Buildable Custom Software

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Tangeloo, an app that helps people who have their own gardens to trade their excess with other folks within their community. It’s designed to promote healthy eating, sustainability, and a reduction in food costs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Buildable?

We hired them to build an app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Buildable built our iOS and Android mobile app. They worked with us to lay out what they needed from our in-house designer. 

What is the team composition?

I worked with four teammates, including a project manager, developers, and a designer. 

How did you come to work with Buildable?

I've been working with them since they were under another name. I had done numerous projects with them, so I was comfortable with the team. Rather than going through the process of vetting different developers, I thought it would be easier to put my trust in them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $60,000–$70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

This part of the project lasted from April–August 2020. We’re going to wait about six months before beginning the second phase.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The feedback I’ve received from users is that the app is simple, fast, and user-friendly. Our main goal was for the app to be user-friendly for all age groups. Buildable understood what we were trying to achieve and was able to translate that.

How did Buildable perform from a project management standpoint?

Buildable did sprints, and each one was managed by the project manager. Their project management was great. We had weekly communication with them, and sometimes more than weekly.

In the beginning, we communicated daily with them, and it was great. Every time I had a question, I would reach out to Buildable and they would answer promptly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their passion was very impressive. The whole team was passionate about the project and was excited about doing the work. Seeing their passion brought back our initial excitement, which I don’t think I would’ve gotten from a different team.

What I liked about Buildable was that they didn’t sugarcoat anything; it was either yes or no. Whether the news was good or bad, they delivered it, which is how I operate. I appreciated their knowledge, passion, and honesty. I also appreciated their forthcomingness and ability to tell me what the best solution was.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind. It was a seamless and collaborative process. I would recommend them to anyone who wants to develop an app because I was pleased with their work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

In order to be successful, know what you want and prioritize that based on your budget. You have to work backward by understanding your topmost priorities.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of IT for a wholesale distributor of waterworks products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Buildable Custom Software?

We started using an electronic takeoff program, which allows users to conduct takeoffs electronically. We needed an integration between our ERP and estimation software package.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Buildable led a discovery phase when they learned what we needed. Their team then created mockups of the screens, wireframes, and workflows prior to the development.

They developed an integration between our ERP and our estimation software. Products flagged in our ERP are exported and delivered to a network storage location. The products are then a plugged-in to PlanSwift, which is our estimation software. A plug-in will retrieve information based on a selected branch to import product and price information. The solution also features a search plug-in that allows users to search for products needed for the takeoff. Once the takeoff’s complete, there’s a way to submit it back into our ERP using an API.  

What is the team composition?

I communicated with a project manager and a developer, but other engineers worked on the project too.

How did you come to work with Buildable Custom Software?

My colleague conducted the search and narrowed our options to three potential partners. We had interviews and after theirs, Buildable created a semi-functional mockup of their idea, which was impressive.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $50,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our partnership in January 2020, and Buildable completed the deliverables in June. Since then, we’ve had a couple of engagements to add features and make fixes. There will probably be another phase for advanced feature development.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The discovery phase was great. That was definitely helpful because we discovered areas that we hadn’t thought through and then made those decisions up front. The product works well, and we’re happy.

How did Buildable Custom Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated by email and had video calls. We had weekly standup meetings when we talked about progress and answered questions. That cadence worked well, and the project was on time and budget. They have a support platform for entering tickets. Their team was easy to reach. If we had questions, they were responsive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team’s competent. They quickly understood our problem and then created a design to solve it. Buildable was quick and waited on us to provide our deliverables. The code was solid, and their team conducted good QA. I don’t remember experiencing bugs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I was completely happy with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Follow their lead during the discovery phase. Their discovery, mockups, and workflows saved us a lot of time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Heyke Kirkendall-Baker: I’m the president of Parity Software.

Steve Baker: I’m the CEO of Parity Software.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Buildable Custom Software?

HKB: Working with another company, we were behind schedule and over budget. We stopped selling our software because it wasn't where it needed to be. We needed to hire another agency to get the project back on track and get our program to the point where we could sell it again.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SB: Our company initially made the software, which Buildable made easier for our customers to use.  The software allows employers to meet ongoing issues with pay equity at the state and national levels.

We provided them with specifications as well as access to our different accounts and servers.

HKB: I also gave them a PowerPoint to demonstrate the look and feel that I wanted.

SB: Buildable made significant changes to the UI, making it more familiar to our customers. For example, if you’re used to using Microsoft Word, you don’t want your program to look like a dull space program. Their team implemented more advanced reporting and feedback loops for our customers.

What is the team composition?

HKB: We primarily worked with four people from their team. There were a project manager and a developer. We also worked with Max (President).

SB: Another developer and a customer success teammate supported this project too.

How did you come to work with Buildable Custom Software?

HKB: I searched online for companies with UI and project management experience because our previous vendor didn’t have a manager to keep our project on track. I found a website and reached out to about five different companies. Within about 30 minutes, I received a response from Miles (Business Dev Expert). Buildable was the only company that responded in a timely manner. Miles wanted to schedule a meeting and learn more about the project. We met with the owner and Miles to describe our project and then decided to move forward with them.

How much have you invested with them?

HKB: We’ve spent about $35,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

HKB: We started our engagement with Buildable on this project in December 2019.

SB: Phase one is complete, wrapping up in June 2020. We’re currently working on what the next big phase will be.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

SB: Their knowledge about current technologies and software development helped to produce a platform that looks like a 2021 product. Max’s background in database design was useful. Their team delivered what we wanted.

They were able to accept our ideas and turn them into working software. Buildable is one of the few companies that we’ve met that can understand non-software engineers when it comes to product definition and design.

HKB: Our previous vendor spoke over my head because I’m not a technical person. Buildable listened and translated my ideas, which isn’t always the easiest task. They also consistently checked in to make sure that their team understood what I wanted the platform to capture. Their team paid attention to my thoughts, which is the primary reason that we continue with them.

How did Buildable Custom Software perform from a project management standpoint?

SB: Buildable has a sensible and intelligent approach. A lot of people have good ideas but not a lot of people have access to senior engineers to run ideas through them.

HKB: Their project management was exceptional. We had standup meetings on a weekly basis. Their team would tell us what they accomplished last week and what they intended to accomplish in the coming week. They were on target.

SB: We used Zoom to communicate. They run an Agile-based system with sprints, so they’re on top of the project.

Buildable also used tools to design UIs and flows. They had a system that we used to track issues. Their team responded through the system too.

What did you find most impressive about them?

SB: Their team did what they told us they would do upfront. If they fell short, their team made up for it without charge. If we found a bug, they recognized the issue and fixed it.

We pushed their engineering team, which excited them. Buildable wanted to be a part of our success.

HKB: Their ability to communicate with individuals without computer or software experience was also crucial.

Are there any areas they could improve?

SB: I’m sure there are areas for improvement. But, they did what they said they were going to do. Our project was complicated, but the end result was good. We still have a good relationship.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

SB: Tell them what you want. Their team will tell you what they can and can’t do, so be brutally honest.

We told them what we wanted, what we could afford, and what we didn’t want to happen. Then, their team told us what they could do. If we hid the ball, we wouldn’t have gotten the end result that we wanted.

HKB: Be prepared to engage with them. If you don’t engage in the standup meetings, the project won’t be as successful.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are Non-profit organization that supports one of the largest clients in the world. I am the Director of Technology and manage all facets and development for the organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Buildable Custom Software?

We hired Buildable from a selection process that interviewed over 50 Software Developers that we acquired via Clutch.co. We are looking to build a custom software for the organization to manage a new product line for the organization. This would be a 5 yr engagement and a software project of over $1M in budget.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal of the project is to create an entire client portal that included reporting, A.I./machine learning integrations, learning management system, and visualizations.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We interviewed over 50 vendors in the selection process. Buildable displayed a high level of understanding, great resume of previous project work, and understood the challenges that we would face and provided us with great insight, options and direction to move forward with them. If you have a call with Max, you will understand that he will get it before you even finish your thought and conversation with him.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Buildable came and saved our organization from a software developer that over promised and under delivered. We were going thru a separation from the old software vendor and already gun-shy to hire a new one. Buildable provided our organization a great level of confidence that they would be able come in and rescue and meet our deadlines even though they would be very difficult to achieve.

Buildable came in and ran with the project where our organization had to try to keep up with them. They met every milestone for the software project and continue to impress with every new challenge we present them.

What was the team composition?

We have a Dev lead, PM, Scrum master, QA/QC, UI/UX, programmers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

This software product will become the backbone of our organization. It will eventually be the center-piece and will tie all aspects of our operation into this core custom software.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The PM was very effective with meeting all of the 2 week design sprints and providing timelines and clarity on the project progress. We have not missed a deliverable even though Buildable came into the project at a reduced timeline for delivery. It is a testament to how well a company is run by its ability to meet adversity in tight deadlines and to be able to deliver on those commitments.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

If I had a programming department, it would be run and executed similar to how Buildable is run. It starts with Max and it is a trickle down effect to the rest of his team. They build things as if I was going to build them. I have been leading I.T. departments for over 30 years and you will not find a developer better than this anywhere.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I wish they were on the East Coast. Max, build an office over here.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the digital sales director of a wholesale tour operator running an e-commerce business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Buildable Custom Software?

They helped us to build out a new UI/UX for our website and e-commerce system, as well as integrating those with our backend systems to provide a booking engine for travel agents.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had legacy software and that we had to work around, but they did a very good job using an agile process to accomplish a lot in a short period of time. Their recommendation was to go with Angular, but we didn’t have that option because our legacy system was in Java, so they ended up doing a lot of work with Java Server Pages and the other frameworks that it enables.

They did some design work as well, specifically on the frontend, but also setting everything up so that it worked in Javascript and all the different libraries that are out there. Primarily, though, it was just about making sure that the data was moving back and forth successfully.

What is the team composition?

They had three members of their team assigned to our project, two of whom we worked with on a regular basis.

How did you come to work with Buildable Custom Software?

Our company went through a standard RFP process to find a provider and interviewed about 3–4 different firms. Buildable Custom Software made it clear from the beginning that they had done this kind of work before, that they had the ability to understand the core challenges that we were facing, and that they were just good people to work with, so we decided they would be the best fit for us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $350,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from about August 2017–August 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As a direct result of their work, we were able to reduce the abandonment rate of our e-commerce site significantly: almost 10-25% depending on the week. Beyond that, the ease of use and the user experience across the site was heightened significantly, which they had a lot to do with.

How did Buildable Custom Software perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team did a fantastic job of managing the project. We had standing meetings every week, and they were always incredibly responsive to our questions. They really went the extra mile when it came to troubleshooting and thinking through any of the issues that came up throughout the project, which was a huge benefit to us in the long and short term. They used Jira to track the project milestones, as well as communicating with us via phone and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Customer service is really one of their strong suits. They are very smart people and are able to very quickly understand the requirements of a project, and then communicate their suggestions of the direct changes that you can make to get a better final product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any major critiques for them. The project was challenging due to the constraints that we were working with, and I think I could have done a better job communicating at times, but that’s not something that I would blame them for.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that you understand your goals before you bring them on. They’re highly adaptive and very knowledgeable, and the better prepared you are the more you will be able to channel that productively.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of the News-Register publishing company and the publisher of the newspaper.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Buildable Custom Software?

Initially, we engaged them to develop our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Buildable Custom Software developed the website for our newspaper using the system they’d built over the years. Since then, we’ve worked with them in various ways. Primarily, their team has worked to create additional websites for other portions of our company operations.

What is the team composition?

We work with an expanded team from the one in 2010. Primarily, we’ve collaborated with probably 2–3 different people from Buildable Custom Software for various areas of website development such as special database services, website redesign, and special functionality creation. They’ve got a team of good quality people for website and conceptual development as well as programming and design expertise.

How did you come to work with Buildable Custom Software?

We were working with our own development resources, providing services to other newspapers as well. We hit a point where we weren’t able to take our software development to the next level. At that time, we became aware of Buildable Custom Software. They were creating database websites locally and operating across the street from us. We checked their capabilities and found them to be beyond what we were able to do for our own website servicing.

How much have you invested with them?

Over the course of our partnership, we’ve probably spent $20,000 on development.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2010. It wasn’t a project we wanted to rush, so development occurred over the course of six months or so. We continue to work together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve had significant success by asking them to make changes to their database program. These changes have helped elements of our newspaper, advertising, and circulation sales activities. They've also enabled us to create reports, improving how we extract data from our website significantly.

How did Buildable Custom Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve done most of our work with them in person when we’ve sat down and looked at the site to update the programming live. Buildable Custom Software gives us a tool—a development site—using the database system’s functionality for us to play with as long as we want to work out functions that we're interested in implementing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Buildable Custom Software has been extremely professional and timely. Their team has been flexible in responding to our special needs over the years. And, we’ve got an advantage through a strong personal and local business relationship. They’re people we know well who work across the street from us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind specifically. As with any system like theirs, it’s difficult for them to respond to specific needs because their program serves all their clients. When we’ve asked them to add functionality to the large-scale program, it can take extra time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the benefits operations manager at CityCounty Insurance Services. We provide various insurance benefits to any city and county in Oregon that wants to take coverage with us.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Buildable Custom Software?

We were trying to build our own enrollment system for all of the benefits, and we needed full web development support.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Over the past five years, we have worked with two or three third-party enrollment system vendors. We tend to be a unique client for a lot of those vendors because of all the cities and counties that we help manage funds for. A lot of those enrollment vendors are more geared toward single employers, so we ran into a lot of issues with billing and the user interface.

We are halfway through the web development project. We’re relying on Buildable Custom Software for both frontend and backend development from scratch. The frontend work has been completed, but the backend elements are taking more time because we have to account for insurance rules associated with all types of events, such as marriages and births. Whenever somebody starts a new insurance plan, there are many different rules to account for, so we’re working to make our backend as comprehensive as possible. So far, Buildable Custom Software has done a great job of understanding what our needs are. They’ve managed the sprints well and have made sound recommendations for how to proceed from one sprint to the next.

What is the team composition?

We work with the company’s owner, a project manager, and three engineers. The project manager puts the contract together and outlines what we’re doing in each sprint. She does an excellent job of organizing everything we need.

How did you come to work with Buildable Custom Software?

We had never heard of their company before, but they responded to our RFP. Buildable Custom Software subsequently advanced through each of our rounds of cuts until we had a final three. They are a somewhat small company, so we were unsure if they could handle us, but they blew us out of the water with their proposal. They featured the latest and greatest software, and we were impressed by their past work. A lot of what was driving us to build our own system was the billing capability, which they had a lot of experience in.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement began in September 2018 and remains ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As we are building our own product, we are marrying our system with the enrollment system employees use. We have a rules engine that has hundreds of lines of codes to develop these rates, and Buildable Custom Software condensed that down to seven or eight lines of code, and it works great. From an efficiency standpoint, although it is very specific, it works. It is very fluid, and we can make changes to something in line with the code.

How did Buildable Custom Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We have thorough weekly calls, so we don’t have much use for a project management tool. We use the meetings to receive our updates, take notes, and determine the next steps.

The owner is equally capable of leading the development or project management duties. We haven’t found many other vendors that can understand our unique business needs as well as Buildable Custom Software. The owner has been involved at every step, and he makes sure that the team communicates.

What did you find most impressive about them?

So far, they have done a great job and have stayed on budget. Buildable Custom Software has people on our calls that are dedicated to our project, which is something we have experienced before. Unlike past vendors that have experienced a lot of staff turnover, we have had the same team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There have been instances when we’ve had to change parts of the project because it was outside the scope of work, but that falls on us too. There have also been times when it has taken longer than anticipated to receive a quote on something, which we have found strange because they usually are very punctual.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have one single person who is responsive and dedicated to the project within your organization. If you don’t, it is going to be hard on Buildable Custom Software to do exactly what you need. In our case, the communication comes to me, and if I need to find answers elsewhere, I can do that, but it is all streamlined to one person. They have a point of contact whenever there is a question.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the IT manager at a lab. We primarily do testing of urine and saliva.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Buildable Custom Software?

We have an old portal that’s running in Flash, which is going away in a couple of years, and we knew the primary developers wouldn’t be able to turn it around in time. We needed some group to come in and turn it around quickly and add advanced features.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our primary project was allowing doctors to be able to log into a system and view reports. And we’re also going to add training into it. On our end it enables us, internally, to see what the providers are ordering, to make sure they get something to translate the report and track the reported status as it moves through the testing phase.

We were able to scale the projects since we were supposed to have one project that dealt with the portal and then another project that had to do with the reports. We were able to do both concurrently.

We have a Linux server running a .NET core, and they build the ASPX technologies onto that, and we’re using a SQL server on the backend. They’re interfacing to our Nutshell CRM, and the old database that the old system uses. We wanted to get away from Flash, so they took care of that for us.

They’re using the Angular framework, which I like because it’s very strict and helps us track changes a lot easier. Whenever they do something, we can see it, and identify it.

What is the team composition?

We have one project manager, who was also a developer, one lead developer, three regular developers, and two designers.

How did you come to work with Buildable Custom Software?

They were courting my company when I started working here. I did a review of a Portland-based development company, a national development company, and Buildable. A lot of people liked Buildable because they’re local. I liked the fact that they used the .NET development style since I’m very familiar with it.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested 250,000.                

They went over the quote, but thanks to our agile project management methodology, we could see it coming ahead of time.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in January 2019, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Right now, we’re starting testing, which we decided to host. Everybody here is more excited about the look and feel, and being able to finally get live data. With the old system, we had to export text files and it always took a day. We’re all excited to have something new, fresh, and with more functionality. The reports are more dynamic, and we can actually scale them.

How did Buildable Custom Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We already finished phase one. They worked with an agile methodology, which I like since it adapts and fits what we need. And they were able to give us sprints, wherein they were able to meet all of the deliverables, and then some.

We were able to see, that as a customer, weren’t ready to give them all of the details yet. So, we were able to move those to later sprints, and our ongoing work will be moved to phase two, and we’ll go from there.

They were able to meet all of the deadlines, except for a few, since we were still giving them data to collect. It’s a new process for us, but they were able to keep working on other things to keep themselves busy.

The sprints were all done within an Excel spreadsheet. They have their own project management tool and they also use Jira. I use Jira on my end too. We did weekly standups, to make sure everyone was on the same page, and to make sure we could see any problems coming up.

One of the main selling points for them was that they were here locally, so we were able to run things back and forth if we needed to. I spoke with our project manager every other day on the phone, and we also used Microsoft Teams and Zoom for communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I found the best thing I liked about them is their communication. We were never left in the dark, like with other development companies. Some companies say they follow agile, but they don’t, and whatever they finish doesn’t fit with our needs. Buildable Custom Software was able to do things in a day, sometimes. They were never afraid to show me their code, so I could always see what they’re working on.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re a newer company and they’re growing. Sometimes they can feel nervous, and they’re afraid of hurting our feelings. Sometimes it felt like I had to reassure them. For the most part, everything they delivered was beautiful. I’m hoping this builds their confidence in their abilities. They’re doing good work for us, and not just for us; I’ve seen what they’ve done for another company, it’s pretty amazing. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Some of the faults with us were that we weren’t ready in certain areas, and that caused them to wait on us. I would make sure you have all your ducks in a row. They move fast, and if you’re not ready, they’re going to be twiddling their thumbs.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Evergreen Museum is an aviation and space museum located in McMinnville Oregon. I am a Marketing Consultant tasked with improving the digital marketing and brand awareness for the museum.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Buildable Custom Software?

Buildable was asked to redesign and rejuvenate our website to improve UI/UX and user engagement.

What were your goals for this project?

Improve UI/UX and rebrand the museum experience.

SOLUTION

How did you select Buildable Custom Software?

Buildable originally created the website. But the real reason we stayed with them was due to their team and product. They offer the best value and best customer service.

Describe the project in detail.

Complete redesign of the website and improve UI/UX. The updated the color, imagery, navigation, and SEO.

What was the team composition?

I believe it was a 3 person team, project manager, front end designer, back end engineer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The site is now up do date, traffic numbers are recovering, and the comments from users is 100% positive.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was efficient and effective. Great communications.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Buildable is dedicated to helping their customers achieve their goals. I have worked with other development teams in the past that were dedicated to their own goals and dismiss their customers needs. The team at Buildable went out of their way to accommodate our needs.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not in regards to anything we worked on together.