RapidValue Solutions

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a program manager at abof, an e-commerce fashion company. I work with the engineering team on different initiatives. The engineering team owns and manages all of the technology for our company. We are primarily in the Indian market. We sell apparel, accessories, and footwear on our website. The age group we target is 18-25 year-olds.

What challenge were you trying to address with RapidValue Solutions?

We are a young company; we just started two years ago. We wanted to have an iOS app and channel on which to sell our products. We didn’t have that skill in-house and we wanted to launch the app on a wide footing. We needed help from vendors specialized in building iOS apps.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The project was building our iOS app. We defined business requirements and the product specs. RapidValue added value not only in terms of building the app but also in terms of best practices for UX and design. They made sure the app uses superior technology and were responsible for making a smooth user interface and design. They were very experienced at building mobile apps, so they knew the best practices and potential challenges. They came up with a robust technical design implementation for the app.

The app can be divided into two sections. In the first, the user can browse our product listing pages and our product details pages, as well as the content we publish. The second part is the checkout function, for when users buy a product. They can add products to the cart, enter their address, make a payment, and complete the transaction. To differentiate us from other competitors, we wanted to add other features too.

We added a feature called 3D Trial Room where you can create a 3D model and try on the apparel and see how the person would actually look if they were wearing it. We also integrated a visual search if you wanted to search a product by taking a picture of that product so there would be a return of results of products that look like the product that you want to buy. Those are some of the interesting features that we added during our launch time. Generally, when you launch an app, you don’t add a lot of fancy features to begin with. You start off with a very basic version and, over time, add other features. We wanted to begin at a really differentiated level. We decided we would add these features right in the beginning.

What is the team dynamic? 

There were two UX designers, an architect, four or five developers, and a project manager.

How did you come to work with RapidValue Solutions?

We were referred to RapidValue. We compared multiple vendors and we felt that RapidValue would meet our requirements best.

How much have you invested with them?

It was 30 lakhs [$45,856.44].

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from September 2015 until September 2016.

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

They completed the development in five months. After we went live, the number of critical bugs was almost zero. We had bugs, but none of them were blockers or critical bugs. The app was doing well; for the first few months, the AppStore rating was a 4. People liked the app a lot and it looked great. The app was well thought out and there were no major glitches in the UX experience or the tech experience. We got a lot of good feedback, but none of that was specifically for the work that RapidValue did; it was more on the product specs that our product team created in terms of adding new features and making the existing ones more user-friendly.

As I said, we developed custom features right from the beginning and RapidValue did an excellent job in helping us achieve our dream in a really short timespan.

How did RapidValue Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

They were decent. The project manager sent us regular updates and reports. They also made sure they were available for discussions about potential solutions. There were rarely solutions, but they made themselves available. They did a good job with this project that had a highly aggressive timeline. They did a good job of meeting those demands. 

We used Jira as our tracking tool for product spec requirements and bugs. There was a lot of back and forth between the RapidValue team and our product team. They used both Skype and phone calls. During times when there was extensive coordination and communication required, we ensured that their workers were in our office for as long as it took. They were very cooperative. They never said they’d be unable to bring their people in our office.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They added more value for us compared to other IT vendors we’ve worked with. They didn’t just do what was asked of them; they came up with good ideas on their own.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They have a huge presence in Kochi, India. They should look at building their presence in other cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad where there is a lot of demand. That way, when we engage them for a project, they can have a team on site for the project no matter what. In our case, they did, but the folks who are present here were traveling from Kochi. They suffered a lot for us. It would have been much easier if they had somebody based out of Bangalore. That’s for their sake, not for ours. Overall, they’re doing well.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CIO of a private company based out of the New Jersey area, and I liaise all technology architecture, development, and infrastructure. We have been in the towing business for almost 15 years, and are one of the largest providers for rental car companies in North America. We deal with almost all rental car companies.

What challenge were you trying to address with RapidValue Solutions?

Our initial challenge was to develop a mobile app. The initial app development was done quickly and successfully, so we reached out to RapidValue Solutions again for a project involving the transformation of the legacy platform.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The mobile app was a brand-new concept. We sketched it out and worked with RapidValue Solutions’ design team, who helped us with prototyping, architecture, development, and release. The app was developed for Android and iOS, and was a startup social networking app through which we wanted to diversify our business.

RapidValue Solutions is helping us with much of the architecture around the platform redesign. We have our own proprietary business logic around legacy platforms which needed to be brought to the Azure cloud.

One goal was to increase efficiency and reduce cost, as well as to expand into other markets. We are the leader in North America, but wanted to expand to other continents, and provide similar services to companies in Europe, Asia, and South America. We needed a scalable, configurable platform through which we could service customers across the globe. Security aspects needed to be taken into consideration, as well as international goals.

We also wanted to have a pay-as-you-go approach through the cloud, and to ramp the infrastructure up if everything went well.

What is the team dynamic?

Our company has a defined way of doing things, with distinguished product and development teams. RapidValue was expected to work with these teams in order to deliver our solutions. When a product team approaches them with a concept, RapidValue will assign a digital design team to sketch it out and work on a product roadmap. The architecture team helps us with many of the foundational architecture capabilities and technology stack definitions. The Sprint team is in charge of software development in an Agile Scrum format.

RapidValue is fine-tuned with our own process, and they have ensured that the delivery quality is top-notch.  

How did you come to work with RapidValue Solutions?

I received a reference in the past for the mobile app project. After they proved their capabilities and strengths, I gave the new contract to RapidValue. I do have another vendor working for me, and there was an extensive evaluation process in place. We looked at large, mid-size, and small companies, and evaluated their cost, quality, and references. RapidValue was one of the top contenders in the space, and we also received a good reference for them.

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent around $2 million with their business.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with RapidValue Solutions in August 2014, and the relationship is ongoing.

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

The transformation project is a multi-year initiative. We have seen small improvements in terms of efficiency and violation processing. We have seen a 20-25% improvement in efficiency.

The other replatforming work is estimated to bring us an efficiency increase of about 50-70%, but it’s not in production yet.

RapidValue has a great design, architecture, development, and QA team, and they’re very strong in terms of mobile development. They are helping us with our cloud replatforming. I’m happy with the way in which they’re working with us. The accounts team is also good, with responsive managers who we can reach out to. They have helped us in many ways.

How did RapidValue Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

I would rate them a 6.5-7 out of 10 in terms of execution regarding the scrum process, handled projects, and quality. I would give them a 9 out of 10 for account management and managing portfolio-level reporting.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most impressive thing about RapidValue has been their fast response to our requests compared to other vendors we’ve dealt with. RapidValue has a good talent pool, and many of their people are retained for long periods. This is advantageous to me, compared to other vendors. Overall, the quality of their work is great.

We can build durable apps and logic, but, if they’re not presentable, they’re useless, especially for business and end-users. The quality and design from RapidValue are all top-notch.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They are a small company, so if I ask to ramp-up resources, it will be hard to get a team in place within 1-2 weeks. I would recommend that RapidValue improves in this area.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the manager of software development for a healthcare system in Florida. 

What challenge were you trying to address with RapidValue Solutions?

We have been trying to create a mobile presence for our company. However, we don't have a mobile development group at our company, so we reached out to RapidValue for our mobile development needs. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

We are on our third engagement with RapidValue, but the process is always the same. A RapidValue employee in the U.S. acts as a liaison between our companies. We start by meeting with them and explaining our requirements for the new project. After a few sessions, they come back with a proposal for the project, encompassing our requirements and explaining what’s possible and why. They’re open to discussion regarding those documents and proposals.

Once we agree to the project scope, the development starts, and the offshore team in India gets involved. Normally, we have a bi-weekly call with the U.S.-based liaison to keep tabs on their progress. Thankfully, we’ve never had to address any issues during those calls. The team delivers project plans with details about each sprint—what features are going to be developed during each sprint and on what platform (iOS or Android).

Right now, our organization has been learning how to expand our enterprise systems into the mobile arena. Our first approach was limited by our experience. One of the apps that’s had the most usage is our employee directory. People now are able to find somebody’s phone, email, and other information securely through their mobile devices. The product has been satisfactory for our users. We’ve also implemented newsletters and calendars of events.

In this new version of the application, we are going further and reducing the number of emails that are sent throughout the organization by routing more personal content through the app. We’re also going to use the location and notification capabilities of this new tool in order to make that information delivery more valuable for the recipients.

How did you come to work with RapidValue Solutions?

RapidValue was introduced to me by someone else at our company who’d met RapidValue at a working event or on a sales call. Their CEO met with us and gave us a good impression of the company. We were impressed by their proposals, which were professional and detailed. They also had competitive rate compared to other companies that bid on the same project.

How much have you invested with RapidValue Solutions?

I don't know the exact details, but I think we’ve invested over $100,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2016. 

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

It’s hard to say because we’re actually implementing usage analytics within the app itself for the new version of the current project. We’re now going to get that data through Google Analytics. We have extensive logging on the backend, judging by the usage. This isn’t something new because the employee directory existed before; we just extended that functionality to mobile devices. The usage now is overwhelming.

In a different application, we created a tool for patients to find our employees’ positions and schedule appointments with them. I know that really drove our online scheduling because some positions started to see a peak in appointments. All of the physicians have decided to get on board with that functionality. However, I don't have any hard data I can share.

How did RapidValue Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We have a weekly status call where they share their progress on the sprint that week. They also provide a detailed status report that I share with our internal project managers, and they take care of updating our internal project management tool. We don't have any tools through which we actively collaborate.

We’ve been fortunate to deal with a liaison who speaks English fairly well. Their team is flexible in terms of accommodating time zones for meetings. We usually have our checkpoint meetings around 9 a.m. during the week, which is comfortable for us and not too late for them. However, they will accommodate us whenever we need. We also have some email conversations. They’ll ask for something, and we’ll provide it during the day here. When we go to sleep, the task is done the next morning by our time. It lends a nice rhythm. I think the communication part has been key. I’ve worked with other offshore companies in the past and had other people tell me that their experiences have not always been so good due to inefficient communication.

What did you find most impressive about RapidValue Solutions?

They’re good at taking feedback from our developers. It’s hard to find something that would differentiate RapidValue from other vendors. They’re professional and communicate clearly. My company is always choosy about who we agree to work with. We have an extensive vetting process for vendors that includes fraud detection and background checks. In order to choose a company, we have to meet multiple times to feel comfortable with them, especially on the communication side.

Are there any areas RapidValue Solutions could improve?

Nothing comes to mind, but no one’s perfect. We’re in our infancy in terms of mobile development and presence, so RapidValue has been a guide in many cases. It’s tough for me to say that they are or are not doing something right. When something doesn't make a lot of sense from a logical standpoint, they’re open to feedback. So, it’s hard for me to find something that RapidValue needs to improve.

Please describe your firm.

I work for a large cloud software firm. We have been acquired by a very large global corporation. We deliver solutions to different types of clients that help them enable mobile work styles. We help companies mobilize their workforce to increase efficiency and lower costs.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I am the head of engineering. I was responsible for managing the project with RapidValue Solutions.

What was your goal for the work with RapidValue Solutions?

We had a mobile client that needed to add a lot of difficult and complicated features to their platform. We needed to outsource this work because we didn't have the expertise in-house. We were mainly looking for a partner that we could use long term rather than a vendor for a single project.

Can you describe the scope of their work in more detail?

They mainly did development for the mobile project. They did a little bit of other types of work, but not much. They didn't provide any support. 

What was your process for selecting RapidValue Solutions with which to work?

I found them through a friend who gave me a referral. I believe that he had worked with them at another organization. We decided to set up a meeting with the CEO of RapidValue. He was very impressive.

We could tell that the CEO had put a lot of time and research into our project. We felt comfortable that they had the skills that we lacked. Most importantly, they had a great work attitude and worked quickly. We need partners that can develop on an abbreviated timeline.

When was the latest project completed?

That original project was completed in 2012. That project went extremely well so, we decided to extend the engagement and increase the budget. We decided to work with them for an extra year until the middle of 2013.

Can you provide a sense of the size of the initiative with a general cost range or personnel work hour figure?

They generally had about 10 members working on our projects in 2012. We also retained a smaller team for the extra work that ended in 2013.

Do you have any statistics or metrics to share about the project?

The project produced a large return on investment for us, so it was an easy decision to extend it and increase the workload for an extra year. The clients are satisfied, which is very important. They were able to provide the extra features that our client needed.

What else is unique or special about RapidValue Solutions compared to other IT firms?

They are a smaller and flexible team that can complete projects much faster than larger competitors. They don't charge us hourly like many vendors. They get the job done always on time. They often need to work long hours on nights and weekends, but they do it without complaint. These guys will get the job done.

Looking back on the project, is there anything that you think they could improve upon, or something that you might do differently?

There was some employee turnover, which wasn’t great, but was just a minor issue. They are a smaller team so, if they lose resources, it can be hard to replace competencies quickly. This minorly affected projects but is important to note. If they scale up some, they would not be affected as much by turnover.

Please describe your company.

We are the leading mobile imaging software provider in the industry. We provide mobile imaging services, so end consumers can take pictures of checks in order to deposit them in their bank accounts, or take photos of paper bills and statements to either [FTEs] or pay bills.

We also have products that allow you to image driver's licenses front and back for the purposes of pulling off data and using it for credit processes or account opening processes. We have a myriad of other services, but those are the primary ones.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I am the vice president of professional services.

What was your goal for working with RapidValue Solutions?

We are a small mobile company, so we occasionally need to find third-party vendors to perform some of our services work. Within our model, we sell licensed software and have the professional services that go along with that. We have a small local team, but there are times when we need to augment that team to accomplish some of our projects.

The problem we had was, pure availability and resource constraint to complete a project beginning to end. What we liked about RapidValue, was that they are mobile-only. They weren’t a big consulting firm that said mobile was part of what they do. They were focused specifically on mobile applications only, which was one of the primary reasons I went with them. They completed the project for me, which was a short, 12-week project. They had very little ramp-up time. Our technology is not hard to implement, but it's somewhat difficult to understand, especially if you haven’t used it before. They were able to jump right on board, learn our technology very quickly, and complete the project on time. That was critical for us, in order to maintain the positive relationship we have with our customer.

Please describe the scope of their work in more detail.

We have expanded our relationship with them. When we do full-scale types of projects from requirements to production, we use their offshore model, which allows them to provide project management resources. I also like their flexibility, too. I have project managers and depending on the resource availability, I have one of my people run the project in conjunction with them, or they'll run it.

The model we’ve used so far is that we’ve used our resources. We’re starting to edge into some scenarios and projects where we're starting to use their resources to do the entire project. To date, we’ve used our project management resources, an onshore coordinator from RapidValue, and offshore resources. We’ve used that model as well, and we have done step augmentation with them as well.

I’m adding a new resource from their side for 45 days, where they actually work onsite in our headquarters with us. We’ve used a couple of different options with RapidValue, and we’ve been very happy with them. Their work has been very successful. We brought in one resource, and plan to bring in another, to our San Diego office. When you need new step augmentation, everybody's a star. In this case, it's the same thing; That resource was advertised as an awesome mobile developer, and we were told we wouldn’t be disappointed. Actually, they lived up to their billing. He had the right personality to fit into an aggressive small company atmosphere, and he's been a contributor from day one. In fact, he has gotten a lot of respect outside of my group for the contributions he's made.

So far, we’ve been very pleased. They have been very flexible when I bring work to them. I don’t always have a cookie-cutter approach to solving problems. There are times when I need to be flexible, and they will be flexible along with me as well. That is another plus.

What was your process for selecting RapidValue Solutions?

I was referred to RapidValue by a co-worker who had heard some positive things about them. I reached out to RapidValue, along with some other mobile providers. We gave them an RFP, bid out the work, and we were most impressed with RapidValue.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

We average between 600 to 800 hours at a ballpark cost from $50,000 to $100,000.

When will the work be completed?

We have no plans to stop because of the success of the engagement. I imagine it will last several years.

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

Not that I can quantify. My metrics are on time, within the budget, and happy customers. Those are the three things that are most important to me. So far, we’ve had all three. I would like to get them involved in a larger project. We're not the type organization where we have that, but they come along from time to time. If I had a 2,000- to 4,000-hour project, I would give it to them first to size and win the deal. I would look at others because it would be a large project, but they would definitely have a nod in a positive direction before the others because of the work they’ve done for us.

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

I’ve worked with some big consulting and outsourcing firms. The one thing that I like about RapidValue is that they do full-cycle project management. A lot of the other shops that I’ve worked with have been step augmentation. If we gave them one problem, they would give us full resources and figure it out. They solve the problem for us; they own it, which I thought was unique, based on the other experiences that I’ve had.

Typically, there is some level of disconnect, no matter how well you write your requirements or a contract. We’ve had that happen with them, too. What impresses me about RapidValue, which I have not seen from the other shops, when you do project-based work with them, is their willingness to work with you. When we did our initial project with them, we encountered a few things that other vendors would come back and say they would impose a big upcharge for the items they didn’t know about.

On the other hand, RapidValue was very good. They said that in the larger scheme of things, they were small changes that were not material to the original deal, and they did them for us. That is the model that we’ve worked under from the beginning, and that is a huge advantage for me in a company that is small and nimble. I don’t have time to dot every I and cross every T. We do a lot of directional-level requirements. Because of that, we add in a little bit of contingency to account for the uncertainty. By doing that, we’ve never had a miss yet that resulted in us paying more, or the customer paying more.

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

We haven’t done a lot of design work with RapidValue, and our project management staff generally handles that in terms of look and feel, as well as user experience. We give that schematic to RapidValue. RapidValue has a design phase and designers as part of their process, which has been a question mark for me. I wonder how well that will work in an offshore model. I’ve tried that in an offshore model before, and it didn’t work very well. I’m giving RapidValue the benefit of the doubt because they’ve been able to do other things well. They’ll do this well, too, I think.

We're getting into another project where they’ll own that part of the project as well. I'll keep my eye on that. I don’t have any experience with that design and user experience to give you a fair assessment of them yet.

I’ve worked with offshore firms for a long time. I know how the model works, how to be successful with the model, and what the drawbacks of the model are. I’m very comfortable with an offshore model, and you have to be prepared for offshoring if you haven’t done it before. It's different than giving someone requirements and have it magically come together. You have to do a lot of reviews. We did daily calls and weekly reviews, which they were very amenable to and worked out great. If someone were to hire RapidValue for their first offshoring experience, it would be a good choice because they are experienced and organized.

Please describe your firm. What is your role and responsibilities?

I am IT manager at a well-known social media site. We have millions of users around the world, we help people connect online. I manage the supply chain side of the IT work.

What was your goal for working with RapidValue Solutions?

We built several things. We were planning a large data center using a mobile application like a tablet. They also helped with our data center some. They are also building an Android app, which they just started.

They built one app, and the second project was an extension of the same app, which was a different model. The iOS app was built and is active, and they’re currently building on Android.

Please describe the scope of their work.

Two of their employees are working with me at this time, helping with the deployment. The engagement is more than building an app. Most of the build happened offshore, so they were an outsourced vendor at first.

They owned the end to end, and the solutions, because there is backend competence, and there is confidence in the app itself. They had an end-to-end solution, and some of the work on the backend piece was done by some of my consultants.

What was your process for selecting RapidValue Solutions for the work?

We were determining whether we could go mobile, and we did some research to see who the players in the space were. RapidValue was one of the options. This was a project that we tried out to see if it would work. It turned out very well for what we wanted to achieve. We looked for someone who could be flexible and work with us.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

That is difficult to assess. It started as a POC [proof of concept], then grew larger. Two of RapidValue's consultants have been here for the last six months. I have two separate offshore teams of two or three people that built the two apps, with a project manager and developers, and they have their uses.

There is the UX/UI team, mostly the UX team testing. They also have a QA team to support the product. The apps were built in two and a half months with two separate offshore teams. Getting the apps deployed and working was done by the onsite team.

When was the latest milestone completed for that work?

We went live in December of 2013 with the app. The app was put in beta in one data center. There is a lot of logistics that are involved in getting something in the data center for us, and that is a painfully long process.

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

I don’t have that information.

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

I don’t have anything to measure RapidValue against, but they really worked well for us. We went with them in a new space for us on the enterprise side. We have all the mobile applications teams and builders on the generic side. I don’t have anything to compare them with.

They were very flexible, which is exactly why we selected them. If we needed to increase or change the scope, they were able to accommodate us. The offshore model worked for us, because the QA piece was fairly strict. The front-end testing went very well. If I had the option, I would still go with them. I always like people and companies who are flexible without a lot of bureaucracy about scope.

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

The rollout itself became more complicated than we anticipated. We didn’t do enough planning before we started the development. That is not their fault really, I just think it would have went better if we didn't launch without planning important steps.