Clear Measure

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CTO for a direct to business commercial insurance company. Our software allows small and medium businesses to receive a quote and a policy by filling out our online form.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Clear Measure?

We were looking to modernize some of our development practices and to augment the team in areas that we lacked experience.

SOLUTION

How did you select Clear Measure and what were the deciding factors?

Knowing the founder of the organization, I knew we would have a good experience with Clear Measure.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

I don't like using the term project. This is more of an ongoing engagement where we started with converting our practices over to agile with 3 week sprints. We took our network and moved it to infrastructure as code. We've evaluated some of our worst performing code and have optimized to get better results on Google's Lighthouse.

We even converted our brochureware site to a CMS and integrated CMS headless functionality into our purchase path.

Describe the recruitment process in detail.

From the beginning we had a team lead that helped learn our needs and suggest methods to improve the team and process. If there's a specific need, we've sought out individuals that we were able to add.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

With their assistance, we were able to launch a new version of our website as well as increase efficiencies on our development team around the build and deployment functions.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Initially we ran into issues with a solid flow, but as time has passed, it's very seamless. Kudos to them as I've asked them to be an extension of our team and they've been exactly that.

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

They listen. I've never had an SI or consulting group I've been thrilled with from the start. However, unlike most, Clear Measure listens and adapts. I commend them on that and they've certainly turned over my perspective and willingness to work with us.

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

Initially, there were conflicts with some of the personalities meshing well on the team. However, as time passed, those conflicts were worked out and the current team is very solid.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a foreign profit corporation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Clear Measure?

We wanted to develop our B2B software with our two stakeholders. We needed a company that could help us get the MVP out there, do all the quality testing on it, and get our software up and running between our B2B component.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

A good bit of the development was already done before I engaged Clear Measure because I had all my process maps created as far as the flow of the business between those two stakeholders. We already knew exactly what my functional statements needed to be. Since all the leg work for the design that we wanted was already completed, it made it a lot easier when Clear Measure started working on the sprints. All they had to do was follow our directions. Overall, it was a great process, and we could see where they were going with it every step of the way.

What is the team composition?

We worked with eight people from Clear Measure.

How did you come to work with Clear Measure?

We interviewed probably six or seven companies, and I had a good friend of mine who told me to check with Jeffrey (Chief Architect & Chairman) from Clear Measure. We set up a meeting, and he had the clearest description of what we were looking for to build our software, so we engaged with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March 2019–December 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Clear Measure was able to complete all of their tasks and deliver all of their work. We were extremely happy with the product because it can scale quite easily and works as expected.

How did Clear Measure perform from a project management standpoint?

Clear Measure did well in terms of project management. They kept us abreast of our cash spend rate and what the next steps of the project were. They were also incredibly responsive.

We typically communicated through email and Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were most impressed with Clear Measure’s architectural design work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we were really happy with the end product.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that your design work is already mapped out before you start.