techahead

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of ASCEND, a new social media company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired TechAhead to develop the first version of our social media app, and to be our partner for ongoing versions.

SOLUTION

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

We reviewed many different vendors around the world and the TechAhead team understood our mission best and we felt that they had a high level of both creative and technical expertise.

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

We developed Android and iOS versions of ASCEND, consisting of photo, video and text posting and viewing, advanced search, content ratings and reviews, content amplification, text commenting and chat, and many additional features. They also helped us develop the branding and logo for the company and a distinctive user interface.

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

A project manager, lead designer with a design team, user experience expert, technical lead with full tech team, QA lead with QA team

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We just launched in the App and Play stores and we are in limited release now, bit the app is aesthetically beautiful and functions well. We are very pleased with the final deliverable.

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

We met in a weekly meeting, and more often when necessary. They were very flexible with meeting times. We communicated vis Slack. They worked hard to meet aggressive deadlines. We faced major challenges during COVID, including the death of our first project lead, but the TechAhead team remained dedicated to the completion of our project, working hard to overcome all the challenges. The COO of TechAhead became personally involved to ensure a successful delivery.

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

They had a high "get it" factor with our complex concepts and purpose. And, as I said above, when we faced major setbacks due to COVID in India, the team remained dedicated and we received even more support from the company's COO. Also, their design skills are absolutely top-notch. They are strong app developers who know how to get the job done.

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

Considering the tremendous challenges we faced due to COVID, they did an incredible job.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a software providor for real estate professionals. I am the product manager

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our challenge was to develop a software platform that integrates to iot hardware devices in homes for real estate professionals to manage remotely.

SOLUTION

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

Thier expertise and experience integrating with hardware iot devices.

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

They developed a full feature stack using Angular and integrated multiple Api's inculding a front end, back end and user and admin access. They also developed mobile apps that integrated into the system as well.

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

There were 4 core team members in thier respective expertise, but if we ran into any technical issues out of thier scope they were able to pull in resources within thier company.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They delivered the full stack and we were able to work out bugs with them to get to a stable product MVP.

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

The project management was great. They were very communicative and flexible. We communicated through Slack and used Jira.

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

direct access to the development team and quality project managers that are very communicative and are quick to respond to any issues or requests we had.

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

While the quality of the work is great, initially the documentation was excellent but as the project went on documentation fell behind.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director of Software Development at Ventus networks. Ventus manufactures and deploys a wired/wireless router that can leverage cellular networks for a variety of installations, like ATMs, POS terminals, Digital Signs, etc.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Ventus had an existing mobile application project that was started by another company and Techahead was hired to continue development of that project and provide ongoing maintenance to it.

SOLUTION

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

Ventus interviewed a handful of companies that specialized in mobile app development, reviewed their development strategy, costs, portfolio of previous/existing projects, and ultimately decided to go with Techahead due to their experience in the space.

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

The project Techahead was hired to perform was to A) analyze the existing project and source and identify any issues, B) continue the development roadmap and C) perform maintenance (i.e. bug fixes, new features, updates, etc.) on an ongoing basis.

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

There is a project manager, an Java developer (Android), a C#/Swift developer (iOS), a UI/UX designer, and a couple of QA resources.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The team was able to very quickly, in a matter of weeks, able to understand the existing source code and leverage the project API to adjust and update the project with new features, ultimately resulting in a successful release onto the respective app stores.

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

The entire team thus far has been very easy to communicate with, using a variety of communication tools, primarily Slack, but also Zoom when calls/meetings are needed to clarify more abstract or complex concepts.

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

So far, techahead has shown the ability to quickly adapt to an existing project's code. They quickly understood their inherited project, even with very little explanation about our ultimate goal.

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

Nothing thus far. This has been a very easy going project that has been able to yield results in about as quick a timeframe as can be imagined.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a social media platform creating the future of digital legacy for the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire techahead?

We hired Techahead for a two phase build: UX/UI discovery and design. We recently extended their contract scope to include the build of the app given the excellence with which they have taken us through the build design journey.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We vetted multiple high end companies in this sector. Techahead was by far the most invested, the most engaged and had the greatest attention to detail from the first meeting. It was the attention to detail and dedication to and passion for our idea that solidified their team as the perfect fit.

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

Our specific application, and the digital legacy space we are creating, is new. None of this has been done before. As such, this particular projected required a lot of discussions and meetings. It required attention to detail and patience. There were many items that needed multiple meetings to figure out, discuss and solidify. This was an interactive process involving a great to and fro between everyone at the Techahead team (managers, UX/UI designers, artists, etc). This ultimately resulted in an elegant, beautiful, and seemingly simple interface with very unique and powerful applications. We never would have gotten to that stage without our Techahead teams attention to detail and passion for this project.

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

Techahead invariably assigned 3-5 people on every single call twice a week. Each meeting was approximately 1-2 hours. We had a project manager overseeing the meetings and keeping the momentum going. We had UX designers (1-2), and UI designers (1-2). Whever our CTO had more technical questions, the Techahead CTO made himself immediately available for all questions, and was extremely helpful as well. The COO also ensured our satisfaction with the process during the latter parts of our design phase.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It is difficult to mold something new, that hasn't been done before, from the minds of our founders. Techahead were experts in capturing the spirit of our idea, infusing it across all aspects of the design, and ensuring that the world we created together had a resonance that was pure to the original idea. The wire frames captured a very new and complex idea. The designs are beautiful and capture the spirit of our digital legacy service. I think Techahead is special because they listen very carefully....that is a very important thing.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

I thought the workflow between our teams was tremendous. Meeting 3-4 hours a week, every week can get tiring at times. Despite this, the Techahead team was always upbeat and ready to solve the questions or stumbling blocks that would come up. On our side the myself (CEO) and the CTO were present at every meeting. An extremely collaborative process was always fostered by the Techahead team.

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

I think Techahead will continue to do amazing things with whoever they work with for 3 reasons:

1. Their tremendous attention to detail
2. They ability to listen carefully to feedback and to respond with appropriate changes quickly.

They always display a passion for the project. Techahead always made our team feel like we were their only client, which I know not to be true, but is a testament to their focus on our application with every email or meeting.

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

I have no negative comments to make here. Time zones could be challenging at times, but Techahead always went the extra mile to accommodate meeting times although they would often end up being very late in the night for members of their team. This demonstrated great dedication to the production process.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are an artificial intelligence firm providing product solutions to banking and capital markets. I am the CEO of the firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire techahead?

We hired TechAhead to design and develop a mobile and web application that can connect with CRM, third-party data sources and marketing apps.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to create an integrated platform that can solve the needs of our Clients with end to end capabilities including data mapping, data catalog and discovery, and integration between different business units.

SOLUTION

How did you select techahead?

We were referred to TechAhead by a ex-colleague. We were impressed with their portfolio and capabilities to deliver large scale enterprise solutions with complex 3rd party integrations.

Describe the project in detail.

The scope of the project involved development of an iOS, Android, and Web application for our Clients, which can find and connect data across various data sources. The app enables our Clients to get a 360 degree view of their customer interactions and preferences along with actionable insights.

What was the team composition?

TechAhead engaged a 15 people team on this project that involved a Project Manager, Tech Architect, UX Director, Quality Lead and a team of developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The application is still under development but we are happy with the results so far.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

TechAhead provided us with a detailed project plan and timeline. We do daily check-ins with their team and are involved in all the key decisions for the project. We find them very easy to work with, they are proactive, and responsive to our requests.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We are extremely impressed with their architecture and coding practices to ensure that the end product is scalable and secure. We appreciate their attention to details and the willingness to find innovative ways to address our complex requirements.

Are there any areas for improvement?

TechAhead is working with us a strategic partner, which is great and allows us to be iterative as its a new product journey.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a socio-politically oriented startup. We’re creating an opinion networking app that facilitates discussions and debates on various issues. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with techahead?

Our objective was to find a developer who could help us build our iOS and Android apps and get them launched in app stores.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Techahead is developing a mobile app that to encourage socio-political discussion between users. The solution allows users to pose generate conversation prompts that have two sides. People can then upvote or downvote the post, comment on it, save and share it, and more. To find topics that are more relevant, you can search through categories and location-specific prompts that interest you.

What is the team composition? 

We work with a project manager.

How did you come to work with techahead?

When we started looking for a vendor we went to Google and Clutch to make a shortlist of app developers that we liked — many of them were off-shore due to cost constraints. We reached out to the candidates, and the bigger names got back to us, including techahead. 

There were a couple of factors that led us to choose techahead. The main driver was that I loved their website, which was a good indicator of their potential technical engineering capabilities. They had big-name clients on their portfolio, too, which drew me in. 

I also noticed that their English was up to par for our needs. They had a simplistic way of conveying what they did and how they could help us. That boded well for us because we were making a product for the US market. Finally, they understood the full scope of our product and didn’t treat us as just another client. It felt like they saw the vision behind the platform and still do.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve worked with them since October 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re still working on other features, so we haven’t gone live yet. The aim is to go into a QA and beta testing phase in February 2021 before releasing the first version of the app. As for working with techahead, they’re a good team. They’re nice, extremely professional, and super talented. Not to mention, it’s fantastic to collaborate with them.

How did techahead perform from a project management standpoint?

The project manager they’ve assigned is phenomenal. She understands our requirements, has a good grasp of our work ethic, and communicates with several people on our team, all of whom are working on different things. They’re also super prompt with getting back to us. If there are any delays in our timeline, they’ve been nice about it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

One of the best things about techahead has been how accommodating they’ve been to us piling on features into the app. After the team got a good understanding of our vision, they sketched out a prototype pretty quickly, which allowed us to visualize our product and then add features incrementally. 

Even though this has pushed the initial timeline out by two (if not more) months, they’ve always been understanding. They assess our change request, quickly give us a quote, and then send an invoice.

Are there any areas they could improve?

My main feedback would be that they could improve upon their transition from the discovery phase to writing a scope of work (SOW). For one specific task, they came up with an SOW within 1–2 discovery phone calls, which I thought was really fast. It turned out that the SOW wasn’t fully complete, so we asked them to add in any missing items that we pointed out. 

Lo and behold, they were as accommodative as they could be, even on the new items that were glaringly not in the original prototype.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re trying to get something done within a limited budget and know you have a growing idea, then definitely check out techahead. I’d also suggest making sure you’re as thorough as you can be during your discovery phone calls. You need to be as clear as possible down to the very last detail. They won’t let you down once they understand the full scope of work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a booking application for physicians.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Techahead?

We brought Techahead on board to develop a web and mobile app for physicians, clinicians, and administrators.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

At the beginning of the project, I just had a concept. Through a series of calls, I explained my idea and what I was looking for. Following that, they provided me with wireframes and UI design. Then they developed the platform and ensured that it was HIPAA compliant.

What is the team composition?

I was in contact with a project manager throughout the process, but I was able to contact all six team members directly as well.

How did you come to work with Techahead?

I chose Techahead because of their reviews on Clutch. I wanted a partner with experience building applications for the healthcare industry and could guarantee HIPAA compliance. I also wanted a smaller company that could focus on my project and offered hourly prices that could fit my budget.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project in December 2019 and they delivered the final product in January 2021. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

From what I can tell, the final product is really good. I hired a technical advisor to test the app, but I haven’t received a report yet.

How did Techahead perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated through WhatsApp and email. They were always easy to reach.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was able to reach them at any time. They regularly worked overtime and responded quickly whether it was a weekday or the weekend.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could have communicated their prices better. Originally, they quoted my project just under $30,000. However, after all of my change requests, we spent about $60,000.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

New clients should have a plan to test the app once it’s complete. Once they were done with development, I had a hard time finding someone to test the app.

They also should focus on outlining the deliverables clearly to avoid change requests.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of a tech startup company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with techahead?

We wanted to develop a mobile application.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

techahead created a native mobile platform for Android and iOS from scratch. It’s a social networking app, so it has a registration and a map feature that hasn’t been seen on any other app yet. Users can comment and like, as well as add someone. They built it using Kotlin and Swift, and the backend is in Python. 

What is the team composition?

I mainly liaised with one person who acted as the scrum master for the team. I believe the whole team included a designer, a QA specialist, a scrum master, and Android, iOS, and backend developers. It was all managed by one person.

How did you come to work with techahead?

I talked to different companies and found techahead to be very professional.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

It began in early May 2020, and we launched in October 2020. They gave us a three-month guarantee to do any fixes.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They were brilliant. techahead was responsive to emails and any issues that arose as we went along.

How did techahead perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very good at communicating and even if there was an issue, they communicated well. We communicated through email with the scrum master who would then communicate to the rest of the team. It made it very easy for us as the client to get to the right people.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their professionalism was most impressive. They followed all the processes we gave them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that I can think of. They were what they sold themselves to be.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Try and have a technical person on your side as well to help to make the most out of techahead.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

The Hollywood Trainer, Inc a Health and Wellness company operating over 28 years. Director of Operation

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Techahead to update our subscription based Healthy Living Website and to Develop an APP feeding from our current website.

SOLUTION

How did you select techahead and what were the deciding factors?

I first became aware of TechAhead via Clutch during my own search as I was not impressed with the recommendations given by Clutch. My deciding factors were:

1. They had previous experience building an application similar to what we needed.
2. Shanal and Deepak took the necessary time to review the scope of the job.
3. We took a few months before making a decision and during that time I presented Techahead with many questions and they were always happy to answer expediently.

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

Scope:

1. Design and development of iOS and Android mobile application
2. Bug Fixing of the currently reported issues in the Club website and its performance optimization including PHP Upgrade and Exception Handling.
3. Existing Database Redesign and Optimization for better performance and scalability
4. APIs Development for the mobile app.
5. Deployment of the application on Microsoft Azure or Amazon AWS for reliability and scalability.

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

Techahead has assigned a team of 8 people consisting of a Project manager, Coders, Designers and more. Each team member has given us 110% of their efforts. In addition, they have taken on our project and treated us as if they are an extension of our company. We are very pleased with the team we have been assigned.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our project is still ongoing. However, our website is immersive with lots of moving parts and we had 18 functionality issues to fix, plus bug clean up.

1. We have witnessed a 90% reduction in customer concerns in regards to the issues that have been fixed.
2. Our website has been optimized and runs much more effectively.
3. Streaming videos operate more effectively without lagging or skipping issues and we have seen a 90 % reduction in customer concerns on this issues. The very few members who report Vimeo video player issues we find the problem is associated with their internet speeds and we just need to have them adjust play back quality and all is fine.
4. We have. witnessed a 85% improvement on our billing page amongst international subscriptions.
5. We have recognized an increase in our monthly member retention which is partly due to the updates and our ongoing efforts to change our customer service style.

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

We have meetings twice a week. When needed our project manager changes the style of the meeting to more of a workshop. They adjust to meet your needs when it comes to project management.

Somedays we need to work with designers more closely so the meetings change to a workshop style via Zoom Somedays we just need to review upcoming tasks. If you have any concerns about your team being overseas I can assure you that we have had no issues at all. The team meets us during our business hours.

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

They always show professionalism and integrity. When we have shown any concern the Techahead team has worked extremely hard to resolve any issues. I was worried about the communication mainly due to the time difference between India and United States.

That has not been an issue at all. As a matter of fact, it has been a bonus because they work on our website in the middle of the night our time so customers are not affected. We have access to our team at all times. We can contact them any time of the day or night 24 hrs.

If we have an immediate issue they respond immediately . Techahead has treated our business as if it is an extension of their own. They truly operate in a manner that is if you succeed then so do they.

Ashutosh Bisen has been our Project Manager and he does an excellent job with deliverables. We are running behind on our APP project but many factors played a roll mostly the updates that had to be performed on our website but Ashutosh presented the delay to me two months ahead of time so our company could make changes. When it comes to response time they are amazing.

They respond swiftly within minutes to any issues we have and they apply fixes quickly we have worked with many development , website build companies and not one has come close to Techahead when it comes to fast service.

We had calendar scheduling issues that were complex problems and intertwined with different functions within our cub. Harish and Swati worked with me until they understood how the system was to perform and they found the solution and fixed the issues when other coders could not.

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

Not at this time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Access International School, a language school in São Paolo, Brazil.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with techahead?

They helped us develop the new version of our mobile app for students and teachers. We had an app with all of the exercises, information, and reports for the students and teachers, but we needed to upgrade it, because it was 4–5 years old. We’d been thinking about updating the app, and due to COVID, we needed to upgrade it quickly.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

techahead upgraded our mobile app’s design and added new features, such as an integration with Zoom. They made it possible for teachers to upload videos so that students can watch them. They added a chat feature that the whole class can use.

The techahead team used the most updated technology available. The app is for iOS and Android.

What is the team composition?

I worked with 6–7 people, including a project manager who led the team. He was wonderful. There were a lot of people working on IT and design.

How did you come to work with techahead?

I’d been looking for a company to create the new version of the app for about a year or so. I was talking with 3–4 companies, and techahead always replied quickly. They gave me all of the details that I needed. From our very first meetings, I could tell that they would work on this project like a part of our team. That was the main difference.

How much have you invested with them?

It was around $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The collaboration started in June 2020, and it ended in late-September–early-October 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’d give them 5-star feedback. They really exceeded all of my expectations, and my team had the same impression.

The app works perfectly on Apple and Android cellphones. Students are really pleased because all of the features work really well.

How did techahead perform from a project management standpoint?

They were really quick at responding to all of our emails. We had Zoom meetings 3–4 times a week. We ended up having to extend the deadline, but they met it.

We used Google Drive and Excel.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I felt that they really understood what we needed. techahead asked follow-up questions so that they could fully understand what we needed for the project, so that was quite impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could’ve used a different tool, such as Monday.com, to keep track of tasks and communication. That’s the only thing I can think of.

Any advice for potential customers?

It’s really important to have the entire team take part in the first meetings so that you can get the whole picture of the project.