ChromeQA Lab

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a software house based in Ireland providing solutions to transport warehouse and logistics companies.

What is your role and responsibilities?

Director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with ChromeInfo Technologies?

To provide a mobile app for the capture of real-time deliveries and signature capture for proof of delivery.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

Chrometech developed the mobile app according to our specification. This involved working very closely with us to ensure all elements of the app integrated closely with our backend systems. The app is currently used in Ireland and UK.

What was your process for selecting ChromeInfo Technologies?

We looked at some outsourcing companies around the globe. We approached ChromeInfo and asked them if they would be interested in doing a proof of concept. Based on the results of that we were quite happy that they fully understood what we wanted to do and were able to deliver on time and within budget.

Can you give a sense of the size of the initiative?

The price is confidential, but it is not a small project.

When was the work completed?

We're just starting to roll out the initial phase of the launch, which is the first phase. We will have ongoing work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any statistics or metrics on the project?

We don't use metrics for this type of project.

Are you satisfied with their performance?

Yes. Nothing was too much trouble to get done. They were very quick to return various changes as we went through tests. They were extremely accommodating. They also put us in direct contact with the main developer. ChromeInfo Technologies made sure that no third parties had to get involved. They are an extremely professional outfit. We are very happy with the outcome. 

Is there anything unique or special about ChromeInfo that really makes them stand out?

It was their adaptability and flexibility. You give them the info, and they went and did what they needed to, and they get it back to you extremely quickly.

What advice would you give to future clients of theirs?

If it's a case that you can have a detailed specification in advance, all the better. That goes for any third-party outsourcing. Get to know the various people. ChromeInfo Technologies is most accommodating.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you might do differently?

We were able to develop the specification, and we were able to give a very concise specification to them. I haven't had experience of giving them a concept and asking them to develop a specification and an application right through from scratch. I'm not saying they couldn't do it. I have no doubt they could. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We develop and deliver content to large organizations on our mobile and Web platforms.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I'm the CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with ChromeInfo Technologies?

We had a complex project that involves the ability to set up training through and online platform and deliver it through mobile apps.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

They've done a couple different mobile apps. They've done a lot of one-off projects that support us. Sometimes, they do Web pages and landing pages and different utilities that we've needed along the way. They've done some support. Recently, we've had someone on their team do testing. That's been very valuable. They're more collaborative now in our design phase. They're more involved in the designs of the projects.

What was your process for selecting ChromeInfo Technologies?

Blind luck. I went to three different companies in India, and they were the third one. I was ready to give up. I had a frustrating time with the first two. They applied to an RFP [request for proposal] that I put online. The main reason why I chose them was they spent a lot of time asking questions before giving me a bid. They were actually more expensive than the others, but I felt like they fully understood the project before we ever engaged. I appreciated how much time they spent on the front end when they weren't even billing me.

Can you give a sense of the size of the initiative?

The big project was $250,000. They've done small projects for me and for clients that are interfacing what we're doing. Those were less than $10,000.

When was the work completed?

It's ongoing work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any statistics or metrics on the project?

I've got thousands of users. We're getting very good reviews from our clients. I don't have a quantifiable metric to share. We just started using deadlines and release dates, and we have a much more formal process than when we started.

Are you satisfied with their performance?

It took a little bit on the front end figuring out the roles of whose job was what. ChromeInfo did exactly what I told them to do that, at times, was a problem. If I didn't spend time with them on the front end, I would get things back with problems.

Once we got a working relationship going, ChromeInfo has been much more collaborative. They give feedback now. It's worked wonderfully now that they are adding strategic value plus delivering quality code. They invoice me monthly, and I voluntarily increased the rate we were paying them because I'm so happy with their service. I talk to the owner regularly to talk about the projects. They've done a good job matching their time zones up to our needs.

Is there anything unique or special about ChromeInfo Technologies that really makes them stand out?

They've been really good. We've missed a couple of release dates by a few days. Some of it's been things we changed at the last minute. As a general rule, they've worked around the clock to hit our targets. 

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you might do differently?

I don't think so. Almost everything we've had issues with I've been able to work on my side to get clear. I brought on a project manager seven months ago. It was hard to manage the relationship before that. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We've produced mobile apps as well as a website. The primary use of our website is to have an area for users to fill out background forms, and we transfer data between the site and our mobile applications. Users can start creating a form on one of the apps and then finish it on a different device on the website. All the data is synced. 

We help small businesses become more productive using software tools. We generally focus on electrical engineers and similar professions.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I'm the lead developer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with ChromeInfo Technologies?

We have various projects with them, but we really need an offshore team for a staff augmentation project working on two main initiatives.

Please describe the scope of their work.

[It was] software development. They did a little bit of testing too. The two developers develop for two different platforms. They would talk to each other and we would pass information between them.

SOLUTION

What was your process for selecting ChromeInfo Technologies?

We tried three other app developers prior to them. You can't really tell what they're like until you start using them. We settled on them, and we've been with them for close to two years now. They are in India.

Can you give a sense of the size of the initiative?

I don't know. We employ them on a full-time basis.

When was the work completed?

It's a permanent, long-term commitment.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any statistics or metrics on the project?

Not really. We're a small team – six total. We don't have any internal metrics to judge the performance. If they do a good job, their code passes through testing well.

Are you satisfied with their performance?

Yes. We're very happy with them. We've had the same two subcontractors, and it's been working well. We connect through Skype and email. They were miles ahead of the other companies we tried.

Is there anything unique or special about ChromeInfo Technologies that really makes them stand out?

They do the work, and it gets done on time. We're happy with their standard of work. They're very responsive. They'll respond within 30 seconds when I send a message. For the other companies you would have a long wait. You couldn't get anything done. One of our requirements is they had to be online during set hours. They're very flexible. They were on time for all major deadlines.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you might do differently?

It would be slightly easier if you were in the same physical location, but you have that with anyone offshore. I can't think of anything I would do different.

BACKGROUND

Could you provide a brief description of your organization?

I’m helping a friend out with developing a technology software-based application. It’s just a first iteration app, no business yet. At this point, we’re almost done with the development, and ready to bring it to market.

What is your position?

Entrepreneur and partner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges that you were attempting to address when you first approached ChromeInfotech?

The initial challenge was finding a group of programmers, and we were not having success in finding anyone to develop our solution. I did some research and came across ChromeInfotech, and they’ve been remarkable to work with in every way. So, that was the first challenge, developing the product. As we’ve developed the product, obviously it’s gotten more complex than the original version. They’ve been great at working with on those intricacies.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of their involvement?

They’ve been responsible for both development and design for iOS and Android. It should be accessible on the Web on other platforms. It’ll be deployed for Android first and then iOS. The work for the different platforms has all been done concurrently, and we’re nearing completion of the project, although we’ll be releasing them in sequence.

They have a very structured approach to developing the product, from understanding the basics, and developing PDF wireframes, and doing some initial Web-based versions, and taking it from there, and developing fully functional solution.

How did you select ChromeInfotech as your solution partner?

We were looking for someone who could perform the custom development work. I was extremely impressed with them and comfortable in my initial dealings with them. The time difference between San Francisco and India has never been an issue for us. They’ve been extremely accessible, responsive, and accommodating. Their pricing is great. There’s no way that local developers could have competed on price with what they offered. It saved us a substantial amount of money.

Also, they’re available for the long term. I know I can rely on them for the long term with ongoing maintenance, upgrades, fixes, edits, what have you. It’s comforting to know there’s a professional group that is able to be there for the long haul. They were extremely accommodating on legal matters, too. They met all of the criteria of what I wanted in someone I could work with.

What is the timeframe for this particular development?

I believe we started around June, and [the] project remains ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the quality of their performance?

At this stage, I’m the only one who is privy to their work. I don’t have any third-party feedback for you other than saying they’re addressing every concern I’ve had along the way. They’ve never said no, or it can’t be done. They acknowledge what I say, my feedback, and address it. I’m satisfied, as the sole person who has accessed their work. Their coding isn’t perfect, but it’s definitely some of the best I’ve seen from an offshore partner. It’s always very consistent, which is great.

When working with ChromeInfotech, is there anything you’d consider unique about their strategic approach or development methodology that distinguish them from other vendors?

They’re very professional about how they approach everything. They take a logical approach, and are very accommodating right from the outset in terms of legal documents, be it non-disclosures, software assignment agreements, things like that. Then reviewing what the product concept is, providing a proposal, accommodating on the proposal where requested. Once all that’s taken care of, they immediately follow up with different versions of the wireframes, and then working Web-based systems, then moving onto the mobile systems, and now working on everything concurrently.

They’re very methodical and very accommodating. What has been fantastic is not only the caliber of work, but they stay in contact with me frequently, and they don’t let the time difference interfere with what I need. Cost-wise, I don’t see how I could have gotten a lower price using local developers.

In retrospect, are there areas in which you think they could improve as a service provider?

No. I’m 100 percent satisfied so far, and I expect I will be into the future based on my experiences to date.

BACKGROUND

Could you provide a brief description of your organization?

The company is very small and offering mostly strategic consulting services. We’re trying to build an iPhone product for the members of our community, and hopefully it will turn into a bigger financial product that can become a full-scale business.

You’re the owner and founder?

Yes, I am.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you first approached ChromeInfotech?

The initial problem was, as a one-person company, I do not have a sufficient development team, and I don’t have the revenues that can support a full-time development team, either. I had to figure out a way to outsource the development of the application to a company overseas that could produce high-quality code and at a reasonable price.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of this particular project in greater detail?

They’ve provided pretty detailed estimates on what was going to be involved in terms of the time and cost for each of my specified features. I had a very robust prototype that they were going to use to develop their estimates. They were able to come up with a very detailed estimation from that standpoint. They were also responsible for the complete functional development of the back-end data model. They provided front-end design, skins that went through my wireframes. They handled that entire graphical overlay.

They did all the custom programming. After that, they also provided some of the questions, they helped me work through some of the technology that I needed integrated. They helped me work through my integration with PayPal, and also how to move the application onto my production server, which is through a third-party hosting service. They also helped me get the application approved through iTunes. They were pretty much soup to nuts, from the back all the way up to the front-end.

How did you select ChromeInfotech as your solution partner?

I put out a description of the project, at a very high level, onto a couple of different job posting boards that were primarily focused on IT [information technology] development projects. I put it on two or three different boards. Based on the responses that came back and how they responded to the initial inquiry, in terms of my initial request for a proposal, I went through the information to see if I understood their approaches.

I then contacted a couple of different companies to speak with them directly, to explain the product I was trying to deploy. I also wanted to see what type of experience they had, so that way I could associate what they’d done in the past to the features that I was looking to have them deliver. From there, it was learning about how they did their project management, their overall philosophy, how well they communicated in English, since a lot of these companies were from overseas. I knew there was always going to be a communication barrier, even though we speak the same language, there’s always different interpretations of the same words.

Could you provide a general cost estimate for this project?

Overall, I’d say we invested between $9,000 and $14,000 for the initial work.

When was the most recent project completed?

We just went live two weeks ago. We got it approved on iTunes immediately after Labor Day. Within just a few days, I realized that we needed to change some of the user interface bits, so that’s why we’re starting on phase two.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback you’ve received that would demonstrate the quality of their performance?

From an end-user standpoint, the adoption rate is extremely impressive. It doesn’t really have too much to do with ChromeInfotech. It was really more to do with my marketing efforts. But, from a technical standpoint, I was very pleased with the quality of their work. On a scale of one to five with the deadlines, they were very fast. What held us up the most was my ability to keep pace with them. On a scale of one to five for a project standpoint, we’re probably at a four in terms of delivery. We did run into some technical issues with PayPal and iTunes. It really had nothing to do with them. It’s just that PayPal did not set up the account properly. PayPal also wanted me to change the manner in which we processed our transactions, so as to mitigate financial risks. ChromeInfotech also helped me with that. 

From a technical delivery standpoint, they were very quick. I’d say it was a four out of five. Again, some of the problems stemmed from delays on my end. I have my day job, and I was doing most of the work after hours. Where I thought that maybe they could do a little bit better would be on the consistency of the coding, in terms of testing the actual code that they gave me. I’d probably give them a 3.75 to four on that scale. It could have been a little bit better. But for the most part they were very quick at fixing the bugs and giving me new builds to test their fixes.

When working with ChromeInfotech, is there anything you’d consider unique about their strategic approach or development methodology that distinguish them from other vendors?

What I found that I really enjoyed about them was that they were very flexible with me. I had done a lot of work ahead of time, so I had a good idea of what should be included in the final product. When I talked with them during the interview process, I asked about some of the challenges that they faced. They said that the hardest part they had is that sometimes the clients don’t really know what they want. Fortunately, I knew what I wanted. I just didn’t know the best way to implement it. I relied on them for that, and I really can’t judge whether the product they gave me is the best and most efficient solution. I’ve been satisfied with it, though. 

Other than that, they were very responsive and flexible. They modeled their approach to delivery based on my own experience with IT projects. They were originally going to deliver the whole project as one set deliverable, and I wanted to break it down to its discrete elements, and pay them for the work that they’ve done, rather than one end deliverable. They were very flexible with that, so we worked out an agreement for the timing and scope of the deliverables.

In retrospect, are there any areas in which you think they could improve as a service provider?

As I’d mentioned, I wish they’d have done a better job with unit testing. Some of their earlier code was clearly not functional, but that’s the vast majority of developers out there. That was the only thing I wish they had done more diligently. I think that slowed down our process a little bit, but other than that they were very responsive at fixing the bugs that I reported to them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m an executive at a small tech startup based in the U.S.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ChromeInfo Technologies?

We hired them to develop an iOS app, set to be launched in September 2018.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They quoted our company a price on Guru.com.

Describe the project in detail.

We had 85% of the wireframes completed by our team and gave them access to most of our IP, including strategies, formulas, algorithms, etc. The iOS app to be developed was related to productivity and collaboration. ChromeInfo Technologies, after issuing a formal proposal and signing IP agreements, gained access to all our company IP data including, strategies, formulas, algorithms, etc., and what will eventually become proprietary information.

Soon after, they retracted their initial statements, claimed the price needed to be doubled, and demanded additional information that would've ultimately proved to be damning to our company had we passed it along.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their CEO has a sour attitude. One of their business development professionals quoted an initial price of $5,000. We were then connected with a project manager and the CEO of the company, who told us that they had our brand's best interest at heart. They clearly did not.

We dedicated over a month to discuss the details of the app, sending them our IP information, wireframes, etc. They completed zero work. We were forced to file an extension on our trademark application. Attempting to work with them has cost us more time and money.

Overall, they’re an unethical and greedy company. We're now being forced to involve a lawyer to protect ourselves.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They weren’t effective at all, as they didn’t complete any work.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Nothing. I'm disappointed by how they do business.

Are there any areas for improvement?

They should never quote a price that they’re not willing to honor.