OpenXcell - Can they be a trusted partner?

There are a lot of factors to consider when selecting a service provider. Often buyers focus on measurable items that can be compared across firms such as price, team size, location, project portfolio, etc. We also suggest you think about other critical intangibles. Can they be trusted? Do they operate in an open and honest fashion?

Our experience with OpenXcell suggests you should explore those questions carefully, in particular if you have an innovative business concept.  In our case, OpenXcell has been a partner of ours for several years, but all the while they having been secretly building a business that is remarkably similar to ours (goodfirms.co). Goodfirms is a rating and review website, targeting the same market, with similar messaging, and that uses the same services focus methodology that we invented a few years ago. When they launched, they even had a few strikingly similar typos. We have confronted OpenXcell several times, but each time they deny any involvement, and most recently, they have threatened to sue if we say they broke any laws. In my mind, whether they violated the law is largely irrelevant. They violated our trust. All the while we were helping them build their business, they were secretly building a team to replicate our concept and launch a competing service. Is that the track record you would want of your future app development partner?

On top of that, the website they have developed further illustrates questionable ethics. The service states it is a "B2B research and review platform" and implies a sense of rigor in their evaluation of companies. Yet, guess who is listed as the #1 Mobile App Development Company in 2017? You got it, OpenXcell!  Furthermore, it has been reported that OpenXcell is using the data submitted by companies on Goodfirms to target those firms' clients.

The team behind Goodfirms, and the two predecessor sites of BDC (BestDevelopmentCompany.com) and Sourcelysis (Sourcelysis.com), has worked hard to cover their tracks. There is no About Us or Team page. The profiles on social media are all made up. They have even employed a proxy service to hide ownership of their domain name. That said, it is hard to completely hide your tracks and they have made a few mistakes. 

Since the CEO of OpenXcell has vigorously denied being behind Goodfirms we thought the fair thing would be to layout the facts we have found and let you, the reader decide. If you think we are off base or have any thoughts to add, feel free to email me at Mike [at] clutch [dot] co.

The facts that we have discovered via online research are as follows:

1) Suspiciously strong performance - OpenXcell has been ranked remarkably high by Goodfirms and their predecessor sites. 

2) Same personnel - To date, we have identified three people that worked for OpenXcell and Goodfirms at the same time.

3) Glassdoor review - A OpenXcell employee has referenced a "top secret review and directory service" that OpenXcell is using to "lure other development firms to list their companies and these guys steal their client information".

4) Shared IP address - OpenXcell and Goodfirms websites have shared the same IP address

5) Hicksville, NY - Some of the fake social media accounts for these review sites have the same location as OpenXcell's office in the US

1. Suspiciously strong performance

We do not deny that OpenXcell does decent app development work at a good price point. Ignoring the IP and trust topic, they are not a bad choice for someone on a tight budget looking for a full service mobile app development company. However, are they really the #1 App Development Company in 2017? Goodfirms thinks so (see image below).

Goodfirms Rankings of App Development Companies - OpenXcell #1

In addition, Goodfirms also thinks OpenXcell is the #1 iPhone App Development Company, #1 Android App Development Company, #1 iPad App Development Company, and #1 App Development Company in India.

Goodfirms Rankings of Top iPhone App Development Companies 2017 - OpenXcell #1

Goodfirms Rankings of Top Android App Development Companies 2017 - OpenXcell #1

Goodfirms Rankings of Top iPad App Development Companies 2017 - OpenXcell #1

Goodfirms Rankings of Top Mobile App Development Companies India 2017 - OpenXcell #1

Finally, the biggest head scratcher of all, is that India-based OpenXcell is the #1 Mobile app developer in the United States.

Goodfirms Rankings of Top Mobile App Development Companies in USA 2017 - OpenXcell #1

A google search of "BDC OpenXcell" or "Sourcelysis OpenXcell" shows plenty of press releases professing OpenXcell as a top performer in a number of service areas. Note that BDC (bestdevelopmentcompany.com) rebranded as "Sourcelysis" after we launched Sourcingline and then rebranded to Goodfirms.co shortly after we rebranded as Clutch.co. A sample of the items listed in Google are below. 

Samples of OpenXcell evaluations by BCD

2. Same Personnel

As noted above, the team behind Goodfirms has been working hard to hide their true identities, but we have uncovered three that have since moved on to other jobs and list OpenXcell as their former employer on LinkedIn. Note, in the images below we have blurred out a number of items and only used first name and initial for last name.

a. Sweta S.

Sweta seems to have been one of the leads at Goodfirms until March 2017. Below is an image of a help desk ticket for her Goodfirms email account and her current LinkedIn profile that shows her concurrent tenure at OpenXcell. LinkedIn also shows her connection to the OpenXcell CEO. 

Helpdesk Ticket Identifying Sweta @Goodfirms

Sweta's Current LinkedIn

b. Aditya P.

At one point Aditya added Sourcelysis to his LinkedIn profile in 2015 (see first image), but has since updated to reflect his time at OpenXcell (second image).

Aditya LinkedIn 2015

Aditya Current LinkedIn

c. Harpreet

We received an email from a Harpreet at Goodfirms. We don't have her last name, but consistent with the others, a quick search showed that there was a Harpreet in the marketing department at OpenXcell at the same time.

Email from Harpreet

Current LinkedIn for Harpreet

3. Glassdoor Review

An OpenXcell employee has posted on Glassdoor.com about a "top secret review & directory service" that they are operating. It does not mention the name Goodfirms, but it is hard to believe OpenXcell has another review & directory service.

Glassdoor Review

4. Shared IP Address

Both OpenXcell.com and Goodfirms.co websites use Cloudflare (a CDN and web security service) as we do at Clutch and 6 million other websites. What are the odds that Cloudflare would host both OpenXcell and Goodfirms on the same IP address without some connection?

Shared IP Address

5. Shared Location - Hicksville, NY

The team behind Goodfirms and the predecessor websites, have built a few fake social media profiles to support their efforts. What are the odds that they would pick a small town in on Long Island where OpenXcell also says they have an office?

OpenXcell in Hicksville

Mike Taylor, Founder of Sourcelysis, Hicksville, NY

Samuel Bursnel, Project manager at Best Development Company, Hicksville, NY

We believe this is compelling evidence that our partner for 2-3 years has all the while been deceptively building a competing service while denying any involvement each step of the way. Needless to say, we don't believe they can be a trusted partner and will no longer work with OpenXcell.

If you think we have it wrong, we would be happy to hear from you at Mike [at] Clutch [dot] co.

About the Author

Mike Beares Founder at Clutch

Mike is the Founder and Chairman of Clutch. His focus is on helping set the company strategy and supporting the team in execution.

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