Mae Company

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of IT for a consultancy firm in Tasmania, Australia. We support projects for companies of various sizes, working on everything from exploration to complete execution and maintenance.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Mae Company?

We needed to build an e-governance solution for a customer. Our previous developer fell through at the last minute, which is an unfortunately common occurrence in this industry. We had a rough development model at that stage and needed a partner who was capable of rapid, flexible development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Mae Company managed the development of software for a government agency. They created a platform for both technical and data analysis administrators as well as standard citizens. After taking over the project, the team defined the sequential, high-level models needed for efficient implementation.

They were our main partner for getting the project started, but it was a fairly ad-hoc experience.

What is the team composition?

We were assigned a project lead and main developer. I also worked on development from our side.

How did you come to work with Mae Company?

It was a fairly organic process. Mae Company responded to a question we’d posted on a subject-matter forum. The post was related to a role-based access control (RBAC) module that we wanted to build and about pre-existing open source options. One thing led to the next, and we eventually contracted the team.

How much have you invested with them?

I believe the cost was $15,000–$30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Mae Company from August–November 2017. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project was a success. We’ve received a lot of compliments on the platform’s usability and interface from both data analysis admins and the public. The team’s UX design enabled fairly nontechnical people to easily engage with the platform.

Unfortunately, the project didn’t get to the 3.0 version due to internal complications. I’m not privy to what happened there, but it wasn’t because of either Mae Company or my team. We got paid, we got compliments, and the project was delivered on time and on budget.

How did Mae Company perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated mostly through Telegram on a daily basis. Even though we hadn’t asked them, their team worked weekends to make up time we’d lost during our previous collaboration.

Mae Company was able to move fast. We’d have a morning scrum each day to touch base on the goals and project’s progress as well as weekly milestone meetings for each of the modules.

The team was easy to work with, proactive, and responsive. Some bugs weren’t discovered until the software started to be used by the public. Even then, the team was quick to make fixes, test them out, and patch things.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re committed to accomplishing project goals. Even if it requires late nights or sets them back a few programming hours, the team will get the job done.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Design could be an area for improvement, but that wasn’t really why they were hired. If we’d asked for it, Mae Company could’ve delivered something more elaborate.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Be nice to them. Also, communication is always key.