Fingent

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the project manager at NEC Financial Services, a financial services company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fingent?

We needed help to continue with the development of our systems.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Fingent is a huge contributor in helping us update our systems. They've built internal portals for our customer base and our dealer base, and as we continue to grow, we use them to enhance those two solutions they created for us.

Regarding the process, we start with a meeting to lay out what we want, whether it's a solution or an upgrade to a solution. We look to them for advice and insight, what they’ve seen, and what they think is the best way for us to go — there’s back and forth communication regarding getting everything set up. After that, they put out a great statement of work for us and have a kickoff meeting to start the task — we’ve known each other for so long that everything is routinary.

Fingent's team has built two HTML website portals — they’re very good with all Microsoft products. They also manage our SQL systems databases, HTML customization, and different SSIS packages. They’re also very good at creating websites; they built our internal portal site based on SharePoint.

Currently, we plan on moving forward with them in the future with things like Power BI and Automate.

What is the team composition?

For this project, we work with 3–5 people from their team, including a project manager. Usually, there are around two more technical people involved, depending on what we’re doing.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2013, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our relationship has gotten stronger over the years, and the dealer portal they created was great. We've also heard feedback that the platform is very easy to use, leading to success and great response from our dealer base.

Overall, we're happy with how our customers can go in, look at invoices, and make payments. We’re getting more people on our portal, more self-service from our customer base, and more general growth for our business.  

How did Fingent perform from a project management standpoint?

The project manager is excellent — she’s one of the best I’ve worked with because she's organized, flexible, and straightforward. We communicate through Microsoft Teams and have weekly morning calls — even though there’s a time difference, they’re very accommodating with that.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re good at explaining things. We were able to assign less technical staff from our side; I’ve never been a technical person, and I've learned a lot from working with them because they make it easy to understand the technology and things behind the scenes. They're making it a smooth transition.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’ve improved on the issues we had before. Based on the things we’ve changed over the years with our VPN and our structure, I see it was more of a problem with us than them. Overall, it's a pleasure to work with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take their advice; they’re very knowledgeable about technology solutions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of technology for a real estate company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fingent?

We needed help with defining our business processes and goals, and we were looking for a partner who had expertise in the real estate segment. That’s why we hired Fingent.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We first went through a discovery phase with the Fingent team. We defined our business process and goals, and they went into developing an application that could help us better target our audience. The project is ongoing, and there are multiple phases in the pipeline.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with a project manager, an account manager, three functional leads, and two project leads.

How did you come to work with Fingent?

We found them in a Google search. We saw that they had done a project for a real estate company in the US, so we thought they would be a good fit. They’re also very proactive and sensible, which made us choose them over other vendors.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2021, and our partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve done an amazing job. My team is happy with their work.

How did Fingent perform from a project management standpoint?

We have an open-source project application where their team updates everything. We have weekly meetings, but the team is flexible enough to accommodate ad-hoc discussions.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What we find most impressive about Fingent is their knowledgeability and how sensitive they are to our needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, everything is fine. There’s always a learning curve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I highly recommend working with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and principal of a financial services company, and we provide professional consulting services to companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fingent?

We were looking to build a custom solution.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The custom solution that Fingent created would help us create a survey data collection system and database. They also built analysis tools that would enable us to analyze all of the data in one spot. They’ve already completed building the core product, and they continue to improve and add features to our product.

What is the team composition?

We're working with around 15–20 people, including an account manager and software developers who have various roles in the project. A tier of other project managers and developers leads the weekly meetings and explains the work that they're doing.

How did you come to work with Fingent?

I found them through Clutch when I searched for potential software development firms. I also used Google to find possible companies. After receiving proposals from several companies, we ultimately decided to work with Fingent because they were able to do a mock-up of what we were trying to do. They also took the time to get information from us and they tried to build a workflow to give us a view of what we would expect before starting the project.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership began in July 2020. The team completed the core product in July 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve successfully delivered the core product and it works really well. More importantly, the core product is a highly functioning asset that we utilize on a daily basis in our company. We appreciate that they’re eager to explain how things work, and they have many ideas on how we can further improve our deliverables. Overall, we see that they care about our platform’s success, which shows in the quality of their work.

How did Fingent perform from a project management standpoint?

They have excellent processes and remarkable communication skills. They’re fast, efficient, and organized. We schedule meetings to discuss what we need to change or edit on their work. We use OpenProject for project management, and we communicate through email and Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Fingent has been diligent in understanding the scope of our project, and they’ve been able to show their knowledge about our project through their proposal. In addition, they’re invested in our project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. They’re doing everything right.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Spend a lot of time with Fingent to discuss and identify the goals of your project and what you’re trying to accomplish. Once you do that, you can scope your project well.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of sales and marketing for Kogland Commerce Pvt Ltd. We’re an e-commerce business that supplies medical equipment and consumables to hospitals and dental clinics via online orders.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fingent?

When I joined the company in 2019, we were on a Magento platform that was not supported anymore, so we had to move to a newer version of the platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Fingent helped us with Magento development. When they came on board, they asked us questions about the changes we wanted and evaluated the modules required to upgrade from Magento 1 to Magento 2. 

Then, Fingent did the requirement collection. A DevOps team worked with us on the upgrade. They did UI research and developed our Magento backend. 

The team also helped us implement our CRM system, which is in Odoo. They collaborated closely with us to develop our CRM, and they eventually integrated it into our Magento backend.

After Fingent finished the initial project, we had a testing phase. Currently, we’re still doing verifications and validations. Fingent is providing maintenance, handling change requests, and fixing bugs. 

What is the team composition?

We usually work with five people from Fingent, including a project manager. More people came on board during the testing phase, when we had 8–9 team members from Fingent on our project.

How did you come to work with Fingent?

I found them through a referral from a friend I had worked with at a previous company. We connected to Fingent’s sales and marketing team through their website and started talking. At this point, we’d evaluated many providers and shortlisted Fingent because of their cost, the deadline they proposed, and feedback from peers.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent around $700,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in March 2020, just before the COVID-19 lockdowns started worldwide, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our site is live right now, and thanks to Fingent’s work, it’s is much faster and has better UI/UX. We’ve had an increase in traffic of about 200% from our targeted customers across the country. Plus, there’s been a 50% increase in conversions; not only are more customers visiting our site, but they’re also making purchases through it. 

From a digital marketing perspective, the site has helped improve our strategies and our SEO. Fingent designed the site in such a way that our search engine ranking is much better.

How did Fingent perform from a project management standpoint?

Fingent is very flexible with communication. We use email, where we have everything documented. Additionally, we have a WhatsApp group as well as a task-tracking tool. Overall, we have a really good communication setup. 

We have weekly meetings, monthly meetings, and milestone tracking. 

Our first project manager had to leave the company, so we got a new project manager, and Fingent made the transition very smooth.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciate that Fingent was very honest with their initial evaluation, making our expectations realistic. The team was candid about our situation and the status quo. When it came to requirements, they told us what was and wasn’t possible. 

Fingent is also on top of the technology — they’re experts in Odoo and great at UI research. Their program management has been easy, especially when it comes to the sales and marketing modules, like getting customer details and CRM integration. 

The Fingent team also makes it easy to have an open discussion about the project. They’re very professional in their approach. The entire process has been really smooth — working with Fingent has been a lovely experience.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wouldn’t say they need to improve anything right now. On one occasion, there was a communication issue where a milestone was not communicated properly, causing a delay in one of our deadlines. That was a mistake from both parties, though.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re looking for e-commerce and backend development, I would certainly recommend Fringent — there’s no question about it!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a software innovation specialist at GSMA, a nonprofit organization. We create new assets and bring technologies into the market for mobile network operators. This helps them provide more development services particularly in Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fingent?

We wanted to do a project that would highlight the importance of biometrics in low-tech environments. We’re using voice, face, and fingerprint verification and authentication, but we're considering it for feature phones and phones with low camera resolution. We were not considering its use in high-tech smartphones, so we hired Fingent to help us address this weak point in the project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

As a foundation, we enable operators to bring new technologies into the market to help people by providing more financial, digital, and social inclusion. The purpose of the biometrics project was to showcase the mobile network operators that they could use biometrics certification to increase the security of their assets. We don’t have a team of developers in-house, but we do have a tech team of four that are involved in the development of new assets. However, there are not enough people to develop an entire application. 

Fingent helped us develop the app that would showcase the mobile biometrics solution. The project ended in March 2021 but it took time for the app stores to approve the application. Fingent kindly waited with us to ensure the application’s approval before closing the project.

What is the team composition?

There was one person responsible for the iOS and Android app development team. I’d estimate that there were a total of 12–13 people working on the project.

How did you come to work with Fingent?

I believe we found them online. When we contacted them to see if they were interested in receiving the request for a quote, they mentioned that they had worked with our company before, but with a different department. We ended up going with them,

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $35,000–$45,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together between November 2020–June 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s difficult to measure success, since we had just launched the app last week. However, there are a number of people who have contacted us and were interested in having a meeting to know more. In that respect, we’ve achieved our main goal of calling the attention of mobile network operators and mobile money providers. We’ve accomplished the level of success that we targeted for initially. Everyone was congratulating us for the UI/UX of the app and nobody came to us with any problems, which is a very good metric.

How did Fingent perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management was really good from my perspective. I’m really happy with how they worked with us. Every time I sent an email or a message in Slack, they were available to answer. They accomplished all the tasks on time. 

We had at least one sprint meeting per week. Fingent had a platform where we could see each stage of each activity. Everything was very organized.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What I liked most is their flexibility. I only began working at this company recently and had moved in from another country, so the English language is a barrier. The Fingent team was very supportive and keen to help me by talking slowly or repeating themselves. I’m really grateful to them for that. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Since we don’t have a development team in the company, we tried to create a tech environment where they could work with us internally. We created premises and repositories on our servers where they could put all the assets, code, and documentation that they created.

At the beginning of the process, however, they began creating on their side and were uploading their output to our site. It wasn’t really bad, but I would have liked for them to work in our environment all the time. This would’ve made it easier for us to understand the processes and the problems ahead of time, allowing us control of the code as well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They are keen to finish and accomplish all that has been planned at the beginning. Not all companies are like this, so I would recommend working with Fingent. They are committed to delivering your product.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of Technology and Innovation for Impact XM. We’re an experiential marketing agency with a focus on B2B and B2C events, conferences, trade shows, exhibits, permanent installations, and more. We do a lot of digital work as well, especially over the course of the last year with the pandemic affecting the live events industry and a shift towards all-virtual events. We've been in business for about 45 plus years, and have a broad client portfolio that spans many industries.  

I'm responsible for internal technology projects at Impact XM. We’re either building a system, a tool, or some sort of process for people to accomplish their work done inside the company. I also have a mandate to be involved with our external innovation, which revolves around devising new products and services or enhancing our client offerings.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fingent?

Two companies had just merged through acquisition, and each used two different project systems and accounting platforms, we brought everything together under one roof, using a homegrown project management system fed by a Zoho CRM instance.  Our Project Management tool captures time, materials and cost data, and passes it through to our Dynamics SL Instance.

After about 6–9 months, we realized that the system wasn't built the way that we wanted it to be. There were limitations around handling multiple currencies that caused issues because we have facilities in both Canada and the US and project costs are in multiple currencies. The user interface also had its own issues, so the entire system was unreliable.

We made a go of it with the existing system for some time before deciding to find a partner to stabilize the situation and ultimately look into building a new solution.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They started with discovery to learn all about the challenges we were having with the existing system, which we’d already collected a fair amount of data on. They had to peel the layers back like an onion because the person who developed it and built it was no longer with our company and hadn’t left any documentation. After we’d stabilized the existing platform sufficiently, we started building the new system.  

Fingent delivered a custom CRM built to our specifications for our frontend sales and marketing teammates. The CRM passes data to our Project Management tool, which is also custom-built for our business.  Further, we built a time-tracking tool that enables everyone to input time and materials against their projects. It’s all connected to our Microsoft Dynamics SL platform, which brings all of our tools under one roof.

What is the team composition?

Our team scales in size. During the initial discovery, there was a business analyst and a project manager. There weren’t as many people involved on the coding side in the frontend analysis phase, but we added them quickly when necessary. We ended up working with database resources, developers, coders, and an SL specialist. Our team hit full strength — about ten people — around the tail-end of 2019 and early 2020.

How did you come to work with Fingent?

We found several development partners with some familiarity of our industry and the unique challenges we face along with some that have knowledge of Microsoft Dynamics. After interviewing 3–4 different development partners, we selected Fingent.

A large part of our search revolved around finding someone who could help us understand how our current system worked behind the scenes, pick it apart, and improve it. Additionally, we were looking for a vendor that has boots on the ground in our time zone. While Fingent’s development team is based in India, their account folks, like Ravi (VP), are based in the US. Their development team also alters their schedule to overlap with our work hours. Fingent seemed to care about the issue we were trying to solve and came in with a fully baked presentation about how they approach the problem.

How much have you invested with them?

The initial project build cost about $850,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We signed the contract with Fingent in February 2019, and the work is ongoing, though we launched the platform two weeks ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The three major tools that our employees use daily are all connected via the same interface, which is a huge success. I also get a lot of anecdotal feedback from people about how fast and responsive the system is. Enhancements and features are being implemented very quickly, and people feel that they’re being heard by our team and Fingent. If we ask for something, then it will be delivered. They've been terrific in that respect.

Along the way, Fingent made enhancements and improvements to the way that we do business. Not only have they helped us with building that tool, but they’ve also collaborated with us as we streamline the way that we do work.

Of note is that we made the transition between the two business systems while business was in-progress, and did not have any downtime or negative impact on getting work done.

How did Fingent perform from a project management standpoint?

We use a task management system that tracks tickets as they move through the funnel of either developing new functionality or addressing a bug — both are tracked on the same OpenProject platform.

We meet three times a week. One instance is a project performance review where we look at each of the core areas of the project and evaluate them on a three-color basis (green, yellow, and red) regarding budget and progress. Over the course of the entire project, nothing has really fallen behind in either measure. Any delays have been due to internal changes on our side, which can make it difficult to nail people down on a decision.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve felt that I have a real partner in this work since Fingent came in on day one with a comprehensive plan. I can call Ravi, Sam (CEO), or Steven (SVP of Sales and Marketing) on their cell phones at any time. Although their development team is in India, they're always responsive — it’s remarkable how they’re ready to connect with us at any time.

The fact that this project spanned a pandemic is a testament to the partnership that we have across organizations and borders. They’ve gone through their own struggles over there, which has helped us build a personal relationship with their team. When the economy went through a difficult downturn last year — as the live events industry was obliterated — we had to work with Fingent to scale the project back. We’d committed to an SOW that would deliver the system by August 2020 and made several financial commitments; however, they were completely understanding. They were fully committed to seeing their partnership through and getting through the work however we needed to.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There isn't much that I would ask them to improve. I would perhaps say they could more proactively forecast changes coming through. As we launched two weeks ago, a lot of the tickets coming through right now are about small bug fixes or enhancements or changes to field values. It would be helpful if they would map the feedback out in a schedule to let us know what’s coming down the pike.

Any advice for potential customers?

If you want to succeed in the way that we have, then you’ll need a key point of contact who understands your overall business challenge and try to keep that individual (or team) consistent throughout the project. The only thing that is constant is change, and that’s especially true in a growing company or during a pandemic scenario.  So, the fact that we had a consistent individual representing the project and acting as the voice to the company was very beneficial. If this individual is also capable of translating business requirements and speaking them to the development team that’s very helpful.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the head of technology at an automotive services company. We’re a large car-sharing provider.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fingent?
We were facing some development restrictions on our site. Essentially, we wanted someone to help us develop our in-house tech, IT, mobile app, and website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?
Our solutions were stretched to multiple domains. First, we started with backend development which involved React, MEAN and MERN stacks, a database, and DevOps. Then, they built the frontend using PHP, Angular, MEAN and MERN stack, and React. Next, they built the applications in React Native. Nothing was made from scratch, they modified our existing products in order to take it to the next level.

What is the team composition?
I worked directly with 8–9 people including a project manager, three developers, and a sales lead.

How did you come to work with Fingent?
They came as a recommendation from several people I know in the industry. We vetted Fingent against their competitors, and they were great in terms of experience and cost.

What is the status of this engagement?
The project was from March–December 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 
Feedback from our internal team and customers were positive. Their solutions were developed with high quality.

How did Fingent perform from a project management standpoint?
Project management was less than desirable, particularly delivery. There were constant delays and times when the project goal wasn’t met or of good quality. Fingent went out of their way to make sure everything was fixed, which resulted in add-ons to cost and time. There was a lot of back and forth in order to get to our desired end product. 

We communicated on a daily basis. The development team was great at having daily stand-ups. There was always transparency about what they were working on and what the status was. Slack was our primary method of communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?
I was very impressed with their professionalism.

Are there any areas they could improve?
The time management aspects could use some improvement. Additionally, I recommend they work on delivering a product accurately and within scope, the first time.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Have a good relationship with your project manager. A lot of the time, we felt it was easier to come directly to the top in order to get things done at the very bottom instead of directly engaging with the developers.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and director of Mohawk Day Camp — a children’s summer camp serving families in New York City, Rochester, and Connecticut.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fingent?

Our goal was to provide families with a platform to give them direct access to our staff members. We wanted to provide them with a glimpse into the camp day by creating a two-way communication platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I shared my vision and details on camp communication with them. Fingent then did all of the research into which technologies to deploy. Their team developed a custom platform that included an app for parents and an app for staff members. They built both for iOS and Android. Their team also integrated an administrative dashboard that enabled us to review all communication and posts.

Using the platform, our staff can directly message parents in group and individual chats. We can share pictures and videos, keep parents updated on any notes, and update parents on their child’s swim abilities.

After launching the platform, Fignet has continued working with us to add capabilities each year. Their team’s building a feature that allows parents to track busses through GPS.

What is the team composition?

Steven’s (Senior Vice President) our main point of contact. He manages the product, but there’s a team overseas that works on the projects too. Depending on the project’s needs, we work with 5–9 different people from Fingent.

How did you come to work with Fingent?

I posted the project to a message board and then a member of their team contacted us. Through the message board, a member of their sales team found my name and number. I liked his hustle and drive to create business. We had a conference call during which they presented a slideshow of their services. After the presentation, members of their leadership team visited our camp. The fact that their CEO came to my office was a good sign. They then started developing the app.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $150,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2018 and rolled out the platform for the summer of 2018. Our partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The platform’s an excellent selling point when families tour our camp. It presents us as more professional and supports better communication. As parents can text us, they no longer call the office. It’s now much easier for parents to reach us. It’s also easier for us to respond to parents. We’re able to give them much more information about their campers’ experiences, sending them pictures, videos, and updates.

We can view every message through the administrative dashboard, which allows us to identify any problems. I can jump into any thread and join any message exchanges between counselors and parents.

We do an end-of-camp survey each year with questions about satisfaction. Since we launched the app, satisfaction has increased by about 15%. We average anywhere between 97%–99% camper satisfaction. We also now sell out, selling out of placements in January this year.

How did Fingent perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management’s great. Fingent uses OpenProject. Communicating with them is easy. We can reach them, and they’re super responsive. When we reach camp season or have challenges, their developers work on EST even though it’s the middle of the night for them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Fingent was the most responsive of all the vendors that sent us proposals. Their team had the best handle on the technology and the direction of the project. All of it came together. Their team’s knowledgeable, responsive, and professional.

Are there any areas they could improve?

As a camp director, this was my first foray into developing a tech product. I don’t hold Fingent responsible for any bumps along the way.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Enter the project with ideas for how each stage of it should unfold. That’s more productive than trying to do everything at one time. We learned as we moved through the project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the senior director of business optimization for a local salad grower. We grow baby greens in greenhouses across the Northeast, Southeast, and Midwest and we provide those greens to major retailers in the market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fingent?

Our business is unique, so we have developed our own indicators to measure how our business is functioning. The majority of business happens at the greenhouses which is where a seed turns into a seedling and then grows in the greenhouse into a baby leaf which we harvest, pack, and then ship. To improve our KPIs, we needed to build a web app that would collect data from the greenhouses and apply analytics through machine learning and AI.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’re developing a web-based app that can be used on a tablet. At first, they created workflows, but now they’re working on implementation. The app is collecting data on our daily operations to help our supply and demand planning. It also collects data from other applications and stores information in one accessible location.

What is the team composition?

We usually work with the assigned business analyst who is our contact person. There are 7–8 developers and engineers working on the project that I don’t have contact with.

How did you come to work with Fingent?

We looked at a couple of providers who build custom web apps. We chose Fingent because they really understood our business processes and they were well-prepared. We were confident that they could handle what we were trying to do.

How much have you invested in them?

We have invested around $400,000, and we are going to invest more.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in October 2020 and the project is ongoing

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve done a really good job of building what we want. When we’ve found minor bugs, they’ve addressed them. They have even helped train our employees in order to ease the transition.

How did Fingent perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication is good. We have meetings multiple times a week, and we use email as well. I mostly deal with the business analyst, and they have done a good job of taking our information and translating that to the tech team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They definitely understand our business processes, the needs of the business, and what we are trying to do. They are very detail-oriented. From a communication standpoint, they don’t miss much.

Are there any areas they could improve?

In general, they have been really good. In normal circumstances, I would have liked to have spent more face-to-face time with them, but with the COVID-19 pandemic, it hasn’t been possible.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be precise with your needs and tell them exactly what you are looking for. They have a good team of analysts who will convert your business idea into the technical webpage or solution that you are looking for. Be thorough and detailed in explaining what you need from them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Spectrum Exchange Corporation. We’re a qualified intermediary for 1031 tax-deferred exchanges; it’s a niche industry. Basically, we’re an independent third-party corporation that helps investors in real estate defer taxes when they sell a property into a new property

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fingent?

We had a legacy software that was programmed by my father 25 years ago. We operated the software through VMware running on Windows XP. It worked but didn’t work that efficiently anymore. We decided it was a good time to finally upgrade our software. We brought on Fingent to handle this project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, Fingent worked with me to see what we were doing with our current software. Our legacy software was a stand-alone solution on the computer in our office; there was no online functionality. With their help, we were able to move to AWS so we can access our software and data from anywhere we have an internet connection.

Due to time and money constraints, there were some further developers that we postponed. Eventually, we want to add more functionality that allows clients to see what’s going on with their exchange by logging on to a site. The solution was built in a way that allows for scalability and further growth.

What is the team composition?

We worked with one main point of contact, Ravi (VP of Business Developer, Sales, & Marketing), and plenty of others; it was a fairly large team.

How did you come to work with Fingent?

Our financial advisor looked around at a few businesses primarily based in the US. Those companies were almost twice as expensive as going with Fingent.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $127,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement was from May 2020–March 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project was very successful. We can process our information, generate documents, and get our client information from anywhere as long as we have an internet connection.

How did Fingent perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication was great. We made use of OpenProject so everything we discussed was written and recorded in there. The only time there was some type of delay was when we came across something that needed fixing or there was a miscommunication of what we were asking for. Fortunately, that didn’t occur very often. We held weekly Zoom meetings and corresponded through email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Even though I’m pretty computer savvy, I was very amazed by what they managed to pull off from my description of our software. Obviously, I don’t know every intricate detail of what went on with the coding but the fact that they pulled it off so quickly and accurately — with very few issues —was phenomenal. Fingent was really on the ball. The engagement was a fairly painless process.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t be afraid to communicate. Fingent can’t fix the problem if they don’t know there is one. Be open and honest in knowing what you want.