Monterail

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-founder and co-CEO of a software technology company. We are the developers of the global, hyperlocal social networking app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We engaged Monterail to partner with us to develop a minimum viable product of our app for global release. Our goals were to develop a stable and scalable version of the app to test and refine as part of a global beta release process. We are continuing to work with Monterail as we move towards a global release of the product in a couple of weeks.

SOLUTION

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

We selected Monterail as part of structured and deliberate interview process with a series of competitive prospective partners. The Monterail team and proposal beat out the other competitive options on two vectors: plan specificity and tailoring (demonstration of care/commitment) and price (demonstration of flexibility and long-term view of relationship).

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

I'm not comfortable sharing this information.

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

I'm not comfortable sharing this information.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within 4 months of launching the earliest version of the app we have grown the user base to nearly 40,000 users and achieved market-leading retention rates in some of key geographic target markets.

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

The Monterail project management style is predictable, measured and clear. Our project manager places a keen priority on clear and efficient information via Slack and email. They are generally quite responsive during business hours and willing to be flexible to accommodate our time zone differences.

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

We have been rather impressed with Monterail's ability to anticipate our team and project needs as we have scaled over the course of our engagement. Our project manager was swift and proactive in working with us to continually augment our team to achieve our sometimes shifting and goal sets and requests for acceleration in execution under uncertainty. It has been a pleasure to work with such a steady, supportive and flexible development partner.

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

We are a company in a rush, so we are always requesting faster execution from our partners at Monterail. They generally operate very efficiently and quickly, but we would, of course, be pleased with even speedier execution.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Director of Product for a nonprofit organization, I lead our engineering and design team.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Monterail to help us build the front end for our web products.

SOLUTION

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

We reviewed a few options and found that Monterail had a reasonable cost and high engineering quality.

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

We had a kick off meeting with Anna, our project manager. Once our timelines and deliverables were clear, we worked with their senior engineer to scope the project and were assigned engineers who would work on the project. The team uses mostly Ruby for their web development.

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

1 project manager 1 senior engineer 1-3 engineers depending on the project/workload

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have built a prototype and are nearing completion of GD's first 2 ever technical product builds.

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

We set up syncs as needed, the technical team has biweekly sync. We communicate mainly via Slack or Jira. The team has always done a great job on estimating timelines.

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

Their ability to deliver high quality code quickly and on schedule

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

It's hard to predict staffing down the line if any changes come up; some of our projects shift in scope after the initial build and it'd be great to have the same team be able to support these updates.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of a startup for a specialised web platform for geotechnical engineering.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

The application was first created as an internal tool. We hired Monterail to help with a more robust platform and new functionality for commercialisation.

SOLUTION

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

We searched for development companies of the right size with experitse for Vue.js.

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

We had a kick-off workshop to work on overall design, and then multiple rounds of development with weekly meetings.

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

A project manager was assigned throughout the project, in addition to a frontend and a backend developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have implemented many new functions that we would not have had the capacity to without external help.

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

We had weekly meetings on Zoom. In addition, there was direct communication with the developers over Slack.

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

Some of the developers we worked with have a very good ability to find the right level of detail in implementation, as well as critical thinking to make good independent suggestions along the way.

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

We encountered issues with the quality that some of the developers produced, as well as their communication style. However, we were able to discuss these issues with management, and later found ourselves with a team that we were very happy with.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO. Whimsifull is personalized video books for kids. Imagine a short Disney movie but with your child as the main character.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Monterail to build out the onboarding and delivery of videos to clients. The onboarding and payment was done on a web application and the delivery of the videos through web and mobile applications.

SOLUTION

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

I had worked with Monterail before on many projects so i knew it had to be them for this.

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

The scope was to ensure the final product could face clients and look slick in a very specific timeframe. We used Django Admin as the backend linked to various cloud services and React for the mobile app.

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

About 8 at full scale. We had a team of front and backend Devs, Mobile Devs and a project manager

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They delivered on everything that was asked.

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

Project management was incredible. We have a slack channel to communicate daily. Weekly zoom calls where feedback was taken and items adjusted accordingly. I felt like i knew everything every step of the way.

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

They give a lot of thought to each item as if they are the owners of the company.

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

No

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CTO of Learn Amp. We are a multi-award winning Employee Experience Platform, delivering learning and performance management for businesses globally.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Due to our rapid growth as a company, we needed to quickly scale up our development team, while ensuring highest quality new features and support to existing customers. Monterail has partnered with us

SOLUTION

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

Monterail was recommended to us by some trusted contacts in the London start-up community. We travelled to Poland, and met the team and saw their offices. We felt that Monterail's track record and solid experience of delivering projects in our technology stack were a great fit for us.

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

Monterail offered us some developers to join our team on a remote basis. They were all full stack developers, capable of working across the tech stack. Ruby, VueJS, Postgres, Redis, AWS. We have incorporated them into our team, and they work as an extention to our core team.

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 process. There were also 2 senior full stack developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After some time to properly induct and onboard the developers, which is normal for any software project, we were able to ship better software more quickly.

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

Our London team manages our wider remote team directly. We use Monday.com/Jira/Slack/GitHub as well as collaborate a lot on Slack calls and Zoom. Our project is slightly different from most Monterail projects, in that we did not need deep involvement from a Project Manager, as the work was not fully outsourced. We have appreciated Monterail's willingness to provide a light touch approach to PM.

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

I think being able to trust a software partner for outsourced work is so critical. We have appreciated Monterail's clear communication. The developers are responsible, trustworthy, and capable.

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

I think at the start, Monterail had to adjust to our more direct remote management of the developers. But they were great about this, and proved very flexible. So we have not had any further issues here.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO and Co-Founder of a startup in the hospitality space, we digitize their procurement and inventory management with easy to use software that is leveraging the data from existing systems on site.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Monterail right from the start after founding the company to create an MVP and then build the product with us for market readiness,

SOLUTION

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

We reviewed a couple software partners that included design, backend and frontend development under one roof. While the costs were similar, the business analysis team at Monterail identified highly relevant topics and issues and seemed to be clear where we wanted to head with the product. In the end it was this understanding that led me to decide for them..

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

• Technologies used: Python with Django, Javascript with React.js, Redux, Typescript
• Project steps: Kick-off, framing of the scope
• MVP: Web App with interface to one supplier's price catalogue, to show products, create orders and conduct rudimentary inventory management
• Ongoing: Development together with our growing inhouse developer team for the entire product to be ready to market.

That includes various features in Backend (Interfaces to integration software, ElasticSearch) and Frontend (Many more screens, barcode scanning, ... )

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

• 1 Project Manager
• 2 Backend developers
• 4 Frontend Developers
• 1 Designer (on demand)
• 1 QA Analyst
• 1 Key Account Manager

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Very efficient goal-oriented development to get something out that is usable. We did not always meet communicated deadlines, but customers at our market launch have been happy. High-quality standards were held up thoroughly by their very capable QA developers.

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

Daily standups for the entire team with the project manager, at a later stage this included our own internal developers without problems. For communication the main channel is slack, for all tasks its Jira.

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

The drive to get things done for us, in meetings that include Monterail and our developers it feels like this is just one homogenous team. Personally, as a startup in hospitality we faced hard times during the Corona crisis and Monterail was very accomodating.

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

The only things coming to mind is progress reporting that could be done regularly (e.g. make it a company-wide standard to let the client know each sprint exactly what happened) and the foresight to ensure meeting deadlines.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

System Engineering is a consultancy company focused on helping engineering and production companies streamline and improve their industrial design and processes through the ISO/IEC 81346 standard. As the Program Manager for Systems Engineering, I sit with the main daily management, budget, and strategy for developing the Systems Engineering Hub.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We needed a dedicated development team to build the Systems Engineering Hub product. Because of the complicated and complex nature of the consulting that we provide, we needed a contractor that could provide us with a dedicated, embedded team of people who were willing to challenge and ask difficult questions and explore better options on their own rather than to do tasks. And therefore, the choice landed on Monterail.

SOLUTION

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

We ended up building a large array of microservices, as well as implementing graph databases. The reason for this was:

• Scalability
• Price
• Functionality

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

Because it was an embedded team, which changed a bit over time, the scope of work was also dynamic as Systems Engineering build out their business opportunities.

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

We started with a super strong team of one senior frontend and senior backend developer. We then expanded the team into, when we were the most people were about 10 people. And then eventually settled on a team size of four developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After the cooperation with Monterail, we have provided complex, online tools for our customers.

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

We used a hybrid between SCRUM and Agile, using stand-up meetings as well as a continuous resisting of priorities.

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

I am impressed with their commitment to learning about our business, ask critical questions and suggest honest, good improvements for both the product and the business model.

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

All/any areas of problems that we encountered were handled and solved. When working for a long time with a team, there will always be some issues, but they will also always be solved.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of a three-person startup. We’re a dating service.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Monterail?

We needed an MVP built out. We had a high-fidelity wireframe of our MVP that included all of the typical app features.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Monterail built out the frontend of our responsive web app’s MVP, which had mobile screens as well. 

We developed the backend ourselves, although Monterail helped a little bit with that. They used React on the frontend, and we used Rails on the backend.

What is the team composition?

We mostly worked with a project manager and an engineer, and then we worked with a third person in the last couple of weeks.

How did you come to work with Monterail?

I believe I actually found them through Clutch.

How much have you invested with them?

The total was roughly $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from November 2020–January 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Monterail was very thorough. They wrote clean and usable code. The team provided a very holistic service — they helped think about the business in terms of different features, and we had a good back-and-forth.

How did Monterail perform from a project management standpoint?

We didn’t have strict deadlines, but they generally came in early on all of the deadlines that we did have. We finished the project a couple of weeks before we thought we would.

We used Jira for project management and Slack for communication. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were very professional, and their project management was well-done.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve gotten more competitive quotes from other places.

Any advice for potential customers?

Have your wireframes and business requirements really fleshed out beforehand.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a software development manager at Remedee Labs, a software development startup. We’re developing a medical device that stimulates the endorphins of the human body.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Untitled Kingdom?

We needed someone to develop our mobile app. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed our mobile app from scratch. We also needed them to challenge us on the market needs and the goals of the application which they did perfectly. We used them for graphic design for the user interface of the mobile application. We used them to develop the core of the application for iOS and Android. We use it to train our customers on how to use the device and how to help them. For this application, we’re using two different factors, which are sleep and stress. We have a training program to help them with sleep or stress issues.

What is the team composition?

There’s one project manager, one product owner, one UI, and two developers. We had two developers at the same time but we had different developers during the lifetime of the project.

How did you come to work with Untitled Kingdom?

They were a recommendation, and it was a very good idea.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2018, and we wrapped up in July 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The feedback has been very great. We love working with them. Their quality of work is great. They do what they say. At the beginning of the project, we didn’t know how to develop an application, and they taught us.

How did Untitled Kingdom perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was perfect. Some of the project management was on our side when it was needed. They’re very professional. At the beginning of the project, we had a specific timeline and budget which were respected.

What did you find most impressive about them?

My favorite thing is their honesty and the quality of their communication. Whenever we have difficulties, we just talk about them. They always understand our concerns.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their CEO asked me as well and I didn’t have an answer. I don’t know what they could do to provide better services.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to be honest with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Hunt, a rental marketplace.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Untitled Kingdom?

We built our web platform and wanted to build native mobile apps as well but we didn’t have the capability in-house.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had nothing as it related to native apps so they developed our iOS app from scratch. They helped us get our backend infrastructure set up and designed APIs.

I worked with them very closely on implementing designs that we have worked on, testing, and ultimately deployment of a production-level app. They built the whole app and, through the years, they continued to improve the app.

What is the team composition?

I interfaced with the founder on a contractual level. The team that was staffed on the project were developers and a project manager.

How did you come to work with Untitled Kingdom?

We talked to a range of companies about first building an iOS app. We decided on Untitled Kingdom. We got some references at the time and say that they had done some good work in the native app ecosystem. We took a gamble on that.

At that time, Apple had already announced that they’re moving over to Swift and away from Objective C, which was a difficult decision for us. Other teams suggested we code our app in Objective C and then convert it to Swift, even though it would be significantly more expensive and would partially duplicate the work. 

We didn’t have the money to do that and Untitled Kingdom said we should code in Swift, and that it would be stupid not to. I liked the attitude they had. They acknowledged they’d done Objective C and this would be a big change in moving over to Swift, but they took it on and did a phenomenal job.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent over $100,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from July 2014 – May 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We started ranking very competitively in the App Store. For some of the most generic and high volume terms, we started ranking in positions 1–5. We started getting 10s of thousands of downloads a month. 

One thing that stood out to us is our crash rate of the app was very low. It was below a percent of users had their app ever crash. At the time, the industry average was 2–3% so that spoke to their quality of work.

How did Untitled Kingdom perform from a project management standpoint?

We had daily calls with everybody on the team. They helped structure the sprints in our software account and it worked well. Communication was very good between our teams — we started with voice calls and had video calls. 

They were very structured and their project manager was really good. He would push back and reshuffle the sprints according to how it made sense for quality. He did a good job interfacing with his engineers because he had a slightly better understanding of our business goals than they did. He was able to balance quality versus our innate attempt to chew off a bit more than we should have. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

My experience with them was very positive and I was delighted with their service. They had a very structured approach to work. They weren’t afraid of new technologies and were very creative in how they problem-solved. They’re a really solid company and team. I’d love to work with them again.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing where I’d say it’s their fault. One thing that was difficult at times was the time difference between us — they’re in Poland and I’m in San Francisco so we were working with a 10 hour time difference. We had calls early in the morning but if something came up later during the day, even just a question, it wasn’t always possible to reach someone there.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice would be to trust their process even if you don’t immediately like it. They have gone through this process several times to build a mobile app. They simply had a lot more knowledge and still have a lot more knowledge about that process than we do internally. Their project manager is really solid and good.

Their engineers are also very good because they actually produced a high-quality product. Don’t battle the project manager on everything because you can just shoe in more features or requests. It will dilute the quality of the product and make everybody unhappy along the way.