Allied Code

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of Mindspace

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We're a creative engagement agency, focused on delivering custom engagement solutions for both consumers (brand/consumer engagement) and employees.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Allied Code to accomplish?

• To develop the technology for our client, designed to drive engagement at the 2023 RSA Conference.

SOLUTION

How did you find Allied Code?

Referral

Why did you select Allied Code over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Allied Code were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

The iPad App was developed using SwiftUI and deployed to each iPad using TestFlight during testing and via Ad Hoc distribution for use at the conference. The web application was developed using Ruby on Rails and Turbo Streams to provide responsive and immediate communication between the game server and iPads providing the front end experience.

Data is stored in a Postgres SQL database on the game server, allowing analysis of game play statistics after the conference, providing average game time, details about the game play itself, number of players, and more. The booth attendees’ interface to the game was through one of three iPads.

We chose to develop it in native SwiftUI and decoupled the game play experience from the large screen display, ensuring that the player had a seamless uninterrupted experience while still updating the large screen display so onlookers could see the action. By decoupling them, it reduced the risk of any connectivity issues with the web application.

In order to ensure an effective and uninterrupted game play experience, we set up a private local network for communication between the iPads and web application. This provided a controlled environment by eliminating the need for an internet connection at the conference, reducing the risk of network connectivity issues and ensuring an uninterrupted game play experience for booth attendees.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We delivered a live-event digital experience that worked flawlessly from day one. Booth engagement was one of the best at the event, with more than 450 games played over four days, at a 67% win rate, which aligned with prize inventory provided by the client. Client was thrilled.

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

They had impeccable project management, were highly-responsive and delivered our project within the very tight window we had to deliver it. Highly consultative and made us feel extremely confident in our ability to deliver.

What was your primary form of communication with Allied Code?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Everything they developed worked perfectly with zero stress. Working with a customer service focused dev partner with actual personality was refreshing.

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

There were no areas where we thought they could've done a better job.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the IT Director of EDMO

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We partner with school districts to provide comprehensive after-school programs and summer camps to their students.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Allied Code to accomplish?

• Create a platform for accepting and managing registrations for our camp programs

SOLUTION

How did you find Allied Code?

Referral

Why did you select Allied Code over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Allied Code were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Created a platform for accepting and managing all our camp registrations. Admins of the platform can define program offerings with key details like dates, times, prices, locations, descriptions, images, etc. Admins can also define custom registration forms to collect things like emergency contact info and health info from users.

Users are able to browse and enroll in programs, manage payments (including scheduled payments), edit form info. A key feature was giving users the ability to create and verify their account using only a phone number, because many of the families that our non-profit serves have limited access to technology.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our platform is launched, we're able to take registrations, we're spending less time on admin work than with our previous system, and we're receiving fewer support requests from our users.

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

Overall, their project management was fantastic. They delivered items on time or earlier, and were always very quick to respond. This was especially impressive given how much the scope of work shifted during development.

Our organization went through some significant restructuring in the middle of the project, and a fair number of goals had to changed / added / removed to reflect our new business model. They were wonderfully patient and helpful throughout all this; they always made the best out of challenging situations.

What was your primary form of communication with Allied Code?

Virtual Meeting

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

Three main things come to mind:

1. They were extremely clear and thorough communicators.
2. They really took the time to fully wrap their heads around our very unique and complicated needs for the platform, often knowing exactly what questions to ask or what edge cases to consider before we had even thought of them ourselves.
3. They were incredibly patient and flexible during our org restructuring which significantly changed some parts of the project.

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

I honestly can't think of even a small criticism. They were wonderful to work with.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a senior manager of a data security solutions company. I lead the department, and we do all the major events for the year. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Allied Code?

When we work in a tradeshow environment, we sometimes compete with hundreds of other brands that are activating on the tradeshow floor. We wanted something that would not only attract attention and bring people into our space, but would also educate them about what we do. We wanted something fun and to lean back into who we are and what we do. It was really a project to drive traffic, brand awareness, and brand love. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Allied Code helped us create a digital game from scratch based on trivia questions. Participants had to answer 10 trivia questions, centered around our organization’s products and services, in a five-minute time period. This was something really unique for our company.

We worked with Troy (Founder) on creating the game from beginning to end. We mapped out the nature of the game, and how it would flow back into our existing video about a race car.  We also went through all the questions that surrounded our products and services.

All we did was tell Troy our vision. He helped with all the conceptualization, the visuals, and the gameplay itself. 

We began with the discovery phase, where we got on a call with Troy and the team to explain our vision. From there, they took us through the creative phase to show us what the game would look like. 

After we were satisfied with the visual aspect, we moved on to the participant’s view and what they would see including what the iPad would look like, how the game would start, and what the questions would be. Following that, we got into the final design and the functionality of the game, the testing, and ultimately bringing it to life.

Depending on the conference we are going to, we have been able to change the questions. Troy and Allied Code have been able to help us flip the questions and change the name of the game when necessary depending on where we are. 

What is the team composition?

I only worked with Troy from Allied Code.

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

I hope that Troy knows how much we appreciate him. He came to our event just to make sure it was set up correctly and functioned properly.

How did you come to work with Allied Code?

I found Troy through another company that he had worked with. We had sent out an RFP to another company as well. Both companies took us through what the visual would look like for people watching the game and we were really impressed with Allied Code’s visual.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked on this project with Allied Code from January 2023–April 2023.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The work was exceptional, and they really surprised us with what they delivered. Everything about the game was above and beyond our expectations. With the budget that we had, I didn’t even know if they could bring it to life the way they did. The response has been positive, and people look at it like it is an actual video game.  

We had 600 people play with game with 528 winners which we felt was the perfect amount given the number of prizes we had.

Everything ran extremely well and having Troy there on the day of the event making sure of that was really helpful. In addition, we were able to get back some really great data on the game, including how many people played, how many people won or lost, and which questions they could and couldn’t answer. 

Allied Code has also done updates to the game, and they've been able to extend some additional metrics that help us to give our company an ROI.

How did Allied Code perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management was outstanding. We met with them weekly and discussed the progress. We stayed on budget, and again, we are extremely happy with the results.

For communication, we used Microsoft Teams.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We are so impressed with the game and with Troy. We are so thankful for his partnership and the way he followed through and brought our vision to life.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have nothing they could improve on; everything went really well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be specific in what you want to achieve as well as your goals and objectives. Give Allied Code some time to bring those to life for you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the former CEO of FoodLogiq, an IT services company focused on creating software solutions for restaurants and businesses in the food industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Allied Code?

We needed help with custom software development services. Our team needed a user-friendly tool that could help us meet our fast-growing work demands.

SOLUTION

What is the scope of their involvement?

Allied Code custom-built a software for us, handling everything from development to QA, hosting, and ensuring the DevOps was running.

In terms of functionalities, the platform requires suppliers to upload all of their audit information to ensure they have completed the necessary audits to show that they are compliant. The platform also enables a dashboard and data so food distributors can manage their entire supply chain.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two members of Allied Code's team.

How did you come to work with Allied Code?

A former coworker referred Allied Code to me, and after looking at their work, I reached out to them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $1 million with them.

What is the status of the engagement?

We worked together from September 2015–November 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After Allied Code delivered the platform, we immediately sold it to about 40 major brands, resulting from its good performance and customer references.

How did Allied Code perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was terrific; Allied Code was very strategic with execution and willing to provide input, suggestions, and valuable ideas. Moreover, their communication was outstanding from all perspectives because they used JIRA to manage the project and Slack channels for communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Allied Code was the best I've ever seen; their team was good at execution, helping assess and determine timelines, and suggesting technology.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I didn't think there was anything they could improve on. We had great success because of them.

Any advice for potential customers?

Share as much as possible with them about your project so they can execute it properly.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder and CEO of Noms Bake Shop. We produce baked goods and sell corporate gifts

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Allied Code, and what were your goals?

We hired Allied code to develop our new website. Our goals were increased conversion, ease of use, and more functionality

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Troy had the most experience and I liked his planning style. He also brought the most to the table when it came to high-level strategy

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

Too large to fully describe here. We had a kickoff with our UI/UX team and mapped out the whole project. We originally anticipated this would take 6 to 8 months, but we ended up staying engaged for around 2 years due to our need for additional features. Troy joined us for weekly meetings and 1 on 1 meetings to give updates and answer questions

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

We worked with Troy, a project manager, and 1-3 additional developers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Website conversion doubled

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

Communication was prompt. They were logical and pragmatic. Deliverables for the initial project were met on time. As the project continued to grow as well as our demands, it became harder to meet our timeline

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

The strategy Troy brought to the project development

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

As the project size grew, we consistently needed more features. Managing our expectations on timelines towards the end could improve

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of Software Ops a mobile application firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Allied Code, and what were your goals?

We hired Allied Code to develop our cloud backend for several mobile projects through the years. We also leveraged their knowledge of software development on a consulting basis.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We have a personal long-standing relationship with Allice Code based upon their deep knowledge of advanced software development.

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

We used Allied Code to develop Ruby on Rails backend systems for complex mobile projects.

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

We've worked with 3 of the vendors team members over the years.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Allied Code always built Rails backends that meet or exceeded the design objectives of the platform. The systems worked as designed. That is a big plus for companies that need to hit market-driven timelines.

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

We didn't leverage Allied Codes project management.

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

They have highly skilled and knowledgeable team members that produce the desired outcomes.

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

I don't have suggestions at this time.