STEPUP SOLUTIONZ

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a company based in Banda City, India, and we provide all kinds of IT solutions, including website and mobile app development. We have clients around the world and in countries such as Singapore, Canada, and the US. We have an in-house team of mobile app developers, and we outsource all other types of IT solutions. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with STEPUP SOLUTIONZ?

STEPUP SOLUTIONZ helped us with e-commerce and web development tasks, as well as design, SEO, and PPC work. Mostly, we outsourced small website development projects to them. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team supported both the design and development phases of our projects. They’d start working on the UI/UX first, and once that was finalized, they’d proceed to the actual development. For other websites, they also provided basic SEO and online marketing services. 

In our projects, they’d first write a proposal outlining what they were going to do. Most of the requirements we brought weren't polished, so they analyzed them as they proposed solutions. Based on these suggestions, we’d come up with the final vision of the product. After that, they’d start developing it. They also supported requirement gathering, where they’d find loopholes and provide fixes. 

In terms of technology stacks, they used PHP and ODS on the backend. On the frontend, they used Vue and Angular. Whenever we developed e-commerce sites, they used OpenCart, which had all the required functionality to run basic e-commerce sites. If customization was needed, or something wasn’t achievable via OpenCart, then we’d build the platform from scratch using PHP and HTML.

What is the team composition?

We mostly interacted with only two people, including Nadarajan (Creative Director). 

How did you come to work with STEPUP SOLUTIONZ?

We were looking for some developers around our location, and we saw them through Facebook ads. We acquired their numbers and communicated with them. After that, I visited their office and started the engagement. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested between $5,000–$7,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2019. Our last project ended three months ago, so we currently don’t have any partnership with them. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

While we couldn’t share any details of our projects, including results, STEPUP SOLUTIONZ’ work had been good and they delivered on time. 

How did STEPUP SOLUTIONZ perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management was good. We experienced some hiccups at first, but once we got on board and started the development process, everything went well. To communicate, we usually used emails. If we needed to discuss anything personally, we came to their office or them to ours. To communicate with the end client or other teams located in another region or country,  we used Slack. For meetings or video conferences, we used Zoom and Google Meet. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciated that they didn’t start the actual development immediately without first analyzing things and finding loopholes. That was very important for me. If we started coding and found issues in the middle of the development process, it would delay the project. Thus, they’d do the research beforehand and would mostly solve all issues they’d find. As a result, we experienced no delays and they delivered on time exactly as we requested. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’d recommend them to send an estimation of work early whenever we share any requirements. If we need to discuss something, we should do it earlier, too. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be exact about what you want. Even if you don’t have everything written down, be clear about your requirements. Prepare to answer their questions and doubts. If you don’t have answers, inform them and analyze the questions together. If you’re clear on what you need, they can definitely support you on the actual development and timeline. The projects will be difficult for both of you without giving clear details.