Sembit

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Co-Founder of Binster

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Binster helps eco-conscious shoppers find quality items from local businesses with our digital secondhand marketplace.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Sembit to accomplish?

• Wireframe and app design
• Develop native apps for iOS and Android for the secondhand marketplace that includes user accounts, user profiles, ability to post items with pictures/descriptions, and various workflows.

SOLUTION

How did you find Sembit?

Online Search

Why did you select Sembit over others?

High ratings, Close to my geographic location, Great culture fit, Good value for cost, Company values aligned

What was the size of Sembit’s team?

2-5 Employees

What was your primary form of communication with Sembit?

Virtual Meeting, Email or Messaging App

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Native apps for Google Play and Apple Store deployments. Google Cloud setup User accounts, profiles, dashboard screens. In app functionalities to post, search, buy, message. Location based searches. Additional various app attributes.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Demonstrated feature functionality
• Weekly dashboard updates for accomplished tasks and budget

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Sembit worked extremely collaboratively with us. We had healthy discussions throughout the design process and throughout execution. Sembit has been very accommodating, flexible, and did all they could with their professional expertise to position us well for success.

Sembit performed ahead of schedule and any delays toward the end of the project were budgetary restrictions on our end.

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

Sembit's team really took on the mindset of our business which resulted in a better product with thoughtful decisions from developers. We have been able to have healthy discussions about the pros and cons of a design choices which ultimately makes a better product in the long run.

Most importantly, throughout this process, we have felt like we were part of a team with Sembit and not just another client.

Are there any areas for improvement or something {provider_name} could have done differently?

We've fully enjoyed our time working with Sembit.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the SVP of an automotive company that makes commercial trucks.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sembit?

We created a web portal for our distributors, and Sembit assisted us. For context, we had a system before, but it was antiquated and simplistic.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our web portal is a custom software solution that lets our distributors look up product data, such as pricing and availability. Users can look up orders and shipments, too. Sembit has built this product from scratch, elevating our previous system. They’ve come up with ideas to update the product, following the most up-to-date B2B systems in the market. So far, we’ve finished phases one and two of the project; now, we’re going to phase three. 

What is the team composition?

We primarily work with Shaun (VP) and Dean (Software Engineering Consultant). I’ve also worked with Nathan (Founder). 

How did you come to work with Sembit?

Sembit was referred to us by another company with the same ERP system. Before that, we looked into other companies to develop our system. One company started developing it, but I didn’t like how it was being done. As a result, we switched to Sembit. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $37,000 for the first two phases and consultation. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2022, and the engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our distributors now have 24/7 access to our system. It’s extremely fast — the response time is in milliseconds. More people can access it via mobile devices anywhere and anytime. Moreover, the product now has much more functionality and data, which can be used and manipulated in various ways. Simply put, the difference between our previous and current systems is night and day. Its flexibility, speed, and availability are lightyears ahead of our previous system. 

How did Sembit perform from a project management standpoint?

It’s truly easy to work with Sembit. They have a team of dedicated people at competitive prices. They do everything we request and prioritize our requirements as much as possible. The team has delivered the product on time and exceeded our expectations. Their resources also come up with many suggestions and solutions, so I’m truly pleased with them.

Overall, their project management has always been on point. They’re precise when it comes to estimates, so there are no surprises. When something comes up, they offer to cover it if it’s a minor issue. 

Meanwhile, we generally communicate via email with Shaun. Even if he and his team are busy, they stay up and respond to us on time. In other words, we’ve never had issues communicating with them. Apart from emails, we also have web meetings. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Shaun is always responsive, and his estimates are reasonable. Moreover, their prices are competitive, and Sembit does great work. Their devoted team always bends over backward to meet our schedule. 

Overall, they’re an excellent company — I wish more companies are like them. They dedicate much of their time and effort to understanding our needs, delivering on time, and exceeding our expectations. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of UrSafe, a personal security mobile app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sembit?

We had our mobile app already in place, but we were looking to engage some additional enterprise-grade partners with the app in different parts of the world. As part of that, we required more heavy-duty development work. Therefore, we needed a bigger and more experienced team than our current one so that they could help us upgrade our app and systems to enterprise-grade class.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sembit has helped us upgrade our mobile app and systems. When they joined, part of the challenge was taking over our existing app because we had hardly any documentation. Thus, their team had to figure out how the code worked and refactor it. This process included upgrading the libraries and doing a lot of extensive development work so that the app was stable, well-documented, and could scale.

Our app is available for both iOS and Android. On it, users can create their profile and set up a list of friends, family, or contacts as groups. When the user goes on a trip, catches a taxi, goes on a date, or walks on the street, they can notify select group members about their progress. If something goes wrong, they can also generate SOS alerts and call the local emergency services. In addition to that, our app allows users to turn on their device’s audio and video recording features discreetly and hands-free.

It took Sembit about a year and a half of development work to take the app to where it now is. Now, their role has changed, and they provide us with support and technical advice. One of our secondary objectives with this project was to build an internal development team, so Sembit is also helping us with that transition.

What is the team composition?

During the development process, we worked with a project lead who managed priorities, milestones, and reports, as well as with four different developers. Additionally, we’ve interacted with Sembit’s CEO as needed.

How did you come to work with Sembit?

We found Sembit during a Google search. Originally, we were looking for a development company that could handle enterprise-grade development work, so we went through a research process, looking for reputable teams with references. We were also looking for local companies so that we could meet in person and go to their office.

During our research, we found several local companies, so we went through a vetting process that included a series of phone calls and interviews to find an experienced partner that was a good fit for us. As a result of this process, we shortlisted some potential partners, and we ultimately decided to work with Sembit.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $200,000–$250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around June 2020, and the development work concluded in September 2022. However, our partnership with Sembit is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Sembit has helped us meet our objectives. Thanks to our upgraded app, we’re now in the position to partner with big organizations to white-label our product and provide safety to their communities. Moreover, Sembit’s work has positively impacted our app. It is much more stable now, and it’s ready for new feature releases that we’ll launch in the near future. We wouldn’t have gotten where we are without their help.

How did Sembit perform from a project management standpoint?

Sembit has performed well. Initially, they underestimated the workload, but their estimations and deliverables got better and more accurate as they went into the process. The first couple of months of our engagement were a little challenging because we had no documentation, so it required a trial-and-error approach.

However, they have a very strong and skilled team, so within months, they became experts in our app. Since they overcome those initial challenges, their performance has significantly improved.

Throughout the redevelopment process, we encountered a lot of bugs. Still, Sembit was very transparent in the way they addressed them. We had testers QAing new features and finding the bugs, and Sembit used a lot of tools and bug trackers to document them. When they solved an issue, we tested the product again to see if it had been solved.

As for communication, we have weekly status calls, as well as ad-hoc Zoom meetings. Whenever we have an issue, we can jump on a phone call if needed. Additionally, we communicate via email, and we use Trello to manage the project and deliverables.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Sembit’s general engineering skill set is outstanding; they’re very strong from a technical perspective.

Are there any areas they could improve?

As clients, we always want to get as much done for as little money as possible. Thus, it would have been great if we had achieved what we’ve achieved so far for a smaller fee. Still, we’re very satisfied with the work done by Sembit. We’ve paid a premium price, but we’ve got a premium service.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Understand your project well and define if you’re enhancing an existing product or building something new from scratch; Sembit can go either way. In addition to using project management tools, assign resources from your end to actively contribute to the documentation process so that you can document your entire product. Sometimes, we overlook the importance of documentation.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of Provider Services Fund. We’re a nonprofit organization that focuses on lifting up the childcare industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sembit?

We hired Sembit to help us develop a mobile application from the ground up. The app is a suite of business tools that we’re rolling out for childcare providers. These tools will help increase business efficiency and enable them to manage data and process payments online.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sembit handles the development and design of our mobile app. They’re also helping us build an iOS and Android version of the app. Their team is using Flutter for development.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with several people from their company, including their VP, who primarily acts as the project manager. We also work with a bunch of backend developers and a database designer.

How did you come to work with Sembit?

We went through an extensive RFP process. We evaluated several shops before narrowing our options to four. In the end, we decided to go with Sembit because they had in-depth experience in the social services industry.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent about $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in April 2022, and it’s an ongoing partnership.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have a series of touchpoints that we need to hit. So far, with Sembit’s help, we’ve managed to do our first release of the app on time and under budget. We also couldn’t detect any major bugs within the app. Overall, we’re quite happy about hitting our first release date.

How did Sembit perform from a project management standpoint?

Sembit is great to work with. We’ve been happy with our communication with their team; we have weekly check-ins, and they’re very responsive. Moreover, they work flexibly to help us overcome any problems that come up along the way. For managing tasks, we use Trello.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re very impressed with how engaged they’ve been in our project. As a nonprofit, we’re really invested in the mission of what we’re doing, so it really means a lot to us that they’ve become invested in it as well. In doing so, their team has given us more than what we’ve asked for, especially in terms of the amount of creativity and effort they put into their deliverables.

Are there any areas they could improve on?

I don’t have any constructive feedback — we’ve been happy with their work so far.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to read them in and give them as much information as you can about your goals for the project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of an outpatient mental health organization serving multiple states.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sembit?

We previously used another vendor, but they didn’t meet our expectations. They weren’t communicative and failed to meet our deadlines. We needed help updating and improving our website, and we also needed someone to build our iOS app. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sembit is revamping our website using Contentful. They are also building our iOS app from scratch, and we’re doing the project at 10–12 weeks increments. We’ve initially just needed an MVP, but we are so impressed with their work that we will have them build the entire app.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with four people, including Shaun (VP), a senior engineer, and some junior engineers.

How did you come to work with Sembit?

I reached out to my network and asked for referrals. A friend who knew Sembit’s work recommended them to me. I interviewed Sembit, and I was very impressed with their portfolio and their clear understanding of what we were looking for. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $200,000 so far, but we’ll probably spend a lot more this year. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since August 2021, and our partnership is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Sembit has delivered on everything we’ve asked them. We’ve been impressed with their work, and customer feedback about the app has been good. 

How did Sembit perform from a project management standpoint?

Sembit’s project management is amazing. They’ve taken ownership of the engagement, and I don’t need to be involved. Their team provides me with updates on their progress during our weekly meetings. They also send a written update that shows where they are relative to our timeline and budget. 

Sembit has over-delivered on their promises at every step of the process. They’ve come in ahead of schedule and below budget, and they let us know if we are asking for too much. They are clear communicators, and it made a world of difference for our company. Outside of our meetings, I can call or email at any point, and Shaun usually answers me. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

After being burned badly by the previous vendor I’ve worked with, I can say Sembit is extremely knowledgeable in their field. It’s easy for them to pivot if we change our direction, and they’re very supportive of our mission and vision. They are thoughtful that what they’re building will support our company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. I’m just impressed with Sembit, and working with them is like a breath of fresh air after my failed engagement with my previous vendor. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Ensure that you meet regularly and explain what your end goal is.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing director of a multi-brand corporation. We’re based in Hawaii, and we have around 150 employees.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sembit?

We asked Sembit to build a tool to support our custom framing business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our partnership started with a discovery process, where we explained to them our objectives and what we wanted to achieve. We mentioned our preferred look and feel as well as the purpose of the custom tool they were going to build.

The team first built the home page and static content pages on BigCommerce. After that, they proceeded to build a custom configurator that could enable our customers to order frames, which they could pick up from our store.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with Shaun (VP) and one of the main developers.

How did you come to work with Sembit?

One of our employees who was involved in the project referred their team. She never worked with them personally, but she had a friend that highly recommended Sembit. After our initial meeting with the team, we felt pretty confident that they could deliver what we needed.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing collaboration ran from July 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t launched the custom tool yet because a lot of our materials are out of stock. Despite that, in terms of functionality and the testing that we’ve done, everything appears to be working properly, and we’re looking forward to launching our tool soon.

In the future, our measure of success would be seeing our customers successfully ordering their frames using our custom tool. On the backend, we’d like to see our teams fulfill those orders easily without a lot of headaches. Our goal is to have clear communication as far as what our customers want and offer them a user-friendly tool.

How did Sembit perform from a project management standpoint?

Considering the complexity of our tool,  Sembit has done a really good job of anticipating our needs. They’ve pretty much stuck to our budget and to our agreed timeframe.

In addition, they’ve clearly communicated any instances where they’re going to deviate from what we’ve initially discussed. We mainly keep in touch through email. Overall, their communication skills have been great throughout the process.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to figure out and suggest resources or solutions that would meet our needs has been impressive. They’ve also been good at listening to what we want and getting a clear understanding of what we prefer. In addition, since they’re familiar with what we want, they’ve given as well thought out solutions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We initially had a bit of misunderstanding as far as what the scope was, but it didn’t really inflict so much damage on the project. It just took us a while to fully communicate our needs and for them to fully understand them. Once we corrected that and everybody got on the same page, our process became seamless.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Sembit is highly-engaged so I wouldn’t be worried about trying to pull them into the discussion. I’d say the best thing that you could do is to come fully prepared with a clear plan of what you want to accomplish. The more information you could provide, the more seamless the process would be.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a SaaS company for commercial real estate owners.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sembit?

I worked in the commercial real estate industry for a number of years. I hired Sembit to build our web platform's MVP. I also engaged with them to help me launch it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our web platform primarily contains a suite of communication tools — integrating voice, text, and email which will be all looped through a QR code. Sembit has completed the wireframes of our product based on the initial brief we had with a previous firm.

They’re now doing a very light design approach, and they ensure that our web platform is mobile-optimized. Our priority right now is building out the functionalities we need and building traction with our end-users before polishing our product. They're currently doing bug fixes now.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with Sembit’s account manager and two tech people. For the tech roles, the first one handles the project’s overview. The second one is responsible for our programming needs and is also in charge of implementing bug fixes.

How did you come to work with Sembit?

I found Sembit on Clutch. What convinced us to work with them was their experience in implementing QR code integrations. In fact, they helped a Japanese firm to create dynamic QR codes.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2021, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

For external results, we can’t share anything yet. However, Sembit has created the functionalities that we wanted. There are a couple of bugs here and there, but they quickly resolve them. On top of that, a couple of our colleagues have been very excited about our product. Overall, I’m very happy with what they’ve done.

How did Sembit perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate with Sembit using Trello. They have great project management process, and they’ve been with us since the beginning. They’ve consistently worked hard, so we’ve got great rapport. In addition, they’re good at setting and meeting expectations. Overall, we love working with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We trust Sembit's guidance. They have a technical team that I can count on, and they suggest helpful solutions to improve the project we’re working on. It really feels like we've become partners. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They should offer cheaper services.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Find out who your team is and get a sense of whether or not they’re going to stick with you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of a legal services firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sembit?

One of the things we do for our clients is that we gather feedback with their employees on leadership role changes or other things going on in the firm so that they can improve. We needed a platform that could gather that data for us in a user-friendly manner, as well as spit the information back out so we could generate feedback reports for our clients.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a discovery phase where we had several meetings with them so they could know exactly what we needed and what expertise we lacked so they could fulfill our needs. Then, they gave us wireframes based on these initial conversations. From there, it was easy to move forward. We launched the beta in March, and are continuing to develop it.

It’s an internal platform that’s secure so we can protect our clients’ data. I’m not tech-savvy to tell you what platforms they used, but it’s software they developed from scratch.

What is the team composition?

We started with two from Sembit, and they just brought on a third.

How did you come to work with Sembit?

We have a marketing person who knows about them through an online group. When I Googled them, I knew they were the right company.

How much have you invested with them?

We’re getting close to $50,000 on the first project, and are approaching $15,000 on another. I imagine we’ll invest more.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since October 2020 and plan on working with them well into the future.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s been excellent every step of the way. The initial conversations were excellent — we had an instant human connection. In addition to being professional, they also had a human touch that’s irreplicable. Their wireframes were outstanding— they were almost good enough to be live. They clearly took the time to understand us and our goals.

When we launched the product in beta, we received tons of feedback. It’s been incredibly positive, with our consultants praising how user-friendly it is, how much they’ve enjoyed using it, etc. We don’t have specific stats yet, but it’s been nothing but positive feedback.

How did Sembit perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re excellent. We have weekly calls, they provide weekly updates, and have a reporting system that keeps us up to date on budget and what they’ve completed

What did you find most impressive about them?

I knew they were interested in solving our problems from the get-go. They’re great listeners who want to solve your problems. They’re excellent, a fantastic value.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. They keep stepping up, even as we throw curveballs at them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a really clear directive heading into the project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

ICVM Group provides consulting, creative design, web development and hosting services to a diverse array of prominent national and international firms and organizations. We also enjoy strong relationships with many regional businesses. I am the President and Creative Director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We had a large website account that was mandated to be .Net, for which which we hired a third party dev shop to work on and manage because .Net is not our core expertise. That shop became increasingly unreliable and struggled to meet our very high standards, and we researched alternatives.

Sembit came highly recommended by a colleague and they were absolutely the right fit. They are capable, maintain high standards, and approached projects and tasks the same way we do in-house. We were able to structure a relationship where we could collectively offer the client great service while still maintaining profitability.

SOLUTION

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

We knew when we talked to Sembit that we were dealing with people who are highly responsible, capable and think like we do. When it was clear that we spoke the same language and we established a workable cost structure, we moved forward with them.

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

Establish a new development and staging environment; upgrade code to be compatible with newer versions of OS and database. Execute a collection of backlogged upgrades desired by the client.

Assist with migration to a new production environment with new host. QA. Oversee website re-launch from new location. Ongoing website and CMS updates, feature rollouts, performance tuning, general governance.

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

3. Partner, senior developer, developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We stabilized a shaky vendor situation that had no good path forward. We put the account on solid technical footing, unfroze stalled initiatives and got back to being able to move forward with profitable tasks and projects. We also gained considerable peace of mind knowing we could count on Sembit for assistance should we ever encounter a problem.

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

Clear, honest, straightforward and reliable. We got what we expected and agreed-upon, on time and on budget.

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

Like our own company, they offer crafted bespoke solutions and are not intimidated by complexity or snarly tasks.

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

Not within our engagement, no. They checked every mark.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-founder and CEO of Grantstone Ventures, and PickleballRatings.com is our primary software product and service. We use the common Elo algorithm to process player ratings for tournaments and clubs in the fast growing sport of pickleball, which is the offspring of a passionate night spent between tennis, ping-pong, and badminton.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We built a custom piece of software to integrate three platforms, in which the platform (tournament software) that was the primary data source was a legacy piece of software. This was a daunting project, and when it was all complete and functioning, we sought bids for an independent valuation of the cost to replicate this effort.

SOLUTION

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

Shaun and his team at Sembit blew away the competition -- it was clear right away that Sembit was willing to do the deep dive into our project and the code to really understand what was needed in this project and how we accomplished it.

The other agencies we looked at, frankly, wanted to tell us how great they were. Sembit instead asked a lot of probing questions and provided the kind of consultation that really made us comfortable in hiring them.

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

Here is what we shared with the agencies that we reached out to: Application will be a 3-party API integration between tournament software vendor, ratings processing vendor (self) and governing body of sport. Scripts will run each week to pull updated source data from governing body membership data and tournament results and player data.

Tournament match results can be exported per-tournament as HTML, but each match result shows player names (first/last) in the HTML output. Will need to dig into existing Perl web app code to change that output from first/last to instead output a player's unique record ID. Internally the existing software has a flat file database for tourney data, and a separate SQL database for player data.

Additionally, there is a large subset of match results where a player's unique record ID is not linked, this is because some tournaments' data get "imported" through an external-data-import process. Need to dig into existing Perl web app code to try to re-link these orphaned player records.

In addition to parsing match outcome data from the HTML data, also need to identify matches that end in forfeit or withdrawal so they can be not-included for ratings changes. Other tournament data such as tournament title, date of tournament, name of individual brackets/events needs to be parsed from the HTML data.

Tournament sanctioned-status needs to be retrieved from the flat-file database for purpose of weighting the Elo algorithm more heavily for sanctioned tournaments. This will be a new, separate Perl script in the existing Web app, it will expose a JSON dump of tournament IDs with the sanction field value.

Tournament results will need to be classified as Men's Doubles, Women's Doubles, Mixed Doubles, Men's Singles and Women's singles. Need to write an algorithm that looks at the title of each tournament event and parses it into one of these 5 classifications. A given player can have 1, 2 or 3 ratings: gender doubles, mixed doubles and singles.

Tournament results will need to be sorted by date so they can be processed for ratings in chronological order.

Tournament player data (as opposed to match results) can be exported as a JSON dump from the SQL database, the master player database contains normalized tournament entrant data, so there is only one player record for many tournaments.

The master player database contains many duplicate entries for players, some players have 2 or 3 accounts and other players have 6 or 8 accounts, need help identifying and reconciling player data problems so that ratings engine combines all match results together for a given player even if they have 2 or more player records.

To create the initial Elo "starting point" ratings for players, we want to write a program that looks at the first bracket they played in, up to 3 years ago. It would look at the other players in the bracket and average the other players' ratings to create a players new rating.

After establishing initial ratings for all players, we want to "re-balance" the distribution of player-ratings. We will provide percentages for the expected amount of 3.5, 4.0, 5.0+ etc players, we are looking for a custom program that will allow us to move players up and down at the outset, to create the correct numbers of players at different rating levels.

After the ratings system is launched, when new players play in a tournament, they will get a new rating based on the average of the ratings of other players in their bracket. When tournaments are processed each week for the purpose of ratings-changes, will need to expose an API where weekly updated ratings can be downloaded in two formats.

One format will associate governing body member ID (is available in the master player database) with the player ratings (up to 3 ratings per player). This format will be used to update the governing body player database.

The other format will associate the player unique ID with his updated ratings for the purpose of updating the ratings as they appear in the tournament player master database. This output will have to accomodate any players who have multiple/merged player accounts. Need to create a web app for displaying each week's ratings processing per-player.

This web app will have 5 reports for each week's ratings, one for each of the 5 classes of ratings.

The report will list all of the players and ratings in a searchable/sortable list, clicking on an individual player will show the details of all of that players match results going back 3 years, including the rating-change for all four players in each match and will include a visual graph showing the players rating history over time.

This web app will need to have user-authentication so only administrators can view the ratings. When tournaments are processed for ratings changes, need to check the sanction field for sanctioned status and "weight" the Elo algorithm so that sanctioned tournaments have a full effect but unsanctioned tournaments will have 60% effect on ratings-changes.

Need a web app for overriding ratings when players appeal to governing body. Need to be able to override a 4-digit rating before the week's processing begins. Also need to override 2-digit rounded ratings (which are established/re-rounded/preserved at the end of each week's 4-digit processing).

The web app for overriding ratings will operate on ratings data in the tournament vendor's Perl application - those ratings will be compared to the prior week's ratings to detect changes and relay the changes to the governing body's web site.

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

VP Shaun Davidson was our exclusive contact at Sembit, though I believe he utilized members of the Sembit programming team to assist with this project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Sembit delivered exactly what we asked for -- both a high level analysis as well as a detailed breakdown of this project, and of course a "cost to build" bid.

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

Shaun was very consultative and asked a lot of questions before laying out expectations such as Sembit's bid to complete this task and the timeline on deliverables.

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

We appreciated Shaun's professionalism and how easy it was to communicate with him, especially after having to listen to the other agencies we talked to tell us how great they were while asking us very few questions.

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

We really can't think of any!