Qualascend

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My company, AnalyzeMarkets.com is an artificial intelligence company based on global financial data, and investment intelligence platforms. I'm the founder of that company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Qualascend?

I didn't have much of an IT background, so Qualascend helped me a lot to design the whole architect, which is the backbone of the IT system that we have. It's one of the largest databases we have. They provide us with a tech stack tool, help us with the actual implementation, select the right technology, choose the right people, give us advice, and do the work whenever it’s required. 

As I told you, I needed an IT expert for this big platform and since I didn't have that kind of in-house expertise, Qualascend really helped us.

What was the scope of their involvement?

My contribution is more on the product side because it's an investment intelligence platform. I’m the architect of the operational side, and all the IT side is left to Qualescend. The first thing we did was pick the tech stack to use for the front- and backend, chose the kind of databases, and with whom we have to work — we had to pick and interview a team of developers and select what kind of expertise and experience we should have. 

When the development started, they oversaw the process and helped me navigate through the IT system, which supported the operational side that came from my IT partners — I trust their advice and expertise 100%. If you're building a product from scratch, choosing the wrong tech stack would be a waste of time and money. It’s not a simple solution that you can just change overnight, Qualescend really helped me out so I left the whole IT development to them.

In addition to the first phase of the development, they did more of the discovery, but I had things in my head that I shared with them — I'm an operational guy, so I could explain things operationally. Obviously, those operational level details were in writing, but again, they weren’t IT-related because I didn't have much information or knowledge about the IT side of the project — that was their responsibility to cover. First, I had to tell them what the product was, what the features of the product will be, and how the client will use it. All those operational kinds of stuff and details came from my side, and it obviously helped my team. 

The IT part is the prime responsibility of Qualascend, to make sure that they’d help and guide us deliver the project without any issues. As I said, it's a huge database with billions of data points, so it really requires someone to take care of the IT side. They’re the advisors and the IT experts on the project and the platform we’ve been developing, and their focus is mainly to ensure that the project is rightly executed from an IT perspective.

All IT advice comes from them. From an architectural and tech stack perspective, they decide on which database and cloud services we need to use. For each particular instance, there would be different options in front of us, so we opt for the optimal, highly efficient, and cost-effective option. They help me using their expertise to choose which tech stack is better for us, and what the pros and cons are for each option.

What is the team composition?

I’m involved with the development because it’s my baby product, but from Qualascend's side, we’re working with Hussain Fakhruddin (CTO). I don't know how many people are supporting him for the execution, but my level is just to directly deal with him.

How did you come to work with Qualascend?

I knew Hussain personally, but before that, I had tried 2–3 other companies. I hired another company from another country, but after two months of starting the project, I realized that I wouldn’t be able to finish the project if I was to continue with them for the next five years. At that time, I also had this realization that even if you hire a developer's team, it would be difficult to manage that team if you’re not an expert yourself.

I then tried Qualascend since I knew the background of Hussain, and that he has done projects with this kind of magnitude — which he has successfully executed to run on all kinds of platforms. Initially, we had those discussions of how they would execute the project, the timelines, and the costs because I didn’t want to prolong the project.

It still got prolonged, but it’s fine because we were building the platform from scratch. As I said, this is not a website. It’s a huge database with systems working inside the logins — we have billions of data points because we put financial data at the global level.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2019, and we have an ongoing partnership. We have phased the project, and a few others are still in the pipeline. They are currently in the development phase and once the development is finished, I will still need an IT expert, even if I already have an IT team since I can’t manage them by myself. That was the initial idea of having and forging a long-term partnership with Qualascend from the beginning — they would always be there, even if the development is done. 

Developments are relatively easy things. The challenge starts when you start a commercial operation. You get real-time problems and different kinds of scenarios that you might’ve never thought of when you were building and designing the system. That is where you need the right people to take responsibility and are available — that is even more important than the developing stage.

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

If you go on AnalyzeMarkets.com, you would see some kind of investment intelligence briefs. Those are our marketing things to let people know the quality and the kind of work we do, but the real thing is inside the login where the actual databases are working. As I said, we have huge databases, and we have more than 50,000 companies that we track from a management perspective — both public and private across the globe. We are the only platform that actually caters to multiple asset classes under one platform. 

Usually, our competitors or existing global players are much focused either in the private markets or in the public markets. Even in the private markets, they are only in the private equity, but they don't go real estate. We do real estate as well and we go with public equities. The depth of the platform, its functionalities, the data storage, and the investing intelligence come from the brains of the investment analysts, who are working for us. 

It doesn’t have much to do with the IT system itself, but when it comes to the data, then it's all about the system.

How did Qualascend perform from a project management standpoint?

We have a number of means to communicate depending on the heat of the moment, and I could just pick up the phone and have a direct discussion with them. If the project timeline is being met and things are going smoothly, then we have Slack, emails, and conferences through Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?
I would say two things because one would not be enough. One is the trust and that peace of mind that they give to an entrepreneur who isn’t a technical person. I learned a lesson when I had a partnership with another firm. It comes to the trust level that someone is there, and that you are hiring from a whole IT project perspective to deliver. The second thing is their expertise, experience, the know-how to execute the project, the best technologies we can use, and the pros and cons of each available option. 

As you know, there are dozens of options available to build any platform, but each has its own pros and cons. If you're not familiar with them and you, by mistake, choose or pick the wrong tech stack, then your project could get stuck.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I didn't see any with me personally, because our project was created from scratch. I think I'm very happy from a financial perspective because I got the quotation from different countries and different teams before I picked Qualascend.

Any advice for potential customers?

I would say that it would be difficult to manage a development team of IT experts if you’re not an expert yourself. You will need an expert with you to be successful.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Co-founder & CEO of Step.

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

We wanted to create a website directory and the ability for visitors to create an account, sign in, purchase a ticket, or submit a form.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We had worked with Qualascend and Hussain before on 2 previous projects and had a great experience. We needed a team that can get the job done at an affordable budget.

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

Our website is based on WordPress, and we used FooEvents (WooCommerce) for the ticket shop. We kicked off the project by Qualascend's team join our partner Slack channel where we set up goals and timelines for the various aspects of the project.

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

We had 4 team members working on the project.

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

We saw a big improvement in the capturing of visitor's information. We were also able to understand our funnel and user journey better.

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

We used Slack for communication and Figma for designs.

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

They got the job done with the set budget, and whatever was deployed and delivered worked very well and as expected.

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

More attention to detail throughout the project that can reduce the feedback process.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Im the Co-Founder of a Creative Services Agency by the name of The Art Store.

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

I hired Qualascend to develop a web portal we designed for our client Orange Tree Foundation

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Qualascend was referred to us by a mutual friend. Deciding factors were: - Clarity of Thought - The way process and timelines were explained - Extremely humble

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

Qualascend was required to develop a complete website which we had designed for our client. The technology stack was used as recommended by Qualascend.

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

Hussain was the point of contact, who I believe is the CEO of the company himself. Had a full team of 5 developers working on the project

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

After launching the website, the client was really very happy with the number of visitors coming to the website. There was a noticeable difference in the brand's perception and the donations collected were over 300% on a month-on-month comparison.

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

We used notion, Whatsapp, emails, and phone calls.

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

Their delivery on committed timelines was impressive. They made adjustments to the design every time a revision would be given.

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

Nothing that I can think of.