ActiveLogic Labs

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of engineering at Aware3, an community engagement platform. We offer apps, as well as online donation, donor management, and other community engagement services for churches, schools, and non-profits.

What challenge were you trying to address with ActiveLogic Labs?

We were looking for a vendor who could provide our team with external resources for a project involving our online appeals product.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The developers at ActiveLogic Labs helped upgrade our online appeals platform, using mostly JavaScript, PHP, and MySQL. They worked alongside our in-house team to get all aspects of this product developed.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a total of four people. Troy (Director of Business Development, ActiveLogic Labs) was our account manager, and ActiveLogic Labs provided three others to augment our staff. Currently, we only have one person working with us.

How did you come to work with ActiveLogic Labs?

I was familiar with their organization, as I’d come across them a few times through LinkedIn and some of my contacts. I was pleased when they appeared in my search for staff augmentation services.

They are a local company, which was also important to us, and they were ultimately the best fit for what we needed.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $100,000-$250,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in August 2019 and the engagement is ongoing.

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

Given the nature of the project, it’s hard to define their success with any statistics or metrics. However, the developers provided by ActiveLogic Labs perform at the level we expected, keeping up with our internal resources in terms of speed and proficiency. They’ve integrated well with us, working as part of our own team rather than as outside vendors.

How did ActiveLogic Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

We were offered a project manager at the beginning of the engagement, but we felt it unnecessary as we wanted ActiveLogic Labs to function as part of our in-house developers. I did speak with Troy when it was necessary, and he and the other members of his team were added onto our Jira and Slack accounts.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team has been very accommodating to our non-standard requests. They identify opportunities and are willing to work with us to accomplish our goals. We’ve found them to be more flexible than other companies offering similar services. We have a robust relationship with ActiveLogic Labs, rather than a purely transactional one.

Are there any areas they could improve? 

During the project, we made a joint decision to end our bi-weekly calls with our account manager. However, in retrospect, I wish we had maintained them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Start the conversation with ActiveLogic Labs. They’re eager to help, and you’ll probably find they can help meet your needs.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior technical strategist for The Sandbox Agency, an advertising company. I act as the liaison between our company and external development partners.

What challenge were you trying to address with ActiveLogic Labs?

We hired them to develop an iOS application for a pharmaceutical client. We did not have iOS developers in-house to complete the project within the client’s aggressive timeline.

What was the scope of their involvement?

ActiveLogic Labs built the iOS device for iPad. The app’s interactive capabilities supported the client’s sales representatives during their calls and presentations to healthcare practitioners. Specifically, the solution presented information about a medical device and supplemented marketing efforts.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 2–3 consulting and development resources, which included a primary point of contact that changed as the project progressed. I served as the project manager.

How did you come to work with ActiveLogic Labs?

We have an office in Kansas City and had heard positive things about ActiveLogic Labs through the local tech community. We reached out to them based on word-of-mouth to understand their business more.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $50,000–$60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2018 and the project ended in January 2019.

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

ActiveLogic Labs put in considerable time and effort to get the work done. The client was extremely satisfied with the result. We were particularly grateful given the project’s aggressive timeline.

How did ActiveLogic Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly used Jira. Throughout the project, we held stand-up meetings and weekly check-ins.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team was flexible as issues arose along the way, which inevitably happens in development projects. They pivoted as needed to ensure the client was satisfied.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The team wasn’t clear about tasks’ progress until the last minute. Everything ended up fine, but their lack of transparency caused some anxiety on our end. This may have resulted from their commitments to other clients.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of Answer Media, a digital advertising media company.

What challenge were you trying to address with ActiveLogic Labs?

We engaged ActiveLogic to help us build out a platform hosting a library of videos and tools that publishers could access.

What was the scope of their involvement?

ActiveLogic designed and developed a web-based private platform for our publishing partners that allows them to access a database of videos and tools for embedding videos, transitioning effects, and other features.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Rob (CEO, ActiveLogic Labs), as well as a team that included a project manager and some frontend and backend developers.

How did you come to work with ActiveLogic Labs?

They were in the same network as our company, so we had met Rob and some of his staff a few times and already felt comfortable with their expertise and communications style.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent close to $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from around October 2015–February 2016.

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

ActiveLogic has enabled us to effectively process billions of requests for video ads each month. The platform they built has been an invaluable asset to our business.

How did ActiveLogic Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

I was very pleased with the whole process. They were very flexible as certain things came up that effected timelines, and were transparent about any delays or shifts in priorities on their end.

What did you find most impressive about them?

In addition to the diversity of expertise in technologies their team offers, they're also easy to communicate with and very detail oriented.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had a very positive experience overall, but I think they could've done a better job of making sure they got all the information they needed from us, so it wouldn't have impacted deadlines.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Ask questions and make sure there's a strong level of comfort in the direction of the project. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a Yelp-like application that helps members of the recovering community find meetings and resources on a global basis.

What challenge were you trying to address with ActiveLogic Labs?

I needed an outsourced resource to develop my app. They initially worked on the iOS app, but we’ve now moved to version three, which includes Android.

What was the scope of their involvement?

ActiveLogic Labs manages all of the mobile app development. We currently have a live prototype, but the next version will have significant updates and improvements. Users can open the app and see recovery meetings within 100 miles, primarily Alcoholics Anonymous. They can sort for different types of meetings (e.g. men only, spouses) and also change their location. The app has a messenger feature, where users can both make calls or send messages, which can be anonymous or attributed. The new upgrade will include a group messaging feature and allow us to scale the database geographically and categorize options better.

What is the team composition?

They provide a project manager, iOS developer, and Android developer.

How did you come to work with ActiveLogic Labs?

We wanted a partner who would be flexible and willing to work with our changing timeline. They needed to warn us about major issues, and ActiveLogic Labs seemed like the best fit.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $120,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since June 2016, and the work is ongoing.

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

Other companies are trying to duplicate our app because it’s so successful. We’re still ahead of everyone else, but seeing their attempt to imitate us shows how impactful the app has been.

How did ActiveLogic Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They have excellent project management and have been clear from the beginning. They’re flexible and work with our sporadic schedule. We have an internal project management tool to track progress.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their work has been great, and they give us warnings long before any issues or delays arise.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’d appreciate a cloud-based project management interface. I’d like to be able to go into the tool and see where we’re at instead of having to ask for those updates.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Be clear about your milestones and what’s important. Also, avoid project creep by staying focused on a rigid schedule. Don’t make any changes unless you run into a big problem that needs to be addressed.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of iTeam Network. We are a white label solution provider in the daily fantasy sports industry.

What challenge were you trying to address with ActiveLogic Labs?

We were working on a time-sensitive software development project but didn’t have enough in-house resources to complete it as scheduled. We needed to outsource a few development pieces to stay within the timeline.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They conducted two microservice integrations. One was integrating with a third-party geolocation service, and the second was integrating with online affiliate services.

What is the team composition?

I interacted directly with ActiveLogic’s senior management, and our CTO interacted with the developers.

How did you come to work with ActiveLogic Labs?

Initially, I believe I was introduced to them through a friend, but we had also worked on three or four fairly big projects prior to the microservice integrations. In our previous work, they were always on time and within budget, which is one of the reasons we wanted to work with them again.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent roughly $50,000–$80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began the project in September 2016 and finished in November 2016.

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

I don’t have solid metrics, but I can say that I was satisfied with their code quality.

How did ActiveLogic Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Most of our coordination and collaboration was over the phone, and they were always punctual and open with their communication. It was great dealing with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They hit all of their deadlines and communicating with them was notably easy.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I had a very positive experience.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a technology holding company for software as a service (SaaS) startups.

What challenge were you trying to address with ActiveLogic Labs?

We didn’t have available in-house capacity to build these products. Our partner who has those skills wasn’t available so we needed a company to do it for us until he could take over.

What was the scope of their involvement?

ActiveLogic Labs is currently building two products for us using Laravel. One is a handwritten postcard API service that provides digital means for sending print materials. The other product uses plugins to allow small and medium-sized businesses to access print on demand. That product should rollout within the next week or two. They do the development as well as some of the UI work.

What is the team composition?

We usually deal with two senior staff including the founder but also communicate with the developers directly.

How did you come to work with ActiveLogic Labs?

Our marketing colleague found them two years ago. We interviewed a couple of people. They definitely seemed like they had the best chance of getting things done.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2017 and it’s ongoing.

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

It’s too early for results as we haven’t rolled out any of the products yet.

How did ActiveLogic Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate through Slack and use Github and Trello. Their structure is pretty flat so we’re able to communicate with anyone on their team via their Slack channels.

We’re very happy with their ability to get things done. With any project, there's always scope creep and it's generally my fault too. Because they understand the end goal—of the customer experience and the product to sell—they can help us achieve it by considering the best solution.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They build interfaces that are usable. I've never worked with a company that could truly build good user interfaces and then power them with an API-based system. Everything ActiveLogic Labs does is built on top rather than hard-coded into the frontend. That means we can build on it to continue the development rather than having to rip apart the code. The API abstraction layer and frontend make it easy for us to work with what they build.

dealt with a lot of programmers in the past and haven’t ever had much success with outsourcing. They’re not able to understand the high-level concepts of what we’re building and it never turns out as we expect. ActiveLogic Labs have the ability to understand the end goal. They question us in order to make sure they understand rather than just completing discrete, specific tasks. They don’t waste time on things that don’t make sense.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The biggest issue they face is that they're growing. Their client base is expanding; a friend of mine is doing a lot of work with them, for example. They will have to scale up while ensuring that their staff can handle the challenge.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

As with any project, staying on top of everything and keeping everyone on schedule is challenging.