Transforming Potential into Performance
Kinetech is an award-winning provider of custom enterprise software, delivered through the cloud with a focus on improved business productivity. The company focuses on cloud, mobile, and integrated technologies that solve real client problems.
Kinetech's service offerings are configured and integrated with other web services (APIs), platforms, and enterprise applications (CRM, ERP, HCM). Kinetech delivers its offerings via internet browsers and on mobile devices. The company designs, builds, and supports mission critical applications, client / vendor portals, and modernizes legacy systems. Its cloud offerings include the Digital Factory (Manufacturing), Kinetech PM (Construction / Project Management), GovTech (Government Technology) Cloud, and other bespoke solutions (Enterprise Cloud).
Key clients include the City of San Antonio (GovTech Cloud), DIRTT.net (Kinetech PM / Digital Factory) a publicly traded pre-fab manufacturer of custom interior and medical spaces, ninety (90) year old Guido Construction (PM Cloud), and an Inc 1000 Benefits provider (Enterprise Cloud).
Kinetech serves 50+ businesses in 31 states and 5 provinces.
headquarters
other locations
Focus
Portfolio
City of San Antonio, NC State University, DIRTT Environmental Solutions (DRTT: NASDAQ), eXp Realty (EXPI: NASDAQ), University of Pennsylvania (UPENN), Berg Pipe, AOS, Guido Construction, Inc. 1000 Benefits Provider, Bay Area Bond Investor ($2 Billion AUM).
eXp Realty (NASDAQ: EXPI) - Expands to Two Countries in 4 Months
Challenge
eXp Realty (NASDAQ: EXPI) is one of the country’s fastest growing real estate brokerages, and in 2019 set its sights on international expansion. As a digital brokerage, having a streamlined way to recruit, onboard, and pay commissions to their distributed realtors presented a challenge. Evolving data-privacy laws like the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) require global organizations to physically store data within the relevant sovereign borders where it is created.
Furthermore, localized user experiences (UX) tailored to culture specific language discrepancies can become a challenge to manage without a scalable architecture. To accelerate the time to market, Steve Ledwith, VP of Engineering, and Imran Kasam, Software Engineering Manager at eXp tapped Kinetech with the mission to augment eXp’s existing team with Kinetech’s elite Mendix certified expert development team.
The first two markets selected for expansion were the UK and Australia. eXp Realty determined Kinetech was the best partner to spearhead their expansion, and sought Kinetech’s services to build and launch a “JoinApp” to facilitate the new agent application process.
Kinetech’s key objectives were:
- Temporarily embed within existing organizational structure to enable and accelerate the deployment of a microservice architecture desired for an ecosystem of international applications. The JoinApp serves as the first application included within an ecosystem of connected applications that are deployed to each new market.
- Support “plug and play” capabilities, where the same application may be deployed to new international markets with little to no additional / design-time development.
- Create a reflexive questionnaire that allows form designers from the business to create join forms (i.e. user input forms) at runtime, specific to their market, and support multiple question types and dependencies.
- Provide the capabilities to collect credit card payments (via Stripe), electronic document signage (via HelloSign), cloud document storage (via Amazon S3), email notifications (via SendGrid), messaging (via Kafka) and an integration between two Mendix applications (via RESTful API).
- Data and document storage must comply with recent EU GDPR regulations surrounding data governance, so there was also a legal requirement that specified where data servers must be physically located.
Solution
The JoinApp steps each applicant to eXp Realty through the entire application process to become an agent. The front end of the JoinApp, which is what visitors to the application first encounter, is the join form. The join form is available both on mobile devices as well as desktops. It also is unique in that it’s not a standard page with input fields, but instead is a fully reflexive questionnaire. Here we encountered our first unique request from eXp Realty – create a reflexive join form that provides form designers within each local market with the ability to customize their own forms at runtime. Which simply means - let the form designers create their own customized input forms.
The questionnaire supports all question types, question/answer dependencies (i.e. conditional visibility based on visitor responses), includes an approval workflow, input validations, customizable logic and validations and much more. Form designers may create draft forms, publish forms at any time and restore archived forms.
One particularly unique aspect of the questionnaire is that form designers may map visitors responses to specific attributes within the domain model. This is done at runtime, and is how the JoinForm converts visitors (i.e. anonymous users) to actual applicants. Oftentimes, these types of mappings are hard coded and require a development request to change. This design also allows form designers to map only those questions and answers that need to be stored on specific entities, which will later support an integration to another Mendix application within the international microservice framework.
“Reflexively designed applications require an advanced understanding of not only Mendix but also application architecture more generally. Needless to say, it’s not something you learn on day one.” says Marc Lehane, the system architect for the JoinApp.
This reflexive design again empowers the form designers to make changes at runtime vs. requesting development make changes. Doing so accomplishes a few things, says Ricky Volz, lead developer on the engagement, “First, it dramatically shortens the turnaround time to implement changes. This enables our business partners to quickly respond to their customers and partners (i.e. our end users) rather than get stuck waiting on development. Second, we limit the burden on the development teams because we design a single solution that is flexible enough to handle all conceivable use cases collectively. And third, it decreases the cost of maintenance for each instance of the JoinApp since again development resources are rarely needed to make changes down the road.”
Once the application has been submitted (and the visitor to the JoinApp has been converted to an applicant), then the applicant’s submission is reviewed by eXp Realty personnel. This initial review consists of a review of the responses to the join form. Assuming the initial review passes, then the applicant is contacted via email to complete the remaining steps of their application.
Here we leverage deep links to navigate the applicants to several unique pages that allow them to complete the second part of their application, which includes:
- Electronically sign multiple contracts via an integration with HelloSign
- Upload required documents to a local Amazon S3 server
- Submit credit card details to facilitate payment processing of the application fee
Similar to the join form, each step of the second part of the application process is configured at runtime by an administrator of the JoinApp. That means that contracts may be changed and new templates added, required documents added and dropped and payment amounts and details altered at any time without requiring the development team.
At each step of the process, performance metrics are calculated that document how long it has taken for the applicant to advance through each step of the application process.
Each important activity in the application process is also logged in the application to provide guidance to eXp Realty’s on-boarding specialists. Logging supports not only debugging and technical issue resolution but also ensures on-boarding specialists have the tools necessary to track the applicant’s progress.
Once final approval has been granted, then the applicant is notified via email (via SendGrid integration) and we leverage Kafka messaging to notify the next app that an applicant has been approved and is ready to be set-up as an agent. Here the JoinApp ends, and the Agent Details application begins. Agent Details will then get the necessary information of the applicant via the JoinApp REST API.
“We knew we had a tight deadline, but the requirements were still fluid… that put us in a position where we had to work closely with our product owner and business partners to ensure that we all stayed aligned and expectations were met.” said Ricky. ”But it also gave us the freedom to make certain design decisions quickly and based upon our expertise, which lowered the administrative burden and sped up the development process.”
Results
Kinetech built and launched the JoinApp to the UK and Australia within only a few months. The JoinApp is the first application that an applicant to join eXp Realty encounters in both the UK and Australia, so it was critical that Kinetech hit its deadline and release an application that would facilitate the business’ international expansion strategy.
Ceilia reiterates that “For the international version, Kinetech augmented our development team and hit the ground running in a sprint. Our teams were given about four months to complete a very large effort of work on this “new-joiner” application. Their team analyzed and ensured these individual applications could be localized to meet the needs of the international market. From a scalability perspective, Kinetech helped future proof our architecture.”
Kinetech was able to accomplish one of its primary goals, which was to design an application that supported “plug and play” in new markets. In doing so, Kinetech created an “off the shelf” application that may be set-up in a new market within a single day.
Ricky Volz stresses that “Our primary focus for the JoinApp was to empower the end user, and convert what are typically requests to the development team to capabilities that the end users could manage themselves. That presented an engineering challenge for us, where we knew we must focus on reflexive design and tightly modularized components.” says Ricky. “Afterall, the primary mission from the client was clear: empower the end users and significantly - if not outright remove - the need to involve developers to make changes to the app.”
The JoinApp utilizes 20+ modules, some of which were built for the JoinApp specifically, others are from the Mendix app store and others from the eXp Realty app store. However, there is one module only where all custom microflows and pages reside for each country. This ensures maintenance across all JoinApps is simple and light.
2020 is expected to be an exciting year for eXp Realty international expansion plans, and the JoinApp is spearheading that expansion.
To learn more about Kinetech’s Product Strategy & Lifecycle Management (PLM) or Custom Software Development visit: https://www.kinetechcloud.com/
City of San Antonio - Emergency Housing Assistance Solution
Background:
As the COVID19 pandemic forced municipalities into economic lock-down with forced shelter in place orders, Edward Gonzales, the Director of San Antonio’s Neighborhood & Housing Services Department (NHSD) had a problem. As businesses began a tough round of furloughs and layoffs he knew his department had to act fast. Between the 3rd and 4th week of March NHSD saw applications for rental, mortgage, utility, and relocation assistance skyrocket from roughly 57 / week to over 2000. The applicants are composed from San Antonio’s most vulnerable residents, those living within 200% of the federal poverty line or roughly $25-40 / person / day.
Challenge:
With physical distancing restrictions in place, applicants could no longer deliver their submissions to NHSD without putting themselves and the city's case workers at risk. The process required caseworkers to individually contact each applicant, determine eligibility, issue the application, then process it once the applicant returned it with supporting documentation. With the drastic volume increase, the program, personnel, and funding was increasingly being strained.
Fortunately, leaders began to take action. The Texas Supreme Court halted non-criminal evictions in court until April 30, 2020. Bexar County Nelson Wolff issued an Executive Order on March 23 that suspended evictions and foreclosure proceedings for 30 days. On April 3rd the city passed an emergency amendment granting the department the funds to deploy a cloud-based solution to replace the paper process. They turned to Kinetech, a low-code expert and Platform Mendix partner who delivered a digital Utility Credit Application for the city in 2018.
Results:
Kinetech sprang into action immediately, working over the Easter Weekend to deliver a beta-release just seven days later (April 10th). By April 15th, the application went live at 11:04 pm Central time. By 10:00 am the next morning, applicants had started over 1100 applications, averaging nearly 100 / hour or one application per minute. City leaders have expanded the funding available for rental, mortgage, and utility assistance to $14 million to address the rising need.
The city selected Kinetech because of our expertise in rapid application development, agile software processes, systems integration and Mendix - the leading low code software development platform. Kinetech is a Platform Partner of Mendix, the highest designation conferred by the company because of our low code “center of excellence. Kinetech’s leadership team were some of the earliest Mendix employees in the United States until they spun off Kinetech to enable organizations looking to adopt the technology.
Guido Consturction
Designed, built, deployed, and continually support cloud-based project management application for commercial construction. The solution has multiple integrated hybrid and native (offline) mobile apps that streamline worker productivity and provide a competitive advantage for Guido as they manage $100 million plus of construction projects annually.
UPENN - University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania’s Quattrone Nanofabrication lab needed to improve its equipment reservation system. The lab’s leaders needed to get a new solution up and running before they moved into the new facility, and had a limited budget for the project. They ruled out adding an off-the-shelf solution due to the excessive cost and did not want to request the university IT department because traditional code-based development would take too long to complete.
Challenge:
Before the grand opening of the Singh Center for Nanotechnology, Noah Clay, the director of the center had a problem. How could his team manage the secure reservations, usage reports, and billings of the equipment for the new research facility? Scheduling for the equipment in the past was done using an old conference room calendaring application. Billing was done using Excel, some records were still entered on paper logs, and changes in user authorizations had to be done manually.
Solution:Clay, a former lab leader at Cornell and Harvard, had experience working with more advanced billing, reporting, and reservation systems – and he set out to upgrade the apps at Penn. He looked into off-the-shelf software, but the customization needed would have been cost prohibitive and did not meet the extremely tight timeline. Internal IT developers at Penn could have created apps that performed the functions, but they estimated it would have taken more than a year. Clay needed another solution.
Clay turned to Kinetech’s professional services team and Mendix's application platform, to create a single integrated application that would run all billing, equipment reservation and analytics for the lab. The app would replace all the legacy systems that handled these functions. He needed to move quickly, to get the new system up and running when his lab moved into a new central location in the spring. The team built the app in February, ran tests in March and had it deployed by early April. He also needed to have it fit into a tight budget.
Guido Construction - Guido PM - Project Management | Time Entry | Ticketing | Pay Applications | Contract Management | Reporting
Business Need
Few industries can rival the complexity, coordination, and documentation requirements of the commercial construction industry. For Guido Construction, a large commercial contractor in South Texas, growth and scale brought new challenges in standardization and documentation.
Solution
To bring structure and automation to the process, Guido construction engaged Kinetech to build Guido Project Management (Guido PM). Kinetech was selected because of our best-in-class project management knowledge combined with our mastery of the cloud technology.
Since launching after only 8-weeks of initial development, the application has continued to evolve. Initial documentation efforts have been enhanced with workflow automation which saves users time while generating a paper trail of how Potential Cost Impacts evolve. This insight was previously unavailable with the word and excel based processes.
Results
Guido Companies was able to recognize a 100% ROI in less than 12 months. The automated reporting, dashboards, and standardization of process allows the management team insight previously unavailable. They can now review projects and preemptively uncover risks before they become issues.
Berg Pipe - Custom Cloud-Based CRM
Business Need
Berg Pipe produces high-quality pipe lines for oil and gas transfer of crude and refined products. To effectively compete in a global market, Berg Pipe must understand the current backlog at their mills while servicing existing customers and forecasting demand 12-24 months in the future. Berg engaged Kinetech to develop a custom cloud-based Customer and Competitor Relationship Management system.
Challenge:
Prior to approaching Kinetech, Berg relied predominantly on Excel to manage their U.S. sales organization. Sales forecasting was tracked via manual tools and processes, where any change in the forecast was done manually via a master Excel sheet.
Managing an entire sales organization via Microsoft Excel, especially one that is split between two different geographical locations, presents several challenges. Inevitably, there is a continuous struggle to ensure the data tracked via Excel is up to date, accurate and always accessible to all stakeholders. Manual processes increase the risk of human error while continuous updates inevitably result in a loss of historical data.
If a single user forgets to checkout and lock the master spreadsheet, as soon as a field is updated by any member of the organization then all other sheets, reports and other derivative works have become outdated and potentially obsolete. This results in a never ending effort to update the sales tracker, share the updated information with all stakeholders and then update and re-share all reports and derivative works created using that data.
Consider that without some level of consistency and standardization in how sales, customer and competitor information is captured then accurately generating reports for management and the executive group is nearly impossible. After all, how can one guarantee the current year forecast is accurate if the underlying data is suspect?
Another bottleneck identified by Kinetech and Berg that impacted the quotation process for the sales team was their inability to quickly model various production and delivery schedule scenarios for current and potential customers. The lack of if-then scenarios playing necessarily slowed down the turnaround time for quoting projects, as each potential scenario had to be sent to production scheduling for analysis.
Developing accurate, automated and meaningful reporting and analytic capabilities for mature organizations is always a challenge. Most organizations simply lack the technical tools and know-how to develop the capabilities they need to provide the insight they are lacking. Berg devoted several hours each week to create multiple reports utilized by the various stakeholder groups. In addition to the amount of time and effort necessary to create these reports, another consistent headache was the uncertainty surrounding the accuracy of the data being reported. When you then also consider that certain reports will become stale and obsolete almost immediately after they are created and dispersed, once can begin to understand the challenges faced by Kinetech and Berg.
A separate and even more complex set of reports were manually created each quarter for executive review, where these reports provide forward looking viewpoint at a particular moment in time. Manually capturing the data necessary to then create these reports was not only time consuming and prone to error, but the reports were also unavailable on demand.
Without a doubt one of the most important challenges Berg presented to Kinetech was how to improve their competitor tracking capabilities. For companies like Berg, understanding what their competitors are doing as it relates to each past, current and proposed project is critical to ensuring they remain a step ahead of their competition.
Solution
Berg engaged Kinetech to develop a custom web and mobile application that could support their inside and outside sales teams, as well as procurement, U.S. management and executive leadership. Kinetech migrated decades of historical data to provide insights into the global demand for their product. The application provides dynamic reporting and visualization to forecast capacity constraints while optimizing operations.
Berg selected Kinetech and lowcode because of our experience delivering custom complex applications 6-10x faster than traditional development. The integrated feedback and agile project management combined with Kinetech's commitment to continual service and innovation solidified the partnership.
The leadership of Berg was particularly impressed with the agility of Kinetech's business engineers to refine and accept new functionality and implement it into the existing applications within days. Kinetech delivered the complete application within weeks of formally kicking-off development.
Cresta Construction
Cresta Construction Company (“Cresta”) is a subsidiary of TRT Holdings, which is the owner operator of Gold's Gym, Omni Hotels, and other commercial and retail businesses.
Business Need
Few industries can rival the complexity, coordination, and documentation requirements of the commercial construction industry. For Cresta, a vertically integrated construction firm, growth and scale brought new challenges in standardization and documentation.
Solution
To bring structure and automation to the process, Cresta engaged Kinetech to build Cresta Project Management (Cresta PM). Kinetech was selected because of our best-in-class project management knowledge combined with our mastery of cloud technology.
Results
Cresta was able to recognize a 100% ROI in less than 12 months. The automated reporting, dashboards, and standardization of process allows the management team insight previously unavailable. They can now review projects in a standardized way and preemptively uncover risks before they become issues. The contract management functionality has also been critical in streamlining documentation and increasing the legal teams productivity working with subcontractors.
Kinetech - Digital Factory
Get your team communicating with a single point of record. Handle rush orders with ease, and send automated notifications to customers as their project hits key milestones. Generate executive reports with the click of a button and access your data from anywhere at any time.
The Digital Factory, a manufacturer's secret weapon.
Learn More: https://www.kinetechcloud.com/digital-factory
Kinetech Digital Factory
Challenge:
Manufacturers struggled to accurately forecast their production schedule in excel due to the dynamic parameters (materials, backlog, skill sets, employee availability, etc) impacting delivery
Solution:
Kinetech delivered a scheduling solution that factors in all dynamic parameters and visualizes the impact as changes are made (such as accepting a rush order). Advanced analytics and automated notifications provide a foundation for future machine learning (AI).
Results:
144,000% Improvement in scheduling, reducing forecast time from 4+ hours to 10 seconds. The automated foreman report improves collaboration on the manufacturing floor while enabling better pricing power decisions from management.
Timeframe: December 2018 - Present
Integrations: Amazon S3, SendGrid
City of San Antonio - Department of Human Services
The emergency services program assists the city’s most vulnerable residents, those living within 125% of the federal poverty line, ease the burden of utility bills during times of need. For a family of four (4), total household income must be less than $30,756 to be eligible. In 2018 to date, the average income of applicants was closer to $14,000.
The program sees the highest demand during the scorching Texas summer and cooler winter months, processing over 10,000 applications annually that impact nearly 50,000 residents. DHS administers approximately $2.4 Million dollars annually by working directly with San Antonio Water Systems (SAWS) and City Public Service (CPS) to apply credits directly to eligible applicant’s utility bills.
The online application simplifies the original paper process by eliminating the need to print pages, photo copy supporting documentation (Government issued IDs, proof of income, SAWS / CPS Bills, etc), and even make trips to the Willie Velasquez Center to submit the application.
First Citizens Credit Union (FCFCU)
About FCFCU:
First Citizens' is a federally chartered credit union headquartered in Massachusetts. With nine (9) full-service branches the credit union serves customers in New England.
Business Need:
As a full-service loan administrative and lending institution, FCFCU identified an opportunity to bundle and sell collaterallized auto and mortgage loans to other investors looking to generate fixed-income yield. FCFCU maintains a 10% stake in the portfolios they sell, and provide full administrative support for debt collection, reporting, and distributions.
Solution:
In the past, creating investor reports and calculating fees was a manual and error prone process taking approximately 1 week / month. FCFCU tasked Kinetech with building an investor portal that automated these repetitive tasks where investors could quickly examine their portfolio and securely download their monthly reports. The solution integrates loan payment data from FiServ via a secure SFTP site and notifies investors of which loans in their portfolio are in default in addition to calculating the fees paid to FCFCU for administering the loans.
Results:
The application was built in seven (7) weeks, and saves FCFCU approximately 12 weeks of work per year from one full-time employee. This results in a 20-25% increase in operational efficiency by bringing automation to repetitive tasks.
Kinetech Project Management
Kinetech PM – is a custom cloud application that drives 100% ROI for our clients in 12-months or less. The integrated web & mobile solution eliminates monotonous tasks, standardizes operations, and provides visibility into key project metrics.
Features Include:
- Change Orders
- CRM
- Issue Identification
- Order Entry
- Pay Applications
- Potential Cost Impact (PCI)
- Project Management
- Punch List
- Quote Builder
- Reporting
- Request for Informatin (RFI)
- Scheduling
- Task Management
Kinetech PM is currently being used by thousands of users, in 31 states, 5 provinces, and 3 countries. All Kinetech solutions are hosted on enterprise infrastructure (Amazon Web Services, Azure, SAP Cloud).
Reviews
the project
Custom Shared Payment Service Dev for Real Estate Company
"We can tell they bring expert-level knowledge to the table, which allows me to trust their work."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m a product manager in the technology department for a realty company.
What challenge were you trying to address with Kinetech Cloud?
We contracted with them for one project, but they’ve picked up others with us since then. The original development project was a shared payment service and the ability to have our agents pay their fees through multiple merchant processors.
What was the scope of their involvement?
They configured and set up shared payment functionality for us. Their team handled the work within the Mendix environment.
In their work with us, they’ve also been able to develop and implement a new merchant processor that we had not previously integrated with.
What is the team composition?
I work with Ricky (COO) and Mark (CTO) as my developers.
How did you come to work with Kinetech Cloud?
Our VP of product engineering manages the project, but I know that Ricky met with one of our technical staff members at a technical meetup opportunity a few years ago. That ended up operating as a referral based on that employee’s knowledge of their ability to work in a Mendix networking environment.
What is the status of this engagement?
This project lasted from October–November 2020.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Much of our work is done on a fast-paced timeline, and they’ve been able to meet project completions on time with very few critical bugs. There are always opportunities to make things a little bit better, but there are very few critical issues in their work.
How did Kinetech Cloud perform from a project management standpoint?
They never miss deadlines and participate in our daily standups, where they provide updates and concerns about their progress. Typically, the problems they encounter are pretty limited. They maintain communication with us through our internal messaging tool, adopting our way of working. They’re always available through that tool to communicate updates on the project.
What did you find most impressive about them?
The developers are super knowledgeable about the Mendix database and very personable. They’ve developed a nice relationship with our internal technical team.
We can tell they bring expert-level knowledge to the table, which allows me to trust their work. They give feedback on design decisions and always deliver what we asked them to.
Are there any areas they could improve?
I don’t have an immediate opportunity for improvement. We’ve worked with them several times, and they’re great to work with.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
I would suggest making sure your projects are scoped out. However, it’s also important to be flexible in design because they can provide great feedback and guidance to develop a phenomenal solution. They’ll bring a strong design if you allow them to.
the project
Custom Software Dev for Financial Services Company
"Kinetech Cloud is very responsive."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the division support manager at a financial services company.
What challenge were you trying to address with Kinetech Cloud?
We were trying to create a better workflow solution for our sales and operations departments so that we could more efficiently run the process of providing services to our clients.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Kinetech Cloud designed and built a custom software solution for our needs. We’re still developing it with them. The solution provides sales agents with the ability to pull up information on clients and enter data for our operations teams.
We gave them a broad idea of what we wanted and they worked with us to scale it down so that it was more manageable. They used Java, SQL, Mendix.
What is the team composition?
We work with Marc (CTO) and Jason (Business Engineer).
How did you come to work with Kinetech Cloud?
We found them through Clutch. We had a couple of calls with a couple of different companies, and we went with Kinetech Cloud because they said they were able to deliver a custom solution according to our timeline.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent between $100,000–$200,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We began working with them in February 2020, and our engagement is ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We started using the software a couple of months ago and it’s been fairly successful. There was a period of buy-in with end-users, but once everyone was on it, they were happy. Kinetech Cloud is very responsive.
Any time we have issues, bugs, or feature requests, they are able to communicate clearly what it would take to deliver those things and what we needed to do on our end.
How did Kinetech Cloud perform from a project management standpoint?
We used their version of an agile sprint review board, but we eventually switched over to email after the release of the software. We also have standup meetings every once in a while to follow up.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Kinetech Cloud gives me clear answers to the questions that I pose to them, which helps me decide whether it’s a good idea to bring it up to management.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, I haven’t had any major issues. They’ve been on point. Their time management and communication are fine.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Have a good idea of what you want your end-product to be and Kinetech Cloud will absolutely guide you there. Devote time to making sure that the solution works for you.
the project
Custom Software Dev for Asset Management Firm
"Their ability to tailor their engagement and delivery of solutions to the client’s needs was impressive."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I was part of the investment team at an asset management company.
What challenge were you trying to address with Kinetech Cloud?
Initially, the company didn’t have a centralized web-enabled portfolio management tool, so we hired them to develop that.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Kinetech Cloud worked with us from the beginning to help us map out the interface, data structure, functionality, and workflows. They then developed a centralized loan management system in Mendix. We would give them our requirements and they would implement, test, and deploy them.
What is the team composition?
Over the entirety of the engagement, I worked with three teammates, but I had one main point of contact.
How did you come to work with Kinetech Cloud?
Kinetech Cloud was recommended to us by Mendix after I settled on them as a low-code environment. They had done similar work and had experience with the environment, so they seemed like a good fit.
How much have you invested with them?
We spent between $50,000–$200,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We worked with them from March–August 2018.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Everyone was pleased with Kinetech Cloud’s responsiveness and turnaround time. The analyst who was dedicated to managing the relationship with Kinetech Cloud was pleased with their ability to execute and get everything to the test and production phases.
Everyone at the firm was pleased with the relationship and with what they were able to do for us.
How did Kinetech Cloud perform from a project management standpoint?
Their project management was good. The development and deployment wasn’t always a priority from my organization’s standpoint, which was challenging, but Kinetech Cloud did a good job of keeping things queued up and on track. They organized and laid out everything in a way that allowed the firm to keep moving forward.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Their ability to tailor their engagement and delivery of solutions to the client’s needs was impressive. For example, if someone has a detailed, complex workflow and process that needs to get implemented, Kinetech Cloud is capable of doing that.
If someone else gives high-level guidance, Kinetech Cloud is also able to manage that development and deployment process, which is very helpful.
the project
Microservices & Int Expansion for Real Estate Brokerage
"Kinetech Cloud is outstanding."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I am the product manager at a cloud-based real estate organization. We have a presence in all 50 states, nine provinces in Canada, and most recently, in the United Kingdom. I work directly with our international expansion team to build our suite of proprietary applications.
What challenge were you trying to address with Kinetech Cloud?
We primarily use Mendix software to build our applications. We needed a development partner to build out a module that would allow us to easily edit and update publically-available forms for agents.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Kinetech developed custom software for our international expansion to the UK. Their team started by building out a reflexive module allowing us to configure forms at runtime in conjunction with a microservice architecture that would facilitate the onboarding processes in each of our international locations.
They are a full stack development and consulting firm that handled all wireframes and documentation. They also built an API integration with HelloSign within the apps themselves to execute agreements. The solution allows forms to be edited by administrators to capture information from agents to questions, surveys, or in some cases apply for employment.
For the international version, Kinetech augmented our development team and hit the ground running in a sprint. Our teams were given about four months to complete a very large effort of work on this “new-joiner” application. Their team analyzed and ensured these individual applications could be localized to meet the needs of the international market. From a scalability perspective, Kinetech helped future proof our architecture.
The team utilized the standard Mendix modules to handle automated emails, but also integrated HelloSign to facilitate the signing of agreements that go out to the joining agents, as well as a Stripe API to facilitate payment.
What is the team composition?
We worked directly with Ricky (COO, Kinetech Cloud) and Marc (CTO, Kinetech Cloud). Their contributions were invaluable, both their understanding of the software but also their ability to quickly adapt.
How did you come to work with Kinetech Cloud?
Our senior software engineer was familiar with Ricky by being in Houston. He came into contact with Kinetech Cloud and was impressed by their work
What is the status of this engagement?
Our ongoing engagement with Kinetech Cloud began in May 2019. The first project wrapped at the beginning of July, and we immediately began working on the international version.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We gave Kinetech Cloud a very tight timeline to produce these applications and have them stood up in two markets. We were able to meet one of the market deadlines, although, missing the other deadline was a result of other factors and had nothing to do with Kinetech Cloud.
Kinetech Cloud is outstanding. Ricky and Marc helped take us outside the box and bring in different points of view. They were valuable assets to this project.
How did Kinetech Cloud perform from a project management standpoint?
Our teams primarily used Jira for our sprints and bug tracking. Our QA team also used Quality Center to log bugs. During this engagement, we began using Confluence to store documentation about the project.
It has been nice to work with someone like Ricky. He’s the kind of person who’s hard to find, someone who is able to do the product side of the work and also dive into the development side. He’s been a great asset to me as a project manager. It’s been a pleasure to work with Kinetech Cloud.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Kinetech Cloud was always readily available. They provided suggestions and insights into helping us achieve our longterm goal for scalability within the app. Ricky and Marc are both very talented.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No. The very few issues that occurred were no fault of Kinetech Cloud.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
They were very easy to work with, which says something about their organization. They are honest and smart. Kinetech Cloud is easy to work with and picks things up quickly.
the project
Software Dev for Asset Management Company
“They’re generally good with meeting deadlines and project compliance.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
We’re an asset manager, currently holding about a billion and a half in acquired mortgage loans.
What challenge were you trying to address with Kinetech Cloud?
There are a number of static characteristics and variables associated with mortgage loans that need to be database and tracked. We hired Kinetech Cloud to develop a database that helps us understand how our portfolio is performing, how those individual mortgage loans are performing, and understand if there are any outsized risks in the portfolio.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Kinetech Cloud developed a single database that all of our team members can access. We provided wireframes, but they developed the system to work within our existing infrastructure and It tracks all of our assets through a centralized repository of information and reports it through a preset template that we use to manage ongoing performance and risk.
They provide ongoing maintenance and development, as we continue to grow and increase our software needs. They’ve been very helpful partners, guiding us and executing changes to the database that satisfy our needs.
What is the team composition?
We’ve worked directly with their team and a primary liaison that does all of our development work.
How did you come to work with Kinetech Cloud?
This project predates me, but I believe they were recommended buy an investment professional within our organization.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent between $50,000–$100,000
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together around September 2018 and the project is ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
They’ve been able to unlock additional functionality within the system, providing us with even more visibility into our portfolio, which has been super helpful as we manage risk in return.
How did Kinetech Cloud perform from a project management standpoint?
The consultant we work with has been very responsive to all our questions. They’ve been good partners as we reach out to them to solve database problems, seek guidance, and seek to improve functionality. They’re generally good at meeting deadlines and project compliance. We predominately use email to initiate discussion through email but will report bugs through a system called Sprinter.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Despite not having a tremendous background in mortgages, they’ve been very good at suggesting solutions to problems that we've raised. They’ve taken the initiative to understand a little bit more about our business needs and how we satisfy our needs using their system, which makes them a good partner.
Are there any areas they could improve?
Nothing comes to mind.
the project
Application Portal Government Services Department
“They listened to what we wanted and took the time to understand our process.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the assistant director in San Antonio’s Department of Human Services, the social services branch of the city. We do everything from child care to senior services, and one of our programs is the utility assistance program where we provide utility relief for ratepayers under 125% of poverty.
What challenge were you trying to address with Kinetech Cloud?
Our utility assistance program receives about 10,000 applications annually, and it was entirely paper-based. We also had a non-technological workflow, so the forms were all processes manually, and we wanted a company to build a technology solution to streamline the process.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Kinetech Cloud built a software-as-a-service (SaaS), using Amazon Web Services for the backend. The product is an electronic application process that gives users immediate feedback on their application through email. The system alerts them if they’re missing documents, when their application is submitted, when it’s moved onto the review process, and when it’s been approved. It’s a fully automated SaaS solution that certifies if the client is eligible and retrieves and stores backup certification documentation. Kinetech Cloud also underwent a rigorous security process because the product handles personally identifiable information.
What is the team composition?
We worked with three individuals: the founder/project manager, head of sales, and developer.
How did you come to work with Kinetech Cloud?
We issued a problem statement and RFP to the tech community, and Kinetech Cloud was one of the respondents. We chose them because they provided a high-tech solution and agile process that streamlined the work. They connected with our end users and expressed compassion to helping serve vulnerable members of the community.
How much have you invested with them?
We didn’t pay for the creation of the product. The RFP said we’d choose whichever solution was best and then pay for hosting. We’ll probably spend around $30,000–$50,000 in the first year.
What is the status of this engagement?
We worked together from May–August 2018.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
The SaaS is going to be vital in improving the productivity of our utility assistance program. It takes about an hour and 20 minutes to manually process one application, but the software cut that time down to 15 minutes. Both the tech community and end users are excited about the product.
How did Kinetech Cloud perform from a project management standpoint?
They listened to what we wanted and took the time to understand our process. They met with our staff and built a good relationship with our team. Their agile process made collaboration easy and efficient, allowing us to make changes directly in our meetings. They provided detailed documentation and served as a bridge between business and IT language. We have lots of stakeholders and partners, and Kinetech Cloud communicated well with all of them.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They have compassion for the people their product is helping. You can find millions of developers who can do the technical work, but putting in the effort to provide a solution that satisfies the client and end users is a unique trait.
Are there any areas they could improve?
As they grow their company and work more with municipal governments, they need to set time aside for non-technical tasks. For example, their entire team had to pass security training to access the personal data, and things like that may take up more time than they initially allotted for the project.
the project
Platform Dev for Insurance Firm
“I’m very happy with their level of availability, communication, and documentation. They focus on what we need.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I am national vice president of operations for an employee benefits practice group and insurance broker.
What challenge were you trying to address with Kinetech Cloud?
What was the scope of their involvement?
They are creating the interface for our team to work on all their aspects of client management. It’s still in pilot mode, but we’re taking our processes and best practices to establish a central hub for documents and renewal strategies.
We’ve built a vendor tracking module that will ensure the system works properly. We’ve already integrated it over our agency management system, BenefitPoint, where we track our accounts and commissions. We plan to transfer our access from read-only to read/write. We’re also leveraging a platform called Eos for document generation. They’re integrating that into our Mendix platform to push information and generate turnkey documents.
Most of Kinetech’s work is strictly developmental. We outsourced UX to another team and do most of our protocol testing in-house. They follow our guidelines to do some preliminary testing before they deliver each element.
What is the team composition?
I have one full-time developer that my systems manager interfaces with. We’re considering expanding to two full-time staff, but that hasn’t happened yet.
How did you come to work with Kinetech Cloud?
Mendix recommended a list of developers, Kinetech among them. We evaluated a number of organizations and felt they had the best understanding of the platform. They were flexible and small enough to partner with us and respond to our needs.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent about $80,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We began working together in September 2017. We’re in the midst of a three-year project.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
The platform will have a massive impact on our organization. We hope to leverage integrations with other tools and systems to improve our overall productivity by 10%. Based on early results, this target still seems realistic. We believe it will improve our employee experience through a centralized focus on a single-point of entry for data information from disparate systems and spreadsheets. We love our employee culture and by streamlining the way our work is done, this is an opportunity to make us even better.
How did Kinetech Cloud perform from a project management standpoint?
They do everything we ask them to do. I didn’t have enough time to devote to the project, so I hired a systems manager. I’m very happy with their level of availability, communication, and documentation.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They focus on what we need and make sure we’re happy with what they produce. As a development firm, they’re the perfect size. They’re small enough to dedicate time to us and maintain a consistent, responsive relationship through fixed points of contact.
Are there any areas they could improve?
As they grow as an organization, they could consider building out their UX resources.
the project
Mendix-based CRM Dev for Pipe Manufacturing Company
“All we need to do is push a button and we get a complete and accurate data report.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
We are the sales organization for a manufacturing company, serving as the link between the production facilities and our customers. I’m the company president.
What challenge were you trying to address with Kinetech Cloud?
We wanted a more sophisticated system to track inquiries and projects. The data collection we did was previously Excel-based, but we wanted a program that could do everything we needed from one place.
What was the scope of their involvement?
They created a Mendix-based database. They imported data from our old Excel files and developed a user-friendly interface within their system. We ran the old Excel system parallel to the new set up until we confirmed they matched. Then, we took the old process offline.
What is the team dynamic?
We mainly worked with Ricky [COO, Kinetech Cloud] and Michael [CEO, Kinetech Cloud]. They worked inside our office while they were writing the program, which turned out to be very beneficial.
How did you come to work with Kinetech Cloud?
One of our employees knew Ricky, so we discovered them through that personal connection.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent somewhere in the $10,000–$50,000 range.
What is the status of this engagement?
The project took place quickly—over a matter of months—in 2015. We’re still their customer for other projects, and they make adjustments as we need them.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
The database is a much better tool than the system we had before. Our access to the data and our ability to measure it is key. All we need to do is push a button and we get a complete and accurate data report.
How did Kinetech Cloud perform from a project management standpoint?
They are very timely. Even today, if we want to make changes, they respond quickly. They stuck to the timeline they set up at the beginning of the process, and we had an easy time sitting down with them to ask our questions and review the progress.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Their responsiveness and their can-do attitude really stand out.
Are there any areas they could improve?
The output format does not come out as well as it would from Excel, but it’s a small price to pay for all the benefits.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
If you can tell them what you want, Kinetech will provide the product you expect.
the project
Custom Project Management System Dev
“[We were] confident in [their] skills, expertise, and ability to deliver the final product.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
Guido Brothers Construction is a general contracting firm in the vicinity of San Antonio. I'm a Senior Project Manager.
What challenge were you trying to address with KineTech?
Our existing project management software contained some inflexible tools and was growing outdated, so we were looking for a company that would be responsive and adapt our system.
What was the scope of their involvement?
They used Mendix to build our software. Some of the features they worked on included data capture of daily materials like reports or worker timesheets, while other changes were financially related. They enabled us to capture "change-order" information, which updates the original contracts and affects how projects are billed. The software also handles our monthly billing, which can be hundreds of line-items long due to the detail required on some projects, so it's a huge resource for our company.
I think in the future our company's looking to tie the CMS directly into our accounting software. It may be too expensive, but it would help as far as sharing information internally.
What is the team dynamic?
I don't know how big the whole team was, but I communicated with the project manager. He's a great listener and works to understand the process that he's trying to address.
How did you come to work with KineTech?
Our company had an existing relationship with their owner and had a lot of confidence in his skills, expertise, and ability to deliver the final product.
How much have you invested with them?
I’m not entirely sure, but definitely over $50,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working on the project in February 2013, and we're still working together.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Having a proprietary product helps us sell our business to potential customers, because it shows that we custom-tailor the software to our needs and style of business.
How did KineTech perform from a project management standpoint?
On our side, we have a committee of 2-3 people who clarify our needs and ensure that our users understand the product. That team communicates regularly with KineTech's software writers in order to keep the whole project going smoothly.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They're good listeners, and receptive to questions or critiques. It's nice to work with men and women who are open to collaboration like that.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Maintain a close working relationship, because they listen well and will work hard to find the best solution to your problems.
the project
Customization of Project Management Tool
“I am seeing it reduce errors in communication for the duration of a project.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I am a project executive of Corporate Concepts. We are a 34-year-old furniture company and have had DIRTT [Doing It Right This Time] for about the last 7–8 years. DIRTT is a technology-driven manufacturer of highly customized interiors. It utilizes technology as a tool to price, design, engineer, and ultimately manufacture interior spaces such as hospitals, classrooms, hotels, etc.
What challenge were you trying to address with Kinetech Cloud?
We were looking for customization of a project management tool.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Kinetech Cloud created a database that enabled us to create efficiencies by streamlining our workload from tracking opportunities, to sales, to order entry. The application was pretty robust, but there were specific pieces within the app that were very active too. In construction and architecture, quotes are set up with industry-specific language such as terms and conditions and qualifications. We submitted feedback to request that some of the pieces within the app be more in line with industry standard language and how companies used the app and the output. As we provided that feedback, they developed and refined those pieces.
How did you come to work with Kinetech Cloud?
We were one of the very first few partners to adopt the software. I don’t know if it was common knowledge that they existed, and I believe they called on us. It was completely designed to work with DIRTT from a sales tracking opportunity, to quoting and entering the orders, and this drove us to adopt the software. We were the second or third company to adopt their project management tool. We have been using them for the last 2.5 years. Corporate Concepts have been using them for about 1.5 years.
How much have you invested in them?
We have spent between $10,000–$50,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working with them in March 2015, and we are still using them.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
The app has a feature I use a lot for quoting projects early on in an opportunity phase, which helps me to track profit margins very tightly and have a holistic understanding of where our profit margin is at any point within that quoting process. This enables me to remain competitive when I know we need to be at certain budget numbers.
Additionally, because we have separate people who do order entry versus myself more on the sales side, there is less of a chance for miscommunication when it goes from a sales opportunity to an actual order and gets handed off to other people. All of the information is embedded into each opportunity, and there is a lower likelihood that communication will be lost or a number transcribed incorrectly because it is all pushed from an opportunity into the order. After a project is complete, all of that information stays embedded into that database. I am seeing it reduce errors in communication for the duration of a project.
Also, at the beginning, we were looking to hire a project manager and had a huge workload that was fairly complex. Ultimately for us, we were able to put off that hire by about 6 months because of the efficiency and database created using Kinetech.
How did Kinetech Cloud perform from a project management standpoint?
Initially, we set up several GoToMeetings where Morgan [Partner and Director of Sales] ran us through the entire app. She was proficient and interactive in the training. There were very few things they didn’t have a solution for. They changed things as we needed them to change. Fortunately, Morgan lives locally, and she comes to our office if we have questions or new employees that need training.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They took a complicated process, which was prone to a lot of errors that cost us time and money, and made it user-friendly. The user interface became very simple, and once datasets were created within the app, it became repeatable simply and easily. The appeal for us was that it streamlined our process, reduced the number of errors, and saved us time and money when we placed an order. They were very responsive to our feedback to make the tool even better.
Are there any areas they could improve?
A more robust CRM tool would be helpful. At Corporate Concepts, we started as a furniture dealership and now have a completely dedicated DIRTT team. As a company, we recently launched a CRM tool, but the way we track sales cycles and opportunities in DIRTT is unique, and we have to adapt to the furniture mentality. If Kinetech had a more robust CRM capability, we would use it a lot more, both for personally tracking our own pipelines and also as a team understanding who is contacting who. There tends to be a lot of overlap between contacts within architecture firms, clients, general contractors, and brokers. We have not figured out a clean and easy way to communicate that with each other, and there is efficiency that could be gained from having that tool.
Also, we would like to coordinate with our backend accounting system. Within the app, we are able to issue purchase orders, but there is no backend accounting to it so we are still using another program for all accounting purposes. In the past, they said this doesn’t align with Kinetech’s purpose, but they have been talking about ways that the software could communicate with other software programs.
Challenged with accelerated deadlines, the team successfully delivered the product according to schedule without sacrificing its quality. There were limited bugs in the final deliverable, and the developers kept all parties up to date on their progress throughout the engagement.