Specific-Group

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the chief information officer of a global manufacturing company. UNITERS is the industry leader in the service and protection plan industry supported by comprehensive resources and innovative technology.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Specific-Group?

We needed to create a new Android application to manage our network of hundreds of technicians. It was aimed at guaranteeing workflow and information consistency, replacing traditional portal and email solutions. It needed to have a friendly user interface since our people are typically not tech-savvy. They use mobile phones, but they’re older, so the experience needed to be simple. The app also needed to work quickly and reliably, both online and offline, since time is money for our technicians.

Our company had other mobile apps in place for other business cases. We worked with other firms but weren’t happy with the results. We started looking for a local partner in Florida that could provide better service and allow us to discuss the project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The app integrates with our CRM using web APIs. It also integrates with GPS navigation, contacts, calendars, email clients, and other native phone features. The app syncs with an online database and downloads information to the local device so users have access to it even without an Internet connection. When there is a connection present, the photo, video and other content produced locally syncs with the online database.

We have a guided workflow dependent on the selections and characteristics of the data received. It generates guided paths for filling in information and performing actions, based on the type of job assigned to the technician.

What is the team dynamic?

We had meetings every 1–­2 weeks with their local project manager, both in-house and remotely, going through the development steps. They assigned 2­–3 Eastern European resources who worked with our own developers. The team size remained constant throughout the project. A lot of testing and integration work was involved, both on their side and ours.

How did you come to work with Specific-Group?

We defined our scope of work and sent out a request for proposals. We met with Specific-Group several times in order to go over the details and refine the scope of work. Specific-Group stood out through the quality of their proposal, the resources made available, price, and the overall impression that they could do the job. The overall selection was based on the feature set and different approaches.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Specific-Group about 3 years ago in 2014. The project took 4­–6 months to complete. They made some tweaks and enhancements to the app a few months ago. We’re also looking to start a new, unrelated project for a web app.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have hundreds of users on a monthly basis. The app was successfully deployed to all the technicians who were suitable to use it with very little feedback relating to problems. The app is stable and reliable and has no major technical complaints around compatibility with new devices. It’s useful in allowing us to migrate tasks, which was done through email previously, with mutual satisfaction from our technicians and us. We save time maintaining our system, and they don’t need to write a lot of emails.

How did Specific-Group perform from a project management standpoint?

We used an Atlassian project management tool through which we kept track of tasks, goals, and deadlines. We also communicated through email, to a lesser extent. They delivered on time and based on our specifications.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are quick to react, reply, and intervene if there is a problem. It’s been a good experience overall.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The English abilities of our Eastern European resources weren’t always good. This isn’t a problem in writing, but it is for verbal communication.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are an e-commerce company. We have our own product, which is a homegrown order management system. I am the VP of professional services. My department is responsible for implementing the product with our clients and integrating it with all kinds of ERPs [enterprise resource planning], frontends, and external systems.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Specific-Group?

We needed developers to help us integrate our platform to external systems .

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They mainly provide us with Java developers and 1 or 2 PHP developers. We integrate with Shopify and Magento but we are not SI [system integrators] for them. We have our own product that we integrate to engines. They take care of the integration using MuleSoft, which is all Java. They write all the Java code and run it on Mule to integrate the systems.

When we get a client, we use Specific-Group’s help in integrating our product with the frontend and backend, and normally there is more than one backend. We choose the appropriate resources from Specific-Group based on our knowledge, send them the integration guide of the third party, and we ask him to provide us with the estimate. Then we ask him to provide us with task breakdown, and then we assign him a project manager to implement the integration with the third party. They take care of the engagement starting from estimating the effort until they complete it and hand it to our QA team to confirm that it’s working well. If there is anything wrong after they go live, they always fix it.

What is the team dynamic?

We have in-house developers as well, but my department has 5 Specific-Group developers. I know other departments in our company also work with them. We interview the candidates and decide whether to hire them or not.

Our team increases and decreases, but for the last couple of years, we have only increased it.

I don’t speak with developers. I speak with the CEO only, but every project manager on my team speaks with the other developers directly either every day or every other day.

How did you come to work with Specific-Group?

One of my colleagues here met them at an event. We liked their profile and decided to start with one developer to see how it works. The work was really good, so we started to add developers.

Our deciding factor normally is how technical is the resource and what is the real cost of the development. You may get cheaper resources from somewhere else, but the overall cost of the implementation will be higher because Specific-Group can do things much quicker.

Sometimes we will get a developer in a week and sometimes it takes 3 months. It is based on the availability of their resources.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in February 2012, and we still rely on them heavily to help us with Java integrations.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The biggest success story is when they integrate any system to ours. They have helped integrate our system with Magento version 1, Magento version 2, and a lot of third party retailers. They have also helped us integrate with Amazon, and many other systems. We depend on them heavily, which is why our portfolio with Specific-Group is so extensive. Their success has led us to continue and expand our partnership with them.

They are very high-quality developers. Their cost is really good regardless of their rate because they can complete things faster than any other developers we have.

How did Specific-Group perform from a project management standpoint?

We managed them, but they were on time and on budget. Sometimes they work on their own holidays to make sure that we meet our deadlines.

We have a very long-term relationship with them. Even if we have an issue with one developer or with a project, when we call the management of Specific-Group, they jump immediately, and they help us they do everything in their power to meet our needs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their technical abilities are super.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

Do you have any advice for potential clients?

They are really good and self-reliant. If the client picks the right resource, the job will be done on time and on budget.