Test Double

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the SVP of engineering at Vantage Point Logistics. We service healthcare organizations in two main functions. On the supply chain side, we help them with freight management to get visibility and transparency into their freight costs for all inbound and outbound shipping.

The second part of the business focuses on the pharmacy side, where we handle the last-mile delivery of medications to patients, covering everything from specialty to retail to home infusion through various carriers and couriers. We also save proof of delivery to help with payer audits.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Test Double?

We engaged Test Double to help us with product management. On our supply chain side, we didn’t have a product manager over that function. We had a legacy system that we were migrating to a newer system. At that point, 70% of our business was still on the legacy system, so we needed someone to help us develop the features and functionality to support the migration.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Test Double communicates with various parts of our business to understand the requirements. We have an internal team that runs the software, and Test Double understands their problems and issues. The team identifies the deficiencies in the new system and helps us develop the features. The team also manages the project to ensure a seamless migration for our customers.

We've requested a product manager and a developer from Test Double to help us accelerate the development of those features. During the discovery phase, we've identified a list of features. The product manager has talked to the people who have worked on the legacy system and those who have used it to understand all the requirements associated with it. The product manager then hands the list over to the development team, which designs and builds the necessary functionality.

We then deliver the feature, and the product manager follows up to ensure the feature has everything we need to support the migration. On the actual migration side, each customer goes through a discovery phase.

We conduct a tech and business discovery and merge the results. We have a meeting called "three amigos," which includes internal stakeholders, developers, and QA. We discuss all the requirements for that customer, and then we follow a project plan to build and migrate all the features. The product manager then sends out an announcement at the end of the migration.

What is the team composition?

We work with two teammates from Test Double. We also meet with two other teammates on a biweekly basis to discuss progress and areas for improvement.

How did you come to work with Test Double?

Our CPO knew one of Test Double's owners. A company that he worked for got acquired by Test Double. He went to Test Double with the problem, and they told him they had the perfect person available.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent between $200,000 and $1,000,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Test Double in December 2023, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The best metric we have is the actual migration of the customers. We've migrated 64 customers, and we have six to go.

How did Test Double perform from a project management standpoint?

Test Double meets deadlines and stays on budget. We follow an Agile process and keep everything in Jira. We also have a Microsoft Project plan to guide the detailed steps for each customer's migration. We communicate primarily via Microsoft Teams, as our company is mostly remote.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most impressive thing about Test Double is the caliber of people they've supplied. In the past, we've worked with companies that had a big learning curve to learn our business. Both the developer and the product manager from Test Double have learned our business in under a month and were productive from the start.

We expected it to take 3–5 months to understand our business, so we're impressed by how quickly Test Double has done it; they've brought their experience to the table to help us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wish Test Double's services were cheaper.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very clear about what you need. The more information you provide to Test Double, the more they can help you connect with the right resources.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of a company that provides parts and services for hospitals. We’re a distributor business, and our goal is to keep hospitals running. Hospitals have large equipment and complicated machinery that needs maintenance and parts. We provide a way for hospitals to have a one-stop shop for all their equipment and machinery needs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Test Double?

We needed help with web development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Test Double provided us with senior-level consulting. We were launching a new business, and they got to know our team and objectives. They also dove into the code and details of the product we were trying to develop. They became part of our team and worked with us to get embedded. 

The architecture and organization of the code base, its testing, and the systems that allow us to ensure that the system is working properly

They were part of the team that built our website. They provided full stack development and implemented the design. The website was an e-commerce platform, and a core feature was product information management and merchandising. This feature had an administrative interface with photos, titles, descriptions, and prices of the products we were trying to sell.

Moreover, the merchandising aspect of the website included how users could search for products and how we could organize the product information on the site. The website was a Rails application with a PostgreSQL database. It also had Elasticsearch to power content search, and it was deployed on AWS.

What is the team composition?

We worked with four senior-level developers.

How did you come to work with Test Double?

I've known them for a long time, maybe going back to 2005 or 2008. 

I met Todd and Justin, the founders, at a conference. We had conversations afterward, and I kept in touch with them for years. I’ve hired them in many of the companies I’ve worked at.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from February–December 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We launched the website and business in July 2017. Within the first year, we generated around $7 million in revenue. The website had good performance, and it was stable and up with no issues. 

The team was very good at providing senior-level consultants who didn’t just write code but partnered with us and brought a different perspective, which I think is important because I'm looking for people to bring their expertise as well.

Moreover, the team was one of the few organizations willing to work with legacy systems. Not all applications and platforms are new and shiny, and most companies have a lot of technical debt. They were willing to work with that, and they liked doing it. That's a unique thing about them.

How did Test Double perform from a project management standpoint?

We launched the business on time, and the team was very good at meeting deadlines. We used Jira for project management. They worked in our office, so we had in-person meetings. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their consultants were highly skilled and experienced. At that time, we needed Rails developers who were willing to get into complicated challenges. 

They're flexible and willing to adapt to how my company and I work and how our processes and tools work. I've worked with some other companies, where they bring their process to the table. And while they have their own process, they adapt.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They were very good at what we asked them to do. If they could do something better, it would be to teach our team what they do and how they do it. That wasn’t an explicit goal, but it would be good if they spent some time teaching their clients’ teams.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be upfront and clear about the scope of the project. You don’t need to have perfect requirements, but you need to be clear about what you’re trying to do. Be upfront and clear about the commercial aspects of the project, such as the price and timeline. Prepare your team to have a certain amount of work and availability so that when a consultancy like them comes in, there’s a connection.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the CTO of a software company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Payroll, Benefits, HR and more for small businesses. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Test Double to accomplish?

• Multiple projects over the course of 7 years solving many hard technical problems
• Help develop software to expand into a new country.

SOLUTION

How did you find Test Double?

Referral

Why did you select Test Double over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Test Double were assigned to this project?

20

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Over the past seven years, Test Double has been a trusted and integral partner in helping us evolve our engineering culture and scale our software systems without compromising quality. They seamlessly integrated with our internal teams and consistently delivered high-impact solutions—from early refactoring within our Rails monolith to upgrading critical infrastructure and building new, scalable functionality.

One of the most impressive engagements was a major Rails upgrade. We were dealing with a large Rails codebase, in a complex domain where downtime wasn't an option. While our in-house engineers were focused on delivering key product features, Test Double stepped in and led the upgrade effort—delivering it on time and under budget. Their team resolved 1,700+ test failures, tackled legacy code, and helped us modernize our stack in a way that saved both time and money.

We’re grateful for their partnership, technical leadership, and the thoughtfulness they bring to every engagement. Test Double consistently does what’s right for our business and engineers, and we couldn’t be more appreciative of their contributions.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We successfully upgraded our Rails code base. They also helped us ship numerous features outside of the Rails upgrade project. 

Rolled out Rails upgrade on time & under budget in monolith codebase

Fixed 1,700 test failures from initial upgrade

Incremental upgrades saved both time and money

Untangled legacy code & modernized tech stack in tandem

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

They delivered projects on time and under budget consistently. They responded consistently with our needs. If there was any issue, they were very pumped in hashing it out and collaborating with us. 

What was your primary form of communication with Test Double?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Those contracting firms tend to have engineers that are not as good as full-time engineers. Test Double stands out because their engineering contractors are among the best engineers out there.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Test Double could have done differently?

Can't think of any improvements.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the CTO of Comverge, a company that provided demand response services for commercial, industrial, and residential customers. Our primary focus was on balancing the electrical grid.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Test Double?

We needed to develop faster and save time, and we also wanted to help our team learn new techniques and processes. However, we didn't just want a faster delivery; we wanted to enable our team to improve their skills. We hired Test Double because we didn't want pure staff augmentation. We needed a collaborative engagement that focused on strategic consulting rather than deliverables. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Test Double provided us with staff augmentation and consulting services. They provided us with high-skilled developers in the Ruby on Rails technology area. It wasn't pure staff augmentation; it was more strategic. They were responsible for introducing some new techniques and practices and being thought leaders on the team.

Since the team already understood the project, we didn't have a direct discovery phase. We scaled up the project and brought more Test Double folks into it. We had brief interviews to gauge the resources' personalities and how they worked. 

What is the team composition?

At its largest, we had about 10 people on the team for a period of time, although it did fluctuate over time. Most of those were senior software engineers.

How did you come to work with Test Double?

I was working with the founders of Test Double when they decided to start the company, so I was their first client as an independent organization. I had a personal working relationship with Justin and Todd, the founders. I liked their approach, so we ended up growing the engagement with them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $600,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from July 2010–August 2011.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Having them involved allowed us to launch the initial version of the product several months earlier, which saved us time. Moreover, we had more flexibility with Test Double than we would have had with internal teammates. The interview process was quick because we quickly built trust with the developers. The quality of their work exceeded my expectations. I’ve used them at four other companies throughout my career. 

How did Test Double perform from a project management standpoint?

We did the project management, although Test Double was very involved in refining the requirements and ensuring that everything was translated well. They took an active hand in helping with the project's management, but they didn’t play the official role of managing it.

They did very well in delivering the work on time and meeting deadlines. One of the nice things about working with Test Double was that they worked on very short deliverable timelines, so they created value every couple of weeks. They were very attentive to delivering value on that regular cadence, so we could judge if we’re getting value out of their engagement every pay period.

We communicated through Slack and Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They specialize more in strategic consulting, where they own the deliverables, and they did a good job with that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything off the top of my head.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They have a lot more to offer than just delivering on technology, so try to find ways to engage with them at a higher level, and you’ll probably get a lot more value out of the money. They’re not an inexpensive firm to work with, so it’s the responsibility of the people engaging with them to step back and understand how to extract that value by giving them more latitude to do that type of work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior VP of engineering for Orange Barrel Media, a media agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Test Double?

We were looking for help with development. We had acquired a product line, and there was a team that was already working on it, but they didn’t have the necessary expertise or structure to develop a full-stack fully scaled software as a service (SaaS) product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

By hiring Test Double, we brought in some expertise, structure, and discipline to the team that was already in place. They helped us get the team where we needed it to be to bridge the gap until we were able to recruit and hire our own.

The product is a sidewalk kiosk for big cities. In the kiosk itself, we run Ubuntu Linux with a Chrome browser that runs JavaScript applications. On the backend, we’re using Ruby on Rails.

What is the team composition?

Their co-founder acted as the project manager to help stabilize things. When I ended up joining Orange Barrel Media, I took over that role and worked directly with two of Test Double’s software developers.

How did you come to work with Test Double?

They were already on board when I began working at Orange Barrel Media, but I had worked with them during my time with another company where we used them for staff augmentation. I originally met one of their co-founders when I was building a previous team, but he was already busy trying to form his own company. We got to know each other, and, ultimately, ended up working together in more of a contractor/client relationship.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from October 2017–May 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their work was high-quality and very professional. We go back to them because of the results they deliver.

How did Test Double perform from a project management standpoint?

From a project management perspective, with me as project manager, they were good to work with and managed their time well. When needed, they’d work late and long hours when there was a customer issue. We could always count on them being there.

We used a pretty typical agile framework with sprints about every two weeks. We used Pivotal Tracker for our workflow management and communicated through email, Slack, GitHub, and Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They provide qualified staff augmentation; you can get top-rate developers that merge with internal staff and come up to speed pretty quickly. Sometimes we needed more bandwidth, and they were able to provide that for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They should be careful as to not dilute their quality as they grow. It’s hard to expand and continue to offer the same expertise.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to establish the desired relationship with them up front. Know project needs and communicate that with them before starting the collaboration. This holds true whether you're strong in your practices but need staff augmentation, or you're a company that does not have a lot of experience with software development and need process and project management.