MAAN Softwares INC.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of TommyFierst.com, which offers motivation and goal-setting services. I also own an insurance agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MAAN Softwares INC.?

I wanted to spur motivation within my sales team at my insurance agency, so I started TommyFierst.com. To support my efforts, I sought to build a corresponding app that helped my staff set goals and track their daily tasks.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I had an idea of what I wanted the app to look like, but I didn’t know how to get there. MAAN Softwares INC. provided step-by-step guidance, first helping me conceptualize the idea in writing. Then we began a trial-and-error process to transform that concept into an actual app.

The team built both iOS and Android versions from scratch. They submitted a basic template, and I left comments and requested changes. After making the modifications, they presented the updated iteration. We went through this cycle until the app met all of my standards.

I originally decided to design my system because other apps on the market didn’t emphasize the importance of repetition when working toward a goal. MAAN Softwares INC. implemented a calendar feature, goal setting options, and a functionality that allows users to add libraries, pictures, and music­—all focused on encouraging repetition.

What is the team composition?

I had two main points of contact, but there were about five people working on my project at any given time.

How did you come to work with MAAN Softwares INC.?

I first found them online in 2010 when I was looking for an agency to rebuild my website. We’ve been working on and off since then. When I decided to build this app, they were the logical choice.

How much have you invested with them?

I spent $30,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from May­–August 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

My team reacted positively to the app. I’m able to efficiently teach my own goal-setting strategy. The app sends daily reminders to continuously provide encouragement.

How did MAAN Softwares INC. perform from a project management standpoint?

Our communication level depended on the phase of the project. When working on the design, we spoke daily, but during the development phase, we spoke as necessary. They were extremely responsive to questions and comments. Despite the distance, we fell into a fluid workflow. They do a great job, that’s why I continue to collaborate with them. The team is very easy to work with, and they’re consistently upfront with their costs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re honest. I can really trust them to deliver on what they promise.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes the language barrier can get in the way, but their team’s lead will translate when necessary. Other than that, I don’t have any complaints.

Any advice for potential customers?

To ensure a smooth project, be clear with expectations. They know what they’re doing, so give them the freedom to do their best work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Green America is a national nonprofit organization funded by individual and business-member donations as well as some foundation support. We focus on environmental sustainability and economic justice. We’re based in Washington, DC and the average annual budget is $3.5 million.

I was hired last year to work on a website redesign for a ColdFusion site that needed to be updated. We have currently moved it to Drupal 8 on a new host with completely different content architecture. The point of the site is to engage with our individual and business members as well as the general public to surface donations, to have a more mobile responsive layout, and to update our content with better graphics and more informational pieces, especially about our content work. We also have three separate sister sites that they incorporated, which include a business directory, a listing of big banks and a print version of our business directory so that what we currently have as external Joomla and WordPress sites can be all managed inside one Drupal CMS that supports about 35 people on our staff. The point is to consolidate and coordinate the better display information across the organization. Currently, the technology is very siloed, very difficult to keep updated, and prone to attacks. The new site solves many problems.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MAAN Softwares Inc?

We had started with another firm to do the design samples. That was the Illustrator files, the design processes, the personas, the overall content architecture. I went with MAAN Softwares Inc. to do the build. This is the content and database structure, and the references between content. As a great example, we have actions, which are a part of campaigns, which are a part of programs, which are a part of lenses. Each of those four entities have to be managed separately, and yet, they’re all related. MAAN Softwares Inc. did all of the content architecture, database fixing, importing content from our external sites, and then also the theming. They’ve taken the design from our external design provider and then applied it to the live version of the Drupal site so that it’s mobile-responsive and looks better. Right now, the only part that has been lacking, that our team has had to do, is update things like the lens content and the language around certain pieces and updating additional images that we wanted to have to highlight our work. I’d say they were part of the build, the theming, and then the overall content architecture.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with a project manager, and we used Active Collab, which is their in-house tool, to coordinate scrums, like phases of the work, which were then broken up into tickets. We had one themer, one database manager, and then another that was more of a server admin, to help with each of the different phases. I was mostly working with the themer, and they would help me, along with the project manager, to coordinate some of the other streams of work. I’ve been very much involved in assigning tasks. There are two or three people working on the project depending on the phase.

How did you come to work with MAAN Softwares Inc?

We gave a list of our functional necessities and got a quote. We started with a half-down deposit, and then, when we were doing the actual work, we had a fixed phase of work. However, as we kept on going, we realized that we needed additional work from them, and they were very flexible with us in putting different streams of the work into different timelines, based on what we had prioritized. Our needs have expanded over time and they’ve been very flexible. They’ve definitely expanded the scope and the timeframe of what we had originally wanted them to do.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2017, and we will be continuing to work with them on additional phases of work after the launch. There’s ongoing work that other teams in my organization are requesting such as app development and additional donation streams.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

I know for our staff, our board, our executive director, and the program team, who are in charge of editorial content, it’s definitely been beyond easier for them to update the content that used to have to go to one person and then get managed in Dreamweaver to get posted. Now, again, with the content management system, any of the editorial or program lens or donation managers can go in and make a change, and it automatically lists everywhere that change is needed. In terms of ease of publishing, our team is so grateful that we have a CMS that works for our needs.

How did MAAN Softwares Inc perform from a project management standpoint?

Inside of the Active Collab, there are different streams of work. Just to give an example, we had a theming phase. We themed the home page first with MAAN, and then we themed the interior pages, which were all very similar to one another. We found out that there were probably 10 to 15 more additional content types that also needed similar theming. Then we worked on the import of secondary sources, including the Green Business Network, the Green Pages online, and Break Up with Your Mega-Bank. They helped us input those directories into the site. Then we did the theming and integrating of the subsites into our overall content management system. Each of those had its own scope, including what we needed for it and what type of graphic sizes, how the content would relate to each other, and we would just kind of cascade from the home page on downward. MAAN also enabled for us what we call a kitchen sink that has all of the elements that we could ever possibly use on the site. That will be available to us in the future because we don’t actually know some of what we want to have designed. Perhaps one of the teams will come up with a new piece of content. We have this glossary of design elements that they’ve themed for us, that we can then slice and dice as needed in the future.

What did you find most impressive about MAAN Softwares Inc?

It’s very clean. Part of our struggle is to communicate with somebody and have it be coordinated in a clean conversation because oftentimes somebody gets very muddied, or they’re not sure what this thing on the left is, or it’s not clear what we’re asking for. It doesn’t get rendered correctly. I would say that the cleanliness of communication has been very good. I asked for the Green America magazine article to show the last three related articles to that magazine, and they can render it spot-on. That reduces the amount of frustration from our internal team, and then it also increases the ability for us to iterate, because once we see a version, then we can give feedback on that. I would say that their certainty and cleanliness of the design is so helpful for us because then we can better envision what we need, and then we can better iterate what the teams are asking for. We started with a version, and they themed it like what we asked, but upon further review, we needed a slightly different design. They came back to us with an even better version, and then it was very easily implemented and approved by her quicker and better. The theming process and also the database importation has been very clean and quick and clear with this team.

Are there any areas MAAN Softwares Inc could improve?

Maybe we could ask for more suggestions from them on how to implement things, but they’ve always been a true partner to us in giving us options for how we might want to implement something. I would say that they’re very much a true partner, and they’ve given us constructive items, but maybe just a little bit more explanation or recommendation.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with MAAN Softwares Inc?

It’s always easier if you have your functional specifications and your content architecture at least mapped to your business process, so that when you articulate something to them, they can better understand what you’re trying to say. If I had come to them with lenses, programs, campaigns, and actions but not mentioned to them how they were all connected, they might have built something more disparate. But since I knew that they were connected in certain formats, through images or through references, then they were more easily able to implement my vision for that.  I would definitely say any team needs to have a fairly good understanding of their content structure in order to build it in a way that matches their needs.

As an example, we have press releases, which are very different from media mentions, which are very different from blog posts. But all three of those are essentially Green America avenues in media. We had to explain that these were three separate items, but if you don’t go into detail on the difference between the three, it would be easy to think that they’re all the same thing. But they’re not because press releases are created by Green America, whereas media mentions is Green America in the news from other sources, so the fields associated with those are different. And additionally, blog posts are our own content that we’re pushing, so that has its own needs as well in terms of the fields associated with that content.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder of an inspirational app company. My overall goal was to create a simple Android app that asked users a series of questions at the start of the day or during the first interaction. That information was logged and recalled whenever the users needed it, with the aim of gaining a more philosophical perspective on things. The app is aimed at any English-speaking user looking to go through a bit of self-improvement, regardless of their age, sex, or nationality.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MAAN Software?

I had an overarching idea of what I wanted to create. From there, I used MAAN Software to create it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I gave MAAN Software images of what I thought the app should look like, and they came back with more refined designs as well as development approaches. Once we set up the look and functionality, MAAN Software created the app from scratch. They also made an online portal through which I can change settings. I have the ability to display ads on it, make Google Play updates, and so on.

How did you come to work with MAAN Software?

I went through a few searches for app developers at the end of 2016 and narrowed it down to three companies that would take on smaller projects. MAAN Software didn't explicitly state this, but they got back to me and said that they'd be happy to take me onboard. I appreciated this, compared to the other developers who had more standoffish approaches or simply didn't reply at all. I contacted five companies in total. I'm from Australia. At first, I looked at companies in the Brisbane area, ones which I could visit in-person. I realized that my own availability would be limited, so I didn't mind branching out internationally.

How much have you invested with MAAN Software?

This is confidential.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with MAAN Software in late January 2016. The app reached its final stages at the end of March. The app is live, but we still have a few refinements to go through. I am busy with my main job, which is why the project has taken longer to complete. The app could have been completed in two or three weeks, but I couldn't participate in the back-and-forth due to personal work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

I want to make a couple of final adjustments within the next few months, before fully releasing the app and advertising it. It's had no downloads as a result.

Personal feedback could be biased since the app was designed as a tool which could work for me. It's not designed to be overly complex or glossy; it simply features text questions that respond to the inputs of the user, without any animations. I can change those questions through my panel, which allows me to tailor the app based on user feedback.

I work in a relatively high-performance environment, psychology-wise, and my colleagues have been happy with the questions and the ease of use of the application. This was my main goal in the first place—having people use the application and not become bored with it after the first use.

How did MAAN Software perform from a project management standpoint?

MAAN Software used Skype as a primary point of contact. I set it up because it made it easy to send messages across different time zones. Their team responded to my messages within a couple of hours or even less during their working hours. There was nothing critical during the development that would have required them to drop all other tasks. There were only minor changes to be made. We organized the best call times between both parties. I was usually not contactable for days at a time, but MAAN Software worked around this, which I appreciate.

What did you find most impressive about MAAN Software?

I was at the forefront of MAAN Software's focus, and they wanted to make sure that I was satisfied with everything. They were often deep in questioning whether the work met my requirements, and were happy to perform extra work on it if I wasn’t satisfied. I might have been happy with an earlier version of something, but MAAN Software offered solutions that made it better, at no extra cost. They never altered the price in order to make the app glossier.

Are there any areas MAAN Software could improve?

The use of project management software would be good for providing updates on the progress, and log what had been done. MAAN Software could better show customers the processes they're going through.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with MAAN Software?

MAAN Software would be a good fit for people looking to get ideas off the ground and develop smaller apps. For someone who doesn't have a lot of time on their hands and wants to get the ball rolling, MAAN Software can provide some good ideas. They can take the workload off of the client's hands.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our startup provides a web-based service that improves customer efficiency by automatically creating and posting social media messages (to FB, LinkedIn, etc.). I am one of the founders of the business and a board member. This is a part-time position for me at this time since it is one of several technology companies I have a financial interest in. My title is chief scientist. I am responsible for creating the AI engine at the core of the service. I act as the systems architect and providing direction to technical resources.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MAAN?

As a startup, we needed technical resources at a reasonable price. We were looking for people who we can trust to be efficient, effective, and punctual.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

MAAN provided offshore project management, graphic design, and programming services for our company’s core application. We have a very advanced custom Drupal application that includes advanced interfaces to the backend and web services to other service providers (e.g., Facebook).

How did you come to work with MAAN?

We interviewed several companies with similar qualifications and prices. We gave them all a test task and MAAN was the winner.

How much have you invested with MAAN?

We’ve paid about $100,000 for their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in September 2013 and ended in May 2014. This project is complete, but I was so impressed with MAAN that they now provide services to other companies I own.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did MAAN perform in terms of project management?

MAAN provided a dedicated project manager with technical acumen. That person also served as a bridge to their staff and insulated us from any possible personnel issues. Their process is ideal for working with offshore resources.

What did you find most impressive about MAAN?

I appreciated MAAN's breadth and depth of experience, plus their ability to find unique resources to meet any need.

Are there any areas where MAAN could improve?

None.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with MAAN?

As with any technical team, the more complete the requirements and the more time spent ensuring there is a meeting of the minds on expectations, the quicker and better the results.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We're a software-as-a-service company delivering many applications within the social area.

What is your position?

I am the chief executive officer of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with MAAN InfoWeb Solutions?

We are the first social platform that also delivers real applications. Many others have games and such, but few actually offer business applications. Our goal was to find a development company for this purpose. We wanted to build a content management system that would allow us to scale cost-effectively while still having a world-class system.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

MAAN has developed an endless number of functionalities for us. I'd never used the platform chosen for us, but they've been able to work faster and more economically than any other developer.

How did you come to work with MAAN InfoWeb Solutions?

I found them through a recommendation.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with MAAN in May 2015. Our first application was launched in August of that year. We're still working together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The primary achievement brought by MAAN was to deliver a real application to us. They can certainly build websites and are a very sophisticated organization, but the most important thing for us was the fact that we could launch a product to market because of the effort.

MAAN has certainly worked fast, and they were able to complete the work without giving away any company secrets.

How did MAAN InfoWeb Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

They're good and have solid talent within their company. MAAN's team also speaks good English. They've managed to follow our instructions without any problems, which is somewhat unique, especially for an Indian company.

What distinguishes MAAN InfoWeb Solutions from other providers?

Many people would express concerns about using a developer from India, but we've used MAAN extensively and haven't considered using any other company.

There are right and wrong ways to approach a task in the IT world. MAAN has gone the extra mile in order to complete the project right, without shortcuts. There have been times in which we needed to respond to clients immediately and provide a functional product. MAAN has worked with us in getting good results. They're very customer-oriented.

Is there anything MAAN InfoWeb Solutions could have improved or done differently?

They started their company a couple of years ago. As MAAN was scaling, there were some gaps in communication that proved to be a bit of a challenge. But, weighed against what we've typically found in the IT sector, this wasn't significant.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

10K Webdesign is a web design/development firm, specializing in installation of Drupal and customization of e-commerce, informational, portfolio, and membership association sites. We primarily serve businesses that are green, progressive, and/or minority/women-owned.

What is your position?

I am the founder/owner of the company.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

My first engagement with them came during their engagement as a subcontractor with my business partner. MAAN provided database content reviews and an ability to import charities from an IRS database, adding them as live data points on our site. They also provided responsive web design for the website itself, working on its logo and other visuals.

I also worked on a project with them for my other place of employment, Ashoka Changemakers, which is a global social enterprise non-profit that selects and sources changemakers from around the world. I am a web developer for the company, in charge of the Drupal 7 installation of one of our sub-teams. The project was done for a branch of our company which focuses specifically on college campuses. We needed to build a two-part application form for an exchange project. The form was used mostly by college students, administrators, and change leaders. The first part of it was an initial screening, followed by a more in-depth series of questions. MAAN built the backend content type for the screening short-form as well as the screening long-form. It had two separate versions: one aimed at online communities and another for in-person seminars.

On our most recent engagement, I served as the database engineering manager, coming up with the overall data architecture and directing their team on the implementation of a project for an international competition run by an external client.  They also implemented theming and reports for it.

At the height of the work, we worked with their principal, a project manager, two coders, one theme designer, and a database specialist who helped with caching, Varnish, Solar, CloudFlare, and some third-party add-ons that we implemented in order to make the site work better. At any given moment, MAAN can provide teams of 2-5 people, depending on different needs. They were able to ramp-up at the end of our project.

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

Theming work is priced at $25 per hour, while coding work is $35 per hour. Our guest project was priced at $50,000 per month. MAAN added human resources based on user flow.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have an ongoing relationship. Our network is going into phase two, which will require a boot camp application that will enable people to register online. Admins will also use the application to approve and reject participants.

An external client will be building what they call villages, which are basically online groups. MAAN will build organic groups on Drupal in order to enable people to post events and see each other's posts, based on their group.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We've received more than 400,000 votes during the last voting round on our guest network. These competitions will be run on a quarterly basis, so the system has been built in order to handle this.

On our first project, they were able to have around 800,000 records pulled from the IRS database. In terms of databases, MAAN is able to handle many different types.

Our Ashoka University project had 800 online participants who attended classes after registering through the system. Many others registered online. MAAN has helped optimize very labor-intensive processes, creating an engineering solution which freed up some of our non-technical staff and permitted them do their jobs.

In terms of quality, MAAN has always been able to think beyond the task at hand. They address particular tickets and close them, but they're also aware of the greater project and provide helpful suggestions, particularly in terms of modernizing infrastructure and making sure that things are up-to-date. They sometimes see things that we wouldn't see, given that we're not looking at the technology as closely.

How did MAAN perform from a project management standpoint?

The best working experience is achieved through a ticketing system like Jira or Assembla, and by laying out sprints in advance. This makes the work easier, but I don't know if it specifically applies to MAAN. If the client has good communication and a good understanding of the process, they can build it better.

What distinguishes MAAN from other providers?

They have been a reliable team for me over the years. MAAN is responsive and has an ability to think long-term, which has been a bonus to the different business and organizational endeavors in which I've engaged them. They also have an ability to be flexible about different strategies coming from upper management. They do the best with what they have at any given moment.

Is there anything MAAN could have improved or done differently?

They're still learning basic things like documentation or how to implement features to a platform in order for it to be repurposed. Making sure that they feel comfortable asking questions is important. This comes easier to some members of their team than to others, depending on their general experience. As a whole, they perform well, and we've worked successfully with them through most of our engagements. In general, it would be good to give them permission to ask as many clarifying questions as needed in order to create a better final product. I would advise anyone hiring them to be explicit about this fact, and hammer on it in order to get a better outcome.