DVELP

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am one of the managing partners of Fitmatix, a relatively new fintech firm. We're business specialists with experience with large financial organizations. We devise solutions for the organizational and processing problems that banks, asset managers, and insurance companies face.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DVELP?

We wanted to dramatically reduce the cost and increase the productivity of operations in financial organizations by developing an automation solution.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

DVELP went through a discovery phase to understand the technologies required for our solution. Their team recognized that they didn’t have certain skills needed to fulfill all of our requirements—specifically relative to AI development. They impressed us with their maturity in advising us to find another company that specializes in AI. Taking their advice, we hired another team with AI expertise, and we worked well together to integrate the solution.

On their end, DVELP helped refine our data sets and collaborated to design our wireframes. Then, they built all the Twilio-based components which allow our solution exist within private and public clouds.

The solution is not bespoke, but configured to solve specific problems. It also has web-based UI to facilitate quick implementation.

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with five of their engineers.

How did you come to work with DVELP?

We discovered them through a third-party technology platform company, and they recommended them to us as a U.K.-based partner.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested £90,000 ($107,312 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them in November 2017 through February 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We won’t have solid metrics until we fully launch the solution. However, DVELP has helped us develop the minimum viable product which has impressed many bankers so far.

How did DVELP perform from a project management standpoint?

Even with a steep learning curve in understanding financial concepts, they picked things up fairly quickly. They did make some errors along the way, but nothing major. We used an agile approach and communicated through email, Slack, and Trello

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was very impressed with their performance and their ability to incorporate our feedback. They provided post-development support and responded to any requests or issues within minutes—even when we weren't paying them anymore.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It took longer than expected to onboard their engineers. We’ve agreed those were lessons learned and that we'd change our approach the next time we work together.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director of a start-up called Inporium, currently developing a customer loyalty app for restaurants.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DVELP?

While I have a background in the food industry, I don’t have any development skills. I needed a company that could build my app and provide consultation for launch.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The app essentially works like an airline rewards program, allowing participating restaurants to provide exclusive rewards to loyal patrons. I provided the initial concept, and DVELP helped define the app’s functionalities and target audience. From there, they developed an MVP to test with local customers, and used the feedback to begin a 12-week build.

They developed both the frontend and backend, and used a conversion system to make the app available for Android and iOS.

While I hired a separate agency for design work, DVELP brought in an extra team member to assist on that end.

We're currently preparing to launch on the App Store and Google Play, so DVELP is providing marketing assistance.

What is the team dynamic?

They have three or four people working on my project on any given week.

How did you come to work with DVELP?

I used to work at a management consultancy firm, and one of my colleagues there used DVELP to create his own app. He suggested I meet with the CEO, Tom [Mullen], and I discovered they had worked on past projects that were very similar to mine, so they seemed like a good fit.

How much have you invested with them?

Between £75,000–£80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2016 and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Feedback from the soft launch has been very positive. Users find the design to be slick and the layout intuitive, allowing them to easily navigate from point A to point B.

How did DVELP perform from a project management standpoint?

They rely on the Agile methodology based on weeklong sprints. We developed a rough outline for each unit, and Tom assigned tasks based on the goals of that week. I’m always kept in the loop, and they take time to explain technical aspects I’m unfamiliar with.

They also maintain a Trello board online that lets me post comments and see how the project is being organized. This also allows communication with their remote developers based in Eastern Europe.

Deadlines have always been met on schedule.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're very down-to-earth people and passionate about what they do, which, as someone unfamiliar with development, helped me feel comfortable making this huge leap of faith. Tom, in particular, is very open and always able to answer any questions or concerns I have. They excel at building trusting relationships with their clients.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could make slight improvements to their organization methods, particularly in providing documentation. I’ve had to chase them down a couple of times to ask for written schedules or pricing structures.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of digital and analytics for a sports retail store. We sell specialty training footwear, apparel, and accessories.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DVELP?

We wanted to build a sophisticated website that matched our brand and could cope with an active e-commerce business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I came in about halfway through their project, so I can't speak to the very beginning. Normally, the developers give us briefs about what we want to achieve, and we go through various meetings and iterations to get there. Any ongoing support, changes, or features are discussed with the development team and then they take care of it quickly. They built our initial site and were hired for the second version.

We use Shopify, and our in-house team is designing a new site that DVELP will then build. We’re implementing a ticketing system to streamline customer service questions through a service bot that automates responses depending on information in their query (store hours, inventory, tracking info, etc.). It’s still being tested, but it frees up a lot of time for my customer service colleagues. That’s the biggest update so far, and we still rely on DVELP for maintenance and other minor tweaks.

How did you come to work with DVELP?

We heard about DVELP through recommendations and word of mouth from colleagues.

What is the status of this engagement?

It started in August 2015 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The site looks good and does its job. It lacks a few usability aspects, like filtering, but that’s being built into the new site.

How did DVELP perform from a project management standpoint?

The whole team is clear and transparent. We usually communicate via email, but we have in-person meetings as well since we’re located so close.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their tech support is fantastic, and they always listen to our ideas. They implement the good ones and let us know why the others wouldn’t work well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a co-founder of Tribe, which is an online subscription and e-commerce platform for our natural sports nutrition products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DVELP?

Initially, we needed to build a website for our product and we wanted to hire someone who could take us through the whole development process. Since then, we’ve needed to add extra features and make changes to the site.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We gave them the designs, and they used Ruby on Rails as well as AJAX and JavaScript for the development. DVELP did everything from the conception of the initial site to its functionality and actually building it. They came up with the MVP when we launched two years ago, and they’ve led all the iterative changes.

They took the site from a subscription platform to a subscription and e-commerce site. Specifically, they added a shopping cart and separate account functionalities. They built our subscription engine and product selection algorithm. Also, they migrated our payment dividers from Braintree to Stripe. DVELP implemented affiliate marketing systems, messaging bots (like Intercom), and data analytic packages such as Looker and Mixpanel.

Right now, we have a full-time developer in-house, but DVELP still assists with code review or whenever we need help to execute something.

What is the team dynamic?

The team is usually 3-4 people: two members who run the bulk of it, a frontend specialist, and another who comes and goes depending on resourcing.

How did you come to work with DVELP?

We considered a variety of different providers, but DVELP came recommended. They seemed the most financially competitive, and they were a smaller outfit who would care about our project, so we chose them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around £70,000 [$92,454].

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in September 2015, and it’s still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Users like the look and feel of the site. It was built from scratch, so there’s been the occasional bug, but it’s always been fixed quickly and timely.

How did DVELP perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re exceptional. We communicate using email, phone, and Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re professional, clear communicators, and always deliver on time. I recommend them to a lot of people, even though they’re no longer very cheap. In fact, they’re quite expensive, but they’re the gold standard.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I think they’re a great team.

Advice for potential customers?

Have Tom Mullen [CEO, DVELP] as interface. He understands business needs and how to solve them through technology. His team is good at executing, but you need his strategic input.