Codibly

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an energy and utilities consultant with PA Consulting, a UK-based healthcare, life sciences, energy, and utilities consulting firm with a practice in the US. I focus on utility operations, specifically customer experience transformation within utilities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Codibly?

We had done a customer experience study with several of our essential clients to assess where they were in terms of their customer experience transformation. Part of that study was a maturity continuum which we wanted to make available to more potential clients, particularly at a large, annual utility conference. We wanted to move the continuum onto a website to make it accessible and turn it into a portal for our offerings within the customer experience space.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We'd already done the survey via Excel so there was existing data that we wanted them to move onto a website. They built the site from scratch on both the frontend and backend to work on both Chrome and Internet Explorer. They also customized it for iPads.

We provided the original material and they helped with the UX design. They put the survey online, with filters and customized questions, and collected some demographic information. They also made the results available to me via downloadable Excel sheets from a separate site.

What is the team composition?

I communicated directly with three or four people. We had an account lead who had worked with us on several previous projects. A project manager coordinated the requirements. A graphic designer did the mockups of the user interface and helped us optimize the browser experience.

How did you come to work with Codibly?

They had done some work for us previously. They had built our reliability analyzer, which also takes in large amounts of data to help utilities assess what activities could help them improve their reliability indicators.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $10,000 with them for about five weeks of work.

What is the status of this engagement?

It was a pretty quick turnaround. We kicked off a little bit before the holidays with some overview requirements. Most of the work was completed in the month of January.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

None at this point in time. We didn't have as many people as we wanted to fill out the survey at the conference itself. We're looking at adjustments to make going forward so that it can be shared with a broader audience and publicized a little bit more.

I think they did a really good job with the user design. They followed branding guidelines that we provided and were able to turn something around within a couple of days for us to look at. Our internal design team weighed in as well.

How did Codibly perform from a project management standpoint?

I had a few phone calls with the project lead at the beginning and we communicated mostly via a group channel in Slack. I touched base with them every morning. We had phone calls as necessary if anything needed to be explained. They worked well with the time zones given that I'm in New York and they were in Poland.

They're easy to work with. They were receptive to any feedback that was provided. They managed the project so that we could give feedback on parts that were finished early. Given the short timeframe, I think they did a really good job turning it around to us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

This was my first time using a service provider like them so I don't have too many comparison points. I found them really helpful. Overall it was a positive experience.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a global consultancy firm. I work in the energy and utilities practice as a senior consultant for long-term financial and strategic planning.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Codibly?

We developed a software model internally about 10 years ago. It wasn’t the right tool for us any longer and badly needed updating. We didn’t have the capability to revise and revamp it internally, and needed outside help.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The original model was written in Microsoft Access. We gave them all the existing code so they could modify it. They adopted the code, rewrote it in a couple different languages, and set it up as a cloud-based service. They helped us develop the algorithms and all the output and input screens for the tool and moved all the data to the cloud.

The final product is a portfolio optimization tool for power-generating assets for utility companies. It helps us project the long-term financial trajectories of hundreds of possible portfolios. It allows us to optimize cost or reliability around a given set of metrics.

What is the team composition?

There are about four project members. We spoke with a business development salesperson at the beginning of the project. We had a project manager and two people work on coding for the project itself.

How did you come to work with Codibly?

We’ve worked with them on a number of projects over the past few years. Internal recommendations encouraged us to talk with them when this project came up.

How much have you invested with them?

I believe we’ve invested in the area of $25,000–$40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working on the project in August 2017 and hoped to finish in February 2018. We added a few requests to the scope, so we’re not quite done yet.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re still in the testing phase, but the quality of their work is high. The product itself is exactly what we wanted and the beta version works well.

How did Codibly perform from a project management standpoint?

They haven’t missed any review meetings. We have weekly calls to go over progress and they’re always prepared for them. We typically have review sessions over Slack. We do our audio calls and screen sharing on that platform.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very detailed and organized. They also offer a lower cost than developers in the States. That’s a key attribute they can leverage.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We haven’t asked them to improve the aesthetics, but it might be possible to improve the look and feel of the model.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a management consulting firm specializing in U.S. technology. We operate in defense, healthcare, life sciences, and energy. I work in the energy practice, where we deliver a range of consulting and analytic services to our clients. These are mostly distribution, generation, and transmission companies.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Codibly?

We wanted to scale up our offerings for e-clients, allowing them to onboard clients with minimum effort. It usually takes a while to onboard new clients onto the service. We were thinking of a solution that would automate the process and transform data into an application without the usual consulting delays.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We think of Codibly as our software development resource, and I tell them the things we want to automate. The platform is used to onboard new clients. There is also a regular update of the data. We also wanted to streamline the more complex functionalities such as onboarding, uploading of data, and delivery of the application. Essentially, we’ve tried to put a black box around the service so that we could deploy it on any infrastructure.

Codibly scaled up the software, making it easy to deploy and add new features and customers. We’ve worked together with Codibly to come up with a new way to package the service. It would be deployed on a host, such as Amazon, so that clients can access it.

What is the team dynamic?

I work with 3–4 developers, a project manager, and the CEO, Bart.

How did you come to work with Codibly?

I’ve been looking for skilled web developers for a long time. It’s hard to find competent, quality resources who know multiple languages and environments. Fortunately, Codibly fit that bill for us. I found them through my network and met the CEO in New York a couple of years ago. We hired them because of their price and capability.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in February 2017, and the relationship is ongoing. We’re currently working on our third project with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve enhanced the feasibility and speed of the customer onboarding process. Our service does what we need, and our clients are happy with it. I wanted the relationship to be seamless, and Codibly has done a great job of that. My clients don’t know Codibly is involved.

How did Codibly perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve stayed within our budget. Our timelines often change, but this hasn’t been a time-based project. It’s a client-based environment, so I don’t need things done right away. Our teams are flexible with each other, which helps make things work. It’s a collaborative and cooperative environment.

We make sure we have a written agreement that defines the scope. I like the way they define what they’re going to deliver and break that down into a series of tasks. We’ve also agreed on payment and the milestones.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed with Codibly’s price and the quality of their work — they’re highly competent and smart.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Communication is sometimes difficult because of different cultures. Improving their communication methods would be good. For example, using a solution that isn’t so full of echoes would be great.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a software as a service company that provides business transformation enterprise architecture portfolio management software. I am the operations manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Codibly?

We needed to find someone that offers services for web development and graphic art. The other area was in frontend analysis dashboards. We needed to be able to pull data into a dashboard, display it in a pleasing format, and have it entirely web-based.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’re a pretty well-formalized process. They assign a client manager that is responsible for short stand-up briefings or regularly occurring working sessions as well as requirements gathering. They really hold your hand to define the requirements so the project is in a format they can understand. Then, you’re at the next stage of the development cycle wherein you can interface with developers. You do this using a requirements management system, which allows you to see and track progress, answer questions, and walk the project through key milestones. There is a process inside of that which deals with the development of features and then there's a review, user acceptance testing, and deployment. 

What are some examples of critical features or functionalities?

In our business environment, we deal with a lot of data inputs, and within those, the main areas are enterprise architecture, strategic planning, and portfolio management. Our software is good at getting the data into a repository, but we needed a company like Codibly to create the dashboards for data reporting. Their key specialty was designing the frontend web interfaces, then lighting up the dashboards with graphic data like pie and bar charts.

How did you come to work with Codibly?

There were some business contacts that pointed us in their direction. We began some discussions and looked at their portfolio. Because quality was important to us, we did look around at other shops to get an idea of their portfolios and estimates, but Codibly came back with a good representation of other related client work, so we chose them.  We started off small and built up to larger projects with them.

How much have you invested with Codibly?

We’ve spent around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2015, and the relationship is ongoing. There are times when we have a lot of work for them, and then there are times that there isn’t as much work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They do a great job when you submit work. They’ll take the time to provide an estimate to complete the task. That estimate goes into the system, and usually, the regularly occurring meetings that we have will track how far off they are from that estimate and how close they are to achievement. We do get some reports at the end of these that highlight estimates and what is already completed, and then we try to bring that difference together. They’ve done a great job estimating how long it will take to complete a task.

Codibly has been well niched in terms of quality, especially when it comes to frontend interfaces for data reporting. So far, their quality’s been great, and the responsiveness and collaboration have been outstanding.

How did Codibly perform from a project management standpoint?

We were assigned one project manager and that individual has been really good. They are the glue that binds all of us together. He has really been the client-service interface with Codibly for us. We communicate through Slack, where we have instant messaging and calls. We use JIRA for tracking task management, which also permits comments and the exchange of messages. We use Skype and GoToMeeting for online conferencing as well.

What did you find most impressive about Codibly?

Their portfolio of experience within the niche that we were looking for was what made the difference. They had some experience doing some financial dashboarding which had a similar look and feel we were trying to achieve. Their portfolio coupled with the great collaboration and communication is what really made them stand out.

Are there any areas Codibly could improve?

When we started off, some of these communication tools weren’t in place, but that has since been worked on. We now have full communication through those channels I mentioned. Nothing comes to mind that really stands out on improvement because communication is great. We don’t go too far without talking or meeting, so that helps tremendously on keeping any risks down and unexpected things happening.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are an online retailer. I am co-founder and CTO of the business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Codibly?

I was looking for a full-stack developer who could handle the frontend and backend of our platform, and who could work independently. Remote relationships cannot be micromanaged. Also, rather than having a company which would supply an account manager as a single point of contact, I was looking for resources which I could integrate in our own IT team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provide a positive and inclusive environment in which resources can work with each other and share questions. Codibly was tasked with identifying and sourcing our developers, setting up online interviews so that we could talk to specific persons before hiring them. The person we hired was integrated into Codibly’s team, but he worked exclusively for my projects.

Our website is a bespoke e-commerce platform which doesn’t rely on solutions like Magento. It has a multifold purpose, including acting like a standard online catalog for our beauty products. It has features like promotional vouchers, a shopping cart, a checkout section, payments, and order-management. We also have specific business use cases, beyond the e-commerce backbone. We manage a network of at-home sellers which go to clients’ homes in order to demonstrate our products and sell them in an offline environment. A part of the platform consists of sales management modules for events. We have a CRM integration in order to provide communication tools between sellers and their own customers.

The platform is being maintained by two developers: one of them sourced by Codibly, and an internal employee of our business. They need to know the platform inside-out, from a functionality, technical and database standpoint.

How did you come to work with Codibly?

I found Codibly through LinkedIn, they sent a message. I usually ignore such messages, but I picked this one up for some reason. The company seemed attractive to me, and I went to check out their website. I talked to Codibly’s CEO and co-founder and liked the fact that they were a small company at the time. I would only be a small account myself, using one developer, but I would receive the kind of attention I needed from such a partner. This did indeed happen, and I saw a willingness to build a relationship from Codibly’s side. They’ve become a partner in our business, not just an outsourced resource provider.

How much have you invested with Codibly?

The cost of their work has been between $60,000 and $70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Codibly around two years ago, in January 2016. We have an ongoing collaboration.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Having the developer from Codibly’s side onboard has been very helpful. He has been able to pick up everything he was asked to do and is definitely a highly-qualified engineer. I am very satisfied with what he’s done so far.

Because he’s completely integrated into our team, he has been following our own processes. I haven’t received bug reports from Codibly’s side specifically; it’s more a part of the overall process. We have seen bugs as part of the job, but there was nothing different from any other developer.

How did Codibly perform from a project management standpoint?

We work on a retainer basis. The setup is such that there is no fixed budget. Financially, we’ve been able to agree on a monthly and daily fee, and this has worked well for us.

There is no project management involved from Codibly’s side. We typically communicate through Skype. They’re very quick to respond to new requests and provide a very good environment for developers.

What did you find most impressive about Codibly?

I have been working with the same developer, and haven’t felt the need to switch them, which is quite important. Developers do require a lot of knowledge in order to work on specific projects, and we don’t want to lose this every other month. Codibly’s environment works well for developers, and therefore for clients.

Are there any areas Codibly could improve?

Not really. The collaboration has been working well.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of KiWi Power, a company that develops grid electricity with an inexpensive green technology called Demand Response.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Codibly?

We were trying to build our backend and frontend software. We tried to hire some people in the UK and struggled, so we decided to build it remotely.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Codibly had a team leader who was also responsible for recruiting the local team. We split the members into a few different departments, including frontend, backend, and projects. We needed a database and a system to operate that database for our customers. We collect a lot of data, and we needed the database to be useful. Codibly also created a billing and reporting section as well as customer software for viewing energy data. They used PHP, MySQL, MongoDB, Java, and Linode with Linux servers.

How did you come to work with Codibly?

I found them through a connection at business school. I was interviewing other people but they stuck out because they had lower prices than anyone else in London. They also could ramp up to the scale we needed.

How much have you invested with Codibly?

We spent at least $1,000,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in April of 2012, and they completed everything within the last 6–12 months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We appreciated that they could develop functioning software quickly. They generally understood what we were trying to do.

How did Codibly perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re pretty good. When we were ramping up, it was difficult to juggle all the priorities. The project was delivered on time and within budget. We used email, Slack, and JIRA to communicate, and they were very responsive.

What did you find most impressive about Codibly?

I liked their collaboration. We didn’t shop around to find anyone else.

Are there any areas Codibly could improve?

Their performance depends on the projects they tackle, but I can’t think of anything in particular. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our business is called The Fair Employment Foundation. We provide solutions in the low-skill, migrant labor migration arena. Our first solution was with the Fair Employment Agency, which provides recruitment services for foreign domestic workers who are entering Hong Kong. The majority of those workers come from the Philippines or Indonesia. Part of the process when they come to Hong Kong is a lack of information and data. Lots of information is provided to them in paper format, but that paper would be taken away from them by their agents and employers or lost, and sometimes it’s not in a language they understand. As part of our holistic solution, we wanted to provide information to people in a format they could easily find, use, and understand. That is what we went to Codibly with, and we were looking for them to assist us in a solution.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Codibly?

We wanted to get information into the hands of key stakeholders in our business. We provide direct services of processing their contracts, helping them to find employers, and getting rid of illegal placement fees. However, there are 350,000 domestic workers in Hong Kong alone. Last year, we placed about 800, which means the number of people we touch directly is relatively small when compared to the total number in this position. We were trying to find a technological way to reach out to them and provide more than we can in person. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We asked Codibly to provide a mobile app for us on both iOS and Android. We went to them with an outline and wireframes of what we were looking to do. We had a lot of data going into this app and had just about completed the data portion of our information collection. We also had an idea for a calculator that we wanted to have incorporated into the app in an easy-to-use format, allowing both workers and their employers to calculate entitlements at the termination of their contract.

We had an idea of what we wanted, but we had no idea about what it should look like, how it should work, or if it was even possible. We worked with Codibly to give them an understanding of what we wanted, and they came back to us with a structure of how the app could look and how the calculator could work. They did all the design, and we put in our own visual for menu icons. They really led us from A to Z because we had no experience with apps before.

The basis of our app is data, so structuring it in a user-friendly way was important. The calculator is complicated, with all the employment regulations in Hong Kong tucked into it. It needed to be well thought-out and designed.

It was critical that we have control over the app. We wanted to be able to update it, as we knew we couldn’t finish all the data collection and translations by the time we wanted to release the app. Codibly built a content management system that allows us to control 90% of the app ourselves for changes, additions, or redesigns. We didn’t want our information to be stale, and we didn’t want to delay the launch until we had all the data.

They made sure we had control in a format that non-technical people can use. It’s easy and intuitive for us. So, we were able to launch the app on March 1, 2016; a new version, with the data in another language, is very close to being released. We were still finalizing the content until September of 2016, and then we were working on our other language content.

They helped us to launch the app in app stores, and then they taught us how to manage it ourselves. Once we got the app live, they continued to work with us when we had questions or issues. They gave us as many instructions as possible and were there to support us. Now, we’re pretty independent.

I don’t know exactly how many people were assigned to our project. We worked with two different project managers. The first one was with us through the design and development stage, then we transitioned to another project manager to oversee the tweaks and updates after the launch. We worked closely with one developer, who was always in our email stream as we discussed any changes or issues.

How did you come to work with Codibly?

My brother-in-law knows one of the partners at Codibly from living in Kraków together. We are based in Hong Kong, and we’d been getting quotes from local firms. Codibly came in with a reasonable quote, and they were willing to meet our demands regarding control over the app. We found them to be a great partner, as they were able to tick all of our important boxes.

How much have you invested with Codibly?

We’ve invested about $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our first call was in August of 2015, and the bulk of the work was complete in May of 2016. We continued to work together until the end of 2016 on a couple of unexpected issues that arose due to technology changes by outside partners. They still spend time on questions about or small tweaks to the system as we get our other languages onboard. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I get a monthly report of user downloads, but I don’t think those numbers are a reflection of the work done by Codibly but rather a reflection of our limited marketing of the app. We also see that the app has been a one to many resource. You have knowledge leaders who actively use the app and share information to others, rather than each downloading the app.

In general, our users have been very happy with the app. They find it very easy to use. Our initial intent was to create an app targeted at the worker, but as we went along, we realized that employers were also struggling with finding information. We added an employer section, and we assume the employers have downloaded the app more. We have a lot more iOS downloads than Android, and we know that employers tend to use iOS much more than the workers. The employers were happy to find one place for so much information, and they were very excited.

The workers who were made aware of the app have been very excited. There’s also an annual leave calculator, so they can find out how much vacation time they have. They said it’s very easy to use and that they were able to find the information they needed, for the most part.

When we started developing the app, we didn’t foresee the difficulty some users would have with the size of the app. We structured it in a way that requires the entire app to download on a user’s phone, and workers have stated that this interferes with using their phones for other popular apps due to the data plans they have.

How did Codibly perform from a project management standpoint?

I think they did a great job. From that August phone call to our March launch, things were right on plan. We struggled to get our deadlines in, and we had a snafu at the end when registering with iOS, which caused all of us a lot of headaches. It was an error that should have never been allowed to go through the Apple system, and somehow they missed it. Correcting that became a huge endeavor for all of us.

They delivered on time, and they were able to work with us. We had a few things to clean up after the launch, and they’ve been very good about continuing to work with us, holding our hand, and making sure we can make it through anything unexpected.

The differences in language and time zones weren’t a problem for us. I think most people in Hong Kong are used to dealing with the time difference, and Codify was a reasonable time difference from us. I live in Canada, and I was traveling back and forth quite a bit. They were always able to manage our schedule. I did not find the language barrier to be a problem at all. Both of our project managers always summarized things after we discussed them to ensure they understood exactly what we had said. I thought that was a great way to ensure you’re understanding one another.

What did you find most impressive about Codibly?

They were very responsive. They were willing to hold our hand and help us. They knew we were on a tight budget and our resources levels were quite low, so they really stepped up to the plate to make sure we were comfortable with the app. It was exactly what we wanted. Their service was amazing.

Are there any areas Codibly could improve?

I wish they had given us more guidance on testing the app. I had worked with software programs in the past, but I didn’t have 100% focus on this project. The people working on it struggled in the beginning to understand what we should be doing to test the app correctly. That would have been another level of service they could provide, certainly at a fee, which would have helped us.