Solution Analysts

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the co-founder and CEO of Smart Donate, a mobile donation platform startup for Switzerland that was founded at the beginning of 2018.

What challenge were you trying to address with Solution Analysts?

We needed help implementing the mobile application, mobile solution, and web backend plus all necessary API components for our software.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided Solution Analysts with mockups and screens of how the design should look. Their team developed the full UX/UI. They did multiple iterations, and some months had more interaction and weekly releases. Then we had a month or two of testing on our side where they had less development going on. Solution Analysts also led the implementation of the mobile app in native Android, as well as the web-based solution in Angular.js.

What is the team composition?

I mainly interact with 2–3 people including a project manager and a relationship manager. I have limited contact with the developers themselves.

How did you come to work with Solution Analysts?

We started looking for a partner on Upwork. We interviewed a handful of companies based on the references provided. We decided to start working independently with two different partners for the first few milestones. Solution Analysts was the stronger performer so we continued working with just them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $10,000–$25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

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

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

Solution Analysts delivered a working prototype, or MVP, that they built from scratch. That was our goal from a technical point. We’re in the pilot phase but development is still ongoing. They continue doing some iterations and adjusting a few bits and pieces. We’ve had positive feedback from the users that have played around with the demo. We’re very pleased to have a working prototype.

How did Solution Analysts perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team is quite good so I am happy. Often our requirements were given to them on short notice, but they were always able to cope with our requests. We do everything on Asana. I message my contact person and he breaks it down into work packages for their developers. That’s been pretty convenient and transparent for us. We don't have to make sure that all of the different developers are up to speed. My main contact point understands what we're trying to build and allocates the work accordingly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're very fast, reliable, and strong at being able to stick to timelines. They also have good internal quality assurance. What they delivered occasionally needs minor fine-tuning but we never felt like we have to beta test their creations.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't think so, otherwise, we will probably be looking around for other partners. At the moment I couldn't mention anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We’ve had a good experience with approaching them with open, high-level requirements. We explain what we want them to do rather than how we want them to do it. We give them a free hand and that works well for us.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder of a startup in the early stages of building some products for fitness.

What challenge were you trying to address with Solution Analysts?

We needed a developer to help create our fitness mobile app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Solution Analysts developed a native mobile app for Android from scratch, using wireframes we provided. Features include various workouts that users can choose from and schedule to do on their calendar with set reminders. If users don't meet their fitness commitments, a customized penalty will occur. There's also a payment option within the app.

What is the team composition?

I spoke with a sales manager in the beginning, but I mostly work directly with their developers now.

How did you come to work with Solution Analysts?

I posted the position on Upwork and kept in touch with them after originally deciding to work with another vendor. Because I found Solution Analysts impressive, I knew I wanted to circle back around to working with them eventually.

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested around $25,000 thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked on the first phase of the project from July 2017 to November, and I just reengaged them again for more work in February 2018.

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

Solution Analysts helped us significantly improve traffic to our website. I'm also quite happy with the quality of their work thus far.

How did Solution Analysts perform from a project management standpoint?

I've been impressed by their level of project management. They're very responsive and I generally communicate with them through Skype.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're more professional and responsive than many other developers I've worked with. They're also highly technically skilled and offer invaluable input and creative solutions, which is very helpful.

Are there any areas they could improve?

While they're great in terms of technical knowledge and execution, I think their design and UX work can be slightly improved.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

No. I would just say to give them a shot—we had a great experience working with them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

SkyAzul Equipment Solutions is a provider of computer electronic systems and service for the mobile construction equipment industry. We market to end users as well as to resellers, and we also provide field service for the product. I’m the president.

What challenge were you trying to address with Solution Analysts?

We were developing a mobile application to assist field service personnel with system diagnostics and troubleshooting. We were looking for a developer who could assist us, so we ended up reaching out to Solution Analysts. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

We are a distributor and representative for a number of leading manufacturers, and we have a lot of the service documentation that goes back 20 years. The mobile app is called SkyAzul iService, and its main function is to assist field service personnel in locating diagnostic documents for a specific application or system while working in the field. Through the mobile app, users needed to be able to locate, use, read, and digest the service documentation. We decided to include a troubleshooting diagnostics tool where they could go through a decision tree with graphics and technical information on a specific problem. That's something we offer through our website.

Solution Analysts initiated the discussion, saying that it would make sense for them to work on our website, which I was in the process of redoing. I was going to do that with a local company that had done the website before. The website was seven years old at that point. I knew the mobile app was going to be using our website as a resource. As we went into the mobile process and achieved a high enough confidence level, it made sense to have Solution Analysts also redo our website. We wound up undertaking that at the same time.

With the mobile app, users ultimately come to a conclusion; if they needed a spare part, they can contact us, but if they corrected the problem, it would loop back. We wanted to be able to provide service video documentation of six to ten typical field service issues that they could watch through the mobile app.

Our intention always was to do the project concurrently on both platforms. We started in iOS, but we knew we were going to complete it for Android before publishing the iOS version, and that's exactly what we did.

How did you come to work with Solution Analysts?

I think they found us with a marketing email I replied to along the way. I wouldn’t have found them any other way. I initially worked with Zil Shah, who handles the business development. We set up a conference call, and I gave him an idea of what I was thinking of. Through that first conversation, the interaction gave me confidence that he understood exactly what we were looking for and was able to translate that into a great scope document.

How much have you invested with Solution Analysts?

I would guess under $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I reached out to Solution Analysts in December 2015 and started the discussion in January 2016. Within two weeks, they had submitted a scope document with a proposal, and I decided to proceed at that point in January. We started with the website development and the mobile app at the end of January 2016. The website went live in August 2016, and we published the mobile apps in October 2016. They are still supporting the apps and website. 

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

We don't really have any good data to share because we just started to roll the app out and make it productive. We're not up to the user level we're expecting. We're also planning to have a few items added to a new release, which is partly why we're postponing marketing. Solution Analysts excellently proposed and execute the interface with our website and the mobile app, and our technical people are able to modify the presentation of the mobile app, its data, and everything else through our website using WordPress.

Our one concern early on was, with a hardcode mobile app, how am I going to make changes if I need to? It wouldn't necessarily be a whole new rewrite. Solution Analysts built it in such a way that the technical information can be updated and modified right to our website, and then it becomes live on the mobile app.

How did Solution Analysts perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed very well. My concern with an Indian company was about communication— not being able to have face-to-face meetings and differences in time zones and cultures. Through the initial process, however, everything worked with the scope document, and they understood exactly what I needed to do. Early on when we were working on the website, I thought of having the new website be very similar to the original website; as I was trying to point it in that direction, Solution Analysts pointed out the advantages of current websites that are designed for mobile apps. They were perfectly willing to do it the way that I had originally intended, but when they pointed out the benefits of the format from a mobile standpoint, and through research on my own, I realized that they were right and that they had the expertise that I could rely on. So I decided to embrace their concept and their expertise, and we got a very good result.

They’re very flexible in handling meetings. They worked with my time, scheduling our meetings for early morning our time, which was very late for them. We used WebEx meetings so that I could see the app and website development as it was progressing. These interactive meetings really alleviated a lot of my concerns regarding communication. However, there was a little bit of confusion at times, which you're going to have because of cultural differences.

What did you find most impressive about Solution Analysts?

They have a first-rate process of understanding my questions and concerns and responding to them. It wasn't exactly as if I was in a meeting with other US people because their team members are a little bit different. For example, they're not as quick to make suggestions if I'm making a mistake. But, we were able to work through any issues and establish our timing, which gave us a solid result in a fairly good timeframe.

Are there any areas Solution Analysts could improve?

When we were trying to expedite tasks, they didn't go as fast as I would have liked. They have a lot more holidays than we do, so they were shut down, and we couldn’t continue. That wasn't a major issue. Of course, the customer may not understand the implications of changes and what that does to the timeline. That's probably the case here. My original hope was to have the mobile app published eight or ten weeks prior. That's probably more from our end, but a few technical glitches came up along the way, which took us a bit longer. The team working on our development did a super job and anticipated problems. Once we were able to get things clarified, they were very responsive.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Solution Analysts?

If you have a misunderstanding, or you're not exactly happy with the way the work is currently presented, make it clear to them. All of the people who I worked with were great at doing whatever I needed or asked. They would explain technical issues to me. From a cultural standpoint, Indian culture is not quite like Japanese culture, but there's also a little bit more differential to the customer. They're not as quick to criticize or raise a question, so try to be as self-critical as possible and ask them for ideas that might be complimentary to your ideas. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

ComoComunica s.r.l. is a small digital creative agency based in northern Italy, in the city of Como. We offer services such as web design, app design, and digital marketing. We started working in 2013 and our team is composed of 15 people. We handle some services internally, but for complex projects such as app coding and development, we use external companies. Particularly, Indian companies.   

I’m one of three owners of the company and I act as a project manager and the director of the web department.

What challenge were you trying to address with Solution Analysts?

The partnership with Solution Analysts was started for a development project regarding an application for an Italian musician. We didn’t have enough developers in-house to carry out this project, so we decided to take care of the creation and design of the frontend, and chose an outsourcing company for the coding and development. We had done a small project in the past with another Indian company. For this job, though, we searched on Upwork to select the best company for our project.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Solution Analysts worked on the development and coding of an app on the iOS and Android platforms for an Italian musician. We handled the design and managed the job with the final client. We worked together to achieve this project.  

How did you come to work with Solution Analysts?

We chose Solution Analysts for three reasons: the quality of the project management they offered, including clear phases to follow; their portfolio and the quality of their previous work; and the great communication with the project manager of the company, which was essential for us to have clear supervision of the project.

How much have you invested with Solution Analysts?

The size of the project is $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in August 2016. It was supposed to be completed at the end of the year, but the final client requested some improvements and modifications, so we now plan to launch on March 27th [2017].

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

We won’t have any feedback until we launch the app.

How did Solution Analysts perform from a project management standpoint?

Solution Analysts has a clear system for project management and, above all, for timing. We have divided this project into six milestones, and for each of these, they have always respected the timing of the releases.

What did you find most impressive about Solution Analysts?

Their ability to find solutions to requests and ways to simplify the project are most impressive.