Sugoi Labs

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Ostays Technologies is a travel and hotel site bridging the gap between an Airbnb-like service and an actual hotel. We have built our own platform and have APIs for many economy-sharing sites like Handy.com and Airbnb. We also use over the air services like Expedia. I am the CEO of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sugoi Labs?

We were looking for a company to build our platform from the ground up. We had been using proprietary systems for reservation, room, food and beverage, and telephone services. Many of these were complicated and didn't deal with owner statements or rentals. We needed a custom system that could replace the third-party software we had in place.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sugoi Labs developed our system using PHP and the Laravel framework. We have also asked them to assign a data input person, and Sugoi Labs recruited someone on our behalf. They are planning to automate this operation.

How did you come to work with Sugoi Labs?

My co-founder had used Sugoi Labs in the past, so we chose them for the full scope of the project. Sugoi Labs studied our system for a month and came in with a reasonable quote. We looked at three other companies, but Sugoi Labs stood out as the best option.

How much have you invested with Sugoi Labs?

The cost of Sugoi Labs' work was $8,500 for the first phase.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Sugoi Labs on October 1, 2016, and the site was delivered on December 15. We continue to use Sugoi Labs' services. Our scope of work has increased starting January 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We launched the platform on February 1, 2017. It has replaced our old solution, which used to cost us $3,500 per month. Our team has found the site easy to operate, extremely functional, and simple. Since Sugoi Labs doesn't have an in-house designer, the site isn't very pretty, although it does look better than our previous system.  

How did Sugoi Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

My co-founder is the technical person in our group and needed to work off-site, which was one of our challenges. Sugoi Labs did a good job despite this, delivering under our timeline. They used Slack, Trello, and Asana for project tracking. We had one point of contact, one of Sugoi Labs' founders.

What did you find most impressive about Sugoi Labs?

Sugoi Labs' team doesn't seem to sleep. They've been available to us 24/7, which is incredible. We've had to do quite a lot of work with Expedia and Airbnb, which was handled on North American time. Our contact got up at odd times of the night just to finish it.

Are there any areas Sugoi Labs could improve?

Sugoi Labs' design capabilities were not excellent at the beginning, but we've recruited a full-time designer on their end. That person started working for them on Monday, and we'll see if that part of the website can be improved as well.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for The Headache, TBI & Memory Research Institute. I am the main neurologist, a research scientist, and the CEO of the institute.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sugoi Labs?

I needed help making my dream come true, by providing an online cognitive therapy monitoring solution.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Together with Sugoi Labs, we have developed many online cognitive testing and brain training solutions in the form of desktop, iOS, and Android apps.

I own the patents for my software in my country, and I'm also a software architect, which allowed me to get many things done in a short period of time by using Sugoi Labs. This would not have been possible by using any other company. Sugoi Labs also helped with SEO [search engine optimization] work for the website, as well as social media placements during the early stages of our project. They were helpful in creating the entire setup which led to the success of my platform.

Sugoi Labs' team was not educated in the neuro-medical field, so I've visited them at their office in India in order to provide training. We have a smooth workflow as a result, and Sugoi Labs can build my solution based only on an outline.

How did you come to work with Sugoi Labs?

I interviewed almost 20 other companies that were willing to work in our experimental phase where we were not only doing development but also researching the data behind it and perfecting it. My first step was to give each candidate a 10-question form. Since I had worked in software development before, I knew that I needed to find a flexible company whose resources would answer directly to me. I also wanted the ability to travel to the developer's location, which I have done, for an 18-hour training session in order to shape my product. Sugoi Labs was very accommodating and willing to meet my challenge and deadline.

How much have you invested with Sugoi Labs?

Sugoi Labs had reasonable pricing, given that I did not develop straightforward applications. The process involved research in order to make them apt for human use. Many other developers were unable to understand the scope of the development and weren't willing to make the necessary changes as I wanted them. Had I had a simple scope, the scenario would have been different.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with Sugoi Labs in December 2014. We are about to launch a solution which can give an online cognitive test to a patient from anywhere in the world.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

So far, almost 20 patients have graduated from our cognitive training. Using our different modules, we have performed cognitive testing on more than 150 patients. We also provide online lecture series and videos through the website. The data for regainmemory.org shows more than 100,000 users.

How did Sugoi Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Sugoi Labs' project manager is a very intelligent person. I have seen him grow during the last three years of our collaboration. He and his colleague have been excellent managers for my projects. They were willing to undertake a lot of research in order to meet my needs.

We've had project development and improvement deadlines which were done in stages. We were able to meet each deadline, and Sugoi Labs was on call willing to make any changes along the way, even during nighttime in their location.

What did you find most impressive about Sugoi Labs?

Sugoi Labs' members have gone out of their way to accommodate my needs. My project development involved multimedia, video games, and audio-visual capture interfaces with the backend AI programming. Bringing in so much diversity into one application would not have been possible using any other company.

Are there any areas Sugoi Labs could improve?

Sugoi Labs has been in business for at least five years, and they've constantly improved their data testing and product deliveries, but these areas could be more robust. Sugoi Labs is also working on graphic interface design. I have brought up these issues in the past, and they've always been corrected.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are an Indian payment technology company focusing on the local market. We were founded 12 months ago. I am a co-founder and CEO of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sugoi Labs?

We needed to develop our payment platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sugoi Labs has provided end to end development services, building our Android app from the ground up. We were able to consult Sugoi Labs' team in coming up with the best approach for our solution; they always put our needs first and helped keep us grounded. I found this approach very compelling since we don't have technical resources in our team.

We have integrated an ERP [enterprise resource planning] and a point-of-sale solution with other technologies, creating an end to end solution for distributors, warehouses, wholesalers, manufacturers retailers, and customers.

How did you come to work with Sugoi Labs?

Sugoi Labs' team first reached out to me via email. I checked their references and found that the company was cost-effective.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Sugoi Labs in June 2016. We released the first prototype in September, which was taken to the market and used for feedback. The project is ongoing; we are working on building a more sophisticated version of our solution. The latest release was made in February 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our application is live on the Play Store. We've worked closely with Sugoi Labs to deliver our app, so we've had an active role in its user experience and effectiveness.It was an active partnership which resulted in an app that is easy to use. People have generally liked our application.

How did Sugoi Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Sugoi Labs assigned points of contact who made sure that the work was progressing well. They integrated well with our team, but project management as a whole could be improved. It was one of the drawbacks in working with Sugoi Labs, and it's a matter of them adopting a more Agile setup.

What did you find most impressive about Sugoi Labs?

The ownership, cost-effectiveness, and availability of their team have made Sugoi Labs stand out.

Are there any areas Sugoi Labs could improve?

Sugoi Labs has taken ownership of our product and usually delivers on time, but they have underestimated some of our development efforts. Aside from this, nothing stands out.

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

With any development project, the person putting in requests needs to work with the contractor in order to obtain a better quality product.