smartSense Consulting Solutions

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and chief technology officer of an enterprise cyber-security company. We create cyber-security products using next-generation technologies such as blockchain.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with smartSense Solutions?

Our product protects the enterprise from cyber attacks. It makes the enterprise-critical servers invisible with a blockchain controller that authorizes access for specific users and devices. We manage the blockchain controller via the management counsel. While building our product, we needed help to develop the frontend and middleware after completing the backend.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

smartSense Solutions developed the middleware in Node.js and our content in Angular.js. The team also designed the product’s web-based UI and implemented it to interact with the middleware on its Node.js platform. After spending the time to understand the blockchain technology as solidity language, they developed the cost management system and integrated it with the frontend and middleware.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with two blockchain developers and the founder.

How did you come to work with smartSense Solutions?

We found them on Upwork after contacting three different web development companies with little blockchain experience. smartSense Solutions had worked in the blockchain, and also had good expertise with Angular and Node.js. We did some reviews with the team and they clearly understood my requirements. We then decided to partner because they had clearly demonstrated their implementation capabilities.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2018 and the project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They produced quality code using standard conventions. The team also delivered the exact outcome we expected before the hard deadline.

How did smartSense Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We divided the project into milestones and further broke those into phases.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They provided good feedback to make the product more user-friendly. The team’s excellent work and passion make them the perfect partner.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our organization is Trimtab Innovation Pvt Ltd. NDAX [National Digital Asset Exchange] is one of the flagship products developed under Trimtab Innovation. It is supposed to be an exchange platform for buying and selling cryptocurrencies. I'm the brainchild of this organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with smartSense Solutions?

Right now, we're facing challenges like what technology to deploy, what the perfect cloud solution is, and what the architecture should be. There are so many solutions available out there. When we are thinking about developing the frontend, we need to choose between React, Node, Angular, and HTML. On the backend, we also have various other options, such as the Java or Node libraries. We used smartSense for the development tasks and they helped us understand what we needed.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us develop the whole solution from scratch. The APIs, server, and security certification were developed by them. They helped us understand that Node.js is the perfect solution for the backend. They had a UI [user interface] designer with them. We developed UI on our end and made adjustments using their inputs. They helped us make the user experience much better. They also helped us make the flow of the UI more fluid and revamped it so it was compatible with the development.

The technology they used is Angular 4, which is supposed to be the latest in the market. They have been using the best technology and are updated.

What is the team dynamic?

We have utilized the service of all of the company based out of London, though they also have an office in Poland.

Initially, my point of contact was Ronak Thacker [Blockchain Manager, smartSense Solutions]. As soon as he understood the development, he assigned me Nirav Majethiya [Blockchain Manager, smartSense Solutions] who had a team of people working for us. He was my point of contact.

How did you come to work with smartSense Solutions?

I connected with a lot of blockchain developers in the community. I'm one of the earliest adopters of Bitcoin adoption in India. We engaged someone for a freelance project, who then connected me to these people. That's how I got introduced and connected with smartSense Technology.

So far, I have been really satisfied. You cannot know whether they are the best or not until you meet more people out there. I have been trying to reach out to more people to verify whether the solutions they provided are in the best class.

How much have you invested with them?

I've been billed $23,000, but we've only paid $19,000 so far. The rest will be done in around a month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started three months ago and we're currently undergoing testing, so the project is almost finished.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As a startup, we're always concerned about cost. KPIs [key performance indicators] are tricky when you are going into new spaces. The first KPI that we initially came up with is the UI, which they delivered well. We presumed that the quality in terms of coding is also good.

Now that the product is in the testing phase and QA [quality assurance] phase, as soon as the report is there, we’ll be assured that the quality is good. Meanwhile, I went through various standards of coding myself, looking at the minimum criteria coders should follow and have found it to be good.

As a customer, we rely on the uptime and the break of functionality. If the functionality works seamlessly for months and months, then it's good enough. There haven't been any problems in this area. We also rely on the load time. Their build is very small, around 1.1 MB, which helps load the website very quickly and easily.

How did smartSense Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

I told them what to do and they did it seamlessly. In terms of project initiation, reporting, and integration of tools, they used all the Agile methodologies with us. We used Github to track the progress and the weakest developers. All the work was compartmentalized and broken into different activities. We created issues on Github when changes were required. If a discussion was needed, I would call them personally.

They were late for around a week, but I was also responsible considering the requirements should have been clearer from our side. They were on time because the delivery is not just on one party, it's always on both parties. They were responsive to our communication.

We understand the technology, but we are not very technical. They were very kind and patient enough to help us understand the technologies, what works, and what doesn't. They added more value to the project than just development. A lot of people can do a development task if you outsource it, but they're empowered with the technical information and the consultancy part of the technology side.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Most impressive was their consultancy and patience.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They need a larger team. They did well, but maybe they may need to go further ahead with the team expansion. They allotted five people to us. If they had allotted more, we might have done work much quicker.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Most people take developers for granted because they think they do not understand the business side of it. This team is more experienced in terms of what to develop and how. They have worked with different clients across the world.

Second is the scope for improvement. They have a grasp of the better technologies and they have really good command of the blockchain. Hopefully, with their knowledge, any business client can make their product better.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the co-founder of Breadcrumbs, a startup based in India aiming to provide a travel planning and tracking solution. Our goal is to yield overall travel management, from beginning to end.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with smartSense Solutions?

I wanted to create a travel-based application, and needed someone to develop it for me. Our target market consists of travel enthusiasts who are having trouble managing their itinerary and other required factors.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They designed and developed our Android application from scratch. The backend is built using Node.js and MongoDB, and had a project length of 6 months. I only guided smartSense with my ideas, and everything they delivered was of good quality and on time. They also helped launch the app in the app store.

The user can create travel plans and share them with their party. Once they start their trip, we can suggest all the management facilities, and people in their party can track where they are.

What is the team dynamic?

I started with a project manager originally, but after I built the app with them, I started communicating directly with the developers because it was easier to guide them.

How did you come to work with smartSense Solutions?

My friend conducts seminars for startups, and he was very satisfied with smartSense’s services. I went directly to them.

How much have you invested with them?

I spent between $10,000-$50,000.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2017, and the project was completed in July 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They are not involved in my marketing strategy, and most of the feedback I’ve received has been about the idea of the app. People like smartSense’s work and the fact that the app isn’t crashing.

They are awesome in every step of the development process, from design to testing. They provide a lot of suggestions, and take initiative to improvise on our original concept. The best part is that they believe in customer satisfaction and product quality.

How did smartSense Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management was fine. Sometimes, I was slow and they were fast. They have a dedicated project manager who was managing the project very well, and I liked having them assigned to me. They use JIRA, so we could actively see their work on there. We communicated mostly through Skype and Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were very enthusiastic, and most of the time, they suggested things to me. I’m not focused on frontend development, so they also helped me a lot with designing the screens. They gave me ideas concerning the UI and UX as well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They need to carry on the way they have been, and not lose the qualities I’ve mentioned.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the co-founder and CEO of an educational tech startup called CAREERKHOJJ. Our main product is a platform called My Class Campus which allows students, parents, and teachers to connect.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We were looking for dedicated resources to develop our product. At the time, we were at a startup phase, so we needed the team to be dynamic and perform quickly under pressure.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to create a common platform where students and teachers alike could interact and learn together in a dynamic way.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Initially, we sought developers within our personal circles. Some of my friends knew several of their current team members, so we considered them. Ultimately, their positive attitude and drive to prove themselves won us over.

Describe the project in detail.

They developed the platform based on our functionality requirements. Educational institutes can use My Class Campus to manage lessons, create and administer live tests, distribute scores, and share files. The team also built social networking features such as chat boxes, notice boards, and forums. A calendar module helps students and teachers keep track of their schedules. Currently, they continue to provide ongoing support and maintenance.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any statistics or metrics that speak to the quality of their work and impact of the engagement?

We’ve been working together for over a year, now, and I’ve only grown to appreciate them more and more.

How did smartSense Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

They always update us on the project status. Moreover, if we need to rush a deadline or add more features to meet client expectations, they’re willing to work on weekends.

What impresses you about smartSense Solutions?

They’ve only recently entered this industry but perform well. Their attitude toward their work attracts their customers.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the co-founder of a startup that collates salary information anonymously.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with smartSense?

They were hired to build a mobile app for both iOS and Android and some backend development to go along with it. It’s a crowdsource, transparency, salary look-up application.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They were called in after the first vendor I used proved to be less than effective. smartSense took over the development on two platforms with an existing project. They provided software development services in Objective-C on the iOS side and Java on the Android side. The design was provided to them as well as most of the backend development. Their job was primarily on the client side.

They only did development and quality assurance (QA). We had a fulltime resource on each side, and I believe we had a QA resource as well. It's a map-based app resembling Zillow. Instead of having housing and pricing data, it’s got people and data associated with their salaries, background, and experience.  

How did you come to work with smartSense?

I work with a large number of offshore firms on an ongoing basis. I’ve been doing it for about 15 years. They reached out to me, and I liked their business development person. I decided to see if they wanted to look at this project, as I needed a vendor at that moment. I gave them a little trial, and I liked the quality of the code they produced. I’m a software developer myself, so I can gauge the quality pretty easily. I liked what they were doing, and it was a reasonable price, so I gave them a shot.

How much have you invested with smartSense?

I’ve invested in the $30,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November of 2015, and we were engaged for five to six months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of the work was certainly acceptable, especially at their price point. When you’re dealing with offshore developers, especially from India, it’s a bit of a crapshoot and the quality is generally not at the highest level. In exchange for that, you get really reasonable rates. They were at a positive place in that reflection of rate and quality. They did well in that respect, so the bang for the buck was pretty solid.

They did the majority of the work on the application, so whatever the users thought was obviously attributed to them at least in part. They were hired to build a project, and they did a fairly good job.

How did smartSense perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re pretty high-touch, and they do a reasonable amount of QA. They communicate well, considering they’re in India. Their communication skills are pretty good. Their business development and project management staff had a very solid grasp of the English language, which obviously helps. They had a decent sense of American culture. As a relatively small, Indian outsource shop, they’re pretty good.

The project management tools were set up on our end. We use a combination of email and Skype for communication, and JIRA and Bitbucket for bug-tracking, issue-tracking, and source control.

What did you find most impressive about smartSense?

I think the customer service and project management aspects were their best features.

Are there any areas smartSense could improve?

No. I got what I wanted at a good price.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a diet consultant and the owner of the company, which is based in Kenya.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with smartSense?  

I was looking for a trustworthy development team for my website because I wanted to get more clients for my business. It was very difficult to find a vendor who could understand my needs and offer cost-effective solutions. I also needed someone who could take my instructions without bothering me much.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?  

I worked with 2 people from smartSense. They developed the site using WordPress. They also created a custom BMI calculator for my platform. It allows users to check their BMI score and see what services would help them achieve an ideal score. smartSense integrated a payment gateway on the website so that customers could pay online. smartSense also did additional minor yet critical improvements for me. These made them stand out.

How did you come to work with smartSense?

I got the referral from my sister, who really liked their work. Even though I was looking for someone from Nairobi, I decided to chat with them. I was glad that I contacted them. They charged much less than their competitors.

How much have you invested with smartSense?

I paid $6,000 for the website.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted for two months, from March 17 to May 17. The website is complete. However, we haven’t made it public yet because I still need to write the content for my website. smartSense will update the content as soon as I am done.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The process went very smoothly, and the results were excellent. smartSense handled everything with care. I loved the way they managed the development. While they did send updates on a regular basis, they never bothered me about the project. All my colleagues and friends are impressed with their work. For example, the BMI calculator is a great feature.

How did smartSense perform from a project management standpoint?

They used Agile methodologies for project management. Everything was handled in a professional way, and they always followed the plan. If they noticed a glitch, it was solved promptly. That meant the development was on track all the time. smartSense is also highly responsive. Their team members are all good communicators.

What did you find most impressive about smartSense?

I was impressed by the way they take everything as their responsibility. When I missed something, they would remind me of it. smartSense is also open to changes. The team works hand in hand with the client. I think they are the best in what they do.

BACKGROUND

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.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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.

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.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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.

BACKGROUND

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.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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.

SOLUTION

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.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of DYD

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We provide high quality offshore talent to growing business across the globe. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire smartSense Consulting Solutions to accomplish?

• Great talent
• Consulting support

SOLUTION

How did you find smartSense Consulting Solutions?

Referral

Why did you select smartSense Consulting Solutions over others?

• High ratings
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from smartSense Consulting Solutions were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

SmartSense have assisted us with a wide range of projects across Ai, Blockchain, API development, Geo-spacial development and user inteface design. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Outstanding results across the board. Systems that work, reliable code and well supported from the team at SmartSense. 

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

Always on time, always to standard with high transparency. 

What was your primary form of communication with smartSense Consulting Solutions?

Virtual Meeting

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

They take time up front to think through the goals and design plans that will meet unique needs. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something smartSense Consulting Solutions could have done differently?

No, they have been outstanding. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Technical Project Manager of eco Association of the Internet Industry

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Internet Association

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire smartSense Consulting Solutions to accomplish?

• PoC
• Workshop Conduction
• Deployment of Services

SOLUTION

How did you find smartSense Consulting Solutions?

Networking in gaia-X Community

Why did you select smartSense Consulting Solutions over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from smartSense Consulting Solutions were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Impressive results, thorough documentation, and outstanding performance.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Positive community response and impactful outcomes.

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

on time

What was your primary form of communication with smartSense Consulting Solutions?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They were professional, responsive, and knowledgeable, ensuring a seamless experience

Are there any areas for improvement or something smartSense Consulting Solutions could have done differently?

no