Buildable Custom Software

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the executive director of Stanford University School of Medicine, a healthcare center.

What challenge were you trying to address with Buildable Custom Software?

We didn’t have the internal resources to do software development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Buildable Custom Software is helping us build a software for a clinical trial for a grant-funded project of the American Heart Association. They do full stack development for a hypertension management platform, including an integrated system with the electronic medical records accessible through a web portal, allowing doctors to enroll patients into a disease management treatment program.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with around 20 different people at their organization, including Max (CEO & CTO), their head of business development, front- and backend developers, UI/UX designers, and a team of project managers.

How did you come to work with Buildable Custom Software?

We put out an RFP, and Buildable Custom Software was the best option for several reasons. They had significant expertise in building complex systems, were efficient communicators, were highly collaborative, answered our questions promptly, and could work with our budget.

How much have you invested in them?

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

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

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

According to our internal decision-making team, they met and exceeded our requirements for this project. Overall, they’ve been a phenomenal team to work with.

How did Buildable Custom Software perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been flexible in adjusting sprint schedules and scope through a consistent and communicative approach. Also, they’re always available, provide constant follow-up, and complete deliverables while ensuring that we accept everything before moving forward.

Their team is also good at setting expectations, building consensus, and ensuring that everyone is valued, including our stakeholders. Buildable Custom Software can also work with our other technical teams, including external software developers and engineers that we’ve brought on as consultants.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We feel confident in our relationship with them — we have a deep and trusting connection with their team. We see them as a direct collaborator with equal weight in the opinions and insights they provide for our project, from a technical perspective and usability, deployment, and implementation of the software they develop.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything they can improve on — every time they commit to doing something, they’ve been able to deliver and set expectations to maintain their position as a key contributor rather than only a service provider.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My organization is a development lab focused on the opportunities in the application market. My position runs the gambit, from project manager to launch strategist.

What challenge were you trying to address with Buildable Custom Software?

Although we didn’t think it would be a challenge at first, we were trying to address an issue around the database for a B2C app development opportunity. We went through a couple of exercises to identify how to treat a data environment that was not in a database form. Additionally, we had to create a backend engine that could take that data, work within some AI layers, and output it to a customer-friendly UI.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Buildable took part in the initial exercise to unravel what we were trying to do from a conceptual standpoint. We’d done a few dry runs in a data science environment and got oversight into what we were putting into the problem. Then, we bridged over to a marketplace solution, and we spent a lot of time with Buildable’s team to develop it.

I don’t know what technology was used. I’ve worked on a lot of projects, and I’ve stopped paying attention to platforms. One of the Achilles’ heels of the startup environment is that we use whatever technology is native to whomever we’re working with, and we've quickly found out that everyone has their own preferred platform. I know that we’re going to end up using the TestFlight platform, but that will be down the road.

What is the team composition?

Max (Founder & CTO) took part in the initial exercise. I don’t have a fixed team size. We’ve had a lot of Zoom meetings because of COVID-19, and there have been a lot of people behind the scenes that have never made it on the calls.

There have been at least six people visible in meetings, and I estimate that there are close to 12 involved in the project, including developers, designers, project leads, and project managers.

How did you come to work with Buildable Custom Software?

We’ve worked with a couple of development shops, and my partner and I always watch out for new developers.

We got a lead for Buildable from an adjunct project that my partner was working on. They knocked that project out of the park, so we thought that we were in the hands of a good company.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $450,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

The initial conversation with Buildable happened in late 2019, and we started working together in early 2020. We estimate to reach the app’s alpha phase in July 2021, and we’ll probably engage with Buildable on a legacy project as well, so we’ll be working with them for the foreseeable future.

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

This project’s success is measured by how carefully they listen to what we’re working on — this is something that Buildable is tremendously good at. There have been moments when something didn’t quite have the right look and feel and others where the project was drifting a bit from what we initially scoped out, and they’ve been very good at stopping and sorting things out.

Buildable has been good at understanding what we want and recognizing how far off we are from that, especially during the early stages, which was hugely critical. Once we commit to something, minor changes can be big changes on the backend. Buildable is very good at understanding that part of the development process, and we haven’t drifted too far from the calendar, either, which is phenomenal.

How did Buildable Custom Software perform from a project management standpoint?

Buildable is enormously good at placing budget-conscious bids, and they’ve done a phenomenal job of managing resources around unexpected changes.

In this type of business environment, the typical project lifecycle has an initial engagement where the parts rough out the idea. Then, they have a team retreat where all the principals get together in person to break the project down on the whiteboard. They do a few other exercises for 3–4 days to get all the features and define where they’re supposed to be for every part of the front and backend.

We didn’t have the luxury of doing that because we engaged right when COVID-19 started. We’ve had to manage the project entirely remotely, and none of us had had experience with a fully remote development process. However, Buildable has been very successful at handling that business shift.

Project management in a remote environment is one of the most challenging positions to be in. We’re trying to marry team resources that are spread across multiple projects. Buildable has managed to have our needs met without making us feel that we were losing speed, developers, or any other kinds of critical resources.

We have weekly meetings over Zoom, and we’ve had meetings over Microsoft Teams and other platforms as well. We were having technical issues with Microsoft Teams, so Buildable suggested moving to Zoom. They have a couple of project management tools and, whatever they’re using, they work well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Buildable’s ability to listen to the client and have that development ear during meetings is impressive. We were a little off-course in the beginning, and they could tell that we weren’t satisfied with the specifications for the app. They looped back as a team and listened to us, which is something hard to do. We thought that we were doing the right work, but we had to backtrack. In the end, we got good results.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve had to correct our course a few times, and something challenging for us was the calendar. The project manager was pushing for deadlines, which wasn’t appropriate in the early stages. We had a good scope of work and stack, but, when we got down to actually building it, there were places where we were drifting off.

This issue was no one’s fault, but we had to restart. The project manager wanted to get stuff done — that’s their job. However, it was a minor issue, and it self-corrected.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

One of the things that we did really well was going to Buildable with a mostly road-tested concept. We scoped out a lot of the functional parts, and we built a proof of concept (POC) with a data scientist.

Having that POC meant that we could jump in further down the road than someone who just had an idea for an app could have. That was a good place to start, but there were a lot of questions to answer about its viability in the marketplace.

When we came to Buildable, we were immediately introduced to the right people. Having a data scientist onboard fostered a lot more development in the pre-development stage than if we’d gone to them with 1–2 lines on a piece of paper.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the president of a geothermal energy company that specializes in data collection and the real-time broadcasting of drilling data to our clients all over the world.

For what projects/services did your company hire Buildable Custom Software, and what were your goals?

Our online real-time data broadcasting was built in the .net framework and broadcast our data using microsoft silverlight which only operated on the internet explorer browser. We needed to update our online platform to broadcast across all browsers and on all devices.

We hired Buildable to build, design, and maintain our new web platform for our data stream. Our goals were to go live with the first version of our site after 3 months and then make updates and add functionality to it in the following couple months.

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

Buildable had a strong reputation and was located in close geographic proximity our web design project manager. We figured this would allow for better communication and ultimately less hiccups in the process.

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

We had a few meetings to discuss the scope of work that we were requesting. From there, Buildable designed a comprehensive outline of their sprints and what could be expected from them.

Since Buildable was tasked with building a site that tied into our onsite data acquisition streams, the first step in the project was diving into our code and understanding how to design the site to fetch/recieve the JSON packets.

Secondly, they had to figure out how to design the real-time charting of our data to stream vertically (since this is an industry standard) rather than horizontally which is the more common type of charting.

Thirdly, Buildable had to develop a navigation menu that created different users and user groups that each had unique roles and permissions to access the data site. Each with their own specific login and password. Sprint 4 dealt with building out the web interface and the general layout of our data site.

It also dealt with the admin set up which allowed us as admins to create and manage new drilling wells and clients as needed. They also created a platform for us to upload PDF, word, and excel reports to be viewed online as needed.

Finally once these were all achieved, we underwent a testing period on the QA site before officially going live with our live streaming data on our website.

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

We worked with 5 members of the Buildable staff. A senior software engineer, two junior developers, a frontend designer, and a business development manager.

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

Our clients have given us pretty much nothing but good feedback on our new real-time data streaming site. They appreciate that we were able to bring it onto all browsers and like the way that it displays on different devices. Thanks to Buildable, we've added some new features from what we previously had and our clients seem to really appreciate those.

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

We had weekly standups with Buildable via Microsoft teams throughout the process. We used Jira and Loom to leave feedback on the issues we encountered during their design process.

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

I was very impressed with Buildable's ability to learn our program and make it integrate with their ideas on how to develop the web application. It was not an easy project but they did a great job meeting our requirements.

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

The only issue I really had with them was in meeting the deadlines of the first phase of the project. They were behind schedule on it due to some unforeseen challenges with our program(and due to the holiday season) but they were very forthcoming about expected timeline changes.

Ultimately they delivered everything a bit behind schedule but we were very pleased with the results.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a land surveying group.

What challenge were you trying to address with Buildable Custom Software?

We were looking for a technical partner that could help us organize our business through software. We had an existing custom solution and wanted someone to refine and further develop it.

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Buildable Custom Software is refining and developing our custom ERP solution, which will allow us to better manage our projects and resource plan. Essentially, the solution’s purpose is to run our business. It covers all things surrounding the projects that we have running through the firm. As projects scale, we’re able to track them from when we win the project to delivery.

Their team is also building a custom geographic information system (GIS) database application. With the app, we can geocode all of our projects individually onto a map, then leverage that information with different layers of data. 

What is the team composition? 

My two contacts are Max (Founder & CTO) and Jacob (Software Engineering Manager). Max deals with more of the high-level details to get the project off the ground, and then Jacob works with my team to execute. I’m sure there are more people involved, too.

How did you come to work with Buildable Custom Software?

It was through a very careful process. We’d had assessed a number of good companies when a well-respected consultant of ours recommended Buildable Custom Software. This individual knew their team and thought highly of them. That was a big deal for us. We weighed his comments heavily and took a shot with Buildable Custom Software.

How much have you invested with them?

To date, we’ve spent in the range of $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in July 2020, and the work is still ongoing.

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

The solution is still being built, so we haven’t started using it yet. Of course, I’ve seen prototypes during our discussions and have been very impressed so far. I also have an in-house project manager who’s heading this initiative. If my project manager is exceptionally happy with the work, then I consider the engagement to be a success. 

How did Buildable Custom Software perform from a project management standpoint?

Buildable Custom Software has been very solid on this front. Their documentation on statements of work (SoWs) has been tight, and they document everything in their two-week sprints with great detail.

What did you find most impressive about them?

As a CEO, it’s really important to me that they’re engaged with us — this was actually a huge reason for why we hired them. Max was engaged, and his team struck me as excited to help us solve some pretty significant challenges. If you couple their hard skills around technical coding with their soft skills around their level of care and engagement, you’ll get a winning combination.

I 100% do not feel like we’re just another project for them. They’re dead-serious and care about moving our project along so that we can use this powerful software.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Normally, there are always 1–2 things that can be improved with most companies. However, based on my personal experience, there’s nothing that I would say Buildable Custom Software needs to change.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

This applies to any company, but I would advise potential customers to have an internal person who acts as a go-between to execute the project. As I’ve alluded to, we have an in-house project manager who works deeply between my entire team and Buildable Custom Software. Having that internal point person can really help move these projects along.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior director of technology and innovation for a medical device company working in neuro diagnostics. We sell a device for the assessment of functional and structural brain injury. In my role, I’m responsible for all technology in the company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Buildable Custom Software?

We brought them on to outsource a portion of our software development activities.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have a rolling contract where I buy development time from them. Their developers are an extension of my development team. They support development resources for our internal web application, handling backend ERP support. I developed the initial architecture of the web platform with them. They use .NET core and Angular.

What is the team composition?

I work directly with Max (Founder & CTO) and Jacob (Software Engineering Manager). People on my team interfaced with their developers. Team composition has varied over the time of our engagement.

How did you come to work with Buildable Custom Software?

My company worked with them before I was hired. I didn’t even know that and rediscovered them because they were referred to us by our IT MSP. My team was working on the direct product, and I didn’t have the capacity to work on internal products.

I was referred to Max and he convinced me that his approach of using a .NET core was going to be better than using a Python backend for microservices. We did a small pilot with them and they performed so well that I dumped the other vendors and went with Buildable Custom Software.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started around May 2017.

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

Every statement of work had acceptance criteria and their deliverables always met them. When our requirements or needs changed, they were super responsive and delivered what we needed in very commendable timeframes.

I’ve had a very positive experience working with Buildable Custom Software. We architected the web solution together. They developed the solution per our design specifications and requirements and delivered everything we asked for in a timely fashion. They were responsive to our requests and maintained the operational deployment of the servers for us.

Our engagement isn’t a normal B2B engagement, we’re highly technical so I don’t leave the architecture and code design to them. I do it with them and direct them as an extension of my software team.

How did Buildable Custom Software perform from a project management standpoint?

There isn’t much project management involved from their end. We ensured we had the resources available and we did our sprint planning together to make sure those resources were made available to us to execute those sprints. We have a ticketing system where we create a product backlog and define sprints.

We cooperatively went through a sprint training session where they came up with a list of what’d go in the backlog. They agreed on it and locked it in the backlog. Then, we executed the sprint. We then did verification and validation to ensure it met our acceptance criteria and then it’d iterate again.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m most impressed with their attention to detail, dedication to the quality of their work, and responsiveness to our needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t have anything. They integrated very well with our development team. There’s been no friction.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Listen to their recommendations because they know what they’re talking about and have the customer’s interests first.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of information services at a self-insurance association.

What challenge were you trying to address with Buildable Custom Software?

We needed to create a software solution for an enterprise risk management (ERM) application.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The application Buildable created allows entities to thoroughly evaluate issues impacting their organization in order to make the best decisions possible. The application steps users through various considerations, including responsible and impacted parties, risks, opportunities, and action plans for mitigating/maximizing outcomes. We are able to create our own user-level reports against the database.

In terms of technology, they’re using a proprietary system they themselves developed, and they’ve shared the code base with us. In addition to Admin capabilities within the application, our developers are able to make small code changes independently, which was important to us.

What is the team composition?

We work with a project manager, main developer, and business analyst. Throughout the process, there have been three or four consistent team members, which has been nice.

How did you come to work with Buildable Custom Software?

We put out an RFP in conjunction with another self-insurance association we’re associated with. They had prior experience with Buildable, so they brought them in.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $110,000–$120,000, combined with the other association.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from January 2019–July 2020.

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

It’s not a heavily utilized application — it’s very specialized and we’re just now rolling it out to our membership. However, the feedback we have received so far has been positive.

How did Buildable Custom Software perform from a project management standpoint?

They have a really good methodology in terms of their sprints. Buildable is well-organized, and they’ve delivered everything on time. 

The team has dealt effectively with changes and communicated well when those changes impacted scope and cost. Most of our communication was done over emails and Zoom meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

One of the factors that made them very competitive price-wise was the fact that they had a platform established already. Because of that, we could see the foundation of the application. It also gave them an edge in terms of developing the solution in a timely fashion at a reasonable cost. 

We’re also impressed with their methodology and how organized their sprints were. Every month and week, they laid out what they were going to accomplish, and they stayed on target.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing I can think of. Buildable has been extremely responsive to all of our needs.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very clear about your requirements upfront. Buildable did a great job clarifying the requirements and eliciting details from us, but the process will go more smoothly if you have them upfront.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I serve on the board of Henderson House, an advocacy center and emergency shelter for survivors of domestic and sexual violence in Yamhill County, Oregon. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Buildable?

We had a very outdated website, so we needed a fully new website on a more user-friendly platform.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We requested a WordPress website with a fillable form, a translation plugin because a lot of our service recipients speak Spanish as a first language, a donations plugin, and a calendar functionality where our community could see the classes and events we had available. 

We provided them with a site map. Buildable then used WPBakery as the page builder, incorporated an M.E. Calendar plugin, and implemented a Donorbox plugin as well.

What is the team composition?

I worked with a frontend business teammate who did quoting and provided business-related information, a web designer, and a technical support teammate. 

How did you come to work with Buildable?

In December 2019, I began to explore what web developers were available to us locally. I met with three different design groups, and Buildable impressed me the most and gave me the most assurance that they’d be able to produce what we were looking for.

How much have you invested with them?

The original quote based on the site map we provided was between $7,500–$12,000. We ended up spending $8,367.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from July–September 2020.

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

We did a walk through with our staff, and they were enthusiastic. The website will serve as a tool for our staff to navigate resources and provide information to our clients. They were very happy with it. We believe that it’s exactly what we envisioned.

We had a goal of making up for some in-person fundraisers through a website reveal fundraiser, and we exceeded our financial goal ahead of time. To our knowledge, the website is hitting every mark.

How did Buildable perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management was fantastic. We felt that we were in good hands the whole time, and they were very responsive to our questions and requests.

Buildable delivered and built on our ideas, producing something that was even better than we had hoped. I was astonished by how quickly the website was built. I had weekly standup meetings with the web designer.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Buildable’s designers are well-versed in all of the tools that they use and it’s evident in what they create. I haven’t experienced any issues with the website, which has never happened to me before, so I have a lot of confidence in their technical team as well. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind. I was very happy with what they produced and how they produced it. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I had an advantage because I had gone through the process of building a website, so I knew that it would take a lot of time on the site map and the vision. I would advise customers to come in with a very good idea of what they need or want, which will be helpful for the process and, ultimately, the budget. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Tangeloo, an app that helps people who have their own gardens to trade their excess with other folks within their community. It’s designed to promote healthy eating, sustainability, and a reduction in food costs.

What challenge were you trying to address with Buildable?

We hired them to build an app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Buildable built our iOS and Android mobile app. They worked with us to lay out what they needed from our in-house designer. 

What is the team composition?

I worked with four teammates, including a project manager, developers, and a designer. 

How did you come to work with Buildable?

I've been working with them since they were under another name. I had done numerous projects with them, so I was comfortable with the team. Rather than going through the process of vetting different developers, I thought it would be easier to put my trust in them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $60,000–$70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

This part of the project lasted from April–August 2020. We’re going to wait about six months before beginning the second phase.

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

The feedback I’ve received from users is that the app is simple, fast, and user-friendly. Our main goal was for the app to be user-friendly for all age groups. Buildable understood what we were trying to achieve and was able to translate that.

How did Buildable perform from a project management standpoint?

Buildable did sprints, and each one was managed by the project manager. Their project management was great. We had weekly communication with them, and sometimes more than weekly.

In the beginning, we communicated daily with them, and it was great. Every time I had a question, I would reach out to Buildable and they would answer promptly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their passion was very impressive. The whole team was passionate about the project and was excited about doing the work. Seeing their passion brought back our initial excitement, which I don’t think I would’ve gotten from a different team.

What I liked about Buildable was that they didn’t sugarcoat anything; it was either yes or no. Whether the news was good or bad, they delivered it, which is how I operate. I appreciated their knowledge, passion, and honesty. I also appreciated their forthcomingness and ability to tell me what the best solution was.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind. It was a seamless and collaborative process. I would recommend them to anyone who wants to develop an app because I was pleased with their work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

In order to be successful, know what you want and prioritize that based on your budget. You have to work backward by understanding your topmost priorities.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of IT for a wholesale distributor of waterworks products.

What challenge were you trying to address with Buildable Custom Software?

We started using an electronic takeoff program, which allows users to conduct takeoffs electronically. We needed an integration between our ERP and estimation software package.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Buildable led a discovery phase when they learned what we needed. Their team then created mockups of the screens, wireframes, and workflows prior to the development.

They developed an integration between our ERP and our estimation software. Products flagged in our ERP are exported and delivered to a network storage location. The products are then a plugged-in to PlanSwift, which is our estimation software. A plug-in will retrieve information based on a selected branch to import product and price information. The solution also features a search plug-in that allows users to search for products needed for the takeoff. Once the takeoff’s complete, there’s a way to submit it back into our ERP using an API.  

What is the team composition?

I communicated with a project manager and a developer, but other engineers worked on the project too.

How did you come to work with Buildable Custom Software?

My colleague conducted the search and narrowed our options to three potential partners. We had interviews and after theirs, Buildable created a semi-functional mockup of their idea, which was impressive.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $50,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our partnership in January 2020, and Buildable completed the deliverables in June. Since then, we’ve had a couple of engagements to add features and make fixes. There will probably be another phase for advanced feature development.

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

The discovery phase was great. That was definitely helpful because we discovered areas that we hadn’t thought through and then made those decisions up front. The product works well, and we’re happy.

How did Buildable Custom Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated by email and had video calls. We had weekly standup meetings when we talked about progress and answered questions. That cadence worked well, and the project was on time and budget. They have a support platform for entering tickets. Their team was easy to reach. If we had questions, they were responsive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team’s competent. They quickly understood our problem and then created a design to solve it. Buildable was quick and waited on us to provide our deliverables. The code was solid, and their team conducted good QA. I don’t remember experiencing bugs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I was completely happy with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Follow their lead during the discovery phase. Their discovery, mockups, and workflows saved us a lot of time.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Heyke Kirkendall-Baker: I’m the president of Parity Software.

Steve Baker: I’m the CEO of Parity Software.

What challenge were you trying to address with Buildable Custom Software?

HKB: Working with another company, we were behind schedule and over budget. We stopped selling our software because it wasn't where it needed to be. We needed to hire another agency to get the project back on track and get our program to the point where we could sell it again.

What was the scope of their involvement?

SB: Our company initially made the software, which Buildable made easier for our customers to use.  The software allows employers to meet ongoing issues with pay equity at the state and national levels.

We provided them with specifications as well as access to our different accounts and servers.

HKB: I also gave them a PowerPoint to demonstrate the look and feel that I wanted.

SB: Buildable made significant changes to the UI, making it more familiar to our customers. For example, if you’re used to using Microsoft Word, you don’t want your program to look like a dull space program. Their team implemented more advanced reporting and feedback loops for our customers.

What is the team composition?

HKB: We primarily worked with four people from their team. There were a project manager and a developer. We also worked with Max (President).

SB: Another developer and a customer success teammate supported this project too.

How did you come to work with Buildable Custom Software?

HKB: I searched online for companies with UI and project management experience because our previous vendor didn’t have a manager to keep our project on track. I found a website and reached out to about five different companies. Within about 30 minutes, I received a response from Miles (Business Dev Expert). Buildable was the only company that responded in a timely manner. Miles wanted to schedule a meeting and learn more about the project. We met with the owner and Miles to describe our project and then decided to move forward with them.

How much have you invested with them?

HKB: We’ve spent about $35,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

HKB: We started our engagement with Buildable on this project in December 2019.

SB: Phase one is complete, wrapping up in June 2020. We’re currently working on what the next big phase will be.

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

SB: Their knowledge about current technologies and software development helped to produce a platform that looks like a 2021 product. Max’s background in database design was useful. Their team delivered what we wanted.

They were able to accept our ideas and turn them into working software. Buildable is one of the few companies that we’ve met that can understand non-software engineers when it comes to product definition and design.

HKB: Our previous vendor spoke over my head because I’m not a technical person. Buildable listened and translated my ideas, which isn’t always the easiest task. They also consistently checked in to make sure that their team understood what I wanted the platform to capture. Their team paid attention to my thoughts, which is the primary reason that we continue with them.

How did Buildable Custom Software perform from a project management standpoint?

SB: Buildable has a sensible and intelligent approach. A lot of people have good ideas but not a lot of people have access to senior engineers to run ideas through them.

HKB: Their project management was exceptional. We had standup meetings on a weekly basis. Their team would tell us what they accomplished last week and what they intended to accomplish in the coming week. They were on target.

SB: We used Zoom to communicate. They run an Agile-based system with sprints, so they’re on top of the project.

Buildable also used tools to design UIs and flows. They had a system that we used to track issues. Their team responded through the system too.

What did you find most impressive about them?

SB: Their team did what they told us they would do upfront. If they fell short, their team made up for it without charge. If we found a bug, they recognized the issue and fixed it.

We pushed their engineering team, which excited them. Buildable wanted to be a part of our success.

HKB: Their ability to communicate with individuals without computer or software experience was also crucial.

Are there any areas they could improve?

SB: I’m sure there are areas for improvement. But, they did what they said they were going to do. Our project was complicated, but the end result was good. We still have a good relationship.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

SB: Tell them what you want. Their team will tell you what they can and can’t do, so be brutally honest.

We told them what we wanted, what we could afford, and what we didn’t want to happen. Then, their team told us what they could do. If we hid the ball, we wouldn’t have gotten the end result that we wanted.

HKB: Be prepared to engage with them. If you don’t engage in the standup meetings, the project won’t be as successful.