SynapseIndia

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a project manager for Steve Madden responsible for mostly frontend project management work. We're a shoe, handbag, and accessories company in the United States that operates about 40 websites around the world. Our main one is Steve Madden US, and there are a couple of brands based in the US, but then there is Steve Madden International, which is the official website for other countries around the world.

I've been in charge of launching all of our new websites so far, focusing on the frontend in particular, like I said, but I'm also involved in the backend.

What challenge were you trying to address with SynapseIndia?

Each country has its own specifics with respect to connecting the website to various third-party systems like warehouse management software (WMS), ERPs, and other systems. SynapseIndia has helped us throughout the years to establish those connections to systems in those countries, supporting development, studying the APIs for each system, and writing code to connect the two. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

They're working on launching a new website right now. For some accounts, they support in the sense that if there is something wrong with a connection, they will fix it, but it is mostly development.

For example, in South Africa, there is a team of distributors who work with various WMS, ERPs, or financial tools. When a website that runs on Shopify is launched, we need to connect the website to those systems, and there is a flow in place with respect to inventory updates for things like returns.

SynapseIndia is involved from a programmatic point of view. They have worked on establishing those connections. As far as the programming language, it is mostly .NET, and they are also working with Azure servers. 

How did you come to work with SynapseIndia?

In 2017, we decided to switch Stevemadden.com to Shopify. We started to look for teams throughout the world that could help us with this. India is a good option in the sense that there are plenty of companies there that have the capacity to do this kind of work.

We looked on specialized websites — even on the Shopify experts page — where backend, frontend, and customer service companies are listed. I chose a few options, and we had a few kickoff calls where we described the project and everything from the rates and their capacity with human resources.

We chose SynapseIndia because they seemed to be the most reliable team, and they had several hundred people working there. We had an interview with their CEO, and it was love at first sight. At that point, the CEO was involved in all the communication, and he also made a trip to the US where he met the executive of Steve Madden.

They have good communication skills, they are very organized, and everything is documented and logged. These small details made us want to give them a try. If everything went well, we would continue working with them, which is exactly what happened.

How much have you invested in them?

I would say it is somewhere between $200,000 –$300,000 over the last five years.

What is the status of this engagement?

It began around June 2017, and the engagement is ongoing. We continue to heavily rely on them.

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

Steve Madden is a public company, but some of the international accounts are in a joint venture with Steve Madden. There are six accounts in this situation, and the others are just official distributors who buy from Steve Madden and sell in their country.

We had to do audits whenever we launched an official market website because we're a public company. There were official audit sessions where we analyzed everything from the project plan to the final product, and various executives had to sign off on different phases. From that point of view, I would say that the outcome of the audits themselves were a good metric to take into consideration.

After we launched the websites — and not only the ones owned by Steve Madden — we could see from the sales and the business itself that they improved month by month.

I'm not sure exactly what is going on in the backend, but if the code didn't work well, then the business wouldn't work well either. 

How did SynapseIndia perform from a project management standpoint?

They are very organized and split into various teams, with a project manager on every team. There are specific key people that only handle the financial or accounting tasks: issuing invoices, making sure they're paid on time, and following up with the people at Steve Madden.

Communication takes place on multiple levels. One level is directly between the programmers and our team, and the other one is between project managers on both sides. There is also the financial and human resources management, who is communicating with the corresponding people on our side. Communication is done mostly through email, Skype, and video or audio conferences. 

They're available for meetings and conference calls to facilitate some of our ongoing issues. For example, instead of just going back and forth with email, sometimes a 15-minute call is easier. They were very flexible. Even if a meeting was one hour, they never said they couldn’t do it or would ask to reschedule.

We have an agreement that when 100 hours have been spent from their side, they will issue us an invoice, and together with that invoice, we get a PDF log with every hour that was spent, on what day, and for what. We are all very transparent.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I find them to be pretty awesome as a team, and I would definitely recommend them. They have a lot of people and the capability to handle multiple large projects at the same time. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Something that I think should be taken into consideration is the time difference with them being based in India. This isn't applicable to our business because they work with accounts that are 2–3 hours different than us, which is manageable, but for someone located in the US I would ask them to have people available during US hours. I am not sure if they can do that, or if they already have that, but that is something I would ask as a potential customer. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It depends on how big your business is, but if the business is big enough, I would ask for a full-time employment model as opposed to working by hours spent and paying by the hour as you go. I think it would be more efficient to have one, three, or 10 resources — depending on your needs — be available every day for the required working time and pay them a salary. This doesn’t apply to us because we don’t have eight hours of work to do daily, but I think it would be more efficient to have a deal where they are paid a monthly salary no matter how many hours they spend throughout the month. 

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder of Equity Experts and TechCollect, which provide collection solutions for condo/HOA communities.

For what projects/services did your company hire SynapseIndia, and what were your goals?

Collecting delinquencies for a condo or HOA community has historically been a passive and punitive process. During my 25 years in community management, I observed communities struggle to pay an attorney for collection services while lacking the assessments needed for their daily operations. The lack of efficiency and substandard reporting was frustrating for communities, and the process was often punitive for owners that misunderstood their circumstances and the costly consequence of falling behind on their condo/HOA dues.

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

Synapse gave thoughtful consideration to the application we envisioned and a reasonable timeframe for completion.

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

Using predictive data analytics, we developed a system to help us address each delinquency with a unique sequence of communications customized to each debtor. Synapse developed a workflow automation that performs the outbound communication to each debtor on behalf of the community, increasing the likelihood of payment to the community without requiring legal action.

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

We used a team of 3 developers

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

Communicating with the team has been very good and the project has performed on schedule and on budget

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

Daily email communication from the development team and weekly phone meetings

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

Strong track record

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

The language barrier and familiarity with our industry has been challenging at times, but we have worked through those issues

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of Kaloud, a company that designs, engineers, and manufacturers award winning products.

For what projects/services did your company hire SynapseIndia, and what were your goals?

We developed our first electronic product, an LED called the Selestia, which includes some relatively innovative hardware, including a pressure sensor. We needed to create an App that would connect to our hardware via a bluetooth connection. The app would need to include a timer, the ability to select or deselect devices, to turn them on or off, and also change between moods.

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

We searched for several months and interviewed firms in the Netherlands, USA, Ukraine, Romania, and others in India, but finally decided on Synapse because of their track record, team, and pricing.

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

My team has weekly meetings with Synapse and we are also in constant communication via email. Synapse sends us daily updates which are very helpful. We worked to develop apps for iOS and Android.

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

We have a project manager as well as several developers.

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

Our app was developed in about five months and it is currently doing very well on the iOS and Android App stores with very limited issues, that are mostly to do with functionality that our users would like to see added. Aside from that our App is performing really well and we will use Synapse for all our future updates, including our Version 2.0.

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

Very easy to communicate despite the time differences. They are good about using a wide variety of communication tools, email, Zoom, Skype, etc.

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

They are well known for their development ethos and they hire and retain some of the best talents in the industry. Having visited their offices, I can say that they are also conscientious about the treatment and development of their team members.

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

It would be great to see an interactive visual Gantt Chart that shows us past/future milestones, though they certainly do that via email and on our calls. Being that I'm more visual, it would be cool.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm president of a company called Knexus Research. We are an artificial intelligence, machine learning, and research and development company. Our primary customer is the U.S. Department of Defense for which we research autonomous and intelligent systems.

What challenge were you trying to address with SynapseCo?

We were doing something very different with Synapse. We do process management, and there's a specific software-as-a-service application that we were trying to build an infrastructure for. That's not our primary function so we contacted Synapse and had them handle that part of the development project. We are an R&D shop; they are a development shop. We needed development for internal use.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The software is used for internal task management. As an R&D company, we are fairly familiar with software design and development processes, but that's not what we do. I had a good concept of what I wanted in terms of the software requirements, and I had a few pages of written documentation. Basis this information, they provided their quotation, a rough number of hours, and their approach, which seemed reasonable. After verifying that, we started working on the project.

Their primary job was to develop a user experience design, follow that with the implementation given the software specifications that I've given, and develop the backend for it. I specified that I wanted it to be developed in Angular with the Mongo stack. They have a great deal of experience in some of the other third-party components that we needed in terms of messaging.

They laid out a plan, and we started to develop a proof of concept through storyboarding mockups. They took each of the requirements and conducted a detailed interview to make sure they understood how the system was going to work. They started to give me the UI design, which was very helpful for me to visualize how things would work. Every few days, they gave me pages to look at. They're fairly realistic mockups, and I critiqued them. They iterated and incorporated my design changes.

After that, implementation started. They published their code into our server, which we were able to look at and verify. They put up a staging server which I could interact with and see how things were going. That continued the iteration between UI design, HTML implementation, and backend integration until the project was recently finished. We are still in the process of fully integrating and testing.

What is the team composition?

There were three individuals involved. One was responsible for the frontend design, one was responsible for implementing the frontend, and one was responsible for Angular backend implementation. My main point of contact was the backend developer, and he relayed requests to the other two people who built the frontend. Occasionally, they interacted.

How did you come to work with SynapseCo?

I went to Upwork and posted a job listing, and they responded. The volume and quality of work they had done and the reviews they had gave me confidence that they had the technical competency to understand my requirements and do what we wanted. Rather than a one or two-person shop that I could not evaluate, they had a substantial body of experience. They seemed like a 300-person company. They had a well-defined process for gathering requirements, and they're very good at communicating. Every time they did something, they let me know. The interaction was on a daily basis and very thorough. That gave me the confidence that they're asking the right questions and that we'll get a product that's close to our specifications at the end of the day.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost turned out to be a little higher than I thought because I added a lot of requirements. We spent $14,000–$16,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started at the end of July 2017. We've given them a different project, but this particular one ended in November 2017. Right now, we're internally integrating and deploying it.

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

It produces a lot of advantages. We do task planning and tracking. Although there are other commercial products out there, we don't use them because they are not well-aligned with our R&D business process. While we follow a process, it's emergent and evolving tied to R&D. This tool that we built helps with that, keeps tasks on time, and at the same time gives our small team a lot of flexibility.

In terms of business advantage, it's like any other task manager. It helps us keep all the projects on track, keeps our costs manageable, provides much more efficiency, and improves communication between team members.

How did SynapseCo perform from a project management standpoint?

We interacted through Skype and Upwork. It was very frequent, almost on a daily basis, and I received immediate responses. At the end of the work day, they're clear in communicating what was done and what was posted. Any requirements and ambiguities were resolved through Skype. Examples were given and documents were exchanged through Upwork and our server. When I didn't feel comfortable having information in the public domain, we used our servers. They were very responsive. They clarified everything we requested. They were very thorough.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Everyone has a good work ethic and technical competency. Their graphic design was very nice. It's very good compared to some agencies I've worked with before. I think they're a very good value for the money for their skill sets. Communication in specifications was sometimes a challenge, but they were very proactive in clarifying exactly how they understood it, went back and implemented it and asked me to verify it.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would be nice if I didn't have to verify so many things. My specification was more along the lines of a narrative and not a software description. If someone could translate nebulous software requirements and turn them into more concrete, detailed design, it would be nice. It would save us some effort. I got some design ideas from them, but I had to ask them for it. Hiring someone with experience in requirements analysis would be helpful.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The more defined your product concept is, the more efficient they'll be. They are very quick and thorough in taking a relatively closed implementation specification and doing it. They'll certainly get you to the point of success. The amount of time it will take going from your concept to the product will depend on how good you are at specifying it. If you leave things abstract, plan for more design and verification time, which is to be expected, but I didn't have a person with that skill set in the team. If you're looking to give abstract ideas and broad concepts, make sure you factor that into your overall process. They're capable of executing it, but it takes longer.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for an insurance company in the finance sector. My role focuses on admin and backend projects.

What challenge were you trying to address with SynapseCo?

Our company needed to build an online program that would digitize clients’ compliance and disclosure documents. We’d been having them fill out on paper during in-person meetings, and wanted to ease this process for all parties involved.

What was the scope of their involvement?

SynapseCo provided extensive coding service to build a program that takes our clients’ documentation process online. In meetings, our staff can now use an iPhone, iPad, or laptop to access a website where clients can input their personal contact information, complete forms, and sign documents electronically. Clicking submit functions as a digital signature, and sends a PDF version to their email to maintain a record for the future.

The backend programming included the digital signature, designing "next," "previous," and "submit" buttons, and implementing content including field texts. They built an online quiz or program that lets a user select from multiple options, and then translates that selection into a PDF for each of our clients.

Using basic design programs including Canva and Microsoft Word, I created basic templates to show their team how I wanted the layout to look. Once they received those documents, they’d implement those changes. They're currently conducting a clean-up of the final draft, so we can start using the program exclusively with our clients.

What is the team composition?

Ashish Goenka was our project manager and main point of contact, who I spoke with via Skype calls and email. I occasionally spoke to Depak Kumar Sahoo, just to make sure everything was going well.

How did you come to work with SynapseCo?

We submitted a post on Guru.com to solicit interest from e-freelancers across the world. We’d received significant feedback and interest from other freelancers, but something about SynapseCo’s profile struck my attention. I was impressed by the revenue they'd made via this platform, and their many previous projects had good ratings. Work for other clients showcased on Guru and their own website looked well-done. Their reputation seemed promising, so we took a leap of faith and decided to hire them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $5,000-$7,000. Guru makes it difficult to track all the spending, because vendors withdraw from the money allocated in one’s paid account based. You have to trust your freelancer to log the correct number of work hours.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in October 2016, and our engagement has lasted a little over a year. Moving forward, I'm not sure if we'll keep them on retainer for ongoing web hosting, but we’ll definitely consider using for our many future projects.

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

The program seems quite functional so far. Although I don’t have specific metrics to share, I can speak to their value as a company. All the people I've dealt with have been very helpful, and they're excellent at staying in touch. They're always available to respond to our emails, despite the time difference; we're located in Toronto, and they're in India.

Over the last year, they've provided excellent influence for our project. I’d take screenshots of each webpage, compile them into a word document, and add content to show their team what I wanted to change. Several of these update documents evidence the impact of their work, and the nature of our progress over the past 6-8 months.

How did SynapseCo perform from a project management standpoint?

As my first time managing a project, I struggled to see the trajectory from a design and content perspective. They've been supportive in that regard, and consistently gave us useful suggestions to improve the program, including what things to add. I spent a lot of time testing and tracking the site, which may have made the project more expensive than we'd anticipated.

We used several threads on the Guru site to connect on a daily or weekly basis. We also communicated daily or every other day via e-mail and Skype, which is much easier. Despite being based in India, we had very few issues communicating with the group. There was a negligible language barrier, and we resolved incongruences by sending screenshots with additional context.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciated their constant availability, quick responses to emails, and regular updates on project status. If I was busy with work and missed correspondence, they'd send reminder emails and accommodate my schedule. They consistently indicated when they started work on new fixes, and would confirm receipt of my messages by the next day. It was never difficult to get in touch with any of them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes as the manager for this project, I received insufficient guidance on what direction to take. I would prefer them to provide specific outlines, rather than having to guess what best practice would be. I often gave them basic design templates to show what we were picturing, which they’d implement as-is. We wanted them to showcase our designs at a higher level, and upgrade these generic examples to fit our layout.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would suggest asking to provide specific examples of PDFs or web links from previous projects related to one’s industry, whether that’s finance, insurance, or marketing. That will give you a nice idea of the value they can bring to your project, or what types of programs they can build for you. Some of their work is shown on Guru, more specifically catered materials might be helpful.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the president of a company in which I build mobile apps for iOS and Android. My current project is an app for managing photo on a user's smartphone.

What challenge were you trying to address with Synapse?

The biggest challenge was that I had taken classes in Android programming, but it was too difficult and I wasn't going to be able to complete the project on time. Therefore I needed to hire a consultant to assist with the Android development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Starting from specifications and sketches I provided, Synapse put forward a contract proposal and I was pleased with the cost. They then created a version of the Android app almost to the tee matching what I wanted it to look like. They brought experienced team members to work on the project, which included Android programming, back-end database work, and graphic capabilities. I was very impressed with the capabilities of the team. 

What is the team dynamic?

I was in contact with one main project manager, and he put me in touch with two developers who I mainly worked with, one working on the Android programming and the other working on the backend server configuration using Amazon web services.

How did you come to work with Synapse?

I did some searching using a tool called Elance for independent Android developers and I found Synapse India. They had a history of good reviews, so I decided to hire them.

How much have you invested with them?

This year I will have invested between $10,000 and $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The relationship with Synapse began in November 2016 and the first version of the product launched on the Play Store in October 2017. I am continuing to work with them on developing the future versions.

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

The app only launched about one month ago and the feedback so far has been positive relating to the look and feel of the app.

How did Synapse perform from a project management standpoint?

I am very impressed with them. They politely and enthusiastically prod me to keep the project moving along because they are excited to work on the next phase. I get the sense that they really know how to do business. As an example, I just gave them specifications for an update on the Android development, and they turned it around and got back to me with a proposal in one day. They are also flexible with workflow, allowing me to break the development into five milestones, which is how I like to work.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I found that they were able to bring a number of experienced people to the project, consisting of Android programmers, database programmers, and  SEO capabilities. They have provided me a complete team to be able to get my project to the Play Store, quickly and professionally. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Right now I am very happy with the way they manage projects and I don't have any improvements to offer.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm an independent nurse practitioner, helping to care for geriatric patients at the nursing or long-term care facilities.

What challenge were you trying to address with Synpase?

I had done a doctoral thesis developing a tool that can be used for patients with wounds in long-term care setting. I needed a software program to document clinician's assessments on wounds, so I was looking for a company to create a mobile app for me.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I provided them with a paper tool and explained what layout I was looking for. They developed an app for both iOS and Android based on the original paper tool. In addition, they provided the design work: they gave me different options to choose from and guided me in the right direction. I wanted to call the app "Sage" and  use the sage flowers in the background, so they developed the screens to reflect that.

I see a lot of the same patients from week to week, and the app allows me to input the information and then go back and make changes or print a report for a patient's chart. It saves time, and makes the clinician's work easier. 

We're working on a website now, which will be used as a marketing tool to inform people about the app and its features. 

What is the team dynamic? 

I worked with a designer, a back-end developer, a programmer, and a project manager. 

How did you come to work with them?

I used Upwork to solicit the project to several developers. Synapse had the most expertise and the background in medical documentation, so they were a good fit for me.

How much have you invested with them?

I spent around $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement? 

I started working with them in February 2016, and we still work together.  

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

I used to do a dictation service, which was very costly, but with the app there won't be any fee because I will input the information and print it at the facility.

The app (both iOS and Android) is getting ready to launch, so it hasn't been utilized in the public domain yet.

How did they perform from a project management standpoint?

They're very responsive, professional, and timely. We use Skype, email, and phone to communicate. We prefer email since they're in India and I'm the United States.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're very knowledgeable about the product. I had no IT experience, and they guided me through the entire project. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear vision of what you need, and Synapse will be able to guide you and give you suggestions on how to market it.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a tech company that works with trading-type businesses in the financial sector. We develop trading and marketing platforms, B2B products, backend membership websites, landing pages, etc.

What challenge were you trying to address with SynapseCo?

We initially hired SynapseCo to develop a web-based app for one of our partner companies.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had somewhat of a prototype for the app already, but we decided to make it for a single client instead of the whole market, so SynapseCo took the functionality and concept of the initial app and built it for one user.

We've also had them build some custom functionality for our traders, custom e-mail solutions, and some backend widgets, trade boards, and plugins. These are all on a WordPress site, and I believe SynapseCo uses PHP, Ajax, Laravel, and HTML. The projects are all for different partners, and everything SynapseCo makes is mediated through us.

What is the team dynamic?

We’ve had as many as six people on our team. The composition changes sometimes, but we usually have WordPress developers, a couple of designers, a backend expert, and then some SEO experts and content writers. We tell SynapseCo what skills we need, and they put the team together.

How did you come to work with SynapseCo?

We researched several different vendors before finding SynapseCo. Our initial project was the app, but they did so well that we began to give them steady work for other projects.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent well over six figures so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together for about a year and a half.

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

They deliver their products on time and perform at the same level or better than our in-house team. Any new projects go to them first because I know they’ll do a great job. Normally, I'm very thorough and picky when it comes to working with a third-party vendor, but SynapseCo has consistently impressed me.

How did SynapseCo perform from a project management standpoint?

Most of our communication is via Skype, but we also use email, screen shares, and phone calls. We talk with them every night.

The team they provide us has changed a few times, but it’s probably been about 90% consistent so far, and whenever it does switch, we’ve never lost any quality.

What did you find most impressive about them?

For an overseas company, they’re timely and easy to work with. They deliver on their promises, and their skillsets make them an invaluable partner. I can trust that they’ll do the job well and be honest about their capacity and limitations.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The time difference and language barrier have sometimes been a challenge, but that’s not necessarily their fault. We’ve managed to work through any miscommunications, though.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Do your research and be clear on your expectations so that everyone is on the same page. In long distance partnerships, it’s critical that everyone understands the project or else the timeline can be severely delayed.

Please describe your organization.

Our company sells school clothing to schools in the UK.

What is your position?

I am the senior partner of the company.

What business challenge were you trying to address with SynapseIndia?

We needed help in developing our website. We didn’t have the ability to do the work ourselves, so we had to outsource the work.

Please describe the scope of your involvement with SynapesIndia.

SynapseIndia has modernized our website using the Magento platform. We have had about six developers from SynapseIndia assigned to our project, and we interact with them directly. One developer is assigned to maintaining our cloud server and other resources working on different sites for the company.

At the moment, we’re running a project that will combine three sites into one administrative panel.

How did you come to work with SynapseIndia?

I found SynapseIndia through Upwork, which was called oDesk at the time. I considered some UK-based companies in the beginning but chose SynapseIndia out of several candidates. Up to that point I had used several developers for website work, but I ultimately decided to use only SynapseIndia in order to maintain continuity. Introducing new developers at that stage would require training them from zero.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The total development cost with SynapseIndia has been between $3,000 and $4,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We first got in touch with SynapseIndia two or three years ago, and the relationship is ongoing.

Could you share any statistics, metrics or other feedback from this engagement?

SynapseIndia is a good and thorough development agency.

How did SynapseIndia perform from a project management standpoint?

SynapseIndia has come to understand how we expect them to work. We have daily contact through Skype and can easily give them instructions. If SynapseIndia’s team is unclear about anything, they will let us know. We also collaborate through the Upwork platform and work on an hourly basis. Upwork is good enough for us, so we don’t use any specialized project tracking tools.

What distinguishes SynapseIndia from other providers?

SynapseIndia works well as a team. They work well with each other and their clients in order to provide the best possible solution. It’s better to work with a team that has the cumulative expertise and knowledge in order to get the best result. Previously I worked with a different company for server maintenance, but getting two companies to talk can be difficult, so we decided to move that task to SynapseIndia, so they could manage the whole lot.

Is there anything SynapseIndia could have improved or done differently?

SynapseIndia should make sure that their resources have a good grasp of the English language, given that they’re dealing with English-speaking clients. We have been able to get through to them, but it’s sometimes better to talk to a vendor in our own language.

RATINGS

Please describe your organization.

We are a startup developing a data-feed marketplace.

What is your position?

I am the founder of the company. Because we are so small, I basically manage everything from the product, to the business development, and the operations.

What business challenge were you trying to address with SynapseIndia?

We wanted to save money by outsourcing development. The idea was to find a reliable partner that could support our development tasks and also scale their involvement when the time came.

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

SynapseIndia developed various modules for our company and also helped us with project management. We also have an e-commerce presence for which SynapseIndia has built backend software like inventory management integrations with distributors and marketplaces. We mainly use open-source software like Magento. SynapseIndia has developed our solutions using MySQL, PHP, and more recently, Java.

At its peak, our team consisted of 4 developers from SynapseIndia. We interacted with them directly.

How did you come to work with SynapseIndia?

SynapseIndia was one of the biggest companies on Elance at the time. The cost was a major consideration when making our choice. We considered around 10 other candidates, and initially started working with two of them. We ultimately switched to SynapseIndia exclusively.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The total development cost so far has been above $300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have an ongoing engagement with SynapseIndia. I plan on using them for many years.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

SynapseIndia did a very good job of developing our marketplace integration software. They delivered the work in a reasonable amount of time and always checked if everything was working properly. We run many scrum jobs, and any problems are addressed without delay. SynapseIndia's team will usually have overtime until everything is working properly. Their commitment level is always 100%. SynapseIndia's team is also very polite, respectful, and professional.

How did SynapseIndia perform from a project management standpoint?

In terms of scheduling, we've only had minor issues. We don't use any specialized project management tools because our management does not require this. Documentation and feedback are provided by myself directly. I give SynapseIndia small tasks, instead of overall projects. They report to me twice a day by either email, Skype, or phone.

What distinguishes SynapseIndia from other providers?

SynapseIndia is a serious company, compared to some of their competition. I worked with other developers who always found reasons for delays, sometimes lying. SynapseIndia focuses on my project and gives me access to the resources I hire.

Is there anything SynapseIndia could have improved or done differently?

Whenever we have issues or delays, SynapseIndia simply gives me discounts. At times, I was not charged for a week's worth of work when their developers needed more time to do research. SynapseIndia has always accommodated me and made sure that I was happy.