Netlandish

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Filtered Space, Inc. Our company helps musical artists market and promote themselves. We work with some of the bigger music companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Netlandish?

We needed help with our database and dissemination of information (e.g. where people are located, age, etc.).

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did everything within the Python scope of our site using Django. They maintained all databases, including assets and certificates, and continue to do so. The site was already built, and we expanded its capabilities with Netlandish.

We take in music by new artists and find an audience for them. We tell them where their audiences are and what age and gender would be the best fit. We help artists pinpoint where they should focus their attention.

How many resources have been assigned to your project?

There were 3 resources assigned to us. I mainly deal with Peter [Founder, Netlandish], and he delegates work to others. I’ve met him, and he’s a great guy.

How did you come to work with Netlandish?

I was working with a company from Austin that moved their operation to India. I did a Google search of the same description of that company, and Netlandish came up. I looked at several companies, but I wanted a provider that was closer to me in southern California.

How much have you invested with Netlandish?

We have spent between $100,000 and $150,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in the summer of 2012, and the work is ongoing. Whatever I dream up, they make it happen. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or impact of the engagement?

With our previous company, I had to travel to Austin twice a month because of bugs or issues. With Netlandish, I have absolutely no problems with them. I don’t have to meet with them. They do exactly what I want. I’m unusual because I write enough code to put them in the right place.

How did Netlandish perform from a project management standpoint?

They deliver on time and within budget. I’m lax with them in that if they have another client that’s pressuring them, I tell them to take care of the other client first. Every time I have a deadline, they’re on it. Their project management is excellent. We communicate through email, text, and phone calls. They are very responsive.

What did you find most impressive about Netlandish?

Their code is so clean. I never have a bug or a breakdown. Everything runs efficiently. I’m on Rackspace hosting, and Netlandish takes care of everything.

Are there any areas Netlandish could improve?

No, I’m happy. If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief data scientist for a custom analytic service. We analyze data as well as provide software for data analysis. It’s a boutique company with less than 20 employees. The company itself is located in Chicago, but I am in Los Angeles.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Netlandish?

This project was for a local public transit authority. When we got hired, they had just changed their fare processing system. That new system was very complicated. The backend data processing and the data reporting to high-level executives was very complicated. The BI was a little too traditional, and the executives did not like logging into Oracle and traditional BI tools. We were hired by the local public transit authority, and we worked with Netlandish to provide custom-developed reporting software.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started the project with data analysis for the local public transit authority because there were some data issues in the new system. Basically, they had to make sure they were counting the ridership as well as the fare correctly. I was the main project leader, and my main job was interacting with the local public transit authority, hearing their concerns, and translating those concerns into product-ready language for the developers. Netlandish took care of all the backend and frontend development. I think there were four developers assigned to our project. I was involved in selecting the developers.

The project was extremely agile. We did provide documentation and wireframes, but they really weren’t fully developed. We handed these to Netlandish and they developed on top of that. There was a lot of collaboration and discussion around what would work and best ways to accomplish the goals. They were very intimately involved in the collaboration. They did a great job and made a lot of wonderful suggestions.

The most unique feature we developed together with Netlandish is the dashboard. It looks almost like Pinterest, and it’s so easy to use. It required almost no training and no prior experience to understand what the data is about and how to use the dashboard. It’s a very intuitive user experience.

How did you come to work with Netlandish?

I interviewed a number of local developers, and Netlandish came with the highest recommendation. I contacted Caltech, who suggested someone who is an expert in Python, and that person highly recommended Netlandish.

How much have you invested with Netlandish?

We paid between $250,000 and $300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

It took our firm 6–7 months to gather all the data on the client’s needs. Netlandish was not very involved in that discovery phase. Once we had a rough idea of what we were going to develop, they started working. I believe their work began in September of 2014, and the project was completed in September of 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

I don’t have hard numbers, but I can say that the development itself was on budget and done slightly ahead of time. That was an amazing experience for me. I’ve never worked with developers who actually delivered on time. This was after we’d gone through so many revisions and iterations, so it was amazing.

The local public transit authority senior executives no longer have to ask analysts to report daily ridership, revenue, or differences month-to-month. They now get automated and detailed reports with all that information. The system runs very smoothly. We had tiny bugs here and there, but it was almost nothing. It was so well-executed that there’s no more work to do.

How did Netlandish perform from a project management standpoint?

They were excellent. There was no communication problem whatsoever. We had a conference call status meeting every week. Whenever we needed to discuss something, they were always available. We used Slack, Trello, and Google Hangouts.

What did you find most impressive about Netlandish?

I’ve found, in my experience before working with Netlandish, that developers tended to be a little stubborn. They have their own way of doing things or seeing things, and they say, ‘Well, that cannot be done,’ and in parentheses, ‘Because I’ve never done it.’ That had been my experience, that developers are very rigid in their coding or in trying new things. Netlandish was not like that at all.

I made suggestions about the features and functionalities, from purely a user perspective. When I was making those suggestions, I was fully aware that I had no idea how the coding works. With Netlandish, it was always, ‘That’s not easy, but what do you really want to accomplish?’ Once I explained what I wanted, they provided a solution to achieve that goal. There was a lot of thinking and collaboration as if they were a partner, which I appreciated.

Are there any areas Netlandish could improve?

I can’t think of anything. When we have development projects in the future, I have no doubt we’ll work with them again.

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your organization?

I work for a digital agency in Santa Monica. We build brand new appearances in websites and manage social media campaign for various clients.

What is your position?

I’m a director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when first approached Netlandish?

We were looking for a vendor with to help us with software development. We needed to ensure that the vendor had extensive knowledge of Python and the Django framework.

SOLUTION

How did you select Netlandish as your solution partner?

We conducted some basic research using Google. I found them and browsed their website, got a pretty good feel for their services and expertise, so I submitted a contact form. We connected with them a little while later to discuss our project, review our requirements and goals and our budget and timeline. They had a very compelling proposal for us, and their previous work was pretty impressive. We decided to give them a shot after that.

Could you describe the scope of work they’ve delivered to you during the course of the relationship?

Specifically, we hired them to integrate a third-party authentication system into our existing website. Most of the work was custom Python development on the backend. They prepared and validated the necessary data and configured the systems so they’d be interoperable. We handled most of the project management on our end, providing some guidance along the way. They also conducted all of the quality assurance and compatibility testing before the complete activation. They found very few issues with the code and once it was deployed, the systems functioned in unison just as we wanted.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

Sure. We spent between $15,000 and $30,000 on their development services.

This remains an ongoing relationship, correct?

Yes. The integration is done, but we still use them for ad hoc customizations, maintenance and support, code reviews, and performance reports.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback you’ve received that would demonstrate the effectiveness of their work?

They delivered our solution on time and within budget, which are two benchmarks we care about. When you’ve worked with a number of IT [information technology] vendors in the past, those two really become the baseline criteria for success. Granted, some projects are completed on time and within budget, and yet the solution might not work. That’s a different story and projects that bad rarely make it so far as to have an end solution anyway. In addition to their ability to adhere to the project terms, their work is also extremely polished. We’ve had minimal support requests come through the site after the integration, which is great. We’d originally expected a few minor bugs when we rolled out the new user authentication system, especially since it was an entire different process than what we had before. We expected minor and sporadic frustration from some of our end-users, but we barely received any. It was a very fluid and uneventful deployment.

When working with Netlandish, is there anything you’d consider unique about their strategic approach or development methodology that distinguish them from other vendors?

Yes. First of all, they’re really experts in their field. They have a pretty interesting value proposition in that they are focused exclusively on the Django platform. They know the system in and out, backward and forward. They’re not your generalist code monkeys. They have deep domain knowledge of everything Python and Django. In addition, they’re also very competent with APIs [application programming interfaces] and integrations with third-party platforms and services. This is great because it means they can leverage other technologies that compliment Django, and add even more potential value to the client.

In retrospect, are there areas in which you think Netlandish could actually improve as a service provider?

That’s difficult. I had a feeling you might ask that question, so I’ve been trying to think about something, but I really can’t say I have any negative feedback. As I’d mentioned, the project went very smoothly. The solution worked better than we’d anticipated, and it was delivered to us within the agreed terms. I can’t really think of how they could’ve improved, perhaps by delivering earlier? That seems nitpicky. No, I think they’ve done an excellent job.

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your organization?

I work with a subgroup of the National Association of Realtors, which is a consumer website for homeowners. It’s really content based. We’re a division focused more on the consumer side of things rather than the member side.  

What is your position?

I’m the product manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you began the relationship with Netlandish?

We’re a relatively small team. I’m the product manager. We have a marketing manager, content manager, and then our marketing director. We don’t have any technology resources in-house. We rely on third-party vendors and consultants to help support our daily technology operations.

SOLUTION

How did you select Netlandish is your solution partner for this endeavor?

I already had an established relationship with Peter Sanchez [Founder of Netlandish] through previous work at a different organization. At the time of this project, the vendor we’d been using for our technology and website support simply couldn’t scale with our growth. We needed to find a partner that’d be able to offer us a wider range of resources. We went through sort of a hybrid RFP [request for proposal] process, if you will, evaluating a number of different firms based on experience with sites similar to ours, their capacity, the scale to support our ongoing needs, which tends to fluctuate from month to month. We needed a vendor that could support not only the day-to-day management of operations, but also be able to scale up and down to accommodate our various initiatives. Since our inception five years ago, we’ve really struggled to find a vendor that could support work on that front in all of those different ways. For the original site launch, we had a vendor that excelled at new features development, but they didn’t have interest in the day-to-day management and support. Our next vendor excelled at the day-to-day management and support of our site, but they couldn’t support the scale to tackle our more complex projects. That’s why it was so important to find a vendor that could excel in both areas.

Could you describe the scope of work they’ve delivered during the course of your relationship?

They helped us launch our mobile site. They offered us both technical and strategic support. We collaborated on the visual design of the front end, but they handled the technical development on the backend. They cleaned, migrated, and organized all of our data, and then integrated and configured all of our third-party systems. They offer UI/UX [user interface/user experience] and QA/QC [quality assurance/quality control] testing, too. We retain them for ad hoc enhancements and ongoing support.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in monetary terms?

We have monthly maintenance charges. The cost of those fluctuates, but they can be between $5,000 and $10,000. We have ongoing support with them for both project management and technology lead support. It really depends on the month. Projects with larger scales could be between $50,000 and $100,000.  

How long have you remained partnered with Netlandish?

I’ve worked with them for three years.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback you’ve received that might demonstrate the effectiveness of their work?

Our site has won a number of awards. I would say that speaks directly to the work they’ve done and the extent that they’ve been involved in almost every aspect of our site. On the more anecdotal side, I can tell you there are a number of sites that the National Association of Realtors supports, and we consistently exceed the organization’s expectations in terms of efficiency and performance. Other divisions don’t fare quite as well, and I think a large contributing factor is how they’re approaching their technology resources. We’ve never had an issue with our technology resource because Netlandish has always been able to deliver our solutions, whether they’re technical or strategic.

When working with Netlandish, is there anything you’d consider unique about their approach or development methodology that distinguishes them from other vendors?

To give you some insight into my previous experience with IT [information technology] vendors, those vendors and the reasons why we ultimately departed from them is that I found myself having to be so involved in the day-to-day tasks, having to handhold them through the process, that they never really made my life any easier. In many instances, my life was made that much more complicated. From my standpoint, the whole reason why you outsource something or have a third-party vendor for support is because they can get to a point where they know your business so well that they can operate as an extension of you. In that sense, they’re supposed to be able to make things easier for you, but it never seemed to end up that way. Netlandish is the vendor that changes all of that. Whether it’s the smallest part of my day or a big, robust project, they’re always able to make my life easier. I never feel like I have to tell them something twice, or ask for something again.

In retrospect, are there areas in which you think Netlandish might be able to improve as a service provider?

For the services that they offer, they seem to excel across the board. My experience with them didn’t really leave me with an impression that they could’ve or should’ve done more. We were very impressed with the deployment. Netlandish met and exceeded all of the initial expectations we had going into the project.

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your organization?

We're a nonprofit association based on Portland, Ore. We do both advocacy work and create educational programs to increase the accessibility and safety of bicycling and active transportation, in general.

What is your position?

I'm the deputy director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you began the relationship with Netlandish?

We had an existing website called BikeCommuteChallenge.com that was primarily a trip logging platform. We had an existing website that needed a number of updates in terms of functionality and design. We wanted remain relevant. The Web developer we'd been working with previously had moved on to another project; he had kind of stopped freelancing, which was the capacity we had been working with him in. We were looking for a new technology partner that could make our much-needed site updates.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of work delivered by Netlandish?

The first scope we worked with them on was to apply updates to an existing site and functionality, so some changes to our registration, platform reconfiguration, changes to our actual trip logging, [and] interface for the website. That was the original scope. The second scope of work we had with them was doing an overall audit and update of our existing source code to bring it up to current standards. We also have a new scope of work with them. The primary piece of this scope is deploying a mobile responsive design.

How did you select Netlandish as your solution partner for this endeavor?

We distributed an RFP [request for proposal] and interviewed a couple of different firms. They had also come recommended to us by another nonprofit in Seattle called Cascade Bike Club. We were impressed with their previous experience and their demonstrated development and design work. Overall, we got a very good vibe from Netlandish.

Could you provide a sense of the size of these various initiatives in terms of their monetary cost?

The original scope of work was somewhere in the $10,000 to $15,000 range, but our current work is ongoing, so the monthly costs vary depending on how much they do for us. It could end up being a few thousand during the course of some of these upgrades.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback you've received that would demonstrate the effectiveness of what they've done so far?

I can tell you that the website that we use the program for has about 10,000 users. We've definitely had a large decrease in user help requests being submitted online, which allows us to focus our time on bigger priorities. We now spend less time dealing with the website or making changes based on the work they did. So, they've really helped us with our process efficiency. And from a business standpoint, our site simply functions better now. It's a much more enjoyable and intuitive user experience.

When working with Netlandish, is there anything you'd consider unique about their approach that you think distinguishes them from other vendors?

The two things that I'd say about them are their efficiency and their project management. Their approach to project management is outstanding. From my past experiences working with developers, I felt like they were able to ask very clear and direct questions right from the start, which allowed us to get started very early on. They completed everything in what seemed like an extremely reasonable period of time. Their communication has been fabulous throughout; I feel like I know exactly where they are at any given point in time. Their process is extremely transparent, which is a huge plus from the client perspective.

In retrospect, are there areas you think they could improve on as a service provider?

Based on the scope of work we agreed upon, there's nothing they could have really improved on for us. I would say that it'd have been nice if they were able to offer us more comprehensive front-end design. They don't advertise themselves as creative designers, so this isn't a critique in relation to our project. This is a more general statement. Because they offer such extensive technical development services, they don't have the same depth in design. That means that a client like us is forced to find a separate partner to delegate the visual design and interface work. It'd have been easier on our end if we could've had all of the services offered together, making it a more holistic exercise.