Distributed

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Head of Operations at an innovative home lending start-up. We enable first time buyers with a small deposit to get their foot on the property ladder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

For years, we had an image placeholder for our website. We needed our website to be developed (in line with our requirements) and deployed within a short time frame (3 weeks).

SOLUTION

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

We searched for web developers and shortlisted 3. After interviewing them, we chose Distributed based on their past projects, cost estimate and ability to meet our tight deadline

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

We had an initial kick off meeting to discuss our objectives. Following that we shared wireframes for our site, for Distribute to commence the development process.

After a few iterations, their team designed and developed a WordPress site in line with our requirements. They created a Home page with the different sections we had requested, as well as a Blog page, that were compatible with both desktop and mobile.

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

A project manager was our main point of contact throughout the project. I am not sure how many developers or designers worked behind the scene.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project was designed to scope and delivered on time, which is what we needed. Our team are very happy with the quality of the website.

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

We were in constant communication. We had a Slack channel were we discussed the progress of the project and made iterations to the website's design. We were consistently informed throughout the project.

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

They were very collaborative and open in the way that worked with us. Also, they produced a professional site that met our needs and is easy to update. Additionally, they taught us how to update the site, so that we could make changes post project delivery.

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

None that I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO and a co-founder of The Money Cloud, Ltd.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Distributed?

We won a UK government award to develop a machine learning and AI currency analysis tool. We scoped it out and found that we didn’t have the ability in-house to deliver the technical development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Distributed is developing our platform. We harvest combine use-generated data from our website and external data to feed the AI engine, which is the next step that Distributed is going to be working on. It’s a matter of harnessing aspects of the data that we produce as a result of our product’s operation, mapping it out, and translating it into a deliverable database that can be used to feed the AI aspect of our project.

First of all, they established what data was pertinent, and then they created an engine that could harvest that data and publish it in an appropriate format.

What is the team composition?

Nick (Performance Director) was the initial contact. He’s popped into Slack conversations throughout, which has been really good. Then, we have a project manager, a chief engineer, and a QA engineer. Those are our main points of contact, but Distributed has other people working on it.

How did you come to work with Distributed?

We were referred to them by a company in the UK, and we spoke to Nick, who ran us over on what their approach to handling our project would be.

I get bombarded by development companies all the time, and I was apprehensive about meeting another one. A contact of my co-founder recommended that I have a chat with Distributed, and I begrudgingly did. After a Zoom call with Nick, I was overly impressed. Their approach to things is quite different from other development companies’. We’re very much involved in the management process together, whereas, with other companies I’ve worked with, we’d give them a brief, they’d come back, and we’d talk about the results. With Distributed, it’s been a consultative process throughout the duration.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested £17,000 ($20,100 USD) to date. The overall project will be in the region of £77,000 ($91,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Distributed in late-July 2020. We’ve engaged them again for another aspect of our product, and that’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s one of the best experiences I’ve had working with a development company.

How did Distributed perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve got an online portal for project tracking, as well as Zoom calls every Friday; we’re on Slack 24/7. We’ve had a number of other calls throughout the week, especially when we get to crucial parts in the project. The communication’s been absolutely excellent. The deadline was for the beginning of October, which they hit.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Nick has paid a lot of interest throughout the project and joined in on Zoom calls and on Slack. Distributed has been exceptional, top to bottom.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not really, because they’re very adaptable. Lots of companies would’ve said “Out of scope! Out of scope!” When developing something that hasn’t been developed before, it’s difficult to stick to strict guidelines, and Distributed has been very flexible in this sense.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

They should just be open and say what they want, even if they think it’s unachievable. Distributed has ticked all the boxes with regards to that. We’ve changed the goalposts quite a few times, but they still stuck to the deadlines. Distributed has a very different approach than that of typical software developers.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Providence Group. We’re a relatively new business with a view to enter the global, direct-to-consumer investment platform market. Our product is an investment advice platform that uses algorithms to assess an applicant’s attitude to risk and their experience in investing via a website. It also gives them the opportunity to access a very wide array of collective investments via an online portal.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Distributed?

We needed someone to design iOS and Android mobile apps to allow our account holders to view their transactions when they were on the move.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve worked with offshore resources that haven’t delivered well or worked in a timely manner before, so I talked with my head of IT, as well as with Barry (Chief Customer Officer) and Tim (CFO) from Distributed. We outlined the scope of the project and the received it very well. They gave us a good sense of comfort that they had the resources to deliver this project for us on time and on budget.

Subsequent to the project moving into the award phase, we were introduced to Alex (Project Manager). He’s our day-to-day contact. As the project has developed, the scope has also developed. Now, we’re moving toward delivery, as well as discussion of a scope expansion to move into our second phase. This will require additional code to be written to ensure the apps we have developed into more sophisticated products. Users will have a broader scope in terms of the services they’ll have access to via their mobile phones.

What is the team composition?

Beyond Barry, Tim, and Alex, I’ve spoken with Cal (CEO & Founder). I had a courtesy call last week to see how they were delivering on the project and to get some feedback from me, as I’m the project leader on our side.

How did you come to work with Distributed?

They were referred to us by a business contact.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $100,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since April 2020. We also have an insurance business, through which we may engage them as well.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their adherence to timelines is difficult to find with offshore companies, in my experience. They have a good metric for analyzing how many hours a project should take, and they also built in a small margin whereby, if the project slipped due to their lack of adherence, then they would give us that part for free. That position felt quite honest to us.

How did Distributed perform from a project management standpoint?

For us, their consistency of feedback is the most valuable. They have good project management tools that give us a weekly online update, which helps us understand where we are with the project, exactly what’s been completed, and what’s outstanding. Most of what’s outstanding has been us changing our minds as a fickle customer or the project evolving. They’ve kept to their timeline as much as possible, seeing as there were some nuances we might not have communicated as effectively as possible in our initial brief.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a good ability to listen. Sometimes, when dealing with software or IT developers I’m not quite sure if they’re listening. I’ve seen in previous partners that they’ll tell you what they think you’re trying to say. Distributed listened well, though. They absorbed what we said.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I would be disingenuous if I started to look for faults because they’re really. Anything I may pick on is more likely than not to be a result of us rushing based on the pressure I put on my team and us not communicating effectively enough with them. I don’t think there’s anything they could have done better.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take your time, do the grunt work right, and tell them exactly what you’re trying to achieve. Paint the picture for them. We could have done that better.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing director of a digital facilities management business. We are in the business of making buildings smarter to disrupt the old world of facilities management.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Distributed?

We wanted to develop an IOT platform on which we could integrate directly with internal systems such as boilers and HVAC units and control them from anywhere in the world.

Distributed helped us to develop an extremely user-friendly interface for the app that would make the transition to IoT a little less daunting for new customers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our platform is called Renegade, and the offering we created with Distributed is called Renegade Ignite because we wanted to ignite the journey of IoT in the minds of new clients. The frontend that they created included drag and drop displays, data visualizations, and other interactive features that our clients can take advantage of to understand the tools they have at their disposal.

What was the team composition?

We work with 6–7 members of their team, including Nick (Customer Lead), Alex (Project Manager), Jack (Head of Marketing), Quinn (Head of Delivery), Cal (CEO & Co-founder), Barry (Chief Customer Officer), and one of their chairmen as well.

How did you come to work with Distributed?

We were working with a scaling partner that introduced us to their team, and then we recognized them when we were doing our own independent research. Their portfolio was impressive and we enjoyed our early conversations with them, so we decided to move forward from there.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost has been just under £5,000 (approximately $6,200 USD) so far, but that will likely increase significantly over the next 12 months.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work started in May 2020 and is ongoing as we tackle more and more projects with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since we haven’t launched the product yet, the only metrics I have are with regard to their delivery on my initial requirements. I have been totally pleased with their execution in that regard.
On top of that speed of delivery, the quality of work that they bring back is consistently to an extremely high standard. Despite how rapidly the components are being developed, we have yet to find a problem with any of them that they haven’t already considered and accounted for.

How did Distributed perform from a project management standpoint?

They make the scoping process of any project incredibly easy. I can just come to them with my vision, and they break it down into a flow from a technical point of view so that we can have a conversation about how long and how expensive the development process will be to bring that to life. Their team does an excellent job of being incredibly specific and accurate in that process.

Once the projects kick off, they have provided me with a platform where I can log on on my own to see how the project is going and not have to worry about chasing them to get updates on any part of the work. Our communications are very fluid in general, so we are able to change meetings quickly and adapt to any changes that come up on a daily basis.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What makes them stand out the most is the depth of quality within their internal team. They communicate well within their own organization, so they have a great understanding of their own skillsets and what they’ll be able to deliver for you. They’ll never promise something that they can’t give you in the end, which we really appreciate about them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

So far, I haven’t seen anything that worried me about the work that they do. The only thing I wish is that I had more money to give them so we could get even more done.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Just be very active in your partnership. Build the relationship and work closely alongside them, because you will get a lot more out of the project in terms of the communication if you are helping them move as fast as they can.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m head of operations for ABM Communications. Our product is True Royalty TV; it’s a niche streaming service. We launched our MVP in June 2018 and are now heavily funded and growing very quickly.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Distributed?

Essentially, Distributed came on board and became our tech staff.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Distributed built our website using WordPress as well as handled some marketing efforts. They created Google Analytics and BP Analytics through Google and Tableau. Their team provided support wherever we needed it.

One of Distributed’s team members became our interim CIO. They not only built the solution but also provided the necessary insight and strategy. They worked hand-in-hand with our technical partner the time and built the scaffolding around the streaming service. This included the marketing and analytics engine. Where needed, Distributed filled in our technical gaps. They worked with my team to get our product out the door.

After we launched, they helped us out with a few other things. We used them when we needed to upgrade the marketing site. I had a new project manager come in then I worked with him and a developer. We worked closely to add new features.

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with about 2–3 people. Francis (CTO) was my go-to person. I’d go to him and brief him on specifications. We held status meetings and walked through what needed to be done. Then, he’d go away and resource it. I also dealt with Callum (CEO) and Sam (COO), but it was mainly Francis.

How did you come to work with Distributed?

Callum was in the same building as us at WeWork. I was specifically looking for a business intelligence unit, someone who could wire together our analytics, and I saw their ad on a screen. I met Callum and his team then started talking with them. They explained they offer a wide range of services including what I was specifically looking for.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested about £90,000 (approximately $110,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement lasted from April 2018–September 2019. We’re all wrapped up at present and a lot of projects are in-house now. What Distributed built is now fit for purpose, and we use it internally. However, anytime I need an upgrade, I go to them. We decided to hire in-house to fill in the gaps we didn’t have.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
They delivered our MVP and allowed us to test marketing as well as start building intelligence and data gathering. Distributed was really helpful in getting us out of the first phase of growth by enabling our confidence in our data as well as to present it to investors. They built the foundation of the business.

The Distributed team always delivered on time. I’m a busy person so it was useful to just correspond with one person. They got to know my business really quickly. The main benefit was that they’re strategic thinkers. The initial brief was a specific piece of tech and it expanded to them looking at our business problems and providing solutions to save us money.

How did Distributed perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management went really well and I had a dedicated project manager. They didn’t miss a single deadline. There were times when one or two things may have slipped, but it was a delay on our side. Their team always performed on time, remained up-to-date, and maintained open communication.

They made sure I knew what was happening and expressed if something was missing. They were a partner I could trust, and they smashed it each time. It’s a shame I’m not using them anymore because I’d love to.

A great attribute about Distributed is that when they come into an engagement, they try and find where the gaps are. Then, they analyze how they can play a role in it. They didn’t try to rebook my business, which I found to be very nice. Other suppliers come in and do the opposite. Distributed came in did exactly what I needed and then didn’t try to constantly upsell me. They were solving problems for me rather than trying to get more revenue out of me.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They come in with a holistic approach. Their team figures out how to best amplify what we do or don’t have. If we’re missing certain resources, they go out and find a solution to work around and then automate it. They’re great at building something that can function for a span of time and then evaporate.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything. They delivered each time, and I was happy with the work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t brief them like a tech partner, brief them like they’re part of your business. Talk to them about the problem you need to solve. Start there, and then go into what they can bring to the table. Their team will come up with multiple solutions.

Give Distributed a bit of work to test them if you want to see how they work and have them gain your trust. Try and get them in for a small project that’s low risk and low exposure for both parties. See how they perform and then go from there.