KeyQ, Inc.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the VP of Product and Co-founder of a custom 3D printed sports technology business. We create affordable and perfectly fit sports guards and splints to ensure that athletes are able to stay healthy and play at the highest level without the encumbrance of poorly fit equipment off the shelf.

For what projects/services did your company hire KeyQ, Inc., and what were your goals?

We were an early stage startup company when we first started working with KeyQ, and needed to update our software from a proof of concept to a streamlined production software. The technology that we were working with was brand new, and not many other development companies had any experience working with the libraries that we utilized for our process. Our goal was to create a streamlined service platform that allowed users to scan and submit files for processing that could be managed in a fully featured admin dashboard.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

This vendor had great customer reviews and showed a wide variety of skills that made us feel confident that they could handle any software requirements that could come up.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

They designed a point cloud tool using the Metal iOS library. We broke the project down into payment based milestones and used a milestone tracking software for transparency and updates between KeyQ and our company.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We had primary contact with the CEO of KeyQ as our lead project manager and developer.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We launched 3 or 4 separate projects under budget and on time with KeyQ. Any delays in timeline were communicated well ahead of time and often did not impact the final release date.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Project management was primarily communicated using a Trello board, although this method has since been updated to a more transparent and easily managed cloud spreadsheet. Communication was done via email and Slack, and KeyQ frequently made efforts to accommodate our preferences in communication.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

KeyQ made itself very available for questions and help throughout our several development projects. They were always willing to experiment with unknown technologies and usually elevated technology beyond what a small development company should have been able to do.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Staying on the same page about ongoing milestones and obstacles was an issue at some points, but KeyQ is a growing company that makes changes as needed and we improved this issue very quickly.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Goodman is a labor law compliance office where we help businesses of all sizes apply for government subsidies for employee training and comply with work place compliance and regulations. I am the Vice President of Operations.

For what projects/services did your company hire KeyQ, Inc., and what were your goals?

One of our new services is to audit timecards for part-time employees at business to ensure that they are compliant with Japanese labor laws. We needed a automated and streamlined way to collect, monitor and audit timecard data. We had asked KeyQ if they could design and develop a simple timecard tracking system.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We were referred from a business partner. After reaching out and discussing over a zoom call, they seemed competent and provided what I felt was a fair price for the project.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We started with a project scope discussion to determine specifications. I believe they called is a discovery phase. During this phase, KeyQ staff identified that a mobile friendly responsive app would be best for our needs. They discussed technical and infrastructure related stuff which was a little beyond me but their confidence convinced me that they new what was best for us. The backend application was developed using a Kyte PHP framework on AWS and the front end using KyteJS framework and hosted on an S3 bucket with CDN.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Two people from KeyQ worked with us. Kenneth, the president and Eric a mobile engineer.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Our staff and our clients love the platform. It's fast, simple and easy to use. We're really excited and have been able to acquire more clients through our timecard services.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We had bi-weekly meetings about progress and challenges via zoom and also LINE. We are impressed by the speed at which a prototype was develop and the final product. Kenneth said that it has to do with the robustness of the Kyte framework.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Quality and speed. Also the dedication, even when there may be a slight language barrier they went above and beyond to make sure our product was delivered on spec.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

None

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am one of the civil engineers at Nikkou Giken, Co., Ltd., a Uji, Kyoto based civil engineering company. We work with public and private clients on various construction solutions.

For what projects/services did your company hire KeyQ, Inc.?

Our website needed a little touching up and we were also seeking a cheaper hosting solution. Our website is very simple so off-the-shelf hosting solutions seemed expensive for us.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We reached out to several IT companies and all of them told us that we were paying average or expected hosting prices. However, KeyQ was different. After discussing our website needs, they mentioned they could easily cut 90% of our hosting costs, so we decided to go with them.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

We already had a design in mind for our website revamp so we provided the sketch of our new website and discussed what functions we needed. We required a contact form as well as a job application page. The first step was they took our design mock-up and made it into a live web page. After reviewing the webpage, they then went on to make the forms and delivered the final website, and managed the hosting service within 2 weeks.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with the CEO, Kenneth, who speaks English and Japanese.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The process was very quick and professional. Even though it was a small-scale project, Kenneth took the time to discuss the project and touch base on regular basis over LINE chat and voice calls.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very easy to communicate via LINE even though there was a time difference between Japan and the US. They provided us with an accurate timeline and informed us of progress each step of the way.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their in-depth knowledge and timeliness. Many other companies baffled us when we thought our monthly hosting costs were expensive for a company of our size. But Kenneth sat down and listened to our needs and proposed a new way to cut costs by 90%. I never knew that static hosting and serverless technology existed so many thanks to KeyQ for saving us money.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No, they did an exceptional job to go above and beyond our expectations.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a partner in a California and Japan based company that imports goods for emergency preparedness from Japan for sale in the US.

For what projects/services did your company hire KeyQ, Inc.?

As a relatively new company with a small team with no IT experience, we needed a website and in-house e-commerce solution, with the ability to track inventory and manage export compliance.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Mainly cost. After getting a few quotes KeyQ had the lowest offer, but we were impressed by their open communication and persistence.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

We started with an initial kick-off meeting where we discussed overall expectation, what we visioned as the final deliverable and critical and non-critical feature sets. After about two weeks from the kick-off meeting, we had weekly meetings where we went over design and functionality and made iterative improvements until we met the final goal. The process was very streamlined and we had open communication. We were able to reach Kenneth via e-mail or phone easily.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

I worked with Kenneth who is the founder and CEO of the company. We worked with him throughout the entire project lifecycle as well as post production where he continued to contact us to make sure we were happy with the final deliverable

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

They went out of the way to suggest additional features or key designs that we should include to increase website usability and visibility without charging us extra. I was very impressed by their proactive stance towards making sure our project was not just completed but went above expectation.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We communicated via e-mail and phone. Since we had no IT experience we relied on Kenneth's expertise to accomplish the project and therefor having an open line of communication was important to us. I think he understood that as well.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

For a small business with only two employees, they were very timely and professional. I enjoyed our personable the CEO was and made sure to understand our needs.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

There were a few times we had to wait 24-hours to get an e-mail response after the website was deployed. We understand that the project was completed but still had some pressing questions so would have appreciated a sooner response.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the lead soap crafter for Otsukare Sun. We make handcrafted soaps.

What challenge were you trying to address with KeyQ, Inc.?

We needed someone to build our website.

What was the scope of their involvement?

KeyQ, Inc. helped us develop a website that also had an integrated storefront, user login, and an admin portal for managing orders, inventories, and other campaign resources. Users are able to keep up with orders and make transactions. The technology used for this process was AWS. They used agile methodology to develop the e-commerce platform.

What is the team composition?

Kenneth (Founder) was my main point of contact.

How did you come to work with KeyQ, Inc.?

I did a lot of research online and it seemed like a company that was trying to build their profile. They offered us better deals than other companies we reached out to.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $6,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started up in October and finished up in December 2020.

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

We’ve gotten hits on the website.

How did KeyQ, Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed very well. We communicated by phone, email, and Zoom and they reached out to us if there were any questions. Continuing to update us every step of the way, they provided us with a project timeline. They were very transparent with us and provided weekly updates.

What did you find most impressive about them?

KeyQ, Inc. had great attention to detail and it felt like we had our own IT department. I feel like they really took our idea and just ran with it and they met all of the expectations we wanted to create. They cared a lot about our business and our budget. I was surprised to find a web development company that not only worked with us but was cost-effective and saved us a lot of money. I feel like they went the extra mile to make sure that we were satisfied and happy with the final project, as well as to find us the most affordable options.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there is nothing; there should be more companies like them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear vision of what you want and be realistic with the time frame.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder and partner at Hirai & Associates, a patent boutique.

For what projects/services did your company hire KeyQ, Inc., and what were your goals?

We asked KeyQ to improve our website design.

How did you select KeyQ, Inc. and what were the deciding factors?

KeyQ has been very responsive and creative since we first contacted KeyQ to talk about the project. The cost for the service was far cheaper than the cost that a previous developer we used.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We asked KeyQ to re-design our website. within a week a first draft was provided by KeyQ. Thereafter, we asked for some adjustments and for each request for adjustments, KeyQ responded within one business day. KeyQ further helped us lowering the website management cost.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

One

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

KeyQ provided outstanding services. KeyQ provided more than what we asked them for with less costs than the developer we used to use. KeyQ definitely care about customers and made us feel very comfortable from the beginning till the end the project.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

We communicated via e-mail and phone. Though we are in Japan, KeyQ stayed late to accommodate for the time difference. We first gave an overview of what we wanted, and Key Q provided a first draft within a week. From there, we contacted KeyQ to request some adjustments.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

We were very impressed with KeyQ's turnaround time. We really appreciated KeyQ Inc. for doing more than we asked for. Further, we really appreciate KeyQ's capability of using Japanese.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a senior software engineer at Cytogence, an IT startup.

What challenge were you trying to address with KeyQ, Inc.?

We hired KeyQ, Inc. because we needed AWS-based email services and development support.

What was the scope of their involvement?

KeyQ, Inc. provided custom services to create information for FDA and EPA applications. They also created apps to speed up our phone processes. Due to their service, we have an email that works on AWS and they created a CRM dashboard. We can easily see what it is and see the current progress of our work.

What is the team composition?

There were 3-4 people working on the project. I was in contact with Ken (Founder) and one other person.

How did you come to work with KeyQ, Inc.?

I found them through a Google search. We considered other companies but the prices were higher than our budget.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $6,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from November 2020–January 2021.

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

Everything they did was very trendy, including the graphics and functionalities of the applications. Before we started the project, I made a functionality manual and they completed everything. Everything went well.

How did KeyQ, Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

They kept to due dates. We used Microsoft Teams to manage the work and they gave me a weekly report.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a very cost-effective company. Their ability to implement services well and their communication skills were good. The quality of work was strong and their price was the best part of working with them. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only downside is I’ve never met them because they’re in another state. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If the client is a super big company, KeyQ, Inc. may not be able to cover the project because they don’t have a large team.