Compoze Labs

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the President of Physics Curriculum & Instruction

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Physics Curriculum & Instruction is an educational publishing company with focus on online learning resources.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Compoze Labs to accomplish?

• Move our online learning platform to high-performing cloud architecture.
• Train our employees with the skills necessary to manage the newly developed cloud architecture.

SOLUTION

How did you find Compoze Labs?

Referral

Why did you select Compoze Labs over others?

• Pricing fits our budget
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Compoze Labs were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

The work involved creating AWS cloud architecture for our online learning platform. The AWS architecture included multiple EC2 servers, a shared Elastic File System, a Memcached memory data store, and an RDS database. It was important to have a highly secure and highly available (minimal to no downtime) system.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Efficient and secure data handling. Highly reliable cloud computing with no downtime and no security issues.

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

The people we worked with understood and cared about our project throughout its entire development. Everything remained on schedule. After project completion we communicated with Compoze Labs for an extended time to receive ongoing support. The ongoing support was always provided in timely fashion.

What was your primary form of communication with Compoze Labs?

In-Person Meeting

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

The thought leadership in cloud architecture was incredibly appreciated.

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

Honestly, we were satisfied with everything from start to finish.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the VP of Engineering of MVMNT

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

MVMNT is a freight tech startup building software to enable small & medium-sized brokerages an with enterprise-level TMS and embedded financial services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Compoze Labs to accomplish?

• Quick to market MVMNT Freight Marketplace application
• Ground up build of MVMNT's payments application/platform
• Support and enhances of our production payments application/platform

SOLUTION

How did you find Compoze Labs?

Online Search

Why did you select Compoze Labs over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Compoze Labs were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

MVMNT engaged with Compoze to deliver 2 green-field projects. The first of which was to build a quick to market web based Freight Marketplace application. They operated in an agile/scrum process to partner with MVMNT stake-holders to build the product and provide production support as well as enhancements. Secondly, Compoze built MVMNT's green field payments application and platform.

 As with the Marketplace, Payments is a web page application deployed to AWS. The team developed a secure platform to process documents, perform credit checks, and process payments on behalf of MVMNT's customers. 

This project was also run via agile/scrum and the Compoze team worked with MVMNT engineers and product stakeholder to see the product to market. They also supported the production Payments application and well as provided enhancements.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Progress was measured by team velocity and sprints. Milestones were measured around product GTM with users on the plaform

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

They complemented our project management process with a Compoze project manager team member. We would review standard sprint metrics and manage project projections and timelines. They were very adaptable as our needs changed.

What was your primary form of communication with Compoze Labs?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Everyone on the team was invested in our company's mission and the products we were trying to build. The team was (and continues to be) extremely supportive and engaged.

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

Nothing comes to mind. They were a great partner.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of technology and supply chain for Airfield Supply Co.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Compoze Labs?

We didn’t have developers, so our initial challenges were scaling up and finding good resources.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially used Compoze Labs for recruitment. Over time, they addressed more of our needs and transitioned to our full-service solution. First, they helped us clean up the mess that our previous development company left. We were implementing Magento at the time, so we started by hiring their solutions architect.

They’ve finished the integration, but the team still works on upgrades and feature additions for the Magento site. We currently have 4–5 projects involved in the Magento project. Additionally, we plan to use Compoze Labs for ongoing maintenance.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with about 20 teammates throughout all of our projects. Paul (Managing Director) is our main point of contact, and we have three project managers.

How did you come to work with Compoze Labs?

We were having problems with our initial contractor. We looked at agencies, and one of them referred Compoze Labs.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $1 million–$1.5 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2019, and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve done over $20 million in revenue on the e-commerce platform they’ve implemented. Additionally, we’ve been able to generate over $1 million just in merchandising agreements by leveraging the new site and other technology they’ve worked on.

How did Compoze Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is good; they're easy to work with. When there are challenges, they’re very proactive at communicating how they’ll solve them. Moreover, they’re quick to solve issues when we see them.

We use Atlassian and do everything through Jira, Confluence, and Bitbucket. Additionally, we mostly communicate via Google Meet.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve on a couple of things. First, their financial estimates have been off by a lot. With some projects, we’d like the billing to be granular. We want them to show us how many hours were spent on each task because sometimes they go beyond their estimate and bill us for ten tasks together. Secondly, some teams do a great job, and some don’t, so the development talent can be a hit-and-miss.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you have a good project manager to help vet your new hires. Also, stay on top of them about finances and be familiar with how billing works and what needs to be done. Hold them accountable for the estimates they give.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the General Manager of a company that provides software services for metals manufacturing and distribution industries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Compoze Labs?

We used Compoze on 2 different projects.

One: We were working on our first server less project in AWS. We wanted to use Cloudformation, Codebuild and Codepipeline to orchestrate the CI/CD pipeline for the stack.

Two: Help us containerize our micro services. This involved the process of setting up a pipeline that would create and publish the containers and the ability for our customers to securely download and launch them.

SOLUTION

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

Compoze was referred to us by an influencer in the Cloud Industry. Compoze was also working in the same space (ERP) as BTS-IT, Inc. The sales and the technical team seemed knowledgeable and down to earth. They understood our issues and had a strong grasp on the business and technical side of things.

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

Initial kick off call was set to to review the approach and the solution in detail. An estimate of different phases and clear deliverables for each phase were drawn up. A weekly review was set up and the dev team clearly explained what was done and what will be tackled next.

Any unexpected changes/additions were discussed in a transparent manner and we were always kept in the loop on the project status. Finally and most importantly - clear documentation was provided at hand off so that we can maintain what was built.

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

For the first project we had one resource: Managing Partner (and a technical architect). For the 2nd project we had the partner + another senior dev/architect

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The first project (to set up the CI/D pipeline with cloud formation) was very successful. Compoze's team was very thorough and taught us a lot of new tricks. We hired them on the 2nd project to containerize our microservices and they are ahead of schedule and under budget on that one!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Compoze was very responsive. The team would respond to emails reliable and we also had a weekly cadence to catch up in which we discussed project progress. They were also willing to answer general architectural questions we had.

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

Highly technically competent plus the technical team has the ability to talk to the clients - they can explain complex technical concepts in a simple way. They guide you to make decisions that are really in your best interest. The team also has a variety of technical expertise.

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

None that I can see so far!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work with companies to help the develop digital solutions for their problems, to increase business efficiency and improve outcomes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Elko?

A company I was working with had issues with connecting to to patients when they couldn't actually make it to the clinic. They also had problems with processing EMHR data, as their processes were largely still focused on manual input, which was time consuming and not without error.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to streamline processes and help the clinic connect properly to patients with a secure, HIPAA compliant application for messaging, feedback, data input and video calls. One of the key aspects was a high degree of simplicity and usability.

SOLUTION

How did you select Elko?

Elko seemed to have some experience in the healthcare space when I found them, and it was clear fairly early that they had they expertise in data handling specific to the healthcare sector that I needed.

They had a big focus on putting data security first, which we needed, and also pushed hard on what they kept calling 'patient-centric design' which seemed to resonate with me.

Describe the project in detail.

We worked on coming up with a feature set that met our requirements and was viable within our budget, then we had extensive workshops to decide the flow and layout of the application - so that it would be easy for even the most tech-phobic patients to use intuitively.

After this we went through the design and build process, first completing the MVP - then the final product.

What was the team composition?

I worked with the guys from sales, the leadership team and several developers, designers and product managers - they were great at getting people in the room at the right time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have an app up and running and patient feedback has been fantastic so far.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication was excellent. We had regular catch up and feedback calls, the team was always on hand for last ditch tweaks and really had our interests in mind throughout.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They explain every step of the process, simply but in detail - and their pricing was completely up front too so we didn't have any surprises.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We'll continue to update and improve the app and its features with Elko

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I undertook this project in partnership with for one of my clients, a telehealth provider.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Due to Covid-19, we needed to upgrade our patient care solutions - as we were dealing with higher volumes

SOLUTION

How did you select Elko and what were the deciding factors?

Elko showed us that they had expertise in data privacy and HIPAA compliance, a huge factor when looking for a solution provider. Security of EMHR was paramount.

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

Elko worked with me closely to discover my exact requirements. We then went through detailed product strategy sessions to come up with solutions to some problems that were likely to come up during development or even after deployment. The Elko team were really effective at finding solutions to the problems.

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

I worked closely with around 5 of the Elko team, including sales, senior management, project management and development.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The end-product is amazing - it's far better than myself or my client could have imagined prior to starting. It has helped us hugely with patient communication and relationships.

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

The team were incredible at communicating on the project. There wasn't really a time where I was in the dark about anything.

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

They are brilliant to work with, simple as that really. The process was professional, but friendly and stress-free throughout.

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

None

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

number8 is a consulting company that provides custom software development solutions for organizations leveraging agile development. I work as the Marketing Manager for number8, but the information in this review was collected from Monica Lopez, who is the Technical Account Manager from this project.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

number8 partnered with Elko to collaborate on the development of a web design project using .NET and Microsoft Azure.

SOLUTION

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

We knew Elko would be a good fit to partner with number8 because of their outstanding reputation and technical skill level.

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

The key deliverables of this project were to connect DecoNetwork via JWT with another connection between the new app and the client. DevOps, Azure, and C# Corner were all used in the execution of the project.

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

We worked closely with two members of Elko’s team to deliver this project for the client.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The client was very impressed with the end result of the project. The standard of quality was extremely high and the project was accomplished under budget and within the expected timeline.

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

The project was managed with Kanban using Asana as the main tool.

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

Everything went smoothly throughout the whole engagement. The communication was open and honest from day one. number8 tends to collaborate with enterprise-sized clients, so we were most impressed that the size of Elko does not hold them back from delivering very high quality work.

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

Nothing comes to mind, we were very pleased with the experience and look forward to a continued relationship with Elko.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of the Colorado Amateur Hockey Association.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Elko?

We were trying to come up with a way to build an objective ranking system to rank players.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Elko started by going through a consultative process to make sure they knew what we were trying to achieve. They then went into the design phase where they created screenshots of what the end product would look like. Now, we’re working on the development of the iOS and Android app.

What is the team composition?

We work with a project manager, a design team, and some developers.

How did you come to work with Elko?

We had a relationship with a hockey specialist who had a ranking system and customized it for Colorado a couple of years ago. We then decided that we wanted to develop our own, and Elko was the team that had developed the original ranking system.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $30,000. There’s a fixed fee for the design, but the development is based on material.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in October 2019, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Elko’s approach to development has been spot on. It’s exactly what we were looking for and expecting. What I really liked about their approach was going through the design process and agreeing on the UI. It’s been a great experience.

How did Elko perform from a project management standpoint?

The team meets expectations if not exceeds. We’ve had conference calls with designers and developers. We have weekly calls, and they always provide meaningful updates every week.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was pleasantly surprised by Elko’s approach and communication.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I have no suggestions.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Go into it with an idea of what you want the end product to look like and what your goals are. With that, Elko is great at uncovering elements that you should consider along the way. They asked great questions about what we were trying to do at the end of the day. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-owner of Deposit Defender. We provide a platform that helps tenants maintain their security deposits.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Elko?

We needed to build our app and initially engaged a development company that changed the project's cost multiple times. I tired of their practices and switched to Elko.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I handed them all of the work our previous vendor completed, which included the screen designs. Their team then developed the app. Before we can launch the platform, we need my Apple Developer account to be created. After the launch, Elko will update my website.

What is the team composition?

I work with Paul (Managing Partner) and John (Project Manager). There was another teammate who actually developed the platform. 

How did you come to work with Elko?

I searched online for app development companies. I contacted a few and ultimately chose Elko because they could work with our budget and timeline.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent what we agreed to, which was $13,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our engagement in March 2020, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Elko’s been absolutely great. They notably improved the app from our previous vendor's version. Their team created a cleaner platform, so I’m happy with them. I’m thinking about creating another app, and I plan to hire them to build it.

How did Elko perform from a project management standpoint?

Unlike the previous vendor, Elko meets with us every Thursday to update us on the week’s progress. We usually communicate via email, and their team responds quickly. I'm happy with the weekly progress reports.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m happy that they agreed to a price upfront. While the project took a little longer than expected, Elko struck to the original price. Their team didn’t try to charge us more.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Elko was supposed to finish the project in a month, but it took longer to complete. We made improvements, so I understand. However, I would’ve rather they finished when expected.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be upfront with the team about your expectations. I originally agreed to the one-month timeline with Paul. A couple of weeks into the development, I realized the developers didn’t know about that promise.  

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Founder of Simply Next Level, a Strategic Business Development Consulting Firm

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Elko?

I have clients who are now realizing that APP's are important part of most business owners, clients, and customers, everyday lives. Therefore in order to compete with the competition in their giving industry it is now essential to ensure their services are seamless. This is where Elko comes. By providing the architecture and design of a personalized app using a platform that is already established my clients are able to make it to market first with new ideas to ensure a new source of revenue can be generated for all my clients!

What were your goals for this project?

To find new and creative ways to reach my customer target market!

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I read several reviews and then interviewed live 3 different software and APP development companies. We finally partnered on a number of healthcare based web app and mobile app projects with Elko. Most of all we continually called on them, because we greatly appreciated the iterative and agile manner in which they developed the products for each client.

Describe the project in detail.

I can only share high level, but I currently have 3 projects in the works all proprietary and have to protect the best interests of my clients. I can say step by step Elko has followed through and ensured they met ever deadline to ensure a successful launch of each APP!

What was the team composition?

HARMONY!

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Several leads generated, amazing data communicated from software to end users and clients! All new sources of revenue generated!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our teams very nicely complimented each others efforts.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Management effectively communicated when needed and did not ever waste our time!

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not that we experienced.