Netsmartz LLC

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a manager at a software development company. We build, sell, and support ERP software.

What challenge were you trying to address with Netsmartz LLC?

We were looking for a UX designer to add to one of our projects. We wanted to get some external help to get our project done from a timing perspective.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Netsmartz put forward a scope of work, and we accepted it. From there, a resource from their team started working with us in a contract-based arrangement. They use Figma, which is what our in-house UX team uses. They also make suggestions about the UI/UX on a mobile device. 

What is the team composition?

We have one person from Netsmartz embedded within our project team. 

How did you come to work with Netsmartz LLC?

I found them through an email, then I checked through LinkedIn and their website and got some feedback. I reached out to Netsmartz to see what they had to offer. We had a couple of meetings, and they arranged an interview with the resource we ended up engaging to see how they communicated and whether their skills and background lined up with the project we were working on.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent around $45,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2021, and our partnership is ongoing. Although we originally started with a three-month engagement, we’ve extended the contract a couple of times now.

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

Netsmartz’s resource has taken on a fair bit of responsibility, and they’ve spoken to different subject matter experts to understand our project’s use cases more in detail. The experience has been quite positive, and our in-house team keeps asking me to continue the engagement with Netsmartz, showing that they’re happy with the work.

How did Netsmartz LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re good at project management. Netsmartz is involved in our regular day-to-day scrum meetings, and they communicate with our project manager. There’s a fair bit of high-bandwidth communication; we use some Atlassian tools like Jira and Confluence, and we usually communicate through Microsoft Teams and email. Effectively, we treat Netsmartz’s resource like an internal teammate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciate how Netsmartz found us a good fit for this particular project. We’ve reached out to them for different resources for other projects. However, they found the right one for those projects, and that’s okay, though we chose not to go forward with that. Still, with the engagement we have now, they chose someone that’s a good match for our needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

When we try to engage a provider, we have a video conference with them because we need to see how well we can communicate together. While our initial meeting with the UX designer was good, they weren’t able to get the video working with some of the other candidates, which made it a lot harder during the interview process because we couldn’t actually see them, so to speak.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to take the time to talk to Netsmartz and make sure you get a resource that matches the specific need you’re looking to fill.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the IT director of a luxury home furnishing retailer, a B2B company that predominantly serves the interior design community in the US, and we’re currently expanding our business in the UK.

What challenge were you trying to address with Netsmartz LLC?

We needed someone to provide us with a cost-efficient e-commerce solution.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I engaged with Netsmartz LLC as a third-party offshore provider primarily focusing on Magento e-commerce development. They’re porting our entire site along with its functionalities and interface to the newest version of Magento, and serve as our main front- and backend development resource for new features and functionality.

Apart from that, they do QA testing for our products and make further improvements by implementing new features. 

What is the team composition?

We work with Raj (Technical Project Manager), Pratik (Business Analyst), Sneha (Software Engineer), Sakshi (Software Developer), and a lead developer.

How did you come to work with Netsmartz LLC?

We found Netsmartz LLC through Google and decided to go with them based on their Magento and Adobe eCommerce expertise. Sanjay (COO) presented their services well and after checking a few references and vetting their company, I felt quite confident moving forward with them.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve invested around $600,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in May 2019.

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

Netsmartz LLC has a great track record of delivering multiple requirements successfully, and consistently meeting our expectations.

How did Netsmartz LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is serviceable, but it takes care from our side to make sure everybody in their team is working efficiently and communicating smoothly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We like that Netsmartz LLC has the commitment for our business to be successful. They understand the challenges and do a good job of keeping the project on track. In addition to that, we like their responsiveness and ability to mitigate issues.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would be great to see some accountability and ownership flow down to the lowest level of contributors. If the developers don’t understand the requirement, they should take it upon themselves to identify the problem instead of passing it to someone else.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to go into the partnership with your eyes open. As long as you have ownership inside the business and the right people to manage your project, you’re going to have a great experience working with Netsmartz LLC.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at a nonprofit organization in the education area.

What challenge were you trying to address with Netsmartz LLC?

We purchased and installed a new learning management platform for our customers, but its shopping cart was inept for what we wanted, so we needed help with it.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Netsmartz LLC built out and customized the shopping card product we got through Magento. We started by telling them what we needed, and they proceeded to fill out a scope of work on the timeline, then started to build and launch the product.

Currently, they’re helping us with maintenance.

What is the team composition?

We’ve been working with six members of their team, including a project manager.

How did you come to work with Netsmartz LLC?

They were referred to us by our LMS company. We chose them because they accommodated our budget.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $45,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2019, and the engagement is ongoing.

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

They’ve been accommodating and have continued to work through any issues we’ve had.

How did Netsmartz LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re great at staying on the timeline. In terms of communication, we have biweekly meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them? 

Their ability to adapt to us and work to get any needed solution is outstanding — they solve any issue until we’re satisfied.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The time difference between teams has been challenging in terms of having all the teammates on the same call to talk about the project.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be clear on what you want and scope everything out, including the timeline you want to work with.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the product manager of a paper and media distributor. We sell to the photography industry and we also have a digital imaging platform.

What challenge were you trying to address with Netsmartz LLC?

Our digital imaging platform is widely used in the North American and Australian markets, so we were looking for an easier way for companies to establish partnerships with solution providers such as photography production companies and photo websites, to provide consumers with a seamless experience when it comes to ordering, developing, and publishing photos.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired Netsmartz LLC to create a one-point integration for gallery software and e-commerce companies to connect to a network of photography labs across our targeted markets. Using our production system, customers are able to easily make orders and establish business relationships as they choose.

The project has five phases starting with a feasibility architecture where we identify the scope of the project, a business analysis where we write high-level user stories, a Scrum implementation where we acquire resources from Netsmartz to do incremental developmental sprints, a testing phase, and the delivery of an MVP.

Throughout the partnership, we’ve established additional features, resized the Scrum team, and sent the product out to early adopters and testers. Additionally, Netsmartz has also been hosting and operating the software’s APIs and Azure cloud system.

What is the team composition?

We work with a business analyst, Scrum leader, and a senior technical person who’s responsible for the software architecture. At our peak, we’ve probably had about five full-time resources and we’ve also interfaced with John (General Manager & Channel Sales Manager).

How did you come to work with Netsmartz LLC?

The previous vendor we were working with on this project recommended them to us. They have limited experience working with Netsmartz, but have read about their visibility in the tech community of the Rochester area.

What is the status of this engagement?

The ongoing partnership started in December 2019.

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

We’ve been very pleased with the resources provided by Netsmartz. They’re phenomenal at taking ownership of the project and they’re definitely committed to our company’s success. Additionally, their communication and follow-through skills are always there, so we’ve never been afraid of having them directly interact with our customers.

Another thing that I found helpful was the ability they provided me to scale their involvement up or down at the initial push, depending on the project’s needs and budget constraints. We mostly communicate through Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

How did Netsmartz LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

They perform well. One thing I found helpful was the ability they provided me to scale their involvement up or down at the initial push, depending on the project’s needs and budget constraints. We mostly communicate through Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We like that they help with our growth initiative by providing us with customizable resource solutions. The ability to be able to rent our own Scrum team has been very handy, especially in the last six months when business conditions have essentially forced us to put the product on pause.

Are there any areas they could improve?

While we haven’t succeeded with our project yet, it’s not necessarily something I can attribute to their performance, so they don’t have anything they could improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise them to break down their projects into smaller phases to gain some experience working with Netsmartz. Come up with a plan, get something delivered, and review the progress of the partnership.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of a company that focuses on data collection and sports analytics for distance running teams and general fitness customers.

What challenge were you trying to address with Netsmartz LLC?

We brought in Netsmartz to join the other teams and vendors that were working on our primary application.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Netsmartz provided senior-level engineering services and supplemented a lot of the bug-fixing and adjustment efforts. They played a major role in stabilizing the platform by taking out and reengineering different erroneous sections, working closely with the QA specialists and principal engineers. 

The platform itself is a mobile system that uses a universal timer to allow people –particularly coaches, distance running teams, cross-country teams, and track-and-field teams – to collect data at training and sports meets. This system can log data on up to 200 people on a team and do analytics instantaneously to provide real-time coaching insight. We’ve built the platform to help users manage team members logistically in a polished way.

What is the team composition?

We work with one senior engineer from Netsmartz.

How did you come to work with Netsmartz LLC?

We found them through LinkedIn. They contacted us when we were looking through different agencies that could supplement our team. We’re a startup, so the budget was a critical factor in our choice. Despite our different time zones posing a challenge to their integration with the other teams, Netsmartz was very affordable, so we decided to hire them. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with Netsmartz lasted from February– August 2021.

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

We measured the impact of their work based on the velocity of tickets that were being done and completed. In that regard, Netsmartz did a great job of fixing all of the bugs that were on our platform. Some tickets required them to work with higher-level architects, but all in all, they were getting pounded out on a regular basis. 

How did Netsmartz LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

We worked in a very agile way so that we could constantly reprioritize and not base our success on whether or not we meet the deadline. Despite us having to delay our launch and accepting that some parts of our system were quite difficult to build, Netsmartz was able to help us build a high-caliber application. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The corporate executive from Netsmartz was a great person to work with. They were easy to communicate with especially when we needed to work through business challenges and other issues. They were also actively finding additional talent for us. The engineers from Netsmartz were very good, too, and gave our team the needed experience of working with senior-level developers. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

In the development industry, as a whole, many agencies will market their engineers as being on the senior-level when they, in fact, are not. This was the case with Netsmartz as well. I believe they could benefit from a better assessment and representation of their developers’ skills.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a martial arts membership management platform that helps martial arts academies of all types and sizes run their schools more effectively.

What challenge were you trying to address with Netsmartz LLC?

We’re a bootstrapped company and we didn’t have the resources to hire our own in-house development team, so we outsourced Netsmartz.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Netsmartz has done mobile app and web development for our company. I was working with another agency prior to this engagement, so Netsmartz took on the project and got it up and running in their environment. They spent some time understanding the ins and outs of the available code before moving into expanding the features and fixing bugs.

The team also worked with me for the onboarding process as we started to get more clients on the platform. They helped me get to a point where I was able to secure a large investment from customer acquisitions. 

What is the team composition?

I had one main point of contact, Himmat (Senior Project Manager), who is very experienced and well-versed in the type of backend infrastructure that we were dealing with. He wasn’t the main developer but he took on the role of project manager, relaying all information to the designers and programmers. 

I also worked with the president of Netsmartz, who had initially sold me on the idea of partnering with them. 

How did you come to work with Netsmartz LLC?

The agency I had been working with prior to Netsmartz communicated poorly and dragged the project on and on. That’s when I started looking for other providers. I did some online research and came across Netsmartz. 

Besides being the most responsive out of the other agencies I looked at, the team had also done some work in this type of space before. Their services were well within my budget, so I decided to bring them in. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2020 and the project concluded in May 2021. When I was able to secure that investment, I moved over to a new development team. 

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

When Netsmartz took over, we already had two beta clients. During the course of the engagement, we were able to increase our client base by 10–20 times.

How did Netsmartz LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

Netsmartz always addressed any bugs or issues that came up. They were prompt to have it fixed, which was great. The communication was stellar and they were excellent to work with. 

I met with Himmat once — and sometimes multiple times — a week to get updates on where the project is at, what the next releases would be. He was always available, day and night, which made me curious if he ever slept because I would always get an immediate response regardless of the time. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The value that they brought to our company was extremely high. They had a really good price for phenomenal work, which is a big thing for a bootstrapped company like ours that is looking to get a high-caliber product at an affordable cost. Netsmartz is second to none. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't have anything to say in this regard. I had a great experience And I don't know what else they could’ve done better. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very clear and concise about your deadlines and expectations. Expect to see some language barriers since they're an offshore development team, but be assured that your point of contact or whoever you'll interface with will be great in English communication. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of DoorClé. We’re building a software marketplace platform for the real estate industry.

What challenge were you trying to address with Netsmartz LLC?

We needed their team’s product development expertise to build our software marketplace platform.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve been in a long-term engagement with Netsmartz LLC. Over the course of our partnership, they’ve developed several applications and websites for us, including our first iOS app. One of the iOS apps they created was in the App Store for more than a decade before being replaced by native iPhone functionality, they consistently improved the app over that long timeframe horizon with new features and functionality to keep it relevant.

For this specific custom software project, Netsmartz LLC works with our internal team to develop software solutions, conduct life cycle testing, and production deployment. We’ve authored the core set of requirements that they currently use to create outlines for our products. They then use those outlines to decide on the tech stack and other tools to utilize for the product design and development stages. 

Apart from designing mockups for our team to review, Netsmartz LLC also decides on the architecture that must be implemented across our platform. Upon securing our approval, they then proceed with the development phase, implementing our preferred functionalities and design elements.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with dozens of Netsmartz LLC’s resources throughout our engagement, but our main points of contact are their business analysts, project managers, developers, and testers.

How did you come to work with Netsmartz LLC?

I found Netsmartz LLC's team on Google when I was still employed at a different company. We chose their team to take on a development project as we saw their professionalism and commitment to deliver our exact needs.

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent more than $500,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We first collaborated in 2009, and they’re still working with us.

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

Netsmartz LLC is an expert at producing first-class results — they’ve proven themselves to be world-class software developers. Their word-class software development is our main success metric for their work, and they’ve never disappointed us by delivering something that’s not on par with our expectations. Netsmartz LLC manages to be exceptional at anything they do for us, whatever the requirements are!

How did Netsmartz LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly communicate via email, Microsoft Teams and rely on Confluence for additional communication. Netsmartz LLC has an organized and progressive workflow — they always stick to the plan and work in reliable sprints. At the same time, our team never feels left out in the process because they share regular product demos and progress updates. Overall, they’re a fantastic team that consistently meets both our needs and expectations.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Netsmartz LLC integrates their skills smoothly into our own processes — they work like a part of our internal team, and that level of dedication has always impressed us. More than caring about their work, their personal interaction with us demonstrates that they truly care about our products too.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve never encountered a situation that’s left unresolved. Netsmartz LLC addresses any unforeseen circumstances with ample commitment and consideration — We have never worked with a more high-caliber team.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open in communicating your business needs and vision, and they will articulate those by creating tailored solutions for you.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of EZLinQ. We provide a mobile application that bridges the demand gap between Canadian truck drivers and fleet companies. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Netsmartz?

We needed help to develop the app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I provided Netsmartz with a very sparse idea. Their team helped me shape the envisioned app, creating wireframes and user stories. They then built the app for both Android and iOS. It includes multiple APIs, such as Google Maps and Stripe as a payment platform.

What is the team composition?

I worked with 8–10 people, including project managers, developers, and a quality assurance team.

How did you come to work with Netsmartz?

I found them through MYLead. 

How much have you invested with them?

I spent about $250,000–$500,000 CAD (approximately $190,000–$379,000 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from December 2016–January 2017. Netsmartz still works as a support partner in developing new features.

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

Netsmartz delivered the app on time, which allowed me to bring to market on time and start earning sales. Since its launch, users have regularly praised its professional look and user-friendly feel. Netsmartz still provides ongoing development services.

How did Netsmartz perform from a project management standpoint?

The project ran smoothly from start to finish. Any delays in communication came from my part. Netsmartz was always on top of tasks and deadlines. We communicated through email, texts, and a project management platform that provided progress updates.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Netsmartz had a highly talented and diligent team; we had an awesome experience working with them. On occasion, they swapped out team members, but each person was an excellent contributor to the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’m thrilled with their work.

Any advice for potential customers?

Visit their office in person at least once so their team can provide a personal touch to your project.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of Snowbirdseeker.com LLC, a website for seasonal rentals by owner. The website facilitates communication between snowbirds and the property owners.

What challenge were you trying to address with Netsmartz LLC?

I had an idea to build a website, but I didn’t know how to do it.  

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed my website and have been servicing it ever since it went live in June 2008. 

Initially, a user could list as many properties as they wanted and still access their mail center. This diluted the value of a particular listing spot on the site, so they worked with me to come up with an additional membership plan for these circumstances. It helped to curve this problem and is an example of how they worked with me to fix an issue and create a new application that increased revenues for my company.

What is the team composition? 

They’re all very nice people. There is a project manager, and a developer who works under him, as well as a quality control department. 

How did you come to work with Netsmartz LLC?

A friend of mine had worked with Netsmartz LLC in the past. He was the middleman in getting me the first requirements written up and ready to go, then recommending them to me.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $30,000–$40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2008, and the work is ongoing.

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

With their timely communication, they were able to make my concept and vision a reality. They’ve enabled me to build a business—I’m blind, and my screen reader won’t work on the dedicated server, so they created special applications where I can edit the static content of a particular webpage. 

Beyond that, they’ve built applications that enable me to create new memberships so I can get recurring revenues from my customers and developed a tool to help me with another consulting business of mine. They’re very adaptable and really work hard to make sure I’m happy. They’re understanding of my situation, which speaks volumes.

Not too long ago, I hired them to help me with some improvements to the communication on the website. I offered them extra money for these efforts, which they declined and said it within the original agreed upon price. They told us we were more than a client to them.

How did Netsmartz LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

They do a great job. They’re timely and honest, and they keep to their deadlines. If there are any problems with what they’ve done for me, I jot down an issues document for them to fix. They look at that line by line and make sure that everything is resolved.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I like them because they’re trustworthy. We’ve established rapport together, which is good.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s a time difference that makes it sometimes difficult to communicate with them after 11:00 am. They’re sleeping then, so I don’t blame them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be extremely clear on the requirements that you have. Write them down line by line and make sure both of you are on the same page but expect that some things might not quite look exactly how you planned. When this happens, write down where they didn’t quite meet your requirements, and they’ll fix all the issues.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CFO at Central Air Equipment Ltd. We’re a sales and service air compressor business.

What challenge were you trying to address with Netsmartz LLC?

We hired Netsmartz to upgrade our ERP system to a Microsoft Dynamics 365 business central solution.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Netsmartz was the frontline support group for guiding our management and administration through the infrastructure development review of our processes. Their team is also integrating its service system to meet the company’s needs by customizing their base product into our base requirements of producing and operating all aspects of service.

What is the team composition?

Our main points of contact were Kapil (Associate Vice President, Netsmartz) and James (Director of Solution Development, Netsmartz). Kapil is based in India and has a development of 14 working under him.

How did you come to work with Netsmartz LLC?

We used a third-party provider to guide the system selection process. They completed a market study and found many alternative systems as we narrowed our selection to a Microsoft product. There are three Microsoft providers locally in Calgary, including Microsoft themselves. A Microsoft sales manager directed us to Netsmartz as the best choice to be our service provider.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $150,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Netsmartz in November 2018, and the work is ongoing.

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

We’re nearly the completion of phase one. Their team was instrumental in converted from our old system. Netsmartz has been paramount to the success of the project.

How did Netsmartz LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

Netsmartz has been leaders from the beginning. They not only focused on our project but provided a lot of support in terms of how to manage the integration. Their team supported our executing services for customers.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m impressed with Netsmartz’s calmness and patience. Their team keeps an eye on the big project by breaking it down into manageable pieces for our company. The plan was a little overwhelming for our organization, but they kept the project on track all the way through.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There are none that I can think of. Everyone including Shawn (VP of Operations and Channel Sales, Netsmartz), James, and Kapil, has done everything they needed to do. At the beginning of the engagement, Shawn told me that if I ever get the feeling that things aren’t running smoothly, give him a call. I hit the panic button in early November, and he had a solution for me within 36 hours. We’ve never looked back. Netsmartz has delivered. I can’t be happier with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Clients should review all the stages of the project, making sure they understand all aspects. When we first started, my company wasn’t as conscious of all the steps as we should’ve been. NetSmartz understands all facets of the project, and if the customer also does, they’ll be more accepting of the journey that they’ll be on.