Sphere Partners

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the General Manager of 1623 Studios, a community media center based in Gloucester, MA. 1623 Studios serves the Cape Ann community with media services through its social media platforms and three cable TV stations, while providing access to local municipal meetings and updates.

For what projects/services did your company hire Sphere Partners?

1623 Studios has a small team, yet we work on complex projects across the organization. Once we went all remote in March 2020, the team needed a cloud-based project management and communication program to help us keep projects moving forward while maintaining efficient and effective communication.

We also needed a CRM that would grow with us. Through research, we identified monday.com and HubSpot as the programs we needed. Yet, making room for the training and implementation work was a bit daunting. Luckily, monday.com has approved partners to help new users.

I interviewed three companies in my search for assistance, but only one really stood out: Sphere Partners. Sphere knew exactly what we needed to do to get started. Working with Sphere's consultant assigned to our project, I was able to quickly learn the platform, understand how to design boards, and set up the entire system, which included integrations with HubSpot and Constant Contact.

What were your goals for this project?

The goals were simple at first: get monday.com and HubSpot active and connected. We identified the reduction in email communication as a goal, as well as tracking and logging communication related to ongoing projects.

Monday.com is a great tool to do this. The more the team uses monday as its main communication tool, the more informed the team is.

How did you select Sphere Partners?

Sphere Partners stood out among the other monday.com approved partners that I interviewed. We already knew we wanted to use monday.com and HubSpot, so the search was to find the best match. The deciding factor? Sphere Partners uses monday.com and HubSpot internally.

Describe the project in detail.

I was the lead for the project both for the research and selection of the tools and in identifying and hiring the vendor. Sphere was brought on to help us maximize the use of monday.com and design the boards for us.

The goal was transparency of projects across the organization as well as simplifying communications related to projects. Sphere's board designs and recommended workflows set us up for success once the boards were active and ready to use.

What was the team composition?

My team consisted of our technical director and the production manager. As head of operations, I was the team lead. We worked with one Sphere consultant who served as the board designer for monday.com and helped us with getting the HubSpot CRM and marketing hub up and running. When we hit a snag on something, she would consult internally and get back to me.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We just launched monday.com internally and we have 100 percent usage so far. Every team member is trained and is using the boards to update projects and communicating.

As we get better at using the monday.com tools, I think we will increase productivity across the organization. So far, with our team all remote, monday.com is a best-case scenario that improved our overall output.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The Sphere project manager/consultant was swift in setting up our boards which excelerated both jumping into monday and learning how to use the system. We utilized monday as a communication tool to identify questions and issues.

We also set up regular meetings on Zoom to utilize screen sharing for learning and training.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Sphere Partners came across as colleagues from the beginning of our working relationship. Everyone I spoke with was personable and friendly and understood the challenges of a small business.

I think this is vitally important for small groups like ours that need powerful tools but perhaps do not have the time to invest in learning it all. Sphere easily met our expectations and have been a joy to work with.

Are there any areas for improvement?

One improvement, which I think organizations should discuss with a vendor like this one, is to ask for help in determining a realistic timeframe for the project. My initial forecasts for completion were way off and having direction in this area would have been helpful to set realistic expectations for my team.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CFO at an e-commerce wall decor company. We manufacture and sell products such as canvas prints through our website and partner sites.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sphere Software?

We wanted to customize our NetSuite system. We work with artists all over the world, and we wanted to have a CRM system that made it easier to keep track of royalty payments.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed a product that allows us to view our relationships with different artists and accurately report to them the royalties that they’ve earned. We can also view the different contracts and other data. 

What is the team composition?

Katya (Director of Operations) was our main point of contact. She liaised with the development team. 

How did you come to work with Sphere Software?

I met the owner of the company through my network at a conference. When the need for this project arose, I reached out to Sphere Software first. We looked at another company as well, but Sphere Software easily understood our business model. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $35,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2020, and they completed their work in February of the same year. 

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

The quality of work was good. There were a few things that we had to tinker with after the project was completed, but the changes we made were minimal. They delivered within the scope that we expected. I have everything I need to report information appropriately to the artists we work with. 

They were attentive and took the time to understand our business first.

How did Sphere Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated primarily through Zoom. Internally, they have project management software that helps them stay on track. They provided updates at least weekly, sometimes more frequently. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were a strategic resource that helped us tailor the tool to our needs. Katya was a dedicated project manager, and I felt that she was dedicated to our partnership. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

At the moment, I can’t think of something that I could fairly criticize them for. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

Be upfront about your business model and how the project fits into the greater needs of your business. Don’t be stingy with information or how the project will impact your business longterm.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a third-generation privately-owned US-based manufacturer of high-performance superabrasive lapping, grinding, honing, and polishing products and related machinery and accessories.

For what projects/services did your company hire Sphere Software?

We hired Sphere to work on several projects to help us automate various manual processes, including the development of a compliance management system.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal of the project was to define, design, and implement custom cloud-based systems for managing some of our processes and compliance system.

How did you select this vendor?

We did the initial research and identified seven potential partners and decided to proceed with the Sphere.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Sphere provided business analysis and requirements gathering, infrasTtructure architecture and design, security compliance, software development, and quality assurance.

What was the team composition?

The team consisted of a project manager, architect, two developers, QA engineer, and part-time designer.

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

It allowed us to save the significant costs of manual work and manual processes from the automation provided, as well as saved us thousands of labor hours.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Engis defined the project objectives and Sphere managed the project using agile and scrum methodology in addition to providing us regular updates through Jira.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Sphere was a key partner on a strategic level and on the implementation side. They provided important strategic recommendations and were able to execute to the fullest potential.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Sphere was great! I don't have any suggestions on how to improve the team.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a company that specializes in late payments and digital debt collection. We help clients collect late payments, invoice financing, and manage their online marketplaces. We’re hoping to offer a white label collection.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sphere Software?

As part of our process, I hired Sphere Software to advise our team and provide a full-stack development for our MVP.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The project began with a consultation and they helped me create the proper wireframes. Once that was finalized, we used Python and Node.js for development. We created automated emails that could be sent at different times. The database will reflect information that has been uploaded to the cloud through a CSV file. We also created a text messaging system and integrated a third-party provider for VoIP.

Right now, we’re working on a feature that would enable the automated emails to include different logos for our white labeling efforts. We've tried a few iterations of the wireframes and are trying to determine what would work best.

What is the team composition?

We had a business analyst, a data scientist, and two backend engineers working on our project.

How did you come to work with Sphere Software?

A friend of mine worked with them before and referred them to me. I did some research and noticed that they had an office both in the US and Eastern Europe. When we met, they quickly understood the scope of the project and what they needed to do to meet our project goals.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $280,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in January 2019 and the project is ongoing.

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

The project hasn’t been launched yet, but I recently tested the automated email flow. We’ve managed to solve about half the problem, and the second half is a work in progress. We faced a few challenges because the text message system needed to go through a US server, but Sphere Software was able to resolve it quickly. We're currently testing different wireframes that would support the logos for the white labeling aspect of our business. 

How did Sphere Software perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re professional, organized, receptive, and articulate. They’ve investigated the product and asked questions so they know exactly what we want to build. They took their time to propose how to take the project forward and walked me through the process using a slide show. We have a scheduled call every two weeks on Zoom and share screens.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their first impression is outstandingly professional.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would be nice to have a system or mobile management tool that would help us track their progress.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Definitely go ahead and contact them.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the managing director of a growing marketing agency

For what projects/services did your company hire Sphere Software?

We wanted to make the migration from Quickbooks to Netsuite.

What were your goals for this project?

We were tired of fighting quickbooks to do what we wanted so we decided to move to Netsuite. Our goal with NetSuite's cloud solution was to lower cost, streamline key business processes, boost productivity and be more competitive. We also wanted one unified platform instead of CRM, accounting, etc.

How did you select this vendor?

We had a pre-existing relationship with Sphere - we trusted them to make this process painless.

Describe the project in detail.

We struggled with limitations in reporting, audit trails, and customization. We needed automation, financial consolidation across two business units and better visibility to make informed data-driven decisions. We also wanted better visibility via dashboards and wanted better reporting on real-time data and drill down to understand what’s going on across the business.

What was the team composition?

We were assigned a project manager, a senior netsuite consultant, and two developers.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The project was completed on schedule and on budget. It went fast and we were able to cut over to the new system almost immediately (with a little fine-tuning)

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Project collaboration was facilitated via Jira scrum boards. The workflow was efficient.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Schedules and deadlines were met - near constant communication kept everyone up to date on all milestones.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Everything can always be done faster but I think in this case, they did everything according to mutual plan and schedule

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a marketing agency that mainly does B2B lead generation for technical companies.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sphere Software?

We were considering acquiring another agency with a number of technology assets, and we wanted a partner who could conduct our technical due diligence and ensure we were getting what we wanted.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a general understanding of the technology owned by the company we were acquiring, but Sphere Software came on as the technical brain to establish the credibility of our management team. They conducted research to determine how the products were built and what it would cost to maintain and grow them. They provided estimations on what it would take to integrate the products with our own technology and even evaluated the quality of the existing code. They collected as much information as possible, including through customer interviews and an audit of the other agency’s books.

Their code review was comprehensive and thorough, evaluating the code of multiple applications and in various languages, such as Ruby on Rails and Elixir. Their valuation also probed the database and a number of web agents, ensuring that what we were buying from the company would be able to do what they said it could.

What is the team composition?

We worked with numerous individuals, including a technical lead and experts in frontend development, databases, mobile apps, UI, and Jira. We also hired a few business analysts.

How did you come to work with Sphere Software?

I’d heard about them before and knew some of their previous work. When we started this project, we had a conversation, and they seemed like a good fit, so I hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $65,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from February–June 2019.

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

Based on the due diligence they performed, they found that the other agency’s valuation expectations were far too high. They pulled together a number of red flags, which we’ve been able to reference in our negotiations with the other company. As of now, it looks like Sphere Software will end up saving us about $750,000 when the revised acquisition is finalized.

How did Sphere Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We had no issues with their project management; they were always spot on. We used Jira, Slack, and Confluence to communicate and manage the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They listened to what we needed and proactively took charge of the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of any ways they could’ve improved.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

If possible, hire someone on your end to be solely dedicated to interfacing with Sphere Software. We didn’t have a position like that, so I often delayed their progress because I had my daily responsibilities as well.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of a financial services company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sphere Software?

I hired Sphere Software to help with custom software development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created the backend and frontend for a consumer finance app based on wireframes we provided. Within the platform, they built the tool for calculating interest and regulation languages. Our customers can now use and apply for services within the app.

What is the team composition?

They provided a project manager and 1–2 developers.

How did you come to work with Sphere Software?

When I was working at my previous company, I had worked with Sphere Software. When this project came up, I knew I wanted their expertise so I contacted them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from July 2015–January 2016.

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

We’re still using the platform they helped us build. Since then, we’ve generated a significant amount of revenue and have grown our company. Sphere Software has definitely contributed to our success.

How did Sphere Software perform from a project management standpoint?

They managed the project very well. Their team worked with us every step of the way. Our primary forms of communication were phone and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their deep understanding of the financial industry was impressive and unique. We valued that they had relevant information when working on the backend.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Although they still completed the project quickly, they anticipated it taking 4–5 months but it took 5–6 instead.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Partner with Sphere Software and allow them to help with project management. If you collaborate on the work, you’ll avoid any miscommunications.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the director of IT for a financial services company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sphere Software?

The company was a division of a title lender with a brick and mortar presence. They wanted to launch an online division and brought us in to build the web platform from scratch. We needed to augment our development staff with Ruby on Rails resources. Since the language was in demand at the time, we needed an affordable vendor that could scale staff as needed.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sphere Software provided full-stack Ruby on Rails development for the web platform and accompanying mobile sites. Some of their resources worked on site in our Chicago office.

My involvement ended when our parent company, which was based in Georgia, relocated the project to their headquarters. None of our team wanted to move to Georgia.

What is the team composition?

The 4–6-person team mainly comprised developers and a few designers.

How did you come to work with Sphere Software?

The parent company recruited our team from another firm that had partnered with Sphere Software. Since we had a good working relationship, we decided to use them for this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them from 2011–2014.

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

Sphere Software provided quality engineers and moved quickly. That efficient service benefitted our parent company, which supported the project with no incoming revenue from the platform. Importantly, the team got the solution up and running to demonstrate the potential ROI. We could not have achieved these positive results in the specified timeline without their help.

How did Sphere Software perform from a project management standpoint?

They became a true part of our team after onboarding. We didn’t treat them any differently than in-house employees. Our team included Sphere Software in every architecture and design planning meeting.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Sphere Software was flexible, readily working on a variety of tasks and processes both remotely and in person. Unlike other offshore developers that rely on smart junior developers, the team leveraged senior-level engineers. That investment in resources contributed to the project’s success.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Occasionally, they needed additional resources for certain tasks and scaling the team took extra time. But that’s not a complaint as we went through the same process on our side. They had a deep pool of qualified developers to select from, which was advantageous for the nature of our collaboration.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Plan ahead as much as possible. Realizing that the engagement requires more resources than expected can be one of the biggest pain points for any development project. It’s wiser to pay more for senior engineers because they maximize value. When staffing the team, ensure that every developer comprehends the business goals and challenges thoroughly. That level of understanding can make a good developer a great developer.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a marketer at Salad Bar Tenders. We’re a salad manufacturer and distributor, and we also train supermarkets in how to properly maintain a salad bar.

For what projects/services did your company hire Sphere Software?

We were using carbon paper to collect reports on what our employees were doing at our client’s supermarkets. One copy was filed in our office, one was sent to our customer’s headquarters, and the final one stayed in the store. We wanted to automate this process, so we needed a solution that could generate, distribute, and organize the reports.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to allow both clients and employees to see reports so they can be sure any problems are being addressed. If upper management had access to the reports, we could create a system of accountability for customers and staff.

How did you select this vendor?

We started the project with a different vendor, but there were a lot of problems. We decided to find a new company, and we came across Sphere Software.

Describe the project in detail.

We provided Sphere Software with the Android app we’d started with the previous vendor. They fixed all of the issues and provided me with an improved solution. Then, we started working on the iOS version. Now, the report-sharing platform is accessible for all of our clients and employees.

What was the team composition?

We worked directly with a project manager and two developers.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Our employees are more efficient because they don’t have to carry around paper anymore. We have more confidence in our reporting process because we have a secure way to distribute information to everyone that needs it and collect instant feedback. We’re also helping the environment by eliminating our paper waste.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They were great in terms of project management. We agreed on a 24-hour response time at the beginning of the engagement, and everyone respected that rule.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They actively suggested ways to improve the project, but they didn’t push us to take their advice. I wasn’t aware of the latest technology, so I was thankful that they shared their knowledge.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I would like a bit more step-by-step explanations of their process so we could keep a closer watch on their progress. We weren’t given access to their project management software, which I don’t completely understand.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of product management at a 401k servicing platform that enables small and medium-sized businesses to offer a 401k plan to their employees. We provide our clients with investment advising, plan administrations, and recordkeeping services.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sphere Software?

We had a good user portal for our customers, but we needed to improve the UX/UI.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sphere Software developed a design component system, an infrastructure that allows us to store and easily access all of our design components in one location. In a sense, they helped us rebuild the foundational blocks of our portal. Two different types of clients access our system: employer administrators who manage all of the employee plans, and individual employees who want to access their 401k information. Sphere Software helped create a new admin reporting tool that provides the plan administrators readily accessible reports.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 2–3 engineers. One was in the U.S., and the others were in Ukraine.

How did you come to work with Sphere Software?

I worked with them at my previous job. They did good work and understood project requirements, so we hired them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from June–September 2018.

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

The system makes it easy to have uniformity across our websites and also reduces design costs. Sphere Software met all of our goals.

How did Sphere Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We were happy with their work. They were great at understanding and executing on our requirements. They presented various solutions customized to our partnership and specific needs, which we appreciated.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The engineers were diligent and hardworking. Our account manager was always in touch with us to make sure things were going well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Communication could’ve been better, but that’s always a concern with overseas teams. They could’ve been more proactive in setting clearer expectations.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Give them clear requirements. Don’t assume that they know exactly what you want.