moldedbits

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a technologist for Philips Lighting India. We are located in New Delhi and are working on a product called Philips Hue, which is a personal wireless lighting system. The company has more than 10,000 employees. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with moldedbits?

Our existing solution’s startup colors were not configurable; so, after every power outage, the lights would be set to their defaults. The system is mobile-app-based, so we thought of developing a separate app to cater to this particular requirement. Power outages are not common in areas of the world like Europe, but, for places where they are, the requirements are quite different. We had received this particular feedback from the US market as well, so we got in touch with moldedbits to develop this mobile app.

Although particular components in the system were already in place, we had to make market-specific variants to support different behaviors. The easiest solution would be to develop another mobile application. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Moldedbits handled most of the software development work. We have an internal testing team as well as a few developers, but we outsource most of our work.

Philips Hue already has a great mobile app, which is provided as a free stock solution for all buyers. No user interface is perfect, but we aimed to make it easier for users through moldedbits. We needed to have a more intuitive interface featuring a grouping of lights, which would allow users to create different rooms in their houses and control lights based on particular areas.

The moldedbits team also worked on the power outage feature. Previously, the lights would reset to their default settings, but we wanted them to retain previously configured colors. We tried this from multiple perspectives and leveraged Wi-Fi, battery charging connections, bridge configurations, and so on. We tried to overlap certain conditions through this mobile app.

How did you come to work with moldedbits?

I went to an agency that provided contacts for mobile app developers. They gave us 4 or 5 company names, and we contacted them. moldedbits gave us a very good prototype of what we wanted to develop and showed it to us from the beginning, which was impressive. They used our free SDK [software development kit] and developed 10–20% of the functionality simply by vetting the proposal. If someone can be hands-on and both design and develop things, it will build confidence on the customer’s side. The other companies offered to assign some of their resources for a prototype, but they were less impressive compared to moldedbits.

How much have you invested with moldedbits?

The cost of moldedbits’ work was about $15,000. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We had a few initial issues with respect to the design. After we reported and fixed them, they added more complexities to the code. moldedbits came up with a more scalable redesign. Although it took a week, they were able to fix that design issue. I come from a software background myself, so I can understand that these things do happen. Their team was dynamic in this sense.

We haven’t promoted the app aggressively, but users found the app to be intuitive. We’ve gotten feedback from the US, India, and Europe, including Germany, Russia, and The Netherlands.

How did moldedbits perform from a project management standpoint?

There were a few misses, but moldedbits was on time overall. We had delays from a few hours to a day for internal releases, but they always offered an explanation and made sure that the final release time wouldn’t be impacted. This was an important aspect for us.

Communication was fine. In the few instances when the mobile person was not available, I could call other contacts directly, and we always got to the information we needed. moldedbits was quite approachable.

They’re in New Delhi and have an office 30 kilometers from ours. moldedbits was ready to visit our location anytime we needed.

What did you find most impressive about moldedbits?

They are a team of enthusiastic young people who are open to innovative solutions. They’re not rigid and offer solutions from all directions when we bring them a problem. moldedbits’ team can look at things from the hardware and cloud perspective and give us alternatives, even if those aren’t in their main scope. We chose them initially because of the prototype they made for us. As our management provides more requirements, we will continue the collaboration for future projects.

Are there any areas moldedbits could improve?

They could stick to internal deadlines more. Sometimes, intermediate releases were not adhered to and were not tested very well. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of engineering for a consultancy doing digital transformation in the enterprise space with a focus on mobile applications. We help companies with business problems that could be solved using custom mobile applications and develop and deliver those applications. We have been around since 2008.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with moldedbits?

We needed more resources to partner with our in-house team. Our in-house team is focused on iOS mobile development, and we use moldedbits as our primary Android development partner. They’ve helped us with numerous projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The most recent project was a human capital management system for soft skills industrial services. The application is available for web, iOS, and Android. All of that used a shared backend system developed in .NET. Our team has done the project management, the design and user requirements, and research associated with the project. moldedbits did the iOS and Android development for the project. They also co-developed the backend with our team.

How did you come to work with moldedbits?

We had a relationship with the CEO of moldedbits from past work and contracting as an individual. When he began to grow his own company, we continued to collaborate with him.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February of 2016, and the collaboration is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Our client is extremely satisfied and has been able to use the product to gain more work and grow their business. We’ve had a couple of bumps along the way, but moldedbits has quickly addressed any concerns we’ve had.

How did moldedbits perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very responsive to us. They work closely with our team and follow our process. The time difference wasn’t a problem. We have regular communication at the beginning of our day, which is the end of their day. The leads on the team are available after hours for questions or feedback. We communicated mostly through Slack and email but have some conference calls when needed.

What did you find most impressive about moldedbits?

Their process is closely aligned with ours. They meet our project management and development expectations.

Are there any areas moldedbits could improve?

No, we’re satisfied. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a product manager for Knomatic Mobility Services, a product company based in Houston. Our product is a platform that allows non-technical people to create mobile applications. It’s a web application where users can pick their options and the product spits out your iOS/Android native application. I manage the day-to-day workings of the product and make sure it’s built according to the vision.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with moldedbits?

We had a web configuration tool which lets you configure these applications, and we were only able to deploy to iOS platforms. We didn’t have the Android offering and we had a few projects lined up which required an Android offering. We had to turn things around pretty quickly in just a matter of 2–3 months in order to put out the first version of our Android application.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

There was skepticism for this project because it was a very short timeframe. We felt it was unrealistic to expect something to be done in a matter of 2–3 months. We were wondering if someone totally new could actually come in and pick up what we have and complete it in that time. We explained to moldedbits what needed to be accomplished, and immediately they instilled confidence in us by coming up with a plan on how to approach it.

Their work style is very similar to how we built the product internally. We do Agile development and build in sprints, and we have frequent testing performed. We improve the product with every iteration so that it actually is shippable and ready to be showcased to customers. They not only instilled the confidence in getting it done, but they actually got it done in a couple of months.

How did you come to work with moldedbits?

I had experience working with moldedbits at my previous company, so we reached out to them. We knew they could deliver. They do good quality work and they are extremely easy to work with. For us, it wasn’t a question about moldedbits versus somebody else. If we were to go to somebody in India, it would be moldedbits just because of my experience with them in the past. However, we also considered a team in Colombia and an in-house option here in Houston. Obviously, Houston was turning out to be a little bit expensive, and ramping up a new person from a time standpoint was just not going to work out. We didn’t find the right talent in Colombia either.

How much have you invested with moldedbits?

We spent between $18,000–$25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in May 2016, and the project was completed in August of the same year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We are an early-stage company. We are very tight on resources and time, so we have to make the most use of it. That’s why our Agile model of development works really well because we constantly iterate on things. We are making progress as opposed to a waterfall model.

With moldedbits, we didn’t have a lot of support in the sense that we didn’t have a project manager. We gave them the things that needed to be done, we showed them how the iOS application was working, and that was pretty much it in terms of knowledge transition. They picked it up right from that point, and they worked through the project really well, honestly.

At that point in time, we didn’t have a dedicated quality assurance specialist for the project. In spite of that, it was a product that could go live without putting in too much effort on testing because it was built very thoroughly; it was almost customer facing.

The project was within budget, and it was on time. It was a collaborative effort with regular meetings. moldedbits is based in India and we are in Houston, so obviously, we had a time zone challenge. However, they made communication fairly easy. They went above and beyond on certain days when we had to actually push a little harder because of the time zone and project commitment.

Any product will have bugs, but what matters is how to minimize them, how to automate testing, and ensuring the reduction of reoccurring bugs, all of which moldedbits took care of. The quality of their work was splendid and the number of bugs was very low. They were on track throughout and they kept us updated on the things that were going to meet the deadline and things that we had to negotiate on. Sometimes, when you’re building a product, you realize that some features don’t make it in there and some features have to be negotiated; as you get into it, you’ll discover that there are new things that need to be done. The scope kind of morphed because of these things we discovered while building it. They were able to adjust with all of that without really causing us any extra cost and maintaining the timeline. We were really impressed with the quality. We still continue to use the product today, but we now have anl in-house resource that manages it.

How did moldedbits perform from a project management standpoint?

I come from India as well, so I obviously think that has definitely helped to a certain extent. It was easy for me to communicate certain things. They also made it extremely simple by ensuring that we had some overlap in our schedules. Every day, in the morning, we had our daily stand-ups in which they gave us updates.

Sometimes, they would go above and beyond in staying much longer with us during their daytime so we could finish certain tasks in a sprint. From a project management standpoint, they were pretty much self-managing themselves well. There was no micromanaging—we absolutely let them run with it because we had the confidence that they would deliver.

What did you find most impressive about moldedbits?

Their quality is extremely good. Of the several projects that I’ve done with them, I can’t recall any instance where we had a slippage in the schedule because of their mistakes. Rather, there was slippage in the schedule because of a scope increase. The projects went very smoothly from that standpoint, and there was no issue regarding personality conflicts.

I’ve worked with some folks who have an attitude about them, so that makes it difficult to work. These guys are really easy to work with and they all speak English well. They make themselves available whenever they need to be, making up for the fact that they’re in another part of the world. They keep up with the schedule and deliver on time.

Are there any areas moldedbits could improve?

When they took up our project, they probably could’ve pushed back on a few things. They accepted a lot of our terms from a scope standpoint. They did deliver on it so I can’t really complain, but it was quite a challenge. I think from their company health standpoint, they pushed really hard, but you can’t burn the candle too much for too long because you’ll get burned out. I think if they can manage the scope better, they’ll have a healthier developer lifestyle. Some projects, obviously, require more effort, but it shouldn’t become a habit.