DevSquad

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a software company called Swell CX. We’re a platform for small businesses that helps them manage and improve their online reviews and capture customer feedback.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DevSquad?

We were facing scalability problems with our current platform. We needed the ability to add features in a quick and timely fashion.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had problems with scaling our product and our existing development team, and wanted to find a vendor that could provide more work and a more efficient service. We essentially did a whole revamp. DevSquad took our existing platform and rebuilt it from the ground up, using PHP on the backend and JavaScript for the frontend.

One of the biggest features that they helped us build is our self-onboarding and registration platform, giving a new customer the ability to register themselves and start their subscription autonomously. This was huge for us as we didn’t have it before.

What is the team composition?

We had one project manager assigned and worked with four developers. Phil (CEO, DevSquad) acted as our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with DevSquad?

I searched on LinkedIn for a new development team and connected with Phil. I really liked his organization and how strict they are with their agile process. It wasn’t a loose strategy; it was very rigid and formal, which gave me the confidence in knowing that I was going to get exactly what he said I would.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent around $100,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them on this project from March to May 2018, but are still an ongoing customer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’ve worked with several development teams in the past, and I would say that DevSquad has been, by far, the easiest and most efficient team to collaborate with. They did a really good job of helping me define the scope of my project and were involved all the way from design to development, deployment, and launch.

Their work has impacted our business tremendously. We’ve launched our new platform and have a large number of new customers already on it. This growth is a big deal for us because it will allow us to scale our business and get into industries that we haven’t been involved with before.

How did DevSquad perform from a project management standpoint?

DevSquad was more transparent than any other team I have worked with. I knew exactly which developers were working on which features at what time. I also knew my cost and the hours that were being spent. Phil and I were able to manage everything really well.

There were no issues with communication nor with managing deadlines. They were pretty much on top of their game the whole time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Above everything else, they took ownership of our project and made it something that they were passionate about. I really appreciated that they weren’t just building exactly what I wanted to build. They were involved in designing, iterating, and improving from their own perspective, making it better than I would have thought to make it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing director for Siegfried & Jensen. We’re a personal injury law firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DevSquad?

Some of the conversion methods on our website broke and we didn’t know about it for about 70 days. The lack of conversions over that time was fairly detrimental to our business. As a result, we needed a development firm to build a web application that tracked our metrics and different conversion methods. This way, we’d be notified if a system malfunctioned and could then to take steps to resolve the issue.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

DevSquad came into our office and had an in-depth conversation about the project and its purpose. With a wealth of experience, they were able to utilize their knowledge and help us find the best solution. They built a Laravel web app with a backend dashboard and set up a custom online login portal. I assume they used JavaScript as well.

The system pulls information from Google Analytics and other third-party platforms to represents it in the form of bar graphs and number counts. It’s all right in front of me, so if the numbers change or something drops off, I’m able to see it. The app also compares different lengths of time to help identify trends and potential issues. For example, if the numbers are significantly lower than they were on the same day of the previous week, that usually means something is broken. What they delivered was different than what I’d originally imagined, but it was a better product.

Once that project was complete, we quickly hired them to develop more software to aid our day-to-day practices. One of the subsequent projects they did for us was a PDF document compiler and editor. They took a process that used to be 100% manual and automated the task using a system. Now, instead of spending six hours a week performing that task, we probably do it in 30 minutes.

What is the team composition?

Phil (CEO, DevSquad) is our main point of contact. He interacts with his team, which is nice because I don’t know a lot about web development. I’ve also communicated with their head developer.

How did you come to work with DevSquad?

Phil approached me offering development work. I had already been experiencing the conversion problem, so we got to talking. The relationship evolved from there.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent somewhere between $50,000 and $200,000 thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2017 and the work is ongoing. The online portal only took a few weeks.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The online portal is stable and the ability to track conversions positively influences our business income. The PDF document compiler and editor saves the team dozens of hours of work. It’s saving us money and persevering our staff’s sanity.

There have been bugs, but Phil guarantees his work and fixes issues for free. I usually don’t have a problem for more than a couple of days before they resolve it.

How did DevSquad perform from a project management standpoint?

Phil knows precisely how to manage his team. All I have to do is describe the business challenge I want to overcome and he takes care of the rest. I also like working with their head developer because he investigates my requests for additional developments. He often explains why the business doesn’t need certain features and ultimately saved us a lot of money. Not having a team of “yes” men made the product better, faster, and cheaper.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I didn’t have to manage them. They connect the dots to help us overcome challenges even when I don’t know the exact solution necessary. That was very helpful.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They initially had trouble remembering the project details. Eventually, they hired someone to take care of that and it’s been perfect ever since.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If someone is considering working with DevSquad, I’d suggest they think about what they’re trying to accomplish and provide a clear idea of what they want. DevSquad produces quality products, but sometimes clients impede development. You have to be humble enough to work with people that know what they’re doing much better than you.