Custom Software Dev for Golf Startup
- Custom Software Development
- $1,000,000 to $9,999,999
- Sep. 2021 - Ongoing
- Quality
- 5.0
- Schedule
- 5.0
- Cost
- 4.5
- Willing to Refer
- 5.0
"InvoZone has helped us achieve some drastic results in a short time."
- Other industries
- Toronto, Ontario
- 11-50 Employees
- Online Review
- Verified
InvoZone has designed and is developing a golf startup’s software solution using Django, React Native, and Stencil.
InvoZone’s efforts has allowed the client to launch a mobile app and partner with golf associations, receiving positive feedback. They foster a healthy partnership by constantly meeting deadlines and being easily accessible. Their technical expertise and supportive approach are impressive.
The client submitted this review online.
BACKGROUND
Please describe your company and your position there.
I'm the CTO of Big Shooter Golf. We are a startup aiming to innovate golf so people around the world can play against each other at their respective locations while their scores are equalized on one plane. We have a team of 16 and one office in Toronto.
OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE
For what projects/services did your company hire InvoZone, and what were your goals?
We hired InvoZone to help solidify our backend as we were having some performance issues with live play. Their backend engineer came in and was ready to suggest improvements from day 1.
We made a huge variety of server improvements from improving pub/sub pattern with Redis, simplifying db models to making sure our server supports multi-threading and we are utilizing our system resources as efficiently as we can. We also had major improvements to be done on the mobile app, we hired two react-native/angular experts from InvoZone and they were able to come in and help us complete our rebuild of the mobile app which has significant performance improvements as well as sleeker design and AR capability.
SOLUTION
How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?
We found InvoZone through one of their marketing specialists (Anum) reaching out to me via LinkedIn. At the time of hiring, we were talking to a few other IT consulting firms as well but we selected InvoZone due to the developer experience, timings and their communication team was very welcoming from the start and always reaching out to make sure things are okay.
Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.
They designed and improved a python-based backend (using Django) as well as a React-Native app (V1) and a Stencil/Ionic app (V2). All of the people were tasked with core feature deliveries whether they be frontend or backend.
Backend features include:
- pub/sub
- ORM query simplifications
- automatic hook for converting uploaded videos on our app to more condensed and compressed versions while still preserving most of the quality which are used as stories for golf holes within our own app
- API improvements
- multi-threading support
The frontend features included:
- live play table view where all the players play including websockets integration for synchronization
- tour/tournament creation UI (where admins or organizers create their tournaments and tours and add people)
- media view (like instagram or snapchat stories)
- most of the design on the app itself css wise
How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
There were 5 people on the core team including:
- one backend engineer
- two frontend engineers
- one unity game developer
- one project manager
RESULTS & FEEDBACK
Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?
We were able to complete the first launch of the mobile app back in December last year which attracted a lot of traction to our app. At the beginning of this year, we partnered with the Canadian Junior Golf Association and the National Golf Association to host around ~168 tournaments for their players over the course of the whole year.
The V1 delivery was critical for us to secure these partnerships and so far we've already hosted like ~40 tournaments this year for these organizations. We couldn't have achieved the V1 results without the help of InvoZone as not only did the server results drastically improve but the frontend engineers did a great job on the newly promised features like the media view.
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.
The team was great, they met the deadlines that we set as a company and the deadlines that they would set for them selves per task. We are extremely pleased with the experience and coordination thus far with InvoZone and aim to stay partners with them for the long term.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
We had direct access to the whole team, which made it much easier to share and coordinate on ideas. New resources were readily available and in record starting time without needing any formal time commitments, InvoZone allowed us to be very flexible with our team management as tasks grew or shrunk to make sure we had what we needed for the time being.
The resources were also all very knowledgeable and very comfortable with each other so there was always some team chemistry to begin with which is awesome. At this point, they can coordinate on a new feature end to end without needing much guidance and BSG as a company trusts their decisions and instincts.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
This is very general and could apply to all remote developer jobs as this is a new era for developers since most of them after COVID have been working remotely. So obviously new standards and rules need to be set which do not translate the same from an office environment.
However with all that being said, sometimes the new resources we hire would require us to push them for communication, of course this is weird for the developer too as expectations have not been set yet but as a tech manager who is thousands of miles away from them, it would be nice if they regularly gave me updates rather than me having to reach out to them. This was only during the beginning phases however as once everyone is on the same page, InvoZone devs did an awesome job adapting.
RATINGS
-
Quality
5.0Service & Deliverables
"Always well thought out and researched"
-
Schedule
5.0On time / deadlines
"Very easy, very flexible"
-
Cost
4.5Value / within estimates
"For a startup, the costs can sometimes add up but InvoZone was very flexible"
-
Willing to Refer
5.0NPS
"InvoZone has helped us achieve some drastic results in a short time for a startup. I would recommend them to everyone.