CemtrexLabs

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the digital business lead and head of product for our US digital division at a multi-billion dollar publishing firm with two of the most sold magazines that have websites we maintain. We are currently undergoing internal changes because another publishing company recently acquired our company. 

What challenge were you trying to address with CemtrexLabs?

I started in my current position in February 2020, right after my company migrated the editorial websites' CMS to WordPress. The company handling that service was very costly, and getting anything done outside of the scope of work was very expensive. We needed another off-shore solution to manage product and software upgrades because we have no in-house development or engineering resources. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

CemtrexLabs runs all of our software development projects. They maintain our websites and upgrade them as needed; their team upgrades and updates our site plug-ins. Whenever we need new features added to the site, we reach out to CemtrexLabs for soup-to-nuts development. They design and develop prototypes that meet our requirements; once approved, the CemtrexLabs team develops the product. Their team also handles product QA. 

What is the team composition?

We've worked with a project manager and several developers and engineers. 

How did you come to work with CemtrexLabs?

We knew it wouldn't be cost-effective to continue working with our previous vendor. We were working with WordPress VIP, and their team came to us with several suggestions for development partners. Once we received their suggestions, we put 6–7 companies through a rigorous vetting process. We spent six weeks interviewing firms, but CemtrexLabs' services were the closest to what we needed. After a six-month trial period, we hired CemtrexLabs.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $70,000–$110,000 with CemtrexLabs. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with CemtrexLabs began in August 2020, and it's ongoing.

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

Our partnership with CemtrexLabs is very collaborative. We can go to them with a basic idea, and they'll work alongside my team to build out a solution. This collaborative work style is excellent because they can work independently to develop solutions after we present them with an idea — we don't have to hold their hand throughout a project. My time is limited and I don't want to micromanage them. Overall, CemtrexLabs is on the mark 99% of the time. 

The modifications we've made to our platforms with CemtrexLabs have been great. We've brought in a lot of revenue because of CemtrexLabs' output. We've found efficiencies and ways to get around spending large sums of money on small solutions. Our team now works a lot more efficiently and is cash-flow positive. 

How did CemtrexLabs perform from a project management standpoint?

CemtrexLabs manages our projects well, despite having ebbs and flows in the number of projects we have for them to work on. Their team is very fluid — they ensure we have the resources to tackle projects of all sizes. Whenever I need to discuss a potential project or existing project issues, there is always someone from CemtrexLabs' team available. CemtrexLabs has also accommodated my request for an on-shore project manager.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It's tough to pinpoint precisely what makes CemtrexLabs so great, but their flexibility is unbelievable. Their flexibility, coupled with the constant communication and accountability, is what makes our relationship so successful. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have nothing for CemtrexLabs to improve. Anytime I've requested a project change, they've accommodated me. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I'd advise customers to be upfront about their challenges and development situation with CemtrexLabs. Transparency will help CemtrexLabs prepare for any engagement. It's also important for customers to rely on CemtrexLabs to deliver what needs to be done. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Respondent 1: I’m the operations manager of a content company.

Respondent 2: I’m the director of marketing. I oversee anything related to awareness, publicity, and the website, which is a big marketing tool.

Respondent 3: I’m the owner.

What challenge were you trying to address with CemtrexLabs?

R1: We were trying to optimize our website speed, as well as ensure that our site was as mobile friendly as possible. A third focus was optimizing the page for SEO.

What was the scope of their involvement?

R2: I can’t speak to the tools they were using behind the scenes. We asked them what was happening on the backend and we asked them about the marketing technology stack but they were very gated with us. They never let us see what was happening on the backend. All we saw was a staging page for the site after weeks and weeks. Given my past experience with websites, you’re given access early on to go in and experiment, rather than being forced to wait and see. We lost a lot of time in not being able to give them feedback until the end. We gave them some small feedback along the way, but it was like moving in baby steps.

R1: The SEO was similarly gated. We shared what we wanted to achieve but it wasn’t clear what they were providing on the backend with the rewrite of our website theme. Despite raising the conversation quite frequently, we were only told at the end that SEO development was out of scope and that it would cost us more money to bring on an SEO expert. This was very confusing and counter to the work order that we signed, which explicitly stated technical SEO updates and optimizations.

R2: One of our own employees ended up doing the SEO work.  

What is the team composition?

R1: We had a project manager who technically led every review call. He was challenging to work with. At the beginning, we spoke with one of the top marketing people at the company, but he wasn’t present on most of the calls after we signed the work order.

There were quite a few web developers (6–7 additional people) on the calls as well, and even though we were paying for them to be there, we didn’t hear from them much, which was quite frustrating.

There was also a bit of a communication barrier. Changes that we requested would get misinterpreted, and sometimes it felt like our review calls would take twice as long as they needed to. We raised this issue at the outset with the project manager in the hopes of addressing it early on and not wasting anyone’s time or money, but it was never really resolved.

R2: The project manager did not appear knowledgeable or involved. Calls that were supposed to last for 30 minutes or one hour would sometimes only take seven minutes. They didn’t charge us for these meetings, but it seemed very unnecessary.

How did you come to work with CemtrexLabs?

R1: We reached out to our hosting company, and they recommended several web developers that were knowledgeable of WordPress VIP, which is the hosting platform we use. This prompted the initial conversation. They are very good marketers, so they did a great job of selling what they could offer us, but, unfortunately, they didn’t fulfill those promises.

How much have you invested with them?

R1: We spent over $80,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

R1: We worked together from November 2021–March 2022.

How did CemtrexLabs address the challenges that arose?

R2: They did not apologize or take any responsibility for their actions. Rather than agreeing to meet us halfway or even a quarter of the way, we still have to pay them $80,000. At the end of the day, they didn’t listen to us or care to, and now we have to pay for a theme that we can’t push live.

Describe the impact this engagement has had on your business.

R1: We’re taking the time to leave this review because we’re very passionate about what a horrible experience we had with this company, and we don’t want another company like ours to fall into the same trap.

It’s very easy to run a speed test, so we ran the revised theme through it and it performed more poorly than our existing site did. This was an obvious failure. For mobile optimization, we found many issues during the final review: coding wasn’t correct, images and icons weren’t displayed correctly, etc. Over 80% of our audience accesses our site on mobile devices, so this was an enormous issue.

R2: We brought up this issue constantly. When they showed us the initial mockup, it was on a 10-year-old mobile phone. Their skill wasn’t what they’d advertised regarding mobile.

R1: One of the parts of the work order was ad placement. A good portion of our revenue comes from the banner ads on our website. In the final review, the ads weren’t loading correctly, which would have significantly impacted our revenue. For this reason alone, we couldn’t have pushed their theme live.

With SEO, we never received a clear understanding of what they did on the backend to optimize it. Therefore, it was impossible to determine whether their new theme would have had a positive impact or not.

How was project management handled?

R1: We did have regular sprint calls on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. They didn’t do a great job of letting us know what we were at with the budget, where it was being used (mobile, SEO, etc.) There was never a clear background.

When we wrote the termination notice in March, I asked for a breakdown of how that $80,000 was used, and we never received it.

R2: They always gave us the runaround, claiming that all the information was provided in the calls even though it was not. It was exhausting to the point that they purposefully didn’t want to understand what we were saying.

R1: We had our review calls over Zoom, and they used Teamwork internally. They also created a Slack channel with us.

Is there anything that the vendor did well or that you would consider a strength?

R1: They get a 10 out of 10 for being amazing marketers.

R2: They did a bait in switch. The sales person disappeared and would only appear on calls to fight us on questions or issues

In what specific areas can they improve?

R1: First, they could be more open and candid about how their budget is being spent. Having regular conversations with clients will make them feel more valued. Additionally, responding that every change requested is out of the scope makes clients feel that they can never have a real conversation. We didn’t feel valued by them.

Finally, analyzing how often it’s necessary to meet with the client will help everyone make the best use of their time. Beyond their people on the calls, we also had some of our other team members on the calls, and they ended up being a pretty big waste of time and money.

R2: Don’t tell client’s that your capabilities are beyond what they actually are. They sold us on the fact that they were mobile experts, but they were just pretending, in my view.  

What advice do you have for clients with similar needs to yours?

R1: Looking back, our work order was not detailed enough, and we really regret that as a company. It was much too vague. How you interpret some of the parts of the work order may be different than how they interpret them. Ensure that the work order and the results you're expecting are very detailed.

R2: I’m not trying to be too negative, but I would never recommend that someone work with them. There are just too many companies out there that are doing a much better job.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of an immersive tech company that focuses on education and training.

What challenge were you trying to address with CemtrexLabs?

We were trying to accomplish a scalable white label solution that would increase the efficiency of the product not only for our internal team, but also from a UX standpoint. Essentially, we wanted to give businesses the right tools to administer low-level tasks, that come with managing inventory and immersive content.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The project started with an in-depth discovery session where we worked with their creative director and visionary office, as well as some of the lead architects and 3D artists. After we ironed out the deliverables, timelines, and goals, we then put those concepts into execution and developed this project from the ground up using various SDKs and software tools.

What is the team composition?

We worked with roughly around 7–8 people from their team. We had a project manager, a lead architect, technical artists, 3D artists, and a couple of developers.

How did you come to work with CemtrexLabs?

They were highly recommended by my mentor. We worked hand-in-hand when I moved to New York then he introduced me to Lucky (EVP of Sales & Marketing), who told me about his company and how they might be able to help me.

We thought that they truly understood what our vision was and what we were looking to accomplish — it gave us peace of mind that they were the right team to work with.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent roughly around $130,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from February–October 2017.

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

We’re a very young company and we only had one client prior to working with CemtrexLabs. When we engaged with them, we were able to garner more than four times the customers. Apart from that, we analyzed the cost analysis of hiring full-time employees against an agile development team, and the latter turned out to be a much more efficient route. Working with CemtrexLabs probably saved us at least $300,000.

How did CemtrexLabs perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great from a project management perspective, as they were very organized and transparent. We had a technical internal team, but we just didn’t have the human capital to facilitate what they were doing — thanks to CemtrexLabs, we were informed about the specific aspects of what we were working on.

Furthermore, their project management style was very transparent, and the sprints and deliverables moved efficiently. We mostly communicated through Google Hangouts.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I like that they have a very unique approach when it came to AR/VR development. They were very well-versed in the nuances of this emerging industry, which was important to us, because traditional software development is very different from augmented reality development.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’s hard to pinpoint since we were very happy with the overall outcome of the relationship, which we still have to this day. However, if I can recall,  there were a couple of pieces of software they were unfamiliar with at the time — but to their credit, they were able to adapt and learn from that experience.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I believe you need to have a solid understanding of what you’re trying to accomplish because CemtrexLabs won’t be doing the work for you. They pride themselves on collaborating and bringing out the best in any project. Even if you don’t have the answers, make sure you at least have a solid foundation of what you’re trying to achieve.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Founder and CEO of SaaS startup

For what projects/services did your company hire CemtrexLabs, and what were your goals?

Build Webapp from scratch for all UI, UX, design, and development services.

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

3 main factors: They have a great website so I figured they could build me a good one too, they communicated the best during my selection process, and offered the most reasonable price

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

Started literally from scratch. It was an idea I had written down and I tasked them with using their tech stack to build this from the ground up. We created a webapp that has 5 user types, search algorithms, and other various logic components. Key deliverable was a live, fully functioning version of the website that was only a thought in my mind 16 months ago. Second contract included updates and refined the product offerings.

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

I only worked with one person on a regular basis, who was the liaison between me and most of the team- Project Manager. I met regularly with the main project managers from each department at least once per week.

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

Considering that I only had written instructions for what I wanted before I submitted the assets over to the team to start reviewing. They did a great job handling a non-technical founder such as myself.

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

Timeliness: Short-term deadlines were usually met, but the broader contract final deadline was very delayed. The first contract was extended by 149% of the original contract duration (additional 155 days), and the second contract was extended by 90.5% of the contract's duration (additional 76 days) Project management: Start with what I wanted to build, clarify points, start UI/UX, refine design, develop functionalities. Communication tools: Teamworks online communication platform

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

I found it very impressive how well they were able to work with a non-technical founder and build something from just an idea and a few Word/Excel documents into a fully-functioning webapp

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

Improved transparency, communication, and support. I may never find this, but I'll always hope to find an agency that can truly act as my own internal team. For example- offering suggestions and relating new functionalities to other parts of the webapp. I also say transparency because I am confident that they withheld on going above and beyond to create a better application for me because they didn't want to go above budget. However, I would've liked to know what it would've costed for extra things like: Not using stock imagery, creating a better UX for sign ups and certain menu items (I often found myself googling how to improve UI/UX to give them suggestions), spending time figuring out bug fixes (I ended up fixing one on my own), etc.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior director of revenue operations at a restaurant reviews and recommendations platform. Primarily, I support our sales team with direct and indirect deals.

What challenge were you trying to address with CemtrexLabs?

We contracted them for a custom landing page.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We needed a vendor to produce a microsite for one of our large clients. The final product needed several different pieces of modular, mobile-responsive content. We also needed it to make updates in real-time for a two-week restaurant activation. As part of this, we contracted three restaurants from across the country to have a takeover day, encouraging a return to work lunches and emphasizing the importance of taking a break. 

CemtrexLabs provided us with the staff and resources needed to deliver on all things necessary for the project. Using AWS and creative we provided them for the frontend, they produced a website to facilitate this project. They handled the front- and backend development work.  

What is the team composition?

We worked with their engineering resources, a UX design specialist, creative teammates, and project management resources. Their engineers included a G-Suite expert.  

How did you come to work with CemtrexLabs?

They reached out to us in a prospecting effort, offering services we were looking for at the time. Then, we developed a rate card for the different scenarios we needed for our clients in terms of website design and functionalities. Once we got a client on the hook, we were able to begin immediately because we had the pricing and roadmap we were looking for. We had all the information available to get started on this project at the right time, so it was an easy choice for us. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $20,000–$25,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We connected in June 2020 and wrapped the project up in November 2020.

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

This project showed the world that we’re more than just a restaurant review company; we can handle impressive website projects and social-first integrations. Plus, the business impact we made for participating restaurants during the pandemic was second to none. We helped keep businesses open during a time where many small businesses were closing their doors. This project was extremely successful in driving sales and keeping restaurants in business.

From an internal sales and marketing perspective, the project demonstrated our capabilities and potential offerings for other similar programs. We still use the site as a pre-sales tool, showcasing our past work to prospective clients.     

How did CemtrexLabs perform from a project management standpoint?

Everything was delivered on time, and the communication was flawless. They used Teamwork, which allowed us to keep track of emails and updates. We communicated through a video conferencing tool. 

The cost came in slightly higher than anticipated, but that’s because the scope of work changed. We needed to increase the scope of work for our client, so they abided by the budget given that change. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They completed all deliverables in a timely fashion and were proactive in communicating any delays or changes based on our requests. Whenever we hit a snag, they were transparent and contributed several options to help us solve problems. They were also able to ping individual team members to help with certain action items to keep us on track. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were a few instances where they were nickel-and-diming us for add-ons. I would have rather incurred the extra fees over time and have been charged one sum instead. This isn’t the nature of the business, though, so I can’t complain. We just ran into some unexpected cost requirements.  

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I highly recommend them for their technology and website solutions. They understand our competitive landscape, so they knew the needs of our clients and sponsors. I’d recommend them to anyone looking for a custom web design and functionality.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief media officer at a holding company for print publishers.

What challenge were you trying to address with CemtrexLabs?

We just acquired a new magazine, so brought in CemtrexLabs to help us migrate the website onto a new CMS.

What was the scope of their involvement?

As an outsource development firm, we hired them to run the project end to end. Essentially, they created the project scope, timeline, and they had to move the website from one CMS to WordPress VIP. This included all of the media assets that go with that, like video and image content. At the same time, we had to integrate about 30+ platforms that operate the site, like ad and revenue-based platforms, analytics, social media, CMS ad serving, all of that needed to be moved.

They also ensured that the site looked and functioned exactly the same. We didn’t want any downtime on the site post-migration. We had to cut over without the consumers knowing.

They ensured that our SEO was set up properly as well so we didn’t have any broken links from other platforms. Because of that, everything had to be tightly coordinated.  

How did you come to work with CemtrexLabs?

This is the third project I’ve worked on with them. The first time I hired them, they had the best price and delivered on time. We ran the same diligent process this time, and they were 50% of the price of their competitors. Still, they delivered a great product on time.

What is the status of this engagement?

They only had four months to do the entire project. It lasted From October 2019–January 2020.

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

This project allowed us to have full control over our digital infrastructure and platform, where we generate about a third of our company’s revenue. By delivering on time, we were able to take control of the site, integrate new revenue platforms, and generate new revenue.

They provided a lot of guidance on how to things properly so it wouldn’t impact our links and SEO. They helped us every step of the way.

How did CemtrexLabs perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very buttoned-up. They’re an overseas company, but they had local support, so we couldn’t really tell the difference. Occasionally, we had to accommodate their hours, but overall, that helped us work around the clock.

They were on top of everything. Every task was tracked, managed, and checked off once it was completed. All bug fixes were handled rapidly. On the day of the launch, they sent someone to our office to make sure we had a seamless cutover. Overall, it was very efficient. They worked in an agile methodology so they were very flexible to make sure everything was delivered on time.

Our internal product manager worked with them to ensure that they had access to everything they needed. They used a cloud-based communication software, so we informed throughout the project. As a manger, that really helped me.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The key element with them was that they set a budget and a target for the timeline, and they delivered on it. I’ve worked with a lot of other development shops, and they flip dates constantly or don’t deliver on time. Really, they’re not as efficient as these guys. On the other hand, CemtrexLabs kept us on track and made sure we hit our deadlines. They were really professional.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There may have been some communication about our ad tagging structure, but it wasn’t entirely their fault. They worked through it.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You need a full-time product manager to manage the relationship and to make sure you’re coordinating internally. You need to be very responsive to them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

At the time of my engagement with CemtrexLabs, I was the Interim Director of Technology for Abu Dhabi Media, a media organization.

What challenge were you trying to address with CemtrexLabs?

I was helping restructure the digital department of our company. We had a few applications that needed to be developed.

What was the scope of their involvement?

CemtrexLabs was responsible for building several applications, as well as mobile and wearable development. The team worked on both design and engineering components under a strict timeline. There was a particular emphasis on UX.

The CemtrexLabs team supported two core projects. The API, developed for a news service, had both CMS and feed ingestion components.

After the news portal launched, we integrated an application that allowed users to vote during a popular television show on their mobile phones. The results would be displayed on live broadcast graphics.

What is the team composition?

We worked with six or seven people at any given time. We had one or two mobile developers for each application, the CTO, a full-time API person, and two UX designers and two QA people. We rotated team members as needed.

How did you come to work with CemtrexLabs?

CemtrexLabs was highly recommended to me by another firm who’d used their services in the past. I met them, and we ended up building a relationship. 

We knew we would have to single source the project, as we were working on such a short timeline, so we needed someone who we trusted to take on the work.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent between $250,000–$500,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from April - July 2015.

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

In terms of metrics, we didn’t track traffic and performance as major KPIs, largely because we are a relatively small nation and we knew there would be a finite number of users downloading the news application.  

We were really impressed by CemtrexLabs’ UX and creative capabilities, especially given the nature of the app as a traditional content managing, newsgathering, and publishing platform.

The team ended up building out not only the mobile CMS but also the scheduling for the broader editorial teams that were linked to their social media profiles. 

CemtrexLabs’ skill allowed us to finish the project on time without any issues. We would be happy to work with their team again in the future if the opportunity occurs.

How did CemtrexLabs perform from a project management standpoint?

I have my own project management system where I like to do documentation in a very specific way, and they were happy to accommodate me.

What did you find most impressive about them?

CemtrexLabs’ flexibility was impressive. The team had the ability to persevere through the challenges of developing the applications up to standard. When it was necessary, they did live DevOps for us at extremely inconvenient times of the day.

Are there any areas they could improve?

CemtrexLabs is ambitious to a fault, which is generally a good thing. If you have a client that needs someone to understand the risks involved in a super-compressed timeline, CemtrexLabs is great to work with because they will actually do it, but I think you need to have a certain type of personality to take this on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The more you know what you actually want to build upfront, the more successful the project is going to be because you can drive it forward very quickly and won’t face scope creep.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-owner of a contracting company based in Long Island that works primarily in the tri-state area.

What challenge were you trying to address with CemtrexLabs?

We needed assistance developing an app that has a dashboard for ourselves and one for our customers, who put in sporadic requests at odd times throughout the day.

What was the scope of their involvement?

CemtrexLabs developed both an iOS and Android version of our mobile app. The team helped us develop the wireframes, whittle down the design, and include all our needs. We needed the app to set reminders for our customers. After a customer requests a service, the application sends reminders and pictures. The app also has mapping services and linked to a variety of users throughout our supply chain.

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact was Mahesh (Project Manager, CemtrexLabs), but we also worked closely with Andrew (Creative Director, CemtrexLabs) who sat in on every meeting. We also worked with Lucky (EVP of Sales & Marketing, CemtrexLabs) and his brother Ash (Chief Design Officer & Director of Operations, CemtrexLabs). We had at least five people consistently working on the project, but when all is said and done, probably 20 people worked on the project. 

How did you come to work with CemtrexLabs?

We spoke to five different companies before going with CemtrexLabs. We were introduced to Lucky and Ash through word of mouth and sat down with them. It was just fantastic right off the bat, there was a synergy between our companies. We are both companies run by brothers and their price was extremely reasonable so it was a perfect fit for us. 

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested between $60,000–$70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with CemtrexLabs ran from June–October 2019.

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

While the app has not officially been launched, we have previewed it to a few of our customers and they were all thrilled with it. They’ve never seen anything like it service-wise. Customers loved the look and simplicity of it. Which is exactly what we wanted, a simple and effective platform.

How did CemtrexLabs perform from a project management standpoint?

Cemtrex was willing to work with our schedule. We don’t have work orders given to us days or weeks ahead of time, everything is absolutely last minute. In terms of scheduling, we had a meeting once a week, but they were very flexible about rescheduling. We’re not very tech-savvy, but they worked to talk us through exactly what was going on in a language we could understand.

What did you find most impressive about them?

CemtrexLabs helped bring our idea to life as opposed to just building off a blueprint. They added a lot of value to the platform. Everyone at the company was a pleasure to deal with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Everything went swimmingly. They gave us every tool to communicate with them and were always available to us. Everything came out perfect.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

No matter how big or small your idea is, sit down with Lucky and Ash to talk through the idea. They will provide you with every conceivable outcome or finished product they could provide for you. They broke down a few different tiers of products they could deliver based on our price points. They’ll take care of you.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of GameIQ Inc., a consolidated rewards platform.

What challenge were you trying to address with CemtrexLabs?

We hired CemtrexLabs to develop our mobile app from scratch.

What was the scope of their involvement?

CemtrexLabs initially developed a proof of concept of our mobile app, using some basic wireframes and flow charts we provided. Following a discovery process, they created detailed technical and functional specifications for both iOS and Android and then developed the app using native technologies. 

What is the team composition? 

We mostly worked with Ashwin (Chief Design Officer and Director of Operations, CemtrexLabs) and Lucky (Executive VP of Sales and Marketing, CemtrexLabs) in the beginning. They eventually put together a team for us that includes a project manager and several designers and developers. 

How did you come to work with CemtrexLabs?

We interviewed 8–10 different companies during the selection process and ultimately felt that CemtrexLabs best fit our criteria. They were one of the most competitively priced companies we considered and we liked that they were small enough to provide more attentive customer service. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested about $100,000, which includes additional versions of the app.

What is the status of this engagement?

They worked on the first version of the platform from April–November 2015, but we've since incorporated several revisions after testing the product on the market. They continue to work with us to update the app, incorporate integrations, and fix any bugs as needed. 

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

The app CemtrexLabs built is being downloaded by thousands of people every week. Overall, it's been a very successful development process and deployment, and the app continues to improve over time.

How did CemtrexLabs perform from a project management standpoint?

Their responsiveness, accessibility, and project management flow is one of the main reasons we decided to work with them in the first place. They've done a great job of embedding themselves on our team, balancing both informal approaches to communication with the use of professional platforms like Trello to track tasks.

They're a lot more flexible in their approach compared to larger organizations, but there's just enough of a process in place to make sure the project is trackable and transparent. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

From my experience, it's been critical to provide outsourced companies with very detailed specifications to build to, but I can count on CemtrexLabs to do more than blindly execute. They take a collaborative approach and provide a lot of valuable feedback based on their extensive expertise. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not particularly. In the beginning, we spent some time figuring out which project management tools worked best for us, but once we worked it out, it's been relatively seamless since.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It's important to spend time going through a discovery phase to solidify the project specifications in the beginning. CemtrexLabs did a great job of helping us scope out the project in great detail, so they'd be able to deliver exactly what we wanted. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a global wealth management platform that focuses on the US. As a product provider, our goal is to simplify the investment process in otherwise complicated investment securities.

What challenge were you trying to address with CemtrexLabs?

We were looking for a development firm to build our FinTech platform from scratch within a relatively short timeframe. Since it takes time to launch a business within a very competitive market, we needed to quickly onboard a cost-effective team that had expertise in several different areas.

What was the scope of their involvement?

CemtrexLabs developed a low-scale marketing and distribution platform that allows users to navigate the investment process easily. 

One of our main tasks was ensuring that the user interaction was simple and clean. Since we have a lot of domain experience, we guided CemtrexLabs through what we wanted to achieve. They worked with us to create and deliver a functional product, using React, MySQL, and Node.js.

There’s a standard user portal setup with dual authentication, which we use to collect data. Users can then set up notifications within the platform to regulate information distribution. This includes sending marketing emails, controlling which users receive notifications, and communicating via text through a Twilio integration. So, if a user wanted to buy a certain number of stocks in a company, they could just send a text directly to the portal.

Currently, we keep their team on as support to fill in any tech gaps. We don’t always have the resources available to service every area of the platform, which is always pretty robust. They’re also helpful with strategic thinking.

What is the team composition?

Lucky (Executive VP of Sales & Marketing, CemtrexLabs) is my main point of contact, but there are also 2–3 developers. Since the project kicked off, their team has run the process, and they’re all fantastic. It just feels seamless.

How did you come to work with CemtrexLabs?

I found them through a trusted friend who has been working with them for a long time. The all-around service that they provided felt right for our project.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $50,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

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

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

We followed a strategic development process: after building a stripped-down initial MVP, we tested it with beta users for a few months to make sure that there weren’t any critical errors. From that point on, we’d release constant iterations. Now, we gather pain points every few months on what isn’t working or needs improvement and address them in a new sprint.

How did CemtrexLabs perform from a project management standpoint?

CemtrexLabs has a really good team that’s easy to interact with. Their main sales reps are based in New York, so there’s always a touchpoint here in the US. If anything needs to be addressed, we lean on them for help. They also help us think strategically about what we want to build and how to go about it.

A lot of their coding power is actually overseas, and the developers are efficient at working remotely. The coders are leaders in the building process, and we interact with them on a daily basis when going through a sprint.

Typically, we communicate through email whenever we encounter an issue or want to develop something. We use their proprietary project management tool to coordinate tasks and they’ve been great at keeping to schedule. We’ve occasionally missed a few deadlines, but that hasn’t had a negative impact on our project. If anything, it’s always worked out for us. It’s better to take longer to do something right than to rush it and get it wrong.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve been a supportive partner, and we’ve had a really good experience. The team takes the time to understand what we’re trying to accomplish before lying out a few options to proceed. I also appreciate their grasp on cutting-edge technology. They have a real understanding of all sorts of tech.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There are lots of opportunities ahead of them to grow. At the moment, they’re exploring different areas of the market like AR, which is really cutting-edge.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Spend as much time as you can in advance to map out what you want to build. If you want to de-risk the project and keep your budget tight, it’s important to do the bulk of the prep work yourself. Figure out any nuances and details from the outset. The more you do beforehand to clearly explain your goals, the smoother your overall experience will be.