GURU Technologies

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at CrewTracks, a construction company. We provide easy-to-use software for construction companies to track employee hours, manage projects, schedule crews, and generate cost reports, helping teams work more efficiently and make informed decisions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with GURU Technologies?

We needed help building a digital job site for construction companies.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

GURU Technologies has helped us create an all-in-one solution for construction companies. Our platform is known for its time tracking portion, but it’s so much more than that. From time tracking to production, digital fillable documents to notes and photos, CrewTracks is the go-to solution for effective construction management.GURU Technologies has built mobile and web apps for construction companies to use. These apps allow companies to manage their field crews. The team has built the web app, the mobile apps for Android and iOS, and the cloud databases and infrastructure for handling multi-tenant in one system with high security, scalability, and redundancy requirements.Most of the critical functions of the construction industry happen “in the field,” far away from a computer and in the midst of dirt and movement, sometimes in very rural areas with no internet infrastructure. Office administrators often struggle to get timesheets and other paperwork from the field crews in a timely manner. CrewTracks helps facilitate real-time communication between the field and the office so construction companies can run their payroll and accounting accurately and manage their projects proactively.To meet these complex needs for CrewTracks, GURU Technologies has managed complex data structures and relationships and represented these relationships to the user in a straightforward and easy-to-use interface. The mobile application is fully functional offline for shared data and seamlessly integrates the data when it comes back online. The team has also handled the transition from a document and paper-based information management system to a software management system.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with 10 teammates from GURU Technologies.

How did you come to work with GURU Technologies?

They were referred to me. I chose them over other options because they had high ratings, were close to my geographic location, had pricing that fit our budget, had a great culture fit, offered good value for the cost, and had company values that aligned with ours.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project in January 2015, and it's ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

GURU Technologies’ development of the CrewTracks apps has successfully addressed the complex needs of construction companies. The team has created a user-friendly interface for web and mobile platforms, which simplifies data management and improves field crew coordination. Key achievements include implementing offline data synchronization, developing a sophisticated document management system, and integrating GPS for accurate geofencing.Our approach combines continuous dialogue with the product team and agile development methods, ensuring CrewTracks not only meets current requirements but is adaptable for future updates. Technological advancements have been a hallmark of this project, with transitions to Kotlin for Android and Swift for iOS, and from CakePHP to C#/.NET, and the establishment of continuous integration and deployment pipelines.CrewTracks customers are happy using the app that GURU Technologies has built for them. Some companies have saved enough money by eliminating time card fraud that they’ve been able to hire two new employees. CrewTracks customers are happy and excited to see what other features GURU Technologies comes out with.

How did GURU Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

GURU Technologies’ project management has been spectacular and efficient. We use agile methods to make their work more effective. This means breaking down the project into smaller parts, which allows them to be more flexible and quickly adapt to any new needs. This approach has been key in developing features like document management and using GPS tracking in the app. It has helped us regularly check and improve our goals and what they deliver, ensuring CrewTracks is practical and up-to-date with what construction companies need.The agile approach has also made it easier to handle complex tasks, like managing custom data and creating custom forms, making sure their solutions are both creative and useful. Over the course of development, GURU has written automated test suites to help catch regressions and pipelines to run the tests automatically and deploy the CrewTracks application.They’ve also set up CI/CD pipelines to utilize infrastructure-on-demand for provisioning testing server resources. On the mobile side, they’ve established a process for distributing work-in-progress app builds to the product team to facilitate a tight feedback loop. As part of their sprint cycle, they release updated versions of the CrewTracks mobile apps every two weeks.GURU Technologies has implemented a feature flagging system with LaunchDarkly that enables them to deliver completed portions of work-in-progress features and gradually roll out completed features. To adapt to the evolving tech landscape and facilitate long-term maintainability, their team has upgraded the CrewTracks technology stacks across all platforms.For Android, they’ve moved the software from Java to Kotlin (piece by piece until no Java code remains), enhancing app safety and efficiency, and integrated Google’s Compose UI for streamlined UI development. For iOS, they’ve transitioned from Objective-C to Swift in a complete rewrite, utilizing SwiftUI for its expressive syntax and responsive layout capabilities.On the backend, they’ve moved from CakePHP to Angular and C#/.NET, combining Angular’s dynamic single-page application framework with .NET’s scalability and security. These updates ensure that our client’s technology remains cutting-edge, efficient, and robust.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Guru Technologies combines deep technical expertise with strong business understanding. They don’t just build software, they solve the right problems.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing significant. Communication, delivery, and quality were all consistently strong throughout the engagement.