BetaBulls Inc

Please describe your organization.

We are a consulting company.

What is your position?

I am a vice president in the company, specifically responsible for IT matters.

What business challenge were you trying to address with BetaBulls?

We've worked on a product that was a publishing collaboration system. As a consulting company, we aim to connect to the right candidates for the requirements received from our clients. It's always been a challenge finding the right talent for expertise such as Java programming. We work with multiple recruiters and don't want go through hundreds of resumes for each project. Some of them will know our requirements, but we want a database which can be used concurrently across all of them. Also, each client has a different terminology and method for putting a requirement out. We want to be able to do keyword searches within requirements.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

BetaBulls built an application that allows us to feed requirements for candidates. It enables us to see the highest rated people and call them directly, without wasting time. All of our recruiters get the same information from us very fast.

It's both a web and mobile application, but our focus was on the mobile aspects.

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

It's been an expensive affair. The development cost so far has been between $300,000-500,000. We plan to reap the benefits of the application in the long term.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with BetaBulls for a little over a year, including the initial planning stage and a break we took with the development. We're still doing modifications to the work, but the platform itself is complete.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Quality-wise, the code was excellent. We're still giving BetaBulls feedback on the features they've built for us, as we use them. Overall, it's been a great experience.

What distinguishes BetaBulls from other providers?

The level of detail they've gone into in trying to understand our problem and give us the best available solution on the market has made them stand out. BetaBulls has been on top of things.

Is there anything BetaBulls could have improved or done differently?

In practicality, we've had to use the product in order to get an idea of it. As a company, we need some time to see if everything built by BetaBulls makes complete sense.

Please describe your organization.

The company is a pioneering investment advisor and solutions provider for the health savings account industry, focusing on expert research, tools, education and services since 2004. We are based in Minneapolis, Minnesota - one of the international nerve centers for health care, insurance, medical and biomedical business. We understand the unique needs and plan design for health savings investment accounts and are the national leader in powering investment solutions for healthcare accounts.

What is your position?

In my role with the company I help explore opportunities for new online technologies and products, research and develop solution architecture, make decisions about the technology stack and service provisioning, lead IT development and the development environments, and coordinate product launching with highly capable executive, sales and marketing teams.

What business challenge were you trying to address with BetaBulls?

There are at least a few major challenges to delivering online solutions in this industry: First, the concepts can be new or complicated for many users; second, the data and business services tend to involve marketing and business integration among multiple entities; and third, the regulatory and compliance regime is strict.

In our case, there was a basic portal in place for our account holders to manage their investment account. However, we aim to provide a leading-edge user experience and value by offering additional reporting, intelligence and automated account management tools through customized application program interfaces [APIs]. In addition, we need to provide a product that can be delivered as a white label solution for our partners, all the while maintaining compliance with privacy, security, and industry regulations.

In this beneficial but sometimes complicated sector of the health care and banking industries, millions of people find themselves needing to understand new kinds of information and manage money as smartly as possible. Rather than let users simply create accounts in our systems and then forget about them, we want to provide valuable tools that help maximize their returns on investment. Achieving this helps our company maintain its leading position while also breaking new ground.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

The primary roles that BetaBulls have played relate to the build-out of the solution. We established the development environment and provided key business and solution concepts and design artifacts. BetaBulls interpreted all of our communications into a rapid development model with frequent check-ins, approvals, modifications, and agile progress. We intend to manage and operate the solutions with BetaBulls involvement in iterative solution improvements which includes new requirements, programming, testing, and implementation.

How did you come to work with BetaBulls?

When we wanted to implement the solution, we investigated some known options and requested referrals from our network. BetaBulls was one of the candidates. We evaluated multiple product development approaches, based on variety of factors including consulting skills, domain knowledge, technology expertise, delivery process and cost.

We chose to work with BetaBulls for their exceptional understanding and track record with understanding specific business goals and launching targeted online products based on new concepts. BetaBulls also demonstrated expertise with solution proposals, financial services and recommendation systems. We felt comfortable with the possibility of selecting one vendor for the critical prototyping and minimum viable product [MVP] stages of designing our new solutions and products, as well as for ongoing maintenance and build out of the solutions according to our roadmap. At this time, our engagement on this project has lasted about one year.

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

The cost of this project was in the $10,000 to $50,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in May 2015. The work is ongoing. It will conclude by the end of November 2015.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Since this is a new product initiative, we are taking it to market and have seen great feedback. We expect a successful launch and progressive growth.

BetaBulls did a good job focusing on delivery of the solution and working within our budget and the inevitable scope creep that occurs when hands-on experience with new things leads to new, great ideas!

What distinguishes BetaBulls from other providers?

One thing I appreciate about BetaBulls in particular is a laser focus on value and the MVP concept, which really means working in iterations that start with a simple but successful landing spot and building from there. Most importantly, agile development often means being at stages where things are not yet working perfectly; BetaBulls had a great attitude and energy and never stopped working for the end goal. Iin our industry, solutions must look high-end, and that's what we got.

Is there anything BetaBulls could have improved or done differently?

In hindsight, we could have done more on our side to refine certain User Interface concepts, but we avoided that potentially huge (and possibly off target) pre-project expense by adapting a more design-on-the-fly and agile approach. Our selected technology stack made it pretty easy to do ongoing changes and updates. So, ultimately, we performed not just the technical but also some creative development details in agile fashion. On a weekly basis we were able to see and play with the solution iterations, and then make creative decisions as we understood the user experience more and more. It has been a true MVP experience that is turning into a bonafide solution.

Please describe your organization.

I came up with an idea of connecting couples to one another for the purposes of double dating. There are many online sites for men to meet women and vice versa, but there's nothing centered on couples double dating. That was the initial plan, and I've expanded it as I've been working with them.

What is your position?

I'm the founder.

What business challenge were you trying to address with BetaBulls?

The challenge, quite simply, was to build my website. I approached BetaBulls to develop my website.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

I have no experience developing websites at all. I told them what my idea was and that I needed a website, and they became responsible for development and support. I would tell them what I wanted to accomplish in terms of the look and feel of the site, and they mapped out the estimates from a timing standpoint as well as from a cost standpoint. They did the development, testing and hosting. I've continued to go back to them with some additional business ideas, and they've expanded it for me.

How did you come to work with BetaBulls?

I was looking at other companies. I did a lot of research. I liked the look of their site. I had several conversations with the two main contacts there and just evaluated the timeliness of their feedback and the cost. I just liked the sound of how they were mapping out the plan for me in terms of development.

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

The total cost of working with BetaBulls was between $10,000 and $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in April 2015. I had one idea and, as they worked to complete that site, I added additional sites. Not only is it the double dating site, but I've added a site for girlfriends – women meeting women to have new friends to hang with. There's also a site for men to meet men for the same purposes – golfing, going out for a drink, and so on. They've met each of their timeline dates, but I continue to add things in. The work is still ongoing.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I don't have any users because the sites aren't live yet. I have asked some friends to go on the site just to check the ease of getting around and everyone's been very impressed. I'm extremely impressed. I had started my own process where you can create your own website, and it's light years behind what they were able to develop. I've been very happy with BetaBulls.

What distinguishes BetaBulls from other providers?

Every time I have a question or I want to make a change, I'll send them an email with my thoughts and questions, and they'll schedule a time to talk through things. If it's something that's clear in my email, they'll make those changes and let me know when the site is updated, and I can go on and look. It's all been extremely timely – sometimes even faster than I'm ready for. There are steps I have to take behind the scenes to be ready to launch. Their timeliness and their communication style are huge pluses.

Is there anything BetaBulls could have improved or done differently?

This is my first time ever doing anything like this. I don't know if there's anything that would have made sense to do differently. Like I said, the things I enjoy the most are their timeliness and thoroughness. I can't think of anything for them to improve on.

Please describe your organization.

We are an onboarding system that is doing e-verify, and we are dealing with small to large clients who are in need of an onboarding system. We've got several partners who are in the ATS [applicant tracking system] field where we've integrated, and we are obtaining information through their ATS into the onboarding system. Everything flows on to onboarding.

New hires complete their paperwork either out of the office or in the office, so we can send an email notification to them to complete their paperwork prior to day one. It's customizable, where the clients can go into the system and make changes to policies and positions, and locations, and pretty much self-manage once they're set up and trained.

What is your position?

I am the integration director.

What business challenge were you trying to address with BetaBulls?

We had some software issues that needed fixing and other enhancements. We also needed someone to manage our help desk items that were coming in. As we started to grow and get more clients, we started getting a lot more help desk requests. We wanted to make sure that our clients were being serviced within 24 hours with a response regarding their help desk items that were coming in.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

BetaBulls has been helping us with our development and enhancements. They've also been taking care of any problems that we have with the actual software as well as taking care of our help desk tickets. They've also provided analysis with regard to enhancements that are needed with the site. They mainly give consultative advice on what we should do to improve the site and make it work better.

How did you come to work with BetaBulls?

Our CEO had vetted several developers during the course of about two or three months. He had met them at a show and vetted their team out, and ultimately he decided to go with them.

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

I'd prefer not to disclose that kind of information at this time.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in August 2014, and the work is ongoing.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I think the quality of the BetaBulls's work is very good. They're very responsive. We give them deadlines to complete projects, and they come in on time. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, they are on time with everything that we've requested of them.

Is there anything BetaBulls could have improved or done differently?

I think one potential area for improvement is their communication. Some of their developers don't speak English very well, and they're kind of hard to understand. They do generally have someone on the call who can translate what's being said for the rest of the team. But, some of them have very heavy accents, and they're difficult to understand.

Please describe your organization.

My company provides services to enhance medical business operations. We also build integrated clinical networks for collaborative care and we develop health care industry software applications for comprehensive business management.

What is your position?

I am the software development manager.

What business challenge were you trying to address with BetaBulls?

We have two products, one for clinical reports and another that is a business portal. The clinical reports product is where providers login to see their reports, and they are able to fill in prescriptions. Also, other administrative users are able to login and see what studies have been published.

We also have a business portal, which was developed by BetaBulls, where sales representatives are able to login and view their sales activity, what commissions they have, what reimbursements, how much insurance is paid, patient name, and a few other details. On our privilege page, sales reps are able to see only their sales activity, sales managers are able to see activity of their reps, along with the rest of the data that they report to them, and the admin is able to see everything. It's all privilege based. They can post marketing materials and open accounts.

That is what the business portal is, and that is what BetaBulls helped us develop. There is no mobile version, but the screens are responsive. They can be opened on any of the mobile devices and even on iPads. We do not have a mobile app for this application yet.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

BetaBulls was responsible for end-to-end development for both of our web applications.

How did you come to work with BetaBulls?

I cannot answer that, because by the time I came on board BetaBulls was already working with Emgenex. I do not know how the relationship started.

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

The size of this project is between $10,000 and $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The collaboration had started three months before I came in, so it was in July 2014. We're still working with them. We did it in phases. January was our first release date, we wrapped up phase one completely about a month ago, and we are in the process of gathering requirements for phase two.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I was happy with their work. We gave them clear business requirements. They were on time with everything. In phase two, we are right on schedule.

The sales reps are really loving the business portal. In fact, yesterday we were in a meeting and one of the sales managers was mentioning that it was a very friendly app, and they were very happy with what it has to offer. They gave us feedback on phase two requirements because I told them that we're entering the design phase. They were very content with phase 1 and are looking forward to phase two. 

How did BetaBulls perform from a project management standpoint?

Initially they were changing resources very often, because of the changing requirements on our end. The way we were changing the requirements was based on the look and feel, and we said we wanted this other design versus the current design, so the level of expertise on BetaBulls had to be changed because for a certain framework they had certain resources and when we changed the design, they had to change that. But that was resolved in the first month and, after that, things were very smooth. I'm very happy with their project management.

What distinguishes BetaBulls from other providers?

We had a lot of issues with business requirements because our operations didn't have a solid idea of what they wanted. Requirements were a challenge for us, but BetaBulls was very flexible in terms of absorbing the requirements on the fly and changing things that they had already done at no additional cost. They believe in building relationships – that's the feeling I got. I was a little worried and, at certain times, embarrassed to give them requirements for things that they had already implemented, but they were flexible. In that sense, they believe in building relationships.

They were very patient with us and there was not one time where I saw frustration on their side, even though we changed a lot of requirements on them. I never had to spend any late nights with them. They would come in early, and I had resources that worked my hours. I always had one resource working my time. They were also available during the night, if I ever had any questions.

Is there anything BetaBulls could have improved or done differently?

No, I was overall very happy with their work and continue to be happy with the work that is going on with phase two. We are planning on releasing phase two in January, and so far things are going according to plan.