Green Apex Technolabs

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of a startup company that increases conversions on websites. For that, we have a SaaS-based tool through which marketers can engage conversions throughout their entire marketing funnel on their website.  

What challenge were you trying to address with Green Apex Technolabs?

We hired Green Apex to augment our existing team members. We were trying to increase the size of our technical team.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our technical stack is Java-based. The backend is written in Java EE, and the frontend is written in HTML5, CSS3. When we found Green Apex, we were looking for developers. Basically, we started with the backend developer, and then we hired a frontend developer. Their resources work as an extended and fully integrated team for us, and we are continuously incorporating new features.

How did you come to work with Green Apex Technolabs?

About a year ago, I posted my requirements on Upwork and some other sites. Green Apex applied, and we selected them after shortlisting everyone and giving them a sample project. We were impressed by their technical skill sets, and we knew they could complete the task. They emphasized timely delivery and communicated well. We were confident that their team would abide by our schedule of work, so we started the engagement.

How much have you invested with Green Apex Technolabs?

We’ve invested about $10,000 with Green Apex.

What is the status of this engagement?

I think we started working with Green Apex around February 2016. Our work together is ongoing, and their resources continue to augment our internal team.

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

Internally, we monitor adherence to deadlines and project execution every month on a 10-point scale. If an engagement is below 5, it’s bad. If an engagement is 7 or 7.5, it’s average. If it’s above 7.5, the engagement is going according to plan. I think Green Apex has been able to meet 7.5 or 8 every month.

How did Green Apex Technolabs perform from a project management standpoint?

Green Apex works well with our current team members, even though we’re located in different parts of India. We’ve had a good experience working with them. They’re punctual and positive about the work they’re doing. We consistently meet internal timelines for project execution lifecycles. We maintain management control in-house as a team.

We typically use Trello, and our technical team uses GitHub, Bitbucket, and JIRA to communicate and track projects.

Are there any areas Green Apex Technolabs could improve?

Green Apex is still growing, so I think they should include more people with other skills on their team. For example, we’re looking to augment our testing team, and I have been assured that they will also be building their testing team. Other than that, Green Apex delivers good results.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Green Apex Technolabs?

Whenever you want to outsource work, have clear requirements and resource guidelines. If these items are made clear in the beginning, the engagement will go as expected. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and CEO of a Dallas-based software startup. We have a product lifecycle management software solution that helps small and mid-sized electronic, mechanical, engineering, and manufacturing companies streamline their product workflow and bring their products to market faster.

What challenge were you trying to address with Green Apex Technolabs?

We were mainly looking for help with backend database development for our application. We have a separate set of developers that handle our frontend stack. We were looking for someone who had worked on AWS [Amazon Web Services] before.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We wanted someone qualified to tackle an AWS platform project. We used Green Apex to build our MVP because we were just getting started as a software startup. We’re a bootstrapped company, so cost was a major factor in our evaluation process.

How did you come to work with Green Apex Technolabs?

We were looking for a good team of software developers to develop our core product. Our evaluation criteria were based on the skill set of the development teams, how well they were able to communicate verbally as well as in writing, how quickly they would deliver the deliverables, and the cost. We found Green Apex through Upwork. We evaluated about 3–4 different teams. We gave them a 1-week project to evaluate their skill set in light of the criteria we had chosen. Green Apex was the most qualified option for our project.

On top of our AWS needs, our backend database is MongoDB. Through the qualification process, we found out that Green Apex has a good group of developers that are familiar with MongoDB. Our backend is built on Java, so we also needed to have strong Java developers on the team. Green Apex’s core focus is the Java platform.

Communication was really important, but the cost and their skill set were also vital for us. My co-founder has been a software development guy for a long time, so he knew the right questions to ask to find out their skillset. Green Apex definitely had the technical chops to take on our project.

How much have you invested with Green Apex Technolabs?

We have spent between $10,000 and $50,000 with them. Our first 2 or 3 projects were fixed-cost. We listed our detailed requirements and would decide payment terms up front. Once we trusted each other, we moved outside of Upwork, and we now deal with them directly.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in June of 2016, and the work is ongoing.

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

We’ve had a few challenges, but I think some of those are related to our totally different time zones. We did have to work through some of the process-related issues in terms of how to communicate in light of the time zones. We are happy we chose Green Apex for our backend development.

Our product just came out 2 months ago, so we don’t have any metrics yet. We’ve engaged with 3 of our development partners in the past, and we’re still building some features. In general, our customers have shared good feedback in terms of the quality and stability of the software. Of course, we’re always trying to improve bugs. We have ongoing evaluations with a couple of customers. Our success will always be measured by the number of customers we have. But, that’s not a developer problem, that becomes a sales problem.

In terms of measuring the developer’s performance, moving to JIRA for the project management has really helped our communication with the team. We get real-time feedback in terms of fixing an issue and setting delivery expectations. In the past, we’d have to call or send an email to get that kind of data. Having this process has made the collaboration with them very simple. Nilay is a co-founder of Green Apex, and he knows JIRA really well. With these tools, you can quickly ramp up, and he helped us do that quickly.

How did Green Apex Technolabs perform from a project management standpoint?

For the first 6 months or so, our project management was ad hoc. We would log issues in GitHub, and Green Apex would disposition them. There was no formal project management that both of us used together. We knew that they used JIRA internally to manage their software projects and their sprints, but we did not have access to their JIRA 6 months ago. We realized we needed better project management to be able to plan our project deliveries. We decided to use their JIRA to get visibility into the exact estimates they have for every feature as well as the delivery times. We manage our sprints, requirements, documents, and confluence in JIRA.

Now, the project management is adequate, but there are definitely areas to improve. We have an open line of communication and provide feedback both ways on the project.

What did you find most impressive about Green Apex Technolabs?

They’re pretty good about pushing back when needed. They don’t just take whatever we tell them, which I appreciate.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Green Apex Technolabs?

For people who are looking for new software development teams, you have to do your due diligence. What may have worked for us may not necessarily work for everyone else. You have to find out what skill set you’re looking for and how well you’re able to communicate. The language barrier definitely can be a challenge sometimes. I grew up in India, so I can kind of understand some of the nuances with different accents. That could be a challenge for someone who’s not really familiar with that kind of communication.

In terms of quality, you have to understand the project manager and the developers. Typically, a lot of the communication does not happen with management when the product development starts; instead, you’re talking with the actual developers. We have a pretty solid working relationship even at the developer level with Green Apex.

You also need to know the right questions to ask. We had a challenge initially because a developer left the company. I’d recommend asking Green Apex or any other team how happy their developers are with them and how long they have been on the team. If the average lifespan of every engineer in the company is less than a year, that does not bode well for the software development company. Green Apex has had the same developers for the last 4 or 5 years.