Velocity Labs

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CEO and Research Director of Goalistics LLC. We’re a team of psychologists who create online programs for behavioral and mental health programs, derived from evidence-based, face-to-face therapies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Velocity Labs?

We needed to maintain our custom application, as well as to develop additional programs we wanted to start.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed a talented and highly reliable team to maintain our software and create new programs as needed. We also needed a team to make customizations to our programs.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were recommended by a respected developer who was unable to take on a new client at the time.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

When Velocity first started working for us, we had a single program. Since then, we’ve developed a number of additional programs, for which Velocity carried out all of the development work. Velocity provides ongoing maintenance of our existing software and our custom application, on which, all of our programs run. Over the years, they have implemented a variety of customizations.

What was the team composition?

One of the co-founders/developers has generally taken the lead, with the CEO providing assistance at times.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re extremely satisfied with the work that Velocity has provided for us over the years. We have no plans to look for another development team. Above all, we have confidence in the quality of their work.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Velocity uses Trello for project management. It is very easy to use and effective.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They’re reliable, they complete work in a timely fashion, and their cost estimates are generally on target. They can be relied upon to provide an innovative, and sometimes less expensive solution, to a tough problem. They’re very talented and hardworking.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

I can’t think of an area for improvement.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a web developer for Valley Metro, the public transportation agency for Phoenix and the Valley of the Sun.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Velocity Labs?

We wanted to provide easy-to-comprehend transit information to our riders by publishing accessible timetables and online trip planning. We also needed to warn riders of alerts such as bus detours and delays.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

After meeting and working with several local Ruby on Rails developers, Velocity Labs came highly recommended. They had experience with agile methods and were familiar with our regional needs.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Velocity Labs designed, developed, configured, and maintained our timetable publishing system, our online trip planner, our rider alerts system, and our mobile-optimized website. Additionally, they set up a real-time feed for our light rail system. They also handled several API integrations and maintained our open-source ATIS gem.

The timetables publisher and rider alerts system had a backend for managing content, each designed to our specifications. During the development process, functional versions were typically ready for user testing in weekly sprints. Valuable suggestions from the developers made for an outstanding result.

What was the team composition?

The project team consisted of about six people, but certain individuals would come and go depending on the skills needed. We had one consistent project manager who was our direct and permanent point of contact. He was also our lead developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our solution was developed and launched early and efficiently. The final result was very popular with our end users. Providing transit information online helped to increase local transit ridership and helped to reduce the number of printed materials required to provide this information to our riders.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management was outstanding. Deadlines were met and delays communicated ahead of time. There was never any problem with changes in personnel. We communicated mainly through GitHub and Trello.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

What was most impressive was the way we had direct access to both project managers and their team. This helped remove the middleman and keep lines of communication open. Also, their 24/7 service was exceptional.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

No. Their service was just fine.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there?

I am the founder and owner of a web-based dental staffing firm. We match dental candidates to dental offices.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Velocity Labs?

I wanted to overhaul our innovative but outdated platform. We wanted to scale our business and overcome our geographic constraints. We also needed to automate certain functions that were being done manually.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to create an automated platform for dentists to find employees and offer the ability to book temporary staff. We wanted to take our company from a local to a national level.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I was looking for someone local who I could have a personal one-on-one relationship with. I also wanted a company with excellent coding skills, as I had past experiences with developers who did not deliver on their promises.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Their managing partner and co-founder helped me redevelop our whole concept. Velocity developed using Ruby on Rails and created solutions for many problems that we encountered. Although I had an original outline of features and functions that I wanted, the project became more complex. We now have a final product that far exceeds any of our original plans.

Their team is currently working on expanding our platform and creating new features.

What was the team composition?

I worked with their managing partner, but also with their founders.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since our launch, our user base has grown fivefold, and we tripled our gross revenue.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We communicate weekly via Google Hangouts. Trello is used to track development and ideas. We also use Github to make quick changes to copy/content.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They never encounter a problem that they can't solve or fix.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

Perhaps, Velocity Labs should add more employees and grow.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the co-founder and system architect of a software company for the real estate industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Velocity Labs?

We were in the process of redesigning a large legacy system for a new architecture and were looking for an additional development team to augment our own.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed help transitioning our system from single users to team accounts, as well as assistance in designing a new API for mobile devices to collect data remotely. We wanted to incorporate all the latest industry best practices.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They came highly recommended from one of our other contractors.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

We used a loosely agile approach with weeklong sprints for development. At the beginning of a sprint, we narrowed down which user stories to tackle next, and at the end of a sprint, they’d show us demos of the completed work. By the end of the project, we had a working system and the skeleton of our new API.

What was the team composition?

We primarily interacted with one of their developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They hit the ground running and started producing high-quality code immediately. They also left us with a new set of design patterns and best practices, which have greatly improved our product. we would 100% hire them again.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We had regular progress calls and code reviews. Everything went very smoothly.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were not only experts in their fields but were great at introducing us to new topics and approaches that left us as better engineers ourselves.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

Can't really think of anything. They were great.