COAX Software

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the President of Krytter Technology Corp.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Booking engine and office management software for the outfitting industry. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire COAX to accomplish?

• Create Booking Engine Software
• Build the MVP for the Booking Engine
• Expand the MVP to a B2B platform

SOLUTION

How did you find COAX?

Online Search

Why did you select COAX over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from COAX were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

The ground up creation of a booking engine for the outfitting industry was extremely complex and involved hundreds of deliverables.  I will summarize them below as follows:

THE MVP

Booking Engine - The basic premise of the software around which all other features are based.  This was a reservation system that worked with complex variables specfic to the outfitting industry such as locations, extras, harvest fees, licensing, species, party composition, pricing, scheduling, and paperwork.

CRM - Creating a customer database - but also a customer online portal to view and manage bookings.  Create and manage customer connections between different outfitters using the system.

Publishing - Create and manage links and widgets for online publishing and marketing

Accounting - Manage invoicing, fees, and transactions.  This includes managing deposit amounts and due dates - split/merge, discount, and entering manual payments.

Payment Processing - integrating Flywire into the system for online payment processing and linking bank accounts to the system.

Paperwork - Create and manage paperwork into multiple categories (Information, Policicies, and Legal) and when to display to customers (before booking, before arrival, after arrival).  This also required the insertion of variables into documents and integration with SignNow for legal documents.

Operational Dashboard and Availability Dashboard - The outfitter view of the system where they view and manage hunts from one location.

THE B2B

Outfits - Add multiple outfits into the system and manage their statuses - demo mode, active,  arrears, and suspended.

User Dashboards - create three different dashboards for Admin, Outfitters, and Customers

User Roles - create different roles with different access and permissions for both Admin and Outfitters 

Notification Center - Notifications plus automated emails

Support Center - Create and manage support tickets between Admin, Outfitter, and Customers

Jurisdictions - Manage variables from one jurisdiciton to another depending on the location of the outfitter including a separate jurisdiciton paperwork requirement.

Associations - Manage associations and their fees for different outfitters.

B2B Accounting - Outfit fees, Disbursements, Check Processing and Bank Transfers

B2B Paperwork - Paperwork required for Outfitters to complete

Operational Licensing - Manage the purchase and delivery of licenses for customers 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Milestone completion for the deliverables was the only metric used.

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

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What was your primary form of communication with COAX?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

I was most impressed by the quality of the end product.  While my ideas formed the basis for the work, they delivered a far more superior product than I imagined with greater flexibility and viability of features.  The COAX team worked seamlessly together from my perspective to create a great software platform that was extremely complex.  Their staff were very competent, available, and responsive to any request or change.  They were highly organized, professional, and skilled.

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

My level of satisfaction with COAX is extremely high.  We (and I bear some responsibility here) could have done a better job of exploring the full extent of the platform so that we captured expectations better for them to quote the project rather than changes and cost overruns after the fact.  

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CTPO of Location Live Limited

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Our services enable brands to find the perfect space for in-person media experiences; super-charging their brands and products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire COAX to accomplish?

• Take ownership for the Agile development of our digital marketplace lo:live
• Embed and execute robust processes for lo:live strategic feature development, maintenance and bug and incident management
• Deliver version 2 of the lo:live client portal
• Create a whitelable version of lo:live to increase distribution channels
• Support our expansion into new geographies using lo:live as a spearhead

SOLUTION

How did you find COAX?

Referral

Why did you select COAX over others?

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

How many teammates from COAX were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

location:live’s digital activation space marketplace, lo:live, is the leading technology platform on which to search, plan and book activation space.

COAX's initial task in 2020 was to understand location:live’s business objectives, create a fit-for-purpose backlog, and develop lo:live at an expedited pace. COAX were able to grasp the project from the incumbent in record time - fixing critical bugs, and ultimately releasing a first major upgrade across all dimensions of the platform within 4 months.

Key deliverables included:

• Comprehensive technical documentation to describe the platform architecture and logic
• Improve code quality throughout the build
• Implement a resilient and scalable architecture to support business growth and high performance
• Implement a robust testing approach
• Ongoing maintenance of the platform
• Create a whitelable version of the platform
• Expand platform into new business geographies
• Support conversion measures to increase business revenue
• Overhaul the client search and plan experience

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Pace of feature development increased 3x
• Frequency of releases increased 3x
• Agile delivery in 2 week sprints
• Key deliveries completed to time and budget (Whitelabel and Geography expansion)
• Customer satisfaction has averaged 9/10 in regular monthly reviews
• Feature development has supported a 2x increase in platform business and traffic

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

COAX have phenomenal Agile project management. The communication between Product Ownership (onshore UK) and Project Management / Scrum Master (offshore, Ukraine) has been near faultless - allowing for full specialisation and focus on our respective areas of responsibility.

Without exaggeration, if something is discussed, it gets done. Without fail.

Our relationship has been fully remote, and the clarity of communication and strong relationships across the teams has meant that co-working has been seamless regardless. COAX regularly work outside core hours to support urgent and unpredicted work. 

What was your primary form of communication with COAX?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

COAX have delivered immense value to our business as our valued strategic development partner prior to and during my tenure. They are reactive to short term changes - as is inevitable with agile tech company strategies - whilst also supporting process improvement to increase our longer term predictability and cadence. 

I implicitly trust the whole COAX team to do the right thing by us, and to have blunt and honest conversations with me when we are in the thick of delivery. COAX are the engine room and compass behind our market-leading tech: lo:live.

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

COAX are more comfortable in Agile working formations than waterfall. At times when we have needed to change to a waterfall formation to meet a specific business need, planning and delivery has been a bit more challenging.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a social personal finance platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with COAX Software?

We hired COAX Software to develop our main product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The first step was the design process and they worked on the UI/UX for multiple pages. Then they built out the platform, which included a Python-based backend that featured math models. Then they used JavaScript and React to build the frontend which included social functions such as a community board, other dashboards, and the frontend of the math model.

What is the team composition?

I usually worked with our project manager, but I also worked with their legal team, a QA engineer, a frontend developer, a backend developer, and a DevOps lead.

How did you come to work with COAX Software?

I put out a small component project on Upwork and hired a few partners to work on that. I chose COAX Software for our larger project because their communication was the best.  

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $60,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2020 and the project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our first few milestones were met ahead of schedule. However, the scope of our work has changed so much that it has been difficult to stick to our original plan.

How did COAX Software perform from a project management standpoint?

They respond quickly to bugs. I just need to send them a message on Slack and they work on fixing it. We also use Jira for project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication was good. Sometimes I send them a message on Slack over the weekend and won’t expect a response, but they reply anyway.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve how they manage the developers’ time. I understand that they often are working on multiple projects, and if they aren’t slated to work on ours, it could be difficult to have them shift to our project. Obviously, we sometimes want immediate action, but it isn’t always possible.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Clarify your scope internally. Still, if you miss anything, they’re willing to adapt to changing requirements.  

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and Founder of Arena100. We’re a web-based platform that focuses on witness, nutrition, and we built out a social media platform for individuals who seek to be more than just confined to those three topics.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with COAX Software?

We brought them on to build out the platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

 Predominantly, it has been the build of the backend of the platform. They’ve integrated the modern technologies that we need on the platform. They built the foundations and architecture needed for the platforms to operate. They operate in Django and a few other things.

What is the team composition?

From our time working with them, we’ve worked with 4–5 different developers. We’ve had three main developers, but several others come in and out around deadlines.

How did you come to work with COAX Software?

I found them on freelancer platforms. I managed to reach out to their lead project manager, did a few tests to make sure they could satisfy my expectations. They had a really good reputation and I was confident that they could deliver the nuances of what I needed.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent approximately $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working on this project in October 2018, and they continue to work with us to improve the platform.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of their service is very high. They’re very engaged and go above and beyond. We’ve developed a good relationship over the last two years and will continue to use them for the foreseeable future. I’d definitely recommend them.

How did COAX Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We have all kinds of meetings and a dedicated Slack channel, which we use daily. We also have daily morning sprints, in which we’ll use either SAP Webi or Zoom. Then we can send emails or hold phone calls if needed. We use all sorts of media to communicate.

They’re also very good with scheduling and meeting deadlines. They have a project manager on their side as well who looks after their developers. We plan out objectives in advance, so we don’t look out just a week, but will plan about 4 weeks ahead.  Unless there’s a major issue, like the server goes down, they always hit their targets.

What did you find most impressive about them?

My favorite part of working with them is the rapport we’ve built up with them. It’s not just a client and service provider relationship. I speak to them outside of office hours. They’re very friendly and it’s never stressful to work with them. It’s a great working relationship.

Are there any areas they could improve?

When we first started, there were probably some communication issues because we were unfamiliar with one another, but those were quickly resolved. It’s been really smooth sailing.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Thoroughly understand what your requirements are. COAX Software is very good at what they do, but they will change what they’re doing according to what you tell them. So, if changes need to be made, they will have to deal with that as a separate toss. Therefore, it makes sense to understand what your needs and requirements are.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the general manager for a construction company called TRI Contracting.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with COAX Software?

We were looking for a development partner to help us establish a digital suite when we first started the company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team started by designing and developing our website. From there, they helped us to create an in-house app for material ordering so that our foremen can submit applications for materials from the site.

Since that was finished, we have been working with them to create a time-tracking app for our employees that allows them to check-in through facial recognition and integrate with accounting software as well, and we have plans to launch that in September. They also help us with any IT support that we need on a monthly basis, including facilitating our corporate email accounts.

What is the team composition?

We have three main contacts on their team, including the CFO, CEO, and the project manager assigned to our project. There are usually several developers working on our account behind the scenes as well.

How did you come to work with COAX Software?

I knew their owner personally and knew that he is really good at what he does, so I have gone to him for a few different projects with various companies over the years, including this one.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $30,000–$40,000 with them over the years.

What is the status of this engagement?

The original web development project took place around October 2010, and we have continued to work on a variety of projects with them since then.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They delivered great results at a fraction of the cost that it would have been with a US-based developer, so we are extremely satisfied with the results. Their team was professional and organized throughout the process.

How did COAX Software perform from a project management standpoint?

I had the chance to visit their office a few years ago and meet the team in person, which really helped to solidify our relationship. They always respond right away to any questions or requests that we have and contribute really good ideas to make the product even better all the time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s hard to say what sets them apart most from other developers because I haven’t worked with anyone else, but their offer was much more competitive than most of the other options we looked at, so I would say that their ability to deliver on a tighter budget was what I appreciated the most.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing in particular comes to mind that I think they should be doing differently.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take advantage of their communication skills, because they are excellent communicators and will help you to stay on top of the work much more if you talk to them as frequently as you can.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the founder of KeyMan Intelligence. We provide data sets and applications for credit asset managers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire COAX Software?

We needed to create a UI to replace credit analysts’ spreadsheets.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed a flexible, customizable interface that was similar to excel and other table programs.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We reviewed their previous projects.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They designed and developed the UI’s frontend.

What was the team composition?

We worked with a senior and junior project manager, a design specialist, and two UI developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The new UI has taken our product to the next level, transforming it from a data feed into a packaged application.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

They were excellent in this regard. Communication was consistent and timely, and if anyone was responsible for delays, it was us. Their responses came quickly.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their professionalism and level of investment in the project were outstanding. They remained cognizant of our desired outcome throughout.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We’d be better off if they had pushed their recommendations more aggressively. I believe this will occur in the future as we increase our relationship with them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder and CEO of a software company that structures unstructured data on Wall Street.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire COAX Software?

We needed a design partner for such projects as our website, UI, sales collateral, videos, business cards, and newsletters.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted our website to be clear and consistent with our product strategy and to convey a clean visual design.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I interviewed Serge (CEO, COAX Software) and found him to be very creative, intelligent and professional. His proposal was fairly priced and very detailed.

Describe the project in detail.

We hold regular weekly meetings to discuss design projects and to review the previous week's designs. They provide wireframes and other mockups so we can iterate in real time.

What was the team composition?

Our CTO, myself, and our product manager usually communicate directly with Serge over Zoom video conferences.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their designs have allowed us to test new ideas with customers, usually based on COAX Software's mockups. These designs allow us to rapidly iterate and build new features and products.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Serge is awesome. He works very hard with a lot of customers, but I have never felt he wasn't available to me. He goes out of his way to accommodate our schedule. He is a great communicator and he's well-liked within our company. In addition to our video conferences, we've given Serge a company email and added him to our Slack channels.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their response time stands out, as I usually have my designs back within three days.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, we're very satisfied.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the Founder and CEO of CareZapp. We work on software platform technologies related to supporting people who need at-home care. We connect people to services and provide insights into smart technologies that enable more affordable and positive outcomes for at-home support and care.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with COAX Software?

It was a case of re-establishing a development team. We lost a number of our developers at a point in time, and we were looking for an opportunity to rebuild a team. Instead of building it in-house, we decided to outsource major elements of it so that we could develop from a different point of view.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, they did a code review for us and gave us some feedback on that. They also looked at our development operations, which is based on AWS, and gave us a review of that as well. From there, we were able to establish a number of things that we wanted to work on and rebuild. We had an existing platform in place, but we were moving towards an updated version with newer developments, so we got them to work on specific things there. We were dipping our toes in so that we could understand the relationship and build good, strong communications between their team and ours.

They're responsible for all of our new digital features. The product management still happens on our side, as does a lot of the feature and story scoping, but then we pass those on to COAX to develop into new features and functionalities. They also provide design work for us, particularly frontend design.

What is the team composition?

It varies from one to three people depending on what elements we’re working on – if it’s design or development heavy.

How did you come to work with COAX Software?

We did a trial with a number of different companies, specifically with people who had skill sets around Ruby, and for whom it was there primary skill set. We were also looking for companies of a certain size that were willing to be flexible with us, in terms of budgetary and the fact that it wasn't a fully scoped project – we develop on a monthly basis. I made the decision to go with COAX purely on the basis of their eagerness and willingness to work with us, using our style.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $50,000 so far, but that will definitely increase.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since December 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

A lot of what we’re doing is in the pre-production stage, but customers have been happy in their feedback about our new features and functions. If our customers are happy, then we’re happy. Our projects have been relatively thin slices, but we’ve been able to deliver them on time and within scope. The quality of their code has been very good and we haven't had any particular issues.

How did COAX Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We typically work with two-week cycles and monthly budgets. Any problems or questions that arise come directly from their project manager, through our Slack channel. We also have regular video conference meetings to discuss schedules, what’s been put in place, and where we stand on that. I’m well informed and I’m not second guessing what’s happening.

It took some work to understand both side’s motivations and the best way for us to communicate, because of the language barrier. But that was addressed with our project manager who speaks great English. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Flexibility was important to us, especially flexibility in being able to work with our budget, and delivering new features and functionalities on a two-week basis. They've also remained flexible with personnel - we always have at least one member of the team fully assigned, but then we can build on that as required.

They’ve had to work in a difficult environment – with other people’s code on an existing platform – but they’re doing quite well. They’ve been investigating and building on existing code with great quality.

Are there any areas they could improve?

When you're dealing with some of the developers directly, language can become a specific barrier, but that’s been mitigated by the project manager. It hasn’t been a big issue for us. We've been able to share documentation well and we've been able to share processes well, so there’s nothing huge that stands out.

Any advice for potential customers?

Communication is one of the biggest things here, in terms of it working in both directions, but, also, being able to build from there. We found that starting small and building from there to be a huge advantage.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a co-founder and the CTO of Fortay, which provides a data-driven, machine-learning platform that enables an organization to use values, beliefs, and workplace attributes to determine a unique “culture fingerprint” that can then be used to assess the cultural fit of potential candidates.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire COAX Software?

We have hired COAX to provide primary development and testing services for our aforementioned platform.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal is to expand the platform’s capabilities—consistent with market requirements and our roadmap—while enabling systems of revenue creation.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Initially found through a reference, we undertook calls with several of COAX’s previous customers and conducted a trial sprint with their team. Our satisfaction with their results led to the development of an ongoing contract.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

COAX uses ReactPHP to develop the frontend and Ruby SQL for the backend and updates me regularly on their progress.

What was the team composition?

Although team composition has varied over time, there has alway been one lead developer and one QA tester who have been augmented by 1-3 developers (depending on the scope of the work for that given sprint).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have been growing Fortay at 100% year after year based upon the platform’s success.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Right now, I provide the sprint project management activity for Fortay. I coordinate with COAX whenever additional development bandwidth is required.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are extremely responsive, responsible and provide consistently high quality code.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

I would suggest additional support—beyond regular office hours—in the event of an operational issue.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO and founder of TAXO'D, an accounting solution that helps freelancers and self-employed people record income, expenses, and tax information in the UK.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with COAX Software?

I had been working with two other developers for a few years, but started looking for a new vendor that could speed up processes and had experience using React Native.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, COAX provided additional development support to help expand our mobile and web application in the React Native framework. More recently, I've been transitioning all of our development work over to their team.

They've built in features such as payment integration, Stripe, and other types of banking services into the system. They also test the functionality of each feature, breaking the app in order to fix any issues that come up.

What is the team composition?

I mostly work with Ivan (Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder, COAX Software), as well as Taras (Frontend Developer, COAX Software) who oversees the development.

How did you come to work with COAX Software?

I had heard a lot of good things about COAX before I reached out to them. Initially, I gave them a small project to work on to see how their team would respond, and they blew it out of the water. I was very impressed with how quickly they were able to get things done with a high-level of quality. Because the relationship continues to go so well, I've since decided to expand their responsibilities and bring on more team members from COAX.

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested around $30,000 thus far, but we'll be spending a lot more as we transition all of our development work over to their team.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them since around August 2016 and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've been able to release a ton of great new functionalities on our app thanks to COAX's efforts. They've helped significantly improve a lot of our backend code over the last couple years. Once we release our fully paid service in the upcoming months, we expect to see some great feedback and results.

How did COAX Software perform from a project management standpoint?

I had been doing the project management initially, but I recently brought on a project manager from COAX's team that has made a huge difference. It's been a breath of fresh air to let go of some of that stress, so I can focus on more important things on my end. Their team continues to be very responsive and accessible through every channel of communication, including Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Communication is key. COAX's team is patient in explaining everything to us and answering questions as they come up. Our relationship is a constant conversation—I'm never in the dark wondering what happened or where we stand on a project. They also turn around high-quality work very quickly.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice for working with any vendor is to do your due diligence when considering a development team to work with. Based on my own research, COAX has been a highly competent, proactive company to work with and I plan on expanding my relationship with them in the future.