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    Vancouver, Canada
    778-288-0930

A Design Thinking Web & Mobile Development House

4.6
13 reviews

So many companies. How would you pick one? There is no easy way. Speak with a few. Hopefully us too. As we share a little more about us below, we wish you great success in your endeavor. 

Idyllic Software is an integrated Design and Development studio. 

We lead with Design Thinking. Our hyper-focus on user research and user-centric experience design enables us to move your product in the right direction. 

We work with high growth firms and start-ups. Apart from Design thinking, we are experts in Ruby on Rails and javascript technologies. 

We respect start-up constraints and see it as a strength for creative thinking. We've worked with several start-ups to define and launch the Minimum Viable Products. One of our Boston based startup customers raised a Series B round of funding and was valued at $60M after the launch.

We are looking for interesting business challenges. Do you have one for us? Let's talk.

READ MORE...
 
$25,000+
 
$50 - $99 / hr
 
10 - 49
 Founded
2010
Show all +
Vancouver, Canada
headquarters
  • BC Tech Hub, 887 Great Northern Way,
    Vancouver, BC BC V5T 4T5
    Canada
    778-288-0930
other locations
  • 724 Erie Street # 3
    Oak Park, IL 60302
    United States
    (312) 888-5412
  • 1724 Broadway
    Boulder, CO 80302
    United States
    (303) 408-3671
  • One Broadway,
    Cambridge, MA 02142
    United States
    (857) 919-9526
  • D-321 Neeklanth business Park, Vidyavihar West
    Mumbai, MH 400086
    India
    +919850060710
  • 505 Nyati Emporius, Baner
    Pune, MH 411045
    India
    +919850060710

Portfolio

Key clients: 

Sears & Roebuck | NTT Communications | Peapod | TRX Training | MGIEP (A UN ORG) | Founders Institute | Kabbage | Wealthbar | VerticalFox | EmpireCLS | Rain Rich Sprinklers | Schloop

Launched a Startup to Value at $60M

Launched iOS and Android applications for a Boston based startup, Bridj. The application was backed by Ruby on Rails API. Upon launch they raised a Series B round of funding to value at $60M. 

We only had 10 weeks to deliver the project which was quoted to take more than 8 months by most other companies with a cost north of a million dollars. The iOS and Android application development along with a Ruby on Rails backend took us 14 weeks to deliver and the rest was history.

Ship those Golfsticks

Provide golfers with the best rates to ship their clubs to the destination of their choice by fetching pricing information from UPS and FEDEX. Determine the best carrier for a given shipment by comparing the services offered by both carriers at runtime with an eye on maintaining business margins. Built highly accurate shipping reports for the accounting team.

Shipsticks is a Ruby on Rails shop and we leveraged caching mechanisms to repspond to user requests in less than 3 seconds.

Slam Dunk Moble Experience

Designed a food-ordering experience for NBA fans while they watch a live game at a major sports arena in the US without missing a beat of the game.

This wasn't a run-of-the-mill app that will be used while relaxing on a couch at home, or while waiting in a queue just to kill time. The app will be used inside an arena during a live game event. The arena is packed, the fans are completely engulfed in the game, are going crazy cheering the teams, the noise level is rocket high. Fans want to emotionally stay with the game. Period. So how do we craft an experience that is minimal? An experience that is non-intrusive? A customer experience that will not let fans miss even a minute of game’s play? Still, from the business point of view, we wanted the fans to place their orders to achieve the business objectives.

Built a Toll Free Exchange

We successfully delivered a toll free exchange whose customers are some of the biggest names in the industry like: Incontact, Ringcentral. Even Google ended making itself a Operator(Resporg).

This was a great example of Ruby on Rails Development for scalability for the number of calls that come during the peak hours are huge.

Founders Institute

Helped Adeo Ressi migrate the website to latest Ruby on Rails version for Fi.co.

TRX Training

We helped TRX Training employ to Browser CMS for website content management.

Reviews

4.6
13 reviews
Sort by

Routing Software Development for Telecom Company

“Idyllic can take on complex, large-scale projects and produce great results.”

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4.0

Quality: 
4.0
Schedule: 
3.0
Cost: 
4.0
Willing to refer: 
4.0
The Project
 
$200,000 to $999,999
 
2015-2016
Project summary: 

Idyllic Software provided a full suite of development services in creating a toll-free call routing web app. They scoped out database structures, UX/UI, billing/reporting features, and added a login portal.

The Reviewer
 
11- 50 Employees
 
Denver, Colorado
David Aldworth
CEO, Teliax
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

The platform met all specifications and requirements, despite significant scope creep and delays on the timeline. Open communication and excellent project management made for a smooth and collaborative process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder and CEO of Teliax Inc., which provides B2B, commercial, and wholesale phone services to enterprises, carriers, and service providers. I founded the company in 2004.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Idyllic Software?

We created a subsidiary company called the Toll-Free Exchange that introduced a novel routing methodology in the carrier marketplace, specifically for the routing of toll-free phone calls. Instead of using a traditional data point called the carrier identification code to route those calls, we introduced the ability to route calls using a RespOrg ID, which opens the market to about 300 companies for competition. We needed technology to facilitate that routing. There were complex databases, replication and redundancy scenarios, high-availability disaster recovery, and routing logic required to make this service work. We needed Idyllic to build a portal, create a billing platform, and help us with writing the software and reporting.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

It started with analysis of all the user stories. User-driven development is usually our preferred path in defining the scope of work. Once the scope was determined, we went through a budgeting process and set a timeline. We broke the work down into several individual projects, which were then to further simplified to several tasks and distributed across backend developers, UX/UI developers, analysts, QA testers, etc. The work then began, and we set milestones across the project. The project cost more and took longer than we originally planned, which is typical of a monolithic project like this. We worked through it together and they were very cooperative.

The product is a web app with a model view controller framework. They had to scope out the database structure schema, and there were countless controllers that went into the actual functionality. There was UX/UI that drove most of the data that went into the model, billing structures, and reporting features. All these feature segments were largely treated as separate projects, and they covered all tasks that come along with a complex backend system with a frontend interface.

What is the team composition?

My primary point of contact was the COO of Idyllic, and he was a fantastic communicator. There were about eight people on the team all together.

How did you come to work with Idyllic Software?

We have a team of in-house developers working for Teliax, but all of them were busy on other projects. We’ve worked with several software development companies in the past, both in-house and third parties, and given the ad hoc nature of this project, we opted for a third party. We were considering three different approaches that involved outsourced development, and it came down to a local representative the worked in business development at Idyllic. He explained their process, walked me through pricing, and was ultimately able to accommodate my budget, which is why we went with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested between $200,000 and $300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started with conversations in 2014, began to work on the platform in 2016, and we completed it in 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Idyllic can take on complex, large-scale projects and produce great results. Their team is very capable and were flexible enough to meet the needs of our project.

How did Idyllic Software perform from a project management standpoint?

Their performance was excellent. There can be language barriers and/or cultural differences when working with an offshore group, but that challenge can be overcome if you’re working with a capable project manager. They certainly delivered on that front. We communicated daily via instant messaging, phone, and email, while also interfacing with the team through our ticketing system and bug tracking system. We provided a project management system called YouTrack and adhered to an Agile methodology loosely. They had a very open-door policy, and it was always easy to communicate with them if something came up.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were able to adapt to the complexity of our project. Our developers helped them to do so, but their execution was exactly what we were looking for.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’s challenging to manage expectations regarding budgeting and timeframes, and in hindsight, that’s the piece that could’ve been handled better. However, the project was done to our satisfaction, and now we have a solid product that we’re very happy with.

Advice for potential customers?

The more time you spend planning and scoping out the project, the more successful the engagement will be.

4.0
Overall Score
  • 3.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
    We didn’t meet the timelines that were originally set.
  • 4.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
    There’s always room for improvement on value.
  • 4.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
  • 4.0 NPS
    Willing to refer

UX Research, Wireframing and Prototype for Social Media Startup

"Their approach to guiding the client to what’s really important is very impressive."

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4.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
4.5
Cost: 
5.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$50,000 to $199,999
 
Jan. 2017 - Ongoing
Project summary: 

Idyllic Software tackled a social media platform project in 3 phases, conducting in-depth market research to begin with, followed by requirements gathering and wireframing, and finally building a prototype.

The Reviewer
 
1-10 Employees
 
New York, New York
Co-Founder, Social Media Startup
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

Idyllic’s work has helped the internal team better understand market needs and how to apply that to the design and planning phases. Investors are satisfied with the quality of the product and the vast amount of research made. As consequence, further development is being discussed.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and co-founder of an online social media platform that is based only in India.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Idyllic Software?

We are a startup looking to put our products together and understand what we want to take to market. We’re working on building the product the right way and making sure we launch it right in India.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us with market research in India to better understand the users, the market, the competition, and the user personas that would potentially be using our product. The second step was around design, wireframing, logo creation, etc. The third step was having them build a prototype for us.

What is the team dynamic?

There were 4 people assigned to the project.

How did you come to work with Idyllic Software?

I met them through my network. I connected with the founder, Jinesh Parekh, and talked about my idea, vision, and strategy around the product. He shared some of his experience and work he’s done in the past, which really impressed me.

Additionally, he talked about a team that he has that helps people like me—who are looking to start up a new product—with conducting deep market research to really understand the consumer and the requirements of the market so that we can get a model first before the product is developed. I really liked that approach. Before we built the product, he highly recommended working with the team to do a good amount of market research so we understand the product, the consumers we want to build it for and the market we want to build it in. That’s one of the reasons I started working with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $50,000 and will spend more as we extend the product.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2017, and they completed the deliverables. We’re now talking about an extension for phase 3.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t launched the product yet but we hope to do so in 3–5 months. The biggest impact has been on our own team, which got a more robust understanding of how we need to go deeper into knowing the market and the users’ needs and then weave that into the product design and its features. It’s been pretty exciting for our team and our investors; they’re impressed with the quality of the product and the amount of research that has been done.

How did Idyllic Software perform from a project management standpoint?

Part of the challenge is that they’re based in India and we’re in the U.S., so we’ve had to collaborate early in the morning or in the middle of the night.

Project management has been extremely effective and efficient; we’ve used things like WhatsApp and online platforms like GoToMeeting. They use a lot of client collaboration tools which has made life easier for us. I haven’t had any issues with the time zone difference, with being able to track them down, or with getting a commitment on delivery.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their approach to guiding the client to what’s really important is very impressive, as opposed to being a firm that’s more excited about just building the product whether or not there’s a market fit. They wanted to spend a good amount of time at the beginning to make sure that they understood the users and the product, and discussed any changes to meet the goals. That approach is different from what I’ve experienced with other companies in the past and I think it will be helpful in the long run. They do a good job, and I would go back to them for additional projects.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could have better presentation skills as U.S.-based companies of the same size can market products better and make them look a lot fancier. Idyllic has all the skills, tools, and a good understanding of the process, but it would help them to build their business if they were able to market their work a little better.

4.0
Overall Score I would like to see them be a little more opinionated and bring bolder ideas to the table. That would allow us to think beyond our own experiences.
  • 4.5 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
    We had a lot of changes and things that we thought would take less time but took more, which tends to happen in this process. They were able to control the cost, so I don’t have any complaints there.
  • 5.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
    I had a fixed-price contract with them based on completing the objectives we agreed to. They delivered on that without any upcharges. The product took longer than planned but that was because we spent more time doing a little more market research.
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
    They were responsive—communication was not a challenge. They understood what I wanted and they were willing to make last-minute changes as required.
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer
    I have already referred them.

Custom Landing Page Dev for Financial Services Firm

"We were in touch with Idyllic's team daily, or almost daily, throughout the project period."

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4.0

Quality: 
3.0
Schedule: 
4.0
Cost: 
3.0
Willing to refer: 
4.0
The Project
 
Less than $10,000
 
Jan. - Feb. 2017
Project summary: 

Idyllic supplied mockups and other visual assets to develop several custom landing pages, which would be used in support of an ongoing corporate rebranding campaign.

The Reviewer
 
11-50 Employees
 
Vancouver, Canada
Chris Nicola
Co-Founder & CTO, WealthBar
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

The project team performed well under pressure and iterated effectively throughout an aggressive timeline. While Idyllic's eagerness delayed the outset, they managed to redeem themselves with a disciplined Agile approach and high-quality deliverables. 

BACKGROUND

Please introduce your business and what you do there.

We're an online wealth-management platform helping people invest and save for retirement. I am a co-founder and the chief technology officer of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Idyllic?

We had a branding project after refreshing a number of our brand assets and designs, including fonts, color schemes, and our logo. We wanted to roll that out across the site, as well as make new designs for some of our main landing pages. The core team was focused on delivering internal functionalities for clients, like account opening and other interactive features, so I looked to an external partner for a quick turnaround. We had a deadline of about a month for a number of marketing initiatives, and wanted to make sure that we were using our new branding, and not the old one.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

Idyllic was responsible for delivering a set of new landing pages which had already been designed by our internal resource. Idyllic's developer was able to turn around an initial result within a few days, based on which we iterated further during the rest of the month, in order to clean up the work. We managed to get everything delivered on time.

We primarily worked based on static image mockups created through Adobe Illustrator, accompanied by all other broken-out image assets to be used in the pages. Idyllic implemented them directly on the site. We worked with them through our GitHub repository, and Idyllic submitted pull requests which we could review. Our site was built through Ruby on Rails. We worked with one developer and a project manager from Idyllic's team.

How did you come to work with Idyllic?

I posted a general inquiry on LinkedIn, and looked at a number of options, Idyllic being one of them. I check references for most of our partner companies, and those for Idyllic specifically mentioned that they had a good turnaround in terms of results. We came to find the same thing.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The cost of Idyllic's work was around $5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Idyllic at the beginning of January 2017, and finished the project by the end of the month.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We haven't done any direct A/B testing, since we wanted to launch the new brand, and weren't going to keep the old websites up. I don't have any numerical values, and the problem with comparing the work to the past is that we launched in the middle of our busy season, so there is naturally a lot more traffic around this time of year. The landing pages have been operating without any issues.

How did Idyllic perform from a project management standpoint?

The collaboration was fairly straightforward, especially for the nature of this project. We were able to communicate specifically what we wanted, and have a back-and-forth, either through pull requests or chat, in order to convey the changes we were looking for. We were in touch with Idyllic's team daily, or almost daily, throughout the project period. We received new deliverables every one or two days, review it and request any changes or provide more details for the next page being worked on. We didn't really need to take a lot of time for each step, but we preferred to add our own notes.

We had one call over Skype, but the rest of the communication was done through Slack and GitHub Issues

What distinguishes Idyllic from other providers?

Idyllic is the first outsourcing firm I've worked with, so I don't have many comparison points. Almost all our other work has been done with people in our office, but I found it easy to collaborate with Idyllic, although the approach was different.

Is there anything Idyllic could have improved or done differently?

Our main problem off-the-bat was that Idyllic jumped into the project with a proof-of-concept, in order to show us that they could do the work quickly. We kept iterating from there. The problem with this was that the code was developed in isolation from our main style. It was a fair bit of work to bring it back to our standards. For example, Idyllic developed through Bootstrap, which we don't use. We gave them some specific instructions for how to lay out our page, since I knew that it was typical for outsourcing companies to use a more outdated style. We were using the latest browser layout styles and didn't want to suddenly have an inconsistent approach. I found that the extra work wasn't a huge problem, and we were able to get there quickly. Given that we hadn't worked together at all with Idyllic before this, getting to a result in a month seems good to me.

Do you have any recommendations for others considering working with Idyllic?

From our perspective, it's definitely easier to isolate a part of the project and work on it autonomously, since we are using external resources. This minimizes the amount of direct back-and-forth and coordination necessary for a team operating in an entirely different time zone. This is one of the only potential challenges I can identify in this area. Finding projects which can be separated from the rest of the group, in order to be worked on by an independent, is pretty important.

4.0
Overall Score
  • 4.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
    I have limited information to go on, since we didn't have a very complicated project. We were able to work on it ad-hoc, with just the information we needed. In this sense, things went well.
  • 3.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
    The cost wasn't significantly lower than it would have been using a local team, but it was definitely faster to use Idyllic. They were able to start right away, which would have been more difficult to do if using local contractors.
  • 3.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
    From a code-review and quality perspective. There were some issues which we worked through in order to provide some direction. The quality of the actual pages was good.
  • 4.0 NPS
    Willing to refer
    I would recommend Idyllic to anyone who had a similar problem to ours, and needed to get a quick turnaround.

Integrated Senior Dev Team for Fortune 500 Retail Chain

"Most developers tend to say yes to everything, but [their] team didn't shy away from telling us where they excelled."

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5.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
4.0
Cost: 
4.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$200,000 to $999,999
 
Nov. 2014 - Ongoing
Project summary: 

Idyllic's developers collaborate with an internal software group. The combined project team is building a replacement CRM with Rails/AngularJS and they plan to integrate it with an existing Salesforce solution. 

The Reviewer
 
10,001+ Employees
 
Chicago, Illinois
Karthikeyan Chikkan
Director, Software Engineering, Sears
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

The engineers at Idyllic are setting a new bar for offshore quality and reliability. They bring superior productivity and behave more like thought partners than contractors for hire. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Sears is a well-known retail chain with e-commerce, integrated retail, home, and commercial divisions. I am the director of software engineering. My role includes managing business solutions and application platforms. Specifically, I handle business solutions for the Monarch and Apparel business units. I have been with the company for a decade. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Idyllic?

We needed to find an outside Agile team that could get started as quickly as possible, so when Idyllic was hired they became an extension of our internal project team. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We are currently working with Idyllic on building an internal CRM [customer relationship management] system that will replace our technology stack. The backend uses Ruby on Rails and has direct Salesforce integration. Our pre-existing data will be migrated to the new platform.

Idyllic's team has varied from only two engineers in the beginning to 6–8 resources at peak capacity. Right now, we are using one of their lead engineers and an AngularJS developer. We have access to the entire team and we are planning to scale the team up to six developers.

How did you come to work with Idyllic?

We first engaged with Idyllic while setting up our software division in India. Idyllic went through the procurement steps of our office in India in order to become a preferred vendor. Our recruitment team evaluated candidates through a rigorous interview process, after which Idyllic was brought onboard in order to test the waters. Once we felt comfortable, we started engaging them more.

How much have you invested with Idyllic?

The cost of Idyllic's services has been between $200,000 and $300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Idyllic at the end of 2014. Idyllic's core team worked with us for 5–6 months. After our own team was stabilized, we reduced Idyllic's involvement to one lead developer. The relationship continued until the end of 2015. We have recently started a new project with Idyllic.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I was amazed at how quickly Idyllic could comprehend the business aspects of what we were building. They asked the right questions and didn't waste our time. Idyllic gave us good inputs and helped us improve the design, rather than being a run of the mill company that builds software based on the requirements given. Idyllic never behaved like a contractor. They tried to solve the problem, working with us in order to achieve our goals and making sure that the business was satisfied. Idyllic delivered good-quality code with speedy execution, usually before the deadlines. Since we pay a lot of money for contractors, I expect them to perform better than the internal team. When averaging our collaboration, Idyllic has always performed up to my standards and even exceeded them. This is the main reason we are still using Idyllic one year later. I consider them a part of the core team.

How did Idyllic perform from a project management standpoint?

Idyllic was very proactive in terms of project management. They set up daily calls, took part in our Scrum meetings, and made sure that they knew exactly what needed to be done. We were using Mingle but have moved on to JIRA. Idyllic's team always let us know proactively about the issues they were facing and what information they needed. It was easy for me to onboard Idyllic into the other departments of the company and have them work with inter-functional teams.

What did you find most impressive about Idyllic?

Most developers tend to say yes to everything, but Idyllic's team didn't shy away from telling us what they excelled at. Every one of their engineers is very smart and able to get work done.

Are there any areas Idyllic could improve?

Idyllic could do a better job of marketing their company. 

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

My tip is for clients to wear the hat of product owner while also considering the end-users of the solution. This can give a lot of self-realization around what is being built and why, providing more passion for the work. Having the right mindset will yield many opportunities for business growth and for attracting sponsors.

5.0
Overall Score
  • 4.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
    The communication is excellent, but project management could improve slightly.
  • 4.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
    Idyllic delivers excellent quality, but they have slightly above average prices compared to other vendors in our system.
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
    Idyllic is fantastic from a quality perspective.
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer
    I have recommended Idyllic.

Ongoing Dev for Transportation SaaS Provider

"They have a solid understanding of the mechanics we use."

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5.0

Quality: 
4.0
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
5.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$1,000,000 - $9,999,999
 
2012 - 2016
Project summary: 

Idyllic's engineers helped an internal dev team improve their existing asset management solution. Together, they built pricing & QR code generation features and then performed a custom Java-to-Rails migration. 

The Reviewer
 
51-200 Employees
 
Richmond, Virginia
CTO, SaaS Provider
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

Specialization is key and Idyllic has it down when it comes to Ruby on Rails. Assigned resources are both talented coders and eager problem-solvers. On only one occasion did Idyllic unexpectedly reassign a project resource, and the situation was addressed promptly. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We provide service relationship management software to the commercial asset industry, heavy-duty trucking companies, and so on. I am the chief technology officer of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Idyllic?

In 2012, we were looking to move a number of our service modules from Java to Ruby on Rails. We are a software-as-a-service provider [SaaS], so all our development work is done for internal use.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Idyllic was initially contracted for small Ruby on Rails projects involving pricing and QR [quick response] code generation functionalities. Our bigger project involving the Java migration was started once we became comfortable enough with Idyllic.

We have worked with up to 4 developers, with the typical team size being 2–3 resources. We interact with them directly, but Idyllic initially assigned a project manager. Idyllic's management team was in charge of assigning resources.

How did you come to work with Idyllic?

We were looking for internal Ruby on Rails developers. Idyllic's founder [Jinesh Parekh] contacted us, offering to take on the work. Since we were not looking for outsourcing companies, we didn't contact other companies. Since Idyllic is a specialized Ruby on Rails shop in India, we decided to try them. Their portfolio looked interesting enough, and Idyllic was competitive in terms of price.

How much have you invested with Idyllic?

The cost of Idyllic's services was around $2 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Idyllic in 2012. The collaboration ended in 2016 when we moved the project in-house.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Idyllic delivered exactly what we specified. The reason for moving the work in-house was obtaining a better integration of those service modules with our core platform. Our internal resources were in a better position to perform that integration. Idyllic's team was on par with our internal developers.

The resources assigned to us moved to other companies on 2 occasions. We mentioned to Idyllic that they should have a better idea of when that happens and warn us about it. Idyllic was able to replace resources at no cost to us, though. The second time this happened, it didn't come as a surprise to us, which was nice and demonstrated that they had learned their lesson the first time around. 

How did Idyllic perform from a project management standpoint?

Our technical project was incrementally moved forward, with a good interaction from Idyllic. We had weekly calls and used email, JIRA, and GitHub as a source code control system.

What did you find most impressive about Idyllic?

Idyllic is a very specialized and talented Ruby on Rails shop, which was not a common model at the time. They have a solid understanding of the mechanics we use.

Are there any areas Idyllic could improve?

The only concrete feedback I can give is having better resource management on Idyllic's side. Giving fair notice to customers is important.

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

Clients should start small, build a relationship, and go from there. This approach worked out well for us.

5.0
Overall Score
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
  • 5.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
  • 4.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer

Web App Development for Travel Abroad SaaS Company

"Idyllic ensured that we would be able to deliver a complete deliverable, instead of only a piece of one."

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5.0

Quality: 
4.5
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
5.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$50,000 to $199,999
 
Oct. 2014 - Aug. 2015
Project summary: 

Idyllic designed and developed a software-as-a-service web application for the travel-abroad planning process for students. They also did business analysis and quality assurance. Their work built upon an alpha product.

The Reviewer
 
11-50 Employees
 
Denver, Colorado
Founder, Project Travel
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

Idyllic was mindful of cost and worked to achieve the specified goals. They delivered a product that could survive on the market and generate needed user feedback. The team was communicative and receptive to feedback. They delivered sprints regularly. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Project Travel was a software-as-a-service platform which worked with education offices, helping students travel abroad for study, volunteering, and so on. Our aim was to remove the paper process and digitize it for a more seamless experience, helping more students travel abroad. 

I was the founder and chief executive officer of the company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Idyllic?

There were other companies offering pieces of what our platform was, but we were the first to provide a product of this type. We were pioneering new territory in terms of covering the overall experience of a student wanting to plan their trip through an application. The technical challenge was creating a platform without an existing example. It was built from scratch, from our brains, and through user testing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Idyllic has worked on our web-based app. One of the reasons for engaging Idyllic was that we knew we'd be able to achieve the web coding piece, from an architecture and planning perspective, up to the deployment of the code. We had an internal designer, but we also worked with Idyllic's design team. They also provided a business analyst, user testing, and quality assurance services.

We also had some developers which worked alongside Idyllic's team. Idyllic ensured that we would be able to deliver a complete deliverable, instead of only a piece of one.

Idyllic's coding was mostly on the backend, coordinating with our front-end person. We provided them our wireframes and documentation as a basis, and we had also built an alpha product. Idyllic was working on the beta version which could be put through user testing.

How did you come to work with Idyllic?

Our startup was based in Boulder, Colorado, but we met with Idyllic through our network in Chicago. We heard some great reviews about the company, but also interviewed several local shops.

There's always a stigma of using a non-US company, but we stayed open to what was possible. We met with Idyllic's founder and some of the team and found them to be thoughtful in their presentation. They understood our platform and gave us a good vibe. We knew the cost would be lower, but it was also important for us to find a company which could offer a long-term collaboration. For the same price we paid Idyllic, we would have bought one month of a US shop's time. Using a long-term partner would allow us to deploy code, interact with users, get feedback, and implement it. 

How much have you invested with Idyllic?

The cost of our project was around $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Idyllic in October 2014. We originally had a 3-month project with Idyllic. The time span increased by one month as we added new items. After this, we continued to work with one of Idyllic's team members directly for another 6 months. The project ended fully in August 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Because Idyllic was mindful of cost, they worked with us in taking the platform to the next level, while still taking the time and cost factors into consideration. Many shops promote doing things right out of the gate, which will translate into doing 100% of the testing and perfecting. We mainly wanted an app which could survive for a year and generate user feedback, so we were okay with it not being fully buttoned-up. Idyllic was receptive to that. They delivered good results and didn't simply code based on their individual egos, giving us things which we didn't need. Idyllic worked based on our business goals, listened to our instructions, and took initiative appropriately.   

The quality of the site was in line with what we discussed and expected. It may not have been the perfect site based on other people's standards, but it was perfect for our needs. Nothing was overbuilt or reaching beyond our business goals.

How did Idyllic perform from a project management standpoint?

Outside of the technical aspects, Idyllic showed us how to best work with a remote team. We came upon the normal challenges of collaborating in this fashion, but Idyllic was very good in terms of coordinating and taking feedback. I have used these methodologies for building a relationship in other third-party collaborations.

In an Agile world, the meaning of deadlines gets a bit lost. Idyllic delivered sprints regularly. Because we had a large time difference, I had calls with the team at night. When our local developers were wrapping up for the day, they could make notes for Idyllic's team and see the progress the next day. I don't recall having issues with deadlines, beyond the scope creep on our side. There are no perfect relationships in development, but Idyllic did a good job of being conscious of timelines, deployment, and communication. 

What did you find most impressive about Idyllic?

After spending time with Idyllic's team and their founder, I've come to value their integrity and leadership. Whenever we had any concerns or questions, Idyllic's principal responded to us. I could tell that his team believed in his leadership and followed the integrity he set in terms of how to work with clients, how to follow their needs, what the code quality standard is, and so on. Idyllic's principal does an excellent job in exuding his passion for technology. I've come to look for the same elements in other relationships.

Are there any areas Idyllic could improve?

Because of our specific position of building a second beta while still pioneering a new product, there were many questions for which we didn't have an answer. Idyllic's team was excited to join us in this adventure, which made us too excited at times over what was possible. There were a few times when we stepped into a certain story, only to discover that it was bigger than we'd realized. Idyllic could work more with clients in ensuring that last minute client ideas don't become distracting, which is a hard task.

I'm very pleased with the relationship overall, and I put the responsibility of figuring things out more on our side. Idyllic's team could have said no to us on more occasions, but that would have impacted our path to innovation. 

5.0
Overall Score Unless I can give them 6. I'm happy with Idyllic's team and leadership, and with how they've involved themselves in transforming a business.
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
    Idyllic was good at accommodating us, staying up late or working until early in the morning in order to have meetings.
  • 5.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
    Having a lower relative cost meant that we had more flexibility on how we spent our time together, ultimately achieving more.
  • 4.5 Quality
    Service & deliverables
    There were some challenges in terms of time zone, but the quality was good. I would definitely work with Idyllic again.
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer
    I have referred Idyllic within the startup community. I've also recommended Idyllic to people who needed a developer that could spin-up a module quickly.

Frontend & Mobile Dev for Food & Beverage Supplier

"Idyllic cared about doing the work right, the first time."

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4.5

Quality: 
4.5
Schedule: 
4.0
Cost: 
4.5
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$50,000 to $199,999
 
Jan. 2016 - Ongoing
Project summary: 

This engagement involved updating existing iOS/Android solutions and improving their visual elements/user experience. Idyllic also maintains a separately developed online calendar. 

The Reviewer
 
201-500 Employees
 
San Francisco, California
Chief Technology Officer
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

Key differentiators include exceptional confidence when it comes to Agile development, access to a wide array of talent, and a proactive ability to make strategic recommendations. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are an end-to-end health-food school catering service. We serve 25,000 meals every day to 300 public and private schools in California. We make partnerships with schools in order to become exclusive providers and communicate with the families in those communities. Parents can visit our site and pre-order meals up to 50 days in advance. Our differentiator is this technology, giving users the ability to order meals via mobile and the web. I am the chief technology officer of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Idyllic?

We were looking to make some changes to our online business model and wanted a refresh of our various ordering technologies. I wanted to find a partner who could not only assist us in the conceptualization and design but with the actual execution of various parts of our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our applications were already existing but the iOS version had not been updated since late 2010 while the Android version was made in 2014. They had some age and needed to be overhauled once we adopted a new business model. Idyllic rebuilt them from the ground up, using a similar business logic. Idyllic maintains the JavaScript single-page application that serves as our ordering calendar. We worked with a 2-person QA [quality assurance] team and 2–3 web developers from Idyllic at any given time, including 1 resource for iOS and Android, respectively. They also assigned a designer in charge of creating the look and feel of our apps. We were working with another database developer, as well as with 1 for our backend Microsoft stack.

How did you come to work with Idyllic?

A few years ago, we were looking for a team that could redo our main site including its backend. I was considering using the Ruby on Rails platform and Idyllic came to the top of my list. We did not proceed with the project but when the time came to find someone for our most recent one, I called Idyllic. I learned that they had grown as a team and added iOS development services.

How much have you invested with Idyllic?

The total cost of our project was around $180,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started talking with Idyllic in January 2016 and started the work in February. The project had a fixed duration and once everything we needed was built, it was done. I keep in touch with Idyllic for additional tweaks.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Idyllic did a great job over a short timeline, without a lot of deep QA. Given the changes we've made to our system, I would have otherwise needed to spend more time and energy on internal and external QA, but we didn't have those resources. Idyllic did good work for our price range. Our previous build from 2012 was done by another vendor and had all kinds of browser problems. After a few bug fixes during the first weeks, we've had very few issues with what amounts to a complex Ember.js-based platform. The Android app has been solid. The iOS one has had some crashes, but this may be due to the nature of the operating system. I wasn't as pleased with it, but Idyllic did a great job overall of meeting my expectations.

How did Idyllic perform from a project management standpoint?

We elected not to go with a formal Basecamp arrangement, partly because of the timeframe. I am a hands-on technology person and knew our product the best, so I had daily calls with Idyllic's team in order to review progress and discuss any questions. Slack was a great daily communication channel as well. We used Jira as an Agile process workflow. I could put in user stories for how the platform needed to work and logged issues and bugs along with the QA team.

What did you find most impressive about Idyllic?

Other groups that I've talked to, both US-based and offshore, wanted for us to specify what we needed to be built and to let them build it. Idyllic cared about doing the work right, the first time. I worked with a UX [user experience] designer for the first 6 weeks, building mock-ups. I brought the material to my own team and we walked through it, asking questions and refining the design. We also had 15 hour-long user interviews which led to a lot of insight about how the design was working. This was a differentiator which I didn't expect from an offshore company.

Are there any areas Idyllic could improve?

Early on, we didn't have a proper cadence of communication with Idyllic, which led to projects being developed blindly without my involvement. We were able to address this and started having daily calls with our teams. As with any offshore team, once we started going down the chain of technical resources, the communication was not as good as it would be in the case of native speakers. I'd give Idyllic's team a 6/10 in terms of English skills. I could definitely understand them, but I did ask them to repeat things. Communication through VoIP calls can also make things difficult. It's something to sacrifice when paying a third of US prices or even less.

4.5
Overall Score There were some shortcomings but it was an overall excellent experience.
  • 4.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
    We missed the deadline for the iOS app by several weeks, largely due to miscommunication. Had Idyllic had stronger capabilities around scheduling, we would have avoided some surprises. Hopefully, they have improved this.
  • 4.5 Cost
    Value / within estimates
  • 4.5 Quality
    Service & deliverables
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer

Custom Development for Financial Literacy Firm

"We encountered many challenges, and each time, [they] came up with a practical solution."

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4.5

Quality: 
4.5
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
3.5
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
Confidential
Project summary: 

Idyllic developed the front-end and native iOS/Android versions of a consumer financial planning solution. 

The Reviewer
 
1-10 Employees
 
Australia
Founder & CEO
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

Key strengths include nuanced technical knowledge and a proactive approach to solution engineering.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

BigFuture is a cloud-based application that allows users to see what they own no matter where the investments are located. BigFuture also provides sophisticated retirement planning models and financial literacy.

I'm the chief executive officer of BigFuture responsible for our commercializing efforts and am deeply involved in the daily project management of the application.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Idyllic?

Eighty percent of Australians do not have a financial planner, nor are they very financially literate. BigFuture aims to empower individuals to become more knowledgeable about their money, being able to see how their total wealth and investments change over time. A user should be able to see their asset allocation and individual securities. 30% of Australians weren't born in Australia, so it was important that they could see overseas assets and that BigFuture was multi-currency (mapping assets to Australian dollars) but also multi-functional currency (measuring all assets in a different currency other than AUD).

Once a user knows what they own, it is important that they understand their finances, so we wanted to embed educational features into the application itself. We have built over 20 animations and written education modules.

Finally, everyone will have different savings and expenditure patterns as they move to retirement. We wanted to build a model that can produce a stochastic outcome of likely financial results and show this against the spending patterns a user may have in retirement.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had Ruby developers in-house and wanted to have the services of a company that could provide Ruby on Rails capabilities for the front-end. We also needed iOS and Android developers for the mobile companion apps. Idyllic completed all the front-end development and also designed and developed our native mobile experiences.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Idyllic was extremely professional in supplying their services. This was a greenfield build with sophisticated requirements of pulling in data from 3rd party suppliers and interacting with a sophisticated database.

Idyllic kept costs under control. Had we used an Australian developer, we would have likely gone bankrupt as we had, as is usual, many changes to the scope.

One of Idyllic's greatest benefits was that they could solve problems proactively. We encountered many challenges, and each time, Idyllic came up with a practical solution.

My only caution is that Idyllic had more resources it could apply to the project than we had to manage it. If I had my time again, I would have slowed up the project in the early days so our developers could keep up.

4.5
Overall Score No one gets a 10 in my book, but these people are close.
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
    They were very fast. We held them back.
  • 3.5 Cost
    Value / within estimates
    Idyllic is not the cheapest Indian development firm, but you get what you pay for and we were happy to pay a little bit more and get quality people.
  • 4.5 Quality
    Service & deliverables
    Good quality on the work. I marked them down a little on some user interface issues.
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer
    No problems. They are great people to work with and they aim to meet the clients expectations.

Full Stack Dev for Financial Tech Firm

"[We were] thrilled at how rapidly improvements and changes were being made to the website."

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4.5

Quality: 
4.5
Schedule: 
4.5
Cost: 
4.5
Willing to refer: 
4.5
The Project
 
Confidential
 
Nov. 2015 - Mar. 2016
Project summary: 

Idyllic developed new features for an existing static site and also implemented enhanced design elements into an existing WordPress blog. 

The Reviewer
 
51-200 Employees
 
Atlanta, Georgia
Former Development Manager
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

Project highlights include timely deliveries, proactive communication, and familiarity with Agile development. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a financial technology startup developing software for self-service business and consumer loans. The technology revolves around machine learning applied to financial data from companies or individuals. We predict risk scores, interest rates, and max credit lines, thus enabling users to take a loan. We take care of money disbursement and auto repayment processes. I was a software engineering manager for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Idyllic?

There was a lot of demand from our marketing team to work on our brochure site. It was cutting into the time that our engineering team had for improvements to the core loan platform, as well as an international business expansion. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Idyllic came in when we were extremely backlogged and helped us make a number of improvements. The brochure website was built using precompiled HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Node.js templates for generating static pages. Aside from our main app and the brochure site, we hosted and maintained a WordPress blog. We engaged Idyllic to help us with the feature requests coming from our marketing team for the WordPress blog and the static site. They were end-user-facing requests around content and display elements. Idyllic assigned 3–4 people as well as a project manager for our work.

How did you come to work with Idyllic?

My boss proposed outsourcing, specifically to India. I had never done this, so I made some Google searches for offshore firms. I stumbled upon Idyllic and 3 other companies. The cost wasn't a huge factor in the decision because they were all in the same range. Idyllic's team was very responsive during our pipeline inquiries, provided good code samples, and had a more compelling pitch around the work they'd done in the past. That made them stand out.

How much have you invested with Idyllic?

I don't have this information.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Idyllic near the end of 2015 or right at the beginning of 2016. The project had a 3-month duration.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The marketing team was thrilled at how rapidly improvements and changes were being made to the website. Our internal engineers also liked the code quality delivered by Idyllic. I considered them a lifesaver, especially since I was responsible for other projects while keeping internal customers happy. I could give them a number of tickets to run with. After getting the initial connectivity and process kinks worked out, it was like having another team working on our site.

How did Idyllic perform from a project management standpoint?

Idyllic delivered on time and within budget. We used Google Hangouts for conference calls, as well as Jira and HipChat for asynchronous communication. We had daily standup meetings with the team via video chat.

What did you find most impressive about Idyllic?

Idyllic is the only firm I've used for outsourcing work, so I don't have any comparison points.

Are there any areas Idyllic could improve?

There's nothing I can think of.

4.5
Overall Score
  • 4.5 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
    We were in the East Coast, so there was very little overlap in working hours. Idyllic was very gracious and stood up late in order to join our meetings, but I have a high bar.
  • 4.5 Cost
    Value / within estimates
  • 4.5 Quality
    Service & deliverables
  • 4.5 NPS
    Willing to refer

iOS Dev for Luxury Transportation Company

"It seemed like [they] worked around the clock."

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4.0

Quality: 
4.0
Schedule: 
4.0
Cost: 
4.0
Willing to refer: 
4.0
The Project
 
$50,000 to $199,999
 
Jan. - Aug. 2016
Project summary: 

Idyllic developed an iOS solution compatible with an existing luxury chauffeur booking platform. Their involvement is likely to include developing an Android version, assuming the app's launch is successful. 

The Reviewer
 
1001-5000 Employees
 
New York, New York
Director of IT
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

Strengths include a superior work ethic and well-organized project tracking while understanding their clients' unique business circumstances was an area for possible improvement. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of IT for a worldwide chauffeur luxury transportation company. We work with high-level CEOs and talent throughout the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Idyllic?

We're a technology-enabled company. Currently, we are in the process of redesigning our reservation and dispatching software. We wanted to develop enhanced solutions that could be bolted into the existing system. Because we run a proprietary platform and we're running a lot of development work ourselves, we decided to outsource the development to another company. We had not worked with offshore teams before, but I was looking for a less-expensive alternative to our consultant in the US. That is where Idyllic came into play.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Idyllic has built our iOS app. After we've gauged consumer adoption for it, we plan to develop an Android version as well. Idyllic was in charge of the design and framework of our app. They created a touch point for the API provided by our in-house team. It provides all the pieces of information displayed on the app. The app is meant to provide customers with ease of use in securing reservations. Besides customers with single sign-on profiles, we also allow administrators to manage multiple accounts and book multiple reservations. We also provide corporate-level access, allowing large institutions with over 10,000 employees to secure reservations for anyone in their group. We have an integrated map technology included in our chauffer devices. This feature lets customers see their positions remotely and view chauffer names and other information. Our customers can also receive ETA updates and alerts from the app. The system makes it easier to make a booking without a phone call to our company.

Idyllic wanted to employ a 5–6-person team for a 3-month delivery, but we needed to keep the project within a specific budget range. The team was scaled back to 2 developers, one for frontend and one for the backend. This pushed our timeline out, especially since we also chose not work with a project manager. Because we were working with an app for the first time, we needed to get a feel for it and request additional features along the way. Around 5 months into the project, we wound up increasing the development team on Idyllic's end. We also added a project manager, a designer, an additional front-end developer, and 2–3 testers. We came to work with around 8 people towards the end of the project.

How much have you invested with Idyllic?

The budget was initially projected at around $70,000. Given our additional scope and some unforeseen issues, the total cost for their services was around $110,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Idyllic in January 2016 and finished at the beginning of August. We're not engaged with Idyllic at the moment but they remain available for us, should we choose to move forward with the Android project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app hasn't had a public launch because of the nature of our clients. Before we have a massive launch, we want to make sure that the product is exactly what our customers are looking for. At the moment, the app is only in the hands of a few select clients, so I don't have any metrics for it.

How did Idyllic perform from a project management standpoint?

When we first started working with Idyllic, we had bi-weekly calls with the team. After deciding to fast-track the project, we engaged in daily calls. Every day at 9 AM, we had a 30-minute call involving both of our teams. This helped speed up the process and address any issues which were coming up. Before, if the item wasn't a touchpoint, it would take a bit longer to get to a result. It was easy to delegate tasks to Idyllic and they provided us with an online ticketing system. We also set up a Slack chat which made communication easy. That ease of communication was wonderful. It seemed like Idyllic worked around the clock, especially when it came to our UI developer.

Are there any areas Idyllic could improve?

When we began working with Idyllic, the scope of our project was not fully understood. That led to some creep. Because this was the first time I'd worked with an offshore team, I don't know if the problem was due to my communication—if we didn't present enough information for Idyllic to have a full understanding of our features, or if they didn't take the time to dive into every detail in order to provide a more accurate estimate. The process got better towards the end of our relationship. Idyllic asked many questions and made sure that the timeframes given were actually what they were going to stick to.

Do What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Idyllic?

If the client doesn't have a technology background, it's important to include a project manager or some type of visionary when working with a company like Idyllic. That person should help guide the thought process and keep things on track. It would also be extremely beneficial to give details for each feature and functionality. This can be hard because clients often need to get something tangible in their hands before actually deciding on a route. Having only a general idea will increase the scope creep significantly and lead to failure. In addition, I suggest that anyone working with an offshore team engage in daily calls in order to keep the project on target.

4.0
Overall Score
  • 4.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
  • 4.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
  • 4.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
  • 4.0 NPS
    Willing to refer