Red Buffer

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a personalization and AI-based machine learning (ML) company based in the US. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Red Buffer?

Red Buffer helped us build ML models for the personalization systems we were building. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Red Buffer’s involvement differed per project. Mainly, though, they were involved in our team meetings and agile development. We would assign tasks to them, and they would deliver them. The goal was to deliver the tasks in a timely and efficient manner. Tayyab (CEO) also came to our office a few times to facilitate our collaboration. 

What is the team composition?

I worked with Tayyab, a project manager, a developer, and data scientists. 

How did you come to work with Red Buffer?

We found Red Buffer through a platform where we could scope out a project and contractors could bid for the job. First, we assigned them a small project, and then we started working with them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $100,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Red Buffer in December 2015–December 2019. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We saw good results with Red Buffer’s work; we were happy with them. 

How did Red Buffer perform from a project management standpoint?

We were highly satisfied with their project management skills. We managed the projects, but they did have a project manager, who was smart. That person managed the tasks we assigned them, and a group of around 10 people worked with the manager to ensure they delivered on time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Red Buffer had a high level of talent. They were well-educated. On top of that, their services were reasonably priced; they were highly affordable for the talent they had. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there weren’t any. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Give Red Buffer clear instructions, and invest time in explaining clearly what you want, how you want them to work, and when you want them to deliver. That way, the deliverables will be good. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I run a company called Techstreet. I got involved in 2012 to build a medical application, and I was CTO for three years in the early stages of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Red Buffer?

We were trying to reduce risks and errors during medical procedures. Some things should never happen in surgery, but they do happen frequently. Moreover, they have adverse financial consequences for the hospital and can create lifelong problems or cause people to die.

We wanted to build a surgical platform driven by AI with a voice and visual system. We needed someone with advanced capabilities in that area.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We worked with Red Buffer for a couple of years on the project. We’d hit the wall, and they came in, got it back on track, and advanced it to a great degree. We used visual recognition to look for surgical instruments, their shape, how they were used, and in what sequence and procedure. We also used voice recognition to try to build the probability of predicting mishaps.

Additionally, they worked on several other projects. They built a sports app that was also driven by machine learning. It automatically generated highlights from sports games based on sound changes, descriptions, and so on.

Red Buffer also built a donation platform to raise money for firefighters and first responders and a cloud-based system that manages spill containment across the US.

How did you come to work with Red Buffer?

I started following Dr. Andrew Ng, who is considered one of the top people in AI in the world. We couldn’t afford Dr. Ng’s company at that point, but we asked for recommendations. He gave me three names, and we contacted all of them. Once we got to know each vendor, we started working with Red Buffer.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $1 million, maybe a little more.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from January 2018–January 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Things can go wrong with any mobile app, but we did some things with Red Buffer that had never been done before. Throughout development, we had problems with data streams and ideas we couldn’t figure out how to do, but the team was responsive and quick to jump on the work.

How did Red Buffer perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project managers spoke English exceptionally well, and they were up on American culture and events. They had character and were great people. It was more than just a job; the success of the project meant something to them.

For example, one of them got married, and they were still checking on problems in their honeymoon. It wasn’t necessary, but they had a tremendous personal commitment to the project.

Overall, we had a great back and forth. There weren’t any frustrations when we worked through stuff. Red Buffer handled everything in a very collegial way. They were elegant in the way they worked.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They exceeded in their machine learning skills. They were also very organized, process-driven, and communicative.

Are there any areas they could improve?

A year ago, I would’ve said they could improve on graphic design or UI design, but I wouldn’t say it now. Our sport application is a beautiful, good-looking piece of software, and it’s starting to take off and grow.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

When you want to start a project, the first thing to ask yourself should be what programming platform to use, how many people will use it, and how it must be constructed. Red Buffer has diverse developer capabilities within their organization, so they know what works and what doesn’t.

However, the main thing is to show up to the meetings. Otherwise, no developer could build anything worthy. Many people don’t put the time in, and then they blame the developer when things go wrong.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO, and we provide digital solutions for the energy industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Red Buffer?

We needed help with software development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Red Buffer has provided us the resources to augment our team. They give us qualified teammates who work alongside our internal team to help us create software for our clients. We don’t provide documentation, but we discuss the features we need before moving forward with the development process. Overall, they’ve delivered various software solutions, including some mobile apps.

What is the team composition?

We work with their development and QA team. Additionally, we’ve worked with their head of engineering and Tayyab (CEO) a few times.

How did you come to work with Red Buffer?

A trusted colleague of mine introduced me to Tayyab. We met up and decided to work together.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in March 2017, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We think very highly of the Red Buffer team. They give us their top engineers and allow them to work with us full-time. It says a lot that we’re still working with them after all these years — we’re delighted with their work. Their help has enabled us to grow.

How did Red Buffer perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve never had any issues working with them. Red Buffer is very supportive and honest, and we love the way they work with us in partnership. The team has been integrated into our system, which allows us to work together. Overall, they’ve done an excellent job.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Whenever we’ve had to downsize or ramp up due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they’ve always been very accommodating and made sure not to hinder our operations even though we couldn’t provide compensation immediately. Red Buffer has been a really stand-up partner — the incredibly talented team cares about what they do.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If any of the resources are underperforming, Red Buffer is quick to retrain or replace them. Overall, they do a stellar job, and I can’t complain.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The best way to work with them is through a partnership model. Don’t treat them like a vendor, and they’ll be highly supportive.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an engineering lead for an IT company. I’m the head of a multi-tenant, text analytics cloud solution for the legal space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Red Buffer?

We needed help with custom software development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Red Buffer helped us with natural language processing (NLP) functions. They were responsible for doing text analytics with name identity extraction and bringing in different algorithms and technologies. Additionally, they were in charge of evaluating the suitable technologies that we could use to help us solve the difficulties that our platform faced.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Red Buffer's CEO. He was heavily engaged in the early stages of the collaboration to ensure that the process was smooth sailing. We also worked with an engineering lead, a coder, and another tech resource that assisted us occasionally.

How did you come to work with Red Buffer?

The decision to hire Red Buffer was made before I joined the company.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $300,000–$400,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our project ran from May 2017–January 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were extremely happy with the results delivered by Red Buffer. We had an ambitious project that required quick turnaround times, and their team was exceptional in handling both our tight deadlines and challenging requirements to reward us with a more functional Open-source platform. They did a great job in evaluating all the named-entity recognition (NER) engines that came from different vendors including Amazon, Azure, other Open-source technologies. Their recommendations also helped our team make the right decisions for our company.

How did Red Buffer perform from a project management standpoint?

We were operating in a scrum methodology. Red Buffer was a very professional team — their passion for the industry they're part of was very well reflected in their work. On top of that, they were a collaborative team that helped us overcome our time zone differences by adapting easily and staying up late to accommodate our requests.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were really pleased with Red Buffer's adaptability that made every solution work for us despite our challenging project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re operating from Pakistan, so I think having a presence in the U.S. or Canada region would help further their business operations.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don't hesitate to hire Red Buffer's professional and committed team. It's also your responsibility to be well aware of the adjustments that one has to make when working with an offshore team.