Merce Technologies

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former COO of a smartphone manufacturer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Merce Technologies?

We wanted to create a platform to monetize customer preferences. If there’s a particular discount or incentives available for a product, clients don’t need to engage with the retailer to use that incentive. They can buy it anywhere. The app we wanted would reward in cash.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We shared the concept. The UI/UX was designed by another firm, and all the development work for the rewards app was done by Merce Technologies. They used a cross-platform technology in order to allow us to develop for iOS and Android.

We depended on Merce Technologies for the initial launch of the app—the backend of the business process where we capture the sales invoices. They helped with the whole onboarding process. They helped with customers as well as the documents they were submitting.

Since the first delivery, we’ve continued to add features and evolve with the app.

What is the team composition?

There were 4-5 dedicated resources and the CEO was our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Merce Technologies?

Our CTO had known the founders of Merce Technologies from his previous engagement. We had a very short window to get the app up for the launch. They agreed to meet very short deadlines, which was the most important factor for us in choosing them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $35,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from July 2015—March 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When we launched the app, we were able to get 8,000—10,000 signups in three days. It was good working with Merce Technologies. We didn’t have any bad experiences.

How did Merce Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

I’d rate them in the top 25% compared to other service providers we’ve worked with. They had a robust project management structure. They were easy to communicate with and they understood what we wanted. We communicated via Jira and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were able to understand what we needed without many iterations. We also found them quite reasonably priced. They were quite organized and we didn’t find any challenges that we would typically expect in outsourcing a vendor. We really liked working with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They were limited at that time in what technologies or platforms they could work with. We were short of time and didn’t evaluate much on that part and agreed to go with whatever they had to offer.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Expect clarity of communication. They’re able to understand and execute what you want. Clients can be open in discussing their requirements. I believe clients will get a clearer response and understanding from Merce Technologies than other outsourcing companies.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and CTO of Keurix B.V., a construction inspection app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Merce Technologies?

We needed someone to develop our app. When we first started the company, we weren’t planning to hire locally because of costs and the difficulties of finding people here for a small company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had them start by building the initial prototype of a small part of the app to make sure they could deliver. Then they started building the full app for iOS and Android, as well as a browser-based version for frontend and backend. They used PHP, Laravel, MySQL, and PhoneGap.

They built the entire app from scratch, maintained it, and deployed it. It’s a system where users can see their inspection forms and checklists, with a QA checklist for each discipline like electrical, mechanical, plumbing, etc. Users can photograph a problem, highlight its location, and associate it with the blueprint. The person who is supposed to fix it can go in and do so, then it goes back for verification before it’s closed.

What is the team composition?

There were 5–7 people including some consultants and I knew each person individually. Initially, there was a full-time senior technical person until all the key things were done with architecture. Then that person became part-time. There was also a part-time project manager assigned.

How did you come to work with Merce Technologies?

There were some people that were technically much better, but they were four times the price. I liked the openness of Merce Technologies’ management as I had direct access to the founders and CEO. Their rates were okay, and they’re located in an area I knew well. I hadn’t worked with them before, but they were open and worked hard on learning.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $250,000–$300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together between October 2013–March 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The management because they could see the progress and get payments as the work was complete. They also had their documentation and were able to keep it for a long time through the app.

We went live three months after the engagement and are now on the sixth version. The quality of service is very good, as is the functionality of the app. As our budget is relatively low, feedback about the UI and colors has been that it doesn’t look very modern, as we didn’t have designers. However, the key thing is the functionality and stability of the app, which is good. Clients have been stable for five years.

How did Merce Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re quite flexible—we used Jira and had multiple calls a week. I talked to the project manager on a reporting basis of escalations and the technical person for the key issues. It was really hands-on.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re open about their processes, which allowed the programmers to explain if they had any issues. The people stayed in the team for longer than I’ve found in other companies.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The biggest challenge is that the UI/UX designers aren’t that great. We have to give pretty clear mockups for designs and every year or so someone quits and is replaced.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Use an agile methodology and have regular calls with a weekly standup and a monthly management meeting. If it’s a technical project, you need someone fairly technical to interact with them.

It’s also quite helpful to train new people when they join and be very clear about what you want. Have occasional code reviews and make sure they fix the problems. Overall, clear specifications and communication are key.