Inflection Point

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

They ended up producing a working prototype that allowed us to get our first set of customers and a second round of investments. They made a huge impact.

How did Inflection Point perform from a project management standpoint?

We didn’t have a set schedule because of the nature of the project but I don’t recall ever having any complaints about it. Later, I brought people in on my side as well. I had a project manager interfacing with them. That may have helped. We were satisfied.

In a very iterative process, they helped me figure out how we could make this thing work. I’d give them a set of requirements or do a phone call with them and they’d write some stuff down in documents. Then they’d go off and work on it for a week. They’d send me an update. One of the things they really excelled at in this project was the spirit of flexibility. They knew that I didn’t know how this product was going to look in the end. There was a lot of invention going on through the process.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The lead guy was great. He was smart, flexible, and hardworking. A lot of times, when you outsource a software task, you have to be really careful about spec’ing it and doing changes on the fly because they like more certainty. Inflection Point wasn’t like that. The team was very good to work with. It was nice to have support. They were interested in my success. Obviously, they’re there to make money but it was more than that. I went down there once to work with them in person. The office manager and VP that was running the team were there and we spent a bunch of time together. It was nice to feel like they really cared that we are successful.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing stands out. The only knock on them, if there was any, was that they were at a nearshore price-point. It was far less expensive than hiring my own people but more expensive than hiring an offshore company. The flipside is they were almost in my time zone. There were some advantages to them being only an hour difference: the turnaround was good, the guys that run the company are here in Maryland, and communication was good. Even today, I’d be willing to pay a bit of a premium on their services because I know they’re here and they’re easy to work with. I don’t have a big negative.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d recommend anyone outsourcing a project to understand what it is you’re asking for. Understand that the vendor can’t read your mind. You have to write it down. You have to be very clear about what you want them to achieve. Do regular status checks with them and ask for prototypes if that’s appropriate. Give them feedback. You can’t just throw a project over the fence and expect it to come back perfectly. Have a project leader on your side that really speaks for what you need because the vendor can’t do that for you. You can’t assume they will staff it all themselves. You need to staff it with experts on your side as well.

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

We had a legacy product that was getting severely dated, and Inflection Point helped us to make that product current and relevant. They have definitely helped us keep that product more competitive, modern, and intuitive; generally, they’ve enabled us to keep using the product out in the field and continue operating in the environment that we work in. 

How did Inflection Point perform from a project management standpoint?

Just as a high-level overview, their project management has been very strong. They practice agile development and are really willing to allow us to be as involved as we want to be. At different stages of the project, we’ve had weekly calls to review the current backlog and sprints that we’re in. They’ve done a good job of giving us demos when there’s a new feature to be released.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We have a different development team for our other app, and I would say Inflection Point is much more organized and has a more transparent approach to the jobs that we’re working on. They lay out what they plan to do and execute it exactly as they say they’re going to. Their planning, strategy, and follow-through have been more outstanding than that of other developers we’ve worked with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There are always little things, but one thing that sticks out is their project estimations. They tend to be on the low side in terms of how much work a project will require, but it’s not unreasonable. Other than that, I don’t have any other suggestions. When they complete something, they document it really well and provide us with testing tools. I don’t have anything negative to say about their processes.

Any advice for potential customers?

Let Inflection Point guide you on the technical side of things. While we’re somewhat technical, we’re not developers, so they’ve been the perfect fit for us; we’re able to give them a fairly low-level, functional description of what we want, and they’ve been able to take that and develop specifications. They return quality work based on what we ask for. I would say to take the time to explain what you want.

They’re better than a lot of developers that we’ve worked with at understanding the functional aspect of projects and the user experience we’re asking them to deliver. When we describe a product, we have complete trust in them that they understand what we’re talking about.

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

We were able to significantly increase lead capture. We had a 25% increase in our organic leads. There’s no question that we had significant improvements in our lead generation efforts. All of our resources were highly qualified. 

How did Inflection Point perform from a project management standpoint?

We ran an agile shop, using scrum methods. We had daily stand-ups and worked closely with them. They had someone on their side making sure that the project ran smoothly. So, it was a good relationship. 

Our architect resource had a great understanding of Sitecore and helped us structure our architecture well. Inflection Point worked well with the business and technology teams. The team communicated very well in English.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Inflection Point had good rates in terms of the value we got. The team worked well together and we didn’t see any disconnects between our on- and offshore resources.  They were also in a similar timezone as us, which was helpful.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The on-site resource is more of an account manager. He was a good strong technician who had great communication skills. The key to our success was that he had the ability to not only facilitate the rest of his organization but also to bring the technology architecture skills we needed. 

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

We haven’t had any security issues on our platform. Their work was crucial to show to our investors. It’s evident we have the right infrastructure. We do a yearly penetration test and got a very high grade. We’re very satisfied. They created a very solid foundation for our business.

How did Inflection Point perform from a project management standpoint?

They are very good. We’ve integrated our IT team with their team. We work in collaboration. They’re very organized. They’ve helped us to move into an agile methodology. They’ve provided us with tools to create an agile project management culture. They’re very well structured. They’re not only a good technical partner but they’re also very well managed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re really good with security and software architecture. They were really helpful. They’re also very good at web development.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We felt they weren’t that strong in mobile app development.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We started to establish a solid relationship from the start. We’ve been really open with them in terms of the needs and they’re very flexible. They can even train your people. We look at them as an extension of our IT department. We work very nicely as a team. That’s what distinguishes their relationship from other companies we’ve worked with in the past. It’s not on a price-based but it’s based on a long-term relationship.