Omega-R

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

We’ve had seven people use the app in the development stage. All of them have integrated the app into their day-to-day lives. It’s very stable, easy to use, and it hasn’t crashed at all. People like that they can load information into the app without performing organization tasks, and it’s all easily searchable.

How did Omega-R perform from a project management standpoint?

There was very good give and take throughout the process. They asked very good questions, and our primary liaison communicated well with us. We used Slack as our communications tool so everyone could follow along and see what was happening. Slack made it much easier to manage the project, as we had a record of everything that happened. It was a collaborative effort and it worked very effectively. The time zone difference worked to our advantage. When I started my day, I could see the work they had completed overnight.

They were honest and kept us informed of the challenges and successes they had throughout the process. The timelines they gave were generally spot-on. We had a very honest dialog, more straightforward than I’ve had with other programmers. They were very open to feedback and took corrective action when needed.

What did you find most impressive about Omega-R?

The scope of what they can bring to a project is impressive. They have a good graphic design eye. People really like the logo they created, and it’s something we would never have envisioned on our own. We thought we would need to hire multiple firms for the varying projects we had, but we found all that capability in Omega-R. That helped us a lot and probably saved us quite a bit of money.

Are there any areas Omega-R could improve?

I can’t think of any. Whenever we encountered an issue, it was resolved quickly. As they grow as a company, it’ll be important to ensure they have adequate staff to maintain momentum in all their projects.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Obviously, when we started developing, we were focused completely on the technology part until we actually built the technology. We haven’t thought much about user engagement. We haven’t thought about the user life cycle and how we can make it fun, interesting, and challenging for somebody who wants to play the guitar. Now that the application has been launched, we realize we’re getting downloads, but we’re not getting the engagement we want. We’re rewriting the script right now and trying to figure out how to make it really cool and interesting for somebody who wants to play or somebody who’s been playing for a while and wants to get better.

What distinguishes Omega-R from other providers?

Omega-R speaks up about whatever things that they feel are wrong. There is never a debate. When something is wrong, they fix it, which is a very nice and professional way of dealing with things because I’ve dealt with developers who will try to push off the blame. With Omega, it’s different. If something is wrong, they tell you it’s wrong. They don’t wait for you, or if you tell them it’s wrong, they will agree and they will move on and fix it. I think that’s what makes them special.

Is there anything Omega-R could have improved or done differently?

Design. I had to hire about three or four designers during one year because the designer they employed in the company left them, and for three months, they didn’t have a designer who could work on the user [UI] interface designs and user experience [UX] for the application. Then, I had to go and find designers on my own because I didn’t want the entire project to fail and get delayed because of designs. Trying to find a designer is also a trial and error process because you’re dealing with freelancers. I would strongly recommend they focus a lot on this particular area and beef it up.

What distinguishes Omega-R from other providers?

Omega-R responded quickly. I think what I liked is that they also helped come up with additional ideas. They took my ideas and helped me brainstorm. They offered up other suggestions. They were equally involved as I was in the creative decisions. It was awesome.

Is there anything Omega-R could have improved or done differently?

No. I think they're awesome.

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

The main metric is completing successful projects on time and on budget. They have satisfied all of my end clients, so I have no complaints.

Is there anything unique about them that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

When I started doing this, I would have automatically outsourced to India because of the margins. The problem with India is that it can be hard to find good quality developers and quality control. It is also hard to communicate with Indian partners. I can trust that Omega-R is doing the right thing all the time. I don’t have to micromanage a project to make sure that the design is correct. It's important that they understand how the mobile app needs to function. They can interpret all of those issues very well and bring it to life with minimal oversight from me. They start the job and do it right. It's not a headache for me.

I’ve had negative instances with other companies when I’ve wondered why I was even doing offshore. To find the right partners and suppliers takes a long time. I’ve gone through a lot of partners during the last two years, trying to find the right ones. Omega-R is definitely a high priority for work as soon as it comes through. If they have the bandwidth to take it on, they get first priority on all of my work.

Another great thing about Omega-R is that when they provide a quote or proposal, they break down every single project in an Excel or Google Docs spreadsheet. They identify how many design, development, testing, and management hours each part of the project will take. They are completely transparent with respect to the human resources that will actually go into building the project. That is a great technique to be able to justify the price. When you see it in print, you see why their price makes sense.

With some clients that I’ve had to pitch for the work, Omega-R helped me get a low deal because they have screenshots of how they envision everything working. They also set up prototype [half builds], so we can go into a meeting with confidence, knowing that what Omega-R has provided me with prototypes to be able to articulate how the app works, its benefits, and how the app is monetized to give the client a positive return on investment.

One client is a large homebuilder in Australia that wanted to take a panoramic photo of an empty housing site under construction to show potential homebuyers. They could stitch a 3-D home onto the site and give you a virtual tour through the home. You can see how it would look on that specific piece of land.

Omega-R was able to explain the benefits of this function to this old-school property company. They were able to visualize how the home would look. That kind of demo prompts the user to request a quote or request to speak to an agent after going through that visualization process. They sent me some PDFs with the design in each stage as well as how the user flow would look with the app. I was able to present that to the client very effectively. The client understood what they were trying to accomplish, and Omega-R helped us acquire new business.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you might do differently?

You can always improve upon price. Sometimes, builds come back a bit more expensive than other suppliers. That is one of the reasons that if we're working with a tight budget, they try to work with whatever budget I give them as much as possible.