Girnar Software (SEZ) Private Limited

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am CTO of the startup Tradepal. Tradepal is a real-time marketplace that makes it convenient to trade and exchange with other people in and around your college campus.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what reason(s) did your company hire Girnar Software (SEZ) Private Limited?

We hired Girnaz to move development of a mobile application for our product which, at that time, was web-based.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to create an iOS and Google application to allow Tradepal users to have all the functionality of our site on their smartphones.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We received very positive reviews through word of mouth from peers.

Describe the project in detail.

The app allows Tradepal users to discover listings like textbooks, study groups, events, tickets or rideshares. When you find what you need, you send an in-app chat to your counterpart to ask questions, make arrangements and close the deal-all within the mobile application.

What was the team composition?

We were provided with a project manager, an architect and developers/QA.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Within 3 months of application launch, we had doubled the number of web users.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was excellent. They are very responsive.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are a very responsive and responsible company. They want to do the right thing for the client. They are focused on delivering a product that meets the requirements.

BACKGROUND

Please provide a description of your company. 

The company, Care Dynamics, started informally 10 years ago and registered formally in 2007. We operate in the health care space, and develop supply chain planning software specifically for the tactical planning horizon, essentially to manage patient logistics in the health care industry, mainly in hospitals.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I am the CEO and co-founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Girnar Software?

Originally we developed our software in-house, but as the business grew we realized we did not have the capacity and capability to do everything ourselves. It was at that time that we decided to outsource to Girnar, which was just starting out as a company.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

At first, we needed them to rewrite the prototype software we had, in order to make it a more professional and maintainable product. Our software has three main modules. One is a business intelligence module, the second is a forecasting module, simulative in nature, and the third is an optimization engine. Today, they do pretty much everything, in all three modules, besides functional specification and high-level design. Their work started gradually in the beginning, with our people more involved but, very quickly, we adopted a position where they took over most of the software development and maintenance processes. We’ve retained the responsibility for the actual installation of the software at our client hospitals, also due to the strict data-security restrictions in the health care industry, as well as for first-line support.

When outsourcing a project, one needs to be very careful when defining requirements, and specifying timelines and deliverables. To this end, our head of R&D [research and development] spends about half of his time in India working with Girnar. Although we’ve learned to trust them even with high-end projects, we still find it better that our VP R&D is hands-on with the developers on the ground.

What was your process for selecting Girnar Software with which to work?

We looked at developers both in the Netherlands, where we are based, and in India. We identified Girnar as a candidate because one of our founders had a prior business relationship with the founders of Girnar.

We quickly realized that it’s not easy to find people who have skills in optimization as well as standard software programming, and this differentiated Girnar from other companies. Through the years, we’ve looked around at possible alternatives, but we still need someone with expertise in both of those fields. There, Girnar kept differentiating themselves in the outsourcing marketplace, certainly in India.

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

The actual budget is commercially confidential, as you can imagine. But, to give you a sense of the size of the engagement, we work with a dedicated team of six to eight people from Girnar, who are working full time on our projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the results of the project?

Our work with Girnar began in 2007 and is still ongoing, which speaks for itself. Thus far, the results have been very positive.

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

We have metrics for various elements, QA [quality assurance] issues, failures, new releases, customer complaints, and response time. I can’t provide you with exact numbers but, in most of our scorecards, Girnar is hitting the benchmarks we have set.

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

They can provide know-how in areas that you don’t usually see in India, like developing and maintaining complex optimization models. I could probably find a developer to do the same work in Europe, but overall I could not find anyone who would offer me the same value for my money as I get with Girnar.

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?

If I talked to you two years ago, I would probably have said yes. This is a very large engagement and we had our share of problems around communication and project management issues. However, I think we’ve found the sweet spot in terms of communication, and I feel very comfortable with the current management of the team in Jaipur.

BACKGROUND

Please provide a description of your company. 

We’ve been in business for about 20 years and are headquartered in Ottawa, Canada. We specialize in consumer products related to graphics, photo editing, video editing, and digital media. During the last five to 10 years, we’ve expanded into different areas and acquired a variety of companies such as WinZip and Roxio. Recently, we’ve been working on products for the gaming industry; we’re developing some software that can record your game play on a console or PC, and then edit those videos and share with social media platforms.

What is your position?

I'm the vice president of operations. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenges were you trying to address when you first approached Girnar Software?

Our goal was similar to others who go overseas for IT [information technology] services. We lacked the skills and manpower to handle the variety of projects we were faced with, and we needed a partner who would provide high-quality services at an affordable price. They initially helped to implement our e-commerce strategy through some SEO [search engine optimization] work on the back-end of our website, but we’ve been so satisfied with their work that they are now working on multiple projects for us.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

The scope of their work is significant. They started with marketing and SEO work that really improved the ROI [return on investment] on our Google AdWords’ campaign. After the success of this project, they began assisting our developers working with the regular C++ Microsoft technologies, and we began outsourcing projects that are really touching into the actual heart of the code working on some performance improvements, or pure bug fixes depending on the volume of items that we come up with. 

The third vertical they’ve recently been engaged in is full-scale product development. We recently launched a completely new product called zip share, which is an online, secure file sharing service. It’s integrated with the major cloud services such as Google Drive and Dropbox. It’s an in-between cloud file management layer, designed to manage all of the cloud space with one application. So, except for the ideation, which is ours, everything else came from Girnar. 

What was your process for selecting Girnar Software with which to work?

We were looking for an outsourcing partner, and I had a prior working relationship with the CEO [Amit Jain] of Girnar, so I approached them first.

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

We’re spending several hundred thousand dollars a year with Girnar.

When was the project completed?

Our relationship with them is ongoing. We currently have three or four active projects with Girnar. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the quality of their performance?

With their expertise, they were able to make the file sharing application I mentioned, from the initial stages to deployment within two weeks. They could probably make it about 60 times faster than our team could have because they have incredible resources and a deep understanding of the coding required. 

When working with them, is there anything that you would consider unique or special about their approach that distinguishes them from other vendors?

In terms of cost and speed, they’re nearly impossible to beat. They give you an initial well-written estimate of cost, and they stick to it. I’ve never seen them deviate from those, so they definitely help us control costs quite a bit. As for speed, they work incredibly hard to ensure they meet deadlines. We’ve never had a scheduling problem with them.

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?

Initially, there was a struggle with communication, more of a language barrier than anything. However, they’ve drastically improved in that area in the last couple of years, so I would say it’s not much of a problem anymore.

What advice would you give future clients? Is there anything you wish you’d known before going into the project with Girnar Software?

I can’t really think of anything. I’m very satisfied with the work they’ve done for us.

BACKGROUND

Please provide a description of your company. 

We are a startup based in Seattle, Wash. We focus on social media marketing and how brands can take advantage of social networks. We work with brands to identify high-quality content in those networks, which can be easily used in their marketing programs. 

What are your role and responsibilities?

I’m the President and co-founder of ReadyPulse.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Girnar Software?

We were looking for a company that could add significant back-end capability to our website but, as a startup, we were looking for someone who would work with our budget.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

We initially brought them in for software engineering, but we’ve also worked with them on some SEO [search engine optimization] projects.

What was your process for selecting Girnar Software?

Before we started with Girnar, we worked with several freelancers, but we couldn’t predict the quality of their work. So, we were really looking for a firm who had the established infrastructure and resources to assist us. We reached out to Girnar initially because one of my co-founders went to school with the founder of Girnar [Amit Jain].

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

This information is confidential, but I can say that their prices seem to be lower than many of their competitors. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the results of the project?

We’ve been very satisfied with the work they’ve done for us, and the relationship has been ongoing for almost three years now. Ever since the initial phase was completed, we have been able to treat them essentially as members of our team.

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

Based on the quality of work they provide and the prices they charge, I would say that, during the course of our relationship Girnar has helped us to save close to $250,000.

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

They do a lot of different things well, which is a rare attribute in any company. They have strong SEO and Web service experience. With Girnar, you can tap into their other key providers that are running large-scale solutions. We can talk to their experts whenever we want, which has been really helpful. 

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?

Given the fact that they’re very focused on Web-based services, they should probably think about offering a similar graphic design capacity. For that, we had to go somewhere else.