Appsbee Software LLC

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

ShareNPay is a social payment application spread out across a few states in the US, at the moment. We are similar to Venmo, offering a way for people in a restaurant or a similar situation to share a bill. We've done a few things differently from Venmo, and we've actually been on the market first, but haven't achieved the same coverage. Our users can search the web from within the app, and we also have chat and calling features. Users can share commercial links within the app, so anything that we can do to keep people engaged is preferable to us.

I am the Chief Product Officer and a founding member of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Appsbee?

We launched our app initially on iOS, and needed some backend support. The person handling this at the time was also involved in other projects, so his concentration and methodology didn't work out as well as we'd hoped.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We asked Appsbee to step in and help out with backend maintenance. We also wanted to rapidly copy the iOS version through to Android, so Appsbee stepped in and took on the whole brief in this regard as well.

How did you come to work with Appsbee?

We bumped into Appsbee more than we actually found them. There was another software house within our building, and while talking to them about the Android solution, one of their resources started the work, but couldn't complete it. That company was also using Appsbee, so our contact suggested that we transition the work to them. We ended up talking with Appsbee and found out that they didn't need help in transitioning the work, they simply needed to start. We had been looking offshore and at other local solutions. We were nervous about using an overseas company because of payment and security issues. We were impressed with the fact that Appsbee had a US presence, good English skills, and more importantly, the involvement they'd had on the backend proved that Appsbee's team actually thought outside the box, instead of simply saying that they could. Appsbee brought added value to the table every time.

We tend to work with people as if they were an extension of our own team, and to that degree, try to empower them. There was some nervousness about doing this right away, but we gave Appsbee some simple tasks in the beginning, and they came back with great answers and suggestions for alternatives. After we gave Appsbee more complicated work, they again came back with novel ideas. With the constant communication that we had, Appsbee soon became an actual extension of our in-house team. They communicated with many people across our organization, and brought many things to the table.

How much have you invested with Appsbee?

We use a per-person rate with Appsbee, which is well under $5,000/month. We used up to 5 resources from Appsbee at the same time. Appsbee provided extremely good value.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together almost 2 years ago. The work has been completed, but Appsbee is still offering support for our solution. I am planning to launch a new stage of development shortly, for which I'm sure that Appsbee will be re-engaged.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

At the beginning, there were items on which Appsbee had a different approach than our internal team. It only took one discussion for us to convey that we wanted things to get done a certain way. Appsbee went back and changed their work style.

I don't have any metrics, but I can assure you that they were very good. About 85-90% of the time, there was no reason to question anything that came back from Appsbee. In 5% of cases, we had a question about a certain deliverable, for which Appsbee usually had a good explanation. On another 5%, we needed to rethink things, because something wasn't taken into account.

We have an extremely complex system, tied to the nature of retaining the app's users. Quite often, a small change can affect an awful lot. This has been a problem even for our internal team, but Appsbee picked up on it quickly, making sure that the testing was rigorous. I got involved on a daily basis, testing what had been done and how, before making anything live. Appsbee was good in this regard.

How did Appsbee perform from a project management standpoint?

The schedule slipped a few times, which was due to a naiveté regarding the depth of our project. We told Appsbee how long it had taken us to get the iOS version together. We knew that Appsbee could effectively meet the deadlines that were set, but we were okay with this, given that we had more realistic expectations.

What did you find most impressive about Appsbee?

I appreciated the fact that we were able to treat Appsbee as an external element which was still a part of our own organization. Throughout the constant feedback and discussions that we had, I never felt that Appsbee was an external company.

Are there any areas Appsbee could improve?

Appsbee sometimes needed to document the activity in a bit more detail. When we swapped to using an Agile methodology, it was required that Appsbee record many of the results of the team's efforts. Out of the eagerness to get things done, we sometimes tested elements before there was any documentation as to what had been done. It was a case of catch-up, rather than anything else.