose Appinventiv out of about 75 proposals for two main reasons. The first was that they’d already launched more than 1,000 apps successfully. This told me they had experience in the business and would know how to solve any issues that came up. They had good organization, and I could be sure that if they gave me a fixed price they wouldn’t come up with any unexpected things.

Secondly, during my negotiations with them, I learned they really look into the details in order to understand the project properly and avoid misunderstandings.

The game design document I made was certainly not complete. A good developer would always ask what I meant by this or that and identify anything that was wrong. Appinventiv made sure that we were on the same page and even came up with proposals for improving the app.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost so far is close to $30,000. We’re starting development on a new module, which will cost another $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Appinventiv in August 2019, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I had no app launched in the App Store, and now I do. It usually works bug-free, and when there is a bug, the user usually won’t notice it. Those are in the lines of a wrong icon or a wrong image size — things that I’ll catch. Appinventiv works on bug fixing really fast, and they ensure that things are going well. If there’s an issue, they start working on it instantly.

Having launched the app was one thing, but their team continued to work hard after launching it. This is a different ball game. Appinventiv is really supportive, fast, and helpful in this area. We’ll always face issues during the development process.

Working with a bigger company like Appinventiv makes it more likely to find solutions for those issues. There was a problem with my AWS server. Appinventiv asked the experts in their company, they came back with the right answer, and fixed it.

We’re still in the finalization process, so we’ve only run small advertisements for the app. We don’t have thousands of users yet, but our current users like the app. My friends also like the app, and they’re using it. I’ve received specific feedback on it, which means they’re really working with the app.

How did Appinventiv perform from a project management standpoint?

We’re using Basecamp and Jira. Their project manager is doing an excellent job, and it’s easy to follow all the tasks and issues. I test new builds in TestFlight and write my feedback in Jira. Then, Appinventiv starts working on that feedback. Once everything is finished, the issue ticket is closed. The system is professional and easy to understand, even for someone new in the business.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very straightforward and honest. Rather than looking for payable hours, they strive to deliver a good product to the client. It’s very important for me that the people involved are really putting their hearts into the product, and this is the case with Appinventiv’s team. I can see this in the feedback they give me.

They’ve recommended things that saved me money and made the product better. For example, their lead developer recommended that we build the algorithm for showing videos later. If we did it now and there was a bug, it would’ve taken them ages to identify it.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing on this planet is perfect as it is. The important thing for me when working with a team is to remember that we’re all human beings and when we motivate people, they’ll usually love the work they do and deliver better results.

We’ve figured out during the process what was less good and had to be improved for the next step. After a big update, we’ll usually have a call and analyze what we could improve in the future, in order to save time and have better results. This is an ongoing process with Appinventiv, and I’m really happy with them. If something isn’t working well, I can talk to their lead manager or one of their bosses, and they’ll take care of it.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

When working with a team, it’s important to ensure that each member understands the project properly and to motivate them. This will help us have a good result. Appinventiv works well and is open to discussing new proposals and questions. They don’t want to suck the last cent out of me, but rather deliver a good product and see me happy.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the Senior IT Project Manager at Pride Mobility Products Corporation. We are a B2B organization that sells things like mobility scooters, medical lift chairs, and specialty chairs that have been designed physically for an individual’s medical needs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Appinventiv?

Appinventiv has provided us with a mobile solution for both Android and iOS platforms.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Right now, we have implemented phase one which is just for one side of our business. It is an open app so anyone can go in, but it is built mainly for technicians when they go out into the field. 

When someone requests a chair, the technician comes to their home and they can go in with the app and bring up the order form. It has approximately 14 different products and based on the individual’s needs, the technician will sit down and interview them, and then fill out these forms. 

Phase two, which we are building and planning to release in March, is going to include our other products, which there are about 45 of. We are adding those to our app, which will be renamed, and we are looking to rebrand towards our actual applications in-house. It will do the same thing and allow for ease of use using a PDF order form.

As we work into phase three, we are hoping to automate a lot of that, rather than having to go through an 18-page form. We are hoping by the end of this year to incorporate single sign-on and logins so that providers will also be able to use the app. We are also going to have shopping carts and add a lot of functionality using Appinventiv’s subject matter expertise. 

We are using a content management central repository to house all of the artifacts which I have implemented in the past and I know the value of those. In addition to using that in the backend of the app, we will also be able to incorporate that for any of our websites. 

We are also looking at some VR to see if a chair will fit in someone’s hallway, for instance. We are adding coach tips, which will be a little different than a push notification, but will act in that same fashion, as well as a voice search capability.

What is the team composition?

I work with a project and delivery manager. There are a couple of other people that are more technical in nature, like their iOS and Android developers and their designers.

I also work with their engagement manager and I have worked with their accounting and invoicing people. I met with the co-founder. They have all been wonderful to work with which is really nice. 

How did you come to work with Appinventiv?

We did our RFI, and I had several people within the company here that were helping me identify some vendors. Our director is the one who found them. She saw a couple of things that they had done.

How much have you invested in them?

To date, we are at approximately $120,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in February 2020, and it is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They seem to bend over backward, and they can almost read my mind in some sense which is good. We don’t have a large IT team, so having Appinventiv as a trusted and valued partner has been remarkable. 

That comes from my boss as well, who is the senior director of IT and the highest person on the IT board. She also is very happy that we have gone with Appinventiv, because everything they said they could do, they do. 

If they tell us they are unsure, they will always provide options or they will get back to us. They are giving me what I want but they aren’t falsely saying yes to things they cannot do. So far, there really hasn’t been anything that has hindered us or constricted us in building out our app, in fact, it just keeps growing. We plan on partnering with Appinventiv for a long time.

When it comes to our quality standards here, we rely on our sales executives. Those were the folks we would go back to and ask them all the different features and functionalities that they would want. Of course, that changed quite a bit because everyone has a preference on view and representation, so we did have to go back and forth through that. 

Appinventiv was very patient through that, but I would say most of our success metrics came directly from our CEO, our sales VPs, and executive management because they have been trying to do something like this for quite a while and it was never able to get off the ground. To their eyes and to that audience, it was a huge success, and we are still receiving very positive feedback from the field. 

They like the search functionality, they like the ease of use, and they like that they can find any owner’s manual, order form, brochure, and see news and events. As long as each of the requirements within the requirements stack was met, and they were easily usable by the end-users, then that fit our success criteria, at least my success criteria.

How did Appinventiv perform from a project management standpoint?

We have been trying to monitor the project management constraints of quality, budget, and time. The app was delivered on time, within budget, and actually a little under budget, and the quality has been phenomenal.

We had an SOW put together and it spelled out a lot of the details including the communications. Because they are offshore, we tried to schedule meetings early in the morning and again, most of us within the organization are in New York, so Appinventiv has been very accommodating. 

I have regular meetings scheduled with Arvind (Project Manager) a couple of times a week which are at 7:30 a.m. my time, which is in the evening for him and is always after dinner. I have even been on with him when it was 10 or 11 o’clock at night for them going through UAT testing. They are very accommodating. 

What works well is that they do have staff that work off-hours too. If I send information in the morning, after our call, Arvind will get that to the team. Throughout the day as I am sending information, I almost always have a response by the next morning. We do work through Outlook email, but they do use Basecamp which is a nice repository to use because all the communications are housed there.

They’ve also been very good at letting us know about time off. Arvind will just reach out and let us know if there is a holiday. He even sends us a link, so we actually learn about their holiday. I like that they are sharing that with our team because I think it gets people to know each other a little more, especially when you are constantly working remotely, and it adds that extra personal touch.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their response time and availability to me. We have a nine and a half-hour time difference, and it seems like whenever I have something, whether it is an issue or a topic to discuss, it seems like they are readily available. They make themselves available even when it comes to their holidays and they will make sure someone is available from a support perspective.

Arvind helped us build out metrics so we can actually see who has downloaded the app and they were able to combine both the Apple and Google metrics which natively exist, and they were able to combine them into one Firebase console for our marketing team.

They are very efficient with their hours. I have done this type of work before and they don’t inflate the hours when they give me an LOE which I found to be very refreshing and they aren’t short-changing themselves either. Appinventiv has a really good handle on their team and their team’s abilities and getting stuff done.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Basecamp is a tool but it doesn’t give you the discussion thread, so you have to go back to the Basecamp tool itself to see it. It does send you an email in Outlook.

We are working on improving the invoice structure, and I think that was the biggest thing to meet our invoicing structure needs. That was just brought to our attention, and they are already discussing it and getting that to us. I think it is that administrative part of invoicing and billing and breaking it out, but other than that, I asked for the change and they are very accommodating.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the project manager at Cellink Life Sciences. It is a bioprinting company with multiple domains. We started with bioprinting solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Appinventiv?

We are launching a new product in microscopy. We needed to build an app for different platforms, specifically iOS and Windows. We don’t have developers in-house, so we were looking to outsource the project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built an iOS app interface for the device. They also did some work in Android, for future use. Our business analyst worked collaboratively with them to design the interfaces and they developed using those interfaces. We made a design change and they implemented it.

Currently, they maintain and provide support for the app. They also added QA into their team when we requested it, in order to test prior to delivering code to us.

What is the team composition?

Amardeep (Manager of Technology) is my main point of contact throughout the project. There is a project manager and a couple of developers, and there is currently one developer providing support.

How did you come to work with Appinventiv?

They did demonstrations and our team went to visit their offices. We decided they were the right team for the project.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $85,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together around June 2019 and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The product isn’t on the market yet. They have very skilled iOS developers — we use tools to measure the code quality and it’s very high. 

How did Appinventiv perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project manager acts as Scrum Master; the entire project is managed from their side. We have team meetings to discuss tasks and they have internal stand-ups. They assigned developers to certain domains and they’re flexible when we request changes. We communicate primarily through Basecamp.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Two things really stand out to me: their good price and high-quality developers and product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was a lot of miscommunication in the beginning. We had issues with deliveries, and they didn’t flag those issues. It ended up requiring a second design, which increased the cost, as well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear in your requirements and expectations. If you do that, working with this team will be a breeze.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of Technology Solutions of Simplicity Group Holdings, a distributor of insurance products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Appinventiv?

We own a fintech software and we needed professionals to help us with the iOS and Android mobile app for that software.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had an existing product that served as the basis, but we invited the team’s ideas based on their experience. Appinventiv then did full project management, full-stack development, UI/UX design, wireframing, and graphic design. 

What is the team composition?

We work with a project manager and an account manager.

How did you come to work with Appinventiv?

We were looking at different reviews on Clutch when we found them.

How much have you invested with them?

The original proposal was around $75,000. We plan to engage them for a second project that will be another $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Appinventiv in March 2020, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of work that Appinventiv has provided is outstanding. Their commitment to delivering not only a product that we want but also one that is of high quality has been great. I’m extremely pleased. 

How did Appinventiv perform from a project management standpoint?

Our relationship has been very collaborative, and even in the midst of a global pandemic, the team has been able to deliver on time and within the budget. They use Basecamp and we use a different tool internally called Wrike. 

When we asked them to switch to our learning tool, they had a slight learning curve but they were happy to do it. We communicate with the team daily and have weekly recaps. It’s been fantastic.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Appinventiv’s enthusiasm for the project is my favorite part about working with them. They’re upbeat and positive on our calls, and they deliver much faster than we can review, which is amazing. 

Additionally, one of the founders got involved very early on in the process and stayed in communication with me just to ensure that we were satisfied. That was very unique.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind right away. If anything, some of the design and wireframing could be a little more innovative. Outside of that, the team is doing such a great job. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Ask a lot of questions and make sure you compare and contrast them with other firms. Keep an open mind and don’t be surprised when they send you a proposal that knocks your socks off.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company is centered around a mobile app that allows users to find food and drink specials at Restaurants. I am the CEO and Founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Appinventiv?

I hired Appinventiv to develop the mobile app and platform for data entry.

What were your goals for this project?

I needed an MVP of this app quickly to be able to determine market fit. I had the idea, but I needed a lot of guidance.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I found them on Clutch and felt confident going with them during the sales process.

Describe the project in detail.

The app was developed for both iOS and Android. They took care of everything from design to wireframes etc. They also helped with strategy and walked me through everything needed to get the app up and running.

What was the team composition?

I worked with a team of about 9 people who all specialized in different roles. The team was organized very well and covered all the bases.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I have gotten lots of positive feedback of the app design and functionality from both users and Restaurant partners.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was very effective with scheduled calls and regular updates through Basecamp.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The most impressive thing I found was the level of detail in the project management. As well as how well everything was laid out in terms of a roadmap.

Are there any areas for improvement?

For this first phase of the project everything went very smoothly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our organization is called IFOAM Organics International. We are a federation of the organic agriculture movement, and we are the only umbrella organization of that kind. I am an IT officer here.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Appinventiv?

We hired them for mobile app development. We started building an online community that was web-based and we wanted to have a mobile app that would connect to that community.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Appinventiv helped us quite a lot in the initial phase with all the concepts and the designs. I had a rather rough sketch, which wasn’t more than sketches on paper and a few bullet points. They drafted the wireframes very well and did some nice designs in that initial phase. 

The application was developed for both iOS and Android. However, we have since neglected the iOS version which isn’t their fault. We haven’t needed them constantly; it’s been more so occasionally.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with about 7–8 teammates. I was in touch directly with the developers, and, in the design phase, there was another teammate who accompanied the process quite well. I don’t think she is there any longer, but I believe the developer is still there. 

How did you come to work with Appinventiv?

We posted the job on Upwork. Among the companies that submitted proposals, Appinventiv was the most promising. 

They made a professional appearance which convinced us that they had the full package. It also showed that they wouldn’t only do the development, but also the design and conception.

How much have you invested in them?

The previous version cost was around 20,000€ (approximately $22,600 USD). The current phase is planned with a cost of 6,000€–10,000€ (approximately $6,700–$11,200 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Appinventiv towards the end of 2016, and we are still working together. We have had some breaks in between, but we are currently working on another version with them right now which is more of an update. 

The web platform was upgraded and some API elements changed, and we are now in need of an update. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don’t think it had such an impact on the organization overall because the app is for an online community which is for a project we are involved in. We are not the only organization that is involved in the project. 

Their work has been more beneficial to the project and not so much to the organization. This project runs in a few countries where internet connectivity isn’t the best, and the web platform is sometimes too much for their internet connections. 

Having the app was also good for many users because they could see the content even when being offline. This was one of our criteria, and, from the feedback we received, this was something that was appreciated. Additionally, throughout the partnership, Appinventiv has given us stable support.

How did Appinventiv perform from a project management standpoint?

Overall, their project management has been great. At the very beginning, we needed some time to get started when the designs were done, and all the concepts looked good, but we were waiting for the development to make progress. 

In the end, it was due to the API being a bit complicated apparently. When that was overcome, everything went well. At first, we used a project management tool for small updates, but, in between, we didn’t. The first version was the biggest package and then we had a rather limited scope.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication and responsiveness stand out to us considering the time difference we have between Europe and India, which is about five and a half hours.

When I send them something in the afternoon my time, I know it is about 9 p.m. in India, but I usually still get a reply within the same day, which is exceptional.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing I can think of. We did experience a hurdle in the initial few weeks where the designs were ready and we weren’t quite clear where the development stood. However, that was a while ago and it hasn’t happened since.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have someone from your end to accompany the project. That is relevant for any project partner and it is particularly important if you have expectations.

You need someone from your own company to properly communicate what you want otherwise it will always be difficult. This is key for them and would also be key for other projects.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the product manager of an app at a media company. We have five news channels in different languages. We also have several websites and an app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Appinventiv?

We were working with a partner that we weren’t seeing good efficiency and productivity from. We decided to look for a new partner to help with mobile app development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Appinventiv is developing a mobile app for iOS. Our existing app was in the Objective C framework, and they’re rebuilding it from scratch on Swift. We provided the product requirements document (PRD), wireframes, and each and every module required by the developers. Then, they started developing it. Once the development is complete, they will do the maintenance and add new features.

What is the team composition?

There are two project managers, one developer, and one tester.

How did you come to work with Appinventiv?

We did a search and had meetings with different companies. Based on our discussions, we found Appinventiv to be a good company to go with. They met every KPI. They were nearby to us, so we knew communication would be strong.

How much have you invested with them?

My company has spent $100,000–$250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2020, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Once we go live, I’ll be able to share feedback. As of right now, we’re impressed with them. They deliver a good application.

How did Appinventiv perform from a project management standpoint?

They manage the project really well. The project managers keep in touch with our team. Communication is good. They completely understand the requirements. We share information back and forth. 

They work in sprints. Each week, they share a performance report. They do their job really well. We appreciate their work.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re happy with their work. The developers are very intelligent. They understand the requirements very easily.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’s too early to say.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re honest, and their productivity is high.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a fashion technology company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Appinventiv?

I’m a cybersecurity expert but I’m not a developer. I had the idea, specifications, and the documents for a mobile app but I didn’t know how to translate it into code and deliver the product. 

I was introduced to a developer by a friend. I asked if he could develop my product and he said he could. After seeing the requirements, he backed off eventually after two months of our negotiations, so I needed to find another company to help me.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The project was driven by my team. We hired a designer who designed the screen. We gave all the requirements to Appinventiv and they turned it into a mobile app. We later set up our own technology team and stopped working with Appinventiv.

What is the team composition?

I worked with almost 20 people at the peak of the project including a project manager and scrum master. They also had Android and iOS developers.

How did you come to work with Appinventiv?

I did an online search for a developer in India. I shortlisted about four companies and started negotiations with each team. Our requirements were that our frontend needed to be in Angular 6 and our backend needed to be in Node.js. 

Some companies were not able to deliver according to the requirements. I found Appinventiv to be more proactive than the other company that said they could deliver, and they respond to the customer requirements very quickly.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March 2017–March 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The first product — an Android app — we worked on with them didn’t do well in the market. So, we went to them with a new idea and that did better, but not really well. We then did a third product that clicked with our tattoo artists, but it didn’t click with the customers. We did one more and figured out how to market the product.

How did Appinventiv perform from a project management standpoint?

Appinventiv has very good developers and project managers. However, they failed to estimate exactly how many days it would take to develop the product, which was a challenge. Other than that, they managed the project well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very good technical folks. Their delivery manager is always supportive and really understanding. Additionally, Appinventiv is very accommodating to make changes.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could have better estimated the timeline because they weren’t able to stick to it. It needed to be extended out a couple of months.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Appinventiv is an excellent company with great customer support. They understand and deliver according to the requirements. The only downside is their estimates.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a smart lock company that provides a platform for keyless entry systems for businesses and consumers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Appinventiv?

We were having trouble sorting out some security issues with our platform. So, we hired Appinventiv to solve the issues we were having.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided app and IT services in relation to our PC platform and our mobile platform. They sorted out security anomalies that we needed to address from an IT level to prevent hacking. The team also changed quite a bit of our platform to make it more robust. 

The technologies they used included Java, PHP, SQL. What started off as a small project ended up being quite a large one. 

What is the team composition?

We work with about 12 teammates. 

How did you come to work with Appinventiv?

They were recommended to us by an American company that we were doing a lot of business with.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent more than $100,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Appinventiv in February 2019 and our engagement is ongoing. We completed the project we initially hired them for and we’re doing other work now.  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had worked with three other firms prior to working with Appinventiv to try to get this work done. However, the expertise just wasn’t there. It’s extremely hard to find companies like Appinventiv that have expertise across a range of different platforms. They had the answers to everything. 

Additionally, their technical ability was fantastic and they really understood our problem and what we were trying to achieve. The team came up with a lot of great solutions. Because they’re proficient in multiple coding languages, the team was able to operate on all the platforms, which was helpful.

How did Appinventiv perform from a project management standpoint?

They perform extremely well. They’ve got great project management systems in place. They set up a communication platform that all of us used for group meetings. It's been a smooth process overall. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their level of technical understanding of applications, backend software, and cloud servers is phenomenal. They really understand the end-to-end of getting a product from concept to execution.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Even though they communicate very well in English, in the beginning, there was a bit of a language barrier. We weren’t always sure about what they meant. That’s just a common problem you have with any company at first. But once we knew what was happening, it all made sense.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You’re in good hands. When you first start with a new company, you tend to want to ask a lot of questions, but trust Appinventiv. They’re ethical and know what they’re doing. In addition, they use proper coding and don’t take shortcuts. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Expin. We’re a mobile app that was built in React Native.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Appinventiv?

We hired Appinventiv to developer our mobile app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They were supposed to build a mobile app, as well as an admin panel. The app was supposed to be in React Native, and the panel was supposed to be in React.

What is the team composition?

There were two developers, rather than the nine promised in the contract.

How did you come to work with Appinventiv?

We did a lot of research on Clutch and other review sites, and they also submitted their bid on Upwork. they offered us lots of guarantees in terms of timely deliverables. We shortlisted them, along with several other companies, based on several promises they made at the time of the negotiation of the contract.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent a little under $20,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from November 2018 until November 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had to break it off because it was a complete disaster. To give a little overview, we sent them an 88-page FRS when we were negotiating. It detailed every single thing. The design was finished, the FRS was written, the technical documentation was presented, and they had plenty of time to review. They said they could deliver in three months with a team of nine developers. That became four and then five months and so on. They promised to build the backend in React, but then we realized they didn’t have any in-house React resources.

Then, they persuaded us to switch the language to PHP, which wasn’t ideal but we went with it because we were pressed for time. Again, we found that that the two developers they’d given us were also working on another project. We had four project manager changes. We had to give them access to our AWS, and one of their developers deleted our website, which cost us over $15,000 to produce. They offered no remedy whatsoever. We asked for them to do something many times but they haven’t agreed. They fired the resource, but that doesn’t compensate for the damage. We had to spend another three months building a website, paying for all of it ourselves.

We didn’t start the agreement until we ensured that all the code would be put on our Git repository, and then, later during the development phase, we realized they weren’t using our Git. They held our code hostage until we made payments, contrary to our agreement. We negotiated it beforehand and they didn’t honor it. There was no code documentation from their end whatsoever, and there was no QA, so they used us and our team as their own personal QA, telling us to check this and that. it was very basic stuff that we had to do over and over.

They delivered under 40% of the project after one year when it was supposed to take only three months. We had to let them go and carry on with somebody else.

How did Appinventiv perform from a project management standpoint?

They changed the project manager four times without notice. The new manager wouldn’t read the FRs, which I think is absolutely critical. How are you going to manage a team building a complex project without reading the client’s documentation? Usually, vendors will get on a discovery call, understand our objectives, and they’ll write it for us. We incurred the cost of writing it ourselves to ensure that they understood what we wanted to accomplish in their language.

Each switch was detrimental, going from bad to worse. There were technical problems, and I’m not a technical guy. I spent hours on Google to find solutions for them, send it to them, and they would try to address it. As a non-developer, it’s hard to understand which technologies, frameworks, and libraries are compatible with one another. I shouldn’t have had to do this for them, but, even though I did, we still got nowhere.

What did you find most impressive about them?

No, not at all.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They should hire better resources and dedicate them to projects rather than sharing them. They had one or two good resources, and they put them on several projects, meaning they couldn’t concentrate on any one project specifically.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If your project is very, very simple, extremely simple, perhaps it will work. But, if its anything semi-serious, they are not the company to go with.