Saritasa

Please describe your company and your position there.

I was CEO of My Open Road. Our mobile app was designed to help produce a measurable reduction in a person's carbon footprint by rewarding for using alternative transportation instead of driving.

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

Software development for our website, mobile apps for IOS and Android, database development, and SEO marketing.

How did you select Saritasa and what were the deciding factors?

Saritasa is an Orange County startup leader and helps many businesses in Orange county and across the world with their development needs. Our position was based mainly on their capabilities, local, and ease of access to our development team.

they have always responded to our needs within hours rather than days as with other development teams we have worked with.

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

Our project included the concept, development of our app, website, and functionality of the databases to support them. Plus planning our marketing strategy to promote the app on social media.

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

Stan, project management and support.

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

With their help, we were able to produce a very stable and user-lovable product. Our users and customers enjoyed deployment and utilization of our energy-saving technology at several universities, companies, and local governments in the US and Canada.

Some notable customers were UC Irvine, UCLA, US San Diago, the City of Los Angeles, the city of Victoria, and Camosun College in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The overall outcome on our first two years of deployment resulted in a measured reduction of Co2 emissions of over 5 million tons.

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

The best thing was the open doors to work in person. this was our style of management and they worked seamlessly with us.

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

the ability to utilize development teams locally and in Russia gave us a huge time advantage. while our ideas and development changes were decided on during the day in the US. developers in Russia would work on the project overnight and changes and fixes available the next morning.

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

Not really, they were very flexible and accommodating. and if there was a problem, we got results and not excuses.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief strategy officer for a computer networking company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

We partnered with Saritasa to create a CMS, a web strategy, and an online presence.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Saritasa helped scope and develop the catalog management and content management system. We had custom requirements for product relationships, categories, and fields. Saritasa worked with us to develop those solutions and wireframes for the UI/UX and database structure based in MySQL and SQL Queries. That project led to the building of our web platform.

Saritasa’s work on our web platform included frontend and backend design and development from the ground up. The website’s backend was mostly built with SQL and PHP. It’s all running in Linux.

Saritasa is a key partner and player in website maintenance. We handle much of the UI/UX requirements in-house but Saritasa maintains the bones and backend.

What is the team composition?

We interface with a couple of different project managers, an account manager, and 3–4 developers. In total, there are 6–7 people on the team. We’ve interacted with the CEO too.

How did you come to work with Saritasa?

Saritasa is a long-term partner of ours, so I’m not sure how we originally found them.

What is the status of this engagement?

Saritasa has been our partner for over 10 years. I’ve owned the ongoing relationship since September 2019.

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

We measure the success of the engagement by on-time delivery and functionality. Their abilities to execute against requirements and conduct successful UAT (user acceptance testing) are also important metrics. Scope creep and cost adjustments happen during large projects. However, Saritasa sticks to their estimated cost structures and delivers.

We use our website to generate interest and leads. We’ve been tremendously successful over the last 10 years, experiencing 20%–30% growth each year.

How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?

We mostly communicate via email, phone, and video calls. For each project, Saritasa provides a project manager who connects us with the rest of the team. We generally set clear and realistic expectations. If there will be misses, we know about them ahead of time and work through them. We have great feelings about their on-time delivery.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their technical depth, knowledge, and can-do attitude make them an impressive partner. They truly believe in partnership and support open communication about expectations and deliverables. We’re both running businesses and have dialogues about how those collide. Those qualities have helped us get through a lot together. They’ve been a good partner.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t have any criticism. It’s hard to provide coaching when we receive exactly what we ask for.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Clearly define your expectations ahead of time. It’s important to have clear scopes of work to ensure you can identify scope creep or changes. Open and honest communication is also important. Make it clear what you expect of them and they’ll make what’s realistic clear.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a professor in the physics department at a university.

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

We basically needed to build a visualization studio for the internal structure of the proton. It’s a scientific utility.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Saritasa is building a 3D map of the internal structure of the proton in Unity, a C# program. The product renders the internal structure and dynamic of the proton in what's essentially a gaming environment. There are different phases to the project, and they’re currently developing the first level rendering. There will be different layers to the VR, and we’re now working on the first layer.

What is the team composition?

I work with an account manager and another person who communicates my ideas to the development team. There’s one main developer and then a physics liaison on their team too.

How did you come to work with Saritasa?

I found them online and talked with various teams online. Saritasa was willing to take on a large-scale project with a great degree of complexity and abstraction. We're initially engaged on a trial basis during which we're mapping out the first layer of the platform.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, I’ve spent $10,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project in September 2020, and it’s ongoing.

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

It’s still in its preliminary stage. Once we finalize the initial layer, it’ll be used as a rendering tool for mapping internal geometry and dynamics realized from experiments, which are hard to visualize. This will be a project that provides experimentalists and theorists the studio to visualize what we’re learning about the nature inside the quarks in 3D. This would be a one-of-a-kind software package for scientific applications. There’s also a large overlap with the educational component to that.

How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?

I interface with different layers of the team, including physics experts and C# developers. That’s fairly standard for companies that develop games for example. That model fits reasonably well because my product’s closest to a game than any other application.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m most impressed by their team and their expertise. Their team’s willing to access different experts outside of the company to work with different clients and meet their needs.

Another important factor is that we built a contract around the anticipated scale of this first layer and assigned an estimated cost to it. We ran through that money early on in the project. However, there are no additional charges until we actually reach what was discussed in the initial contract.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The biggest challenge is putting my ideas that are only in existence in my head into code. That takes several iterations, which I wish would go smoother and quicker. No matter the development team, it would take several iterations. That’s a natural challenge of this type of work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that you have as much visual information as possible to help them understand what you have in mind.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of 317 Quest, a gaming company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

We needed someone to develop our game app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Saritasa developed our mobile game app from scratch. It’s not a regular app with information and requests, and it isn’t simple. It has statistics and account information.

The app is for iOS. We’re not starting Android right now because we’re not finished yet. Every month, we add something new and they help me with that. I want to finish all of iOS and then we’ll start with Android.

What is the team composition?

I worked with five people.

How did you come to work with Saritasa?

I did a Google search. I chose them because they explained to me very well how my app would work and how it would be after they were done. I talked with one person who explained everything. 

They then invited me to the office where I met their other teammates. They also offered me a good price and could complete the work in much less time than the other companies.

How much have you invested with them?

The original offer was $96,000, but I added more work. The total was about $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Saritasa from September 2019–April 2020. After our engagement ended, I asked them to add a few things as well.

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

They were a perfect company with a good price. When I tried to find a company to make the app, I thought I needed to find someone who would charge $30 per hour. 

Saritasa explained to me they could do it for $100 per hour but they’d do a better job with a warranty and everything. They’re perfect for anyone who needs an app for their business or who needs custom development.

How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?

If I needed something, they responded in less than an hour. The communication was good. I live close to Saritasa and their communication was good because I could go to their office and explain what I needed. Some people only communicate online. They provided perfect customer service.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication was the best.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing I’d have them improve. They did a great job. When I hired a CTO in my business, he said they were professional. He said if I wanted to find a company at a lower price, I wouldn’t get the same quality. Their price was equal to their quality.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You need to have an idea on paper before you start working together so that you know what your project will cost.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of account management for an integrated marketing and communications agency.

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

We hired Sartiasa to build a website for one of our clients.

What was the scope of their involvement?

It’s very early on in the process. So far, they’ve delivered wireframes.

What is the team composition?

We’re currently working with three people, but we plan to bring on more developers as the project progresses.

How did you come to work with Saritasa?

We met them through a connection and they have relevant experience in the industry our client is in.  

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in October 2020 and is ongoing.

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

We expect to wrap up the project in May 2020. So far, they’ve been great to work with. The quality of their work is great.

How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve delivered on time and have communicated well. We use Slack and email to get in touch with them and they’re very responsive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They grasped the concept very quickly and have been able to execute based on our needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There isn’t anything they need to improve at this point in the project.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior product manager for Christie Digital Systems.

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

We had an Excel tool that was still highly functional, but lacked anything beyond a Windows 95 style presence. We consulted with them to bring the product to the modern era.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The calculator was an Excel file and we wanted to bring it onto the web so that any browser, including mobile, could access it. Saritasa digested the tool and reproduced it into something that could be accessible via the web.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with four people so far. On the frontend we had those get it started, and those on the backend to work on UX and graphic design.

How did you come to work with Saritasa?

They were one of a few companies we evaluated with. We took their evaluation, got an estimate, and found them located in Orange County, which made it easier for me to work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

At this point, we’re just shy of $25,000 spent.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began work on June 2020 and the work is ongoing.

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

We’ve established the gating process on our end with them and the initial proposal on what we wanted to see at each step. We've gone through the initial discussion of the project, finished that. We've gone through the user experience, design of the wireframes, and now we’re putting it into place. So, the success has really just been measured based on team feedback approvals, making sure that we continue progressing from one step into the next. We’ve had great success in these beginning stages but have no external metrics.

How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?

We had great initial success with our first project manager. He left the company, but the transition was mostly smooth. We had a recent where some expectations weren’t communicated properly.  We continued to build on it, and monetarily and budgetary wise we’re back to our point. It was a minor slip up, but the process has been very smooth with both communication and development so far.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They had a strong ability to understand what we’re looking for and for their UX team to turn it into a visual almost immediately. A lot of times, it felt like the pressure was on us to deliver which was great. They turned everything about quickly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I would say it just falls back to the communication process with them as if we were to go along with everything. They're great communicators. We scoped the project initially as being about four hundred hours. As we got carried away with the design to say these are the functionalities we were looking for, no one ever came in at any point from the project side to say, if we were to look at those things, it would double the amount of time. I think for them to continue to agree was to appease us. But, at the same time, we needed realistic expectations set to say, OK, these are all things that you would want, but maybe you need to push them into the second phase of this project if we wanted to maintain a track record of finishing by this date. That was probably the only missing link there.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The better the understanding you have of your project, the more details you can brief them with upfront, the better they’ll be able to run with it.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of a software provider and engineering contractor. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

We wanted to maintain existing .NET applications that we’ve built over the last 15 years and expand it into a cloud-based application rather than an on-site installed app. They did this for web apps and native apps for iOS, Android, and Windows.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started by discussing our business process that would use internally and for our customers. After walking through the process of work, they built out the database structure on the backend and moved it into the UI based on how the business process would be for office or field users.

The final product was a web app and native apps for iOS, Android, and Windows. It allowed users to log on to any of the operating systems or a combination of using a native app installed on the platform or the hardware-based operating system.

What is the team composition?

I primarily worked with four people, but there was a larger team behind the scenes. 

How did you come to work with Saritasa?

We were looking to have an extended staff based on our requirements for specialized skill sets and being able to scale up or down. I did a search for vendors in Southern California, where our office is located, to find a local team.

We interviewed a few different organizations and thought that their team would be the best fit. To test the fit, we gave them an opportunity to work with our legacy application. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent almost $1 million, and we’re about halfway through the project. This will be an ongoing, long-term partnership.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since the spring of 2019.

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

Through testing and use of the apps, we have customer, user, and staff buy-in on their work. 

How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?

I’ve been very happy with their communication. During the creation of the backend database, we worked with one person but the project manager was also involved to coordinate. As we moved onto the UI component of the work, I was very happy with the migration from one step to the next.

I’m very happy with the level of intelligence and engagement I’ve seen from our project manager. He has a good understanding of our product and our entire business model. We communicate via in-house project management software.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

They offer a broad scope of knowledge and can bring a variety of technologies into a project. They’ve handled some complex app projects with us and were great at blending various components together. We had very good access to people within the organization throughout. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The total cost estimate has grown over time, which is understandable because the project has grown in complexity. It is a challenge to come up with an anticipated cost upfront.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have your own internal knowledge and goals based on your business's processes. Define that clearly to their group so they have the opportunity to bring in the best resources for the job.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of Burger Boss, a new concept burger chain that’s technology- and health-focused.

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

We wanted to develop a customized ordering application for kiosk, web, and mobile. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’d already started to develop the applications, but it was a tedious process and we realized we needed outside support. When we came to Saritasa, we showed them what we’d done in the past, and told them what we wanted for the future.

With their project and creative teams, Saritasa was able to create a plan and timeline based on the vision we proposed. They came back with all the visual and creative elements we wanted. Once we’d agreed on the milestones and schedule, they got to work. 

We provided them with a good deal of creative elements in terms of imagery, such as materials from photoshoots we’d done in the past. We also provided them with wireframes and user flows based on what we’d discussed in the design meetings we had.  

We’re continuously looking to improve our application. We regularly update it and strive to create a better platform, which we continue to do with Saritasa.

What is the team composition?

We have a project management team that facilitates communication between our side and theirs. 

How did you come to work with Saritasa?

I came across them because they were advertising kiosks, and not many companies advertise customized kiosk technologies. They were also close to us, so we reached out to them. We liked their approach more than the other companies we’d been looking at, so we decided to move forward with them. Partnering with Saritasa turned out to be one of the best decisions we ever made.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since July 2019.

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

Saritasa understood our vision, and they also understood that we’re a small company without a lot of resources to create the elements we wanted. We’ve dealt with several companies in the past, and in terms of timeline, none of them could ever achieve what Saritasa has achieved. 

When it comes to the quality of the application, we’ve seen very few errors or bugs. When we first released the app, we probably had less than 5 bugs reported overall. Saritasa did an amazing job from a QA standpoint.

The team is also always available to support us. We have a support contract with Saritasa, but there’s a lot of things they do that go above and beyond that. The team is always available to work with us and resolve any issues. 

How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?

They have very strong project management. I’ve never had such a strong project management team working on a project. They really understood the scope from front to end, and were able to gauge when we were and weren’t meeting certain timelines, and get us back on track.

I never had to interact with anyone on the development team to describe the process — our project managers handled all of that. I was very impressed with their ability to meet every single timeline and milestone we’d agreed upon — they even launched ahead of schedule. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re most impressed with their diligence in understanding the scope and completing the entire project on time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, no. We’re super happy with Saritasa. They’re the kind of company that goes above and beyond to provide results. It’s as if they were part of our own team rather than an outsourced agency. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Do your due diligence and analyze the difference between different companies for this kind of project. However, based on my experience dealing with many companies around the world, Saritasa stands above and beyond many of them. They’re very strong in project management, they understand the scope, they’re loyal to the timeline, and they have great teams behind them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a system administrator and developer for a commercial upholstery and wall covering distributor.

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

We wanted to develop a mobile app that would allow users to search for wall coverings based on industry criteria.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Saritasa developed our new mobile app for Android and iOS. Their team connected the product to an API backend that I wrote, enabling us to supply data to the platform. They created the platform’s graphical layout to establish its look and feel. We, however, supplied them with images that guided their building process.

What is the team composition?

A project manager and 1–2 developers worked on the project.

How did you come to work with Saritasa?

Saritasa developed our first mobile product around 2015. I initially found them by searching for developers within our geographic region. Saritasa’s close to our corporate headquarters, which made it easy for us to meet in person. They had a nice portfolio of projects that they did with other companies.

How much have you invested with them?

This latest project cost $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our latest project in July and finished it in November 2020.

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

We haven’t publicly launched the app, so we don’t have customer feedback yet. However, the management team that initiated the project was happy with the final product. We’re all satisfied with the platform, which works exactly as it should.

How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?

On the project management front, they were fantastic. Their project manager was extremely responsive. Anytime I emailed him with a question or issue, he addressed them quickly. The developers were offshore, and they had any issues fixed by the next morning.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their technical expertise was great. Their team didn’t have any problems addressing the challenges that we threw at them. We have a nonstandard backend, and their team didn’t have issues working with it.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I wouldn’t have made any changes to the process. It was smooth.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

To help make the project run smoothly, plan your requirements well in advance. Know what you need from them to provide Saritasa with clarity and limit back and forth.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and CEO of Begerz.com.

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

There were a couple of challenges that we needed to address with Saritasa. The first challenge was to launch my website, so I hired them to transform my goals into a viable product. The next challenge was to build a fully functional platform.

What was the scope of their involvement?

During the project's first stage, Saritasa is building wireframes and branding for my website. Their team’s almost done with that first stage. In the end, I’ll have a site to show to potential investors, but the platform won’t be fully functional. Saritasa will also be able to estimate the price to fully develop the site. In the second stage of the project, their team will complete the website’s development.

What is the team composition?

About four people from their team have worked on this project.

How did you come to work with Saritasa?

I reviewed and interviewed three separate companies — two onshore and one offshore. I felt that Saritasa was a better fit across the board. I interviewed them, discussed the project, received a cost estimate, and then hired them.  

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve invested $25,000 in their services so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing project started in September 2020.

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

We’re almost done with the first stage of the project and so far, they’ve exceeded my expectations. Their design team understood my vision and created a product that I can use. I'm able to take their work and relay my site's message. That’s the metric that matters the most to me right now. Their work also helped to increase traffic and the number of my users.

How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project manager has kept us on track and on budget, which are two important factors to my startup. They’re responsive and responsible, meaning their team communicates any issues early. Their team’s also always on time and prepared for our meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The Saritasa team is completely aligned with their company’s vision and my company’s goals.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’re successful for a reason. They only need to continue to put great people on their team.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Ensure that your ideas and expectations align with theirs. Also, be prepared to think outside of the box and lead. Saritasa will listen but also help you through the process.