SJ Innovation LLC

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at a website design company.

What challenge were you trying to address with SJ Innovation LLC?

We needed developers to build a website development team.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’re helping us build a custom registration website for a conference company.

What is the team composition?

We work with around four people, but we mainly work with a project manager.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $75,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2013, and the engagement is ongoing.

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

The coding overall is good, and the website works at 100%.

How did SJ Innovation LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

We don’t set specific deadlines for the project, so this project is a big undertaking. Overall, everything goes smoothly with the handling of the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We have good communication, and they’re easy to work with as a team. Additionally, they deal with issues quickly in terms of bugs and glitches — that’s the biggest thing for me.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have major complaints; I’m happy with how everything goes.

Any advice for potential customers?

The time difference might be the challenging part of working with them. Understand that you’ll deal with an overseas team, and things can happen on a different schedule 10–12 hours ahead of you.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Motivational speaker for schools, author and public speaking coach.

For what projects/services did your company hire SJ Innovation LLC, and what were your goals?

SJ Innovation redesigned and developed my personal website. They explored every idea I had imagined and took it multiple steps further by reimagining a concept that has a pulling power to meet the needs of my target audience. Their ongoing support is invaluable.

How did you select SJ Innovation LLC and what were the deciding factors?

Whenever I select a company to work on my projects, I always look at the people. The spark in which they carry and their approach. Likeability sells for me...and their staff carry the likeability charm. They are probably the finest and nicest people to work with who all excel in what they do. Great team, great company and super outcome for carrying out the work.

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

I worked with SJ Innovation with an initial idea of just a redesign of my original website which was traditional HTML. They introduced me to wordpress for the first time. Very easy to use, easy to learn and they guided me through the whole process, with video tutorials too. The work might seem simple, but when you are someone who has a lot of ideas, What SJ innovation did really well was to take each and every thought and idea and package that into the design concept, making the website easy to understand for visitors.

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

Such to the likeability of SJ Innovation, I've actually got to work with many of their staff from their multiple offices around the world.

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

Yes, enquries to deliver talks and host workshops grew substantially. I increased revenue by more than 40% simply from the redesign of the website.

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

I had a team dedicated to the project. I was engaging with them almost every day throughout the duration of the project. They kept me in the loop with every action they took and required my approval before moving on the next. The efficiency in which this was carried out was remarkable.

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

As mentioned, I always look for likeability in people. Their work speaks for itself, but knowing you have such a friendly team to work with is an extra reward when it comes to working on a project. You not only see positive outcome on the objective set, but the you build a strong relationship which sets the foundation for further work and collaboration.

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

No. They are exceptional and I would highly recommend them.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company is an agency that helps our clients with all facets of their web presence. Our in-house team mostly handles their ad needs and overall PM needs. I oversee all client operations.

For what projects/services did your company hire SJ Innovation LLC, and what were your goals?

Some of our clients have extremely robust sites and web applications. One, in particular, uses Drupal, which is a beast in itself. Pair that with integrations to third-party software and some custom development and it becomes a behemoth to maintain. When their dev agency wasn't being responsive, the client asked us to help get the project on track. We took it over and partnered with SJI for the execution.

How did you select SJ Innovation LLC and what were the deciding factors?

I love the intimate communication we have with SJI through every step of the process. We work hand in hand with them, from getting the client RFP, through the final delivery. Someone is always available to help. They take my client's needs seriously and are super patient when we aren't armed with all the answers. It is really a wonderful experience. Obviously, they're fully capable of doing what we need, but the strong communication sets them leaps and bounds ahead of the competition.

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

It always starts with us getting a request from a client. We do our best to get as much info as possible but we don't know to ask for things well outside the realm of our expertise. We present what we have to the team. They ask additional questions for us to bring back to the client. Once we're armed with all the info they need, they present a transparent price, scope, and timing. We re-brand and share this with our client who approves it. We work hand in hand with the team on ensuring the deliverables are hit and they have what they need. To communicate, we mostly use email and Slack.

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

We deal with multiple project managers (Saidul and Merlyn most of the time - they're both fantastic at their jobs and all-around great people.) The CEO Shahid is a message away. He's super helpful and always reachable. We have worked with countless developers and QA resources there but our main points of contact are the PMs.

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

Our client is a fast-growing company that quickly and abruptly outgrows their technology. If they don't improve it, there will be a serious negative consequence on their business. Being able to work with SJI and get these things turned around quickly and correctly is imperative for their growth. There is no one else we trust with high-value clients.

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

Most of our communication goes through the PMs via email and slack. I love that they will sometimes involve a developer in the conversation to cut down on the game of telephone.

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

Of course they're skilled and pricing is fair. What impresses me the most is their strong communication and fast turnaround.

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

Very infrequently we get bids from them that are substantially higher than from other partners. At that point, we have to weigh if we can bring them the business. Looking back at the few times we opted to go with the cheaper partner, we likely didn't have as smooth an experience.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My name is Syed Shafie and I’m the trustee and the chair of Cann Hall Deen & Education Trust which is based in the UK. We are a charity and religious institute.

What challenge were you trying to address with SJ Innovation LLC?

We were looking for someone to design our app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

SJ Innovation LLC designed and developed our app for our community and mosque. The app features all the information of our daily prayer timetable, upcoming events, information posters, and access to program videos and events we conduct on the premises. The app is currently released on both the Android and iOS platforms.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with quite a few team members from different countries. As far as I remember, we worked with two people from Bangladesh, two from the United States, and two more from Bulgaria or Romania.

How did you come to work with SJ Innovation LLC?

We had done some internal research within our board and trustees. Many of us know that there are very few mosques that have app support, so the market isn’t very wide and competitive. In our research, we found that there are plenty of mosques in the United States that have app support. This made us think that somebody in the US might have the knowledge and idea of what we want.

Therefore, after weeks of research, we found that SJ is a good provider as we got to know them. They gave us the conditions and had a few formal meetings — which obviously went well, so that’s why we decided to go with them. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from December 2019–March 2020.

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

The people who have used our app were quite happy with it. This concept for the mosque is very new in the UK, but people have expressed their excitement to us. Although some features are currently unavailable at the moment, they told me they will sort it out when the budget permits.

Sometimes though, the app gives us a little bit of trouble, which I think is because of the time zone issues.

How did SJ Innovation LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication was wonderful, and they have set a very high standard in terms of customer service. The response from our developers from the three countries are very good as they would consistently email us for updates. They managed this part very well and I’m very happy.

We communicate mostly through email and calls but when they need to show me something, we do a zoom call or use the TeamViewer service.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m very impressed with their customer service. One time, there was a small issue in the app, so I just sent them a picture on WhatsApp, and a couple of hours later they’ve already sorted it out.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Our partnership was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but obviously, it was slowed down everywhere. Besides that, there’s nothing they can improve on. It was fine.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice would be to always do your research. Tell them what you want and what your expectations are. This can be applied to any service provider, not just them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a rental startup.

What challenge were you trying to address with SJ Innovation LLC?

I’m not a technical person, I’m a teacher. I needed someone I could trust to handle the technical side of my business.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They took over all of the technical aspects of my mobile application and website. The team provided both design and development work. They work in PHP and Swift.

What is the team composition?

We work with a project manager, product manager, and 2–3 other developers depending on the scope of the work.

How did you come to work with SJ Innovation LLC?

They cold-called me and they were different from the beginning. They’re based in New York, they’re a husband-and-wife team, and they’re affordable. They just seemed like good people.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent close to $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2018, and our work is ongoing.

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

We’re pretty satisfied. We actually have a big release coming out at the end of December and I think it’ll go well.

How did SJ Innovation LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re considerate and have a team of good people. I really have enjoyed working with them. There are always going to be some issues, especially with time differences, but we got used to those. They’re always very punctual. We communicate via Slack and regular meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team is very professional, punctual, and great at getting startups off the ground. I’ve worked with a lot of young developers previously and SJ Innovation is more professional in comparison.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m not sure. I knew exactly what I wanted out of my apps, but it might be a different outcome if you needed more creative feedback.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

As with any outsourced partner, you to lay out your plans beforehand and hit the ground running.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a pharmaceutical company as the lead in digital marketing. I work on our website, app, and create content for the brand.

What challenge were you trying to address with SJ Innovation LLC?

We were trying to solve the problem of the quality of work from our developers. We wanted to ensure that we had a solid QA team that could thoroughly evaluate new development, work, and content on our website before it went live so that there would be no typos and no issues with how it worked, how it looked, and how it’s rendered on different devices.

We previously had marketers doing this work and it wasn’t a good use of their time, and they weren’t really able to review things in a comprehensive way. As a result, we brought on SJ Innovation LLC.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’re doing QA on our development and design work. They ensure that our website content matches the project's specs and requirements after it is created.

They thoroughly do that by testing it on a multitude of devices and OS for all different phones, browsers, tablets, laptops, and more. Aside from the website, they also do QA with our apps. The team checks our apps' functionalities before we release them to our customers.

For every QA project, we create a testing plan, so that the team knows what to look for. Our detailed spreadsheet features our test cases, ranging from hundreds to thousands. SJ Innovation LLC also records videos to show how the QA testing goes, along with screenshots and results.

What is the team composition?

I work primarily with the QA testers on their team. 

How did you come to work with SJ Innovation LLC?

A colleague of mine recommended them. We chose them because of the amazing value they offer. They have cost-effective solutions and their quality of work is good. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We work with them on an ongoing basis and have been for the past two years since January 2018.

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

We measure the success of their work by looking at the detail of their tickets, their findings, and reports on the QA testings. They submit deliverables quickly and they've been really helpful. Typically, QA happens at the end of the project and you don’t want it to slow you down before launch. However, that hasn’t been an issue with them, and they get us what we need in time. 

Overall, they’re helping us deliver better consumer experiences and ensure that everything we do works perfectly across a variety of different platforms for both web and app.

How did SJ Innovation LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Jira to communicate with them. Their communication skills and timeliness are definitely one of their strengths.

They’ve been helpful in crafting testing plans. The team has been fast and responsive. When they do their testing, every single test that they do, they respond back with the test results. Their video recordings have been helpful since it gives us the details on what went wrong so we can fix it. Additionally, their notes have been outstanding too. As a result, our developers quickly figure out what went wrong and repair it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality of their work is strong. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’ve never had any problem with them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the e-commerce manager for a chemical soap, shampoos, and accessories retailer.  

What challenge were you trying to address with SJ Innovation LLC?

We only had a certain amount of manpower to assist us with our QA and needed someone to assist us.

What was the scope of their involvement?

SJI Innovation LLC (SJI) came in and gave us the resources we needed to take our website to the next level. They handle all of our QA and ensure that when we add new code to the site that it doesn’t break and that the functionality remains intact.

What is the team composition?

We work with one project manager, a lead QA specialist, and a junior QA specialist.  

How did you come to work with SJ Innovation LLC?

We onboarded a developer and he recommended SJI. We organized a call with them and it’s been great ever since.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2020, and our work is ongoing.

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

Our feedback is great. They’re a great team that’s responsive and on point. They keep great communication throughout the testing process so I’m very happy.

How did SJ Innovation LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

It’s been great. They’ve given me updates on the work that they’ve done. There have been times where I’ve given them pushback on something they’ve done; right away their owner reached out to promise that they’d do better going forward and they have. Their management is always direct and personal. I’m very happy with the way they handle a crisis.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re communicative and attentive to what needs to be done. The team answers all of our questions and makes sure that they do everything that’s expected of them. They also notify us when there will be holidays or when they’re not going to work. We always know what to expect from them and it’s nothing but great things.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind. They’ve done their jobs spot-on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to work with them. They come at a great price, offer great support, and are an all-around excellent service. Enjoy the work they provide

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the IT director for a mortgage bank.

What challenge were you trying to address with SJ Innovation LLC?

We didn’t have any internal developers on our team, so we brought them in as a partner to help write the actual code for our website.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They worked on both front- and backend of a variety of web-based platforms for us, including our customized CRM, our company’s intranet, and a few different proprietary softwares that we provide for our customers. All of the development was done using WordPress, but it’s completely customized and includes a lot of plug-ins to integrate with other systems.

What is the team composition?

We work with their QA team, a few developers, designers, their foreman, and the owner of the company.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost of our work with them has been somewhere around $30,000–$40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

They were the existing provider when I joined the company in October 2019, and we have continued to work together since then.

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

We’ve been pleased with the designs and capabilities of the finished products that they deliver. Any time you work with a third party, there’s always a concern that they will misunderstand the requirements or make things take longer than you’d like them to, but we haven’t experienced those problems with them at all.

How did SJ Innovation LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

There was some frustration around the relationship when I joined, but it was just a result of the fact that no one on our internal team had a good way of interfacing with their team. Because I have a tech background, I was able to focus on communicating with them and making sure they understood our goals and we understood what they were working on.

That change made the relationship a hundred times better almost immediately, and we have been completely satisfied with their management of the project since then.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Overall, they have been an excellent partner to work with. I really can’t give them a glowing enough review for all the improvements they have made for our team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Everyone can do a little better, and I think they can continue to get a little better every day, but there’s nothing specific that I would pinpoint as a serious problem.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You can trust them. Don’t hesitate to rely on their advice.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder of a lifecycle marketing consulting agency

For what projects/services did your company hire SJ Innovation LLC, and what were your goals?

We hired SJI as a design and development agency to fully support our agency with the lifecycle marketing communications we're tasked with building for our clients. We needed an design and development agency that could do great work, with quick turnarounds, at a cost that worked with the margins that we operate in.

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

We chose SJI because they could fulfill the tasks that we had with quick turnarounds at a great price.

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

The scope of work is project management and designing of email modules for our clients and then the mobile responsive HTML to go with them.

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

on any given project, there is a team of 3-5 SJI team members working on each project for us.

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

After working with SJI we are able to deliver design and development for our clients on time and with great work. Feedback has been great from our clients and we have not missed any deadlines on our deliverables.

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

The SJI project managers lean on the side of overcommunciation which has been fantastic for us. We are always in the loop in the loop on the status of our projects with the correct estimations of scope and cost. We never have any surprises. We know what we are getting and when.

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

The turnaround times of deliverables have been the most impressive area they excel in. Work that would ahve normally taken 1-2 weeks to get completed with previous contractors we've worked with now only take a number of days to get completed.

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

I do not currently have any areas of opportunity for the team. They do great work and we look forward to continue working with them as we have new tasks for the clients we work with.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We provide Technology solutions to our clients across various industries. As a COO, my objective is to work with clients to understand and analyze their business process and customer needs in order to provide solutions to improve their business.

For what projects/services did your company hire SJ Innovation LLC, and what were your goals?

One of our clients website was over 15 years old, and it became very costly to maintain the website and keep it operational. The project goal was to re-engineer the website using the latest Drupal platform.

How did you select SJ Innovation LLC and what were the deciding factors?

We shortlisted our vendor based on experience, skillsets, and budget. We wanted to work with someone who would understand our needs and prioritize on customer collaboration.

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

Our scope of work included requirement gathering, mock up, interactive design, development, testing and providing production support. We used Jira, Slack, Confluence, Excel and outlook to facilitate our progress, blockers and releases.

How many people from the SJ Innovation LLC team worked with you, and what were their positions?

A Project manager was placed to help organize and facilitate time, resource and budget. A Business Analyst was placed to help gather requirements and work with Tech team for implementation. Developers and QA helps with code and testing before client releases.

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

Our clients were very happy with the work. We completed the work with in budget with 2 weeks remaining on schedule.

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

We followed an agile development methodology with two weeks sprint. It allowed for client to be involved in the entire SDLC and provide feedback as needed to assure all of their requirements were met

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

They are very professional and easy-going, and it is easy to communicate with their team. We changed plans and requirements several time and SJI was able to adapt and adjust quickly.

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

N/A at this time.