Green Apex Technolabs

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.