Saritasa

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a private equity investment firm that specializes in real estate. We purchase residential properties.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

We hired Saritasa to build out our software platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

When we purchase a home, the process usually begins with us making an offer. We go from the project management remodel phase to the closing of escrow before putting the property back on the market. After that, we put the home in escrow again and go through the closing process once more when we’ve sold it. 

For this, Saritasa is developing a piece of technology that could house a very robust project management workflow, databases, and client communication portals. Their team is also incorporating a KPI suite where we could monitor and measure our lead and lag. This could allow us to pivot quickly and ensure that we’re staying on track with our financial objectives. 

While this big project is in development, Saritasa has created a beta site that we could go to market with. We’re now running two projects and testing a few things on it. 

What is the team composition?

I’ve interfaced with Stan (Client Engagement Manager) during the initial stages. Once we began building out the software, I’ve become more in touch with Chris (Project Manager) and Sang (UI/UX Designer). They also have overseas programmers, but Chris is the one who deals with them directly. 

How did you come to work with Saritasa?

I did some research on Google and vetted out three different software technology companies. I ultimately chose Saritasa because I was a big fan of Stan; I found him to be a great person who’s very informative and very responsive. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together last March 2021, and the project is still ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have any metrics at the moment since we have yet to launch the software platform. However, we’ve been able to pivot a little bit because of Saritasa’s beta site. It has been extremely helpful; through this data model, we’ve been able to purchase a couple of homes, and we’ve actually gotten revenue more quickly than we’d anticipated. 

How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?

Saritasa has been fantastic. Their entire team has understood and taken ownership of the project, providing good feedback and input to continuously improve the platform rather than just sitting back and doing what they’re told. They’ve been very forthcoming and Chris, in particular, has been very responsive and has constantly kept me up to date.

They’ve given me access to InVision where I can visualize the product that they’re developing and see what tasks are being done. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I can’t compare them to other providers as they’re the first external tech firm that I’ve worked with. I can say, however, that they’re really good at keeping me posted on what’s going on. They’re very responsive.

Besides that, their communication and ability to realize my vision are also on point. It’s really cool how they can take something that’s written on a business plan and turn it into a functioning piece of technology.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there isn’t any improvement that I can recommend. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to prepare a very good outline of what you’re looking to develop and invest time in those initial conversations with Saritasa. The more information you can give them, the better the end result is going to be and the quicker it will be done. It would also be good to have someone who understands how to build workflow systems and technology. That way, there is someone on your side who speaks Saritasa’s language. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of an adult literacy and workforce development nonprofit in Philadelphia.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We are developing a pre-apprenticeship program in partnership with the energy and utilities sector. Our goal is to provide realistic exposure to that industry for potential candidates into the entry level linesman and gas worker positions.

SOLUTION

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

We found Saritasa through a referral and explained that we are a nonprofit with limited grant funding for this project. Of the VR developers that we approached, Saritasa was the most generous with their time and found workarounds in order to produce a high quality product within our lean grant funding.

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

The team met with us several times to gain a strong understanding of our desired outcomes. Together, we developed a detailed and comprehensive plan with specific deliverables. Even before the contract was signed, Saritasa's team got to work and met with me weekly to share progress updates and collect my feedback.

Each week, they would provide videos of the framed out software and then be very responsive and amenable to my team's suggestions on ways to refine. They also helped guide us on headset purchases and then provided in-headset software review as well as video review.

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

I worked directly with the senior developer and a project manager. They were both very flexible and worked around my scheduling needs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Saritasa went above and beyond to deliver a high quality product that met our requirements and made themselves available to provide helpful recommendations and guidance on related items that were not specifically in the scope of the contract.

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

The project management style was highly responsive and communicative.

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

I was particularly impressed with their willingness to meet our needs even within our limited means as a nonprofit.

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

No, Saritasa exceeded expectations all around.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the COO of a college communication platform when I worked with Saritasa.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

We didn’t have an in-house engineering team, so we needed Saritasa’s team to develop our communication application from scratch.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially met with their team to discuss the design concept and execution plan. Saritasa then accomplished the wireframing phase and implemented the necessary development solutions. Since our app is a chat platform, they integrated WeChat-like features and additional user-friendly functionalities that allowed our users from different campuses to form chat groups based on their interests and add or remove members from their conversations.

What is the team composition?

We were in contact with one designer, a project manager, and a lead engineer.

How did you come to work with Saritasa?

I found them while searching for potential outsourced engineering teams to onboard for this project. Saritasa made it to our shortlist, and we decided to choose them among their competitors because of their local services and reasonable price point.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $230,000–$240,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from January 2020–October 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Saritasa built reliable solutions, and they collaborated well with us to generate results that met our standards, timeline, and budget. Overall, they were a great partner with a goal-oriented mindset.

How did Saritasa perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly communicated via email and text messages. Our team appreciated Saritasa’s high level of accommodation — they stuck to our deadlines and catered to our needs and requests even during inconvenient hours.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were most impressed with Saritasa’s professional and fair approach — their team set honest goals and fixed any issues without additional charges.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I didn’t encounter any particular area that needed improvement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t be afraid to break down your expectations — if you talk about your goals in detail, they’ll deliver those for you.

BACKGROUND

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.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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.

SOLUTION

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.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

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

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

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

SOLUTION

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.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

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

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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.

SOLUTION

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.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

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

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

We needed someone to develop our game app.

SOLUTION

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.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

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

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Saritasa?

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

SOLUTION

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.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

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

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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.

SOLUTION

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.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

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

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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.

SOLUTION

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.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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.