Kahoa

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of facilities for Rio Tinto Stadium, a professional soccer venue amongst other things. I manage anything to do with the building.

What challenge were you trying to address with SolutionStream?

We needed to upgrade our concession stands and make things more digital and modern.

What was the scope of their involvement?

SolutionStream revamped our menu boards, taking them from old analog boards to stadium-wide digital ones. The boards can be controlled from your phone, allowing a user to update prices and change items quickly. SolutionStream used Fire TV Sticks to receive the content and a Raspberry Pi as a server.

SolutionStream set up the whole system and managed it while they taught us how to use it. Once we got acquainted with the program and its functionality, we took over. SolutionStream is currently bidding on a few other projects that haven’t started yet.

What is the team composition?

I had one main point of contact and sometimes worked with the developers.

How did you come to work with SolutionStream?

One of my vendors referred them. I met with them, and they were a perfect fit at the right time, so I hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $27,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement lasted for a couple of months in 2014.

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

It’s now incredibly easy to add and remove items from our menu boards or change prices. Food options and prices change from event to event, and we sometimes have to close one concession stand and move all the food to another location, so it’s nice to be able to change things quickly and not to have to worry about the menus. SolutionStream has improved our efficiency and productivity, and the digital boards are functional and reliable. We haven’t had any bugs or glitches with them.

How did SolutionStream perform from a project management standpoint?

They were always responsive, even if they were busy with other clients. We mainly communicated via email and phone.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They paid good attention to detail and listened to what we wanted out of the project. If I wanted something to change, they did it quickly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Have a vision of what you want, explain it well, and let them do their thing. If you give them good direction, they’ll develop some great software.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We manufacture and market dietary supplements like herbs, vitamins and minerals, and personal care products. I'm a senior full-stack developer who manages a team of web and backend developers.

For what projects/services did your company hire SolutionStream?

We needed to produce a website where our distributors could order from a limited promotion. Our workload was overwhelming, so we needed help preparing the website.

What were your goals for this project?

The goals of this project were to design and develop the website, create unit and integration tests, and deploy the site into the production environment within the specified timeframe.

How did you select this vendor?

We selected SolutionStream because we had great success using them before. We were under a tight timeframe, so we decided to hire them without evaluating other vendors.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

The website had a complex interface for our existing payment and order services. SolutionStream occupied the primary development role. They worked closely with our team, which took over once the project was finished.

Our marketing department prepared a series of user stories with specifications, expected results, and acceptance criteria. The design allowed a predetermined group of customers to access the website and place orders. We could also generate reports about who was ordering and what they had purchased.

What was the team composition?

Our team had one frontend developer, one backend developer, and myself as project manager. That was a sufficient number of developers. One member of our marketing team owned the project and answered questions about the design and testing. 

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The project was highly successful and finished ahead of schedule. Our marketing department had plenty of time to test the website, provide additional requirements, and refine the customer experience. Our customers were pleased with the website.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

SolutionStream managed the project effectively. The reported their status daily so we could keep our marketing department up-to-date. We developed a critical timeline with signoffs, which made the marketing department feel confident in their ownership of the project. 

What did you find most impressive about this company?

SolutionStream communicated with us daily, which fostered a sense of teamwork. My staff members who worked with SolutionStream were happy not only that we had completed the project ahead of schedule, but also that they had learned better programming techniques and adhered to stricter standards. We were pleased with the results they provided and will definitely use them again.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

There is little that SolutionStream could improve.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a physical therapy company. I am the president and founder.

What challenge were you trying to address with SolutionStream?

Years ago, we started building software for our business. That branch has turned into its own software company. We wanted help building out a new piece of software and wanted to work with a company to achieve our goals.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us get the vision we wanted through solution maps. One we had those maps, we started the project and they built the software. I know they used JavaScript and PHP, but the stack may have been broader.

The finished product is electronic medical records software that services private practice physical therapy companies. It allows them to set schedules for their patients, track metrics, manage documentation, and bill for patient visits.

What is the team composition?

We had an initial contact who coordinated with us and set the whole project up. We also had a project manager, their company manager, a UX designer, a vision mapping lead, and a data lead. The vision mapping lead was also responsible for billing and the data lead wrote the code.

How did you come to work with SolutionStream?

We asked our developer to find 15 companies, which we narrowed down to two. SolutionStream was only a few hours from where I live, so I met with them in person and we decided to start working together.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $350,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2018 and completed most of the development by August 2018. There are still some small things that need finishing.

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

The system isn’t fully integrated into our existing databases, so we don’t have any metrics or results yet. We have the UI and the concept working virtually, but we can’t use it yet. That was a major frustration in this project, but that wasn’t their fault. When they proposed the project, it was to write the code, not to integrate it. We didn’t realize that would be an issue at the beginning. We thought they’d be willing to help us with integration, but we ran out of budget to hire them for that extra step.

How did SolutionStream perform from a project management standpoint?

They were excellent project managers. They sent weekly reports, we had weekly phone calls, and they coordinated better than most groups out there. We used GoToMeeting to look at the software on their screens and they kept a lot of their tools in that platform.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very good at complex software projects. They’re well organized and they served us well. They were very transparent and projected their time and costs as well as possible.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We wish they had dedicated more time to us and worked to deliver a complete result. There was no deception on their part, but we didn’t realize that integration would cost more. I think that kind of dedication would really set them apart.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take the whole five days they recommend to map out the process. Don’t try to shortcut that, it will save time and money in the future.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the VP of marketing for a health and wellness firm.

What challenge were you trying to address with SolutionStream?

We engaged SolutionStream to redesign our mobile app, incorporating additional data and custom features it was previously lacking.

What was the scope of their involvement?

SolutionStream built a mobile app for iOS and Android, based on our previous version, that incorporated additional data and features so it could be used as a business center for our distributors. They incorporated features that allow users to sign in, track commission information, enroll in programs, monitor teams, and create events.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager and two developers.

How did you come to work with SolutionStream?

We reconnected with a person we knew from another company we'd worked with after he was hired at SolutionStream. Compared to other vendors, their approach was a lot more organized and thoroughly planned out. That also helped us save money in the long run, ensuring we weren't wasting any time or resources throughout the process. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them for about seven months, from the summer of 2015 through the end of that year.

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

Overall, SolutionStream significantly improved connectivity within our field. Having a go-to business center for our distributors has been hugely beneficial.

How did SolutionStream perform from a project management standpoint?

Our project manager was very good about making sure we stuck to sprints and outlined timelines. They were very well organized and collaborated closely with our in-house team on a daily basis.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were great about following up with us to make sure the project progressed smoothly. They regularly traveled to our office and were always available to jump on urgent tasks at all hours of the day or during weekends. That level of commitment really sets them apart.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They're a bit pricey, which is to be expected from a development company of their size, but it would be nice if they offered less expensive maintenance packages so we wouldn't have to work with other freelancers to update the app as needed.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Before starting a project, make sure as much of the scope of work (SOW) is outlined and approved beforehand as possible. That will save both money and time in the long run.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder and CEO of Turnkey Social, an organization that provides social selling solutions, enabling organizations and their representatives to simplify their social media management.

What challenge were you trying to address with SolutionStream?

We initially engaged SolutionStream to move our web-based application over to a native mobile app for Android.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Using the designs created by another firm, SolutionStream developed a mobile app for Android in collaboration with some of our engineering staff, implementing our APIs and requirements. They've also worked on other projects with our team since.

What is the team composition?

Over the last several years, we've worked with various staff on their team, including UI/UX designers, a project manager, and a number of developers with varying specialties.

How did you come to work with SolutionStream?

One of our partners referred them to us, so we brought them into the discussion and liked what they brought to the table.

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested well over $70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them since around May 2015 and the relationship is ongoing.

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

The mobile app SolutionStream built has become one of the primary touch points of our customers. Their work has significantly helped us provide improved solutions, delivering user-friendly platforms that have helped us win more contracts.

How did SolutionStream perform from a project management standpoint?

We've developed great relationships with many people on their team over the years. They're very open and clear in communications; we've never experienced any surprises due to issues with miscommunication. They've also been flexible in adapting to our project management tools of choice, including Asana and Jira.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Compared to my experience with other vendors, SolutionStream's team is a lot more knowledgeable when it comes to the platforms and languages they work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing stands out. I've been very happy with everything they've done for us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust their internal processes and expertise. They've been doing this for a long time and their approach to managing projects has proven successful for many other companies.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former VP of IT for an essential oils company.

What challenge were you trying to address with SolutionStream?

We had a long relationship with them to rebuild our e-commerce and back office systems. They helped a lot with our IT and e-commerce needs over a five-year relationship.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided critical pieces for our transformation into a much larger company. They helped us reinvent our e-commerce and back office systems under a ton of pressure and a lot of company growth.

They were a primary technology partner and the vast majority of their work centered around consulting and developing the site architecture. They augmented our staff and helped us organize our teams. They were very involved in our development process and provided a lot of technical detail. They did a lot of the programming and development for a custom e-commerce solution in .NET, with Oracle as the back office. They also connected everything to our JD Edwards ERP systems.

What is the team composition?

At peak, we worked with over 20 team members at a time, but the average team size was around 15 consultants. The team had a lot of engineers, followed by a group of QA resources, some administrators, a small contingent of frontend developers, and project and program managers.

How did you come to work with SolutionStream?

I’ve worked with several vendors of varying sizes and locations but this was the largest engagement I’ve been responsible for. We were looking for a big team and they had contact with our former CIO. When I took over the position, we added them to our list of vendors. They quickly moved to our shortlist and eventually won the bid.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around June 2013. I left the company in April 2018 but they’re still engaged as a critical part of the team.

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

Without their help, we may have gone out of business. We saw a 1,000% increase over the maximum capacity of our legacy systems, over 48,000 orders per day, and an average of 75 million page views and 2.3 million unique users each month in 2017.

How did SolutionStream perform from a project management standpoint?

They did a great job from a project management standpoint. They integrated with our team, so we oversaw the whole project, but they were very responsive and willing to work a lot of overtime when needed. They put in the effort to accomplish our objectives and did an awesome job.

Jira was our main project management tool, but we also used Workfront for part of the project as a pure portfolio management tool.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were always focused on doing the right thing for us. They made good decisions that benefitted us and repeatedly reduced potential work to mitigate our costs. They were a true partner and always had our best interests in mind.

Their staff is very tenured. They brought in senior developers to work with us and the team remained fairly unchanged throughout the five years I worked with them. It’s challenging to keep good team members that long and that retention is noteworthy.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They did well throughout the five years I worked with them. If I could do it over again, we would have managed tech debt differently in the early stages of the process. We would have put more resources into responsibility for the architecture. We hired them as an outsourced chief architect, but didn’t share their vision with our internal team fast enough. We eventually got a handle on it, but could have done better in the beginning.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

As with any vendor-client relationship, make sure they give you their best people. As long as you stay involved and ask them to maximize their resources, you’ll have a great experience.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of engineering at a financial technologies (fintech) company called Acima. We provide point-of-sale financing solutions.

What challenge were you trying to address with SolutionStream?

We needed additional resources to join our team and assist us with some projects. For this particular assignment, we sought frontend developers to support an internal customer financial app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their developers came in-house with us and built the frontend of our app, including the architecture, coding, and design. They completed the project using React, HTML, and JavaScript.

What is the team composition?

They assigned two frontend developers; one of them focused on the design and architecture.

How did you come to work with SolutionStream?

I’d worked with them previously at a number of other companies and was happy with the quality of their talent. It was an easy decision to work with them here.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $30,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Their work lasted from November 2017–May 2018, but we’re talking with them to bring on additional resources for upcoming projects.

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

SolutionStream provided strong developers who did exactly what we expected. While we don’t have any specific metrics at this point, users have generally been satisfied with the app.

How did SolutionStream perform from a project management standpoint?

We handled the project management internally and gave them access to our on-site tools.

What did you find most impressive about them?

SolutionStream did a good job of vetting high-caliber individuals to join their team. They hired strong candidates, which made it easy to find qualified talent. Because I knew several people there, it was easy for me to engage them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind. They did what I needed them to do, and that’s all I could really ask for.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Anyone who’s going to engage with a tech company like SolutionStream needs to know how they plan on using those resources. Are they going to augment your teams or are you going to use them as a development shop? It’s important to define what the engagement looks like and set expectations upfront.

You should also take the time to interview each individual joining your team so that you understand their skill level. This way, you’ll have an idea of what to expect from those candidates before they start working.

Finally, keep open lines of communication and give regular feedback to the company about how the developers are doing. This is also the opportunity to address any concerns you might have.

Please describe your organization.

The company focuses on educational software and instructional software for the military, which covers subjects from weapon systems to the computers that drive the computers on a submarine to heating and air conditioning systems on submarines. We have developed adaptive learning achievement tests. They are based on a technology that, based on the answers received to questions, can build a student profile and determine where their knowledge level is. We could thus cut down a 40-minute test to 20 minutes.

What is your position?

I have been working for 40 years in the management of educational software development. I spent the last nine years as the director of our first multimedia software development efforts. Starting in 2009, when portable devices started gaining popularity, I've worked exclusively in mobile development. I've had budget responsibilities of up to $100 million. Our mobile software development at Confidential Company ranges around $30 million.

What business challenge were you trying to address with SolutionStream?

We began the scoping process and requirements gathering with business analysts who can deal with subject matter experts. We don't expect that someone writing a science lesson to be an expert in science, but he or she has to deal with someone who is. We let experts decide what our format requirements are and what would be most helpful for our effort. My main area of responsibility was the development and deployment of the software itself. We've had many problems in terms of hosting our mobile software and so on because the technology itself was completely new. By the time of my retirement, we had deployed 600,000 to 700,000 applications. We became quite adept at delivering a high-quality product on time.

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

SolutionStream was a significant time saver in terms of bringing in talent to our company. What made them valuable to me as a hiring manager was the speed with which they could offer a qualified resume for an employee that could fit into the office environment and would be a good worker. Across the board, we hired more people through SolutionStream than we did through any other company.

Our working style was very much relaxed. We didn't have strict deadlines and daily accountability. Developers set their own deadlines through the agile process. We could go through the SolutionStream resumes more quickly, in general, because they more accurately reflected our requirements. We hired a number of developers on a contract basis, and it turned out that we did have opportunities for those people, so we ended up actually hiring them. Not hiring a developer was more to do with the lack of a long-term place for them than their individual abilities.

The team assigned by SolutionStream consisted of anywhere between two and four people on the low end, namely a couple of developers and a couple of QA [quality assurance] engineers, to probably 15 or more individuals dedicated to a single effort. After a while, we started dividing the work into skill sets. We took a different approach to the normal staffing process, and it actually worked out very well. The project was passed down the line and the people equipped to build a certain part would do it. It does take more time to communicate with more people, but having the right expertise behind a section of development was an advantage. If we have to deliver a product for the back-to-school deadline, missing it can cost any of our teams a lot of money. We have to test extensively and have the product prepared months several ahead of August when teachers come back.

How did you come to work with SolutionStream?

The vetting process is always the same, regardless of where the proposal came from. We had an established relationship with SolutionStream, and it didn't make sense to cut corners simply for the sake of expediency. Normally, our process consists of writing a job requisition, sending it to our HR department in Denver and distributing it to qualified vendors, out of which SolutionStream was one. I think that we did much more work with their company than our other offices did. Because of the volume of our work, the contract accurately reflected the conditions under which we were working. Before bringing someone in, their references would be screened by HR, and we'd meet with them at our office preferably. We'd also interview long-distance candidates via Skype. We had talks with at least two developers, and one manager in their team and used the same checklist in order to rate the same strengths and weaknesses. We'd also have them perform a programming exercise. We soon found out that people boasted qualifications, which they didn't have. Some of the candidates in general, not just from SolutionStream, were very adept at pulling the wool over our eyes during talks, but, when it came down to the coding part, they couldn't do it. At the end of the day, SolutionStream still had the most talented resources and the best approach.

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

The annual cost of SolutionStream's services has been around $200,000 to $300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We still use their services.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Out of three development managers that we employed for software development, two of them started as contractors. They worked for us for almost two years before being brought in on a full-time basis. I soon made them development managers. This spoke very well to the quality of the developers brought to us by SolutionStream.

In terms of results, I can't attribute anything specifically to one developer or another. Everyone in our team had a good idea of what it was that we were developing. We'd always show people examples of what we were doing in order to make sure that they'd be up to the task.

As a general example, we had an employee that wanted to focus a lot more on 3-D animation for a project we were working on. This isn't always the most cost-effective approach to making educational software and that person didn't have a focus on making a reactive solution. He just wanted to develop the fun stuff. To his credit, he was very good at that type of work. He's since started his own company, but he wasn't the best fit for us at the time. The thing is, SolutionStream was always flexible with us during situations like that.

How did SolutionStream perform from a project management standpoint?

We collaborated through a suite of agile project management tools. We used Rally for a while and switched to a similar tool down the line. I've worked within the educational software development field for more than 30 years. I can definitely say that SolutionStream performed exceptionally.

What distinguishes SolutionStream from other providers?

I can only cite the basics. They delivered resumes to us as quickly as possible upon receiving requirements. Those resumes reflected our requirements very well. No matter how accurate we were in drafting those documents, we would still receive proposals that weren't even close to our needs from other vendors. We very much appreciated the fact that SolutionStream took the time to get us the right candidates, even if that meant delivering a day late. At the other extreme, there were times that I called them in need of a person at the very next day, without running the process through finance and other channels. I don't remember SolutionStream ever not delivering someone to us. They'd usually take a developer off of a different project in these cases. We developed a mutual trust, which can be rare in business.

Is there anything SolutionStream could have improved or done differently?

The one thing I can think of is that SolutionStream mistook our desire to take someone in quickly with our wanting to employ rock stars. We received a couple of resumes where the person in question hadn't been vetted well enough. We sat together with SolutionStream on some interviews at the end of which they apologized to us. This only happened a couple of times with them, whereas it would happen 50 percent of the time with other companies I worked with.

Please describe your organization.

We oversee e-commerce and content solutions.

What is your position?

I am a senior manager within the IT [information technology] department.

What business challenge were you trying to address with SolutionStream?

We needed resource augmentation for our internal tech department. We occasionally receive projects that exceed our capacity to complete them in a timely fashion, which leads to us needing additional team members for limited periods of time. The hard part is finding a well-qualified and reliable partner that can adapt to your workflows successfully and meet your standards of quality within a reasonable time frame.

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

At any one given time, we use around five of SolutionStream's developers and quality assurance resources. They've done a superb job. One thing that I like about them is that they listened carefully to our needs, and they always manage to find a great resource for us. We interview candidates when they're brought on and usually tend to accept the first person proposed to us. This was not the case with some of our previous resource partners. During the last two years, there were only two resources that left unexpectedly in order to pursue something else. That kind of turnover isn't typical, so we were impressed.

How did you come to work with SolutionStream?

We needed certain skill sets as well as a cultural fit. We interviewed candidates on both of these criteria. SolutionStream was a very good fit. Their main headquarters is near our location, so we were familiar with their company. We were contacted by one of their founders, went to lunch with him and decided to try them.

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

Some of the resources from SolutionStream are hired by other managers in our company. I don't have an exact figure.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We track velocities. Like any other developer, they can lag behind on occasional sprints, but they generally catch up and perform well. The feedback for their work has been primarily positive and end users haven't discovered very many bugs, which is definitely impressive given the complexity of the work involved.

How did SolutionStream perform from a project management standpoint?

Our work is collaborative. Once we bring a partner on board, they become a part of the team, whether they're an employee or a contractor. We work in an agile environment. SolutionStream takes tickets the same as anyone else and is responsible for fulfilling our strict processes.

We also work through a resource augmentation model, not a project outsourcing one. We manage their developers directly in those cases. We use JIRA as the primary tool for delegating and managing tasks. We also use another Atlassian tool called Confluence for communication.

What distinguishes SolutionStream from other providers?

They listen to our needs and have a good vetting process for the resources that they bring to us. If I tell SolutionStream what I'm looking for, they will only bring me people who meet the criteria. For a number of other shops, I knew I'd have to go through six interviews before finding a capable person. 

Is there anything SolutionStream could have improved or done differently?

The only downside I have is that SolutionStream prefer to view their resources as long-term employees. We generally like to have the option of approaching certain developers in order to make them internal employees. There's a certain disconnect between their preferred model and ours.

Please describe your organization.

We are a state agency providing IT services to other state and federal institutions.

What is your position?

I am a development supervisor.

What business challenge were you trying to address with SolutionStream?

We were handling a multimillion dollar and multiyear conversion of a mainframe system to a .NET, web-based one for the federal government. Even though the contract would run for a number of years, it didn't make sense to hire state employees and be required to lay them off when the conversion was done. We ramped up our team using contract work. We've worked with SolutionStream on several other projects, but this is the most significant one.

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

SolutionStream has worked on end-user economic information systems for us. They deal with complex, data-driven platforms. Development is usually done with .NET stack technologies. We use ASP.NET, C#, SQL server as well as a lot of Oracle technologies.

In general, the team provided by SolutionStream consists of one to four people. We interact with them directly. SolutionStream refers the applicants to us and we select the ones which we want. We have a limited number of staff which we can employ. We put out requests for a set number of developers with specific skillsets to all the contracting companies with which we work. We receive a pool of candidates from each company and pick the ones which we want.

We engage developers through a competitive bidding and interview process. At any time, our team may be comprised of contractors from five or six different companies.

How did you come to work with SolutionStream?

We went through a request for proposal process. We tend to evaluate individuals rather than companies. There are a number of open positions for which we receive applications from between 20-40 companies at a time.

We chose SolutionStream because, although the cost per hour for their staff tends to be a little higher than that of other companies, the quality and skill level of the people they refer to us tends to be very high.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work done by SolutionStream is still ongoing, but I'm no longer involved in that project.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We've never had to release a developer from SolutionStream due to lack of skill or performance. Their contractors have always been of very high quality.

How did SolutionStream perform from a project management standpoint?

We've never had any delivery issues in regards to their work. We've used Jira, Redmine, ClearQuest, as well as other tools within our collaboration.

What distinguishes SolutionStream from other providers?

Within a huge stack of resumes, I put the ones coming from SolutionStream at the front of the pile primarily because, from my past experience with them, I've seen that their candidates have been vetted extremely well.