Diaspark

BACKGROUND

Please provide a description of your company. 

We are a mobile platform provider. Our primary product helps our clients communicate with their sales force.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal in working with Diaspark?

Our clients usually want a cross-platform solution – Apple and Android. We’ve been working with a mobile framework called Appcelerator and running into some problems moving things from Apple to Android. We were looking for more efficient development and engineering process for our Android work.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

We do all of our primary development and testing in iOS. But, as we talked to more clients, they would ask if we could provide Android solutions. At the time, we had to turn them down because Android was very difficult for us to support. Then, we started looking for someone with deeper expertise in developing Android using the Appcelerator framework, and Diaspark ended up being the development agency we went with.

Their work was very specific to two different clients but, at the same time, we wanted to be able to leverage their effort. It’s something that we wanted to be able to offer to all of our clients based upon the work and effort we invested in the first two clients.

What was your process in selecting Diaspark with which to work?

We looked at several options, everything from freelancers to some local sources. We found them through Appcelerator. Diaspark was one of their top-rated partners.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

We’re spending around $5,000 a month working with Diaspark.

What was the timeline of the project, and is the work ongoing?

It is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any statistics, metrics, or general feedback from the project?

Overall, the work they do is fantastic. It’s hard to talk about stats for this type of project. What I can say is that we’re able to free up a lot of our developer time on business development and on continuing to build out our platform so that we can handle moving from Apple to Android.

Is there anything unique about Diaspark that really makes them stand out compared to other companies?

We like the ability to have a dedicated resource within Diaspark who is assigned to our project, so that we’re not fighting for their time or having them overbooked with multiple projects. That’s been a positive for us. A concern is always what happens when that resource, which is not in our control, ends up leaving or moves onto another role.

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

I think the only downside was getting them up to speed. So, it took a month or two to get Diaspark humming with our project. That’s not unusual, but I guess that’s the reality of working with an outside development group.

BACKGROUND

Please provide a description of your company. 

Right now, my company is Darron Networking, I’m a network hardware and software provider and developer.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I’m the owner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Diaspark?

We worked together on a mobile app [iOS] for a Web-based nutrition website that gave the user information on healthy ingredient choices.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

The theory was, you could get a smartphone app with a barcode reader, take a shot of your food in the store, and the app would cross reference that information with our online database of recipes and ingredient information. The app needed to be able to pull a section of the website's database down to a mobile version of SQL, and connect with information that user put in. Diaspark didn't do any work with the website or database that was already in place, but they totally designed and developed the mobile app.

What was your process for selecting Diaspark with which to work?

I'm not sure. I wasn't involved in the selection process.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

It's been a while [the project began in 2008], but I think it was in the $20,000 range.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you talk about the results of the project and how you feel they performed in terms of the quality of the work they delivered?

The app itself was very good. It did require a fairly large database to make it go, but the aesthetics were good and the app performed well in our usability testing. It was well received by the people that used it; however, it wasn't commercially very successful, although that's not the fault of Diaspark.

In terms of the product, the code, and the process of building the app. The project went very smoothly. We had conference calls and video conferencing. They were always responsive to  the information we gave them.

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track the improvement of the project or its overall success?

There were several thousand downloads, but it wasn’t in the hundreds of thousands.

Is there anything unique or special about Diaspark that sets them apart from other business partners?

I’ve worked with offshore development firms before, and some of them try to make up their own rules without asking you, or they don’t do anything until you tell them to do it. Diaspark isn't like that. They were good about reading between the lines in the project, and keeping us informed about what they were doing. They have an office in Edison, New Jersey, which helped out with communication.

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

No. I was impressed with them.

What advice would you give to a future client of theirs?

Make sure the communication plan is agreed upon at the beginning of the project, and make sure everybody understands what he or she need to do.

BACKGROUND

Please provide a description of your company. 

We’re a mobile application development company based out of Centennial, Colorado. We do some of the development work ourselves, but also contract out some of the larger projects.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I’m the CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Diaspark?

We were looking ease the burden on our development team. I’m the CEO, but also one of our primary developers. I was looking to increase our outsourcing work, so I could spend more of my time running the company. 

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

We initially outsourced to Diaspark some module development for iOS and Android. We needed modules to plug into a framework we use called Titanium, from Appcelerator. The modules were written in C# for iOS, and in Java for Android. 

We were impressed with this initial work, and contracted Diaspark for several more upcoming projects. These other projects were also done in Titanium, and I had them do essentially all the work on those, such as front end, database back-end, and PHP Web services middle tier.

What was your process for selecting Diaspark with which to work?

I found them by researching Indian developers online.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

We've done several projects with them. All of them have been around $20,000 per project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you tell me about the timeline of your work with them?

We started working with them in mid-2013. I haven’t used them in the last few months because I don’t have a project that fits their skill set right now, but the relationship has been pretty consistent for the last year and a half.

Can you talk about the results and how you feel they performed in terms of the quality of the work they delivered?

The results have been solid. I've worked with other Indian companies in the past, but the reason I'll continue to work with Diaspark is their organization skills. I always know what is going on with my projects. They provide a lot of detailed documentation and updates, and their project management skills far surpass any other offshore company I've worked with. In addition to the technical work, there was an account manager who was extremely detailed and always available to answer my questions. 

Is there anything unique about them that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

It's the thoroughness that I spoke about in my previous answer that sets them apart.

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

Nothing major. We're very satisfied.

What advice would you give a future client of theirs?

The only advice I'd have if someone was considering outsourcing a project to an Indian firm is, use Diaspark. As long as you know what you want and can provide specs that are detailed, they’re going to execute for you.