Bluegrass Digital

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work as the digital content editor for an engineering company that caters to the oil, gas, and energy sector.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bluegrass Digital?

We hired them to help us with the revamp of our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Bluegrass Digital provided the build for the new website. They built the website based on an existing design and developed several components, including an Umbraco CMS that allowed our editors to easily access the site, as well as make changes, create new pages, and update the content. Now, they’re providing maintenance support for the website.

What is the team composition?

I mainly work with three dedicated people from their team.

How did you come to work with Bluegrass Digital?

They managed our previous website, so we decided to hire them for this new project since we already had an established and positive relationship with their team.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between £30,000–£40,000 (approximately $40,000–$50,000 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in December 2020, and our engagement is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We got a lot of positive comments about our new website and recently won Gold awards for web design and B2B websites. This industry recognition just goes to show how good of a website the Bluegrass Digital team helped us build.

How did Bluegrass Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

We’re satisfied with their project management — their team always meets deadlines and stays within budget. They use Jira to keep track of tasks, but we’ve also been using our in-house software to manage the work.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re really impressed with how easy it is to work with them.

Are there any areas they could improve on?

They should expand their team because I feel like they’re scrambling whenever there are too many tasks.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Explain clearly and in detail what needs to be done, so that they’ll be able to do a good job.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Chief Data & Analytics officer and co-founder of PayJustNow. A Buy Now Pay Later service built by South Africans for South Africans. Enabling consumers to shop without fees or interest in the South African retail and services sectors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Bluegrass Digital, and what were your goals?

We wanted to create a mobile application that a broader spectrum of merchants could use to be able to offer Buy Now Pay Just Now to their customers without significant investment in web development or POS integration. Broadening accessibility of our active consumer base to SME retail and service brands. To build the app that acts as intuitively as our consumer app and gives the merchant an end to end view of the transaction flow. From onboarding new consumers, processing a sale to daily cash ups and executing a refund.

SOLUTION

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

Bluegrass Digital operates from the same building as us and they have been known in our network. Their reputation for diligence and extraordinary attention to detail on projects was the main factor and their proximity to us made sense when we were elbows deep in the project.

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

The brief was to close out an agile project and build a native application on Android, IOS & Harmony OS on the React Native platform. Once the brief was delivered they patiently stood by until we could deliver the API endpoints and wireframes with our design considerations. The team then took it on and were integral in highlighting some feature opportunities we had missed and within agreed timeframes delivered a sandbox version for AUT purposes across all the OS's. After which they completed the OS registration process and published the PROD versions to the various stores.

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

Matthew was the project point of contact but the nuance of having a team of developers actively working together in both companies made it really easy, as Simon and his team had direct access and contact with our backend developers that built and served the API as well as our design team that provided the UI/UX and wireframes.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The PayUp app has given us a competitive advantage, which is critical in the fintech space in our market.

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

all stakeholders were 100% read in, all of the time. We had most of the running conversations in a project-specific slack channel and we had regular standups and in-person meetings with the team throughout the project.

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

Bluegrass has a broad spectrum team each with complementary skills at the top of their game in their field. The start to finish process was made all that much easy as they took the time to understand our goals and openly shared contrasting opinions on some of our initial assumptions. This agile and immersive approach has teed them up for more work with PayJustNow and we are already briefing them on the 1st of our next two projects.

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

Nothing comes to mind.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a global skincare business, Union Swiss.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bluegrass Digital?

We have a global distribution network, so we’re in 155 countries. In every one of those markets, an independent company handles our marketing and distribution. We needed a platform or channel through which we could communicate with our distributors. We wanted a pioneering solution.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We briefed Bluegrass Digital on the project. As we knew what we wanted, we directed the design and wireframing processes. Their team then began coding the product.

They developed the app for Android and iOS devices. As a communication-oriented platform, their team built features to allow users to post images, copy, and videos. After the app’s initial launch, they added features. We’re still making changes as we move along.

The product enables us to share our work on a global scale and enables our distributors to show their work. It allows us to connect, inspire, and motivate one another.

What is the team composition?

The team’s composition depends on the project's stage. In the beginning, we worked with their solutions strategist. He helped us finalize the wireframes and design. Once they began to code, our technical team directly worked with their developers. There were also QA analysts on the project at another point.

How did you come to work with Bluegrass Digital?

We researched potential partners and then shortlisted three app development agencies. Those agencies submitted proposals, and we selected Bluegrass Digital.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent R 2 million ZAR (approximately $133,600 USD) on the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in March 2020, and we launched the app in August 2020. We’re still working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re a top-notch business. We made the right choice by selecting them as a partner. Their caliber and approach to business align with ours. I only have the highest praise for Bluegrass Digital and their contributions to our business. They’re highly skilled.

How did Bluegrass Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

We always understand where we respectively stand. They’re good at staying on track from time and cost perspectives. They’re flexible and accommodate how we like to work. It’s been a great experience working with them.

Any technology development project has its bugs. When you’re live, bugs need to be quickly fixed. When we come up against challenges, the communication has been phenomenal.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Having an external partner working on the app has been brilliant. When we need to adapt the platform to add value, they’re accommodating. In the early days, businesses have to try to understand one another. We easily found ways of working with each other. They’re committed and invested in their work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of any areas for improvement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They have many South African and international clients. That was important to us because we’re a global business too. They’re a company that’s able to compete with the best of the best around the world.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Digidex is a startup developing an on-demand business networking app. At the moment, it’s under development and will be launched around April–May 2021.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bluegrass Digital?

We approached Bluegrass Digital to design our app’s UX/UI.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I created process flows and amateur UI/UX examples to give Bluegrass an idea of our vision. I used Excel and created a functional requirements document that I sent to Bluegrass. I also gave them a color scheme for the product.

Bluegrass then established a team that moved my amateur wireframes in Excel onto Figma. Their team helped structure the platform, ensuring its flow was logical. For example, they established what would happen if users clicked specific buttons. Their team then moved onto the UI phase. They created a theme, colors, and buttons. Their team basically gave the app its look and feel. I

The app's goal is to replace business cards. It'll link with companies' internal systems and enable networking.

What is the team composition?

I initially engaged them in April 2020 and the project bounced around until May. After about two and a half months, the main people allocated to the project were Matt (Digital Analytics & Online Marketing Consultant), Darryn (UI/UX Designer), and a project manager.

How did you come to work with Bluegrass Digital?

I searched online for developers around Cape Town and found 15–20 different agencies. At the end of the day, it came down to 2–3 development agencies that had the right balance of skills for this project. After I approached them, I spoke to a sales consultant at Bluegrass who showed me apps their team previously built. Compared to the other shortlisted companies, Bluegrass had the greatest number of apps with functionalities similar to the ones I wanted my app to have.

How much have you invested with them?

I spent roughly $15,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

I contacted them in April 2020, and their team completed the design in December 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

For roughly two and a half months, Bluegrass made promises but didn’t deliver. I escalated the problems to the company’s leadership. From that point onward, the experience was much better. Bluegrass allocated the right people to the project, and they salvaged it.

The part of the team that designed my app was very strong. They not only listened but also took the product onboard and made it their own. Their team diplomatically challenged and questioned my ideas to make the platform better. I knew that those guys were invested in the product, which I liked.

When it comes down to the look and feel of the prototype, it’s exactly what we told them we wanted. They used the right color schemes, buttons, and theme. It looks professional and casual, which was the look we wanted for the app.

How did Bluegrass Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

After the project was handed to the designers and the project manager, they provided a breakdown of the process with milestones and costs. We initially had meetings twice a week and then reduced them to once a week. Each week, they came back with another finalized portion of the app. If required, we made tweaks here and there. We primarily used Microsoft Teams, but I also communicated with the project manager on the phone.

Their project manager was no-nonsense. There were a couple of times when I had to use links for demonstrations with investors, but the links didn’t work. I called the project manager who talked with Darryn and five minutes later, the links worked. This was at 8 p.m. too. The project manager drove that team hard. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team possesses a broad base of knowledge. They have many team members who can contribute a lot. Their back-office team also performed well. Once the project coordinator took my project from their sales department, the project went smoothly. Their project management skills separated them from other teams. Even from the beginning, their non-development team was a well-run machine. That can make or break a project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They need to focus on the initial part of the sales funnel. Bluegrass could lose a lot of business if clients have to go through the same sales process that I experienced. They also need to benchmark their prices because there are many development companies in South Africa.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Give them a bit of leeway to ask questions. Once their team understands your goals, they can provide brilliant ideas because it’s their field of expertise.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I run finance and operations for a company that does online publishing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bluegrass Digital?

It's been a long standing relationship, and they’ve helped us with various projects to do with web development and IT.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Bluegrass Digital has done WordPress development for us and has built campaign sites. At some points, they also did our cloud and hosting services. They’ve assisted with setting up new users and managing email accounts and on and off consulting when we need it.

Additionally, they built a mobile app for iOS and Android and they provided consulting services on that matter. We had a clear idea of what we wanted, but the team would give us suggestions on what would and wouldn’t work.

What is the team composition?

Nick (Founder & MD) is my main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Bluegrass Digital?

Nick’s brother works on the South African side of our company, which is how we knew about Bluegrass Digital.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent more than $500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I joined the company in August 2020, but the partnership began in about 2007. It’s still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The site speed and ad loading speed of the app are excellent. I can’t complain about anything because everything has worked as they said it would. 

How did Bluegrass Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

At the beginning, they gave us a detailed project scope broken up into phases. It’s a hands-on approach in terms of having the MD himself on the project. Their support is amazing, and they always get back to us with a ticket. 

Bluegrass Digital is very methodical and always gives us a very concise and considered answer, even if it’s not necessarily what we want to hear. They’re very good with communication and letting us know where we are.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a personal element about them. It doesn’t feel like when you go to a big tech company where you’re one of many customers; it’s almost like we’re part of the family.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind. My experience with them has been good.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you go in with a clear idea of what you want to achieve, that’s half of the work done. That will help to keep your cost down and will be a good starting point for Bluegrass Digital to work on the project.

You can also brainstorm with them, but that will be more expensive. It depends on your budget. Additionally, make sure that the team understands what you want to achieve so that they can help you optimize it.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Eyona is a tech company that creates global software solutions for the FMCG industry, predominately in the liquor and restaurant space.

We own and create all our software and our competitive advantage is our capability to disrupt all B2B business processes that drive sales, holding businesses and their partners accountable.

Innovation is at the core of our culture; we employ only the best; and our passion is to delight all our customers through our products and services. I am the Chief Technical Officer at Eyona.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Bluegrass Digital?

We approached Bluegrass Digital as our app development partner, to support us with the UX design thinking for the new Repforce mobile app and to develop the app using React Native technology.

What were your goals for this project?

Our Repforce product, empowers company sales teams and workforces, by enabling them to manage call routing, survey data, customised reporting tools and sales ordering capabilities and helps to improve the team’s sales performance.

Repforce is the benchmark liquor software product within South Africa and our main goal was to retain our competitive advantage, through new features, whilst improving the app user experience so that our customers enjoy using the app every single day.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We had heard that Bluegrass was the leading React Native development company in South Africa, having developed many apps in this technology for other leading apps.

Describe the project in detail.

We’d initially undertaken a design phase with another company, which we weren’t that happy about. Bluegrass was on boarded and immediately challenged the UX and the designs supplied and improved them.

Once we were all happy with the improved UX designs, the project followed a time and materials (T&M) approach and through an iterative process, Bluegrass developed the app, including integrating with the Repforce API, and tested the app end to end to ensure a high quality standard, before submitting to the App Stores.

What was the team composition?

The project was led and overseen by a Bluegrass product owner and included two React Native developers and supported by a QA resource.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The Bluegrasss team were able to demonstrate progress throughout the project and their detailed time logging reports allowed us to keep track of the original project estimates vs the actual time spent, on a weekly basis.

The project did come in over budget, however their rigorous project management process ensured that our expectations were well managed throughout – no surprises.

The new Repforce app has allowed our end customers to really transform their own business sales processes and has allowed us to steal some of our competitors big name brand customers. This mobile application is now the benchmark software product for the liquor industry.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We followed the Bluegrass ways of working for this project, using Invision during the design stage for easy commenting and tracking of designs changes; Slack we used for quick and easy comms between our teams; and Jira was used to manage and track the project development progress.

Their product owner provided frequent updates and recommendations which allowed for changes to be made while keeping to the timelines agreed.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Bluegrass didn’t just action and complete upon our instructions and tasks given but rather they stepped forward as a true partner and shared their views and recommendations on how to improve the project in ways that benefitted both the end user and our business.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We are truly impressed with the way the project was managed, we find no room for improvement at this stage.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

PosTrack is a trade intelligence solution. It allows fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands to track their retail execution around new product launches to boost sales. Our solution has a backend and a mobile-app side that allows customers to create campaigns and build bulk QR codes that are applied to the units. As those leave the factories and get placed, someone scans the unit using the mobile app, geotags it, and answers questions about its condition and placement.

The company is made up of just myself, and I have freelance people assisting me.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bluegrass Digital?

We went to them to develop our product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I worked with another developer to get the first version of the product out, including the backend and the mobile app. It as a rough guideline, but it was incredibly poorly designed, and not sustainable from a code perspective. The project with Bluegrass involved rebuilding the scope.

They had a framework to work with, and I took the lead in terms of best practices on coding and outcomes. They gave me suggestions regarding the aesthetics, from a user journey perspective. They worked with my approval and collaboration, but the development was pretty much in their hands.

Bluegrass helps me with DevOps and AWS hosting as well. They also assisted with the backend Laravel web console. The most recent release of the mobile app was done for iOS and Android. It was built in React Native and used by our client brands to track what’s happening in retail spaces.

What is the team composition?

They had a team of 2–3 people working on the backend. On the mobile app side, there was one digital strategist, one core developer, and 1–2 project managers.

How did you come to work with Bluegrass Digital?

I found them through a friend in the industry who's more involved with DevOps and assisted me on a freelance basis. He’d worked with Bluegrass on another project and held them in high regard.

How much have you invested with them?

I’d put it in the region of 1,000,000 South African Rand (approximately $59,200 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started discussions earlier, but we started moving properly in November 2018. Our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It's still early, so we don't have any hard metrics as this point. Anecdotally, their expertise across the business spans from backend engineering to mobile app development. I found their development processes and final product very strong. They greatly improved the work that my original dev house delivered. 

How did Bluegrass Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

From a process point of view, they’re able to coordinate the project across multiple team members using tools like Jira. They’re quite thorough with documenting their time, gathering feedback on each ticket, and subsequently moving those in the backlog into different processes. I found the sequential nature of their processes to be quite good.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their project management skills very much stood out.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I raised an issue with them regarding billing. There were times when I didn't have much visibility into their budget management process. This ended up not being an issue because they completed the work under budget. However, I would've appreciated seeing the billables listed earlier. 

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Based on my experience, Bluegrass is very much a mobile app dev house. They managed to handle our backed work as well, but I don’t think that's their core skillset.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a digital marketing agency, specifically focusing on email marketing, CRM, database management and mobile marketing solutions. I started at Digital Fire 13 years ago when it was a startup. I've assisted the previous owner in building the company and in July 2019 I acquired the business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Bluegrass Digital?

Whenever we need development work for our clients, we always turn to Bluegrass Digital. One of our big clients was after a very specific solution and we knew this was out of our scope internally. Bluegrass was able to build the e-commerce website the client was after and able to deliver on client’s requirements and expectations.

What were your goals for this project?

To provide our client with the best possible e-commerce solution that will meet and exceed their expectations.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were referred to us by a business partner about 9/10 years ago.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They were asked to create an intuitive e-commerce solution and propose a suitable CMS platform which allows the client to personalize their sales offering. Digital Fire assisted client with the idea and concept, where after Bluegrass completed the design and development work on the Episerver platform. Bluegrass also completed all Quality Assurance testing and managed the project in collaboration with Digital Fire.

What was the team composition?

We deal with Nick (MD) or Mark (Operations Director), who oversee our projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Unfortunately I cannot give you specific stats, as that is confidential, but I do know our client was very happy and satisfied with the final project and the suggestions Bluegrass made to improve the overall e-commerce site.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Great! This is one of the reasons we always come back to them. They are timely and professional and you always know where you stand and where we are in a specific project, they are transparent in their approach and we appreciate that. They are easy to work with and always willing to walk the extra mile to deliver.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their positive can-do attitude is great. They listen, create, and execute within the agreed time and budget, which is rare these days.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nothing springs to mind, we’ve only had positive experiences with them previously.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I worked as a Product Manager for international payments at a company that offers education loans.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Bluegrass Digital?

We worked with both mobile developers and product owners from Bluegrass Digital to supplement our in-house team. We chose them specifically for their knowledge of React Native, the language we used to develop our mobile app.

What were your goals for this project?

We had a long list of features that our customers needed to effectively make international payments. These included a repayment calculator, subscription payments, and a page to update account details.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We selected Bluegrass Digital for their close proximity to our own offices (in Cape Town) and their expertise in React Native. They were quite flexible with working styles and quickly stepped into our agile development cycle.

Describe the project in detail.

This was an ongoing retainer more than project-based work.

What was the team composition?

We had 2-4 in-house developers working with 1-2 Bluegrass developers. I acted as the Product Manager overseeing the work, while a Product Owner from Bluegrass embedded in the team to work with them day-to-day.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our international payments app - specifically the features that we developed together - has been widely adopted by our customer base. We saw spikes in usage of such features as contact details updates and the repayments calculator.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

As effective as it can be when you've got two different companies working together to implement a single project.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their ability to assess the needs of our project and dive in with little context set them apart.

Are there any areas for improvement?

It would have helped me if the folks from Bluegrass would have introduced more structure to the project; outlining timelines and deliverables for the team.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and owner of Digital Fire and several other United Kingdom and South Africa-based businesses. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bluegrass Digital?

I needed a quality software development and production house to work with some of our medium and large clients. We had a very big client that we needed to satisfy, so we brought them on to assist with some of the requirements.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In these development projects, they worked through our company or directly with our client, depending on our needs and the scope of the project. For some projects, we would provide examples of similar solutions to guide their thinking and development. Other times, they were tasked with creating a solution completely from scratch. Notably, they worked often with Umbraco, doing CRM work for us. 

What is the team composition?

I dealt directly with Nick (Founder, Bluegrass Digital) who was in charge of staffing developers to my projects and overseeing progress. 

How did you come to work with Bluegrass Digital?

One of their partners reached out to me, explaining what they handle. At the time, my company was being asked to do more and more for clients within the realm of development. I saw an opportunity to bring them on as a partner. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $250,000–$500,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the relationship in 2010, and our teams are still collaborating. I’m looking to do more work with their team for my other companies.   

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They always followed through on what they promised, working with up-to-date technology. They never produced anything that we were less than 100% satisfied with. I’ve been very happy with this partnership.  

How did Bluegrass Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

The reason we continue to use their services was their exceptional project management services. We work with clients from around the world, but they were always able to manage the project efficiently from their location in Cape Town.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They understood the quality of work that we needed and delivered on time. We’ve worked on great projects together. Their ability to implement within our technological requirements and strict timeframes was impressive. They also exhibited a clear understanding of our market.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything that they could’ve done differently. They’ve always delivered on time and accomplished what we’ve asked of them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you provide a strong, clear brief that details exactly what you want to achieve. The more work you do before the start of the engagement, the more smoothly the process will be.