Rolique

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a CEO and co-founder at Tweedo. We’ve launched a contact management platform that helps to keep all your contacts organized, up to date and safe.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Rolique?

Rolique have covered the entire software development life cycle - from setting up the infrastructure to maintaining the product and providing post-launch support. They also contributed advice and expertise to the design process, through “tech feasibility” sessions.

What were your goals for this project?

We knew from the start that tech architecture for this product would be quite complex so we were looking for someone with strong technical expertise. Rolique have proven themselves to be just the right team. They are professional, competent and can solve challenges along the way.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We were referred to Rolique by our product design team. We did our due diligence and decided to work with them.

Describe the project in detail.

We were assigned a team of Symfony, React and Swift developers. They started with tech feasibility sessions involving product design team and the Product Owner.

In few weeks, the scope for the MVP was defined and we moved into active development stage. In couple of weeks, Rolique DevOps and Dev teams have been able to set up AWS-based infrastructure and proper monitoring.

Product's architecture is based on micro-services and relies on handful of 3rd party integrations. Rolique stayed in direct contact with Google, Linkedin and Twitter support to make sure we get access to all APIs we needed and did a great job handling all tech-related questions.

What was the team composition?

We worked with a Scrum team that consisted of 3 developers, 1 DevOps engineer, 1 QA engineer and a Scrum master.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The app is currently live and running smoothly. We were happy with the end result and continue to work with Rolique to maintain the product.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Rolique were easy to communicate with and always kept us informed. They worked using Scrum during active development so we had a great level of flexibility and agility in our delivery.

They seamlessly integrated with our product design team, making sure design-to-development was smooth and transparent for Product Owner and Business owners.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We appreciated how enthusiastic and thoughtful they were in approaching the technical challenges we were facing. They were willing to dive deep. They have not only developed for us but also grown to become our technical advisors.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I can't point to anything they could do better at this moment.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CEO of a cybersecurity company based in Israel. Our product helps companies predict and protect against software vulnerabilities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Rolique?

We hired Rolique to rebuild our platform and migrate it from Angular 1 to a newer version.

What were your goals for this project?

We had redesigned our platform to provide a better UI/UX for our users. Since we lacked in-house resources, we needed a partner who could take care of frontend development.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

My friend worked with their developers and recommended them to me. We contacted Rolique at the end of last year and decided to move forward with them. They had a solid portfolio, and we were happy with their final proposal.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Rolique has helped us migrate to Angular 7 and implement new features, including a new dashboard and other pages. They helped us rewrite part of the UI from scratch.

What was the team composition?

Initially, we worked with one frontend developer from Rolique, who has been fully managed by our CTO. We then hired another frontend developer and a project manager to manage the scope of work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project is yet to be released, but we’ve made a lot of progress. The frontend developer’s performance has been solid.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Overall, we’re satisfied with their communication. We use Slack for all project-related communication. We also have daily stand-ups and sprint planning via Google Hangouts.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We’ve been quite impressed with their developers’ performance and code quality.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I don’t think so. Our experience has been positive.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a co-founder and CTO of Zest, a knowledge-building platform for professional marketers. We’ve been in business for two years, and we have products for the web and for mobile platforms.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rolique?

I was trying to quickly scale my development team through different technologies, and I needed additional technology and resources to solve the problems I was facing. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Rolique performed front-and-backend development. Initially, I worked with one of their Node.js developers for two-week sprints lasting six months. Then, I asked the developer to work with React on the frontend. 

At that point, we started working on a mobile app together. Due to a delay close to the app’s launch, I asked Vlad (Managing Director, Rolique) to join us as he is an Android and React Native developer. He brought on two other React developers, one with an Android focus and one with a web focus. Since then, we’ve decided to work more closely. The partnership has had three phases so far.

Technologies used include Node.js, React, React Native, and PHP.

What is the team composition?

The team from Rolique consists of Vlad, one Node.js developer, an Android developer, an iOS developer, a React.js and PHP developer, and a project manager. Not all of the team members work fulltime. 

How did you come to work with Rolique?

I met a German scouter where we’re located in Israel. He asked if I was looking for a trustworthy company in Eastern Europe. Based on poor experiences in the past, I told him no. However, he insisted that Rolique was a reliable team. 

I started to consider whether our development could be done remotely and how remote employees would affect my company culture. I was afraid a remote service provider wouldn’t have a flexible schedule.

In the end, I decided to meet with one of their engineers, who introduced me to Vlad (Managing Director, Rolique). We talked about a small test project, and they suggested making an app. They delivered it quickly, and so I decided to hire one of their Node.js developers for two-week sprints. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve paid them $25,000 or more so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Rolique around July 2018, and the collaboration is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Prior to our work with Rolique, scraping content from the internet was a lengthy, expensive process performed by human employees. After Rolique’s scraper improvements, we’re spending 30 seconds scraping an article as opposed to 5 minutes per article. We still need human resources, but we’ve significantly reduced the time necessary for processing content.

How did Rolique perform from a project management standpoint?

If I let them do the scheduling, they would take longer to complete the work without asking us for deadlines. To make the process more efficient, we integrated them into our project management tool, Asana, and we’re sure to set very clear deadlines. I speak with them on a daily basis.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a strong dedication to their work. The team is committed to delivering what they promised. We have a long-term relationship because Rolique has proven itself to be a company that can help us in tough situations. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Our communication could be improved. Their English isn’t that good, which makes it hard to collaborate at times. I’m still testing them, so I can’t say for sure.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Future clients should start small and then get a bigger team.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of a Berlin-based SaaS company. We offer a solution that automates the meal planning process for catering and healthcare companies, as well as provides individualized diet and meal plans for patients, residents, seniors, and others.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rolique?

We needed a relatable partner to assist with development initiatives.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Rolique supported us in building a user-friendly web application and interface using a variety of technology, including Python, JavaScript, and Angular 2 Beta. At that time, most industry players were working with AngularJS, so our project was a bit experimental.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a full-time Angular developer, a part-time supportive developer, and a QA resource.

How did you come to work with Rolique?

We considered several vendors but ultimately chose to partner with Rolique. Being able to meet some of their team in person definitely influenced our decision. Vlad (Managing Director, Rolique) happened to be visiting Berlin with some of his teammates, and we spoke with them. The first thing I looked at was their internal team structure, taking note of how they allocate working hours, if they assign resources to more than one project, and if they have good inter-team communication. From my perspective, they checked every box. They seemed to be a healthy, modern, and growing company, which is what we were looking for in a partner.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent €81,600 Euro (approximately $92,678 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

This specific project lasted from January–March 2017, but we’ve continued working with them on other initiatives.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We set a pretty ambitious deadline for the project—we wanted to go to market within three months. With the Rolique team’s help, we finished and released the final product on time. After just one year, we attracted a little more than 4,000 business clients. We’ve received a lot of positive feedback, praising the software for its usability and current designs.

Some of our clients have been conducting internal business analysis to compare their efficiency before and after implementing our product. Based on their reports, our software cuts their work time between 40%–90%. Rolique did a lot of work in the product’s interface, which is the primary way our clients interact with the software, so their work was paramount to our success.

How did Rolique perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication is top-notch, and every teammate has a good command of the English language. We spoke primarily over Slack and used Jira to track the project. Even though we’re in different regions, we had a great working relationship. I related to everyone from Rolique on a personal level.

What did you find most impressive about them?

At one point in our collaboration, we had to onboard a new developer. It proved to be a bit difficult, and we were struggling to make progress for about two weeks. Once Vlad noticed, he took charge of the situation and assigned a senior developer to the project to support the new developer until everyone was up to speed. It was a very positive moment and cemented our loyalty to Rolique.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, we are completely satisfied. There are a lot of good development agencies out there, but Rolique routinely meets our expectations.

Any advice for potential customers?

Clients should work directly with the developers rather than rely on a project manager to be the intermediary. They have a great team.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of Billy App, an accounting platform for small businesses and freelancers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ROLIQUE?

We initially engaged ROLIQUE to migrate the code from our Danish parent company to our own servers. It was an enormous task that involved dealing with over 50 microservices and thousands of MySQL columns and rows.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Coordinating with our Danish developers, ROLIQUE migrated our code into our servers, writing export/import scripts and scrubbing the code in the process. They also fixed any bugs found in the original code. We've since engaged their team to continue fixing bugs and work on product enhancements for our Node.js web platform.

What is the team composition?

I work directly with five people on their team, including a project manager.

How did you come to work with ROLIQUE?

We worked with a firm that helped us find a few of the top development vendors in Eastern Europe. After interviewing each company, we felt the most comfortable working with ROLIQUE.

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested around $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them since December 2017, and the collaboration is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Thanks to ROLIQUE's efforts, we've been able to rollout highly-requested, important features every two weeks. Their work has helped our business a lot.

How did ROLIQUE perform from a project management standpoint?

We use a Kanban agile model, which allows their team to thoroughly manage estimates, use story points, and train us as needed. We also use Jira and communicate through Ryver.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We're currently working with a very senior, impressive developer. The fact that we can actually afford a developer at his level has helped our business a lot. Their team has also been able to find bugs that even our original developers weren't able to spot, which has added a lot of value.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It took a while for us to get the resource we're working with now, but that's not their fault; he was working on other client projects and only recently became available to work on our account.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the product manager for a marketing company that specializes in influencer campaigns.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ROLIQUE?

After our previous provider dropped out of the contract, we approached ROLIQUE to continue development of a web tool for us to use internally.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

As the product manager, I provided ROLIQUE with the tool’s design and outlined the functionalities we required it to have from a business perspective. They finished building out the backend using MongoDB and implemented the frontend design. The tool is a web app that functions as a database to aid our campaign management efforts. All 20 of our project managers use the tool for tasks related to budgeting, planning, and tracking key performance indicators (KPI).

When we handed the project over to the ROLIQUE, the software could only perform the main functionalities required to plan campaigns. This meant we could basically only enter information into the database and filter it. Their team greatly extended the tool’s functionality by making it capable of exporting data, extensive support of the project management, KPI analysis and reporting creating. They’ve also fixed bugs and enhanced the processing speed. These improvements enable us to evaluate more KPIs that inform our decisions. More features are being developed as we continue to expand the software.

What is the team composition?

They assigned us a project manager, three frontend developers, three backend developers, and two QA resources.

How did you come to work with ROLIQUE?

Our previous vendor found ROLIQUE through another company that recommends technical support agencies. Once they dropped out of the engagement, they recommended ROLIQUE as a replacement. We decided to accept the suggestion.

How much have you invested with them?

I don’t have the current numbers, but we’re planning on allocating a sum in the low sig figures to this project by the end of the year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We hired them in November 2016 and the project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s hard to measure the entirety of ROLIQUE’S success, but we’re really happy with their work. We consistently request more complex features, so they add more developments and handle the scaling process well. We have an external consultant check their code quality and assess the app’s stability. According to that resource, they perform excellently compared to other agencies within their region.

How did ROLIQUE perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project manager does an adequate job of addressing issues as they arise. However, she manages multiple projects, so her responses sometimes take longer than we’d prefer. We primarily communicate via Slack but also use Skype when necessary. Both of our teams use Jira to perform management tasks.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We communicate daily, so it never feels like they’re an outsourced team. We’re happy with the engagement as it has turned out better than we expected.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We experienced some issues when they added new developers to the team that aren’t entirely fluent in English. Having to deal with a language barrier slowed down the process. However, we’ve learned to work around that over time. Also, their ability to accurately estimate product delivery timelines could be improved.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a food takeaway platform. Users can build and create their own food and then choose a restaurant, instead of choosing from menus.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rolique.io?

We needed someone to develop our app systems for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They build three apps for us: one Android, one iOS, and a partner Android app for all the restaurants. They built a backend admin panel for us where we can handle orders, pay restaurants, and create new restaurants.

We made wireframes and detailed descriptions and then showed them to Rolique.io, who came back with input. They gave us feedback that improved the app’s screens, so we changed them before we started building.

What is the team composition?

We worked with five to six people in total, four developers and a project manager. There was also a fifth developer at one point.

How did you come to work with Rolique.io?

A guy from our network recommended them. I met the owner, Oleg, through Skype. He seemed to be really professional.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $47,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from December 2017 until April 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

From a business point of view, we have a proof of concept, which has helped us develop partnerships. We’re collaborating with 50 restaurants right now and we have orders every day. The app is simply working. It’s smooth for users and easy for restaurants. We can cancel orders and pay restaurants; everything was made out perfectly. It’s quite easy for us to handle, even though we’re a small organization, because of the way it was built.

How did Rolique.io perform from a project management standpoint?

In the beginning the CTO of the company communicated with them every day with the scrum methodology. We also had small Skype chats and sprint meetings once a week. The CTO took over communication after the wireframes were made. We visited them in Ukraine twice to make the process easier and that was really great. We didn't have the detailed description done when we started, so, from the outside the project looked easier than it actually was. We went a bit over time but there wasn’t much to do about it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It's difficult for me to say, because I haven't done apps before, but we didn't have any problems with communication at all. I was surprised that their level of English was as high as it was, which made everything quite easy.

They gave us honest feedback and I was really satisfied with their developers. Even though we went about a month over, the developers were always working hard, even on the weekends, just because they liked to code. I thought that was quite cool.

Any advice for potential customers?

It depends on the complexity of the product. If a person wants to build an app that’s as complex like ours is, then you definitely need a CTO. If someone was asking about outsourcing, they need to make sure they’re being exact about everything and take care to explain what they want.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a cloud-based proposal software company. We provide our clients with the ability to manage their clients, create beautifully designed proposals, send them out, and get signed off on them right away in their browser.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ROLIQUE?

We wanted to have a mobile app that would penetrate the market. A lot of people were requesting it, and it's also a brand awareness initiative. As a leading proposal app in 2017, not having a mobile app was a challenge for us. We wanted to get something out there.

A user problem we were trying to solve was the difficulty of accessing the web-based app on the go in order to see the status of proposals. With a mobile app, people would be able to check on the status of their proposals instantly.

Prior to ROLIQUE, we commissioned a company based in Halifax. They did the function spec for it. We worked with them to identify what benefits we offer our clients, what we thought our pain points were, and what they also saw as pain points that they would like to solve. They did customer surveys and drafted up the initial wireframes of what the app would look like, but we didn't commission them to build it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We sent through the wireframe and function spec developed by the other agency. They sent a quote and gave us a timeline, and we really liked those, so we decided to move forward with the project. They began production in early August/late July with a goal of having a finished product September 1.

During the development process, we went through a branding redesign, completely independent of this. It didn't affect the design overall, but we had to get the colors and fonts updated in the app. They were happy to make those changes.

What is the team dynamic?

I worked predominantly with two people: Christina and Andre. Christina was the project lead and Andre was the developer. Andre and our API developer, Alex, communicated back and forth. We never felt bogged down in the process at any point. Christina was always responsive to my emails. I never felt like I was left in the dark.

This project took about 3.5 months. There were periods where we wouldn't communicate for a couple of weeks, and then they would be communicating a few times a day. The time zones are also radically different, but I never really felt the pressure of that. They must've been working really late. The size of the team didn’t change; we worked with the same people.

How did you come to work with ROLIQUE?

They’re also a customer of ours, and they said they would be happy to build a mobile app for us. We selected ROLIQUE because of the price point. They came in at a quote that made it hard not to accept the deal. It was pretty much smooth sailing. We had been discussing the mobile app. It wasn't a priority for us by any means.

Even with MindSea, they had said they would do the work really cheaply because they wanted to have it on their portfolio. We would be getting a great value for our dollar, so we went with that. It was same when ROLIQUE offered to do it. We weren't looking out in the market for it at all, and they just came in at a price and a timeline that made sense. Even if it didn't go well, it still wouldn't be that bad of a deal.

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested $13,000 in ROLIQUE's services. It was first estimated at $8,500, but increased after we got the second bill.

What is the status of this engagement?

We're still working with them. We're still contracting some of the work to them, because the relationship is still strong. The project timeline was July 2016 to November 2016. It was done around November or early December, and then we actually launched it in the New Year, because we had a couple of considerations to deal with on our end.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I can say that a large percentage of our clients are downloading the app and using it. About 25% of our user base is made up of weekly active users. And there have been no crashes; the product has been solid. There haven't been any issues with the actual build. It has been positive.

How did ROLIQUE perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management-wise, I feel they did a great job. They were communicative, they let us know what was going on, and there were no surprises. When we ran into issues, they clearly articulated them, and they were never combative or defensive. They were a good company to work with.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I'm definitely happy with the result that ROLIQUE provided. However, the function spec issue kept us from having a proper deadline and the proper scope. Anything that was scope-related, they've covered. We were also developing our public API at the same time to meet their ends, because we didn't have a public API at the beginning of this; we developed it in tandem.

There were a couple of times where we had to change some fundamental building blocks of the API due to various reasons. They had to restructure some of their backend to accommodate this. That's where the extra bill came from, which was totally understandable. They handled it extremely well. I felt like I was listened to. It was very affordable and we got a solid product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I only have that one fault with them, which is not getting a really good function spec on the outset that in turn affected the timeline management. When you're building a large project, you want to make sure that everything is accounted for, so that you don't have a surprise that costs you a month and a half.

The function spec that we delivered to them didn’t have the use cases completely written out, and the user stories weren't all clearly defined. They created their quote based on that. We ran into some issues where it was like, "That's not included;" and we said, "Well, actually, that is included. We were under the assumption that it was." They were really kind, and we did receive another bill because they added features to it.

But overall, at the end of the process during the exit call, I talked to them about really nailing down the function spec before they do anything and making sure that they clearly document everything rather than holding assumptions. It's not our responsibility as a client to do that, but it's their responsibility as a service provider—I used to work in that space.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I do know that we've talked about a couple of larger additions to the app, and they were adamant about making sure that all the use cases were done first. They were communicating in a way that showed they were not going to fall in the same trap they fell in the first time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The company is a sports analytics site with a focus on video based web content. It is subscription based, so we have a mix of video content with free and paid content behind a pay wall. We also have a brand of the company that is one-on-one consulting, and we built that out on the site as well for subscribers as well as people that come to us for one-on-one consulting. I am the cofounder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rolique?

Because of the video hosting and the bandwidth that we’re going to be needing on our site and the reliability of it, we were looking for an affordable way to put out a nice developed web product. We didn’t want just some kind of third party self-building website which obviously is going to take a lot longer. Having that web development team helped us expedite the process of getting our vision out to the customer. That’s why we went the web development route and Rolique has been affordable and worked with my business partners in the past, so we have a short history with them and liked what they’d done before.

SOLUTION

Introduce your business and what you do there.

That was left up to them, they are using a variation of Javascript, but that’s pretty much the breadth of my knowledge. I was more the visionary behind the project, and then my business partner had an existing relationship with them before so I was giving them the vision to make it into a reality. It was a start to finish project.

How did you come to work with Rolique?

My business partner had a relationship with them. I’ve always been a content provider but haven’t been on the backend of it yet, so I wanted a couple of different options just because my knowledge of web building and coding is pretty much non-existent. I wanted to talk to a few people that could lay out the process for me and put it in layman’s terms. There’s a pretty long vetting process from the beginning - them getting me up to speed with the process of building the site from scratch and how that would work. We went through a couple of options, and they were probably the clearest regarding how the process worked through the pipeline and working me through the early process of how the wireframes will eventually turn into the site. We started from scratch, and they did a really good job of laying out that roadmap for me.

How much have you invested with Rolique?

For the year, we’re shutting down development, so we’re looking at probably in the $75,000 range this year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We went through two phases with Rolique, but for this year we’re pretty much shutting down the current phase. We hired them on March 1st of this year. We’re still using them for some small things, but we shut down development for this year. I’d call it November 1st.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I can give you our weekly views. We’re looking somewhere between 2,500 and 5,000 a week on our videos overall. The most common feedback we get is on the sleekness of the website, the design, and the functionality of it. It’s easy to navigate - very approachable aesthetically. That’s probably the first comment I get. People really enjoy it. I’m really happy with the layout. It’s very modern. It’s an easy to use product.

How did Rolique perform from a project management standpoint?

It was fantastic. Rolique pretty much brought me along from the get-go, got me up to speed very quickly. Communication was fantastic; they did a really good job of taking whatever my vision was and mapping it out for me so that when it did finally get to the website they did a good job of making sure that it was actually what I was looking for. Rolique does not cut any corners or makes any assumptions - just going through the process and making sure there’s some clarity there.

What did you find most impressive about Rolique?

What shocked me is how they brought me along. I’ve always been a content provider - don’t have much of a web background. I have worked with some other web design stuff in the past, and a lot of it has been me telling them what I want, but no one has educated me in the process. They did a great job on doing that for me. As the person running the business, it’s time-consuming to go through all that stuff on your own, and they went the extra mile there. I appreciated that.

Are there any areas Rolique could improve?

No, they were fantastic from the get-go all the way to now, delivering exactly what they promised to us, giving us the design we were looking for, and giving us a ton of options. I have no complaints about them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

4for4 Fantasy Football is a subscription-based fantasy football information service. We provide our subscribers with stat projections, tools, and content to help them enjoy more winning in their fantasy football games. I am the owner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rolique?

I’m a developer myself and, for a long time, was doing all of the development. As we grew, I became the bottleneck. Rolique filled the gap by providing development, testing, and design resources to help grow our business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve done many different projects. I originally brought them on to upgrade our site from Drupal 6 to Drupal 7, which is what it’s running on currently. That was our first big project, and that took almost a year to do everything because we have a really complicated site.

Since then, they’ve been rolling out improvements, new features, and we did a redesign. They’ve done all sorts of things for us. We’ve also used them for building out an app and some other web projects that we’ve had along the way.

How did you come to work with Rolique?

I was looking for someone at quite a few different places. I used oDesk to try to find some international people. I decided, after interviewing some local candidates that hiring an American or Canadian wasn’t in the budget. So we started looking for international clients.

We had a thorough vetting process because I knew this was going to be a long-standing relationship and I really needed to be sure I was confident in the team. I interviewed maybe 10 individuals and small organizations like Rolique.

The thing that set them apart was Vlad (Owner, Rolique). He was my project manager to start. He had lived in the US. He’s a fluent English speaker and he inspired a lot of confidence in me. That was the big difference with them.

Their price point was reasonable but they weren’t the cheapest of the people I looked at. Some of the people I looked at seemed like maybe they could do the job, but communication might be an issue or something like that.

How much have you invested with Rolique?

Over the years, we have spent over $500,000 with ROLIQUE. I don’t have an exact figure, but we have released new projects and iterated on old projects over the past 6 years. We have received great value for our money, and have decided to come back to Rolique year after year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've had active development since 2013 with brief pauses.

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 any stats. We’ve been doing a lot of stuff to improve our business. We’ve seen traffic increase every year. We’ve seen good size sales growth, like 20–25% a year since we started with Rolique.

How did Rolique perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve iterated a lot with them in terms of trying out different things. I’ve had several different project managers there. Some have been better than others, but one thing that’s been great is I always feel like I can go up their chain of command, and if something’s not up to satisfaction I’m pretty confident that they’ll make the situation right. They’ve done that before.

What did you find most impressive about Rolique?

As opposed to hiring individual resources or working with a less flexible company, with Rolique, I can dial up or down resources depending on the scope of the current project. 

Sometimes, when we’re slow, I might only need a single developer working half time, but in busy times we can scale up, get multiple developers, and get a tester and designers as we need them. The communication compared to other international companies is very good.

Are there any areas Rolique could improve?

Just typical things of all development. Projects can end up taking a bit longer or run over budget, but that’s all typical in the industry. Any time that we’ve had problems, they’re quick to address those.

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was updated on October 21st, 2019, by the client. The original star ratings were: Overall – 5, Quality – 5, Schedule – 4, Cost – 5, NPS – 5. New content is below.

Opportunity / Challenge

What challenge were you trying to address with Rolique?

Last year, we did a complete UX/UI overhaul of our site, primarily to help organic traffic growth, user engagement, and conversion rates.

Solution

What is the scope of their involvement?

We worked with Rolique to do a complete UI/UX assessment of our site, and with a third party on SEO suggestions. After the initial research gathering, Rolique worked closely with us to bring all of the design, UI/UX and SEO suggestions to reality with an entirely redesigned site, including not just design, but also user flows through the conversion process and throughout our product.

Results & Feedback

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

Since releasing the redesigned version of our site in May, we have seen improvement in literally every KPIs we track: 

• Yearly Traffic
• Month over month (unique, new, and returning users increased)
• Engagement (bounce rate decreased; time on site increased)
• Email subscribers increased
• Free trial accounts increased
• Subscribers increased
• Churn decreased
• Average revenue per user (ARPU) increased 

Conversion rate at all levels of funnels increased

How did Rolique perform from a project management standpoint?

Khrystyna (Project Manager, Rolique) has been our main contact for the last few years and has done a great job keeping our projects on track. We use a Kanban-style of Agile development, which we find works well with our workflow. 

Khrystyna manages the JIRA boards and backlog and holds weekly standup meetings with myself and our Rolique team, which lends to project transparency. In the instances when we have faced challenges, Khrystyna and/or Vlad will get the team together and find a solution.

Are there any areas Rolique could improve?

Nothing at this time. Any issues we’ve had in the past with resourcing have been resolved, and I am quite confident in our team.