The Mullings Group

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CPO of Authentify Art. We service the art industry as a fintech solutions provider.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Mullings Group?

We wanted to get a solution up and running as a proof of concept and working prototype as quickly as possible without hiring internal engineers. Therefore, we needed a service provider that could offer development on a contractual basis.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Mullings Group is developing our web application and mobile application; they’re building our entire platform and technology stack. The team uses Heroku for hosting, where they attach certain technologies and modules. For the database on the backend, they use MongoDB. 

They’ve built an admin side, backend tools, and frontend tools. They’ve also started working on plug-ins for NFTs and blockchain with APIs and connectors for minting NFTs. This project is in partnership with another vendor. The Mullings Group has had to coordinate with them to add the plug-ins to the platform’s code. 

The platform is a centralized online provenance for artwork, enabling profiles for art pieces and artists. We have a tremendous amount of data and categorized intelligence so that each profile is backed up with evidence. If users go into a profile, they can see everything that has happened with each piece of art. 

The Mullings Group has delivered a couple of versions of the platform, working on different phases. Currently, they’re in maintenance mode until we get additional funding to go into the next version, where we’ll go bigger with the platform. 

What is the team composition?

The team composition has fluctuated over time; we’ve worked with 10–12 teammates from The Mullings Group throughout the project. The team has gone up to 10 people at a time, including a lead engineer, regular engineers, DevOps teammates, and QA teammates. Since we’re currently in maintenance mode, we work with 1–2 teammates who ensure things are taken care of. 

How did you come to work with The Mullings Group?

A former customer of The Mullings Group recommended them to us. We interviewed them and decided to go with them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $500,000–$1 million. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in Q1 2020, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our success metrics are daily active users, platform uptime, and customer satisfaction. The platform’s uptime has been good; although we’ve had a few minor outages, it’s been because the internet is down, so that I wouldn’t hold that against The Mullings Group. We haven’t signed up enough customers yet, and customer uptake is on us. 

Other metrics include the number of artworks on the platform and the platform’s performance. Any time we’ve had any performance issues, The Mullings Group has remedied them quickly. Overall, their response time for service performance issues has been really good. 

How did The Mullings Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They meet deadlines and stay within the budget. We use Trello and Slack for project management. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The Mullings Group has outgoing personalities on their team and a can-do attitude. They also give us pushback, explaining why we might want to do something a certain way. I’ve worked with other development teams that have a good attitude but just do whatever we say and don’t push back, and I’ve also worked with teams that do whatever they want and don’t listen to us. 

The Mullings Group has a good mix of listening to us and pushing back when necessary to come up with the right solution, always with a good attitude. Overall, we’ve had a good partnership. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’ve given them constructive feedback throughout the project, and they’ve always made the necessary changes. They always admit there’s a problem and take action to remedy it. Therefore, I don’t have any constructive feedback I haven’t already told them.

For example, at one point, I commented on how the QA department was running because some defects were getting through, and I suggested a better process to handle those issues. The Mullings Group revamped that process and fixed it. I’ve also had constructive feedback on deployments; their DevOps team worked on it, and now deployments are easy and problem-free.  

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend putting thought into the project upfront; map out what you’re trying to accomplish in terms of the output. Additionally, be open-minded as to what the actual solution may be. The Mullings Group is very thoughtful in coming up with solutions. If you come to them with the problem and how you want the outcome to look, you’ll get the most out of them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and CEO of Tops Nexus LLC, a commercial software solutions startup. We offer support services for website development and commercial software.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Mullings Group?

We needed someone to develop our web app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Mullings Group has developed our web app using Heroku, MongoDB, SendGrid, and Mango Plus, their own proprietary software. The web app is a solution for event planning, volunteer coordination, management, and surveys. Regarding the platform's features, the end user can see events, get checked in, and register for events. They can also take questionnaires and join organizations.

Currently, The Mullings Group provides ongoing technical support for the web app.

What is the team composition?

We've worked with four members of The Mullings Group's team.

How did you come to work with The Mullings Group?

Someone referred them to us.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we've spent $65,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2022, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've been having focus groups and user testing to review The Mullings Group's work, and it has met my expectations.

How did The Mullings Group perform from a project management standpoint?

The Mullings Group meets deadlines and stays on budget. Regarding communication, we use Slack and Trello.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The Mullings Group's customer service is great, and I'm also happy with their availability.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We'd like to have more Zoom calls with their UI designer.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don't be afraid to use their different tools, like Slack and Trello.