OTS

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a developer for a document management company. We produce platforms that help companies manage their documents and store them digitally.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OTS?

We’ve been working with them for a number of years as a development partner. The initial goal was to find an economical way to continue software development operations after we had to let go of a lot of our in-house developers. I’ve only worked with them in a maintenance context, however.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

While they used to actually develop software for us, they no longer do this. Some of their development projects were a web app that allows companies to view and edit images of their document management portfolio via browser. They also developed a predecessor to that solution, which ran on a Windows platform. All the work was custom but built on our existing APIs. Everything was done in Java as well.

Since we’ve transitioned them away from new software development, they’ve been in maintenance mode: fixing bugs at our request.

What is the team composition?

We’re currently working with one person, but I normally interact with two people: a project manager and a head developer. The project manager is my primary point of contact; I’ll give them my specifications, and they’ll pass them along to the developer. I’ve worked with three project managers in my time collaborating with OTS, as well as two developers, and they’ve all shown some level of incompetence. I’ve also worked with the head of the company, escalating issues when my points of contact stop responding to my emails.

How did you come to work with OTS?

Our founder has a personal relationship with OTS’ founder.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost over the years is between $200,000–$1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since January 2004, but we’re actively trying to find another vendor.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Describe the impact this engagement has had on your business.

We invest around $24,000 with them every year, and even though we only ask them to help with bug fixes, they still take 10-times longer to respond to us than another company would. Our biggest takeaway is that they’re not responsive, they don’t understand what we’re asking for, and they don’t ask clarifying questions. It’s pretty difficult to work with them.

How was project management handled?

Their communication is meager and we don’t receive the updates we need. They don’t do video calls, either; we only speak via Slack and Jira.

Is there anything that the vendor did well or that you would consider a strength?

Their low price stands out, but they haven’t fulfilled what they promised, either.

In what specific areas can they improve?

Their communication is largest area for improvement.

What advice do you have for clients with similar needs to yours?

If you’re a large company and OTS commits a lot of resources to your partnership, then you will probably be happy. If you’re a smaller company, however, then OTS isn’t going to be able to meet your needs.