Rackner

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a program manager for a leading captioning service for the hearing impaired.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Rackner?

We use Rackner for multiple projects, the largest of which is for registering a mobile device for use in captioning calls for hearing-impaired customers.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to expand registration from a single phone endpoint to up to five different endpoints using the same phone number.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I found them online and decided to interview them due to their very high ratings and reasonable prices. After interviewing them, I was very impressed and selected them for a single project, an engagement which has grown to include multiple projects on multiple tech stacks.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

I asked them to do some initial work on a website using LEAN and Angular. That expanded to include LAMP development, and ultimately .NET development. All the applications are custom in-house software developed over many years, making their versatility extremely helpful.

Their largest project was user registration for a mobile device for use in captioning calls for hearing-impaired customers.

What was the team composition?

I’ve worked with one- or two-person teams as required. They augmented our staffing needs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Their results have been accurate, timely, and under budget. The largest project allowed us to launch our new mobile application in a timely manner, as their work was on the critical path.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management was under my control, using various teams from different parts of the organization. It worked extremely well. They could handle any development work I didn’t have the staff resources to complete. No matter the task, they’ve deftly handled it on time and within budget.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their flexibility, accuracy, willingness to go the extra mile, and reasonable pricing has made them my go-to resource for augmenting software development.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None that I am aware of.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

GreenLight helps employers of all sizes pay and manage their contract workforces. We handle onboarding, compliance, timekeeping, and payment for contract workers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Rackner?

We initially needed AWS infrastructure consulting, and then expanded the engagement to include backend development using Serverless and Node.

What were your goals for this project?

To architect, develop, and deploy a first-generation software system.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I searched for AWS consultancy companies. We had a trial period, then expanded the scope from there.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

First, they set up the AWS infrastructure including work on the development and production environments, security, and continuous integration/continuous delivery. They also worked on the architecture and development of the backend for a new human resource management system.

What was the team composition?

Initially, they provided one consultant part-time, which we later increased to full time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We successfully launched our product and took on board our first customers, which meant that we achieved our objective.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We had daily standup calls between them and our team members.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They produced a creative solution, are hard-working, and have a super can-do attitude.

Are there any areas for improvement?

So far, we’re happy with the outcome.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We develop recruiting software that allows enterprise companies to attract, engage, and hire the best talent.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rackner?

We needed to expedite some of the key features for one of our legacy products, but we didn’t want to derail the projects that we were already developing. To avoid giving more work to our in-house developers, we decided to outsource the tasks to a team that had experience in AngularJS and Node.js.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Rackner assists our in-house team with product development. A bulk of their work involves building new features for existing software, but they occasionally resolve bugs and glitches. In consistence with our legacy code, they are required to use AngularJS and Node.js in all of their work.

What is the team composition?

We always have at least one developer assisting us. 

How did you come to work with Rackner?

After a series of brief web interviews with several development agencies, we selected Rackner based on their skills and experience.

How much have you invested with them?

To date, we have spent less than $50,000 for their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership began in August 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have outsourced work to several developers in the past, but none of those engagements can compare to the lasting impact that Rackner has had on our products. Their team is delivering quality code at a rapid pace.

How did Rackner perform from a project management standpoint?

We have an arsenal of tools for quick communication, which includes Slack, Jira, and Bitbucket. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

While other vendors that we’ve hired in the past required constant micromanagement, Rackner can work independently without sacrificing the quality of our products.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We have yet to notice any red flags.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Remote partnerships aren’t impossible to manage but being located in the same time zone as Rackner has been favorable for our productivity.