Tech9

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Solution Manager of an education company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We provide education and self-reliance support for the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Tech9 to accomplish?

• EnglishConnect helps learners develop English skills in an environment of fellowship and faith.
• QuickReg helps people and groups connect to pursue learning and self-reliance.

SOLUTION

How did you find Tech9?

Referral

Why did you select Tech9 over others?

• High ratings
• Good value for cost

What was the size of Tech9’s team?

1 Employee

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

We have had the following deliverables over the last couple of years:

• Integrate EnglishConnect with common language learning platforms.
• Add audio review and grading options to the platform.
• Roll out QuickReg for a worldwide audience.
• Add 40 languages to the QuickReg platform.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Number of students.
• Number of practice hours/sessions.
• Number of users throughout the world.

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

Tech9 consultants joined our agile teams and delivered according to our regular scrum goals. All project management was provided by our internal team. Tech9 resources were fully integrated with the team. They are able to meet our team's expectations in all regards.

What was your primary form of communication with Tech9?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Resources and communications met our expectations. We used offshore resources and there was never a problem with schedules or participatioin.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Tech9 could have done differently?

No, we are pleased with their response and support.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the COO of Infinite Mind. We are the makers of a training program that improves reading skills and enhances mental processing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Tech9, and what were your goals?

We wanted to develop a mobile app for iOS and Android using Flutter. We wanted a responsive team that would work well with our existing dev team.

SOLUTION

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

Tech9 came highly recommended. After several interviews and some discussion about vision and the possibilities of the project, we felt that Tech9 was the best fit for our needs.

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

The scope of work was to convert an online web app to a mobile app, with some enhancements, to create a minimum viable product that replicated our original training program, but met the needs of current users. We spent a good deal of time defining and designing the product. We use Figma to design and iterate on designs. We required that we use Flutter as a framework, which would enable us to create one codebase for iOS, Android, and web in the future. We manage our projects out of ClickUp and required also that Tech9 be willing to use that program as well. For day-to-day communication, we have used Slack and Email.

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

We used about five resources in the beginning: two project managers, a designer, two mobile developers. We are now down to four, having reduced one of the mobile developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have been very happy with the MVP we released in November 2021. We have 5 stars on iOS and 4.5 stars on Android. We are currently working with Tech9 on our fifth release since the initial rollout.

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

They have been very responsive and timely in their communication. They have used Slack and ClickUp as our main communication tools and project management for the development and design team. We use email for larger communication with our executive team and the PM.

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

They had resources who knew how to develop in Flutter. This was a key requirement for us and was something hard to find. We have also been impressed with their designers. Specifically Ingemar and Bre. They have been great at listening, studying, and capturing our vision.

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

We'd like to be more efficient with our time now that we are on an hourly agreement. It's easy to let the hours get away from you when you are not on a fixed bid project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of new projects and research at Lashbrook Designs. We’re a wholesale manufacturer of men's wedding rings. We do mass customization allowing the end user to combine design elements and create their own unique ring.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What make were you trying to address with Tech9?

We needed a solution that could marry our infinite design possibilities with a UI on our basic website. We wanted to give customers the ability to replicate the in-store experience of mixing and matching design elements.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Tech9 designed and built a custom ring builder. From our home page, users can build their own design or pick one of our existing designs. It’s a complex challenge to allow users to customize rings or start from scratch without creating an overwhelming experience. We'd worked with several other developers and each experience was a disaster. The complexity was overwhelming. Tech9 took some of the design elements we'd already created and then essentially rewrote everything and built an entire new website from scratch.

In addition to the UI interface, they also dealt with structuring our data. It’s important that users aren’t able to choose two design elements that are incompatible. They limited the options in a matrix in such a way that it's intelligent and dynamic. As users move through the design process, it limits or expands their options and subsequent steps.

They continued to debug, add new features, and update the site. It's fully launched and functional but they continue to push the bounds of what we can do. They employ an API structure and AWS Lambda service. They use Amazon CloudFront to host the image part of the layering on the ring builder.

What is the team composition?

They have a software engineer that does all the architecture and the backend development. Depending on the phase of the project, they sub in and out people from the local office and the offshore office in India.

How did you come to work with Tech9?

We were a bit desperate. We'd already spent a lot of money on previous developers and had almost nothing to show for it. We started reaching out on social media and somebody recommended Tech9. We interviewed a bunch of companies. Part of the reason we chose them was their ability to save us money in devolvement by using their offshore team.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2017 and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re making big waves in the industry. The functionality of the website that Tech9 created sets us apart from any competition. We've yet to find a website in any industry that offers as many dynamic options as ours. They created well over 10 billion combinations that are represented with SKUs, descriptions, prices, and images. As we expand the product line to new accounts, the website is essential to the sales process.

How did Tech9 perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team is excellent. They always answer our emails, instant messages, and phone calls. That sounds really straightforward but other developers weren't great at being responsive. I often found myself managing other firms’ project managers. I don't have to do that with Tech9.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Our project was and continues to be complex from a data perspective. Their team is phenomenal at looking for intelligent ways to structure that data. They’re also quite good at looking for solutions for the website. We don't have the expertise or the technical background to do those tasks in-house, so it’s very helpful.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I'm not quiet when something's not working. They hear from me often and typically resolve things pretty quickly. The only thing I can think of is I’d like more transparency into what they're working on at any given time.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Fully understand the complexity of your project before beginning work. That helped us accurately set timelines and expectations. They're great at working with us to keep costs on budget. They’re also flexible in shrinking the team when possible to conserve money.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior VP of operations at Total Care Auto, an automotive warranty provider. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tech9?

We didn’t have a policy administrative system, so we had to manage all our contracts manually. To improve business efficiency, we needed a software developer who could build a comprehensive digital fulfillment platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had an unfortunate experience with the original developers, so we brought Tech9 on board to reverse the mistakes that were made. They rewrote a majority of the code and made the platform more user-friendly for our non-technical team to manage. Their team is currently building individual systems for our internal departments, which will be amassed into a single platform at the end of the engagement. Prominent features include accounting tools, software for streamlined claims processing and underwriting, and secure document management. After building the platform’s functionalities, they plan to replace the data management system through data migration.

What is the team composition?

We have a project manager who oversees frontend development, and we have another project manager who supervises backend development. Their team is comprised of two frontend developers and 9 programmers who work on the backend.

How did you come to work with Tech9?

They were highly recommended by one of our employees who had success with them in the past.

What is the status of this engagement?

Tech9 took over development in 2016, and they plan to launch the finalized platform in March 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Although only 70% of the platform has been completed, it has already made a significant impact on business development. Now that we’re able to fulfill and deliver contracts to our customers digitally, productivity within the organization has increased by 30%. Meanwhile, our personnel expenses have reduced by 31%. 

How did Tech9 perform from a project management standpoint?

Unlike most of the developers that we’ve worked with in the past, Tech9 has an incredibly organized team that adheres closely to the estimated timeline. During our weekly meetings, we discuss priority management and status updates. We use their ticket management system to submit service requests, and our assigned project managers delegate the tasks to the appropriate team. Impressed by their efficiency, we adopted some of their management procedures internally.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They offer the most cost-effective web solutions on the market, and they deliver amazing results. We had a difficult time communicating with the vendor who previously worked on the project, but Tech9 is excellent at bridging the gap between tech and sales.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was a steep learning curve on their end regarding our company, but we didn’t expect them to have specialized knowledge in the automotive industry.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Establishing weekly meetings was the catalyst for our success. Whether we’re discussing high or low priority items, the frequent communication has improved our partnership tremendously.