Limestone Digital

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the co-founder of a non for profit platform which enables giving within communities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

In order to bring the vision to life we had to custom build everything. The platform is a unique and new idea, centered around communities and their members. Our goal was to build out a robust, beautiful and well functioning platform.

SOLUTION

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

We were referred by a friend. After discussing the project in detail with them, they provided us with a detailed plan as well as a timeframe and cost estimate. They were extremely professional and pleasant to work with, and had come highly recommended to us.

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

We started with a wireframe (both front and back end), design, front and back end build out. The project manager was fantastic, great communication and clearly outlining the what and when of the project.

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

6. Project manager, designer, back end developer, front end developer, qa, additional.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were hoping to launch the MVP by mid 22'. We were actually able to launch a little earlier than expected, with great results. We completed mvp2 I'm early August and have been extremely happy with the product.

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

We started with a number of communication tools (Google drive, click up etc) and those remained. However upon my request they communicated with me primarily through Google. Very communicative and I was impressed with the timeline accuracy.

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

The entire process was awesome! I don't have any one area, more of a general excellent experience.

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

As far as I'm concerned they nailed it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of an e-commerce dishware company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Limestone Digital?

We needed their expertise in Shopify development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve initially launched a brainstorming session to discuss our requirements with Limestone Digital’s project manager. They’ve then built our Shopify platform based on our preferred design and development aspects. Additionally, their team has also set up our product descriptions and images on the site. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with three resources from Limestone Digital, including their project manager and developer.

How did you come to work with Limestone Digital?

Limestone Digital’s team was referred to me. I took the recommendation after seeing their impressive portfolio.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $75,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started in July 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t launched the Shopify platform yet, so I can’t specify any quantitative metrics at this point. From our team’s perspective. Limestone Digital has strategically used their expertise to produce high-quality deliverables.

How did Limestone Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate via phone calls and emails. Limestone digital is an efficient partner that responds promptly to our needs and has excellent communication skills.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re most impressed with their collaborative approach and ability to deliver results within quick turnaround times.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything constructive about their work — they’ve been nothing but a helpful provider from the beginning.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t hesitate to hire them. Limestone Digital is a committed team that helps their customers devise innovative solutions to address their business goals.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of Cander, a virtual greeting infrastructure for Shopify stores.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Limestone Digital?

We needed someone to provide us with custom software development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Before transitioning from our previous team to Limestone Digital, we needed to have a delivery management system set in place. Once that was done, Limestone Digital started providing us with full-time engineers and auxiliary resources to support the system, along with a consulting CTO to oversee the entire project.

The team has since been building new features, as well as monitoring and maintaining new features for the product.

In addition, they helped us build and launch a new website through WordPress.

What is the team composition?

I’m mainly in contact with the CTO, and I’ve probably interacted with at least eight people from their team.

How did you come to work with Limestone Digital?

We have mutual friends in Limestone Digital and we’ve also worked with them in the past.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in June 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since partnering with Limestone Digital, we’ve seen overall growth in our revenue and store adoption. For the last quarter of the year, we’ve experienced a 60% month-over-month improvement.

How did Limestone Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very good from a project management standpoint, and we typically communicate through Slack, Zoom, and phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What distinguishes Limestone Digital from their competitors is their ability to give concise and accurate answers on development estimates, timelines, and project scope.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I believe it would be more helpful if they can expand on their local resources for seamless support and in case of emergency.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The key to working with Limestone Digital is to have a clear pipeline of what you’re building and what you’re trying to accomplish, so I would suggest being involved as much as possible.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the VP of Product Development for a manufacturer of industrial refrigeration equipment and control systems.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We chose Limestone Digital to help us move our control system to a more modern platform while still maintaining an interface to legacy systems. An important goal is to support our existing customer base while moving our product into the future.

SOLUTION

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

Limestone Digital was recommended through an affiliated partner who had prior experience. After initial conversations with the company principals we decided they had the resources to take on this project.

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

The initial phase of the project involves porting an existing .NET/C#/WPF project to a new platform while maintaining connections to existing HMI systems. Future phases will provide web solutions for the local, factory-level HMI.

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

The Limestone team for the first phase of this project consists of one full-time developer, one part-time architect, and a project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The key to this project is in the selection of the right developers and Limestone has done this. There is a focus on schedule and milestones to keep things on track and moving in the right direction.

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

Development projects often change as they move along and the project management team works hard to keep up with the changes. Regular meetings help with this process and when required, additional working sessions are scheduled for the technical team.

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

The ability to select the right developers for the work required has been very important.

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

This was our first major outsourcing project and we initially spent a lot of time with corporate-level managers and developers to define and scope the project. When the final development team was selected we should have spent more time getting them up-to-speed before jumping into the details.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of product management for PTI, a company that’s been in business for roughly 40 years. We manufacture access control solutions with a focus on the self-storage industry. We build keypads, system controllers, unit door alarms, and the like and tie it all together with a comprehensive software platform, which includes the access control operation software and tenant-facing mobile applications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Limestone Digital?

We weren’t happy with the performance of the vendor we were previously working with. We needed to find a better partner to help with our software solution, so we hired Limestone Digital.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The software system is an access control hub for storage facilities. All the tenants are listed within it and all zones are set up along with the access control areas and schedules. There are also events displayed in real-time throughout the software.

Limestone Digital updated our codebase to the latest version of Angular and, from there, created a dashboard that shows site health. For instance, if a keypad at a facility goes offline, it will show on a screen at the operations group. The team built out the wireframes for that dashboard and made adjustments according to customer feedback.

Limestone Digital also helped implement Agile processes in our development, did design work, and optimized all the queries on the platform to speed up the load time.

What is the team composition?

We work with a frontend developer, backend developer, UX designer, and QA resource and our main point of contact is the project manager. There is also someone working to create test automation.

How did you come to work with Limestone Digital?

Someone from our marketing department referred them. When we spoke to them, we liked what we heard, and they had reasonable prices.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together around November 2020, and the project is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Limestone Digital has been excellent. It’s hard to tell the full impact of their work since we haven’t launched into the market yet, but every customer who’s seen the dashboard has given rave reviews and feedback. 

The team has helped increase our loading speed by 1,800%, making it lightning fast. They not only added to the quality of our product but also improved the processes of our team. Based on the results so far, we will continue working with them for the foreseeable future.

How did Limestone Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

Our communication is quite frequent; we have daily calls. They are flexible, available, and extremely responsive. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They adapt well to the culture of our company, and they’re humble. Limestone Digital has experienced developers who table ideas that could improve and optimize results. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

If they had a North American presence, it would probably increase their flexibility even more.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Stay close and connected to the team through daily communication and make sure to have a dedicated project manager. That is key to a successful engagement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a level 1-2 tech support at a telecommunications company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Limestone Digital?

We needed their team to develop a new phone system for our clients.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve tasked Limestone Digital with creating a phone system to streamline our client operations. They’re currently in the process of building the system. Their team conducts several tests and generates redundancies to ensure that our system is completed at an ideal state.

What is the team composition?

We work with 4–6 resources from Limestone Digital, but I’m mainly in contact with their programmer and project manager.

How did you come to work with Limestone Digital?

They were already working for my company when I was onboarded.

What is the status of this engagement?

We kicked off the development project in January 2021, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re tackling an ongoing project, so there are no quantitative results yet. However, I can definitely say that Limestone Digital has delivered satisfactory results that continue to contribute to the completion of our system.

How did Limestone Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly communicate via email, Google Hangouts, and phone calls. Limestone Digital has an organized project management style, which our team appreciates. Our requests are addressed promptly, and they keep track of these for future reference. We have a complicated project and we’re not meeting all the timelines we’ve initially set, but we’re looking forward to overcoming these challenges.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be as communicative as Limestone Digital's team. It’s also important to be clear in outlining your goals, so they can customize their methods and solutions that accurately accommodate those.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO and founder of KT Appliance. We’re an authorized dealer for over 70 major appliance brands, and we also offer nationwide shipping.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Limestone Digital?

We needed their team to develop and design our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Limestone Digital developed our website from scratch. The new website was part of our branding efforts since we were launching our appliance sales nationwide. Their team integrated specific features such as an extended warranty option under the customer care category, a geolocation API, and another locator for our delivery partners. 

Once those integrations were completed, Limestone Digital focused on the design and backend to make sure that our customers were able to check out their orders properly and our price list was updated.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three designers, two backend developers, and two project managers.

How did you come to work with Limestone Digital?

Limestone Digital was recommended to us by one of our clients. We also contacted other companies that we could potentially work with, but their team had the most reasonable pricing and reliable testimonials.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our project ran from December 2020–June 2021. We’re now working on an entirely new project under a separate contract.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Limestone Digital took all our requirements and feedback into account and rewarded us with a well-received platform. We were able to streamline our operations by having a product review feature, and our overall sales enjoyed an evident increase.

How did Limestone Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly communicate via email and rely on ClickUp for project management. Limestone Digital allocated their resources strategically to ensure that each one was working on the right pipeline. Overall, we were satisfied with how they handled the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Limestone Digital was keen on bringing unique ideas to the table. Their solutions were both creative and cost-effective, so we were able to tackle any issue with accuracy.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I had a great working experience with Limestone Digital — I didn’t think there was an area that they could’ve done better or differently.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be upfront about all the hurdles you’re facing, so Limestone Digital can deliver more tailored solutions to address your needs. Based on our experience, their team will do their best to solve everything for you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a Senior Scientist at Ingenetix, a biotechnology firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Limestone Digital?

We needed to have a new custom software built. Our previous one was outdated.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team designed the UI and developed the software. They worked in React.js and Microsoft SQL for the database.

All of the chemicals we use are entered into the database. We have to make mixes, follow recipes, and prepare the final product.

There is quality control and the ability to see a detailed history of changes made, such as who, why, and when. There is also the option to send information to the Real-Time PCR-Devices and read the measurement data.

There is a test server behind the firewall, testing a new version every Friday, and then sending feedback. They currently provide part-time support.

What is the team composition?

The main team we interact with is a project manager, frontend programmer, and a backend programmer. In the beginning, there was someone doing UI, and they bring in additional programmers as needed. I also talk to Mark (CEO & Founder).

How did you come to work with Limestone Digital?

Limestone Digital initially sent me an email. When we spoke, I felt they were a clever, capable team. We collaborated on a project a few years ago, and when this project came up, I reached out to them to work with us again.

How much have you invested with them?

Since the engagement began, we’ve spent around €100,000 (approximately $118,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing relationship started around December 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are testing the software now. With the use of this new software, the quality control testing is much faster. They work quickly and do a good job.

How did Limestone Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

There were a few bumps in the beginning, but they’re now working efficiently. We speak daily, and sometimes several times per day. We also have weekly meetings through Google Meet, Chat, and Hangouts. We also use a project management tool.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Flexibility and cleverness are two of their standout qualities. They present several options to us for a solution. They also do a good job of implementing the one we choose.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could provide more detailed estimations for time, resources, and cost.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You should reach out to them. They respond quickly and speak several languages. If you explain your problem, they’ll likely find a solution.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Automatit is a digital marketing firm that specializes in the self-storage industry. We help self-storage facilities to bring tenants to their facilities. I’m the director of technology, so I lead all the development support and most of our product teams.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Limestone Digital?

We were struggling to find and hire additional development talent, so we connected with Limestone Digital as an outsourced opportunity to bring developers in from a third-party source.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, Limestone Digital came in to help us scope out a project for one of our customers. We wanted to build a web-based Phyton application to help this customer with their business management details for managing and monitoring their units and prices. Over time, they became an extended part of our team.

We’ve been working with Limestone Digital on an ongoing relationship, and their developers have effectively melded into our team. They take on our projects from time to time, and we have a specific developer that always works with us. This person handles bugs and jumps in to update the platforms that they’ve built for us.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with a variety of people, but we’ve had two key contacts throughout the project: a primary project manager and a primary developer. Additionally, my original contact was Mark (Founder & CEO), who connected us with our first project manager.

We’ve gone through a handful of project managers over our engagement, and they have other developers working behind the scenes besides our main developer. Their resources have come in when we’ve needed additional assistance to get done larger projects or accomplish shorter deadlines.

How did you come to work with Limestone Digital?

One of our owners at the time had a contact who referred us to Limestone Digital. This person had done work with them, so they recommended them to us. We got Mark’s information, spoke with him, and met him in person.

We talked about our needs and some of the issues that we were facing, and Mark was able to go back to his team and put together a plan for us. We made a good connection and were able to have good conversations. Ultimately, we felt confident that Mark understood our needs and would be able to help us achieve our goals.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $120,000–$150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2019, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Limestone Digital has been able to achieve product deliveries on time — that’s their KPI. There have been some delays, but they were caused because we’ve changed directions about the product.

We had some issues early on with one of the first developers on Limestone Digital’s team. Some things weren’t coming through at a very good quality level; we had a lot of breakages, which wasn’t very positive.

We brought that to their attention, and they took it very seriously. They looked into the problem and dug deeper to find out if a potential disconnect or misunderstanding was causing the tasks not to be accomplished in the manner that they needed to be.

Limestone Digital recognized that it was an error on their end and replaced the team member who seemed to have issues. They also did a lot of rework for us without charging us for it to resolve some of the problems — that was very positive.

How did Limestone Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication with Limestone Digital has been good. Mark touches base on a regular basis with members of our leadership team and me to make sure that everything’s going well. That gives us a nice opportunity to provide further feedback, which he takes seriously and helps us adjust and correct what’s necessary.

Our key project manager communicates with us on a daily basis and jumps into our daily standups. As most of their developers are in the Czech Republic, there may be communication gaps between us. The project manager understands English at a higher level, so they communicate the tasks to their team and translate the issues that arise for us.

We also communicate directly with the developers, but their English level varies and might be slightly broken. Having a project coordinator who better understands has definitely helped us bridge that gap and make sure our communication is clear.

If we need something, we communicate via Slack to this person, and they get clarity on the request or the issue to communicate it clearly to their team. This way, the issue can be taken care of properly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Limestone Digital’s humility is impressive. They’re humble enough to recognize when there’s a problem and take care of it, and they’re willing to assess and analyze the issue internally to understand what’s going on on their side. This aspect has also helped them understand and accomplish the necessary tasks and get them done within the timelines.

Limestone Digital is also flexible, which has allowed them to loop in extra developers to get things done when needed quickly. Although their preference is to have dedicated teams committed to specific companies, they can adapt their teams to get the projects done in a timely manner.

Humility and flexibility are the two key aspects that make them easy to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve had 3–4 different project managers over the course of our two-year engagement, which is an average of 6–9 months turnover cycle period, and I don’t know why that is. They might be getting better opportunities, which is good for them, but at the same time, it makes us wonder if they’re not liking the job that they’re doing or if they’re not being paid well enough.

Every time they bring someone new, we have to bring them up to speed, so more consistency in that area is a potential improvement possibility to avoid having a lot of turnover from the people that we’re working directly to. However, I don’t know if there’s something they could do to retain their talent.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have good planning and make sure that you know what do you want. Go into it and provide good outlines, documentation, and diagrams for what you’re looking for. We identified that we didn’t do that as well as we could have, so we’ve corrected that part throughout other projects.

Additionally, go in with your parameters, indicators, and desired outcome as defined as possible, with the understanding that the project might change and adapt over time. This helps them refine the picture and get you a cleaner project. If you have all this, you’ll have a successful project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the VP of Sales and Alliances at Synatic. Synatic is a modern data automation platform encompassing ETL, Integration, API Management and Warehousing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We needed to augment our development team in order to deliver key additional features.

SOLUTION

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

The speed of response and the fact that they showed a keen interest in our business and our needs. Also, very cost-effective.

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

The LimeStone team worked with us in an agile methodology, skilling up on our product and our ways as we progressed with the project. We didn't work in structured phases or deliveries, but rather worked closely with the team and checked in regularly to ascertain progress. This suited our requirements perfectly and saw rapid delivery of work.

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

There were 3 people: a developer, project manager, and COO to make sure things stayed on track (intermittent check-ins).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Deliverables were what we needed, and we enjoyed working with the LimeStone team as they fitted into our work ethic and methodologies.

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

Project Management was flexible and agile. Communication tools predominantly via slack and zoom.

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

They've adapted to our style of working and have presented incredible value for money.

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

The language barrier can be an issue, but this was easily overcome through the initial stages of working together.