Quantum Mob - Out of Business

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior product manager of the rewards domain at LoyaltyOne, and I work specifically on the AIR MILES reward program.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Quantum Mob?

I joined the organization in March 2019, and at the time, LoyaltyOne was already working with Quantum Mob. We are a marketing-based company and we’re not digital development experts, so we brought the team on because we needed to stand up a new merchandise rewards experience digitally.

We needed a new website because our old one was stale and subpar. We needed a frontend digital experience delivered in a tight timeline. Since then, when we’ve had similar initiatives, they are the ones we’ve brought on. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have our own in-house UX design team, so they came up with a general look and feel and brand guidelines. Quantum Mob’s developers then built out our vision while providing consulting throughout the process.

Because of the success of the first website, we continued working with them for multiple projects thereafter. They worked primarily with Node.js and React.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two teams of three individuals. At the peak, we worked with six frontend developers.

How did you come to work with Quantum Mob?

Our organization put out an RFP and the team won the contract. We also deal with another company for our backend platform who recommended Quantum Mob. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The initial project lasted from August–December 2019. We also worked with them throughout the course of 2019. For the rewards program specifically, our agreement was completed in January 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Quantum Mob did a great job of delivering the product, and they were a great partner in terms of bringing our visions to life while working with an aggressive timeline. We were able to complete our corporate targets within the timeline we wanted, which was a success. 

Additionally, we’ve seen growth year-over-year (YoY) which means that the new websites are working, depending on the redemption channel. Collectors are happy, and we’ve received positive feedback.

How did Quantum Mob perform from a project management standpoint?

It was a great partnership because we had full-time resources. It felt like they were an extension of our team. Because it was a longterm project, it also felt like they were coworkers. Quantum Mob attended all of our internal rituals, and they spent time on site for multiple days a week. 

We had planning and project sessions and demos, and the team always attended those. They also kept us up to date from a development perspective. If something wasn’t going to meet the timeline, the team was very transparent and adjusted the schedule as needed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Quantum Mob was very flexible and willing to be an extension of our team. They embedded themselves into our ecosystem, which isn’t always the case with other companies. Additionally, their developers are highly skilled in a frontend capacity.

The team was able to grasp anything we wanted to bring to the market while providing a consultative approach when needed. Another impressive aspect was their speed. They helped us to deliver against our timeline and budget constraints 

Are there any areas they could improve?

It was a great experience as far as working with a third-party entity. If anything, an opportunity for enhancement would be continuously serving as a consultant.

As a contractor, you have to make sure that your client is happy, but if the client is doing something that isn’t correct, you have to steer them in the right direction and be honest from a technical standpoint. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be true to your objective. Quantum Mob is a team of highly skilled developers who are willing to roll their sleeves up and get work done. If you don’t have a roadmap of what you need to develop, the partnership may not work well. 

The developers may lose interest if they’re not being challenged or if they don’t have good quality products to work with. 

Before you engage them, make sure you have a well-defined roadmap, because they’re excellent at bringing that vision to life and taking action against it. Additionally, make sure you’re transparent throughout the entire journey.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an app developer at an Integrated Marketing Communications company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Quantum Mob?

We were rebuilding our client web portal from scratch and needed a long-term contractor partner who could help us oversee this project from development to ongoing maintenance.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Quantum Mob was provided data models, mock-ups, and blueprints of how I wanted to rebuild the system. They helped update the database schema, created a front-end with React, and a server with Node.js. We also had integrations with various third-party API’s. They helped us considerably by building in responsive design for mobile, which we hadn’t initially talked about. They also handled all of the DevOps setup for AWS.

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with their developers on this project and ownership.

How did you come to work with Quantum Mob?

I saw a review for them on Clutch and reached out to the owner. Quantum Mob got back to me quickly, and we met to discuss the project. I also contacted one of the reviewers to get additional feedback because I had some reservations from a bad experience I had with a previous development agency on this project. I wanted to hear first hand from an existing customer—what it’s like working with Quantum Mob.

How much have you invested with them?

The total at this point is well over $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project in January 2018, launched the portal in July 2018, and continue to add new features and enhancements on a regular basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve pulled through when we needed them and turned around good work. Our site performs well and they ensured that it would function at the scale we needed.

How did Quantum Mob perform from a project management standpoint?

We primarily use Slack to communicate, I had to oversee a lot of the process. They’re growing quickly and are in high demand, so be ready to work closely with them to keep things moving. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their owner, who’s is also a developer, is really engaged and passionate about the work. He’s talented and answers questions thoroughly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I would have liked detailed time logs since it adds a level of transparency. We worked a bit to get the reports to a place where I liked them to be.​

​​​​​​Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be upfront about your expectations and ask detailed questions. Also, be aware that you’ll have to keep your developers on full-time if you want to maintain consistency in who’s overseeing your project. This was tough for me to accept, but as this project grows, I’m am seeing the value in have a consistent developer at my disposal, in addition to having the rest of the team to jump in when needed. So, you pay for a body, but you really have the entire company at arm's reach when things come up.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the digital project manager at NewAge Products, which is an e-commerce business specializing in high-end cabinetry. I am responsible for the implementation of new features on our websites as well as integrations with other software. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Quantum Mob?

We needed assistance with web development and cross-platform integration, as we currently do not have any in-house developers. We were looking for a team with experience in providing web solutions and offering knowledge in UX design.

What were your goals for this project?

Our website needed to be rebuilt from the ground-up, including custom field-editing for all elements throughout the website. We also wanted to clean up the code and integrate Shopify APIs with applied HTML/CSS/PHP.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Originally, we conducted an RFP process with nine digital agencies that we selected via referral. We liked Quantum Mob's ability to understand the project’s scope and willingness to provide solutions to any gaps that were discovered during the refining of requirements. Our negotiating process involved NewAge business owners and the leads at Quantum Mob.

Describe the project in detail.

Quantum Mob primarily worked on the website’s frontend and backend, providing development and testing while sharing their expertise in UX design.

Initially, we went through a discovery phase to clarify the scope of work. We had prepared designs and mockups in collaboration with Quantum Mob. They offered ideas to support different website features and improve performance.

Quantum Mob wasn’t responsible for providing UI-related direction, but they offered ideas anyway. This helped us understand the role of our in-house creative team in relation to the new features. Their feedback gave us insight into how to keep our website current and fast.

What was the team composition?

From our company, the team included me, our creative team, the business owner, and our marketing team. Quantum Mob provided a tech lead, a project manager, developers, and a UX consultant.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What outcomes or results can you share that demonstrate progress and/or success?

The impact of Quantum Mob’s work lies in measuring conversion rates. The efficient page loads, new designs, and improved user flow increased conversions from 3% to 4%. This increase was sustained on a weekly basis and is continuing to grow. The new designs have reduced bounce rates throughout the site and provided easier calls to action.

We have also been able to conserve resources due to the streamlined communication between content teams and vendors when updating content. Now, we have custom fields that manage all content. SEO improved throughout the site due to restructured pages and improved image tagging.

We never thought we’d get such great results so quickly. Quantum Mob definitely exceeded our expectations.

How effective was the project management?

We collaborated constantly through daily standups and weekly status reports. Quantum Mob utilized Jira to provide full visibility as the project progressed. This helped ensure that our business aligned with the project’s scope and priorities.

Quantum Mob was available on multiple channels, including Slack, Skype, email, phone, and Jira. We raised any concerns throughout the project, and Quantum Mob discussed contingency plans for any potential risks that could impact the site’s implementation.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They adapt completely to any process, environment, or technology. Their unfamiliarity with the Shopify platform did not impair their ability to suggest effective integrations with data from our site.

Quantum Mob’s cross-functional team prioritizes consistent communication with clients. Whenever I had a concern, they were always available to walk me through the issue and provide a solution. Of course, our company provided strict processes to ensure we stuck to our plan.

Quantum Mob stood out to me because of their emphasis on end-user interactions, which should be the driving factor for all software implementations. They fully understand the reach of each new product or feature and are able to communicate this perspective accurately to clients. Whenever I had doubts about any insights provided by Quantum Mob, they always provided relevant data to support their position. In the end, everything worked out well.

What tips or recommendations do you have?

They could improve their resource flexibility. They have a strong in-house team and are growing rapidly, so they are constantly looking for more people. However, if I wanted to increase the velocity of a sprint, I’d appreciate having enough available resources to expedite development. Quantum Mob is seeking to address this issue. If we’d had more resources, we may have been able to complete the project more quickly. However, based on our deadlines, their timelines still met our constraints.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

BrokerBay provides operational software for real estate brokers. The company’s two major components include a marketplace that resembles an MLS [multiple listing service], and the operational efficiencies of an actual brokerage. We’ve been in business for about 18 months. I’m the co-founder and CTO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Quantum Mob?

We have been growing within a very specific market niche, but lacked the appropriate development resources. Hiring a full-time development team was extremely difficult, so we wanted to work with an outside agency.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We give them a variety of tasks, from small features and bug fixes within the product, to large stand-alone modules. We outline the necessary business requirements, wireframe them, and set our monthly budget caps. Then we take them the pieces and they determine what is feasible within our financial and timeline constraints.

We work a lot within an angular Mongo 1.4 Node.JS, specifically Sails.JS, for the majority of our systems and the frontend build. One of the bigger modules they work on operates like Google Hangouts or Facebook Messenger, but we’re able to integrate it directly into our platform and spin it as a stand-alone feature. They took the majority of the technical initiative after we provided our projected business direction for it.

What is the team dynamic?

We have a good rapport, so I speak with the developers directly. We work with one to three team members, depending on the engagement at hand, without any dedicated project manager.

How did you come to work with Quantum Mob?

I worked with Eric [Co-Founder & Head of Operations, Quantum Mob] and Erich [Co-Founder & Head of Technology, Quantum Mob] at my previous company. I knew we could trust them and the quality of their work, so we decided to give them a shot.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began to work together in August 2017. December is a slow month, so we will take a short break and reconvene early in 2018 to figure out our next steps.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have a fluid way of quantifying the features’ impact on our revenue, but we wouldn’t be as far as we are without their help. They were instrumental in our instant messaging feature. Brokers don’t usually implement functionality outside of slow times in the season, so releasing that feature made sure we’d have at least a month of revenue.

The quality of their work is great. They’re as concerned with our quality as we are, and they help us figure out best practices for a startup like ours. Some of their suggestions for frontend tools help us identify and eliminate bugs, and they help a lot with the actual client environment and setup.

How did Quantum Mob perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate frequently, and they check in every couple of days to clarify requirements. In our kickoff sections, we really broke the process down into understandable pieces, and they gave us great feedback for improvements. We mainly communicate via Slack or phone, and use email for things like invoices. Their office is near ours, so it’s easy to go meet with them in person.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a small shop, but they really hustle effectively to deliver the product. They don’t take our company’s financial size into account, and really try to find the best solutions to help both our businesses. They do a great job and really put us forward.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Because they do their best to appease and prioritize all of their clients, they sometimes run out of time.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Potential customers have two options. They can either bring a specific set of requirements to the project, or Quantum Mob can help brainstorm. Sometimes laying out a timeline is difficult, but if you can set a schedule, success and measurable milestones are almost guaranteed.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the managing partner at Temagami Systems, a company that provides software for utilities to enable their delivery of conservation programs in Ontario.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Quantum Mob?

Our core development team was experiencing some challenges, so we were looking for a company with expertise in software development to work with our team on the user interface components of our system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We wanted our front-end software to integrate with our back-end software, with which we already support 35+ utilities. They have very good UI developers and data experts, who supported our efforts at various stages of the project – from the prototyping stage all the way to the launch. Our end product is a web app: it's primarily a web-based solution, but it has responsive components such as compatibility with a mobile device. There is also some offline compatibility.

We had to deal with a vast level of complexity – not only in the data, but in how the data is presented to customers in a simple way. We wanted our customers of any skill set to understand the data, and Quantum Mob helped us find a way to make this happen. They work in a rapid and agile way and got to the core of what we were trying to achieve right at the beginning.

What is the team dynamic? 

We worked with 5–6 people.

How did you come to work with them?

One of our developers recommended them. After we interviewed Quantum Mob, we saw that they had more experience than our core team, so we basically had Quantum Mob replace some of our core team and become a supportive entity within the development system. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent close to $160,000–$170,000.

What is the status of this engagement? 

We started working with them in May 2017 and it's an ongoing collaboration.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We just launched the system for one of our utilities, so we're still waiting for feedback. In this case, we're competing against the government system, in which completing an application takes 20–25 minutes. In our system, an application takes on average 6 minutes. Our metrics will be measured by how many new customers we are able to acquire.

We're dealing with a very complex project, and they've been very responsive in terms of fixing the issues that have emerged. They work autonomously about 90% of the time, and we finish the final 10% together.

How did they perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Slack as our main communication tool with all of our team. We also use GET system, which is our agile where we have our backlog and can see what everyone is working on.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're a small group of very talented people who actually care about delivering. They're looking for our best interest in a significant way. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Before you engage with them, have a relatively good idea of what you want to do to be respectful of their time. They're high-quality individuals and very fair in their billing. Their time is too valuable to be wasted.