Dark Bears

Please describe your company and your position there.

MobileCozmo is an e-commerce website, offering online an shopping experience with products such as mobile phones, laptops, electronics, watches, and clothing. I am the copywriter and sales specialist.

For what projects/services did your company hire Dark Bears?

We needed work on our website as a whole, including the domain, software, marketing, graphics, and website design as well as general improvements to our website's process.

What were your goals for this project?

To make enhancements to our website in order to keep up with developments in the field of e-commerce.

How did you select this vendor?

They were recommended to us by another company. We saw a few other vendors, but they weren't as experienced or qualified as Dark Bears.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

They design, develop, and engineer our website systems and processes. They also work on the servers and chat systems, and on the SEO.

What was the team composition?

The team is made up of around ten people. They each have lots of experience in their relevant fields.

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

Their work has improved our progress. The team gives 100% to the project and offers their full focus to the work.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

It's excellent. There are no issues or errors in their work.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The friendly environment they create and their understanding of our requirements and demands.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

It would be good if the timing of our working hours and theirs lined up.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The company is a technology service provider. I’m the operations manager. I handle everything including marketing and website development.

What challenge were you trying to address with Dark Bear Web Solutions?

Our existing website was obsolete, and we had changes in our services, so we had to make those changes on our website.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Dark Bear made a new website for us including frontend and backend. The thing I liked the most was that they had a portal where I could request changes, and they would update it. We had four to five resources from Dark Bear working on the project.

How did you come to work with Dark Bear Web Solutions?

This was the second time we used Dark Bear for our website. I enjoyed working with them and called them again. I will probably be calling them again because we need to refresh our website this year.

What is the status of this engagement?

In 2016, we had an issue that Dark Bear helped us take care of. That was the most recent project.

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

We don’t have any metrics or feedback.

How did Dark Bear Web Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

Their responses were immediate, and I liked that about Dark Bear Web Solutions. I would put my change request in their portal, and I would see a response the next day.

What did you find most impressive about Dark Bear Web Solutions?

We had an issue with our ticketing system, and we wanted that to be integrated with our website. We were having some technical issues, but Dark Bear didn’t give up. They kept working until the issue was resolved and I appreciated that.

Are there any areas Dark Bear Web Solutions could improve?

There’s nothing I can think of.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a business based on a mobile application called Bridge Messenger. It’s a social media app that scans 20 miles around your area, and it’ll pick up everybody’s profile who has the app. You can then add them to a list of nine social medias linked up to your profile, or you can message each other through the app. I am the president of the company, organizing and designing what the project will look like.

What challenge were you trying to address with Dark Bear Web Solutions?

We had a project manager who was hard to communicate with, acting as the middleman between the development team and us. Things weren’t getting done because we weren’t able to communicate with the developers. We wanted to get the project done promptly while ensuring the quality of the project.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Once we got the project manager out of the picture, Dark Bear Web Solutions and I were able to communicate. They developed and designed the app and site, as well as the backend and frontend functionality of it. We first had the app developed for iOS. We were sending each other designs back and forth on what the page will look like. I’ll send something to them, they’ll send something back, and that’s how it went until we finally agreed on what it’s going to look like. We still go back and forth now since we’re working on updates. With the update we are launching within the next month, it’ll be available for Android, too.

How did you come to work with Dark Bear Web Solutions?

It goes back to the project manager we had. He was the one that found the development team. He managed the project, but we weren’t able to directly communicate with the developer team since he wouldn’t give us their emails. Once we started testing the messenger through the app is when the team from Dark Bear Web Solutions and I started to communicate via phone calls and FaceTime.

How much have you invested with Dark Bear Web Solutions?

The investment was over $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Dark Bear Web Solutions in August 2015. The project finished three or four months later (November or December 2015). A lot of the delay was because of the project manager, but we got the project done quickly as soon as he left.

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

We have gotten good feedback and ratings on the app. However, the ratings change with software updates. We are planning on marketing the app more once this update comes out for both the Android and iPhone platforms, so we will start hitting marketing then and go from there. Right now, it’s still in the testing phase with the servers to see how it’ll hold up. However, we’ve been offered to sell the apps twice for over six figures and declined both offers.

How did Dark Bear Web Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

Dark Bear Web Solutions was excellent. I was very happy with the work they did. They were easy to communicate with and very easy to get a hold of them. If I texted or called Dark Bear Web Solutions and they didn’t answer, they would call back within a few hours. To me, communication is important in business.

What did you find most impressive about Dark Bear Web Solutions?

I have worked with other developers before, and Dark Bear Web Solutions is a lot more flexible. As far as payments go, they’ll definitely work with you.

Are there any areas Dark Bear Web Solutions could improve?

I don’t have anything negative to say about Dark Bear Web Solutions. They’re doing very well and have helped me out tons of times. There is nothing more I could really ask of them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We're a supplier of aerospace hardware and electronic components. I'm a director in the company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Dark Bear Web Solutions?

We had some deficiencies with our website where we were trying to incorporate our ERP [enterprise resource planning] system.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Dark Bear rebuilt the website, and they linked it to our ERP system. I believe there was some SQL [Structured Query Language] programming that was involved in that.

How did you come to work with Dark Bear Web Solutions?

It's been several years since I came upon them. It was through a Google search.

How much have you invested with Dark Bear Web Solutions?

We have spent over $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Dark Bear a few years ago. The project has been completed, and we’ve retained them for ongoing work with website maintenance and things of that sort.

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

We certainly have better visibility because of our website. Dark Bear made it a lot easier for us to enter customer inquiries into our ERP system by linking quotes that come directly to our website. It made us more efficient and made the task a lot more automated with less human intervention.

How did Dark Bear perform from a project management standpoint?

I think they did very well. Dark Bear was easy to work with. They would be on the phone on the weekends working. They were very prompt in their responses, and it was easy to get hold of someone. Communication was not an issue.

What did you find most impressive about Dark Bear Web Solutions?

Dark Bear is distinct because of their responsiveness and their customer service. They were very prompt and respondent to queries. I could get hold of them quickly and easily. They always jump in immediately to render assistance. They go way beyond the call of duty.

Are there any areas Dark Bear Web Solutions could improve?

They've done everything I asked of them, so I couldn’t say if there's anything they can approve upon. There's nothing that I've asked that Dark Bear hasn’t followed true on.