Delta Systems

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a medical real estate firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Entrision?

We hired them to create a mobile app for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The key deliverable was to create a mobile app where users could create agreements with other users in a social network environment. I believe they used Ruby on Rails to create the iOS app.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two people.

How did you come to work with Entrision?

I believe they came recommended to me.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership began in 2017. They still provide support on some minor ongoing web projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They did a good job on the projects. They’ve provided high-quality work. The platform was user-friendly, and none of the code was broken. They delivered everything we asked for.

How did Entrision perform from a project management standpoint?

They were on time, accountable, and transparent. It was one of the better working experiences I’d had with a developer. I’ve had some challenges with offshore developers, and they’ve been definitively more reliable. We talked on the phone and they also used project management software.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re distinguished by their ability to take my vision and advise for or against that idea, based on whether it’s the most efficient way to do something. They don’t just do what I ask, but they’re able to evolve ideas into something that’s best for my company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really. They’re a small shop so their resources are sometimes limited. I don’t hold them at fault for that.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Think through the project from beginning to end as best you can. Make it clear that you’re open to their ideas since their input will help you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Smart Scale Co.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Entrision?

We needed someone to develop an integrated iOS app for our first-to-market product—a digital scale and smart container called “Stashaweigh.” The device allows medical cannabis patients to properly dose their medical cannabis flower. We were looking for a partner to build a connected app for our IoT scale since our device doesn't have a display or any buttons.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team developed a fully integrated iOS app for our IoT product. It’s not a standalone app, making it a lot harder to create, but Entrision was up to the task.

From the rough examples I provided, the team designed the app to include all the necessary control, fully integrating the platform with the device’s firmware. The app can turn the scale on, display container weight, and track consumption through a history feature. They're currently working on an Android version.

What is the team composition?

Brian (Lead iOS Developer, Entrision) and Derek (Founder & Development Lead, Entrision) are my main points of contact, but seven developers have worked on this project as well as a graphic designer.

How did you come to work with Entrision?

I met Derek years ago. We've worked together on and off so when I got this idea and started this company, Entrision was my first choice.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in June 2017, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve done a lot of testing with our team and some outside users—the app works great. I don’t have any problems with it at all; it does everything that I need it to.

How did Entrision perform from a project management standpoint?

It's easy to work with Entrision. They’re communicative and easy to contact. If there's ever a delay, the team lets me know beforehand; they never surprise me. When they give me a deadline, I know they’re going to complete it. I don’t need to constantly follow up. It’s been a joy to work with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their technological abilities are their biggest assets. The team is always looking to improve. Unlike some of their competitors, they’re not afraid to dive into new technologies and projects.

Also, they’re transparent—I know they’re going to call or email us back. They’re great to work with because of their communication.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’d be great if they added a salesperson to their team so that developers could completely focus on engineering. I think that would take their team to another level.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Nail down your idea. Knowing your project will help to build a better product.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We provide online training in sexual abuse awareness for churches and non-profits with childcare programs. We maintain an online database with screening forms and documents. As the technical manager, I coordinate development and system fixes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Entrision?

We hired a backend developer to transfer our old system to a Ruby-based database. That developer launched it before it was finished, which led to a huge crash. He then promptly disappeared. We needed someone to backtrack and fix the system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They really saved us. They immediately stepped in to address all the issues we were left with. The fundamental functionality of our site was broken. We couldn’t send out training modules or add people to the system. Derek [Founder, Entrision] fixed all the bugs and helped us create new functionality. He made the system better than we intended and has contributed a lot to help our customers.

He's developed a paperless document transfer option and has integrated three key applications, including Recurly, our billing system; TazWorks, a background check management system; and DocuSign.

What is the team dynamic? 

Derek is our primary contact. In total, there were three or four people involved with security circuits, domains, or other aspects, but Derek was our point of contact. He managed his team and their priorities directly and reported back to us.

How did you come to work with Entrision?

Our frontend developer worked with Derek previously and recommended him.

How much have you invested with them?

The initial cost was close to $100,000, plus the cost of our monthly contract.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve worked together since April 2016. The core project is done, but he works with us on a weekly basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve tripled our onboarding rate since the new launch. We lost a lot of people when the system crashed, but we’ve gotten a lot of them back thanks to their intervention.

Everybody loves the new features, and the functionality is very user-friendly. Our users span from tech-challenged to tech-savvy, and we’ve made the system work for everyone on that spectrum.

How did Entrision perform from a project management standpoint?

They are fantastic. They rise to every challenge and go out of their way to meet quotas.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Derek is an honorable businessman and takes ownership of his work. He feels as responsible for our clients’ experience as we do. The estimates he gives are almost always right, and if a project goes over the quoted hours, he usually honors the estimate. He doesn’t inflate the numbers and is honest.

Advice for potential customers?

Tell them your expectations as clearly as possible, and trust that they will do what you ask. They don’t need constant supervision to get the job done well.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Our company provides a subscription service for HVAC [heating, ventilation, and air conditioning] and furnace filters. We deliver the exact quality, quantity, and size of filters that a specific location needs on the day they need to be changed, essentially acting as a physical reminder to change the filters on time and removing that logistical hurdle to do it regularly.

What is your position? 

I'm the co-founder and CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Entrision?

We wanted to provide our customers with a website where they could sign up, create their subscriptions, and manage their accounts. We needed a development partner to develop the full back-end and front end of that site and create a customized subscription platform for our customers to sign up on and manage their accounts. That's why we partnered with Entrision.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

When we worked with Entrision, we started with a blank canvas. Everything they built was from scratch. They built out a full customer occurring platform. They also built out a connector for our fulfillment that held all of our skews and allowed people to create custom size. On the website, they built an order flow where customers could go through, build the subscription, check out, and manage their account from there.

How did you come to work with Entrision?

At the time we started working with them, it was very early on in our company. We actually had an accelerator, and one of the people in the accelerator had worked with Entrision for another project and said [they were] very responsive, worked fast, and did a good job. We connected with them to discuss the scope of the project. We started working with them immediately after that.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

We've spent more than $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Most of the work is completed, but we are still in contact with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Where we are today definitely he had a huge impact in getting us something that we could use to start growing our business and getting that foundation set.

How did Entrision perform from a project management standpoint?

Overall, we were extremely satisfied with our partnership with Entrision. We got exactly what we wanted built and more in a lot of cases. It was on scope and on schedule. They are very responsive, and we've developed quite a good relationship. It was a very good experience working with them.

What distinguishes Entrision from other providers?

They treat the project as if it's their own. They're definitely very proud of their work. We would suggest things, and Entrision would take it beyond or help us put together something better than we originally wanted. They also worked very quickly.

Is there anything Entrision could have improved or done differently?

I wouldn't say there's anything specific. There's always hiccups in everything you do, but there wasn't any specific reoccurring issue that I think they could solve. As far as working with a third party to do development, I thought it was a fantastic experience.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My company is called Oak73, and it's a women’s wear brand consisting of apparel and accessories, all made domestically. We sell primarily through our e-commerce website and are also beginning to expand out to wholesale business.

What is your position?

I am the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Entrision?

I had initially built my website with another development firm, and it was an extremely long and arduous process. There were a lot of issues along the way, and it was very expensive. I felt like at the end of our year-long contract, I was left with a site that was about 75% there, which to be honest, it should've been 125% there for what I was paying and how much work I actually put in myself.

I knew I needed to find somebody else that I could really trust and address all of the issues that I was having with the site in a timely manner. These issues were really things that impacted the business in the first couple of months, such as credit card processing, automation of emails, and basic functionalities of an e-commerce website that just weren't really working the way that they should have.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

Entrision worked on fixing a lot of the back-end issues with the checkout process, like credit card processing and integration with fulfillment. Then, they also did a lot of front-end work. I have a background in graphic design, so I was very specific about the way I wanted the site to look to the user. They helped me achieve those goals really seamlessly and easily. It was a totally different experience from what I had had before. Everything was extremely organized, very simple, without any issues at all. I haven't really had any problems working with them, so it's been really great.

I also worked with a digital media agency, so they worked hand-in-hand with Entrision to increase any search engine optimization they could. They didn't initiate it, but they were definitely able to adjust the site to accommodate any suggestions that this firm had for me.

How did you come to work with Entrision?

I found Derek, who's the founder, on oDesk. I had reached out to all different kinds of people. I had reached out to other agencies, people overseas, and people based in New York, which is where I am. I narrowed it down to him and two other people, and I had them do a little bit of a test. Derek was super quick, and really easy to communicate with. His prices were fair and I felt like he was up-front and honest. I felt like his clients that I had reached out to as references had nothing but good things to say about him, so I decided to go with him. I'm really happy that I did because I felt like I made a really good decision. He fixed what needed to be fixed, and I don't really have to do that much to the site now. It works by itself.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

It cost between $10,000 and $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

It’s ongoing. If I ever have any issues or concerns, or if I want to make any updates, I'm in touch with them regularly. They're able to take care of everything pretty quickly.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

As far as results go, for me the checkout process is really smooth. I never had any issues with that before, and that was really my primary concern. The fact that people are able to make a transaction seamlessly is probably the most important thing in having an e-commerce website, and that functions without failure every single time since they took over the project. As far as results, that's the most important one.

How did Entrision perform from a project management standpoint?

Entrision was great: super communicative, very fair, very open about how much something was going to cost, how long it was going to take, and making suggestions on things. They were very honest and easy to work with. Everything was always very clear as far as who was working on it, what they were working on, when it was going to be done, etc.

What distinguishes Entrision from other providers?

I have nothing but good things to say about them. I've recommended so many people to them. I went through a lot of people interviewing, and I have a lot of friends who work in the e-commerce digital space, and there's a lot of really bad horror stories. They've been really wonderful to work with and really effective.

Is there anything Entrision could have improved or done differently?

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Three restaurant operation, I'm an owner

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Elevato?

Redesign/update our website

SOLUTION

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

I know staff at Elevato; they're great folks

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

Our website was stale. The training section was outdated. We're updating it all and giving it a new look

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

Nick is great. He's a Shopify guru

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The new pages and navigation are wonderful

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Nick replies in a very timely manner

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

They listen. They give me what I ask for, not what they think I need.

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

Work for free, hah hah. No, they're great.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Head of Customer Success for a music technology company that creates software tools for composers and music producers. My team and I help our customers with purchasing, download & installation, and use of the products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our website was created over 12 years ago and lacks many modern functions needed to operate a web-based business. We had very limited ability to interact with our customer database, to provide a streamlined customer experience, to provide dynamic discounts based on products already owned by a customer, and analytics for marketing and SEO.

SOLUTION

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

We had worked with Elevato previously on another website project and they had done a great job, and we knew they understood our business and needs.

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

The website was built in Ruby On Rails, using FastSpring Contextual Store, and a Wordpress front-end. We had another developer help with the Wordpress side of things and work with the Elevato and FastSpring teams.

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

We had a project manager and two developers on the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The new website functions that have been built are the most commonly-requested use cases that we have received for a long time, and we are very excited to deploy them for our customers.

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

Elevato's team was extremely responsive on Slack throughout the process. We had weekly check-in meetings between all parties involved, and they provided regular updates at every meeting on the status of timeline, estimate of budget, progress on objectives, and needed information.

They were extremely professional and up-front about everything, with ample discussion of what would and would not be within the scope of the project, and what could be added with additional budget and time. They communicated any blockers clearly and immediately, and made sure we were able to resolve them without burning cycles while blocked.

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

They fully and clearly understood our use cases and needs, and were able to help us make sense of a radically inconsistent and piecemeal database that has been very difficult to work with for all parties.

They created a simple and intuitive interface for us to be able to do what we needed to do from an admin side, as well as building complex tools that allow for a simple user experience for specific checkout situations. Our company operates in a very niche space and has some particular considerations that Elevato clearly understood.

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

The only limitations we encountered were out of the Elevato team's control, with components of the FastSpring system presenting limitations. Elevato was able to find ways around these problems for the most part.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Joylabz is brand owner of Makey Makey: An Invention Kit for Everyone and GameBender.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

GameBender website. The purpose of this site was to market the GameBender product for pre-sales of the product.

SOLUTION

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

Delta Systems came recommended from a peer, a laser etching company out of the PNW. We take recommendations very highly when working with new partners. We also preferred their pricing model of pay as you go rather than a lump sum for an entire built out.

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

During the kick off meeting it was decided we would use our designer and Delta would do the Wordpress dev. The store was canceled as the project was put on hold.

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

Aaron our project manager and Jared our Webdev.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We paused the launch of this product, so there are not many measurable outcomes.

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

We had weekly meetings with the project team and used slack and teamwork to coordinate tasks and deliverables.

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

The team was quick to accomplish our requirements. 

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

None come to mind at the moment

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of MedChefs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Elevato?

The project is to develop a website and provide IT consulting for our new digital healthcare directory, where people can sign on and access an extensive meal database, develop a healthy meal plan, and embed healthy eating habits into people. 

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We were initially working with a company named Iterative Consulting. After Iterative was sold to Elevato, Elevato took control of our project and has been providing exceptional service since.  

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

The scope of the project is to provide web development and IT consulting services. They're helping us create a website that provides people with digital health solutions aimed at improving their eating habits through carefully curated dietary meal plans. Elevato mainly provides web development and web consulting expertise to get this project working efficiently.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Elevato is very timely with their work; they do everything we ask for and do it correctly.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They perform very well, are very timely, and meet all deadlines. They're very communicative, and they stick to the budget that was set forth.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Elevato is a very knowledgeable company that has employees who know what they're doing. They're very professional when it comes to working. There are not enough good things I can say about them. It has been a pleasure working with Elevato. 

Is there any area for improvement or anything that could have been done differently?

No.