GP Solutions

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director of Operations for a Central American Destination Management Company (DMC).

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GP Solutions, and what were your goals?

We hired GP Solutions to help us manage all of our bookings throughout the country - lodging, transfers, tours, and other services, as well as easily communicating with our partners and suppliers. The company grew and could no longer supported with the old system.

SOLUTION

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

We found GP Solutions through researching companies that provided logistical services for DMCs. We decided to go with GP Solutions over other options based on their prompt responses and willingness to go above and beyond to help us make sure our needs and customizations were met.

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

GP learned about our system and process needs. They then walked us through how to set up every step of the system, ensuring we knew how to input the information and utilize the automation features. Anytime we needed additional customization or had any questions, they were ready and willing to assist.

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

We have one primary account contact, but could very easily reach out to the accounting or business development team. We also have access to a help portal where any questions we have can be submitted 24/7 and answered in a timely manner.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were very successful in managing our bookings and automating our processes. Due to the ease of managing our clients and suppliers, we were able to expand our outreach and find new clients/bookings.

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

The project management style is great. We are easily able to communicate with all team members and get our questions answered in a timely manner. They are always willing to go above and beyond to ensure we get what is needed. Due to time zone differences, we mostly communicate via email, but are also able to use virtual meetings and their help portal.

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

Our team really appreciates the help portal. We are able to easily submit questions and concerns. The portal also has the ability to share with query with our entire time so we can all easily track responses and solutions.

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

I do not have any recommendations for improvements.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Managing Director of the OTA. We sell all types of travel products to our destination.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GP Solutions, and what were your goals?

We wanted to build the first locally based comprehensive booking platform for our destination. As we are a small resort destination there are some specifics that we needed to have included in our technological capabilities that aren't as common. We hired GP to provide us with the system to do this and to complete all the customizations required to complete our goals.

SOLUTION

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

We went online and to be honest, their capabilities compared to what we needed, stood out above all the others we shortlisted. We liked the response time from our first inquiry to all of the communication in that beginning process. They made us feel very comfortable and that we could totally trust them. We also reached out to some of their existing clients who reinforced their performance.

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

Once we were fully signed up we had a meeting with our Customer Success Manager to review the system and the customizations that we needed. We identified the scope of the initial works and had estimates and timelines prepared for each and then we started from there. The platform we were using wasn't meant specifically for our business, but the team at GP worked with us to customize it to fit. It also gave us enough room for future expansion.

Because of this we needed a few API expansions on their current system as well as new integrations for connected partners. GP was responsible for back end of our system and we customized the front end user and supplier interfaces. They were there to guide us with the API integrations and anything else that we needed.

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

Our customer success manager was our primary contact but there were developers and even our initial business development manager who have been with our project continuously.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One of the comments that stood out since our launch is that everything felt so seamless that many people think we integrated into third party API and that is wasn't our own platform with directly contracted products.

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

Their project management style is truly top notch. We have a Skype chat direct to our Customer Success Manager which works well for us given our time differences. We are about 7 hours behind. What this means is that when we are now starting the day, they are almost done but she works in such a way the she is still available to us live.

We get a weekly update report to keep us abreast of where project timelines are and also to remind us of items that are deliverables to GP from our end. I think the most important thing is that they are very good at managing expectations so that we are always on the same page.

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

We're impressed with their willingness to always find a way to make things happen. We definitely requested some peculiar functionality for our side of the world and sometimes it required customizations but other times it just required us to use the existing system in alternate ways than it had been used before. It never felt like they were just trying to sell us features just because.

It is a very honest relationship we have with our team at GP and they really do feel like an extension of our own company. This isn't something you find every day.

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

Nothing that I can think of at this time. Even if there was, they probably found a way to fix it quickly so that it didn't even matter.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder and managing partner of tripdaze.com, an online travel agency established in 2017. We specialize on hotel

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GP Solutions, and what were your goals?

I had an existing website that was buggy and lacked a lot of functionality. After researching and interviewing more than 10 tech companies, the decision was made to go with GP Solutions.

SOLUTION

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

The decision was initially made based on one of our supplier's recommendation. After few preliminary discussions with their management team, the decision was easy. The GP Solution is one of the most professional partner we had the opportunity to work with.

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

The website was built from the ground-up using mainly node.js and quasar framework, without giving to many details. We used an agile approach with a constant dialog and real-time feedback.

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

We have a dedicated project manager and 2 full-stack developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are still in the development stages, so it's hard to provide any measurable in terms of numbers. However, the main goal was to create a website that is easy to navigate and that follows the latest advances in web development, which we believe was achived.

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

The project manager was very meticulous and task oriented. We used the agile approach with direct communication and real-time feedback.

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

They are very open/honest and professional.

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

I can't think of anything that I would improve.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

The field of Cosmos Travel competence includes the marketing of Russian tourist products and services, as well as the organization of services for foreign tourists and businessmen in Russia. I'am the CIO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GP Solutions?

We needed to develop a design for our website.

SOLUTION

How did you select GP Solutions and what were the deciding factors?

We have known this company for a long time. GP is a leader and professionals in the field of information systems development in tourism.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

There were several stages in our project. At the beginning, we estimated the time and financial costs. Then we signed the contract. After that, GP developed 4 design options. We discussed them internally and chose the best one. GP provided us with the terms of reference for programmers and all the design source materials.

How many resources from the GP Solutions team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with 5 employees (2 analysts, 2 designers and a project manager)

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

At the moment we are still developing our website with the GP design in mind. It's too early to talk about success, but we are sure that this will be a very good site.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The interaction was very effective! We had two phone calls every week + a telegram chat. All issues were resolved very quickly, very productively and very politely.

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

GP understood us from the first word. They worked very quickly, gave valuable advice, and listened attentively to us.

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

I don't even know :) Perhaps not. Everything was perfect.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Start up online travel agency

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GP Solutions, and what were your goals?

We hired GP to use their template and integrate to 3 APi in travel mainly air, hotel and activities.

SOLUTION

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

The main and only factor is the professionalism of the staff. Most companies have the same product but lack proper commuication.

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

We had a kick off meeting with the staff and implementation team and simultaneously with the sales manager. Once this done they later sent schedule and time frame with action points.

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

4 people, sales manager, project manager, owner, it specialist

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I would say all the deliverables were met as we plan to build out more of the site with them in the future as we are on a tight budget. With travel planning to roar back in 2022 and beyond we plan to continue to expand with gp

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

Weekly google meet calls and whatsapp updates

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

The team is awesome. They really wanted the job to be done perfectly and not just sell you box.

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

main are of improvement i would say is the generic help desk after the implementation is done

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of engineering for a company that does digital contracts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with GP Solutions?

We needed a few key resources to respond to the demand for our software.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

GP Solutions’ expertise revolves around knowing the internal workings of Salesforce, such as customizing and mapping objects, as well as implementing a two-way integration with our software. In addition, they’re spearheading our security listing with Salesforce, and their Java developer is providing us with custom implementation and features for our clients.

They’re also using React on the frontend development.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with three people on this project.

How did you come to work with GP Solutions?

When I joined, they were already introduced to the CTO of our company.

What is the status of this engagement?

The ongoing partnership started in December 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve delivered a lot of features for us, and their Salesforce resources have helped our clients integrate with our software. I don’t have the hard stats for their impact but they’ve completed a number of different features in the last year.

How did GP Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We typically communicate through Slack and email. We have monthly meetings that are more regular, just to stay in touch with the developers for any questions. We work in a friendly environment and all the developers I manage are comfortable talking to me. Occasionally, we’ll have calls to see if we need more help in other areas of the business.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m impressed by how friendly and honest they are. GP Solutions and the developers they found for us are extremely dedicated, and it’s been a real pleasure working with them. They’re also very professional and I feel great working with them.

Moreover, they’ve been very honest with us in terms of market rates. I tried to look at other vendors for comparison’s sake because one of my initiatives was to see how we can revamp engineering and staffing. When I did my research, I actually found out that their prices were slightly lower than the market rate, which was a great find at the time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. Everything’s going well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

GP Solutions is very dedicated to ensuring that their resources work out well, so it’s good to have an open line of communication at least once a month. They’re extremely friendly and honest.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of projects and e-business for a travel company. I’m responsible for all our external partnerships as well as internal project management.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with GP Solutions?

We were looking for a new technology partner for all our upcoming web projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We needed them to design a totally new backend for our website. We wanted something we could scale up and give to the different divisions of our company. Along with two of our team members, they completed this portion of the project. After doing so, they handled frontend development for the site. The new solution was built on Kubernetes and utilizes Prime and Java.

What is the team composition?

On average, we have 10 people working for us. We have backend developers, frontend developers, a QA professional, and an HTML CSS developer.

How did you come to work with GP Solutions?

I wasn’t directly involved with selecting them. However, I know it was important to us to find a company operating in Europe with strong English skills and a specialization in travel.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent almost $500,000 on the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together on the initial project from January 2019–December 2020. We’re now working together on a new project which should finish by the end of April 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of their work is perfect. In the four months I’ve worked with them, they’ve been quick to allocate new resources to us as needed. They deliver high-quality work and clearly care about all our needs. Metrics-wise, it’s been hard to track their impact due to the lack of interest in travel due to the pandemic. However, there hasn’t been a huge drop in conversion since the end of the project.

How did GP Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

They have daily standup meetings with us, which has been great. When we need something from them, we get a quick response. Any issues that arise are fixed as soon as possible. They put a project manager in place on their end, which has helped everything run smoothly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their expertise in travel-oriented development and their team’s wide range of skills has been huge for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Engage their people as soon as possible within your project timeline. They have a fantastic level of expertise on all development fronts that will help your project get moving quickly.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of Piprate. Piprate gives companies in the reinsurance space a way to share data that creates trust, accountability, and transparency. We do this by providing blockchain-backed data wallets and APIs to enable secure transfers and complete data traceability between business partners.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GP Solutions?

We contracted with GP Solutions for the development of our core product. This includes backend and frontend development.

What were your goals for this project?

We are working on an industry proof-of-concept with very tight deadlines. We had to build the business part of the application from scratch, using a programming language and technologies that the team wasn't familiar with.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We met a representative of GP Solutions in Dublin during her trip to Ireland. With ample options for outsourcing companies on the market, establishing a personal connection greatly helped us to select the right vendor.

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

The nature of the project is highly confidential, but I can share the largest obstacle we have overcome: we had a requirement to use Clojure as the main implementation language. It's very hard to find developers with proven experience with Clojure. GP Solutions helped us to find two developers who managed to learn Clojure within a very short timeframe, which helped us meet the project deadline.

What was the team composition?

We had two full-time frontend developers and one part-time DevOps specialist. Architecture and project management functions were done by the core team in Dublin.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have received positive feedback from the clients about the fact that we managed to complete the project on time. Our solution makes insurance data sharing significantly more secure and efficient, and it contributes to compliance initiatives.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project was managed by our core team in Dublin. We had a daily standup each morning to coordinate daily tasks, which proved to be an effective arrangement. Our product wouldn’t have been possible without their dedication and willingness to work more hours when necessary.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

There were no surprises. It was easy to agree to terms, they conduct a simple process for billing, they are organized in their time management, and the developers are very professional and accommodating.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

It's not a criticism toward the developers we work with, but, generally, a high level of English proficiency is a critical success factor.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We build web platforms for publishing companies. I'm the chief technology officer of this company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with GP Solutions?

In our company, we have an existing solution and a development team of our own. We deal with a lot of backend stuff that we manage internally, and we work with frontend developers using AngularJS or React. For the frontend part, we mostly work with contractors that give us solutions. We outsource certain aspects of the work we do to GP Solutions. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

It's full frontend development, working on both ReactJS and Angular 1.6 and 2. The framework depends on which platform they are working with. For the three frameworks, they were really perfect in working with this solution. In frontend development, the developer has to be very proactive about UI and UX, especially since the specification is not always great. In our case, the specification is not given by a designer. We were working mostly on technical products such as an analytics platform. Our platforms are mostly made for other businesses and not for customers. We don't need to design perfect solutions with the interfaces, but we still need something that is quite beautiful. The developer we have from GP Solutions is really great about providing efficient, workable designs.

We have two developers from GP Solutions, but the second one is working on a project that I am not managing directly. I know that the person managing him is satisfied, which is also why I wanted to give a review of GP Solutions.

How did you come to work with GP Solutions?

We found GP Solutions through a woman working in IT HR in Belarus. When I told her that I was looking for new developers, she advised me to go to GP Solutions. We’ve worked with various suppliers in countries like Vietnam, India, France, Ukraine, and Belarus. We have good experience in this area.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started at the end of December, but the developer wasn't full-time, so we fully started in January. We are currently still working together. One of the projects is finished now, but there are still new projects in progress. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I think the best indicator is their cost compared to the quality of work and the environment of the developers. Paying a range between €200 and €300 [$215 and $322] per day of work is really cheap compared to our options in Western Europe, South Korea, or Japan. The difference is they're very expensive, and most of them don't have a great environment for the project. Our return on the cost is really great.

The quality of the developers doesn't really depend on the quality of the company such as GP Solutions. In their case, I had a great relationship with their HR manager. That's much better than what I've seen in the past with other companies. Then, I brought their developer on board. I'm really lucky that I have the perfect developer right now. He is highly skilled in frontend development, has a good level of knowledge outside frontend (backend, network) too, is flexible, and is very proactive.

How did GP Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

Their HR manager understands our needs. I think that's really a plus compared to other suppliers. Each time there is a problem or a specific need, they try a new developer for free for a few days, and we only pay for the work if we are satisfied and want to go on with them. Proposing that kind of setup was great. We are mostly using Slack and Skype to communicate. For some projects, we're using Pivotal Tracker.

What did you find most impressive about GP Solutions?

In the case of the developer, there is definitely involvement. If he thinks that his work was not good enough for the day, he will really try to work at home and over the weekend to be able to finish the project. That's definitely not something you have with every developer.

Are there any areas GP Solutions could improve?

Frankly, I don't have any critiques so far, luckily for me. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are an online platform for curated, spontaneous weekend getaways. The idea behind our solution is making it as easy as possible for users to get information on all the possible options for the upcoming weekend at a glance in terms of destinations. Instead of endless searches for specific objectives, we provide a dynamic portfolio based on seasonality and current events that we distribute to users, customized to their location. We know that, if a user lives in Munich, they'd prefer Munich Airport as their departure point. We give them their best options within their immediate vicinity, which are bookable with the press of a single button, instead of undergoing an endless comparison and research process. We act as an online concierge service. 

I am the founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with GP Solutions?

We had the decision between building our platform in-house and contracting resources. Given the lack of affordable tech specialists in Munich and the fact that travel is a very specific industry, we talked to several companies with knowledge of the field. GP Solutions has a hub technology and inventory system available, which we could use instead of building 100 percent of our solution from scratch. We spoke to several other companies but, ultimately, chose GP Solutions because they fell in love with our project and understood it from the start. It's always important, in my opinion, that the people involved in the project actually enjoy it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

GP Solutions built our solution using a variety of technologies. Approximately 40 to 50 percent of our product is based on their platform. We have a custom backend as well as a custom front-end mobile and desktop solution. We mostly worked with PHP and HTML for custom development. Their backend solution is primarily Java-based. 

Other travel platforms build packages and sell them to anyone, no matter if they live in London or Munich. Expedia simply sells everything, giving an overload of information. We, on the other hand, have a dynamic portfolio through which anything can be thrown into the system. It will then, based on various criteria, select the best products, package them automatically and distribute them. We have 180 different packages online, each with its own sub-components. We distribute the right components to the right users based on location, preferences and other factors. We have the same amount of inventory as Expedia, but the user is not overloaded by it. The distribution of content is the most essential part of our software.

This part of our platform is in constant development. We continually add new preferences that the user can set as well as machine learning functionalities. We aim to achieve a system that learns progressively and builds packages based on user preference.

How did you come to work with GP Solutions?

We spoke to some of the largest and most commonly known providers in Germany. GP Solutions was found more by accident. We did a standard evaluation process and ultimately chose them due to their passion for the project and the fact that they made themselves available promptly. The other companies in Germany had wait times of up to six months before we could get started. GP Solutions was able to help us immediately and told us that we could scale the team as we needed. It was exactly what we were looking for.

How much have you invested with GP Solutions?

The total development cost so far has been around $280,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We initially worked on a project basis but, for the last year, we've had a fixed team at GP Solutions. The first prototype of our platform was completed in November 2015. The majority of the automation features were ready at that point. Four weeks ago [March 2015], we launched a version with a fully automated backend.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've received positive feedback for the fact that we are the first travel website to offer dynamic packages without any search fields. The front-end is completely different to any other travel site. It is more akin to a magazine. Engagement has been quite good so far. The only drawback has been that the site is members only, although memberships are free. We haven't gathered significant metrics at this point, due to the short period in which we've been on the market.

How did GP Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

They've been able to deliver work within budget and time, especially in the beginning, when we worked on the launch of our first prototype and had a clear work scope. When we entered the market, we were confronted with new challenges and feedback every day. This led to changes in scope and, inevitably, to some delays. Also, the more complex the project becomes, the more bugs we encounter.

They've used the same project management tool as us – JIRA. It was very easy to communicate and keep track of everything. The project has been great and well managed.

What did you find most impressive about GP Solutions?

I don't have prior experience with any offshore developer, so I don't have a basis for comparison. The only thing I could assume applies to GP Solutions is that they're quite devoted to the project. They feel associated with their team, which is very important. Normally, when working with an offshore IT service provider, there is a distancing that I didn't see in GP Solutions.