Milo Solutions

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a company that produces an EEG app for the Muse.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Milo Solutions, and what were your goals?

My initial programming team got way behind. I went to Milo to create a second team.

SOLUTION

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

We selected Milo because they could do back-end work, front-end work and had a UI/UX talent to prototype designs. Their English was excellent and they have someone on the team who is completely in touch with the client.

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

The scope of work included all the reporting for a mobile/desktop web application that supports a phone-based neurofeedback application called GoDeeper. Technologies used include JS and React.

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

We had a full-time front-end programer, a back-end programmer, and a UI designer for many months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are still in the midst of the project. The Milo team is fast and has great communication skills. I get regular updates on progress.

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

Email and zoom

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

The most impressive thing about Milo is that everyone is very sharp and they're excellent communicators. Having a dedicated person in charge of staying in touch with the client is very impressive.

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

So far so good. I don't have any criticisms at this time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the product director for Run It Once Poker, a B2C poker platform. We’re a startup so I generally wear a lot of hats, but I’m responsible for managing the design team and the general look and feel of the poker platform itself.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Milo Solutions?

We needed help with a variety of web projects we needed to get done.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We actually use Milo Solutions for a few different areas. They help with some of the core C++, or the key programming of our application itself. We have a streaming platform and we needed an admin tool to manage our streamers. That tool has two functionalities: the UI functionality and an internal tool that allows us to run reports and keep track of the account side of things. This online editing tool was specifically done in Django.

What is the team composition?

In total there was about four people, ranging from senior to junior level.

How did you come to work with Milo Solutions?

Our technical director was actually the one who found them and started working with them. He recommended them to me and it was just an easier route to go with someone who was already a trusted name.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work went one from June 2019–June 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We pass off specs and our designs and once those were fulfilled and functioning as intended, that gave us our desired result. The feedback on the tool itself has been positive, which it was important to us that we make a useful tool that wouldn’t burden any of our users. From our administration side of it, the tool has definitely saved a lot of hours because we were doing things more manually before. The tool freed up the individual that was calculating hours each month.

How did Milo Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication was stellar and is something that I give a ton of kudos to Milo Solutions. They were very responsive and the timelines went as expected. However, because this was an internal project, there weren’t any hard deadlines to meet.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciated the over communication on their side and the willingness to go a little bit extra when needed. At one time, I thought maybe one of the developers was going a little bit slower, so they quickly brought on another resource to rectify that. It’s created a really good relationship with our companies. It takes a lot of pressure off me to not have to manage that individual directly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It can be challenging when a new developer has to go through onboarding if the previous developer didn’t work out, but that’s just the nature of the course.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Come in with as much preparation as possible, because external developers are usually coming in with very little knowledge. The more prep work the better to be able to convey what the end goal is. I think that’s gone well with us and is what has made our projects work better.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a startup called Gaiachain. We focus on traceability solutions for sustainable supply chains.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Milo Solutions?

We needed a partner to help us develop a couple of apps.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Milo Solutions helped to build platforms using blockchain technologies. They developed mobile and web apps for the traceability of charcoal and cocoa in the Ivory Coast.

What is the team composition?

We directly work with three people from Milo Solutions. We primarily communicate with their project managers.

How did you come to work with Milo Solutions?

Our CTO is also the CEO of Milo Solutions.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve invested around $50,00 in their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our collaboration around February 2019, and we’re still working together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Milo Solutions meets deadlines for various project milestones. For example, we set dates for the delivery of mockups. Other metrics include communication and the functionality of the apps. Their team does well with those three main metrics.

How did Milo Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We work with two guys, in particular, Adrian (Junior Web Software Developer) and Lukasz (Project Manager and Senior Software Engineer), who are great. They exceed expectations by proposing great ideas, which we appreciate. Their communication’s fast. There was one instance when we had to push back a deadline, but then their team worked all weekend and delivered by the end of it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Overall, we’ve had a positive experience with Milo Solutions. They have flexible project managers who effectively communicate and listen to our ideas. It’s easy to work with Milo Solutions for a variety of reasons.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only con was that we had to push back the deadlines a bit. The delays were only a couple of days rather than a couple of weeks. In the end, they didn’t cause a huge amount of problems. Delays happen with tech companies.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s helpful to put firm dates for deliverables’ due dates and link them to payments in the contract. This would make full payments a condition of meeting deadlines. However, the delays weren’t bad.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a legal tech company. It’s a software product that’s used to identify and manage legislation that applies specifically to whatever industry you’re in.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Milo Solutions?

We don’t have an inhouse development team, so I decided to outsource both the design and development of my solution.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Milo Solutions has been developing our web application, which is built on Django and Python.

What is the team composition?

I’d say that at any point in the project, there were 4 teammates working on the product. That consisted of the CEO, designers and developers, and even their sales team.

How did you come to work with Milo Solutions?

I looked for developers on a freelancing platform. I chose Milo Solutions because they were the most competent and speedy in coming up with a plan to fulfill my requirements.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent somewhere around $65,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in approximately March 2019 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I have internal metrics in terms of project goals and timeframe-bound milestones, and Milo Solutions has met or exceeded them. We’ve been able to make progress with the platform at a faster rate than I’d anticipated.

I appreciated how they catered to me as a non-tech founder and kept it plain and simple in terms of how they planned to execute the project.

How did Milo Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re absolutely fantastic on this front. They’re excellent communicators, and their response rate is astounding. Their turnaround is astonishingly fast as well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They provide higher-quality work at a faster rate than any development team I’ve ever worked with. Their communication is similarly exceptional.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only thing that I can think of is that it’s sometimes challenging to work with a remote team, which is a fact of almost any outsourced project.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Just as with any development work, be very clear about what you want. Milo Solutions is very good at dissecting your requirements to ensure that all parties are on the same page.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and owner of a commercial maintenance business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Milo Solutions?

The company I purchased in 2012 would send manila folders for every job, and they moved a job’s status by moving the folder from room to room. I wanted to replace this process with a software system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

A platform that I built with a USA-based company was giving me several problems. Milo Solutions came in and rebuilt my system on a mobile platform using Django so I have teams all over the world manage my projects. We all work together on the database they created and links with all of our technicians out in the field, and we can see where they’re at.

As part of the process, a manager creates a work order and it’s automatically sent to our platform. Then, someone in our office reviews it, and then, with the click of a button, it shoots out to a field technician. From there, it shoots off to the client with an invoice. The system helps us pull crucial data to see where we lose money, and where we’re more profitable.

What is the team composition?

We work with Michal (Senior Web Software Engineer), Kacper (Founder & CEO), Pawel (Senior Full Stack Engineer).

How did you come to work with Milo Solutions?

They came highly recommended by a California-based company that they were working with at the time. They were reasonably priced, which was important for us.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent north of $1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2018, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The ability to pull data had been huge, and it’s changed how we operate. In terms of quality, their team has done much better than other firms that we’ve hired for design, which is why they handle all of that.

I would need 30% more staff to be able to do the work that our new system does. It’s saved me a tremendous amount of money. During COVID-19 there were three months where were shut down, and they kept our project going; they were an incredible partner through times when it was tough for us, and I’d never want to lose Kacper and his team.

How did Milo Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We have regular meetings set up, and they’re always two steps ahead with ideas. We have a shared spreadsheet and I’ll typically give them the green light to move forward with what they come up with.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It feels like they’re a part of our company. They’re not robotic or sterile, and they’re personally invested in our success.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’re awesome to work with.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make time to work together and go over their ideas together. There was a time when I wasn’t involved in the meetings, they had to go over everything, and it left me in the dark. I also just wasn’t as beneficial to them as I needed to be, which is just as important in these kinds of relationships.