EGO Creative Innovations

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are an early-stage startup providing a marketplace for wellness services. I am the founder of the company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I have been working in the tech world for a long time on the business side, but choosing a language for my current platform was a challenge. I asked CayugaSoft to explain to me in plain English why they would choose one platform over another. I was told that, although there are newer languages available, the advantage of established ones is that they offer many tools and widgets which we can leverage. The recommendation made sense to me, and I liked CayugaSoft's ability to deal with me at a non-technical level.

CayugaSoft assigned one lead and one part-time developer, as well as a testing team. I had regular meetings with the lead developer.

How did you come to work with CayugaSoft Technologies?

I never had a connection with this market before. I found CayugaSoft through a European service for matching clients with software development companies and reviewed them along with 15 other candidates. I could see that CayugaSoft could clearly see what I wanted to do, based on their high-level briefing. They went beyond what was being asked by our group, giving me more details about what could be done in a way that made me confident in CayugaSoft's skills.

How much have you invested with CayugaSoft Technologies?

The cost of CayugaSoft's services has been between $50,000 and $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with CayugaSoft in February 2016, and have an ongoing collaboration. The progress has been slow, given that I'm doing this while still working a full-time job. We are in the final stages of development. It has been a wonderful experience so far, and I would love to work with CayugaSoft in the future.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

CayugaSoft Technologies has delivered a functional product. It has a few bugs, but not to an overwhelming degree. I found CayugaSoft easy to work with, especially at this stage.

How did CayugaSoft Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

The team was amazing. I could not have dreamt of having a better project manager than the one assigned by CayugaSoft. She was understanding and knew what to say in order to reassure me.

We used JIRA, Slack, and Google Docs. CayugaSoft has been much more organized than me in terms of managing my ideas, following up, and delivering on time. I was usually late for our scheduled calls.

What did you find most impressive about CayugaSoft Technologies?

CayugaSoft has a team of very nice people. I received messages for Christmas and Thanksgiving, even though they are based in East Europe. CayugaSoft handles outsourcing very well.

From a technology point of view, I had a hard time understanding test-driven development. CayugaSoft was able to explain it to me, allowing me to make the right decision in terms of cost and good-quality code. CayugaSoft has gone above and beyond, treating my project as their own and bringing a creative approach to solving problems. There were times when I didn't know how a certain feature could be created, and CayugaSoft came up with good solutions every time.

Are there any areas CayugaSoft Technologies could improve?

The cost could be lower, but I don't think that this is a realistic possibility.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Divigner, which builds websites and different flavors of mobile apps for industries. We service all types of industries but mainly focus on the medical field. We also do 2D and 3D animations as well as static and interactive infographics.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with EGO Creative?

We use companies like EGO Creative to access the more technical pieces of our website and mobile app builds. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve worked with them on 2 large projects. The first job I had with them was building out “blueprints” for mobile apps. EGO helped me mature that process. The blueprint basically states what you're getting, what the client wants, and what they’re trying to do. Then we move through the process of creating wireframes, mock-ups, and prototypes. EGO will create a clickable prototype that works on any device—iPad, tablet, Android, iOS, Windows—that can be sent via URL. The client simply downloads an application and then they can interact with the design. At that point, we stop and reassess what functionality the client wants based on what we’ve created so far. Basically, that allows the client to stick their toe into the pool little by little before they commit to a big upfront investment. It allows them to control their expenses.

Right now, EGO Creative is helping me build an app for municipalities in New Jersey that takes advantage of the native capability of smartphones. Mainly, it’s a tool for municipalities to reach out to current and prospective residents as well as local business owners. The goal is to deliver the city’s information to them via their phones, giving municipalities yet another way to stay in touch with their communities. As New Jersey matures its infrastructure, we’ll see more mobile-friendly interfaces for paying parking tickets, EZ Pass, etc. We hope we can integrate with those systems and share 1 database in order to make these processes faster. The platform will be a semi-open architecture. This allows for integration into databases of third-party tools and things like that, so it can work for a lot of other organizations. There’s a module within it that is dedicated to municipalities that will allow me to resell this platform.

How did you come to work with EGO Creative?

I was impressed by Xamarin and what it offered in terms of its framework, cutting app time by more than half. I looked at Xamarin’s list of recommended vendors. I knew that there is a lot of talent in Eastern Europe, so I focused on the ones that were located there. I reached out to several of them and EGO gave me the best response. That’s how we got connected.

How much have you invested with EGO Creative?

I would say we have invested about $5,000 to $10,000 on planning and prototyping.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with EGO Creative in November 2014, and our relationship is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They took my blueprint process to another level, augmenting and refining it so I could present it easily to app development clients in a tiered fashion. They took my idea and they wrapped the process around it. My clients so far have received it well, and that is directly attributed to what EGO brought to the table. EGO Creative understood the concept of an MVP [minimum viable product], and they focused on making sure clients understand the MVP of what they need so they can control costs. Between blueprinting and the MVP, we’re able to pitch a lot more.

How did EGO Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re good and I’m happy with them. They’re thorough and they’re on time for meetings. They all speak English well, considering that’s their second language and they’re from Eastern Europe. I’ve brought my clients on the line with them, and they’re courteous and respectful to them. Although I'm always on the phone, they speak freely and update my clients directly. They’re sensitive to their clients’ cultural differences, holidays, things like that. They’re what you would expect from a good project management team.

The project usually starts with a conversation with their COO, and from there, it gets handed down to their engagement or project manager who I work with. I’m usually working with the project manager and a designer, someone that’s skilled at putting together the wireframes, mock-ups, and prototypes. If the project goes past that point, I might talk directly to their CEO and work with him. If projects move forward, then other team members, like the developer types, are introduced to the project and brought on board. Mainly, I've been working with their CEO, COO and project manager.

What did you find most impressive about EGO Creative?

They’re resilient. They were located in the region of Ukraine that was invaded and business was disrupted, but it continued. They redistributed their team members within the country. It was as if they had a master disaster recovery plan. They’re serious about conducting business. I like that about them.

Are there any areas EGO Creative could improve?

I would suggest cosmetic things like making their website a little glossier and checking it for grammar. It’s in English and it’s being projected to folks in North America. Depending on who’s looking at it, poor grammar could ruin their repetition and their credibility. I would hate for them to lose a good client over grammatical errors because some people are really picky. Everything else has been exactly what I expected. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of development for the app studio. The company, WildTangent, is primarily a publisher of games for desktop, PCs, and mobile devices.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Cayugasoft Technologies?

Our company uses a combination of internal resources to really drive some of our products and then we rely on external partners, whether it’s for engineering, art, music, or sound, to really help add additional resources to our teams in an affordable manner. It’s a combination of additional resources but also affordable resources.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The platform is mainly mobile games for Android and iOS apps. We mainly used Unity 3D, a game development platform. That’s where we do most of our mobile apps with Android and iOS. Recently, we’ve been doing some web development using HTML5. Cayugasoft Technologies has helped us over the last few months with some HTML5 game development. That would be both for web browsers and for native mobile apps for Android and iOS.

I would typically have a project manager on their side helping to oversee with scheduling and language translations. Usually, it’s between 1 to 3 developers that we work with, but we kind of scale up and down as needed, based on the amount of projects we have.

How did you come to work with Cayugasoft Technologies?

They reached out to me initially when I was at a different company, an independent game studio. I was vetting a few outsourced vendor development studios. Cayugasoft is based out of New York, so they have a domestic presence. I felt really comfortable with them over some of the other companies initially. You’re making a guess, so to speak, on which one is the best and so far it’s worked out great. More or less, this is the third company I’ve been with that I’ve worked with Cayugasoft on, so I’m a return user for sure.

How much have you invested with Cayugasoft Technologies?

We have invested between $10,000 and $50,000. We’ve done a number of projects, but our last 2 projects with them were 2 different apps across a couple of different platforms. I would say they were both in the $15,000 range each.

What is the status of this engagement?

It’s been about a year that we started. We’ve released 3 products in the year, so each product that we’ve done has taken somewhere around 3 to 4 months to complete. We completed our third project with them just before the holidays. The work is ongoing as needed. At least in this role that I’m in, we sign up for 3 months’ worth of work, so we plan ahead for 3 months and we sign a work agreement, and then we reassess every 3 months. That’s generally how it’s been. It’s not a written rule or anything like that.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have a blackjack game that Cayugasoft did all the development on. Right now, it has 300,000 downloads over a 6 to 9-month period. It’s only been out for 6 months, which is pretty good for a year without a lot of marketing. It’s really organic. We’ve had at least 3 times ROI [return on investment] on our blackjack game. That’s been pretty positive. We have just released some other games more recently that are still growing at this point.

How did Cayugasoft Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is really good. I’ve worked with 3 different project managers throughout this period. It’s been about 5 years since I’ve been working with Cayugasoft. The current project manager has been there over 2 years. She’s great. Generally speaking, they are based out of the Ukraine but they speak great English. They are very organized, punctual, and really know what they are talking about and have a sense of what’s going on a little bit more technically than most. They’re very on point and easy to talk to.

I know they use JIRA. We’ve been using Hansoft. We use that with them on our side as well as JIRA. We use Slack as a communication tool and Skype for weekly conference calls. We also used code repositories. 

What did you most impressive about Cayugasoft Technologies?

It’s a general statement but it doesn’t apply to all external developers, but I think they just get the job done. They get it done fast. A lot of times with external developers, the quality that you get is directly related to the guidance that you give. If you just tell them to go and do something, they’ll do it quickly and it’ll work. It might not be exactly how your internal team has been doing things, so there could be conflicts as far as that goes in implementation differences. But the overwhelming positive quality is that, what seems like overnight, more stuff gets done than what is done internally in a week. It sometimes feels like that, but any upfront guidance that you provide would certainly help you as far as integrating with other people’s work. They just get the work done and it gets done fast, so that’s been big as far as revenue generation in our company.

Are there any areas Cayugasoft Technologies could improve?

I think it goes back to guidance. It’s hard to say what they could improve on it if you didn’t give them the initial directions. I don’t think there’s anything major that I can really think of.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization. What is your role and responsibilities?

I’m the founder, president, and COO of Ascendle. Ascendle is a contract software engineering firm specializing in mobile application development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with eGo Creative Media Solutions?

Our goal was to find the technical skill for our client projects. Our projects are typically mobile application projects using Xamarin, which is the Microsoft.NET technology that we use to build cross platform mobile apps. We wanted to keep costs down for our clients, so we wanted to find someone offshore while at the same time finding folks offshore that would be able to communicate with us well verbally. With eGo Creative Media Solutions, we had enough of a time zone overlap that it made it easy for us to collaborate and work together.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

We started our partnerships with one project. It was to take an application that the client had built during four or five years and they wanted to rebuild it using Xamarin. They wanted it done as quickly as possible. So, we were able to take that five-year project and rebuild a version 1.0 and ship it in four and a half months. Since then, we have used eGo on other projects. I believe we have them on five projects at this point.

What was your process for selecting eGo Creative Media Solutions with which to work?

We were evaluating other companies as well as individual contractors to work with us. What swayed me to go with eGo was talking to the head of their company and getting a good feel for him personally. His outlook on business and how clients should be treated was very engaging. Also, through talking with some of the technical members of their team, I was confident in their development ability.

Can you give a sense of the size of the initiative in dollar terms or a personnel work-hour figure? When was the work completed?

The first project was about a four- or five-month project but, as mentioned, we’ve worked with eGo Creative Media Solutions on about four or five more projects. Our partnership is ongoing and falls between $50,000 to $200,000 total.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Is there anything unique or special about eGo Creative Media Solutions that really makes them stand out compared to other business partners?

I think the biggest things that we’ve seen are the attention to detail from the various eGo team members. They’re really on top of it. They’re highly skilled software engineers and quality assurance engineers. From an attitude perspective, they have a great attitude. There is a lot of pride in their work. They are very sharp people.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you might do differently?

I think the only thing is we hope they keep hiring more people so we can keep adding them to more of our projects.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of CloudPublish

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

CloudPublish produces Platforms for Publishers to host and deliver their eBooks & eJournals to both academic and individual users.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire EGO Creative Innovations to accomplish?

• Create a beautiful and ergonomic Design for one of our customers
• Work quickly and within budget
• Show professionalism so that EGO can become a regular business partner

SOLUTION

How did you find EGO Creative Innovations?

Online Search

Why did you select EGO Creative Innovations over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Other

How many teammates from EGO Creative Innovations were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Produce wireframes and design for one of our Publishers, within a very short deadline.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Deadline
• Quality of the design
• Satisfaction of our client

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

EGO worked very efficiently and professionally, and did their best to deliver the project on time, while providing an excellent quality of service. Good communication.

What was your primary form of communication with EGO Creative Innovations?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

We were impressed with their excellent communication and commitment to deadlines.

Are there any areas for improvement or something EGO Creative Innovations could have done differently?

no

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder of Patchment.co

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We help SaaS companies increase revenue through content.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire EGO Creative Innovations to accomplish?

• Website design and development

SOLUTION

How did you find EGO Creative Innovations?

Other

Why did you select EGO Creative Innovations over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from EGO Creative Innovations were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Website design and development

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Successful delivery of working website that fit the design direction I was looking for

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

They were very prompt & consistent in communication and open to slight changes in scope as long as the changes were reasonable. In terms of timeline, there were slight delays but nothing too serious.

What was your primary form of communication with EGO Creative Innovations?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

EGO Creative Innovations was great at understanding requirements. Their initial drafts required minimal feedback.

Are there any areas for improvement or something EGO Creative Innovations could have done differently?

I would have preferred a faster pace since the timeline got delayed by 2 weeks. But otherwise, I am very happy with the outcome and will work with them again. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of G-Chain

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

G-Chain is an on-demand platform that empowers individuals and companies to accelerate their growth through curated 1:1 and group advisory sessions from top vetted growth leaders in mobile.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire EGO Creative Innovations to accomplish?

• Build our 1st website from scratch.

SOLUTION

How did you find EGO Creative Innovations?

Online Search

Why did you select EGO Creative Innovations over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from EGO Creative Innovations were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Ego and team helped us with the entire creative process, wireframe, and website development. On top of this, they consulted us on competitive research, UI /UX, and product integrations like Zappier.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to successfully beta launch our platform, allowing our advisors to facilitate 1:1 sessions.

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

The team always committed to their timeline and was very responsive to our needs. They were also very proactive and the quality of work was exceptional.

What was your primary form of communication with EGO Creative Innovations?

Virtual Meeting

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

They genuinely cared about our business and gave us practical advice.

Are there any areas for improvement or something EGO Creative Innovations could have done differently?

Not that I can think of!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of Bendigi Technology Inc.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a few people looking to build an extraordinary technology humanity has never seen before.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire EGO Creative Innovations to accomplish?

• Web Dev
• Design
• Project Management

SOLUTION

How did you find EGO Creative Innovations?

LinkedIn

Why did you select EGO Creative Innovations over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from EGO Creative Innovations were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Web Development

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Web Product

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

They offer excellent project management.

What was your primary form of communication with EGO Creative Innovations?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Great People and communication

Are there any areas for improvement or something EGO Creative Innovations could have done differently?

Nothing come to mind

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of Product of a software company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Digital Health startup

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire EGO Creative Innovations to accomplish?

• Redesign mobile app

SOLUTION

How did you find EGO Creative Innovations?

• Online Search
• Other

Why did you select EGO Creative Innovations over others?

• High ratings
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from EGO Creative Innovations were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We asked EGO to help redesign our mobile application so it's more intuitive for our users.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Figma file with design system and new components

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

EGO was always very punctual. They updated us weekly about time spent and kept us in the loop about their progress during the week. It was very clean when we would expect certain deliverables and in most cases they met the assigned deadlines.

What was your primary form of communication with EGO Creative Innovations?

Virtual Meeting

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

The quality of their work and ability to understand our needs quickly are impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement or something EGO Creative Innovations could have done differently?

Not at the moment.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of IAM

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Promotes gender equality in the asset management industry by creating visibility for female fund managers to institutional allocators.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire EGO Creative Innovations to accomplish?

• Build a website that reflects the brand and values of the company
• Build a form to collect information to build a community

SOLUTION

How did you find EGO Creative Innovations?

Contacted via LinkedIn

Why did you select EGO Creative Innovations over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from EGO Creative Innovations were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Develop the website design and page layout. Develop a form and integrate with Hubspot to collect data.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Weekly summary of work completed. Design concept, development of colour palette and mood board. Development of the pages of the site. Preparation of the content. Website development.

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

They were quick and thorough. I enjoyed working with them. The time line was only ever extended due to me completing work that they needed from me.

What was your primary form of communication with EGO Creative Innovations?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The level of service was excellent. We worked together collaboratively, and they were receptive to my ideas.

Are there any areas for improvement or something EGO Creative Innovations could have done differently?

No. I enjoyed working with the team.