Acklen Avenue Software

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the vice president of a nonprofit investment firm that channels capital to organizations creating social and environmental solutions.

What challenges were you trying to address with Acklen Avenue Software?

We wanted to create an investment platform for our customers, as well as for our staff. We had an existing investment platform, but it was outdated and wasn’t serving the needs of our staff or customers. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

The investment platform includes an introduction and vetting system for new investors. It guides new investors through the compliance process and allows them to connect their bank accounts. The platform serves both new and existing customers by allowing them to view their account summary easily online. 

On the administrative side, we have an accessible backend where our employees can view all of our investors and service their accounts. It also automates email notifications and paper mailing. 

They also ensured that the platform is secure and meets compliance requirements since we’re working with sensitive information. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with a lead product manager, a junior product manager, developers, a designer, and QA people. It was easy to scale the team's size up or down based on the needs of the project. We could add additional developers if needed. We also had some oversight from their CTO and the head of agile development. 

How did you come to work with Acklen Avenue Software?

We received a referral from one of our clients. We considered four vendors, but we felt good about Acklen Avenue Software’s team and approach – it was a good cultural fit. We also liked that they could provide management expertise. 

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve invested over $500,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2016. The bulk of the development is completed, but they provide ongoing maintenance and support. 

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

We have felt great about the product. It has met all of our requirements. The platform was an immediate game-changer for both our customers and staff. Things have only gotten better since then. I can only speak highly of the quality. We continue to work with them post-launch because we’re happy with their delivery. 

How did Acklen Avenue Software perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is one of their strengths. It was nice to have access to senior product owners during the height of the development process. Overall, they have a strong process and good quality standards. They presented great proposals and shared their expertise with us when needed. 

Communication was consistently clear. They felt like an extension of our staff. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I think their strong communication and high standards are most impressive. They’re a strategic thought partner and understand how to explain things clearly to those who aren’t as technologically-oriented. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

It took longer than we had hoped, and it came at a higher cost than we wanted. However, we understood why that was because of their clear communication. They worked through obstacles with us, and this ultimately led to a higher quality product. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

They use an agile approach, which I appreciated. However, it’s important to think about if that approach is right for you and if their expertise fits your needs. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CIO of Healthcare Bluebook. We help consumers navigate the healthcare system and find low-cost, high-quality care. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Acklen Avenue Software?

Our company has a partnership with IBM to develop software that can meet some of their clients’ needs. We need some additional software help because my software development team is busy, and I need somebody to help me build the product that we’ve been fleshing out with IBM. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Acklen manages the project and development process as a whole and at a detailed level. That includes doing all the user stories, running the Scrum process, and getting every requirement. They organize and lay those requirements in cards and run them in the process. Then, we deliver software at the end of it. 

We initially wanted them to do the full hosting of the software since they have a model where they do that. However, we also want to do all the environments ourselves, so we do more of the infrastructure and pipeline development work. 

Acklen team members also do UI/UX development, deliver all the web development pieces, and build the database. The project is built on SQL Server on the backend, .NET in the middle, and Angular on the frontend. 

What is the team composition?

I work with a total of 10 people from the Acklen team, including a Scrum master, a business analyst, two dedicated developers, two dedicated QA testers, a UI/UX developer, and Evan (Engagement Manager), who's also served as the overall project manager for Acklen and for the project. 

There's a part-time developer who does more architecture tasks. There’s also an operations person who facilitates deployments and standard infrastructure, but we don’t leverage him very much. 

How did you come to work with Acklen Avenue Software?

We're not an organization that uses a lot of contractors. Most of the things we spend time on are things that are going to be ongoing products, so it makes more sense for us to hire development people than to contract them out. However, what really appeals to me about Acklen and the reason I chose them is that they have this built-in team model. 

Acklen offers flexibility because they have all their people together. They're partially or fully dedicated to the project depending on their role, and they already work together. They already have a process and know each other. All the team dynamics go away because that's all handled. That’s why we chose them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We were able to take this project on in October 2020, and the engagement is ongoing. We're going to deliver the software for clients in January 2021, and phase two will be to go live sometime in June–July 2021. 

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

For metrics, ultimately, the software needs to work. However, the process is important, including how we get there and whether the team works efficiently and well with others. If there’s a lot of rework, that causes a lot of frustration and problems. 

The Acklen team does well in all those things. There's no way we could have gotten where we are without them.

One of their members has helped us work through the UX of the software via Figma, and we had a working prototype for IBM to use. That was hugely valuable in the sales process for IBM. It gave us an early win in the project so that IBM felt comfortable that they made the right choice by using Healthcare Bluebook. 

Acklen has been a part of the team, and we’ve all worked together to come up with the right solution. I've been talking with our account representative at Åcklen for 2–3 years now about different projects that we might do.

How did Acklen Avenue Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We work with them very collaboratively, and frequent communication points are key. We have a couple of dedicated Slack channels that we use for ongoing communication. Then, we have regular twice-a-week meetings where we have discovery and “card grooming” discussions. 

They use Trello, which has worked fine to manage all the tasks; it’s where the detailed development work is. On our side, we use a project management tool called Wrike, which we really like. However, all the detailed scope of all work that Acklen is doing is managed through Trello. 

Evan is our main contact, letting us know how things are going. He manages the team and checks if the project's going well, if we’re getting the work done, and if it’s organized. 

The Scrum master does the day-to-day work with the BAs to determine whether all cards and software pieces have been scoped correctly. This person checks if we’re managing the boards correctly, if everything has the correct status, and if the team has everything they need to make progress. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The nice thing about Acklen is we get the full team experience. We get a team that’s used to working together as a team, unlike when we’re buying one-off bodies. 

It's their process. They stick to it, and it works. I come from a consulting background, so I speak from experience when I say it would be easy to let clients push teams around. Acklen doesn’t do that; they also don’t tell us that we must use their way or can’t use them.

In my experience, however, the Åcklen way works. 

If I had gone to other dev shops, they would’ve had 2–3 people on the bench and 2–3 people trying to get other projects. They would’ve had to find other people to fill some of the needs, which aren’t even full-time needs. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had our share of communication challenges, but it was only about terminology. Early in the project, there was more initial rework than I thought there should be. We had some terminologies to work through. 

It would’ve taken us only a week or two of rework had we identified and rectified those gaps earlier instead of waiting until we had a software that wasn't working the way it was supposed to. 

The Acklen team is in Honduras, and they're very smart people. However, we’ve realized that they don't have experience with the US healthcare system, and it's pretty convoluted if you don't live it all the time. Meanwhile, the product requires a deep understanding of the US healthcare system. 

There's a lot of healthcare terminology that gets lost in the weeds. I've been doing this for 20 years, so I’ve assumed everyone knows what all of these terms mean. It turns out that that's not true, but we’ve gotten through that, and I've been very happy with how it's done. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They need to be engaged for the project to go well. The Acklen model is great, but it requires a client who’s really engaged in working with them to get the job done. 

They're a great team, but they can't invent the requirements and the data. For the product to be successful, customers need a dedicated person who will give their team the requirements and work with them to refine those things over time. 

They can't invent the requirements by themselves. The engagement wouldn't work well if clients just lob those things over the wall and hope the team catches them.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CTO of SecondKeys. SecondKeys is a real estate technology company that is modernizing property management. Our platform forestalls expensive equipment repairs and replacement through the identification of smaller fixes with a proven track record of prevention.

For what projects/services did your company hire Acklen Avenue Software?

With our efforts to rebrand SecondKeys, we needed a completely new UI/UX for our platform to improve user interaction. We hired Acklen Avenue to developed a design that streamlines all user interactions and develop a unique design different from standard property management systems.

How did you select this vendor?

After weeks of discussion with their CRO, we chose Acklen Avenue given the cost estimate and the incredible skill of the designer chosen for the project.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

After a detailed review of the current state of the product and the new features that were currently in development, we scheduled a meeting for a proposed wireframe and what actions need to take place next. After that, we scheduled meetings for Monday and Friday of each week to review the work done and see what work will be completed that week. Once the high fidelity mockups were created, development of HTML and CSS took place and was then passed to our internal development team.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

He had two resources: one to design the UI/UX and another to develop the HTML and CSS.

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

The mockups and wireframes tested very well with existing and potential customers. The deliverables perfectly reflected our vision for a rebrand of the company and created a user-friendly application.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We developed a streamlined process for tackling each aspect of the project. With the twice weekly meetings and interaction from Slack, we were able to give the resources the creative freedom needed and have constant insight into project overall health.

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

The skill of the designers was incredible and the attentiveness of the management staff is great. Everyone on the team takes pride in their work and it shows.

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

Bit of a miscommunication of the invoicing side but as issues were resolved quickly. Would highly recommend this team to moving forward.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Wearwell is an e-commerce company that provides consumers with an online membership service to easily discover and buy clothing that's ethically and sustainably made. I'm the Co-Founder and CEO.

For what projects/services did your company hire Acklen Avenue Software, and what were your goals?

We hired Acklen Avenue to take the MVP of our website to the next level. They were tasked with enhancing our custom Wordpress plugin to offer new customer features that required heavy development and sleek design.

How did you select Acklen Avenue Software and what were the deciding factors?

We were referred to Acklen Avenue by another client of theirs. Our decision to work with them came down to the level of trust we built with their team before beginning to work together. They were very honest when it was too early for us to begin working together, flexible on timeline, and it became abundantly clear that they genuinely had our company's best interest in mind.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

The scope entailed developing 3 major new functions to a custom Wordpress / WooCommerce plugin that required unique inventory management, additional integrations, and custom functionality within WooCommerce and our payment gateway.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with a full team that included developers, QA, UX/UI designer, scrum master, and project leads for the first 3 months. We've then continued our work with their team on an as needed basis with one develop and recently increased back to a team of 4.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Their work was noticed by our customers from day 1. The site was more stable and functioned beautifully, essential for a B2C company.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

Acklen Avenue runs a tight ship when it comes to communication. We heard from the team daily on updates, asks for us when they needed to move things forward, and saw meaningful progress every single week of the engagement.

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

Their ability to go above and beyond in project delivery is outstanding.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None.

Please describe your company and your position there.

UL is a leading Testing, Inspection and Certification (TIC) company and has been in business for 126 years. We develop and use software applications to support our TIC and Advisory service lines. I manage several of the development teams that deliver client-facing software as a service.

For what projects/services did your company hire Acklen Avenue Software?

We had some code that had been created by a vendor and had been sitting around for a while. We needed to have a good 3rd party review of that code to inform our decision on whether to attempt reuse or discard.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were to have a thorough understanding of the value of the existing code. We wanted to know whether it made financial and technical sense to build on top of the existing code or to start over.

How did you select Acklen Avenue Software?

Formal competition of 3 potential vendors.

Describe the project in detail.

Acklen's proposal was to examine the code using their mature code evaluation process and provide a detailed report back to UL that included clear and easily understood metrics. Weekly project reviews were held and progress was easy to ascertain. The final report was delivered on time and fully met our expectations.

What was the team composition?

Acklen's team consisted of senior software developers, technical writers, business analysts, and a team lead.

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

I was very impressed with the knowledge and experience of the Acklen team. As a whole and as individuals, the Acklen team continually demonstrated that meeting our needs was of great importance to them. They gave us great value for the investment we made in them and enabled us to make a very important business decision with full confidence.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow and communication between teams was effective and well-managed by the Acklen team lead. It is apparent that Acklen understands the necessity and value of good communication.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The standard that I judge any vendor or supplier by is do they do what they say they are going to do. Acklen was very clear from the onset of the project what they intended to deliver and they did exactly what they said they would do. They were also very flexible in adjusting the project plan to meet our changing requirements.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I was very satisfied with the support we received from Acklen Avenue Software. I would not hesitate to work with them again if the opportunity presented itself.