Active Logic

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Pillar Leader of EnterpriseKC

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

EnterpriseKC is a business-led, systems driven, “think and do” tank focused on enterprise development, innovation, and job growth within high value, high opportunity industry clusters.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Active Logic to accomplish?

• Regionally Focused Talent Platform/Assessment Tool

SOLUTION

How did you find Active Logic?

Referral

Why did you select Active Logic over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Active Logic were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

The project involves the development of a comprehensive talent exchange platform. Key components include user experience design, single sign-on integration with Cyber Range, and the creation of a responsive website with content management capabilities. 

The platform encompasses features such as an assessment tool, talent profiles, chat/messaging functionality, company profiles, job search capabilities, and sections for education, training, career exploration, and other content. The goal is to provide a seamless and interactive environment connecting users, businesses, and educational resources for career development.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Number of registered users
• Number of industry sponsors
• Number of industry profiles
• Integration with cyber ecosystem tools

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

• All items are delivered on time.
• Open lines of communication.
• Very responsive to customer needs and requests.
• They offer great customer service that extends beyond the scope of a project.

What was your primary form of communication with Active Logic?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

• Transparent communication.
• Visibility to leadership.
• Accommodation of requests.
• High growth mindset.

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

None at this time

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Research Coordinator of Stanford University

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

In the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab, we conduct psychological research on topics such as well-being, social connection, and empathy.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Active Logic to accomplish?

• Create a website to conduct experiments on.
• Create a feature to record participants while they watch videos of storytellers, and rate how they think the storyteller felt while telling their story.
• Organize a system to download the recorded videos, and upload videos of storytellers.
• Create pages consisting of demographic questions and other surveys.
• Create a timer system that blocks people from re-entering our site until a certain amount of time has passed from the last visit (this was for a longitudinal research project with several visits).
• Integrate other services to be able to send email invitations to people interested in participating.
• Create a randomization system to randomly present the stories with certain labels or not, and randomly the present Black or White storytellers, out of a set of videos.
• Create a system to prevent people from entering the website unless they had signed up/ were eligible for the study.
• Update text instructions for participants as needed.
• Be on call during times when participants were completing the study, to aid with any issues that arise.
• Create an organized system allowing us to easily download data collected on the website.

SOLUTION

How did you find Active Logic?

Online Search

Why did you select Active Logic over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost

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

We hired Active Logic to create a website for an experiment. The site had to be able to run a task in which participants watch videos of storytellers, are recorded while watching, and also rate how they believe the storyteller felt while watching. We had to be able to upload the videos that we wanted to use, download the video taken of people while they wanted the story, and download the ratings.

 We also needed several pages with survey questions built in. Because the study was longitudinal with several visits, the site had to be able to keep track of when each participant visited the site, and prevent them from logging in until a set time. We also asked for other features such as recording participants while they watched a movie, but this was infeasible and the idea was scrapped. 

Active Logic also added features we originally did not anticipate needing, such as the ability to prevent people from logging on to the site unless they were invited, and adding the ability to randomize which videos participants saw.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We successfully used the project to run our experiment several times. So far, we have collected data from nearly 1000 people. Some people did run into errors using the site, which were either promptly fixed by the team or attributable to issues outside of Active Logic control such as WI-FI or computer issues.

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

The final product of the website came a few months behind schedule, but this was partly on us because we realized we needed to make several changes to the site, which took time for them to build. But they graciously made all of our requested changes. 

Eventually, we began asking for many tweaks which were outside of the original scope of the project, and they began charging us for the changes, at a reasonable rate, though this did lead us to be a bit over budget. 

Overall they were very responsive. Nathan, in particular, did a fantastic job communicating with our team, implementing timely fixes for issues, etc. It was a pleasure working with Nathan and his team.

What was your primary form of communication with Active Logic?

Virtual Meeting

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

They were very responsive. Nathan would sometimes work weekends to make sure he could help us if any issues came up when users were on the site. They were also quite patient with us when we asked for changes to the site. We conduct research and had to request a lot of tweaks to the website to collect the kind of data we wanted. Nathan and his team handled our many, many requests well.

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

Originally we were told that the website would have capabilities that, once we signed the contract, we found out were not possible for them to implement. It turns out the person who had sold us on these capabilities left the company shortly after we signed the contract. 

However, Active Logic reassigned our project to a different project manager, Nathan, who did a great job working with us on the site to do what was possible. Ultimately there is little they could have done to prevent the situation. 

However, they could have been a bit better about estimating the time it takes to implement certain features. Sometimes the estimates were very vague, which created problems for us when we had to report back to our project funders about the progress of the project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of operations for a renewable energy microgrid developer. We deal with commercial buildings.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Active Logic?

I built a modeling program for our systems in Excel, and I was having them help me turn it into a more functional program. It’s a piece of custom software.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The solution was originally intended to be a web app, but it’s currently just for internal business use.

Excel has a lot of limitations compared to a true software application. Active Logic learned quite a bit about our application, diving into our complex formulas that wouldn’t translate easily into programming. They spent a few weeks reviewing the spreadsheet. Moving into development, they had to rewrite a lot of the formulas to make it work.

The application models the battery usage of a renewable energy microgrid and is able to tell you how much money you can save at a site. It incorporates variables like differently sized systems to. It can be used to create proposals for customers, detailing money saved, system cost, and more.

They will do a little design work as well; after translating the program over, creating the UI is going to be the next step.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with one salesperson throughout the entire process, as well as an electrical engineer. The latter has handled all the backend work. They also brought in a developer and a communication lead.

How did you come to work with Active Logic?

I found them online and considered them alongside one other firm. The firm I didn’t choose had worked with huge clients, but I liked Active Logic more after talking with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $60,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from February–May 2021. The engagement is currently paused while we find grant funds to continue development. Since we paused, another website launched that provides the same exact service, so we’re sort of rethinking what we want the program to do.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We would take the data from our spreadsheet and run it through different models in the program and compare the results based on different configurations and variables. In the end, we were matching up results from the program and spreadsheet with 100% accuracy.

I knew this was going to be a difficult project going in, but they were capable of understanding the spreadsheet and the formulas and translated it well.

How did Active Logic perform from a project management standpoint?

We had a Slack channel and spoke almost every day. Questions were brought up and the program was adjusted very quickly. Their sales resource was involved in every meeting to ensure we were taken care of. They were very communicative.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I liked how dedicated their team was. Active Logic put the right team together at the outset and understood what we were doing with microgrids and modeling enough to know that they needed to bring in an electrical engineer to do the backend work. they gave us the best product possible.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, no. They did a great job all around.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

This isn’t specific to them, but the more information you can give them and the more clear you can be about what you need, the better.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of a financial technology application that helps people automatically split and share recurring payments.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We had a mobile application that was built by a previous developer but did not have any way to manage that data. We worked with Active Logic Labs to help us build an application to manage the data on our users.

SOLUTION

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

We found that Rob and Don were super honest with us and we're willing to work with us on what we needed. Never once during the interview process did we feel that we were being sent down the wrong direction that wasn't beneficial to our organization

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

They designed and developed portal using .net core and vue js. This project involved weekly check-ins involvement with their development team.

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

We worked with two developers:

• the owner Rob
• the business development manager Don

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to launch our product months later with minimal edits to the admin portal. This has helped improve our overall user experience when interacting with support and has made an easy for our internal team to manage operations.

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

We communicated via Slack.

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

We were most impressed with their honesty and ability to work quickly to complete our project.

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

The project did come in a fair amount over budget. While Rob was very kind and able to work with us on the overages it definitely added some constraints to our organization that we had to work through. My only recommendation would need to better manage hourly work specifically with clients that have small budgets but I believe that Rob was understanding of our constraints and has already made adjustments with future clients.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the President/COO of a national software development company that provides full-life cycle commercial loan management software solutions to the banking industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our software solutions integrate multiple 3rd party components, one of which is a reporting component. It was necessary for us to convert 500+ pre-defined reports to a new report engine.

SOLUTION

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

After several interviews and meetings with the ActiveLogic Labs team, it was determined that since we are geographically located in the same region, we shared a common set of core values and therefore they would be a good fit for our project.

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

We had a kick-off meeting, provided the necessary component licensing to ActiveLogic Labs, provided them specific instructions on which reports to work on and they just worked on their own and periodically delivered results to us, eventually seeing the project through to completion.

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

I believe we had a project manager and 2 or developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project was successfully completed with satisfactory quality and within scope of the original estimate.

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

They communicated to us via Slack on an as-needed basis. Communication was not excessive (thereby not disruptive to our internal team who was focused on other initiatives) and relevant.

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

Incredibly bright and talented group of developers on the team and true professionals to work with.

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

N/A

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the owner of a sales rep organization. We’re a team of two, and we pursue business in aerospace and defense.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ActiveLogic Labs?

We wanted to address a particular market within engineering and aerospace business development, so we needed help developing sales CRM software.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, we worked with ActiveLogic Labs to flesh out the scope and proposal for the project. They then proceeded to develop the sales management software for us. We had to change the scope midway because we realized that it needed some modifications and ultimately wanted to go in a different direction, so the team adjusted accordingly. 

What is the team composition?

During the initial talks, we interacted with Robert (CEO) and his operations manager. When the development started, we started working more with the program managers and the engineer assigned to the project.

How did you come to work with ActiveLogic Labs?

We researched US-based agencies with good reviews. 

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our project lasted from November 2020–February 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Although this was one of the first times they had worked on this type of software, ActiveLogic Labs created a fully functioning, high-quality product that has helped us manage our business. 

How did ActiveLogic Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They used Trello for project management, which was very helpful — we could regularly review the project status and add action items, comments, and feedback through cards. The ability to create cards to remind them of focus areas helped keep the project on track, and the program managers also did a great job. We agreed to a three-month time frame, and they kept to that timeline and delivered my software on schedule. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The project we asked them to complete wasn’t well-established, but the software engineer did an excellent job meeting my requirements. He had to learn along the way, but he accomplished it in a timely manner, which impressed us. At some point, he even stayed up late to finish the project. Overall, they were very down-to-earth — even though the scope changed, the team worked with us to modify the project while staying within the agreed-upon budget and deadline.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I really don't have anything in mind — they were a small team but could take on and effectively manage a large project. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would definitely recommend them. Robert was easy to work with, and he was very knowledgeable from a software standpoint. He understood the project and the scope very quickly — we had a few calls with him and his operations manager, and within a day, he produced a project spec that pretty much met our requirements.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of engineering at Aware3, an community engagement platform. We offer apps, as well as online donation, donor management, and other community engagement services for churches, schools, and non-profits.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ActiveLogic Labs?

We were looking for a vendor who could provide our team with external resources for a project involving our online appeals product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The developers at ActiveLogic Labs helped upgrade our online appeals platform, using mostly JavaScript, PHP, and MySQL. They worked alongside our in-house team to get all aspects of this product developed.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a total of four people. Troy (Director of Business Development, ActiveLogic Labs) was our account manager, and ActiveLogic Labs provided three others to augment our staff. Currently, we only have one person working with us.

How did you come to work with ActiveLogic Labs?

I was familiar with their organization, as I’d come across them a few times through LinkedIn and some of my contacts. I was pleased when they appeared in my search for staff augmentation services.

They are a local company, which was also important to us, and they were ultimately the best fit for what we needed.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $100,000-$250,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in August 2019 and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Given the nature of the project, it’s hard to define their success with any statistics or metrics. However, the developers provided by ActiveLogic Labs perform at the level we expected, keeping up with our internal resources in terms of speed and proficiency. They’ve integrated well with us, working as part of our own team rather than as outside vendors.

How did ActiveLogic Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

We were offered a project manager at the beginning of the engagement, but we felt it unnecessary as we wanted ActiveLogic Labs to function as part of our in-house developers. I did speak with Troy when it was necessary, and he and the other members of his team were added onto our Jira and Slack accounts.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team has been very accommodating to our non-standard requests. They identify opportunities and are willing to work with us to accomplish our goals. We’ve found them to be more flexible than other companies offering similar services. We have a robust relationship with ActiveLogic Labs, rather than a purely transactional one.

Are there any areas they could improve? 

During the project, we made a joint decision to end our bi-weekly calls with our account manager. However, in retrospect, I wish we had maintained them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Start the conversation with ActiveLogic Labs. They’re eager to help, and you’ll probably find they can help meet your needs.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior technical strategist for The Sandbox Agency, an advertising company. I act as the liaison between our company and external development partners.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ActiveLogic Labs?

We hired them to develop an iOS application for a pharmaceutical client. We did not have iOS developers in-house to complete the project within the client’s aggressive timeline.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

ActiveLogic Labs built the iOS device for iPad. The app’s interactive capabilities supported the client’s sales representatives during their calls and presentations to healthcare practitioners. Specifically, the solution presented information about a medical device and supplemented marketing efforts.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 2–3 consulting and development resources, which included a primary point of contact that changed as the project progressed. I served as the project manager.

How did you come to work with ActiveLogic Labs?

We have an office in Kansas City and had heard positive things about ActiveLogic Labs through the local tech community. We reached out to them based on word-of-mouth to understand their business more.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $50,000–$60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2018 and the project ended in January 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

ActiveLogic Labs put in considerable time and effort to get the work done. The client was extremely satisfied with the result. We were particularly grateful given the project’s aggressive timeline.

How did ActiveLogic Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly used Jira. Throughout the project, we held stand-up meetings and weekly check-ins.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team was flexible as issues arose along the way, which inevitably happens in development projects. They pivoted as needed to ensure the client was satisfied.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The team wasn’t clear about tasks’ progress until the last minute. Everything ended up fine, but their lack of transparency caused some anxiety on our end. This may have resulted from their commitments to other clients.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of Answer Media, a digital advertising media company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ActiveLogic Labs?

We engaged ActiveLogic to help us build out a platform hosting a library of videos and tools that publishers could access.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

ActiveLogic designed and developed a web-based private platform for our publishing partners that allows them to access a database of videos and tools for embedding videos, transitioning effects, and other features.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Rob (CEO, ActiveLogic Labs), as well as a team that included a project manager and some frontend and backend developers.

How did you come to work with ActiveLogic Labs?

They were in the same network as our company, so we had met Rob and some of his staff a few times and already felt comfortable with their expertise and communications style.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent close to $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from around October 2015–February 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

ActiveLogic has enabled us to effectively process billions of requests for video ads each month. The platform they built has been an invaluable asset to our business.

How did ActiveLogic Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

I was very pleased with the whole process. They were very flexible as certain things came up that effected timelines, and were transparent about any delays or shifts in priorities on their end.

What did you find most impressive about them?

In addition to the diversity of expertise in technologies their team offers, they're also easy to communicate with and very detail oriented.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had a very positive experience overall, but I think they could've done a better job of making sure they got all the information they needed from us, so it wouldn't have impacted deadlines.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Ask questions and make sure there's a strong level of comfort in the direction of the project. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a Yelp-like application that helps members of the recovering community find meetings and resources on a global basis.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ActiveLogic Labs?

I needed an outsourced resource to develop my app. They initially worked on the iOS app, but we’ve now moved to version three, which includes Android.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

ActiveLogic Labs manages all of the mobile app development. We currently have a live prototype, but the next version will have significant updates and improvements. Users can open the app and see recovery meetings within 100 miles, primarily Alcoholics Anonymous. They can sort for different types of meetings (e.g. men only, spouses) and also change their location. The app has a messenger feature, where users can both make calls or send messages, which can be anonymous or attributed. The new upgrade will include a group messaging feature and allow us to scale the database geographically and categorize options better.

What is the team composition?

They provide a project manager, iOS developer, and Android developer.

How did you come to work with ActiveLogic Labs?

We wanted a partner who would be flexible and willing to work with our changing timeline. They needed to warn us about major issues, and ActiveLogic Labs seemed like the best fit.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $120,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since June 2016, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Other companies are trying to duplicate our app because it’s so successful. We’re still ahead of everyone else, but seeing their attempt to imitate us shows how impactful the app has been.

How did ActiveLogic Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They have excellent project management and have been clear from the beginning. They’re flexible and work with our sporadic schedule. We have an internal project management tool to track progress.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their work has been great, and they give us warnings long before any issues or delays arise.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’d appreciate a cloud-based project management interface. I’d like to be able to go into the tool and see where we’re at instead of having to ask for those updates.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Be clear about your milestones and what’s important. Also, avoid project creep by staying focused on a rigid schedule. Don’t make any changes unless you run into a big problem that needs to be addressed.