E-Sparks , A Magento Specialist Company

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Head of IT for Tangle Teezer. We design manufacture and sell detangling hairbrushes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire E-Sparks , A Magento Specialist Company, and what were your goals?

I have worked with e-sparks for several years as they developed and maintained all aspects of one of our websites petteezer.com

SOLUTION

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

E-sparks tendered for the work. They were efficient, cost effective and very nice people I thought I could have a good relationship with.

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

After a great kick off, we provided digital assets and mock up flats of some pages of the site, along with brand guidelines. E-sparks put together a schedule of works with key milestones such as setting up hosting, key page creation, linking to payment gateways, links to CRM systems. The site was developed in Magento 2.

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

I dealt with a project manager, also there were a number of developers and designers working on the project that I liaised with more during the testing phases.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It was a new website and sales were well over expectations. The project came in within budget. Since then the maintenance and several other changes along the way have been delivered within the quotations and timelines.

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

We used email mainly. The main project was a while ago, I think they used Jira to manage the project, but communication was open, no suprises.

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

We're impressed with their Magento development experience and responsiveness.

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

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am one of the owners of a London based Web & Software development company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire E-Sparks , A Magento Specialist Company, and what were your goals?

Our goal was to develop a working relationship with a reliable outsourced Magento development parnter and Esparks fit the bill perfectly.

SOLUTION

How did you select E-Sparks , A Magento Specialist Company and what were the deciding factors?

Esparks was shortlisted based on their experience and commitment to developing a dependable seamless partner experience which we were looking for. They have a strong team of highly qualified and experience professionals which was also one of the top deciding factors for us.

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

Esparks worked on various large Magento builds for us. Some of those include leading retailers in the UK and Europe.

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

We have had between 1 and 5 people working simultaneously at any given time on different projects of varying nature, both front-end and back-end

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have had nothing but good feedback from all the clients that Esparks have ever worked on.

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

We've generally found the whole E-Sparks team to be highly motivated team players who can also be trusted to work independently without any hand holding or enforced accountability. We mostly use JIRA for project management and Esparks joined us seamlessly as an extension to our inhouse team

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

The CEO has a very proactive approach towards building and maintaining relationships with the clients. He is always aware of where the project is at any given point.

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

There is always room for improvement in anything. But what we really liked about Esparks is their commitment to progressive improvement. Things can always go wrong in a complex project but Esparks always take full responsibility even for small bugs discovered many months after delivery.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Development Director in charge of managing projects and the development process end to end

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire E-Sparks , A Magento Specialist Company, and what were your goals?

We needed ongoing web development services, focussing on e-commerce and Magento but also covering other platforms. We needed high quality, hard working developers who could hit the ground running.

SOLUTION

How did you select E-Sparks , A Magento Specialist Company and what were the deciding factors?

We originally found E-Sparks via their owner Umair, from a web development services marketplace website. From there we grew the relationship into a fully fledged dedicated team of developers. There were of course teething issues at the start but we've kept with E-Sparks because of their dedicated to consistent high quality and flexibility.

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

As each developer is treated like a part of our own development team, the development methodology is an ongoing process of specifying tasks and requirements, discussing issues, reviewing work and testing results. Rinse and repeat. E-Spark's have primarily focussed on Magento 2 with our projects

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

Currently 2 developers, but soon to be 3 as we grow our requirements. We have 2 Magento 2 developers and the new developer will be a Laravel and VueJS developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Clients that we work with have been happy with the results and have given great feedback for the developers.

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

Communications with developers is via Slack, Jira and any other method we need. If there are any issues, we can contact the managers directly via WhatsApp and always get a quick response and resolution.

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

We're impressed with their flexibility and vision to become our partner and not just a service provider.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We shall see what comes as we expand our development team with them this year :)

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

The 180 Smoke is a leading vaping online and local retail in Canada. I work as a technology leader.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire E-Sparks , A Magento Specialist Company, and what were your goals?

We were in the need to speed up the development to have the Magento 1 store migrated to Magento 2 version using a React-based headless storefront.

SOLUTION

How did you select E-Sparks , A Magento Specialist Company and what were the deciding factors?

I found E-Sparks on UpWork, checked the reviews, and was very happy with them.

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

The first step was for the E-Sparks developers to understand the project and how it was implemented so far. After that we decided on a list of crucial tasks that had to be delivered on day one. The project had a Magento 2 serving as backend API and uses a storefront built with React Js.

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

Mostly two developers, one dealing with frontend and the other dealing with backend development.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Together with the E-Sparks team, we were able to achieve the goal and launch the store within the necessary timeline.

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

We use Slack for day to day communications and Asana for tasks management.

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

I like how they are very communicative and accessible.

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

Not that I recall.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company markets via the Internet only, direct to the consumer specialty products that are hand-made in Japan and shipped abroad worldwide.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire E-Sparks?

From time to time our website needs to be upgraded to not only be more current in appearance and function, but also to meet the constant requirements of Google to rank well in search.

This update was a major overhaul to our website including updating to a the latest version of Magento platform.

What were your goals for this project?

To improve our site's appears and function and update the function of the site to meet Google's preferences to improve ranking.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I have used Umair and his team for several years now. (I did go a different direction for a short period and paid the price in wasted time and money!) and then returned to Umair -- currently eSparks. I initially found Umair on an digital platform for finding virtual tech workers.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

eSparks (Umair and Team) provide all-things-digital from website design and creation to SEO, etc. They are experts in Magento.

What was the team composition?

I primarily have contacted Umair for all of my needs, but am regularly contacted by members of his team as as well.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

While my current project is ongoing, I have used Umair and his team for years and find them very reliable, trustworthy, and experts at their jobs.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

I typically initially work directly with Umair to express my needs, then others are added during the process. We trade emails and have used Skype at times when needed.

Admittedly I have managed projects more loosely with somewhat loose time-tables. We've never used any sort of management platform features that tracks specific tasks or timeframes. I do know that if you required this, Umair and his team would likely have this available to use as I have found then quite accommodating.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I look first to integrity. I expect to be told what will happen, how it will be done and a reasonable time-table -- and of course that what is done is completed with the required expertise. I have always found Umair and his team to fulfill these requirements for me.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I always have a desire for things to move along faster, but frankly I have never found a web-service company to move at the pace I would want.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a freelance developer, creating specialized Magento, WordPress, and custom web applications for clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with E-Sparks?

I needed extra resources because I didn’t have the time to complete a project myself.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

E-Sparks built a custom web application. Since it’s for a client, I don’t want to say too much about the app but it’s for the online gaming community. Their team developed the app with Bootstrap, React.js, and Zend Framework. They created a game logic based on a live API that pulls live feeds, then manipulates the data to create the rules for the fantasy football-like game.

What is the team composition?

I was in contact with around three or four teammates including a project manager, a developer, and an account manager.

How did you come to work with E-Sparks?

I found them through Upwork. My colleagues and I created technical tests for prospective providers. We made problems and gave instructions, for instance: Make this code or this SQL query secure. It was a hard procedure, so we knew that anyone who passed the tests would have the right level of competence. Many tests were submitted, and E-Sparks came out on top, meaning we had a lot of confidence.

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost about $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in June, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’m quite happy with the services I’ve received from them. The development has been high-quality. E-Sparks has understood my requirements really well, which I’ve been really happy about. I've found it difficult to collaborate with other developers because they hadn't understood a project's directions. We haven’t had any problems with their team not being able to understand how to do an assignment.

How did E-Sparks perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve communicated through Skype and sometimes Slack. E-Sparks has always been very attentive. Anytime I’ve wanted to message them, they’ve messaged me back. Their team has always been responsive including outside their office hours, which I’ve been happy with as well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve been kind and willing to help. E-Sparks gets the job done when they say they’re going to do it. Unlike other providers, their team has met deadlines. They’ve been a breath of fresh air.  Their skill level, communication, quality, and timeliness have met my expectations.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Off the top of my head, no. I’ve had no problems with E-Sparks.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear with a project’s directions and requirements. If you write the scope step by step, they’ll execute it well.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

My company is a web and marketing company in Canada. We help clients develop and build, or revamp and maintain their websites. We also provide marketing services to work alongside your website.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire E-Sparks?

The first project was a Magento site build.

What were your goals for this project?

To complete the project in an effective manner on schedule.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Through a freelance website.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The eSparks team provided back and front end development and deploy of Magento websites. We continue to work with them for other projects (some Magento and some not) and they are always organized, efficient and independent.

I will continue to work with this team because they are able to get work done without hand holding. They have excellent communication skills and make sure they understand completely the demands of a project before executing it. This means that generally tasks are completed correctly the first time.

What was the team composition?

We primarily deal with Umair, Talha and Muhib.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The client was happy with the end results.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

They have milestones set in Asana, and it is a very effective method.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their ability to work independently is very impressive. With the time difference, I come in to work being completed in my morning.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We are happy with their services.