Appristine Technologies

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a founding partner of a startup company running mobile apps for the public sector. We develop and publish our own apps. These include a business directory and a tool for searching for doctors, plumbers, or other specialists and booking appointments online. We’ve started a series with the first one being a marketplace for doctors.

What challenge were you trying to address with Appristine Tech?

We needed someone who could develop this software for us.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Appristine developed the front- and backend of our Android and iOS app, plus the website.

What is the team composition?

My first contact was with a founding partner, and he assigned one of the developers to be the lead person.

How did you come to work with Appristine Tech?

I found a few companies online. I decided to call a couple of them and explain my idea to see if they could help me with it. I called and spoke with a founding partner about the concept. I spoke to a few others, but he attracted me with his additional ideas. He evolved quickly around the ideas I explained, telling me what else I could do. He was energetic and had great ideas. They also seemed to have a good technical team.

Although I didn’t know anything about the company, the risk was low. Price-wise, Appristine seemed too inexpensive to me. I expected to pay much more for the work, but maybe my expectations were high. I made a down payment of a few thousand dollars, and that was the beginning of the collaboration. He was flexible on payment terms.

What is the status of this engagement?

It was delivered less than a month ago, and we’re in the process of launching it.

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

The product is ready. I’m happy with the results. So far, the external and internal testers who’ve seen the app have been impressed. I think that we can make it better, but we are at a point at which the app looks really good.

How did Appristine Tech perform from a project management standpoint?

They gave us a spreadsheet at the beginning of the project listing team members and hours they were supposed to work. We had a weekly task sheet.

The team was good in terms of communication. They created a WhatsApp group and a Skype chat group for everyone involved. I could send them screenshots on Skype and they replied to each one of those. Even though I didn’t know whom to target within the group, I could send what I needed to, and one of them would respond. Plus, they created a Trello board where we could open, close, and follow tasks. The project was managed properly; it was acceptable and convenient.

Regarding communication, although they are in a different time zone, if I needed someone, I could get a hold of them. They’re usually helpful. If there was something that they could solve or answer overnight, they normally did. I felt comfortable contacting them even outside of working hours, and they tried to help or at least guide me through the issue. They don’t mind sacrificing weekends or holidays to help out.

We made two revisions so far. We were supposed to make a single revision and launch, but we changed our plan. We determined that, as it was, the platform might not see success. We built a lot of extra features for revision two.

We technically had two contracts with Appristine. The first one went smoothly, although perhaps a bit longer than anticipated. We were not clear about what we needed to do, but they were helpful in suggesting ideas and creating their own layouts. The development was time-consuming because we were not clear from the beginning about what we wanted. It took a couple of months longer than anticipated.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The company as a whole is a few years old, and the people I’m working with are not expert coders. What I noticed is that they’re energetic, willing to help, and willing to learn new things. They go out of their way to do accommodate my requests even when they don’t know how to do it. I’ve found some of the team members online at 10 p.m. doing research. They’re helpful and they’re learning. Appristine has a bright future.

Are there any areas they could improve?

One opportunity for improvement for them would be to follow market trends more in terms of user interfaces, layouts, and how a modern app should look. I’ve found their ideas to be a bit outdated. They should keep up with the latest trends and ideas. This is my only suggestion, and I can’t judge them well in this regard, given that my app was very specific. They’re ambitious and they want to learn new things, but we had to point them in those directions.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a wholesale and retail company for uniform, safety wear, and protective equipment.

What challenge were you trying to address with Appristine Technologies?

We needed to develop a complicated Magento website. We needed somebody who could patiently implement customization and changes during the development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built our Magento online store platform. After they installed the admin panel, they gave us training on how to use the backend.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with three developers from Appristine.

How did you come to work with Appristine Technologies?

After doing online research, we contacted 10 companies and got quotes. We then talked with Appristine’s sales manager and the company owner. We felt comfortable with Appristine because of their interest in taking the work.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $4,500 on the website and design.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2017, and the work is ongoing.

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

Appristine’s team has gone through a lot of trouble to satisfy my needs, which is why it has taken a little longer than anticipated. I’m quite picky about the design—I’d take a screenshot, put it into Photoshop, and measure the distance between words and spacing. Fortunately, they’ve been extremely patient and followed up every detail that I needed. As a result, I get a lot of compliments about the design of the website.

How did Appristine Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

They don’t deliver on time 100%, but nobody can do that in this kind of business. A module or extension usually takes them 2–3 days, longer if a problem occurs. They follow up on all the changes.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a good and honest company. Despite the time difference, our communication is excellent. I can contact the developers, the management, and support staff at any time. I’d send them text messages late at night or early in the morning, and they’d respond quickly. It makes me feel comfortable that they’re always available and easy to reach.