Front10, LLC

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of partnership at a marketing automation software company. We work with airlines predominantly, as well as a few point-to-point travel companies beyond airlines.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Front10, LLC?

We’re always looking for innovative ways to scale products and build on top of frameworks we’ve built internally. We sell data visualizations as discrete modules to customers and brought on Front10 to build our data visualization library.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They work with us on two levels: as a frontend consultancy and a building for our data visualization library. Together with our internal team, they scope out, develop, test, and deploy new products and new variations of existing products.

Working primarily with React, they block out the work, get feedback from us, implement the changes, and conduct QA tests. This allows us to do more quickly and stay on top of our own internal processes. We try to do most of the work on identifying what the UX should be like so Front10 can focus on the actual build-out.

What is the team composition?

They have a fully-staffed team that’s created a model and a framework that’s totally functional, enabling them to function autonomously. There are a few gaps that our side has to fill in for them, and we’re working on eliminating those dependencies.

How did you come to work with Front10, LLC?

Their founder/CEO is one of our former employees. We’re his company’s first partner. We already knew the quality of his work, so we needed to learn about the company’s approach, their workflow, and what the communication style would be.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend about $25,000 per month now and have spent around $200,000 in total with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

The relationship is ongoing, and we have no reason to put an end date on things anytime soon. We began working together in February 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re an extension of our internal product development team, creating data visualizations from scratch that we can sell to customers and prospects. Based on both visualizations created and visualizations sold, we’re satisfied.

How did Front10, LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

This is a big part of what they offer. Working through our PM, they have two senior people that oversee weekly output and help with prioritization and sprint planning. We use Slack, Trello, and email for communication, along with a bit of Jira. They’re in constant touch with our product.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their exclusive focus on frontend technologies and JavaScript frameworks (React, node.js, Angular) is outstanding. JavaScript is an emerging technology, and their expertise with it, combined with the time they take to understand us, is a great combination. While they have amazing general skills, you need specialists when you’re working with React on the frontend. They’re highly reasonable and responsive—everything we want in a partner.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Whatever lessons we’ve learned resulted from something we didn’t see coming in the beginning. A lot of it is understanding the model and understanding the need on our side to make things go smoother. It’s expected, and on us as much as it is on them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Defer to them as experts in building something from start to a tested product. Leverage their expertise.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO & founder of PixelPerfecto, a web development agency that works with clients in the real estate world, art stores, and other areas.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Front10, LLC?

We hired Front10, LLC to assist our client with ReactJS development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

For this client, we recommended that their team use React or some Angular components for the frontend. ReactJS was perfect for the project. After the first week of working together, their team showed us a couple of elements that we requested as well as wireframes. I found that we could reuse the JavaScript components no matter which technology they use.

What is the team composition?

At the beginning of the project, I made it clear that I wanted to be involved. I worked with their lead developer and founders. Because we had specific styling requests, some of my team were in contact with their QA specialists and designers.

How did you come to work with Front10, LLC?

We interviewed some agencies that specialized in JavaScript-based work. After talking to four or five different companies, we found that Front10, LLC created great work for other clients. They were also based in the same time zone. Compared to additional quotes we received; they were offering a reasonable price.

A few times, we spoke to them over the phone before meeting in person. I also saw that some of their other work was reusable. We wanted to have a library of different components that we could reuse with some of our other clients.

How much have you invested in them?

The project cost around $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Front10, LLC from June–August 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Front10, LLC created magic with ReactJS. I was impressed with the quality of the work. Our client is using the internal tool, which makes things easier for them. It is continuously updated, and the client is delighted with the results Their QA specialists are skilled and work hard to ensure excellent quality.  

How did Front10, LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

The team at Front10, LLC was able to deliver the product before the deadline. Our project managers handled communication between their team and our client. Once we had a few meetings with them, and we submitted the requirements for those style and feature components, they handled all the coordination from their side.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their responsive team worked fast. Anytime we sent an email or Slack message, they replied immediately.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything right now.