Caxy Consulting

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and founder of BatesMeron Sweet Design, a boutique branding and marketing agency in Chicago.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Caxy Interactive?

We have clients with complex web and app needs beyond our scope of expertise, so we use Caxy to help us. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We conduct discovery calls and kickoff meetings with Caxy to scope out projects. Hannah (Managing Director of Operations) manages the projects and creates plans and timelines. She lets us know our key dates and works on keeping everything organized. She works in tandem with our project manager to ensure things run smoothly. 

Most of what Caxy works on are custom-built websites from scratch. We generally handle the design work. When it comes to animations, we show them examples of how we want something to turn out. They then take the lead to make things happen for us. 

Two project examples come to mind. We’ve had a client requesting a website where users can click products and compile them in a PDF-downloadable catalog with their logo on the front. Another client has requested an app showing where their products are on a map and when they will be delivered to them. Caxy has worked on both of these projects. 

What is the team composition?

We have direct contact with Mike (Founder & CEO) and Hannah. We’ve worked with many programmers on various projects, though our main contacts remain Mike and Hannah. 

How did you come to work with Caxy Interactive?

I met Mike through a professional organization. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $200,000

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with Caxy in September 2008, and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Caxy has respect for design. Other web firms often push back against designers if the designs don’t fit how they do things. By contrast, the Caxy team bends over backward to respect the original design concepts. 

On top of that, they have great attention to detail. They never embarrass me; our clients never say that we miss something. Caxy is thorough and great at what they do. They give me the confidence to sell what they do and deliver. This helps us retain happy clients. 

Moreover, other firms charge us five times more than what Caxy charges. In other words, they provide great value; we’ve always received tremendous value from Mike and his team. 

How did Caxy Interactive perform from a project management standpoint?

I truly love Caxy’s excellent project management structure. Other web companies don’t have much structure. By contrast, Hannah has been amazing as she manages our projects. Their timelines have also been excellent. They’re upfront, and we always know what we’re getting. 

In terms of tools, we use Basecamp. Hannah sends recap emails at the end of every week, which is nice. To communicate, we use phone calls; we video chat using Google Meet and Teams. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re smart — they’re the smartest group of people I’ve worked with; they can figure anything out. If you want to make something happen, they’ll make it happen.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. Caxy does a fantastic job for us, so I have no complaints. Since I have a direct relationship with their CEO, I can simply pick up the phone and call him if we encounter any issues. They take care of the issues right away. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Go in with an open mind. What you think you need might not be what you truly need. If you have a problem, take it to Caxy and let them make suggestions. In many instances, a client tells us they need an app, and Caxy provides a better solution for them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a technology program of a larger not-for-profit that provides online professional development to K-12 educators and staff of social services agencies that serve adults and children with disabilities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Caxy Interactive?

We interact with our member agencies, schools, and social services agencies through an online portal. We were in our third generation of that online portal, and it had really run out of gas. The technology stack was outdated, and it began to get overwhelmed by users. We knew it was time for a clean start.  

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our goal with Caxy Interactive was to reimagine and replace that online portal. We were looking for a streamlined user experience. We had received feedback that our site wasn’t easy to use, so we wanted to create a scalable architecture that could grow with us. We also wanted to ensure the system would be reliable.

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact was Hannah (Managing Director of Operations).

How did you come to work with Caxy Interactive?

We met Caxy Interactive through our previous vendor and board member.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $400,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the discovery process in November 2019, and then began development in January 2020. The website launched in July 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We achieved our usability, reliability, and scalability goals. Our users' feedback has been very positive, and they’re commenting on the user experience and reliability. With our old site, we were having crashes all of the time, which isn’t happening at all now. COVID-19 has driven additional traffic to our business. We’ve seen a 40% increase in daily traffic.

How did Caxy Interactive perform from a project management standpoint?

The project was managed with excellence. Caxy Interactive is an agile shop, so we used those tools. We used Jira to manage sprints. Our project manager did an excellent job of managing resources and running the project in a structured way.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Within a few weeks of the discovery process, their team managed to get into our heads to understand what we were trying to accomplish. We do have some unique complexities, but their team figured them out quickly and translated that into design and development work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we were incredibly satisfied with the process and outcome.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Invest your time in the discovery process to ensure that the set of requirements for the project are detailed.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a futures exchange company in the financial industry. Although I’m currently a compliance officer, I was in operations when I worked with Caxy.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Caxy Interactive?

We had two challenges when we hired Caxy. We needed to build a website and an onboarding application for our members.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The scope for the website development project involved building the platform from start to finish. Our marketing team gave them ideas, so it was a collaborative process.

For the onboarding application, they helped with the design work. The platform acts as a repository for the information collected from onboarded members. We wrote what we needed to ask members and the information we needed to capture, and then Caxy designed the process and made it interactive. Their team helped build the frontend, backend, and database. They did all of the development work.

What is the team composition?

Between 3–4 people worked on the project. However, I mostly interacted with Hannah (Managing Director of Operations & People) and Josh (Managing Director of Technology).

How did you come to work with Caxy Interactive?

One of our affiliates recommended Caxy.

How much have you invested with them?

We probably spent over $200,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started around March 2019, and we worked with them through the beginning of 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our measure of success was the project’s completion. We definitively received what we wanted. The website and the application are up.

How did Caxy Interactive perform from a project management standpoint?

During development, their team was helpful with the design too. They let us know what was possible. Their project management was excellent. They were transparent and great communicators. We mostly communicated via phone and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their attentiveness and collaboration were among their strongest qualities.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t think there were opportunities for improvement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open to their ideas and suggestions because they’re the experts. Their team has knowledge to bring to the table.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a Product Owner at Alaska Satellite Facility (“ASF”), part of the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. ASF is a NASA archive of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data from a variety of satellites and aircraft. We provide data and associated specialty support services to researchers in support of NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) project. ASF downlinks, processes, archives, and distributes remote-sensing data to scientific users around the world and participates in the advancement of remote sensing to support national and international Earth science research, field operations, and commercial applications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Caxy Interactive?

A new website needing additional outside staffing resources to complete the site for go-live followed by continued support.

What were your goals for this project?

A successful launch of a new ASF website.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Caxy Interactive was highly recommended to ASF. We had several conversations to determine fit with ASF and how Caxy could support our mission with the new website.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

ASF created a new website and engaged with Caxy Interactive for the creation of an alternating day/night header, carousel, and many other website improvements, plus site maintenance, and support through going live and continue to use their services through today. The team was very involved and was essentially the Website team.

What was the team composition?

I worked with Hannah, Josh, and Jordan on an almost daily basis and they pulled in additional resources as needed behind the scenes.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Due to Caxy Interactive’s support and all-in attitude, ASF went live with our website weeks before the designated go-live date.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The Caxy team was highly responsive. We held meetings to sync up on progress, and we communicated regularly through MatterMost and email. They frequently replied to our messages and worked on our project many times late at night and on weekends.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Caxy Interactive’s team was responsive to questions and changes that surfaced from our Agile environment. They never complained and would jump into issues until a resolution was found. Hannah, Josh, and Jordan often went above and beyond in achieving our end goals. We fully trusted “our” Caxy team to responsively find solutions that were in the best interest of ASF. They truly felt like part of the team.

Are there any areas for improvement?

More sprint reviews would have been helpful for direct conversation and status input.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of Wind Creek Hospitality. We run casinos and hotels in Alabama and the Caribbean, and we also offer websites and games that allow people to gamble online.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Caxy Interactive?

One of our websites lacked the infrastructure to support a significant number of users. When more than 120 users play games on the site, the page load time would increase to 30 seconds and cause massive timeouts in the backend’s microservice architecture. We engaged Caxy Interactive to update our website to support more concurrent users. 
 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Caxy Interactive helped us build load testing into the site. We ran tests with a given number of simulated users and then evaluated the results using various logging systems. Their team worked with us to identify bottlenecks and correct those areas.

The iterative process lasted until we hit a point where we could no longer improve on areas within the existing site’s foundation. Our newly ramped-up internal staff then worked alongside Caxy Interactive to rebuild small pieces of our site as microservices. As a result, we revamped the website, fixing issues that affect our end user without throwing away years of previously developed new features.

What is the team composition?

We worked with four people every day: a project manager and three developers. They pulled in additional resources as needed behind the scenes.

How did you come to work with Caxy Interactive?

Our company found Caxy Interactive right before I joined the team. We had another project with another development firm and had asked them if they had the capabilities to fix our website issues. The vendor directed us to Caxy Interactive, which led to a conversation with their team.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $300,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2017. The project finished in May 2018, and Caxy Interactive provides ongoing maintenance.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In testing, the site can now support up to 10,000 concurrent users. In practice, we regularly see about 3,000 concurrent users and over 14,000 daily active users (DAUs). We now can scale up our site and support future growth, thanks to Caxy Interactive’s efforts.

Caxy Interactive continues to support our site with our internal team. We’ve also begun another project with them to build a booking engine that allows visitors to book hotel rooms on our website. We’re looking to launch the engine soon.

How did Caxy Interactive perform from a project management standpoint?

The team was highly responsive. We held weekly meetings to sync up on progress, and we communicate regularly through Slack and email. They frequently replied to our messages even late at night.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Caxy Interactive offered a top-notch team of problem-solvers. They often went above and beyond to fully dig into a problem, identify solutions, and achieve our end goals. We could trust their team to take issues with a lot of unknowns and to figure out their answers. Caxy Interactive also was willing to learn new technologies for our benefit, even though they had preferred tools and an existing skill set.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything.

Any advice for potential customers?

While the team was open to learning new technologies and techniques, we found it helpful to understand Caxy Interactive’s strengths and core competencies in advance.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of Porter Pipe & Supply, a wholesale distributor of pipe valves, fittings, and plumbing products. We’ve been in business since 1976.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Caxy Interactive?

We were trying to find a way to have our customers log in an app and see when their delivery will arrive. We deliver a lot of shipments to downtown Chicago where customers live in high-rises. It’s nice for them to have advanced notice of when the driver will be there, so they can be ready to meet them.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

After informing Caxy Interactive about our business and of what we wanted, their team put together a proposal. From there, they put together a preliminary structure of how it was going to work before we signed off on it. Caxy Interactive built an iOS and Android application. For the design, we provided them with what we wanted, and they created what we wanted the look and feel to be. We’re hosting the app, using Linux based servers along with a Microsoft SQL server for the database.

What is the team composition?

We work with Hannah (Managing Director of Operations, Caxy Interactive), Mike (Founder & CEO, Caxy Interactive), and a couple of developers.

How did you come to work with Caxy Interactive?

Another company was working with our CEO and recommended Caxy Interactive for development work. We reached out to them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $100,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Caxy Interactive in May 2017, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their customer service is excellent. If there was an issue with the app, they got right back us. Their team helped troubleshoot problems that weren’t even on their side. They fixed things on our side. Our app was down because of a technical issue, and a considerable number of customers contacted us to let us know. Customers are using and relying on the app daily.

I would recommend Caxy Interactive to anyone and continue to work with them. We’ve developed other apps with them. It’s a fantastic partnership.

How did Caxy Interactive perform from a project management standpoint?

Hannah oversaw the application and worked with our team directly. Any time we needed anything, Mike would jump in and help. Since we’re close to their office, the developers would code here, and we were able to check on what they were doing. They were in constant communication with us throughout. If we had any questions, their team responded right away.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What sticks out to me about Caxy Interactive is that they’re a true partner. Their team wants to work with their clients, learning their pain points and doing whatever they can to fix them. They’ll stay from start to finish, giving their best. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything at the moment.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Work with Caxy Interactive and listen to their advice.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the senior director of business intelligence and data management at Chicago Public Media.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Caxy Interactive?

Our development team left the organization, so we were looking for support through that transition, especially concerning our fundraising efforts during a pledge drive. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Caxy Interactive initially addressed a backlog of defects and minor enhancements within unnecessarily complex environments that required a lot of different technologies (i.e., PHP, Javascript, and AWS). Their primary focus then became supporting our donation form and stabilizing the overall infrastructure, which involved making changes, increasing its conversion rate, fixing some defects along the way, etc. 

They also performed an SEO audit and made suggestions for areas we could improve our code and optimization, conducting a full analysis of our environments and ranking them based on code complexity and security issues. 

What is the team composition? 

Caitlin (Project Manager Product Owner, Caxy Interactive) is our primary contact, but we also worked with a handful of others on their team depending on the technology being addressed. 

How did you come to work with Caxy Interactive?

Caxy Interactive was brought on board by our head of digital development, and I started working with them shortly after. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2018, and completed the project in January 2019, but continue to retain the relationship on a time and materials basis to correct any defects or make enhancements to our donation form.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

By our second pledge drive, everything was running much more seamlessly than the year prior. Caxy Interactive significantly decreased the number of defects within our donation form, and their commitment to our cause and mission was clear from the start. They even donated additional time outside of business hours to ensure our pledge was running smoothly.

They've also been great about documentation, which will be instrumental in helping us replace the form we're using now and in hiring developers to continue to support it. Going above and beyond, they took the time to educate me on the technologies we're using to help me create an accurate job description for hiring the right people for this role. 

How did Caxy Interactive perform from a project management standpoint?

If all their project managers are as good as Caitlin, then they can take over the world; she's extremely responsive and respectful of our budget. She's suggested restricting some scrums to ensure we don't overspend, helped reduce the number of developers when necessary, and made sure we stayed within allocated hours. It's easy to reach her whenever we have a question, as she's readily available on our Slack channel. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

In addition to strong technical expertise, they also have a lot of solid processes in place but can be scrappy and flexible when appropriate. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was a short period when we had a technical architect assigned to our project who wasn't the best fit, but they sensed it and moved resources around to improve the situation. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Leverage the product management relationship.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

When I worked with Caxy Interactive on this project, I was the lead content marketing manager at Experian Automotive.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Caxy Interactive?

We wanted to create a social community for small business owners where they could communicate with each other and ask questions. We needed a vendor to help us create a platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Caxy Interactive built a social networking platform for us, focusing mostly on the backend. They designed everything from scratch, and the platform works in a web browser and on mobile devices. It gives small business owners a chance to engage in conversations and earn points that they can use to buy Experian products. Caxy also helped us from a communications standpoint.

What is the team composition?

We mostly worked with Michael (Founder, Caxy Interactive) and our account manager, but there was a whole team behind them.

How did you come to work with Caxy Interactive?

I first met them when I worked at a different agency. They did a website for me, and I liked the quality of their work and their agile approach. I also worked with them on a few other projects, so I trusted their technical expertise.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them between January 2014–June 2014.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We loved the program. We used it for about two years and we were just starting to make money. However, then our department was dissolved, so we didn't get a chance to use the tool for longer.

How did Caxy Interactive perform from a project management standpoint?

They were always on top of things. We had weekly check-ins and used email and phone to stay in touch during the week.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're very friendly and have a personable approach. We never felt that we had to go through layers of approval. Also, they were always willing to answer our questions and explain the process.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They're a bit pricey, but they're worth it.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Bring them in early because they can help you find the best solutions and optimize your programs.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

When I worked with Caxy Interactive on this project, I was the president of an education company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Caxy Interactive?

We had a software engineering team in Silicon Valley, but we were headquartered in Chicago. Our engineering team couldn't always answer our immediate engineering and technical questions because they operated in a different time zone. We wanted to find a local development team that could support us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us whenever we needed to scale up on any project that was coming down the pipeline or if we got a large influx of clients. (School seasons tend to have larger volumes of students at certain times.) We wanted them to learn about our environment and be available to participate when we needed to have extra hands on deck.

What is the team composition?

I mostly worked with my CEO, and he brought everyone else together for discussions.

How did you come to work with Caxy Interactive?

The mutual friend of our CEOs introduced us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $50,000–$100,000.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We wanted to work with an engineering team that knows how to communicate with business people and understands our objectives. I was confident that Caxy Interactive would make smart decisions on our behalf. They never tried to sell us things we didn't need.

How did Caxy Interactive perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very responsive, professional, and willing to answer any question we had. They gave us regular reports and were always happy to explain the technical process in a non-technical way.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were a strong partner we could rely on.

Are there any areas they could improve?

When we just started working together, many people had their own engineering teams in-house. Now, you can have a development team anywhere in the world, so it’s more challenging for developers because they need to compete with various skill sets and pricing.