Redspark

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a budding Startup focusing on building a platform to support both end users and the business. We are working on convert our Ideas and thoughts to implementation. I am the co-founder and CTO of the company.

For what projects/services did your company hire Redspark?

Yes, we hired Redspark as our developer and support service for implementing the ideas and thoughts to the real world applications

What were your goals for this project?

Create a backend website for Business owners, Native mobile apps for both iOS and Android, Google APIs, Maps integrations, and Notification services.

How did you select this vendor?

We have gone through a range of service providers from both India and China through Freelance portals and Linkedin search adds. After going through their past work and portifolio and their experience with the technologies, we have selected Redspark as the best suite for our project.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The project is to build an Online web portal for Business owners to post their listings and advertise. Then 2 mobile apps for end users to browse and order different stuff from those business owners. We need menus, ordering system, tracking system, payment, notifications and so on.

What was the team composition?

The team was about 4-6 people working on different components of the project. The team size varied from time to time depending on the requirement.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The project was completed well in time and with perfect results as we wanted. From idea stage to Planning, mock-ups, implementation and prototypes and full product were delivered as planned and promised.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The communication and collaboration was always perfect. We got timely updates, well advance notification about problems, quick responses for all the queries, and more over the proactive approach. We used Whatsapp, Gmail, Basecamp, Github and Skype. We never had any language issues.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their proactive approach, timely updates, and knowledge about technology set them apart. They are cost effective and have good communication.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nothing that I know of.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Tradesmen Manager, Ltd is an agency for tradesmen where I find them work. GoGopha, Ltd is an agent platform connecting homeowners with moving companies. I am the founder and director of both of these companies.

What challenge were you trying to address with Redspark?

I told Redspark what I needed and they showed me examples of what they could build. They gave me some templates which I customized in a way that I wanted. They’ve exceeded my expectations by continuing to make changes without charging me for them.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built the websites from scratch using Yii. Tradesmen Manager has two apps, including one for the customer and one for the tradesmen. Those work with the website as well. They’re also building a website and 2 apps for GoGopha. I don’t know what code they’re using for that.

How did you come to work with Redspark?

I’d spoken to a few other firms and they were above my budget. The chief executive officer of Redspark, Dhruv [Patel], contacted me several times and even though there was a time difference, they were willing to spend time on the phone during my working hours. I was apprehensive about working with someone offshore, but they always reassured me by answering my questions.

How much have you invested with Redspark?

The total cost of both projects right now is 6500 pounds [approx. US $8,250].

What is the status of this engagement?

I began the relationship with them in March 2016. Tradesmen Manager is completed. GoGopha is still in the process because I’m concentrating more on Tradesmen right now.

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

There’s no baseline because this is the first website for both companies.

How did Redspark perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve mainly communicated through Skype, telephone calls, and email.

What did you find most impressive about Redspark?

Everything they’ve done is fantastic. What I loved the most was if I asked for something, it was done quickly. Dhruv recommended a resource in England, whom I’ve met, that is a Google partner and worked on Google AdWords for me.

Are there any areas Redspark could improve?

No.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our organization is called Balli Finance Group. We recently changed our name to the Balli Group UK PLC based on certain regulatory changes, but we are essentially the same entity. Our holding company is called the Balli Group PLC and it includes a number of brands. Each brand has anywhere from 10 to 80 employees. In total, the group has 200 employees. I am the head of distance marketing and I'm responsible for managing distance marketing, web sites, and IT [information technology].

What challenge were you trying to address with Redspark?

Each of our brands has a specific skill set. These brands offer services such as lending, loan comparisons, retail, debt management, and legal. We also have a website for each brand and they have had different challenges. For example, we needed an overhaul of our old website to make it look better. In another case, we needed to develop a full-fledged retail website from scratch.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We've worked on both small and big projects with Redspark. Our first project with them was rather small. They designed email responsive templates that we used for marketing to our existing customers. They've also been working with us on basic website development for a small brochure website. It allows customers to find information about our products and inquire via email. Customers would fill out a form online. The system shoots an email then stores the information in the database.

Over the last 12 months, we've worked on several major projects. One was a full-fledged retail website called Casharoo. It is a massive website where customers can sell or buy products from us. The site uses a lot of technical search engines. A user can search for products and sell them based on the price that we offer, the kind of product, and the quality of the product. For this project, Redspark handled marketing CRM uploads, downloads, exporting to Excel, etc. The full-fledged retail website was the biggest project that they've done for us. Redspark worked on it right from the very beginning. We gave them the idea then they expanded it and designed the actual website. We approved the design and then they started coding. When we needed some changes, they made the changes. For the current project that they are working on, the design was already in place. We just wanted to overhaul the site by adding new products that we've started advertising. For another project, we asked them to do 50% of the website so that we can integrate it with our back-end systems. 

How did you come to work with Redspark?

I found them on Elance. We were looking for someone to do the email project. They just showed us some of the work that they did in the past and their prices were very competitive. At the end of the day, it was just a case of asking them to do a trial. Once we saw their work, we were confident about hiring them.

How much have you invested with Redspark?

Off the top of my head, we've probably spent at least $10,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've worked with Redspark for 2 to 3 years. They've just completed a project at the end of August and they've already got another project from us.

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

Their success is shown by the fact that we've been using them over and over again. If we there were any failures, we probably would have stopped using them. We treat them more like an extended version of our IT team now. That's how close we've become over the last couple of years.

How did Redspark perform from a project management standpoint?

Initially, we just sent Redspark a proposal with our expectations and they would come up with a plan. That plan included milestones, deliverables, timelines, things like that. As we got to know them better, we started breaking projects into bite-size chunks. We would make a list of all the things that are required for the project. That list could be 10 items or it could even be 150 items. Everything started with an attribute next to it that said pending. On day 1, everything was pending. The following day, Redspark would tell us exactly what had been completed so we could see the project status. If we wanted to add certain things, it would be our 151st item. Every day, there would be 3 things done or 5 things done or 12 things done, depending on the milestones. There was a daily update at the end of the day.

What did you find most impressive about Redspark?

I appreciated the fact that the Redspark team is quite patient. If our original brief was X and that changed to Y midway through the project, they're quite flexible about it. If during development we realized a website needs 12 pages instead of 10, they don't charge extra. If a bug is discovered X months later, they'll fix it for free. They only charged us for additional enhancements.

Are there any areas Redspark could improve?

I think their design team is not as great as I'd like it to be. It takes about 4 or 5 different attempts before they present a design that we like. That's because they're in India and their market is completely different from the UK market, particularly with the kind of websites that we like. If it is an 8-week project, you'd expect a week or 2 for design and the remaining for coding. They tend to spend 4 weeks on design and only 4 weeks on development.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Redspark?

They are very good at the development part of things but their designs can sometimes be an issue. You've got to work with them and you've got to hold their hand initially. Once the design is done, then they're fine.