Wishtree Technologies

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I currently run an independent consulting firm called Envisiture. Prior to that, I ran a company that built 3D training environments for medical practitioners.

What challenge were you trying to address with WishTree Technologies?

We initially needed a contractor to perform some website development. After that, we brought them in to repair a major bug in some of our software.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They served as our software engineering team and built all of our products for us. When they came on board, we were already working with a modular software and we needed them to add new features to it. The majority of the work was Java programming. It was very complex work that required a broad technical expertise because there were multiple integrated systems. We also used them to host the servers for some of our clients who were using these 3D environments. This included both system administration and customer support to clients. On top of that, they took care of our website and also built a series of web apps for us.

What is the team composition?

Our project manager was our main point of contact and he’d bring in engineers for different projects as needed.

How did you come to work with WishTree Technologies?

I found them online via oDesk (now Upwork).

What is the status of this engagement?

I worked with them regularly from 2010 to 2017.

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

When we first brought them on board to do web development, we’d hired a different 3D graphics expert to resolve a software bug for us. They couldn’t do it, so we asked WishTree to take a look at it as well. I’d simply been hoping they could refer us to someone else, but they came back three days later with the bug completely resolved. By serving as our software development arm, they kept our company going. On top of that, our clients loved their customer support.

How did WishTree Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

One of their biggest strengths was their communication skills, even though they’re in India and I’m in Boston. I was nervous about the distance or language barriers initially, but we held weekly phone conferences and I never had any difficulty staying in touch. Their English skills were good and they responded promptly if our customers had any problems.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I admire their consistency. For as long as I worked with them, their weekly meetings always ran on schedule and the work was always completed on time. I could count on them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They work well remotely, but it took five years before I met anybody in person. I’d love it if they could go out and meet clients face to face a bit more often.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

View WishTree as a collaborative partner rather than a contractor. They have a lot to offer. I gained a lot of value from their feedback and breadth of experience with software development. They’re also very responsible, so you don’t have to specify every detail of the project in order for them to understand what to do.

They’re especially great for startups because they offer a free trial week that can be used to build a prototype. It’s a clever marketing strategy, but it also provides a lot of value to companies that don’t have much starting capital.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the equipment product manager of air-conditioning and refrigeration wholesale distributorship located in Texas. We sell our products to installing contractors.

What challenge were you trying to address with WishTree Technologies?

We had an Excel sheet tool that allowed contractors to generate proposals for homeowners. We initially needed an upgrade of that tool to a website to handle all our requirements. Further along our partnership, we wanted to expand our online presence with a mobile app and other technological enhancements.

What was the scope of their involvement?

WishTree Technologies developed the front- and backend of our retail website. They also helped us move its hosting to our in-house servers. This allowed us to curate enhance and improve the site by ourselves. As for content, their team helped us organize our various product components to their compatible systems and parts, which set us apart from the competition. In addition, they developed our mobile ordering app.

Their team currently helps us further improve the site by enhancing colors; creating new functionalities; formatting UX/UI; providing user testing; helping with deployment; and conducting server maintenance. This includes integrating a connection between our website and our ERP system to tackle a lot of our online ordering challenges.

What is the team composition?

I work with their software engineers, principal, and account manager.

How did you come to work with WishTree Technologies?

I interviewed various vendors and found WishTree Technologies to be our best option.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started at the end of 2012, and the work is ongoing.

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

Our revenue is around $115 million a year and half of those sales come from our website. The site they developed is paying for itself, and we’re generating much more traffic and sales.

How did WishTree Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

Their responsiveness is excellent despite our time difference. If I have an issue, I can easily contact them over Skype or send an email, and they’ll resolve it right away. I've never had any communication issues with them, and their English is good. They deploy during the day, and we release by the morning.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I have an excellent relationship with their principal. He is fantastic and understands thorough what we want from a business site. Anytime a new person is put on our team, they replace them with a quality individual. I never get frustrated with them. For what we’re paying, we receive top-tier deliverables. Our IT lead is even impressed.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If there is a bug, I have to pay them to fix the bug. However, it’s usually minor stuff because I’m extremely detail-oriented.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Think long-term and take each project step by step. Be specific in your requirements and details of what you want.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former IT manager of a nonprofit company. I handled grant management and project management. We were using a grant management system for opening grant windows, but its multiple functionalities made it complicated to use.

What challenge were you trying to address with WishTree Technologies?

We wanted to revamp the grant management tool, as the one we had wasn’t customized to our requirements. Additionally, we needed help with website management. The website is a really important part of how our company works; it’s a way for us to post blogs and advertise grant windows.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We communicated our requirements and expectations, after which they revamped our grant management system. We then invited them to submit proposals for subsequent engagements, eventually leading to the website management project.

Our company was a small organization then and most of the processes were manual, so the third project that WishTree Technologies implemented was for an automated time reporting system that generates the salaries for the entire organization.

What is the team composition?

They assigned a project manager and a team for delivering the services, which weren't based out of the same location. We mostly interacted with the project manager and occasionally with the development team.

How did you come to work with WishTree Technologies?

We sent out an RFP for our grant management system project and received quite a few responses. We could see there was great potential in WishTree Technologies’ proposal, though we weren’t sure if they had the bandwidth to finish the work, so we went ahead with a well-established company instead. We faced several challenges with them regarding their rates and the quality of work they delivered, so we ended the contract and chose WishTree Technologies.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from 2013 until 2015.

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

WishTree Technologies automated a manual process for the time reporting system project, which saved us significant amounts of time, allowing our team to focus on more strategic tasks. For the website management project, they integrated Google Analytics and other tools for tracking user history. They also made an impact by identifying the areas where the website needed improvement, which helped increase our number of visitors.

Furthermore, WishTree Technologies resolved all the issues we had with the grant management system. It wasn’t a smooth tool, but they were able to identify the problems and fix them.

How did WishTree Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

They were excellent. They came to our office at the start of the collaboration to help us with the transition, which they didn’t charge us for. They were also very inquisitive and asked all the right questions. They provided efficient communication and were always available any time we had issues. It was a positive experience.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What I liked the most was that they were up-to-date with the latest technologies and trends in the industry. They also always came up with helpful suggestions for the projects and knew how to communicate with non-technical users. Additionally, their proactive approach in identifying what the user would expect made the website more intuitive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They have very few people in customer-facing roles. It would help if they could build that part a little stronger.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They invested in the initial transition part, which became the foundation for the rest of the collaboration. It’s important to use that time properly and provide all the requirements so that the project team has as much information as possible to work with.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I worked with Wishtree Technologies as a program manager at a large migration agency. I was responsible for managing our technical programs across multiple countries. At that time, we were largely focused on labor mobility, development, and migrant protection.

What challenge were you trying to address with Wishtree Technologies?

One of our project outputs concerned a country in West Asia. We sought to assess and upgrade the operations of government shelters for foreign workers. We were looking to hire an IT company to create an internal database to facilitate shelter management, track capacity, and monitor processes.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Wishtree team developed the database to our specifications from start to completion. They started by working closely with our technical team to understand the parameters of what we were looking to build. It’s very difficult to track operations in larger shelters, and the team integrated several features to facilitate the process. One specific integration involved connecting the database to a fingerprint system to more effectively track the needs of specific residents. The team worked flexibly to meet our requirements and made changes when necessary. They also provided troubleshooting services for about a year following the project’s conclusion.

What is the team composition?

Dilip (Partner, Wishtree Technologies) served as our team leader and was very involved in the beginning while we established project parameters. As we moved into development, a project manager oversaw day-to-day processes and testing.

How did you come to work with Wishtree Technologies?

We had a procurement process specific to our organization that involved a specific RFP. Wishtree presented a stellar proposal that convinced us to work with them on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2016, and the project took about a year to complete. They also provided troubleshooting services as necessary until recently.

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

The database that Wishtree developed proved to be a very innovative tool that dramatically expanded our ability to effectively monitor and improve the government shelter in question.

How did Wishtree Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

They managed this project very effectively. We appreciated their strategy of delegating management responsibilities across two team members, as it ensured a variety of support across various stages of implementation. They worked efficiently and were always available when we needed something. The team sent us regular status updates while we met to discuss specific progress that might not be evident in the data.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They brought a positive attitude to their work, despite a multitude of small requests and adjustments that were sometimes tedious. They were always patient and provided excellent advice throughout the engagement.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They had a limited understanding around our specific operations and institutions when they started, but everyone has to start somewhere. They were quick to learn, and in the future, they will be better prepared for projects with the organization.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a staff working in a multi-lateral agency

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

We hired Wishtree for developing an online learning platform with LMS functions.

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

Wishtree was selected based on the experience and quality of work conducted before.

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

Wishtree developed an online learning platform using Wordpress.

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

Around 4 people, not sure about the positions but it was the directors, project managers, and developers.

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

Even though it was a very short timeline, Wishtree delivered the results in a very timely manner.

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

Communication is a very strong part of Wishtree. The staffs were very efficient in communication and were opened to receive feedback.

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

Wishtree has a lot of experience with UN agencies, and knows well about the working environment.

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

Not that I recognize.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I own a company that provides technologies for basic health research.

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

We needed additional resources in web app and mobile development and testing.

How did you select Wishtree Technologies and what were the deciding factors?

Referred by another contractor.

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

Wishtree developers and test engineer are integrated to our ticket management system. Lead developers in the USA assign tickets containing requirements and development steps as needed for custom development and system maintenance.

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

1 mobile developer, 1 web app developer and 0.5 test engineer.

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

Wishtree staff are fully technically capable, and engage and communicate reliably on assignments. Our interactions are cordial and professional.

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

Wishtree works with us through Assembla, Google docs and communicate through Google tools. My company provides overall project management.

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

We always have comfortable, reliable, and accurate interactions.

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

We probably aren't taking advantage of all that Wishtree offers.