BitCot --Mobile and Web App Development

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a co-founder and former CEO of a marketplace app that connects photographers with clients.

What challenge were you trying to address with BitCot Mobile & Web App Development?

My business partner and I had never created an app before. We reached out to BitCot to lead and guide us in the development process.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We created the branding, the UX/UI, and a user journey for the iOS app. Raj (Founder & CEO) then came in and helped us refine those ideas before turning them into a fully-functional product.

The mobile app allowed photographers and videographers to upload their work to the platform. Clients could then shop, make payments, and schedule meetings with these providers.

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with Raj, who was our main point of contact. I know that there was a larger team behind him.

How did you come to work with BitCot Mobile & Web App Development?

My business partner found them through her co-worker’s referral. We set up a meeting with Raj and quickly decided that he was the best candidate. We had budget constraints, and he was willing to work within it.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent somewhere around $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2018, and the project wrapped up in March of 2019.

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

They delivered an amazing app that was soon launched. The final product was all that we had imagined, and better. We eventually had to close the business due to internal conflict and financing issues.

How did BitCot Mobile & Web App Development perform from a project management standpoint?

Raj was fantastic on this front. While he’s local to us in Orange County, he was collaborating with an offshore technical team. While we were initially skeptical about working with an offshore team, we had no problems because he handled all of the communication. He quickly got back to us when we called, and he helped answer any and all questions.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Raj is very hands-on. He didn’t just thrust a project manager at you after you signed a contract — instead, he made sure he was involved in every aspect of the process. We had a really great experience because of that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

While it’s not something they’re responsible for, I wish I’d known the maintenance costs that would come with creating an app. Fees that have to do with data storage and updates quickly build up. It would’ve been great if our attention had been called, a little earlier, to that fact.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a company that provides a web-based CRM [customer relationship management] platform.

What challenge were you trying to address with BitCot?

I needed to have a legacy application transitioned to a new cloud-based platform. Originally, a different company out of Canada worked with me in the first round. They were a small shop and were dependent on one person, who ended up getting really sick and leaving the company. That just about killed my project. Before that, I had actually been working with an individual. I had transferred to that company just to avoid that very situation, and then it actually happened.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They rewrote it in Amazon Web Services utilizing open-source tools. I provided the designs, and they used MySQL as the database. They also used Apache Server, Java and an open-source development stack on Amazon. I think that we had an EC2 instance with a couple of locations on Amazon Web Services. The frontend was JavaScript and HTML, and we utilized Ajax frameworks so we could do drag and drop and stuff like that. Everything was custom, but we tried to use open-source tools with common frameworks that were easier to support.

How did you come to work with BitCot?

I was looking at some local development teams and ran into BitCot through the current CoFoundersLab. While talking with Raj from BitCot, I learned that he had a blended team. Having multiple people doing some of the work allowed me to spread out some of my risk. We reached out to each other and after talking to him a few times, we decided to try and see whether he had the expertise to do it. After that, we decided to engage him for the full rewrite.

How much have you invested with BitCot?

We spent $100,000 on the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with BitCot in March 2015, and the project was completed in March 2016.

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

There were a few minor things that we had hang-ups with, mostly trying to determine the business logic. Once we got it rewritten, everything moved pretty quickly. Sometimes, when you’re dealing with offshore people, there’s a little bit of communication lag. It can be challenging to convey some design elements to people who are offshore. But Raj was always stepping in and trying to ensure that things were going smoothly. The apps are working well.

We ended up folding this project because my partners ended up not holding up their end of the bargain. I’m actively working with some other partners on a new mobile app that we’re trying to get out there. I’ve engaged Raj to build that as well.

How did BitCot perform from a project management standpoint?

For the most part, it’s pretty good. We had some minor setbacks due to communication issues, and it took a bit of time to get exactly what we had in mind. They could probably stand to be a little stronger on the project management side because if they were to take on bigger projects, I would hope that they would have a strong PM that could really lead that and communicate things like status, etc. They’re very responsive. I think they used GitHub, Amazon, and Apache Server. We didn’t use a project management tool per se to track the actual development. In general, they delivered on time and within budget. There were changes requests that needed to be included, but for the most part, it was as expected.

What did you find most impressive about BitCot?

The biggest selling point to me is that Raj, the owner, is extremely involved. He is a super honest person. If he doesn’t get something right, he’ll work with you. He’ll take it on him. After talking to different people in the hiring process, Raj is a very genuine person. I’ve sent a lot of other people his way.

Well, they can get a lot of work done in a short period of time. I think when they have a good design to work off of, they can really crank it out. Part of our issue is that we just didn’t always have it well-designed in advance, which would cause rework. I’m not saying that it’s their fault. It’s hard to know what you don’t know until you try different things.

Are there any areas BitCot could improve?

If I were them, I would probably request more design work upfront so they can really minimize. They also need to follow a more formal project management or software development methodology, which they can at least communicate to the client. I was never clear which methodology they were using. They also need to communicate the status of the project. If they were to take larger projects, bigger companies would want that.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director of product design at oversee.net. Our startup is launching a new product that blends or brings together a bird's eye view of various trip elements such as hotel, activities, and cars into a simplified booking product. We also have an airport parking business that we already have had for quite a few years now.

What challenge were you trying to address with BitCot?

We needed development for both our iOS and Android airport parking application.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with the iOS app. Initially, it had a scope that was pretty direct in the booking/reservation funnel. BitCot also helped us with the new travel product, which used Java, Play, and Angular. Another travel product started with a metasearch and evolved from there. We used Ruby for that one and went a little heavier with our code base. We have another project under wraps with them.

How did you come to work with BitCot?

I first met Raj [Founder, BitCot] through a friend of mine who was working on an application project. Raj is very put together, organized, and accessible, which was important for us as a startup. We found it easy to work with him because he's a very keyed-in, present individual. For me, these were important factors in deciding to continue this process with their company, so I reached out to him. We also chose BitCot because of the fact that Raj is a great businessman who’s wonderful with people. Not only is he polite, you can tell that he’s got a greater awareness of life in general. He’s so responsive. You ask him something and he goes into it, giving you a great answer and perspective that you didn’t think about. That’s something I don’t always see in other people. He’s confident and demonstrates a real knowledge base of what’s he talking about, so he can just dive into the project. Other people might be cheaper, but they don’t have that same awareness and experience. You can see it, and I saw it.

How much have you invested with BitCot?

They offer market value, and they can be a little bit more expensive sometimes. But we worked with them on it, and he was very flexible, so we got a great deal. That is another thing that I appreciated about him. They worked within our budget, and we were able to have a winning situation.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them in May or June of 2016. The iOS app was done really fast; it took less than a month. We ended up doing the Android app later in January of 2017. They also turned that around quickly. We were the ones holding it up most of the time.

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

Right now, we’ve done very minimal marketing for our airport parking app, but it continues to grow without being pushed. We have it on our home page and emails for people to download. It's at 7,000 downloads right now on iOS. It's not something that we're promoting right now because we're in the process of updating our product altogether. But the app is very functional and usable. It's pretty amazing.

Due to the way that we received the product, I can see the nuance of the collaboration, the kind of communication that must be happening. Even though I don't get the full picture because I'm not in their developer meetings, I trust him completely. He listens well and can guide the conversation even if I've pivoted a little bit. I'm working with another company right now where they have their own team that does the development, and I haven't been getting enough transparency. I've been reaching out to them, trying to get more, and it's been a struggle. It's frustrating. So, I definitely appreciate how Raj is very transparent.

It's been a great pleasure working with Raj. Because he's worn other hats than just the CTO and CEO position of his own company, he’s able to provide great insights. We’ve benefited from the diversity of his experience. He also has a great knowledge base and a good network, which helps in an Agile structure. When coming up and brainstorming and conceiving ideas, he can get right in there with us.

Right now, oversee.net has really simplified itself. We only focus on consumer-facing products now, when before, we were B2B and lead generation. Our company has shrunk down to full-time three people, and a few outside resources. That’s why when things get delayed, it's usually on our end. We’ve been going through a lot of transition during the whole time we’ve been working with Raj. He’s been very flexible.

How did BitCot perform from a project management standpoint?

With the iOS app, it was very fast and clean with no issues. We had an API problem, but they worked directly with our web developer to quickly resolve it. It didn't matter if it was a weekday or weekend—they always responded quickly. There's no such thing as 9–5, Monday through Friday; we'd have conversations over the weekend or reach out to Raj in the evening or even at 11 PM. He's very accessible and a great person to develop a working relationship with. We have been able to have very honest conversations. It's the type of business relationship that I want to experience in life, so I'm pretty happy that he came across my path.

Our communication was more lightweight. We weren’t using things like Slack because I was text messaging him back and forth, so it was more personal. I don’t know if he does that for everyone, but he certainly did it for me. A lot of times when we talk, it is by phone or text. Documentation is through Google Docs or email, especially since we’ve been transitioning from a bigger company that was using a certain kind of structure. We’ve been changing our mode of operation as well during this whole time and getting more heavily into Trello and ProdPad for product management. We used to have JIRA for our ticketing system, but we’ve now switched over to Rally.

Raj is on top of things, making sure we're progressing even when we fall off a little bit. It's a very nice collaborative process, and he also goes above and beyond. He would recommend certain thoughts outside the range of his role, ideas that stepped into product development. It's nice and refreshing to work with a very smart individual and a very smart team. Everything that I see always feels top-notch. It was just easy—I articulate things once, and my instructions are received and given back. There are only a few notes that I have to make. When I’ve worked with other people in the past, it took an effort to really make them understand the process. In contrast, Raj’s people are just right on it. They're very well-versed.

What did you find most impressive about BitCot?

Everything that they've given us has been really clean development. Everything is very modern. They know what's deemed the next best thing in technology today. It was nice that Raj would say, “Yes, this is new and up-and-coming, but then also think about this.” He gives us that kind of information pretty quickly. When I do research, he’s dead-on about the various foundations of using Java versus using Ruby on Rails. For example, if we wanted a more lightweight product, we'd want to go down this path. If we wanted something that's very foundational, we're not going to be pivoting much on this path. All that kind of stuff helped in the long run because we now have an understanding of how to build a strong product.

Are there any areas BitCot could improve?

I know there's always room for improvement, but there was nothing that was a red flag for me. I can't even say there's any disappointment. The only thing that I would say is that sometimes he was so ready and, being a small team, we weren't. He is really good at pushing, and sometimes I was like, "Back off." That's just me saying back off because I don't have the resources to be able to get to the place where you're talking about. But that's about it. It’s not really a bad thing.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with BitCot?

Personally, I would just highly recommend him. Know that you have somebody in your court who is very well-versed in the industry. You’ll be working with someone who is tenacious and wants to do a good job with product development and getting products out there. What’s more, he’s very conscientious of the people that work with him. His company really wants to make sure they have a good working environment, and I find that to be such a great thing when doing business with anybody. They have integrity all around.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of AV Hero. We deliver on-demand audiovisual technician services.

What challenges were you trying to address with BitCot?

We wanted assistance with our web application which is our main platform for conducting business. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

I met with Raj (CEO) in-person to discuss the project. He then set over some examples of what the work would look like. After that, we went into developing beta versions of the product. After some back and forth, we did the development of the final product that would go into our testing phase with real clients. They integrated the platform with Stripe and Plaid, and it’s hosted on AWS. 

My team and I were more heavily involved in the design aspect of the project than in the development aspect. My in-house designer provided them with examples of what we wanted it to look like. 

Currently, we’re working on some additional products and enhancements with their team. 

What is the team composition?

Raj was my main point of contact. We also worked with three other people. 

How much have you invested in them?

We invested about $30,000 for the initial project. We’ve spent another $10,000 with them since finishing the initial development. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2019, and we finished in March 2020.

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

Our initial goal was to build the number of service providers that were available n the platform, and I think we’ve achieved that. Over 2,000 service providers have signed up on the platform since we launched.

How did BitCot perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication was a combination of in-person meetings, phone calls, and emails. They also use Asana to track different tasks. We had a couple of different spreadsheets that we shared too. They also used Loom. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They really seem to care about the success of their customers. Raj wasn’t afraid to be honest with me and made sure that we stayed on track. He felt more like a business partner than a service provider. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes, I felt like our expectations weren’t aligned and there was a bit of a disconnect. However, we solved this by having more discussions about scope. Raj was accommodating when I felt like what was being delivered wasn’t what I expected.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a social trivia platform that allows fans to interact with their favorite YouTubers and content creators.

What challenge were you trying to address with BitCot?

I hadn’t built an app before, so we needed a mobile app developer who thoroughly understood social media and our requirements, including the ability for users to follow social content creators’ feeds; a trivia challenge-building function driven by YouTubers’ Q&A videos; and a challenge leaderboard displaying top fans, top creators, and their rewards.

What was the scope of their involvement?

BitCot developed our app for Android and iOS. Their team integrated Facebook so players could post awards they win in our app to their social media. BitCot also helped us create challenge cards in the app so content creators can link players to their social media. The challenge cards send followers to their Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to find codes they can submit to earn points. In addition, their team developed a host’s Fan Queue to house entrants and keep track of top users. They designed the app so it is easily interchangeable to run multiple host users. This allowed us to spread out and bring on various trivia round hosts, who could then share content with their participants.

They also configured our in-app purchases through Shopify, which calculates prizes and deducts points. They developed our backend admin console where we can control the app and check reward requests. They conducted some test runs with our live versions to prepare for the release. They also helped us launch on Google Play and in the Apple Store.

Plus, their team also helped us with rebranding and renaming. We’re currently making updates to our UX based on user feedback.

What is the team composition?

I contacted their CEO with my requirements, who directed three main developers.

How did you come to work with BitCot?

I’d had significant problems with a previous vendor who failed to deliver anything usable over the course of a year. After that experience, I looked for companies in San Diego and Las Vegas. A lot of them didn't answer back, listen to my ideas, or understand my requirements, so I searched online and found BitCot. Compared with other vendors who went straight to voicemail, their CEO answered right away. Even though he was busy, he scheduled a future call to flesh out my ideas. He understood that I wanted to build a game with different components that could facilitate interactions between content creators and their fans.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in August 2017 and launched the app in March 2018. We’re now working on the third round of updates.

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

In test runs, the app has run smoothly with a large number of users without any crashes or errors. It has received positive comments on Google Play with five stars all around. Consumers think it's a cool idea and that it’s fun to play. We’ve attracted some popular YouTubers, and our future additions are sure to improve upon an already great app.

How did BitCot perform from a project management standpoint?

They meet every deadline, and they’re very responsive: they send reply emails and call back immediately. They take the time to understand my questions and listen to my requirements and feedback, creating multiple designs and iterations, and providing accurate estimates along the way. As the CEO submitted our requirements to his team, they analyzed them to make sure we were on the same page. We talked back and forth, and I was able to make changes on the fly.

Their attention to detail helps them focus on creating aesthetically pleasing and eye-catching designs. They look at the product as a whole as opposed to just its component features and functionalities.

What did you find most impressive about them?

BitCot does what they say they’re going to do, which is refreshing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would be useful for them to somehow simplify testing the mock versions builds of their apps. Testing the staging version of the app build using multiple accounts was at times a bit overwhelming. If they had a way to run mass login of accounts we created for testing it would make testing easier as we could make sure entries are going through. However, as we don't have the technology to test mass volume in this manner, this isn’t BitCot’s fault.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Stay open-minded and listen to their suggestions and feedback. They always think 10 steps ahead and help you avoid future problems you’ll never think of.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder, and I guess the creative director of The Big Thinker. Our main goal was general advertising when we started in 2000, but we’ve moved into more online and mobile apps in the last 6.5 to 7 years.

What challenge were you trying to address with BitCot?

We had a couple of clients that wanted to do mobile apps. Some of them were independent apps, some of them needed a backend, and some of them needed websites to go along with them. I didn't have the capacity to do what the clients requested, so I hired BitCot.

What was the scope of their involvement?

At the beginning of the first project we worked on with BitCot, we had the basic UI/UX [user interface/user experience] and wireframing done of what we thought would work. After talking to Raj at BitCot [CEO & Founder, BitCot], he made us aware that we were trying to create an MVP [minimum viable product], and we probably didn't need all of the features that we had put in our original wireframes and UI/UX. The client and I agreed with him, so we went ahead and created the basic look and feel of a functioning prototype for an iOS app. After we had found out that it worked well and had great customer feedback, we went forward with adding additional features. BitCot helped us figure out which features would work best for our clients and their customers. After we had got to a certain point, we figured that the backend was working fine and integrating well with the app, we developed an Android version as well.

When we first talked to them, and this is a mistake a lot of clients, ad agencies and designers make, we wanted the world within the app, and it didn't make any sense. We realized after talking to him and to others in the industry that we were probably biting off more than we could chew, so we went with a limited feature set initially, and then we added to that as we found out what the customers wanted. Raj was correct while guiding us through that process. Otherwise, we would have had a bunch of features in there that the client’s customers didn't really care about. We were truly appreciative.

How did you come to work with BitCot?

I did some research, and that’s how I came across BitCot. I liked what they had done in the past, and I decided to check them out. I don't think anybody had recommended them per se. I started my research by looking at companies in the Los Angeles area, but I wasn't finding what I was looking for. Then I read some articles about various companies that had won awards, and BitCot had recently won an award for an app they had done in the San Diego area. I reached out to Raj, and he told me more about his company and what their capabilities were. I did some due diligence with people that he had worked with before, and all of them had nothing but nice things to say. I appreciated his candor as far as not just being a yes-man. I pride myself on being that same type of individual where I don't just say yes because it will make me money. I decided to move forward with them, and I haven't regretted it in the least.

How much have you invested with BitCot?

Over the last 1.5 to 2 years, we’ve probably invested about $75,000–$100,000 with BitCot. The work was spread out over a few clients.

What is the status of this engagement?

Building our first app with BitCot took us from August 2015 to November 2015. We wanted to have something in the market by the end of the year, and he was able to give us a functional app with a backend for testing within about six weeks. We were able to test it, make adjustments, and figure out what was right and what was wrong for the client’s customer base. I think the iOS version was done by the end of October 2015, and then the Android version was done about a month later. BitCot finished a solid month ahead of schedule.

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

The apps we built with BitCot are my customer’s apps, not mine, so I can’t share specific metrics. All I can give you is generic feedback as far as what we’ve done with BitCot. I have nothing negative to say about what Raj’s team has done for us. They performed well on UI/UX, wireframing, development, etc., but sometimes clients just have bad ideas, and you try to talk them out of it. Some of their ideas work, and some of them don't. I would say we’ve had moderate success on two of the apps we’ve developed with BitCot, and the other five apps were kind of clunkers.

How did BitCot perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication with BitCot was fantastic. They were always telling me what was going on, and they were always ahead of schedule. I’ve worked with all kinds of vendors in the past — from printing to simple web design, radio, and TV — and I've never come across anybody that is as consistently ahead of schedule as BitCot is.

What did you find most impressive about BitCot?

I think the most impressive thing about BitCot is their range of capabilities when it comes to development. For instance, a client of mine said they wanted to look at the Internet of things, so I said to Raj, “My client wants to do something with the Internet of things. Do you know somebody that can do something like that? Because I've got no idea where to start.” He then told me that that was one of BitCot’s capabilities, and he gave me some examples. I did not expect that. BitCot has far more capabilities than just app or website development, and that sort of blew me away. Most of the companies I've worked with before concentrate on only a few areas. Maybe other companies in the development business do that, but it blew me away that BitCot was able to do that as well.

Are there any areas BitCot could improve?

I think BitCot has a hard time marketing itself. Also, as a customer of theirs, and this is not a knock on them as a company, but the first time I talked to Raj, it was hard to understand everything he was saying because he’s originally from India. He’s easier to understand today, but that could be because I’m used to having conversations with him. That is the only thing I think BitCot can improve. He’s a fantastic guy though.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with BitCot?

I would tell prospective customers that they should listen to Raj’s experience and his team’s experience as far as what they have done. They’re not dummies. They’re experienced, and they’ll be able to give you some great advice. They have a pretty long history of doing app development, backend, web, etc., and I often think that a lot of us are know-it-alls. We think we know everything about everything. I’ve worked in advertising, design, and UX for a number of years, but that doesn’t necessarily make me an expert in the development of things. There’s always a little bit of resistance from clients and agencies when it comes to development, but these guys — BitCot and companies like BitCot — most of them know what they're doing. We need to listen to them and trust what they’re saying. When they say, “I can certainly do that for you, but this is what I've seen in the past,” it’s probably a good idea to heed their warning because it’s based on their experience.

This review was updated by the client on June 2, 2020. The original star ratings were: Overall - 5, Quality - 5, Schedule - 5, Cost - 4.5, NPS - 5. New content is below:

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I have an advertising, branding, and idea development company. I'm the founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire BitCot --Mobile and Web App Development?

I've used BitCot for multiple projects for my company and for my clients' needs as well.

What were your goals for this project?

In some cases, it was MVP, while others we needed full platforms built out.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I've worked with tens of developers over the years. Some freelancers, some companies. A lot of trial and error. I found BitCot through a reference who had used them in the past and were really happy.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The latest project, GiphCards, is an ecard website with a bit of a twist.

What was the team composition?

I worked directly with the CEO, Raj, and the same developer assigned to the project every step of the way.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Per usual, I'm over the moon with the results. They have delivered exactly what we envisioned to a tee.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

They were always on it with amazing communication. If there were questions on my end or theirs, the process was seamless so we could quickly resolve anything standing in our way. I wish all vendors were this good. BitCot is more of a partner than a vendor.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their communication and quick turn around are impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Zero. And I mean that sincerely.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My business is DoubleM systems. I’m in the business of systems for success in business, whether that’s in software or other types.

What challenge were you trying to address with BitCot?

I hired BitCot to build an iPhone app that would help people succeed in life and business. The purpose of the app is for inspiration, education, and motivation. It was a project I was doing for a guy who was putting up the money. He’s been in business for a long time, and he’s hired many programmers and done a bunch of software work, but he didn't have any knowledge of how to do something for the iPhone. He asked me to take on this project, so I did.

What was the scope of their involvement?

BitCot helped with designing the wireframes, etc. That was all part of it. Every day, we’d have a bug checklist to go over, and they’d come up with new fixes and another download of the test app.

How did you come to work with BitCot?

I had met BitCot’s CEO and owner about two years prior when I was looking for a resource on another project. I thought he would be a good resource. When I came up with the need for the iPhone app, he’s the guy I called.

How much have you invested with BitCot?

I’ve invested over $10,000 with BitCot.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working on the app around July 2016 and put it into the App Store on October 22, 2016. We had a couple of updates after that, minor bug fixes, etc., but the app is complete now.

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

We’ve only received positive feedback about the app. Users have been giving it five stars. We’re not really measuring downloads because it was a free app and we’re not trying to get rich off of it or rule the world with it. We also didn't have the budget to market it.

When I finally delivered the product to the client, he said, “This is amazing. This is the first time any of my friends has heard of a situation where a software product was delivered on time and under budget.” I would imagine that has to do with the fact that I have a lot of experience dealing with this kind of thing, but BitCot’s had to do the work and they were good at it.

How did BitCot perform from a project management standpoint?

I think BitCot’s project management was great. They’re responsive, which is amazing considering that BitCot’s programmers are in India and the CEO and I am in San Diego. I was surprised how well it went, really. I didn't expect it to be that good. They didn’t use any project management tools, so I created my own Google spreadsheet to keep track of the bug list and the status of the bugs. They were using a chain of emails, and I didn't think that would work well for me, so I developed a little Google spreadsheet to deal with that stuff.

What did you find most impressive about BitCot?

I can’t decide if it was their technical excellence or their desire to do a first-class job that was most impressive. Sometimes, I was worried I was asking too much of them because my request might be a little bit more than what was in the spec or more than what they bargained for. They’d give me some pushback and say they didn't think they could do something, but then the next day it would be done. I was impressed.

Are there any areas BitCot could improve?

No software is ever perfect, right? There’s always ways for software to be improved. BitCot could improve the way they do business, particularly the way they interact with their customers. For instance, I think they should have a methodology for dealing with bugs, rather than letting the customer send in emails on a super long and confusing email chain. There are plenty of project management systems out there like JIRA Help Desk. It seems to me that a professional developer would be using something like that.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with BitCot?

There are probably people out there who might have some concern with dealing with offshore programmers, and I would advise them not to rule out these guys. My experience has been great, and I'm not an easy guy to please. I started getting involved in computers and software in 1964, so that’s 53 years of dealing with programmers, writing my own software, selling software, selling computers, dealing with customers and end users, all of that stuff. I've seen a lot. Most people in this business don't have a clue, but BitCot is a Class A organization, so I recommend them highly.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the production manager at an app development company.

What challenge were you trying to address with BitCot?

We’re always interested in trying new engineering companies and individuals to find a good fit. We think being in different kinds of working relationships can be mutually beneficial.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve developed over 10 apps with BitCot. We share code bases using Git source control. BitCot has been able to do work for us that includes setting up certain aspects of apps and producing graphics, tweaking apps, implementing iOS and Android apps, and deploying those apps to the stores.

How did you come to work with BitCot?

The CEO of my company and the CEO of BitCot are connected through various business groups.

How much have you invested with BitCot?

I don't know how much we’ve invested with BitCot. It could be a profit sharing arrangement. I can tell you that we’ve invested lots of time to make all of these apps together, and the investment has paid off. The apps are performing well on the stores, and it’s been good for everybody so far. For the apps, we might do a $3.99 launch special, and then we’ll sell the apps after the first week or so at a regular price of $4.99. I think it costs us somewhere in the area of $7,000 to $10,000 for some of the more common apps we’ve been doing.

What is the status of this engagement?

For one of the apps we recently built, we started the project around February 27^th, 2017, and we launched it on March 23^rd. That project took us about three-and-a-half weeks from having a basic template to having a developed app in the stores. By working together, we can leverage an engine we’ve built before to get a similar app up and running in about two or three weeks.

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

The apps we build with BitCot have around 4.5-star ratings in both stores, which fits with the motto we have at our company: “It’s 5 stars or no stars.” If we don't have a great, solid app that people like, we’re not interested in doing it. BitCot definitely lives up to our quality standards, and people are loving these apps and giving them good feedback. It also probably helps that BitCot’s QA is pretty controlled. We don't have a crazy number of bugs.

How did BitCot perform from a project management standpoint?

BitCot’s whole team is responsive. They’re able to jump on new builds the same day we assign them, and then they’re able to turn those around for us to review the next day. We generally are able to get new builds daily. We work together using a shared Basecamp list for each app.

What did you find most impressive about BitCot?

What we like most about BitCot is being able to see progress on a daily basis, even if there’s a long list of bugs they need to fix.

Are there any areas BitCot could improve?

BitCot could improve on their design, but that’s not really their strength and they know it. They’re better at implementing designs you give them. One area they could improve on would be if they could have the final designs on every screen look how they do in the original design document. We understand that we are going to have challenges. We don't necessarily even provide target graphics for what something is going to look like on a 12-inch tablet versus a 4-inch phone. A lot of times they have to go with their best guess, and then through the QA and testing process, we will work together to iron out the details, placement, and sizes of certain user interface elements.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with BitCot?

I would recommend businesses who hire BitCot to check in daily with them. They’re there, and they’re ready to work. As long as you're updating them on what the bugs are or calling whoever’s taking the lead on the BitCot side and communicating clearly and consistently, you won't have any roadblocks or downtime. They’ll just keep moving.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I write children’s books as a passion project.

What challenge were you trying to address with BitCot—Mobile and Web App Development?

Instead of the traditional publishing route, I decided to create a children’s book app to distribute my books. I needed a developer to help build the app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They build an iOS app, with an option to activate an Android version in the future. There was a lot of planning at the beginning. I’m not a technical expert, so they walked me through the whole process and the way they work. They delivered multiple iterations and evolutions of the app over the course of a few months. I received a new build every few weeks, which I reviewed and made requests for changes. Based on my feedback, they made new changes until we were ready to go live.

What is the team composition?

I had a single point of contact, but I know there were a several people behind him.

How did you come to work with BitCot—Mobile and Web App Development?

I did a lot of research on possible software developers. Another developer felt they would do a good job with this kind of project and recommended them.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent $25,000-$30,000 at this point.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around July 2018. We’re still working on a few elements, but the app launched in November 2018 and is currently available in the App Store.

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

Working with them is very rewarding. Not only do I have a platform for my own work, I now have a service that will serve other children’s book writers. I’ve had good conversations with users, and the app serves as a good proof of concept.

How did BitCot—Mobile and Web App Development perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management was great. We had weekly calls and would email as needed. They delivered on time and met all my expectations.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to create good products at a good value. Other vendors I spoke to quoted much higher prices for the same product, but BitCot was very cost effective.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t have any areas they should improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Do your planning and know your scope at the beginning of the project. Be available for their team and your process will go quickly.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of a mobile application called Bonus Billing.

For what projects/services did your company hire BitCot --Mobile and Web App Development?

We engaged BitCot to design and develop our mobile app.

What were your goals for this project?

We were looking for an Android application with a fully developed backend and APIs.

How did you select this vendor?

We found them through a search engine exploration of software developers based in San Diego.

Describe the project in detail.

BitCot built the app in Ruby on Rails and deployed it on Amazon Web Services (AWS). Its features allow users to automatically track mobile phone consulting, track phone minutes to re-evaluate monthly retainers, and easily export invoices within a variety of timeframes.

What was the team composition?

Our project was assigned a project manager, a fractional CTO, and a team of developers.

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

The app has garnered positive user feedback. BitCot fulfilled our requirements and delivered the product on time and within our budget.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The communication between our teams was excellent. We held weekly production meetings throughout the project to discuss problems and progress.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

BitCot’s professionalism, dedication, and communication far exceeded our expectations. Their ability to produce and deliver rivaled some of the largest software firms I’ve worked with.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, I would highly recommend BitCot to anyone looking to develop any kind of software.