Switch Software Solutions

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the technology and Innovation Manager of a mid-sized fintech. Our core business is the issuing of a prepaid card for unbanked consumers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Switch Software Solutions?

We needed to find well-skilled java developers in order to help us build our platform for payment processing. The goal was to have a flexible team that could help us take ownership of the newly built platform.

SOLUTION

How did you select this agency and what were the deciding factors?

We found this agency through recommendations.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

They provided 2 senior Java developers to augment our in-house development team. While an external team was finishing major developments, they were responsible for getting up to speed and taking over the project for us to gain deep technical understanding and software evolution and maintenance capabilities.

Describe the recruitment process in detail.

Personal interviews were conducted with some candidates taking into account experience and skills.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

with their support, we reach the plan objectives

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

adopted a methodology in accordance

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They had high-level developers and the cost was fair. Culture is very good

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

nothing to highlight

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CTO/CIO of Credito de la Casa

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a financial services company that provide consumer loans

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Switch Software Solutions to accomplish?

• Design and develop a mobile app for an existing service
• Provide a re mastered web page for the previous service

SOLUTION

How did you find Switch Software Solutions?

Previous experience with them

Why did you select Switch Software Solutions over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Switch Software Solutions were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

The main project consisted in building a mobile app that is to be used by all the stores that use our own BNPL solution. It is currently based on a web page that the salesman has to access in order to complete the transaction and we hope to migrate from that solution to the mobile one. At the same time, for those stores that want to keep the current solution we asked Switch to include a complete "revamp" of the existing web app. Primary key for this project were time schedule and budget.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The Agile methodology they used was great to follow up on the advances. Daily meetings, scrum ceremonies and so on were key factors.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Absolutely on time. Very fluent and clear communication.

What was your primary form of communication with Switch Software Solutions?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The pressure their team put on our own team to match every schedule hit. In all my years in the business the usual rule is that you have to put pressure on the providers to meet the promised dates. In this case, Switch was the one putting pressure on our team to deliver on time. Amazing disposition of all the team assigned to the project.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Switch Software Solutions could have done differently?

Nothing that could be worth to mention.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Marketing Director of Logisyn Advisors

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Logisyn Advisors is an M&A advisory firm committed to helping business owners in the transportation and logistics arena grow through acquisition or maximizing their value in a financial exit.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Switch Software Solutions to accomplish?

• Custom Blog / Website Portal

SOLUTION

How did you find Switch Software Solutions?

Existing Relationship

Why did you select Switch Software Solutions over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Switch Software Solutions were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

The project scope was to expand Logisyn's custom website design by Switch to include a customized blog portal allowing us access to the website to upload new articles and client press releases. The full project scope would include: 

• Azure setup to host the database 
• Branded/custom login page and interface with an option for additional user logins 
• Selection for three different types of page content
• News Articles, Resources/Whitepapers, and Client Transaction Announcements, which would then populate the corresponding pages on the website
• Custom form fields for the different types of pages as well as built-in settings for headers versus paragraphs, utilizing our brand fonts and colors 
• Active/Inactive toggle for each unique upload 
• Option for image uploads and embedded videos 
• Meta keywords form field for SEO optimization

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• The project was broken down into multiple phases to be reviewed every two weeks via virtual team meetings with as-needed communication handled via email between meetings. 

Initial Phase: Project Refinement and Outline of Deliverables 

• Sprint 1: Define architecture and back office development environments, draft login environment and interface features 
• Sprint 2: Develop administrator panel, entity creations and setup, rich text function 
• Sprint 3: Entity bug fixes, entity editing functions, article and page display formatting 
• Sprint 4: Image upload function, display of different article formats on front-end of the website 

Final Phase - UAT and Production Environment: refinement of final tasks and preparation for deployment

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

The Switch team handled the entire project management professionally and with full transparency into progress or changes to the scope. The breakdown of the project into different sprints helped everything stay on track and progress smoothly, the virtual meeting updates with the full project team to review every two weeks were very helpful for visualizing the development and communicating about the next round or any additional changes needed at that stage. 

Our project manager was always very responsive and friendly via email between tasks addressing any questions or edits that came up and it was great to get to meet the different team members during the updates.

What was your primary form of communication with Switch Software Solutions?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Logisyn has known and worked with Switch for many years now and over that time, they have continued to help us strengthen our web presence. With their help, we've evolved the website in multiple phases as our needs and content changed and grew with our company. 

The custom blog portal is the latest and largest in the successful projects Switch has developed for us. It's been amazing to see how much Switch has also grown its team and offerings in that time and their ability and flexibility to help deliver on our vision and think outside of the box has been truly valuable to our company's success.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Switch Software Solutions could have done differently?

No complaints - Logisyn is very happy with the outcome of the project and the responsiveness of the team for as-needed maintenance items in regard to the static areas/features of the website/portal. Our team looks forward to continuing working with Switch Software Solutions in the future as our business continues to grow and our website needs to evolve further.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of engineering for a construction-based marketplace SaaS offering.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Switch Software Solutions?

We needed help with staff augmentation. We were looking for medium- and highly-skilled front- and backend developers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Switch Software Solutions has integrated into our software development lifecycle. They work remotely; we’ve just provided them with some training and access to a couple of programs because they couldn’t provide themselves with some software packages. Other than that, they initially came fully equipped, and Switch Software Solutions has contributed to the team.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with five teammates. Andrea (Manager of Outsourcing) is our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Switch Software Solutions?

I don’t remember how we found them, but I assume someone recommended them to us. We were looking at different service providers all over the world. We gave 3–4 companies an opportunity to send us a proposal.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent over $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in July 2022, and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

My team is incredibly satisfied with their work, service, and ease of the integration process. We work with Switch Software Solutions every day, and they’ve become part of the team 100%. The quality of the engineers for their price point is fantastic. As long as we’re in business and they keep providing the service they do today, they’ll continue to be a part of our company in some shape or form. 

Ultimately, the fact that we’ve maintained Switch Software Solutions’ team members for so long is a metric in its own right. In the time we’ve worked together, only one developer has left. The team was pretty gutted to lose that teammate, and we haven’t let go of or told them to remove anyone from the projects. 

Moreover, Switch Software Solutions performs at a high level and has an incredible amount of pressure to deliver the product. Therefore, they’ve learned about the product quickly and successfully, which speaks volumes. They’ve also played by our guidelines; otherwise, they wouldn’t have survived on our team. Overall, we have a successful, effective, high-performing team; they’ve ticked all of our boxes.

How did Switch Software Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We’re super happy with the project management. They’re very open and transparent with the hours they charge us for. Also, their communication is absolutely fantastic, and we never have problems with tardiness. In general, we just care that they deliver the product we ask for, so we’ve had no issues.

We predominantly use Slack for communication and Jira for project management. Their communication skills are absolutely fantastic; they speak English very well. We also enjoy that South America has a reasonable time zone for us. We’ve had augmentations with teams from India, Europe, and South Africa, and we definitely prefer South America.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Switch Software Solutions has high-skilled engineers with excellent communication skills. Moreover, their teammates have had the longevity we look for; they come in every day and are fantastic.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I suppose we could all be better somehow, but I like to give credit where it's due, and we’re honestly super happy with Switch Software Solutions. They provide great hands-on help. The team is always there to help if we make a request, and they follow through on everything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re an American company that wants to work with them, it makes sense because they share the border and a time zone with us. In general, you want to pay attention to communication. Switch Software Solutions lets us know if someone’s English isn’t that great, but we’ve also done interviews regardless of that. Just be very specific and ensure the candidate speaks English.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I´m the CEO. Paselibre is a wellness corporate benefit that allows employees to train in hundreds of gyms and wellness studios across Uruguay. We have a B2B2C subscription model.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Switch Software Solutions?

We were looking for a tech partner to develop the whole platform, from scratch, in just a couple of months. The platform includes 4 web apps to manage users, gym profiles, companies, check-ins, mailing integrations, etc, and 1 mobile app.

SOLUTION

How did you select this agency and what were the deciding factors?

was referred by some friends and colleagues, who highlighted their commitment and reliability, as well as their ability to propose the most effective solution to each project and client. We were about to launch our business, and many things were far from being fully defined and clear, so we were looking for a partner rather than a simple supplier. Switch proved to be exactly what we were looking for.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

The original scope was to build and deploy the application, as an MVP, with very tight deadlines. They were in charge of the frontend with Angular, and backend with NodeJs. The frontend should consider different portals: the main corporate one, Administrator, Gym and final user portals. The project involved DevOps experts who worked in the CI/CD process to improve the publishing process and make it more efficient. Other techs used were Express, Docker and Kubernetes, and Google Cloud as the Cloud Platform (then it was migrated to AWS) After the MVP they have been working on several releases adding features and functionality, and improving performance and scalability as the business grows.

Describe the recruitment process in detail.

The team has evolved in accordance with the project phase and needs, but on average we have 5-7 people from Switch working with us: developers, designers, DevOps Analysts, Tech Lead and Project Manager. For me this is one of the main advantages of staff augmentation, that it allows to scale the team as needed and with the expertise needed at each moment.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The original project (MVP) was finished on time and within budget, what is quite uncommon in the industry. As a team, we have been working with Switch to ensure we could handle 10,000+ users, 600+ Gyms, and 20,000+ monthly check ins without friction and keeping an outstanding user experience. Our business success relies heavily on the platform and its usability and overall user experience, and we have been overpassing our targets every year (even with the pandemia)

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The PMs were always very close and helpful. Their Staff coordinators worked hard to ensure both parties, our company, and their collaborators were comfortable, that opportunities were tackled and feedback was given. We communicated via email, Jira, discord, calls, and meetings. Most of the time they kept their schedule.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They have an interdisciplinary team that allowed them to tackle all the challenges we had efficiently and effectively. They built the app in record time without compromising quality. They were always willing to add value to the product and process, not just do what they were told. They are much more than a supplier, they are a real collaborative partner that will involve with your business and project as if it were theirs.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I am happy with the way they handle everything, so I cannot think of anything in particular for this question. However, after more than 3 years of working with them, I could say that they are flexible enough to adapt to each client and project and they are open to feedback; so if someone working with them asks for a change they will do their best to make it happen. It’s clear they are committed to a continuous improvement process to ensure they are the best outsourcing solution for software challenges, so many times during our partnership they have been the ones proposing new ideas or ways of working. They were more than welcome of course!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a co-founder of a digital media company. Our company product is a digital marketplace that brings content creators and content consumers together.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Switch Software Solutions?

We hired switch to help design the UI and UX concepts for our new media marketplace. They also helped us design a presentation and produced a video to show our investors during our fundraising campaign.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We searched for a top-level software developer team and reached out to an acquaintance working with Switch. After our initial interview, we were so blown away, we decided that switch was a perfect match for us.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

We needed design concepts for our new publishing platform, specifically for a mobile device. We started with my conceptual ideas. We all worked together as a team to hash out how these should look to the user. the switch team provided us with their own ideas as well.

They designed examples for us and we chose the design ideas that suited our project best. Once we decided on the initial design the Switch team put together a more detailed design concept for us to sign off on.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

I worked with their project manager and three designers, including the lead designer, Daniel Sanchez. The team was outstanding, especially Daniel, whose ideas, many of which were incorporated into the project, really had a great feel for what we wanted to accomplish.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I think two big outcomes were, one, that through our collaboration with Switch we feel we have a better product concept than when we started, and two, our messaging to our users, content creators, and investors is much clearer visually. They can see what we are thinking!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was just me and their team. The workflow was seamless, in my opinion. I can't speak to how they felt working with me:-) but it really seemed like I was working with an in-house team.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

I think the most impressive part of my experience working with Switch was their engagement with me. I really loved brainstorming with the team. It wasn't just me telling them what I wanted and them doing it. We actually worked through my ideas and concepts and made them better.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I couldn't say if there are areas of improvement for Switch yet as we have not started the next stage of the project. But we are hoping to start soon, so I can give a response at a later date. As of now, I see no improvements needed.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Thriveworkplace, a coworking flex company that develops and leases office space out to individuals and companies. We have five sites in the Denver area ranging from 80– 30,000 square feet. Currently, we have 750 members that lease space from us, and we have a dozen employees.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Switch Software Solutions?

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, people were afraid to come to our work sites. Nicholas (Founder) suggested that we create an app to monitor the cleanliness of our desks and conference rooms in each coworking space. We wanted to give our members confidence in the cleanliness of their workspace, so we accepted his offer to help us build the application.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We shared our needs at the beginning, and they used scrum processes to develop use cases based on our requirements. They built the app for iOS and Android, which works as a guide for our members to see which spaces are acceptable to work in from a cleanliness perspective. Occasionally, we ask them to assist with other projects outside the app, and we will probably work with them in the future to add functionality. 

What is the team composition?

I work with a program manager and technical manager. Occasionally, other team members will join our weekly scrum meetings to ask questions.

How did you come to work with Switch Software Solutions?

When they expanded to work in the US in 2018, Nicholas found me on LinkedIn, and we met for lunch. We developed a relationship from there, and we started talking to them about solutions when the COVID-19 pandemic happened. I liked that they wanted to help us.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership to develop the app officially started in August 2020, and it was completed in February 2021, but the collaboration is ongoing. I have visited Uruguay to familiarize myself with the company. We plan to collaborate in the future to morph the app into something bigger. Our partnership allows Switch Software Solutions to utilize our coworking space in exchange for software development assistance.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are very satisfied with their work and ability to understand our needs, but the ultimate measure of success is customer satisfaction. 

The COVID-19 pandemic affected the coworking flex industry because people were afraid to come onsite. Building this application helped us instill confidence in our members because we had a reliable method of measuring and reporting cleanliness.

The application helped set us apart from our competitors and survive the covid pandemic. The app is available on the Google and iTunes app store, and we had consistently high download rates through 2021. 

Use started to fall off as members felt the COVID-19 pandemic was slowing down, so we’ll add functionality to it. It was a special application for a specific time.

How did Switch Software Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

While developing the app, they met deadlines and stayed on budget. We met via Google Meet every two weeks, and they used a project management tool to keep organized. We also use a combination of WhatsApp, emails, and texts to maintain communication. Sometimes issues arise when communicating across countries, but WhatsApp is transferable as long as you have WiFi access.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The attitude and quality of the staff are most impressive. They have the ability to understand our needs and read our minds. They want to ensure that we're happy with the use cases and understand the requirements, which is such a comfort to us. I knew we had the right team when I saw the meticulous attention to detail paid to the requirements. This sets them apart from software development partners that we have worked with in the past. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There are always areas to improve. There were a couple of instances during the app development process where they didn’t push us hard enough for use case definitions, which could have helped our team. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would say that having a good set of use cases and a clear set of requirements is the key to success.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CTO of a Business and Technology Park managing 2 sites at Latam (Uruguay and Colombia). With world-class companies installed in our facilities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Switch Software Solutions, and what were your goals?

We wanted to have a mobile solution to connect with our community (+10k people). So that we can offer mobility at the park (scooters), activities (paddle, golf, tennins) and being able to open office accesses through a QR code among other functionalities.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We have met vendors from the market. We decided to go with Swithch as they have proposed a solution in line with our needs.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

The Project was delivered using scrum practices. Starting with an MVP and following up with several releases. The app is available for Android and iOS.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

From 5 to 10 people depending on the phase of the Project. Front end, user experience, scrum master, QA and backend profiles.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The application is now the connection between our business and technology park and a 10k people community coming to work 7x24 at our facilities.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We have used Jira, slack and regular end of sprint demos. As well as Teams for daily meetings.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The support of all the company's staff to our project is impressive. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

As any software company with different profiles and styles, some details has been missed. However they have been working on them to solve them out.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there

I am a software development manager at a global e-payments company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Switch Software Solutions?

We have been collaborating with them in the development of Gateways, as well as general software development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We use Java and Angular.

What is the team composition?

The teams have changed over time.

How did you come to work with Switch Software Solutions?

The company started working with them as individual contractors at first, and then some of them stayed working with us over time. From then on, we expanded our collaboration and escalated the teams.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The resources they have provided are very skilled. We have a very good relationship with them, they are very proactive, and they always provide great advice. As for Switch, we have a great relationship with them. They take very good care of their employees and motivate and train them. This is what makes them stand out from other companies.

How did Switch Software Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

They are providing us with the resources we need timely, which is something very complex to do at the moment in our local market. They have managed to respect all of our requirements and schedules as well. As for deadlines, we manage the projects ourselves but their people always adapt very quickly and help us meet all of our goals.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their skills, their efficiency, and their quick responses to requests stand out. They are also cordial and skilled at communicating.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I honestly can’t think of anything.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the business development manager at Logisyn Advisors. We are an advisory firm focused on helping logistics companies find the mergers and acquisitions solution for them. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Switch Software Solutions?

We originally worked with Switch on the first version of our website, and we have worked with them on multiple projects since then. Most recently we worked with their design and development team to roll out the new phase of our website.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals for this project were to update our old website to reflect changes in our business that have occurred over the last year.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

T.J Wolfe, their head of U.S sales, contacted us years back about working with Switch. We found him to be very professional, and decided to give it a shot.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The Switch team built the original website, and recently did a new build of our updated site.

What was the team composition?

Daniel Sanchez was the project lead and our main point of contact while working on this project. Martin, Antony, and Hector were the team members. I believe Marcelo also handled parts of the dev ops.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Because our website is so central to our company's sales and marketing and sales, the perfect website was a must. We have received multiple compliments from clients about our website since the very first deployment Switch did a few years back. Since the most recent updates to our website, we have seen a big bump in our engagement that I think can be credited to the work that Switch did.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Daniel and the whole team were incredibly responsive during the whole process. Sometimes I would shoot him an email, and he would get back to me by the end of the day with a confirmation that our requests were received and in progress. Because of their responsiveness, we were able to beat all of our deadlines for deployment and move onto other matters regarding our business.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I have been fortunate enough to work fairly close with Switch over the last couple of years. I think what really separates them from traditional development companies is how much they seem to care about us. They consistently simplify the process and handle the development without making our lives difficult. It has been a great experience working with them so far, and I am looking forward to continuing to do so in the future.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nope