NextBits

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior director of marketing operations for CallPass. We provide asset and fleet tracking software services for various industries, including automotive, transportation logistics, scrap and waste, agriculture, service and utility, and rental companies. We’re located in Clearwater, Florida.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with NextBits?

We needed help with frontend development and UX/UI design for our WordPress website and all of our Shopify websites, whether they were direct-to-consumer or B2B. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

NextBits helps us in many ways. When we first onboarded them, it was mainly for website maintenance and support. Since then, they’ve helped us with full-on development for our four websites. They’ve done a couple of stores from scratch, and we’ve migrated a couple of sites from WordPress into Shopify.

Initially, we provided them with wireframes, design, and look and feel. Then, they went to development. NextBits has ensured the websites are technically sound, compliant, and approved for SEO and Google’s algorithm. They also help us with backend development on any custom code we require.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with five people. We have a project manager who ensures that all the project tasks and deliverables stay on time and budget. Additionally, we have two developers working on the Shopify Plus stores, and two developers on the WordPress stores.

How did you come to work with NextBits?

They were recommended to us by someone we’d worked with. We chose them based on their skill set, time management, and cost. They were cost-effective and swift.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent between $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since March 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re one of the best vendors we’ve worked with. We show them what we want, and they walk us through it and offer their opinions and recommendations based on their expert knowledge. Then, they go forth and conquer.

Moreover, our websites have seen a vast improvement in optimization — website load speed and page speed are more technically sound now.

How did NextBits perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re excellent; they stay on budget and turn it around quickly, which is great because it’s always up to our high standards. We use Azure DevOps for project management. We typically communicate via Teams, Google Meet, email, and WhatsApp if there are any emergencies. They’re really approachable despite being in a different time zone.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their expert knowledge and skill set are outstanding. No project is too complex for them. If we give them an idea, they can make it happen.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t issues on our end. They’re one of the best vendors we’ve worked with. Their communication skills are excellent — even though English isn’t their primary language, they still get the project done.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Go for it. Do your due diligence to make sure you’ve scoped out the project correctly and know what you want moving forward. Their team will keep you on budget and deliver high-quality work.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a purveyor of tahini, halva, and other sesame products and have a store location in New York, as well as a growing e-commerce website and wholesale business. My role is Director, Digital Marketing & E-Commerce.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire NextBits?

We were looking for a partner for ongoing website maintenance, development and updates.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to have a reliable partner who could quickly respond to any questions or issues we might have in relation to our website.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We interviewed multiple agencies and freelancers and chose NextBits based on availability, experience, references and rates.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

When we started working with NextBits, we had just launched our first Magento website and were looking for training on how to use the CMS, help to update certain features, add pages, and set up custom reporting.

What was the team composition?

We mostly worked with one project manager in Boston and one key developer in India. If needed, someone else from their team would jump in to assist.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Thanks to NextBits our e-commerce website had been running smoothly for 3.5 years and we were able to process a growing amount of orders without spending a lot of money on website upkeep.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Our main developer kept a list of our requests, available hours, and logins to keep all the information in one place for reference. Most issues and requests were tackled in a timely manner.

The very few times we really had a pressing issue, the time difference sometimes made it challenging to get in touch, but overall our points of contact were always available via Skype or Whatsapp if there was no time to wait on a reply by email.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The team at NextBits is very polite, friendly, helpful. Others cannot beat their affordable rates.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I would definitely recommend being mindful of time zone differences. In my experience, they are highly skilled in terms of development questions, but they are not as strong in terms of design solutions.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

realmealdelivery.com is a food delivery service. Our company prepares food and delivers it to our customers through a full resource stack. We don't partner with any restaurant, instead offering our own menu and a staff which prepares it on a daily basis from scratch.

What is your position?

I am a co-founder and the Chief Executive Officer of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with NextBits?

I needed a developer that could build our technology stack. I have an engineering background, so I started building our platform myself, throwing together a very basic app and website that got us rolling, and allowing customers to place orders. Before this, we only offered a phone number. We wanted to grow beyond our current technology, so I looked for a company that I could use for developing the entire stack, from APIs [application program interfaces] to front-end consumer experience elements.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

NextBits developed my platform using primarily PHP frameworks, among which was Magento, an open-source e-commerce software.

There was a need for inventory management functionalities, as well as order taking, route planning, timekeeping, an ability to communicate with the users when their orders had left our premises, and so on. We wanted the whole 9 yards for backend technology as well. Many of these pieces are not very straightforward. For example, we use a 3rd-party vendor for our routing solution. Integrating with them using our custom-built system was a huge pain. NextBits did a great job of managing this complex project.

There were 4 developers and 2 designers assigned to my project by NextBits. One of them was a developer/designer, working on multiple aspects of the project. NextBits offer a project manager on-site. I also worked with their owner in coordinating the work. The experience was a bit different to what I'd done before. We sat together, worked on every use case, and plugged the data into the Jira software. Once expectations for what needed to be built were set, the owner or his project manager determined who would work on each issue and what the status for these would be. If I wanted to get a bird's-eye view, I could go into the system and have an idea of where the project stands. We followed the Agile methodology, so we had a daily standup meeting, as well as weekly reports which gave me a good idea of the progress. During a weekly call, usually on Friday afternoons, NextBits summarized their activity throughout the week. They usually gave me a demo of the functionalities which were completed.

How did you come to work with NextBits?

I happened to get in touch with the owner of NextBits. He went to college with a common friend and came up when I was searching for an agency with which I could work.

I interviewed 4 or 5 other agencies, both in India and the United States. I had worked with another company in Ukraine for two past projects and wasn't very happy with the results. I thought that the idea of outsourcing the work might not be effective and I'd have to give up on it, so I started working on the Magento platform myself, looking for specific extensions. I eventually came across a sister company of NextBits and found that we had a common friend. I asked him for an introduction.

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

I've spent north of $75,000 in total so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

The platform is due to go live mid-June, 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We have a staging server within realmealdelivery.com on which all testing is performed. The site offers the ability to sign up, check-in, check-out, look at the menu, and so on. It offers a good idea of the quality of work done by NextBits.

We put together a couple of focus groups during the design process and while features were being developed. We employed a page-by-page approach for this, focusing on a design feedback, rather than an expert view. We have made a few revisions as a result. NextBits was great in implementing changes.

Another important piece of feedback was provided by my co-founder, who also played the role of product owner.

How did NextBits perform from a project management standpoint?

Nine out of ten times, NextBits hit the deadlines. We are both technical parties, so we understood the complexities that led to scope creep. We reset our expectations and I was flexible in this regard. NextBits was upfront about estimating the time it would take to build or change features.

What distinguishes NextBits from other providers?

Magento is implemented by different agencies in Eastern Europe, many of them doing a great job. This was part of my thought process when choosing a company, but the reality proved different. With NextBits, we've followed guidelines on par with Silicon Valley practices in terms of engineering, project management, revisions, issue tracking, communication, contracts, and so on. The process was very familiar and homely to me, given that this is my background. Other offshore companies I evaluated were very makeshift, without a specific format. I think that they would communicate differently with each customer, based on what their demands were. NextBits had very specific procedures. Reports were available at any time of day through Jira. I had access to designs, screenshots, updates, comments, and so on. This is what I would expect from my own team. In the past, I coordinated a team following an Agile methodology. We had 2-week sprints, made releases, made scope analyses and repeated until the project was complete. We maintained flexibility and remained accountable for the work. None of this may sound extraordinary, but compared to other experiences I've had, it is.

Is there anything NextBits could have improved or done differently?

Automation is one place in which NextBits could improve. They don't have a dedicated resource for this. When writing a piece of code that needs to be tested right before it goes into the production server, NextBits relies on manual testing. I inquired about why they didn't engage in this. NextBits' owner told me that few clients expect it, given that a lot of their work comes from people who simply want to build specific tools. I am more technical and like to get my hands dirty. NextBits did a great job of managing manual tests and ensuring that issues were discovered. We have a test repository of 600+ test cases.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

owner of e-commerce shop

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire NextBits, and what were your goals?

Magento 2.0 webshop

SOLUTION

How did you select NextBits and what were the deciding factors?

magento expert

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

They build a magento 2.0 shop

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

2

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project went very smooth the implemention went without major issues all which did not work was fixed right away

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

everything went via mail and skype no problems

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

The speed and price / product was very good

Are there any areas for improvement?

all was perfect

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder of the company. I had a lot of experience in the Blinds business before going online in that type of market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire NextBits, and what were your goals?

Since the beginning we use the services of Nextbits for our needs. They was able to provide exactly what we need and since the beginning, they are able to create scripts to for my special needs

SOLUTION

How did you select NextBits and what were the deciding factors?

The communication was easy since the beginning and they know what they are doing.

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

We use one of their extension on first and after that we add more extension and still evolving the website.

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

I'm working with 6 person on their team but 2 are more on the first step for communication.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everything is perfect

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

We are working on a task management platform

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

They are fast and they are able to give home made script to resolve problem and helping the automation process of the orders.

Are there any areas for improvement?

A hard-working team and everything is just perfect.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I sell industrial tools online. I Own and manage the website to facilitate these sales.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire NextBits, and what were your goals?

I've worked with NextBits since around 2015. They have helped develop, install extensions, and maintain several Magento Instances over the years. They have always had an extremely fast response and turn around to any tasks I've needed complete.

SOLUTION

How did you select NextBits and what were the deciding factors?

My first instance in choosing NextBits was a All hands on deck emergency bringing a new store to fruition. I had lots of Major issues that I could not figure out on my own. They assessed and managed all of my issues within 2 days and everything was 100% up and running.

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

SSL, DNS, Server Setup for Magento 1 and Magento 2 Instances.

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

1-3, Developers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Always have been happy and never had any issues with quality of work.

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

E-Mail and Skype are the most used forms of communication with NextBits.

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

The cost and turn around were the most impressive parts of the project.

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

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

THE RIGHT EFFECT One point of contact, a creative core and surrounded by a fixed network of skilled marketers, DTPs, copywriters, photographers, media planners and ITers. That is Verhallen Clevers in a nutshell. We engage the right CREATIVITY IS OUR LIFE You can see that not only in the logos, house styles and brochures that we design and produce, but also in our effective advertisements and well-thought-out media planning. Each advertising concept has its own character. We stimulate, surprise, convince and encourage action. No question is too big or too small for us. Contact us for the possibilities. YEARS OF EXPERIENCE Thanks to our many years of experience, we are at home in many companies and organizations. Profit and non-profit, large industrial organizations and SMEs. Verhallen Clevers is the all-round partner for all forms of marketing and communication. Narrative Clevers since 1988

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire NextBits?

Development of various websites in Magento and Wordpress

What were your goals for this project?

100% technically functioning websites

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

A Dutch contact in 2013. From small to larger and more projects over the years

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We have been working with Nextbits since 2013. Ketan and his colleagues have never disappointed us. It is an experienced team of specialists and helps us to realize technically optimal websites in WordPress and Magento for a variety of customers. We have already successfully completed many projects together. Even in times of COVID 19 we were able to work and communicate vers well together. We are confident that we can work together for many years.

What was the team composition?

Various, mostly I communicate with Ketan

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

They deliver optimized and professional websites.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We manage by mail, telephone, WhatsAPP and all works fine!

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Always available and looking for solutions and highest possible efficiency.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, not for now. We are very satisfied with Nextbits and its employees

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am owner of a store Toolsuppy Delfzijl in the Netherland who sells online and in store hardware tools

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire NextBits?

I do cooperate for many years fully satisfied with NextBits. You do know everything about Magento, response is very fast via Whats App, email or phone. No complains at all

What were your goals for this project?

My goals where to start a Magento 2 webshop of the website was was first build on Magento 1.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Online via Google.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The totally developed the new website including all new futures, extensions, payment methods, shipment methods, online advertisement etc...

What was the team composition?

Their team is like 4-5 persons I think. I visit their company in 2017 in India for a day. What was very nice.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

It did my business very good! My sells expand over 2 times.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We contact during the project many times via email, whats app and phone.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The communication was top. The knowledge of Magento, of course their price and they are very reliable.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No comments.