Cyblance Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the COO of two companies called Restaurant HR Group and Carrie Luxem LLC. The first provides support for restaurants throughout the country with payroll and benefit admin support, and the second is a restaurant membership platform.

What challenge were you trying to address with Cyblance?

We wanted to be able to provide a platform where people can look for HR support, whether it’s in the form of an employee handbook template, a job description, or guidance about how to find employees. Through our membership system, the goal was to become the go-to resource for all things HR.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed our website for both companies, as well as building out the features of our membership platform. On the platform, users have access to hundreds of forms and templates, as well as articles, videos, on-demand training sessions, and an area for submitting your own questions. At the moment, they add new content to the site on a weekly basis, including a regular number of videos to drive user engagement. We had the vision for all of this, but no idea how to actually make it happen, and they were able to build everything we wanted.

We would basically provide an outline of our vision for different components, and they would come back with a design template and a few wireframe options for us to take a look at. We would go through a few rounds of changes, coming up with new ideas along the way, and incorporated all of our feedback. The beauty of working with Cyblance is that they make it so easy for us to understand without having to get caught up in all the technology that we are utilizing.

What is the team composition?

We work very closely with their CEO, and he assigned us a project manager that we have been working with for our entire engagement with them as well. We’ve gotten to know a few people that are working behind the scenes over the years, so in total, I would say we’ve probably partnered with 4–5 members of their team.

How did you come to work with Cyblance?

Our CEO was referred to them through a connection of hers.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $25,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in December 2016 and the work is ongoing, so we’re coming up on three years.

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

Since the rollout of our membership platform, we’ve gained several hundred members, which we’re super happy with. I don’t have a lot of specific statistics, but we’ve seen significant growth in both Restaurant HR Group and Carrie Luxem LLC since the start of our work with Cyblance, and we definitely credit some of that to the quality of our website and our users’ ability to see what we offer so easily.

That, obviously, is on top of the fact that our CEO is a visionary and has a ton of amazing ideas, but no one on our team has the technical skills to make them happen. Cyblance has been absolutely instrumental in staying up to the challenge of whatever we throw their way and just finding a way to make things happen.

How did Cyblance perform from a project management standpoint?

I think they do a terrific job. They provide things in an extremely timely and organized way. We rarely ever have to follow up with them about any jobs.  We use Asana to keep everyone on the same page, which makes that a lot easier. And what really makes them stand out is that they are such great people, and really have a genuine interest in making sure that we succeed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The attitude they bring to the job every day is a testament to how much these people care about their work. We love partnering with them because they have spent so much time understanding our business and how we work, and they are always extremely friendly and responsive in all of our interactions with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only difficulty we’ve ever had was that it took us a little while when we first started working with them to get into a good flow of communication. They were always very responsive, but it was difficult to handle the number of emails going back and forth before we started using Asana, which is something I obviously wouldn’t blame them for.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Just focus on giving them as much feedback as possible, because they are extremely capable and adaptable, and as long as you work with them towards what you want, they will deliver it to you.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of communications for Education International, a nonprofit organization based in Brussels, Belgium which represents teacher organizations across the world.

What challenge were you trying to address with Cyblance?

As an international organization, we rely on our web presence to interact with our target audience. Cyblance has developed various web properties to highlight our research materials and organize events.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have a number of member organizations, all of which need direct editorial access to our main website. Since we were unable to find a preexisting CMS offering this level of flexibility, Cyblance built a custom CMS based on PHP.

Other projects include campaign websites or opinion blogs, in which I typically provide conceptual development and wireframes and Cyblance builds the final product. They essentially provide a full-cycle development service.

What is the team dynamic?

I work with Shadab Shaikh [CEO, Cyblance] directly as a main point of contact. I give him a given project’s requirements and he organizes his team. We primarily work with PHP developers, but they also have designers, quality assurance personnel, and Android and iOS developers.

After working together on several projects, they’ve come to understand our way of thinking, allowing us to work hand-in-hand.

How did you come to work with Cyblance?

I was referred to Cyblance by a mutual friend, and I knew he had the experience to meet our needs.

How much have you invested with them?

We pay a set monthly amount [per developer] for four dedicated developers and we also pay hourly for any mobile development or design tasks that arise.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve had an ongoing relationship for the last six or seven years.

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

I don't have any quantitative data available, but I’ve gotten very positive feedback from my team of web editors. The remodeled UX of our custom CMS has improved workflows and allows our editors to be more productive.

How did Cyblance perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very fluid and provide daily updates through Skype and Basecamp, making it easy to keep track of a project’s progress. They also respond to requests or questions almost immediately.

There’s an obvious time difference since they’re based in India, but this actually helps us organize workflows. Since they start their workday earlier, I receive an update each morning as soon as I arrive at my office. I can then provide new tasks in the afternoon which will be completed by the time I arrive the following day.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve worked with outsourcing agencies in the past that only focus on completing the job at hand, but Cyblance has really become part of my team. Even though we’re separated geographically, we work together and find solutions together.

Are there any areas they could improve?

While their overall communication was great, our respective versions of non-native English sometimes caused misunderstandings. However, as time passed, this issue subsided, but it is something they would do well to improve upon.

Advice for potential customers?

I can definitely recommend them for anything that's web-related, be it PHP, Android, or iOS. They've demonstrated their ability to deliver quality products in a timely manner, and I encourage anyone considering their services to trust them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

HBG Systems does mostly back-office software for small to medium-sized businesses. I am the president.

What challenge were you trying to address with Cyblance?

We needed web application development for a recycling company we worked with.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We were building a system for them to export and import raw materials that came in on garbage trucks. The materials go through a single stream and are separated. They pack and sell to India, China, and domestically in containers that involve shipping and logistics, tying into the shipping companies. Most of the programming for the project was using CakePHP. It was a large and involved system, built from the ground up. We worked with the customer and created pages.

They’ve also done some other small jobs for me for other customers.

What is the team dynamic?

I only interfaced with Shadab [Founder & CEO, Cyblance Technologies].

How did you come to work with Cyblance?

I got in contact with Cyblance through a mutual friend who referred me.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested a sizeable amount.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2010, and the work is ongoing.

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

The customer is happy with the product. Shadab did most of the programming for the project. I’m very happy with the work he’s done. He is my main contact for PHP.

How did Cyblance perform from a project management standpoint?

Shadab is very conscientious. Sometimes we had communication issues because some of the pages were very complicated. We went back and forth, but he stayed with it and resolved the issues. I was satisfied with the product.

We communicate through email or Skype. I’m in Florida and he’s in India, but he’s up late sometimes to work out any issues. If I’m unclear on things, he’s good at interpreting what I want. Our contact varies. There are 3–4 month periods when I keep our work in-house, and there are periods when I keep him busy for 1–3 months. Sometimes it gets intense when I’m looking to get fast turnarounds. He has come through when I really needed the work done for a demo.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Shadab does a great job of understanding what I want. He gets to know the project so that when we do something that I didn’t explain well, he understands the overall picture.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes when we talk, I have trouble understanding and need clarity, but we always resolve it; it’s not a big issue. I’ve worked with Shadab for a long time. There’s nothing that is a negative from my standpoint.