smartSense Consulting Solutions

Vadtal Swaminarayan Sampraday is a group of temples all over the world. We have large numbers of volunteers and have to handle all the food management for all the worshippers and the huge amount of donations we get for Lord Harikrishna Maharaj. We also handle management of over 50 temples covering villages and cities.

Managing such large amounts and stocks on paper was the most complicated thing for us. Moreover, there were chances of losing old documents so we were looking for a way to digitize all of it. We used to have queues with a waiting time of 30 minutes or more on Poonams and some festivals. We needed to find a solution.

The first time smartSense came to us was in 2013. They are worshippers themselves and wanted to find a solution for the problems we faced. They came up with all of the modern ideas which have management simpler and our work very easy, with zero loss of our data.

They didn’t have much to show to us for reference, but the way they designed the SRS—without being assigned the project—was what made us select them for the work. We even had quotes from a couple of other vendors which were more experienced and relatively less expensive compared to them, but the dedication and commitment we saw in smartSense worked in their favor. The most important aspect for us was donation management and keeping the record of donors. The ERP [enterprise resource planning] platform they designed took care of both surprisingly well. Now, the numberer of donors is still the same, if not more, but the waiting time has decreased to just 10 minutes maximum.

The users taking donations also have been appreciating this very much as it has removed the human error of counting the donation amount every day. At first, we implemented their solution in one temple and then we took it to 10 temples. After more than two years of stupendous success and good maintenance of this ERP, we asked for new updates which resulted in a full-fledged accommodation module. They suggested that instead of working on old technologies, we should develop the ERP from scratch with the latest technologies like Laravel, Angular2, Material UI, and other tools. They were ready to do it within just three months, and to my surprise, they pulled it off really well. This time, they even followed the standard procedures of the Agile methodology; I had full updates of the status of development.

Based on the latest update they gave us in just three months, it would be an injustice to them if I didn’t say that they are the best in what they do. The latest user interface is user-friendly, the accommodation module is appreciated by all our users, and our guests/worshippers are also happy to receive receipts through email, as they don’t have to bother about the hard copies.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

VisuMenu is a stealth startup. We develop a cloud service for replacing interactive voice response systems by digitizing their content and offering it as visual menus through multiple channels, including mobile apps, bots, web interfaces, and any other application that wants to consume our service. I am a member of the management team of the company. Part of my responsibilities include running application development and selecting the teams to do that development.

What challenge were you trying to address with smartSense Solutions?

We had a previous unsuccessful attempt to develop two mobile apps that use our service, one for Android and one for iPhone. We simply needed a firm that could provide us with that in a fast and high-quality manner.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, we established that smartSense Solutions had the expertise to do the work. We asked them to do the fastest turnaround possible on Android code, which was available from Google, to show us an Android dialer with a minor change that indicated that they had actually downloaded the code and modified it to the specifications that we gave them. This way we knew that they had done it on our behalf, and it wasn’t something that was done previously. We had the example the next day according to the spec and established the basic capabilities. We also liked the way they interviewed us about our requirements regarding which platforms we wanted it to run on and which versions. Regarding Android, smartSense Solutions also had the depth of knowledge in the space. We launched the Android project, and it went well. We had a highly functional app within a few weeks. The cadence of the work was fast, and we ran sprints very effectively. It ran and converged very well. Seeing the success of the Android, we went ahead with the iPhone project, and that too went according to expectations with high quality and fast delivery. We haven’t launched the apps yet, but we know they’re capable of helping us launch. There are different reasons why we haven’t launched. That has nothing to do with the capabilities of smartSense. If we needed their help, they were perfectly capable of doing that.

Right now, smartSense is working on a different project, which is actually a web-based interface which would allow us to onboard companies onto the platform that the service is providing. We need a console for corporate admins to be able to go in, look at those digitized service menus, and make additional modifications if they want to. It’s part of our business plan to sell those capabilities for additional revenue. They have the capabilities to develop those types of applications as well.

How did you come to work with smartSense Solutions?

We had some LinkedIn exchange with one of their business development people a few months before. As I was digging through my connections trying to find a replacement for the firm I had mentioned earlier, that conversation came up. I restarted the conversation, and it moved forward into a working relationship. It hadn’t been done before that because there just wasn’t a need. I was in a different place working on different things at the time. There was no match for what smartSense offered and what I was doing.

How much have you invested with smartSense Solutions?

We have spent between $25,000 and $50,000 with smartSense Solutions.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with smartSense Solutions in November 2016, and the work is ongoing.

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

The previous engagement, which probably cost us $25,000 or $30,000, was wasted money. Compared with that, it’s a zero to one transformation regarding the investment. It went from something that was totally useless to something that is very useful. One of the basic guidelines for those apps was that they would meet the usability standards of the standard apps that they’re enhancing. The challenge is to have this additional functionality behave very much like the existing functionality of managing context and favorites. It must be streamlined; it has to be uniform, it has to be just as reliable, just as easy-to-use, and responsive. We’ve met all those goals.

How did smartSense Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication was very effective. They were very open and collaborative. We were working together on the JIRA platform, and we had daily updates. They are very open to either us sharing their JIRA platform or they coming to ours. We prefer to bring smartSense on to ours. We gave them the freedom to define the sprint in a way that was comfortable for them. They’re very open to making changes in cases where we saw the priorities needed to be adjusted. Despite the distance and the time difference, I think we’re in the best collaborative position we can hope to be in. The team at smartSense Solutions can very well handle the responsibilities, organize the projects, and keep everything on track.

What did you find most impressive about smartSense Solutions?

I think this boils down to price versus benefit or price versus expertise provided. I think smartSense Solutions has a very good balance between the quality and the reliability, and the relatively low cost at which they provide it. We’re well aware of the boundaries of the things in which we would use smartSense rather than seek firms that have gone into more complex architectures. Compared to the firm that we were working with before, which had no discipline, had no repeatable processes, did not collaborate well, and everything that could go wrong did, smartSense just does a good job as advertised. Their overall attitude is something that’s nice to work with.

Are there any areas smartSense Solutions could improve?

I think smartSense Solutions needs to keep improving their skill set. The way we’re looking at it, we want to be able to grow our business across platforms. If we want to integrate with 100 different apps, I don’t think they have that expertise to do it. If we want to go into developing for bots, for example, I’m not sure they have that expertise right now. There are so many things which they could choose to improve in. In the core business of being able to make apps and web applications well, there’s tremendous demand, but there’s also tremendous competition, and you need to keep specializing.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CTO of a chronic disease management platform.

For what projects/services did your company hire smartSense Solutions?

We hired smartSense Solutions to create the platform’s frontend and backend for mobile and web.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a high-quality platform with excellent designs that could be used by our clients and patients.

How did you select this vendor?

We interviewed several different vendors to see if they were the right fit. We were looking for a vendor that provided an affordable cost and efficient style of working.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

smartSense Solutions built the platform from scratch along with mobile applications.

What was the team composition?

Our team varied. We worked with a DevOps specialist, designer, and mobile, web, and backend developers.

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

The platform is finished, and the apps are available on the app store for customers. We signed our first client after the initial version of the platform was built.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Before working, the team ensured the priorities for each sprint, making sure everything was clear. Their process suited us because we’re also a startup.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I’m impressed with their depth of technical knowledge.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Starting their work earlier in the day would be beneficial. Their team was willing to make that adjustment.