JetRuby Agency

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the AVP - Tech of Handelnine Global

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Handelnine Global sources products from around the world and delivers directly to consumers via a proprietary logistics network, smart technology, targeted marketing, and a collection of unique brands that we launch from the ground-up. We’re a burgeoning house of brands undergoing a hyper-growth phase, entering new markets at breakneck speeds.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire JetRuby Agency to accomplish?

• Website development

SOLUTION

How did you find JetRuby Agency?

Referral

Why did you select JetRuby Agency over others?

Good value for cost

What was the size of JetRuby Agency’s team?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

They designed and developed a full fledged e-commerce website for Handelnine. Workshops and brainstorming sessions were conducted by jetruby team for requirement elicitation; which was analyzed by the team to come up with the high level design for the system.

Once the HLD was finalized; user stories were created for the initial set of MVPs and a detailed execution plan for the project was shared by the team based on Agile scrum Methodology for project execution. The scrums were well organized and the initial MVP was delivered successfully by jetruby team. The sites are completely functional now and jetruby team is continuously supporting us during the maintenance phase and for the addition of new features to the website.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Delivered MVP for e-commerce website.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Project execution plan was shared based on Agile scrum methodology.Scrums were well organized. There was quick response to all queries. MVP was delivered on time.

What was your primary form of communication with JetRuby Agency?

Virtual Meeting

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

Project Management; Highly skilled developers (React JS and ROR),Good turn around time and accountability.

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

We are very happy with the Project Management, Project Execution, Software Quality, and Accountability of management as well as individual developers. One thing that can be improved by the company is devops(Infrastucture) support.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Founder of a software development company

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire JetRuby Agency, and what were your goals?

We hired JetRuby to create a high quality mobile app MVP and add advanced features to the app after that. We will continue to work with them to add more features to this app and potentially other apps in the future.

SOLUTION

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

We spoke with multiple development agencies and JetRuby provided a free workshop which convinced me that their systems and approach was the right fit. No other agency provided this level of commitment before engaging. After doing this session, it was very clear that they were the right partner.

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

The final deliverable was an iOS app written in Swift. There were 3 stages to the project.

• Design and Discovery - figuring out the features and user flow of the project
• UI Design - finalizing the UI design
• MVP Development - developing the MVP version of the app
• Post MVP Development - adding more features to the app

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

We worked with around 6-7 members of their team. In the final development phase it was 3-4 members . 1 Project Manager 1 Tech Lead 2-3 Developers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

JetRuby delivered a very high quality mobile app with very good code underneath the hood. Overall an excellent experience, and I'd recommend them to anyone. They exceeded expectations. JetRuby overdeliver.

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

The systems they have in place are great. They are very organized and methodical with their approach which results in deadlines being met, features being developed as expected, and final budgets matching the agreed upon contract. We are in constant communication on Slack, and if they have questions they will reach out and you'll figure out the best solution together.

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

You can trust them to get the job done with minimal input from your side. We even skipped some of our weekly meetings because there was no doubt about their ability to meet deadlines and perform high quality work. We worked with 5 agencies this year for various projects, and JetRuby were by far the most impressive.

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

Overall they were great, however in one phase of work there were concerns about their QA process - however after raising this with the team, they added an additional QA resource which greatly improved this area. In the grand scheme of things, this is a minor point.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of NameUnknown, Inc. Our startup’s goal is to connect homeowners with nearby heating and air conditioning technicians.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with JetRuby Agency?

We needed their team to build our web application.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I’m not well-equipped with the technical knowledge needed to build our main platform, so I’ve engaged JetRuby Agency to handle these tasks for me. We’ve started with a design and discovery phase, wherein I’ve relayed my requirements to their team, and we’ve finalized the project roadmap.

JetRuby Agency has documented each succeeding phase of the project and submitted the design deliverables for my approval. I’ve found the initial results impressive, so I’ve also tasked them with building the proof of concept (POC) and developing the product.

We’ve already launched the platform, but we’re moving forward with their team to work on investment pitches and refine the app’s quality as our budget allows.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Irina (Project Manager & Design and Discovery Phase Lead), Henry (Head of Business Development and Sales), a lead developer, and two other designers.

How did you come to work with JetRuby Agency?

I found them on Clutch while searching for reputable agencies that I could hire for this development project.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent around $17,000–$20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership with JetRuby Agency commenced in February 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

JetRuby Agency makes efficient use of their time and does a good job in translating my requirements and initial ideas into actual, high-quality deliverables. It’s important to me that their team understands what I want to achieve and when I want to achieve that — they put a lot of effort into making sure that everything works to my satisfaction.

How did JetRuby Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly communicate via email and virtual meetings and rely on Trello, Jira, Mira, and Sigma for project management. JetRuby Agency is a timeline-oriented and transparent team — they provide accurate outline- and timeline estimates and see to it that each deliverable is thoroughly explained to my team. Additionally, all of their members are responsive to our queries and requests.

What did you find most impressive about them?

JetRuby Agency listens to our needs and communicates with us on a very personal level — it’s nice to work with a provider that accommodates our team to that extent, even though we’re from different industries.

Are there any areas they could improve?
I’m satisfied with the quality of their work and service, so there’s nothing else I’ll have them improve at this point.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t let the fear of working with an overseas agency stop you from hiring JetRuby Agency’s amazing team.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a startup. It’s an online marketplace and service for buying and selling companies, meant to assist business brokers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with JetRuby Agency?

JetRuby served as my full development team. I had no experience with anything related to online platforms.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

JetRuby is doing everything related to the website. They designed and developed the website from scratch using Ruby on Rails. We went through a phase during which they helped me create wireframes.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with 10–15 different people, depending on what stage we’re in.

How did you come to work with JetRuby Agency?

I found them through a web search. I interviewed several different developers. After going through that process, I decided to go with JetRuby because they seemed to really understand my needs and were able to offer the whole package.

How much have you invested with them?

All in, we’re at about $25,000–$30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I first contacted them in August 2019, and then we started the initial design and development phase that December. Right now, I’m aiming to have a beta test starting November 1, 2020. Our engagement is ongoing, but it’s close to being done.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don’t have any statistics because it's too early, but overall, a lot of what I’m getting is more than I expected. They’ve put a lot more effort and thought into it than I anticipated.

How did JetRuby Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re great. I have a dedicated project manager who I can converse with regularly. We utilize Slack, so the entire team can see any messages.

They are really easy to work with, and they’ve guided me as someone with no experience in this arena. They are really helpful when I ask questions.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’d say it’s their ability to look at everything as a whole package and offer that. There were a lot of other developers that had a much narrower focus. That’s what really differentiated JetRuby from other people I talked to.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Overall, I’ve been really pleased.

Any advice for potential customers?

Communication is key. Just be clear about what your expectations are.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of NameCoach. We’re a SaaS company that supports equity and inclusion.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with JetRuby Agency?

We’re a startup, so our business challenge was to develop a product line cost-effectively.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

JetRuby helps us with development and implementation from the database forward. Their team has done data model design, backend API implementation, and frontend development using multiple different frameworks.

Their team also helped us to migrate from Heroku to containers deployed by AWS. They designed the DevOps portion of that initiative.

They wrote the primary product in Ruby on Rails. Recently, they started to work with Python. As we’ve moved into more verticals, they’ve been involved in the design, development, and delivery of all of the services that support our product offerings. Their team carries out maintenance too.

What is the team composition?

The size of the team has ranged from 3–10 people depending on our cash reserves and burn rate. I have a couple of points of contact. I’m a developer myself, so I work with the engineers and QA folks on our offshore team directly. JetRuby provides a primary point of contact, but I don’t only interact with them.

How did you come to work with JetRuby Agency?

Our engagement with JetRuby predates my involvement with NameCoach but our founder selected them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve probably spent between $100,000–$250,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership began in October 2016, and they’re still our primary delivery team. We use their services all of the time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

To a certain extent, we hired JetRuby to make certain problems go away. From my perspective, I need to focus on what our customers need and help our customers understand our services. I also need to identify gaps and market opportunities. Then, I need people to build on those opportunities.

I rarely think about JetRuby building our products. If mistakes are made, it’s usually a result of us not fully understanding the nature of the problem. I’m super satisfied. They’re a smart team.

How did JetRuby Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

JetRuby uses different tools internally to track projects. Between our two companies, we use Pivotal to coordinate our work. Their communication skills are great. Our difference in location hasn’t impeded our work.

What did you find most impressive about them?

JetRuby listens to our requests and internalizes them, comparing them to other completed projects to offer value. Their team provides notes and questions our ideas to make our products better.

The best outsourced companies are those that listen to your requests and then tell you if it’s a stupid idea. I’ve been through deep engagements with different providers. The more a company says that my ideas are dumb and offer a better direction, the happier I am.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really. They’ve been as close to a perfect partner as I’ve encountered in my career.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re engaging with any offshore partner, it’s important to understand what you want them to do and how you want to work with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a product owner. Right now, I’m tasked with standing up a new, fairly complex software product that layers on top of our existing solutions. We’re a small company, and I do everything from systems engineering to customer engagement, B2B marketing, and product development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with JetRuby Agency?

JetRuby Agency helps us with design and development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve developed some core microservices that sit on the backend and do data analysis. Jetruby Agency is taking the outputs of those, combining them with the user stories, and developing the whole web application for us. They’re also doing the systems engineering, so going from user story decomposition to UX/UI design prototypes to walkthroughs and then to the actual implementation.

They do front- and backend development. On the frontend, we use Vue.js, which was a legacy holdover from our company. I know JetRuby Agency’s core is React, but they were good about jumping into Vue.js and bringing in some people who could help with Vue.js. We plan to transition to React.js in the next couple of weeks. The backend is Ruby on Rails. They’re integrating with our microservices that are natively written in Python that are being wrapped up in BLAS containers and deployed in Docker Kubernetes containers.

They’re also working on the architecture, which comes in several different layers, and doing decompositions. They’re doing a lot of the drilling down and refining the architecture based on user interactions; for instance, they’ll point out if a user story requires a more complex architecture. They have a business analyst on their team who has gone through and really designed a lot of the workflow at a detailed level.  

They’re going into a final staging server. Our team will be taking the codebase from the server and deploying it live on our operational site going forward. We plan to keep them on to continue maintenance and application development.

What is the team composition?

The current team is around eight people. We have a program manager, who is great; they coordinate the hand-ins we give them and then plan the sprints out and do a lot of the communication. We have frontend developers, three backend developers, a UX/UI artist, and a business analyst. We also have a part-time QA person.

How did you come to work with JetRuby Agency?

Years ago, I had a startup, and a friend of mine at a different startup recommended JetRuby Agency after we were using a single local resource here in the US. We reached out in 2016 and started working with them.

I used them again at another company in 2018 or 2019. Then, when I started with this new company – which actually bought my startup – I recommended we used JetRuby Agency. They knew what they were doing and could move fast.

What is the status of this engagement?

My current company started working with JetRuby Agency in August 2019, and we’ve been working continuously since then.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re currently working on the core flow through the application, which involves about five different user personas. We’re tracking them in terms of their ability to complete each of these steps of the user flow process, and each one has been assigned a point value. They’ve been doing very well with that. Obviously, it’s always going to be slower than what I wish they could do, but they’ve been good at communicating what they can accomplish during each sprint, given the resources they have. 

When I push them and ask for a little bit more, they’ve been pretty good, and they complete things well. When they finish something and we look at it from the user point of view, they’re open to our change requests. We’re on the cusp of getting user feedback, which I’m sure will cause more changes. They’re friendly about our change requests and very upfront about letting us know when those changes will happen.

How did JetRuby Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

It always takes a little bit of time to find that rhythm between two teams on a project. One of the things I found with JetRuby Agency is that when they added a business analyst to come in, take the stories, and really start decomposing, we went from moving a bit slowly to hitting lightspeed. The interactions just clicked between our teams. They definitely brought in the right people at the right time to help us go through the inputs we were giving them and translating them into something they could build, and then coming back and showing us. They’ve been very good at helping to complete that loop.

We’re using Azure DevOps for all of the project management. We can track what stories we have handed them, and we can see when they’ve allocated that in the sprint. We’re using a variety of different tools as they decompose what we give them in Azure DevOps. For instance, we use Miro Boards for a lot of the business analyst flows so that we can look at the detail of the design. We do first-stage mockups, so more conceptual designs, in Sigma. Then, we do a lot of final UX/UI workflow in InVision, and everything from there goes into the queue for front- and backend development and then gets deployed to staging. It’s a very nice flow for us of requirements and stories we give them into these levels of fidelity that deliver the product.

What did you find most impressive about them?

This is the third time I’ve gone back to them; every time, I’ve had a pleasant experience with them. They’ve not only always kept me happy but have also given me the tools to keep my management happy and the investments going as we build these tools. They’re easy to work with. I’m sure if I end up going to another company in the future and need to develop something similar, I’d go right back to them. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’ve given them feedback over time. Getting that project management just the way we wanted was important for us, and it took some time to get that going. We’ve developed a lot of templates that took us through our iterative design. Some feedback I gave them on this project in particular is that it would be helpful to have a repository of similar templates that they could provide new clients. They probably don’t do that because it potentially contains a lot of sensitive customer information; however, if they could provide some templates of how to communicate with us, it would be helpful.

Any advice for potential customers?

Spend a little bit of time planning and don’t jump right into development. Map out your plan into something that they understand how to execute against. The first time I worked with them, we went right into development, but the second and third times, we started slower and added staff as we felt confident that we had sufficiently documented what we were trying to do.

I’d also say to bring on their business analyst from day one; we waited a little bit to do that. That particular set of resources that they have at JetRuby Agency is worth every penny. They’re the most useful way to translate requirements from our lingo and lexicon into something that they understand how to develop.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO at Shiurim, a religious content nonprofit.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with JetRuby Agency?

We’ve been successful in delivering content in a traditional format. We have a weekly publication that’s distributed in about nine countries through different physical locations, and we were looking to expand that reach.

The idea was to create a mobile app for iOS and Android, where we can distribute the same content in a digital format.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team at JetRuby Agency developed iOS and Android applications from scratch. We hired a small design firm to create the initial mockups, but their team was also directly involved. We sent the mockups to them, and they helped with modifications along the way. Outside of design, they managed the project and helped with all of the coding.

The project had three major components. The iOS and Android apps were developed natively; their team did the whole backend content management platform. Both apps are a unique e-book reader for content and updates weekly.

The publication creates a weekly resource of specific religious content to be read or studied. It is updated weekly, and each day has a set of articles. There’s a study guide feature that keeps track of what sections have been covered. We usually upload PDFs, but they’re rendered in the app differently. In some cases, there is an audio lesson associated with that particular piece of content.

Both apps have subscription options and user registration. The backend helps us manage the content uploading process and user experience.

What is the team composition?

We were in contact with a project manager and account manager.

How did you come to work with JetRuby Agency?

A friend used them before and recommend them. After interviewing them and seeing their previous work, I felt comfortable about their process and what they’d done before. While I did talk to one or two other smaller agencies, JetRuby Agency ended up being the best option.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $25,000–$35,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with JetRuby Agency from March 2019–January 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The product is available in the market and working well. Within the first ten days, there were over 2,000 downloads. Most of the positive feedback has been regarding the new features and improvements. We haven’t had any complaints.

How did JetRuby Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

I was in contact with the project manager weekly and spoke to the account manager once a month. The project could’ve taken less time, but the reason why it took longer was a roadblock on our side. JetRuby Agency could’ve been a little more proactive in getting us to move faster, but once we were ready, they were extremely responsive. We set up a Slack channel that helped streamline communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team at JetRuby Agency is highly responsive. They’re quick to solve issues.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would be great if they had more UX/UI product orientation. It could’ve been because of our project was small. Sometimes during outsourcing, there’s someone with a more product mentality. The first releases are more polished because it’s being thought through a user perspective and not only through specs.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Get schedules figured out. Make sure to communicate regularly. It’s helpful to have a weekly or daily call for a more significant project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of a software consultancy. We go to startups and small businesses to help them deliver their tech.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with JetRuby Agency?

We needed more developers to accelerate development on various projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Basically, JetRuby Agency augments our development team. Their team has helped to build feature-rich web applications. For our latest project, they provided a singular developer who picked up assigned tasks. The developer wrote and delivered code to us on a regular basis.

What is the team composition?

Currently, we work with one developer from JetRuby Agency.

How did you come to work with JetRuby Agency?

When I was CTO of another company, JetRuby Agency was brought on to run the dev ops. We hired 4–5 people to provide dev ops, QA, and development support. I left that company and started this consultancy. I decided to engage them again because of their quality talent.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $25,000–$50,000 on their services so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

JetRuby Agency started at my company in June 2019 and their work’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They help us deliver our services at a high quality and a lower cost than local market rates.

How did JetRuby Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve had a smooth workflow generally. For this project, the developer was integrated into our in-house communication channels. We allocate them a workload in prioritized order and all the tasks get done.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality of JetRuby Agency’s talent is very high. I’d give them a five-star review of them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re not based in Europe or Western Asia, be aware of the difference in time zone but they make accommodations. For example, their team works later hours, so we have more overlapped time. It’s not an issue but it’s a consideration.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a marketplace startup that provides multiple services. We have customer and supplier fronts, and they can connect on our platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with JetRuby Agency?

At the time of engaging JetRuby Agency, we just had a vision for a platform that would connect customers with suppliers. We needed help with development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We described our idea and goals to them. They did an analysis, after which we started the development process.

JetRuby Agency developed a simple and straightforward platform and integrated MANGOPAY payment processing. MANGOPAY isn’t as widely spread as Stripe, but Stripe didn’t offer services in our country when we started the project. We didn’t have many options in that sense, so we settled on MANGOPAY after a more extended period of investigation.

The system allows customers to enter quotes, and then suppliers send offers. They can have private chats and make a decision. The platform ensures that the customer pays and that the supplier completes the job.

What is the team composition?

I believe there are sixteen people assigned to the project. I have a main project manager who is supervised by Dmitriy (Head of Client Engagement, JetRuby Agency). I also interact with Ivan (CEO, JetRuby Agency). 

I don't need to engage with the rest of the team; I just scroll through Slack to see what they're responsible for. If I post a request, the project manager double-checks it, and then someone from the team works on the solution. There are a lot of people in different positions working on various tasks.

How did you come to work with JetRuby Agency?

Clutch came up first when I searched for programming agencies in Lviv. I read several reviews on Clutch, which actually helped me a lot, since I couldn’t find much information anywhere else. There was no-nonsense, and it had exactly what I was looking for in terms of reviews. 

We reviewed a lot of other agencies, both in Lviv and elsewhere. I also visited Lviv. I checked JetRuby’s website and their ratings on Clutch. I trusted JetRuby Agency’s Clutch reviews and decided to have a chat. We had a good interaction, so we hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

At the moment, the cost is around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with JetRuby Agency in February 2019, and the collaboration is ongoing. After we make some changes, we plan to release an Android app at the end of January or mid-February 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have statistics at the moment. We plan to release a landing page in the next two weeks and go forward slowly from there while receiving feedback from customers.

In terms of general feedback for JetRuby Agency, I’m very happy. I’m always in connection with them. They’re very good price-wise, even compared to American, local Baltic, and some Indian agencies. Given the cost, I thought that I’d never get the project started. JetRuby Agency might be similar in price to some Indian agencies, but I prefer having someone to talk to who isn’t too far away. It’s nice to know where there are and to be in the same time zone. 

This kind of project is new for me, and I’m very satisfied so far. JetRuby Agency came up with a simple solution, and they coded quite fast. I can’t wait to go to market and see where we’ll end up with it.

How did JetRuby Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Slack to communicate, and the average response time from the team is five minutes. I can go to them whenever I have a question, and they come up with results and estimates within 24–48 hours.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve been most impressed by the personal attention and human relationship, which were the main things that attracted me to them. I have a good connection with the project manager and the rest of the team. I prefer working with people who understand me and know how I think, rather than with a cheaper company. It should be convenient for both sides, and I believe JetRuby Agency has fulfilled both my needs and their own.

They did everything that was necessary so that the platform would work well. To me, they’re perfect. I give them a 10/10 for what we’ve done together.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I might’ve been able to think of something had this been my third project of this type, but this was my first one, and I’m happy with everything so far. I tried contacting different agencies, and I either got replies a week later or got no answer at all. With JetRuby Agency, they answered all of our inquiries within moments. I appreciated the personal attention. 

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I’ve already recommended them to the company I worked with on trademarking, and I’ll do it again if I get the chance. I can’t find any reason not to.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the business field manager for urban and digital farming. My company is a provider of lighter technology.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with JetRuby?

We were looking to do some quick software development, specifically around an application. The idea was to come up with an MVP of the application in a short time, in order to show customers and parties within the company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They were tasked with creating a frontend UI for interacting with our system. Secondly, they had to incorporate lighting controls and sensor feedback into the app. Thirdly, we needed to generate a first demonstrator of the analytics package within the application.

We then broadened the scope of work a bit, to include a different challenge we had, in terms of connecting a physical demonstrator of what we wanted to showcase. That wasn’t part of the initial scope, but they gracefully stepped in and helped us, and it was completed in about four weeks.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a designer, a backend developer, a scrum master, and a customer outreach person.

How did you come to work with JetRuby?

A previous colleague of ours recommended them based on his experience. The decision was partly based on that feedback, and partly on a nice proposal they put together in a short time. From an overall scoping perspective, the flexibility they had in setting up the project and getting it started, and then working with us to get moving, certainly helped. Their cost was also very competitive.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $69,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2018, and they completed most of the work we set out to do by February 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Having the initial demonstrator in a short time was really important to us. We expected that JetRuby would take a bit longer, but they met the target without any issues. They hit the mark for the initial six-week development sprint right on time.

The scope was for an initial prototype or MVP, so when we broadened the scope, one of the things we needed to achieve was end-to-end connectivity. They accomplished that as well, working with some of our staff. They helped us get something up and running in a very short period of three weeks.

Furthermore, qualitatively and from a customer experience perspective, they were extremely responsive, easy to work with, helpful, and communicative.

How did JetRuby perform from a project management standpoint?

They were really good at project management: they communicated clearly, took in our requirements and feedback, made sure they understood them, and—where there wasn’t clarity—asked us questions. They set up plans of 1–2-week intervals, describing the scope of work and keeping track of what was accomplished and what was in the backlog. They also summarized the resources needed, and how much time and scope remained, regarding planning and budget. It was always transparent.

We primarily used Slack for communication. We were setting up Jira on our end, but we had some integration issues, so we ended up not using it. We did set up a Bitbucket repository.

What did you find most impressive about them?

JetRuby is very customer-oriented, which impresses me. They go out of their way to work and engage with the customer. They really make us feel that we’re being treated well, that we have their attention, and that they are supporting us. To me, that’s been the biggest strength of the team, aside from their technical performance.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing large I can think of. There was insufficient follow-up on noncritical things, and some fell off the wayside, but those were relatively minor things. Otherwise, they have a really solid team.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

They picked up on what we wanted to do very quickly. Make sure to have a clear story in that sense, and be able to communicate it, so that JetRuby can get going fast.

They really move at a fast pace and seek information quickly from us. Clients should make sure they constantly engage with the team, and things will work out really well.