BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the product manager of Bizabbo, an event management software company.

What challenge were you trying to address with BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd.?

We needed help in developing a simple video conferencing solution that has added features relevant to virtual events. We were looking for a partner that had experience building video solutions to help us develop a proof of concept.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided BIG STEP with a detailed RFP. They bid and got hired, and they created a project plan. They executed once everything was finalized. 

BIG STEP worked closely with our development team — we worked on the back end, and they focused on the front end. We reviewed the app’s design and code together to ensure optimal work quality. We worked with them as an extension of our development team. 

BIG STEP has already finished their part of the project, but the app’s development is ongoing.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager, a QA specialist, and two developers. 

How did you come to work with BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd.?

We were introduced to BIG STEP by another company we worked with. We did due diligence by talking with their customers, reviewing their code, and asking them to do a small project as a test. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement lasted from June–September 2021.  

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

BIG STEP provided good quality work. They were very flexible in dealing with our requirement changes and project development issues such as last-minute modifications, API issues, and logic changes. They were very accommodating, and they were focused on getting the project done correctly. I only have good things to say about BIG STEP.  

How did BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd. perform from a project management standpoint?

BIG STEP was excellent at project management. Their project manager was a seasoned and experienced professional who understood our problems. They went deep to address our issues and solve them. Additionally, they made sure that we didn’t have any language barriers. 

We had daily stand-up meetings with their team; we communicated through Slack. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

BIG STEP’s ability to absorb and accommodate changes on the fly was impressive. They came up with exceptional solutions — I can only praise their work. Their developers could understand our problems and assist us with our requests.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. BIG STEP did an excellent job. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be prepared before starting to work with them because they’ll be eager to start the project. That said, they will be accommodating if you need more time. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and founder of two websites and apps.

What challenge were you trying to address with BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd.?

BigStep works with us on our websites and apps. One of them is a potential competitor of Facebook, and the other is a potential competitor of Twitter.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They work on our turnkey apps and for both of my websites. As part of their work, they’ve created an API call to and from a database. For the websites, they create templates, themes, and plug-ins. End users can install these plug-ins and themes to customize their websites; the plug-ins change the look of the website and apps while providing various functionalities. 

What is the team composition?

We work with one salesperson and three technical developers.

How did you come to work with BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd.?

I found them via SocialEngine.com, a PHP-based framework for website development. Within that engine, there was a marketplace for plug-ins, themes, and customization, and that was where I found out about BigStep. They were the largest and most competent plug-in and theme provider on the SocialEngine marketplace, so we hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

Our total investment so far is around $6,000, including two prior projects. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them around June 2014, and the partnership is ongoing. 

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

Since I’m only starting out on all these projects, I don’t have any quantitative metrics. The way I measure success is around technical capabilities and the quality of the plug-ins. I also check the quality of BigStep’s support in terms of whether they get back to me within 24 hours to discuss every bug or issue that I want to talk about. For the most part, all the plug-ins, themes, and customized work they’ve done are 95% bug-free. 

How did BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd. perform from a project management standpoint?

BigStep’s project management is fairly organized, though I’ve dealt with no project manager. They may have project managers within their divisions, but I mostly deal with their technical support and salespeople around fixing bugs. We communicate 90% of the time through support tickets on their website and 10% via instant messaging.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their customer service is impressive. Other companies also make plug-ins and customizations on SocialEngine, but their response time and the number of bugs aren’t as good as BigStep’s. 

I’ve tried one of their competitors, but that provider only copied a bunch of plug-ins. In the end, I spent $2,000 with them, and they wouldn’t give me a refund. They also hardly responded to so many bugs. By contrast, BigStep’s customer support services have been great. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’ve been raising their prices over the past couple of years, so it’ll be nice if they give discounts or special pricing for their existing long-term customers.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be patient. There’s a significant time difference between the US and India, so response times can be a little longer, especially on weekends. For instance, when we have new users and something breaks out of nowhere, we have to wait for 24 hours to get it fixed. As a result, clients need to be patient. 

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the VP of Technical Services of YourVoyce, Inc., a Social Media Company taking on the Big Tech firms with true Freedom Of Speech initiatives. Our company provides an inter-active Social Media Platform available to the general public, with a combined feature set similar to what the Big Tech firm offer.

For what projects/services did your company hire BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd., and what were your goals?

We hired BigStep Technologies as the overall project lead and design of our Social Media platform engine. As we started our research into various existing open source and paid platforms, we knew immediately that we would need a firm that could step up to the plate and accomplish huge revisions of a basic and bare bones platform shell. Our goals was to find an existing web based platform that could be easily modified to perform at the level of the Big Tech companies, and then find a company willing and capable of doing just that for a reasonable price.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We found BigStep Technologies through a simple web search while looking for existing products that could be used to meet our goals. After narrowing our search down to three, we chose BigStep Technologies due to their experience with our chosen starter package.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Using an existing Open Source Social Media platform skeleton to start with, BigStep re-designed and developed a fully functional platform from the bare bones starter package we chose, achieving a near duplicate platform of an existing Big Tech Social Media firm. Their skill set consists of the utilization of several team members, all who have specialized skillsets and/or combinations of skills, and in particular, PHP, JavaScript, HTML5, CSS and other development tools.

The key deliverable was to duplicate, in as close a fashion as possible, the platform of one particular Big Tech firms platform, with the added goal of adding in certain features of another major Social Media firm. The steps to achieve this were several, starting with the organizational itemization of the task at hand to achieve the overall mission, working the mission on a daily basis, and the follow-through by communicating closely with our team and updating us on a daily basis of their progress.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

The core team that worked with us consisted of a Company Manager, a Project Lead and a few key programmers. The company manager kept in touch on a less frequent basis, but was involved in larger business decisions when necessary. I can't say enough about the Project Leader and the Core Programmer. The Project Lead was always responsive, extremely well versed in personnel communication, and she always took care to be sure our Action Items and major project steps were followed and completed in a timely fashion and to our satisfaction.

The core programmer worked diligently and was well versed in his own skill sets, and he worked hard on the core aspects of the platform. Others that were involved also did professional work when certain skills were necessary beyond the core focus, and as coordinated by the Team Lead. I was very pleased at the professionalism of this entire team.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Although our outcomes are yet to be meaningfully measured because we are too early in the growth stage of our own firm, it is our estimate and belief that we can now comfortably and confidently release our product to the general public with a spirit of pride.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

It is easy, as a customer, to complain on timeliness. And we did complain from time to time. However, when we look back at the milestones and achievements that our companies worked on together, it is also very evident that time is the solution to all good outcomes. The project lead kept us focused using action item lists, allowing us to prioritize elements and updates to the platform in an orderly fashion. Although we were looking for a fast and quick outcome, it can be said that a timely outcome was accomplished in the end. For communication tools we used daily emails, chat session and even on direct communications platforms such as skype and Microsoft Teams when necessary. All of those communication tools were used frequently and professionally.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The most impressive thing about the team we worked with was their attention to our project. They answered questions in a very timely fashion and they were always responsive to our questions, with quick turn-arounds. They also seemed to work amongst themselves in a very professional manner as well, evidenced through the Team Leads daily planning process.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Follow through on certain aspects would be my one concern. In some main project instances, the larger focal points would be completed, but details were missed. And although this can sometimes be annoying, when we brought those detail issues to their attention, they quickly remedied those for us.

Please describe your company and your position there.

My company is a small social media where we connect like minded individuals who share a faith in God. My position at the company is to oversee all aspects of this social media site that we have created and work as a team leader to make sure that all aspects of said website function well.

For what projects/services did your company hire BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd.?

We had hired BigStep technologies in about 3 years ago in January of 2019 to start our social media site. Previously we had no experience in building any sort of web site that could serve such a purpose, so Social Engine facet of BigStep gave us the jump that we needed.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We were looking for an affordable source code to start out social media venture and as this had offered on-going support and help from the the team, it seemed like the perfect fit.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

After first meeting opening a line of communication with them, we quickly bought the source code for the project and hit the ground running with bringing our company's vision to life of creating this social media. Along the way, we added various plugins and additions as well as custom code to the project in order to make it the best that we possibly could. We had also updated said plugins that we bought so they stay up to date.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

I believe over the course of time, we had worked with about 4-5 people, possibly more than that, as I had only communicated with their points of contact that were made available to me. As it seemed like once I requested help or assistance with something that that person passed along the information to their developer(s) to correct or address the matter.

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

I would say the outcome was good for what we had received, as with all projects they're a continual forward moving so there is always room for improvement/ progress to made and website to keep upgraded. But I'd say it was a success.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

I'd say the workflow was pretty effective. Granted I was the main person communicating with them, aside for a handful of times where one of my co-workers had to step in due to them knowing more about what was going on and the questions that needed to be asked and answered.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

I'd say the most impressive part of this company is their staff and the people that I've communicated with. Anyone that I've spoken with or had dealing with has been very kind and always eager to help no matter what the issue might be. They're very driven.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

The only area of improvement that I could see, and it's mostly because of the time difference we personally had was that sometimes when scheduling meetings/ chats, etc. we sometimes missed connections there or something that was said was lost in translation. Of course, this wasn't due to fault of either party necessarily as this happens when dealing with external contracting work like this.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of 1source.ph. We are working to provide an ELITE social network for the people in the Philippines. I make all the decisions to creating ideas and build this new web and e-commerce project.

For what projects/services did your company hire BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd., and what were your goals?

Our website was created in 2018 and has become outdated. Since we don't have the in-house developers to invest in a new website, I hired the BIGSTEP team to design develop and upgrade my current site for us. I learned that BIGSTEP TECHNOLOGIES has all the right services, products, and people to do the job for me the right way.

BigStep Technologies has been a lifesaver for me with all the great advice, recommendations, and services that they have done for me so far. With BigStep Technologies and their experience team, I feel that my new website business will be finished by the end of 2021. I look forward to communicating with their team always.

How did you select BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd. and what were the deciding factors?

I searched online using google. I reviewed the BigStep Technologies website and saw they had all the right services that I needed and more. Very well laid out and easy to read and understand.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We kicked off the one-on-one meeting using Skype. I put together my ideas into a two-page report. We talked about my project ideas and concerns. BigStep was very knowledgeable of the needed services and their team helped me make it happen. BigStep Technologies upgraded my website and modules and created a staging site for me.

They always seem to have the right people to do the job right for me. I was amazed. BigStep Technologies has technology experience in a programming language ( PHP, Javascript, Shell, CSS ) Frameworks: (React.js, PHP/Laravel, Node.js, Zend Framework, and more) Also BigStep has Mobile technology experience: ANDROID, IOS, PWA, and AMP Other platforms: SoialEngine, Magento, WordPress, AWS Cloud I will be using BigStep to further grow my business needs.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Raghav B - Sales service specialist. Mehak Tangnoo - project supervisor Ruti- support services Abhishek- support services

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

My Project is still ongoing as of today. They were able to upgrade my website successfully. I am looking forward to working with the BigStep Technologies team and other support members with more projects in the near future.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

I had daily email communications and Skype meetings with the project supervisor, and support service specialist. We used Skype as the main tool. It's nice and simple and I get quick answers and updates on my project.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They give me a quick turnaround time. I was always impressed by their kindness. They took the time to work on my projects and always communicated with me if there was a problem, to get my advice.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I do seem to have problems with the modules/plugins but they do fix the problem right away. In time, I feel that I will have a project that is bug-free with the help of the Bigstep technologies project team.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of a social networking site for black lesbians

For what projects/services did your company hire BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd.?

This is the parent company of Socialapps Tech whom I purchased products and services from. I purchased the bulk app package which included 12 months of support, installation, server set up and site configuration.

I hired Socialapps Tech to install, set up and configure my website in a timely manner as assured to me during the pre sale conversation.

What were your goals for this project?

As discussed during presale, my intentions were to have my site up and running after the 1 1/2 week timeframe of installation as quoted. The goal was to have my site, configured upon setup, to replicate the demo site that I demo'd the previous week. Efficiency was of the upmost importance during the presale conversation

How did you select BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd.?

Bigstep is the parent company of Socialapps Tech whom I purchased products and services from. I was researching membership CMS platforms and ran across a company that I thought was a good fit for my project.

Socialapps Tech was listed as the top developer for plugins and addons for this particular company. 5 stars and over 1500 reviews. We thought we found a winner

Describe the project in detail.

This was to be a very simple project. I contact Socialapps Tech and received an email from sales requesting that we Skype so we did. I explained to him that I'm creating a niche social networking site and requested additional info on the bulk package.

He provided links that I reviewed.

We discussed hosting and and the functionality of some of the apps. I explained that I wanted my site to duplicate the demo. He assured me that could be done. We discussed installation turn around time.

He assured me 1 1/2 weeks. That seemed a fair enough time to install 120 apps. I explained, in detail, my past horror stories with support. I let him know in advance of the sale that support and communication was of the upmost importance to me.

Customer service and support would definitely make or break the business relationship. He expressed his thorough understanding. I was informed that Bigsteps was having a sale to celebrate their 12 year anniversary so I took advantage of the discounted package.

I was provided with a list of details I needed to send to support for them to begin installation.

What was the team composition?

1 sales person 2 support reps and developers

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

Purchased July 7, 2020 installation completed on July 23, 2020

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

This is the parent company of Social Apps Tech, supposedly an outstanding website plugin and application company. I've reached out to both Co-Owners via LinkedIn email.

That was weeks ago.

Imagine that, no acknowledgement or response what so ever. I can see why the company runs the way it does. Expectations are set by leadership. I've reported all of this on consumer affairs complaints as well as filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

I'm posting this review anywhere I can find both companies. The online reviews posted on their social media have obviously been paid for. My experience has been absolutely horrible with a waste of time and money.

Stear clear of this company. 1,500,.00 gone and 2 months of no communication. My website has just been sitting here while I pay server fees. Worse support I've ever experienced in my life.

They don't respond to support tickets even though you pay for support (please message me if you'd like to see proof of date of purchase, tickets submitted and respond dates) Chats go unanswered for hours, if you get a response at all. I have chat transcripts for proof as well.

Website landing page has been waiting on major subscription fields bugs to be corrected for over a month now. No one can even join the site if they wanted to. Waste of time, waste of money.

They're blaming it on the update to the original code. I mean really, it's been over 2 months. In the process of filing a dispute with my bank. I'm not receivung what I paid for. If support is vital to you, stay a million miles away from this company. Trash Service

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The only positive experience that I've had with this company is my salesman Rajdip Banerjee. He has tried his best and hardest to accommodate me. He's gone above and beyond his job description to make me a happy customer.

He responded to my skype inquiries regardless of the time and even on his off days. The gentleman was sick and running a fever but was still responding trying to escalate my issue.

He was calming and reassuring. He's the only reason I've given this company multiple opportunities to get it right. Remarkable job Rajdip. They should clone him, it would definitely improve customer experience

Are there any areas for improvement?

Support needs to take their job seriously and don't discriminate against what may go against your beliefs. I can't find a single bad review on the parent company or socialapps tech. Makes me question why I've been so singled out. Black lesbians exist. It's a fact. And money is still green regardless.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm president of a software company that does its own product development as well as providing consulting services.

For what projects/services did your company hire BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd.?

I was brought in to manage BigStep on an existing website they had been working on and help move the site from a VPS server to dedicated AWS instances with RDS on the database side and S3 on the storage side.

What were your goals for this project?

A seamless transition from the current solution to the new solution, with increased speed and improved development practices.

How did you select this vendor?

They had been the developers on the website for a few years and offered good synergy with the developers and website owners.

Describe the project in detail.

Existing development processes were inconsistent and undisciplined. We needed to both improve the dev procedures and create an infrastructure to support the new way of working. The new BigStep team needed to help improve the GItHub setup, use Amazone pipelines for CI/CD, and design the processes for automated deployment to the new AWS servers on every check-in.

What was the team composition?

We hired a new full-time developer at BigStep and brought on their DevOps team to manage the AWS side of things.

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

The team at BigStep responded well to our requests and requirements. They brought multiple candidates for interview and heard feedback on what we were looking for, and ended up getting us a great team in place to execute on our strategy. We ended up achieving our goals and now have a much better infrastructure and set of development procedures, backed up by our CI/CD process.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Great. They were responsive to messages and listened well to direction.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They have a strong team in place and were able to work together seamlessly at a time when COVID-19 forced them to all work from home. It spoke well of the strong relationships they had with each other internally.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Coordinating meeting times could be challenging.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Founder of an educational networking company based in Nigeria. We basically provide a platform where students and scholars can connect to share innovative ideas and promote scholarship and research.

For what projects/services did your company hire BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd.?

They developed the mobile apps of our platform and often carried out many custom work services on both the apps and the website, and they did that with all professionalism and excellence.

What were your goals for this project?

Since we already had the website developed, we wanted a mobile app to make usability easy for our members, and we had the opportunity of hiring one of the best tech company in the field.

How did you select this vendor?

It wasn't difficult selecting them to work on our app development. They are already at the top of app development for social software. So, we simply picked them without any hesitation.

Describe the project in detail.

Once we decided they were going to do the project, we requested for a demo, which was already available, and a quotation. After a brief negotiation, we signed and commenced the project, and everything went smoothly.

What was the team composition?

From day one, we were assigned a team of app development and a web development team. They worked together closely to ensure all our specifications are met.

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

The project started immediately after the signing of agreement. Withing three weeks to one month, we received a test apk. After a few adjustments and customization, our apps were uploaded on Play Store and Apple Store.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Workflow was highly smooth and effective. We experienced one of the best and responsive technical team and customer relations.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They had a great team of experts that was always eager to understand what client wanted and give him or her their best. They are an amazing team!

Are there any areas for improvement?

Overall, their work has always been satisfactory. Nevertheless, due to traffic of work sometime, one needs to send reminder, and once that is received, they are usually prompt in their response.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a startup incubator doing both internal projects and external projects. Businesses we incorporate or help have to have an online focus and can be both B2B or B2C.

For what projects/services did your company hire BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd.?

We have used BigStep Technologies since 2015 to develop websites. The markets we have developed web sites for is anging from health tech websites, to interior design website to closed communities. No matter the challenge BigStep has perfectly solved each one of them.

What were your goals for this project?

Since we are working with startup projects it has been most important to build with flexibility as the foundation. Customer demands might change and so being able to change according to these needs has been crucial to our success. BigStep has proven a valuable partner in order to accomplish this.

How did you select this vendor?

We used online directory services to find and compare vendors and considered 3 companies. We started out with small tasks for each one, and quickly saw that BigStep differentiated themselves in speed, quality of the work and easy communication.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We have used BigStep for several projects. Two of the projects that are currently live is a diabetes platform and a closed community for a Norwegian airline. BigStep has provided the underlying technical platform for both websites as well as the ongoing bug-fixing and development.

What was the team composition?

The team size has changed over time over the years depending on tasks needed to be fixed.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We would not have been able to deliver our project to the Norwegian airline´s pilot association within the limited time and budget we had if it had not been for BigStep. Today this client is daily using their website for all communication internally and is adding new features expanding the use of the platform.

The same goes for the diabetes site. Using BigStep we have been able to create a full functioning lifestyle platform making it easier for people with diabetes to find and apply healthy lifestyle changes.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We have used BigStep´s own ticketing service for our tasks, and it has worked perfectly. Language has not been an issue and all communication has been done in English.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

BigStep is unique in how they understand our unique customer needs and develop solutions that solve them perfectly. Since these needs often change in the early phases we are operating in, it has been a important that our technology can change with these changes and this is where BigStep is different than most. We have yet to run into a problem that cannot easily be fixed as their underlying approach to development allows for flexibility.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None that I can think of now.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Costa Women, the largest women’s network in Spain.

What challenge were you trying to address with BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd.?

I wanted a community website for my members. My previous website became very unreliable.

What was the scope of their involvement?

My site is a social and business networking site with 9,000 members, which aims to connect women living in Spain or who are thinking of moving to Spain. Using one of their plugins, BigStep Technologies helped me build the site. 

Since we’ve been working together, we’ve updated it twice. That process has been a bit complicated because the community is quite large. We had to make sure that they would be able to host that data and organize it correctly. The team managed that process for me, and they’ve been keeping the site updated as they’ve released new modules. 

They also use their own in-house designs. 

How did you come to work with BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd.?

They seemed perfect for what I wanted to achieve.

How much have you invested with them?

We initially spent $800, and we pay a monthly support fee.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2016 and the work is ongoing.

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

We receive very positive comments from users. The functionality of their design and layout met my needs. BigStep Technologies is always coming up with new ideas for my business, like creating an app, which I want to do in the future.

Occasionally, when we have a new upgrade, they’re quick to respond if there are any issues. I get excellent support.

How did BigStep Technologies Pvt. Ltd. perform from a project management standpoint?

If I have a problem, they are very quick to react — I can contact their support desk and they immediately work it out. They don’t mind that I don’t speak in IT terms. They have a support platform and communicate via email as well. They work around my schedule.

What did you find most impressive about them?

BigStep Technologies has provided me fantastic support. They’re very reactive to my needs even if it’s something very simple. They also come up with new ideas.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’m very satisfied with who they are and what they offer.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They have different types of designs. Make sure there’s one that fits you.