Montana Banana Web & Mobile Development + Design

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

At the time I collaborated with Montana Banana, I was the webmaster at a company that manufactured label printers and disc duplicators.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Montana Banana?

We were running an e-commerce platform on Magento, and I needed a partner to help build out additional features.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Every week, we'd have a meeting with Montana Banana's team to go over priorities and tasks to keep our products moving forward. They were heavily involved for a couple years, providing additional coding and development services as needed.

The original site had already been built, but their team helped add specific features, including a custom label builder that allows customers to customize the label they need, get it printed, and pay for it in one workflow. That feature was built outside of Magento, so Montana Banana configured a way to integrate the tool into our website. They also incorporated a tool that calculated taxes at checkout, so each customer was taxed correctly according to jurisdiction.

What is the team composition?

Stewart (CEO and Founder, Montana Banana) managed most of the projects and Joe (Chief Technology Officer, Montana Banana) provided coding and development services.

How did you come to work with Montana Banana?

I started looking for a developer when we had a critical issue with our online store that needed to be fixed immediately. I found Montana Banana online and they were able to come in and fix the issue quickly, so our relationship took off from there.

How much have you invested with them?

I think we spent an average of less than $4,000 per month, investing around $50,000 a year or $150,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in mid-2015 and the engagement ended in December 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their work didn't really lend itself to measurable results, but I was very happy with the services and much-needed additional help they were able to provide throughout the engagement.

How did Montana Banana perform from a project management standpoint?

Stewart and Joe were great to work with. We had group calls each week, either through phone or Skype, to go over each project and priorities. They also managed tasks through Jira.

What did you find most impressive about them?

At one point my company decided to move in a different direction, which meant that both my role and Montana Banana's role would come to an end. However, we had a significant amount of work and time left before the contract officially ended and Montana Banana's team remained completely professional throughout the transition. Our company was very impressed with how well they conducted themselves from start to finish. Their level of professionalism in the face of difficult situations really sets them apart.

BACKGROUND

Could you provide a brief description of your organization and your role there?

Our company is a third-party logistics company for freight. Specifically, my department and the contact I have with Montana Banana has been related to the Less Than Truckload (LTL) part of the freight world. We have a TMS system, which is a transportation management system, where a client or an administrative user can log in, look at clients and their associated contracts as they relate to the discounts that they’d be getting from various different carriers.

Montana Banana has worked with me directly on this application, and with other people in my company for other things.

Are you a project manager at the company?

Yes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the scope of the work with Montana Banana Web Development?

It’s mostly broken down into smaller projects. People come to me internally and say, “Hey, we need this extra bell and whistle on the application. Find out what that will cost.” Then, we go to Montana Banana, work with them, and get a bid together. They’re working on all different types of parts of the application, from the rating engine to different pricing schemes, search optimization, page load optimization, all kinds of things.

Were they involved in the initial development of the application?

No.

SOLUTION

When did your relationship begin with them?

When I came on board, the company had already been using them for some billing software that I wasn’t involved in. When my director asked me to be the project manager for the development of this application, since Montana Banana had already been with us for something else, we decided to go with them. [The relationship] started maybe four years ago.

How did you select Montana Banana Web Development as your solution partner?

I don’t know why they selected them initially. But, they had done good work and came recommended by the people that had worked with them on the billing application.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in monetary terms or a personnel work-hour figure? Ranges would be fine.

We’re talking hundreds of individual projects, I would say at least 1,000 hours. It’s in the range of $50,000 to $200,000.

Is this a continuing relationship for one-off projects?

Yes, that’s correct. Whenever we have projects, we give them a call. They’re our go-to company. We don’t have an end in sight right now.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any metrics or feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of the work they’ve delivered?

I don’t any specific metrics, but I give them high marks.

Does the application work well? Was the work effective for your needs?

Absolutely. The application has a bunch of congenital flaws. The application isn’t great, but the work they’ve done on it has been.

How would you describe Montana Banana Web Development’s performance?

They’re consistently on time, within budget. They’re great on change control, if there’s something that needs to be changed, identifying exactly what it is, and if it’s within or without the scope. Their attentiveness is the main reason that we keep them. They’re on top of it. You can contact them day or night. They’ll respond and get on it if it’s an emergency. If it’s something that can be scheduled in the future, they’re more than willing to do that, to add to a scope.

In retrospect, are there areas that you think they could improve on or that you would do differently?

No. The only changes that need to be made are within our own company, as we relate to them. There are things I’d like to change about how work is done with them, but it doesn’t have anything to do with them. They’re absolutely pliable in terms of our procedures and protocols. I don’t have any misgivings about them at all.

Is there anything you’d consider unique or special about their approach that distinguishes them from other companies with which you’ve worked in the past?

They take 100 percent responsibility of the work that they do. For example, we’ll hire them to do something and if there is a problem that could have been discovered better if there had been better scoping on our part, they’ll still take responsibility for it. If it makes sense, they’ll handle the issue without extra billing.

BACKGROUND

Please begin by describing your company and your role there.

I’m the owner of a mail order clothing company. We have clothing primarily for older people, people with special needs, and residents of nursing homes; those who have difficulty dressing. We do a 108-page catalogue. We also have a very robust website because all of our products have to be on the website. [About] 20 to 30 percent of our sales are done online. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was the business challenge that you were attempting to address when you approached Montana Banana Web Development?

We had a website, and we were working with a [Web design] company that was closing, so we needed to start all over, create a new website and get that up and running. We also needed to address security, ease of placing an order, and the difficulties of my customers. My customer might either be charging the order or they may be using a credit card. So, that presented a situation behind the scenes of how you would differentiate between customers. 

SOLUTION

When did you begin the relationship with them?

At least five years ago.

Why did you select them to work with?

I read an article in the Seattle Business Journal. They were rating various Web developers and Montana Banana got a great rating for smaller to mid-sized companies like ours. We met with them and really liked them.

Can you give a sense of the size of the project, either in a general cost range or a personnel work-hour figure?

It’s in the $10,000 to $50,000 range, which was the cost of the initial setup of the website.

When was the website initially launched?

It was launched midway through 2011. It took us about eight months to get it launched.

Since the initial website development, has Montana Banana Web Development provided ongoing support?

Yes. We still work with them all the time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, do you have any statistics, metrics, or feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of their work?

They were great. It was easy. What we were doing was very complex because we have a lot of products, so it was a big website to develop, but they were great. The content management system is very easy to use.

Do you feel like the needs you mentioned earlier were addressed effectively?

Yes. Absolutely. We worked step by step on a lot of things. They were very proactive in helping us get the design that we wanted. We were very particular about certain design elements and adding things in, and some of the more unique features that we needed. Yes, they were very proactive.

Was there anything unique or special about them compared to other companies that you may have worked with in the past?

I think they’re really nice and easy to work with.

Is there any area you think they could improve on or that you would do differently?

No, I don’t think so. With any website, it’s a hurdle to get things squared away. But, no, I wouldn’t have done anything differently.

BACKGROUND

Could you describe your company and your role there?

My name is Ruby Martinez. I’m the marketing manager of Vallarta Supermarkets. We are an independent grocery chain with 45 locations, from San Diego all the way up to Fresno. We specialize in produce. We have a bakery, juice bar, and full-service meat counter at all our locations. We provide top quality, freshness, and exceptional customer service.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was the business challenge that you were attempting to address when you approached Montana Banana?

We needed to renovate the website to make it fresher and more up to date. We also wanted it to be more edit friendly in the backend, so we would be able to upload any pictures, events, and new items, and to change our centerpieces as the seasons change as the promotions at stores change. That’s why we reached out to them.

SOLUTION

In terms of the work that they delivered, was this migrating to a new content management system or was it building upon the existing website?

It was a new CMS. I think it was custom built.

How long did the project take?

About three months in 2012.

Did the work include design, development, training, and support?

Yes.

Why did you select Montana Banana with which to work?

We put out this project to different companies. It all came down to Montana Banana because of their presentation. They came down to the corporate office and presented to ownership. [We liked] how friendly they are. They’re easy to work with. They understood Vallarta from day one.

Can you give a sense of the size of the project, either in a general cost range or a personnel work-hour figure?

It was an investment of maybe $12,000 to $16,000.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, do you have any statistics, metrics, or feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of their work?

Our daily unique visitors grew a lot. You can tell that there are a lot more people more engaged with the website. The website is perfect. I love it. It’s really quick and easy. I can do everything on my end. Pretty much, if we need anything from them, it’s just any graphic change. But, any content, I can change here. They also helped us optimize it for mobile devices.

How would you describe their performance?

It was perfect. They have a lot of new ideas. They understand Vallarta, but they also want to add touches for people that are more tech savvy.

Is there anything unique or special about them compared to other companies?

They follow up. They follow through. Anything we ask, they’re honest. It doesn’t take more than a day or a couple of days for them to get back to me. They’re easy to work with. They explain everything to us. We can understand everything that they’re talking about.

Is there anything that you think that they can improve on or that you would do differently?

Not really. They did an initial proposal from everything that we wanted. From there, they addressed everything that we needed. They invoiced us appropriately. Any change that we needed, it was done. They’re open to working with us.

They keep coming back to us with new ideas like ordering cakes online or ordering party trays online or making a shopping list. It’s been great.

Right now, we’re actually in the process of starting our own foundation. They’re going to work on that website as well. We trust them to work on that project.

BACKGROUND

Please give a brief description of your company and your role.

Our company is called Fuel 451. We basically do video and digital advertising. We primarily focus on video. We provide people with the ability to create videos. We have multiple mobile applications and Web applications. I’m officially the CTO. I’m the lead nerd.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was the business challenge that you were trying to address when you approached Montana Banana Web Development?

There were a couple actually. We’re still working with them. Originally, they were building some of the backend and some of the frontend for our website that we launched at least six months ago, which was great. That was a pretty successful project. More recently, we’ve engaged them on building some Flash containers for our visual advertising platform.

SOLUTION

For the first website development project, what were your goals? What were you looking for in improved solution?

There was a lot of integration that we wanted, to provide users an ability to use videos, but then also to be able to produce [videos] on mobile applications and integrate that production into displaying on the Web. There were a bunch of APIs [application programming interfaces] that they built for us to connect the backend of the mobile apps to the website.

One of the biggest things for us that we were really happy about was speed. When we originally contacted some other developers or were even looking to develop this in-house, we could not complete the work in the amount of time that we had. It was pretty short. It was, I think, under two months. We had contacted them and laid out a schedule. They actually met it, which was terrific.

What is the scope of the more recent project?

They’ve been working on it probably for the last six weeks or so. The technical detail about this is we have digital ads that get displayed. It’s part of what’s called a real-time bidding network. Basically, you go to a website, and there’s a corner that displays an ad. They’re building Flash containers that basically take a bunch of information and display video, text, and images in a container to the user. So, they come in a lot of different sizes. There is also a bunch of logic on the backend that looks at what its inputs are, and then makes some decisions about what to display to the user.

There’s also an interesting component where we could feed the Flash container raw images, and it can do what’s called a Ken Burns effect. In other words, it takes images and treats them as video and does an animation effect on them.

Ultimately, we’re doing part of the ad network with Flash containers and then part of the ad network with HTML5 containers. They [the Montana Banana team] have been pretty essential to us, because we don’t have that skill set doing Flash programming. It’s not Flash design. It’s really something different, but it’s underlying Flash programming, and we don’t have that skill set at our company right now. It’s been very helpful.

Are they also doing the HTML5 containers?

They aren’t. We’re doing the HTML5 containers in-house. We did have some questions for them about how to handle video inside HTML5, but it’s actually pretty straightforward. It’s not that bad.

What was your process for selecting Montana Banana Web Development to work with in the first place?

We talked, and we sent out some emails to other people we’ve worked with. We gathered three or four different firms, and we gave them our requirements. This was originally for the website. We talked about capabilities. They really seemed the most serious in terms of scoping the work and really giving us some solid deadlines and milestones, and being able to meet these limited timeframes that we had.

I’ll be honest. It really wasn’t cost for us. It was, “Do they have the skill set? Can they finish the project in time? Do we feel like they have a handle on what the project is?” They seemed most interested and really asked the most questions that were relevant to the project. That’s the best way to describe it. They seemed the most engaged, and they seemed the most capable of delivering on time.

When did you begin working with them?

It was probably eight months ago when we engaged them, and then they delivered the first components about six months ago. We’ve done some revisions since then.

Can you give a sense of the size of the initiative, using either a cumulative cost figure or a personnel work hour figure?

I don’t know if I could give you the personnel work hour figure or the number of engineers. I think, at the peak, they didn’t have more than two to three engineers working on it. Off the top of my head, I want to say that the total cost was something like $60,000 to $80,000.

When do you expect the Flash containers project to be completed?

That should probably be done today. We’ve been doing some revisions. It’s a little bit ongoing. They finished the first phase, which was basically a prototype, about three weeks ago. Now, we’re actually doing the production launch version. Those are supposed to be delivered this afternoon.

We’ve had regular meetings with them in the last few days. He’s been demoing the new version. It looks pretty good. If we have additional templates, we’ll probably feed those back to them in the next few weeks.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of the results of both of these projects, although the most recent one is likely too soon to tell, are there any metrics or any feedback you can share that indicate the effectiveness of their work?

I definitely feel the website project was a success from our perspective. We felt it met our business needs. Our business clients were happy about it. As far as actual performance metrics, I’d be hard pressed to give you something like it’s handled this many clients or this many videos. I just don’t have that off the top of my head.

In terms of this latest project, yes, you’re right. I don’t think we have enough feedback yet to see the actual performance because we haven’t seen it running live yet.

You mentioned that they were really good about meeting deadlines. How else would you describe their performance?

One of the reasons that they meet deadlines is that they laid the entire schedule out in advance. So, there are basically milestones that they’ll hit along the way. They will carefully scope out what they’re doing and what they think the requirements are and any issues that they might have. Noah [Moss, Montana Banana Web Development’s president] generally handles that, and he’s quite good at it. Sometimes, when you’re working on technical projects, you find that people want to talk about some of the technical details in advance of talking about the scope of the project in general and laying out how it’ll roll out.

I think that they’re very focused on meeting the business needs and really setting expectations in front of the project as opposed to [having an attitude of], “It’ll work out.” I’ve worked with enough consultants to have seen that before. You get toward the end of the project, and there are some technical problems. We didn’t really have that with them. They were more effective with laying a timeline out.

Looking back on the work they’ve done so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you would do differently as a client of Montana Banana Web Development?

No. There isn’t anything we would have done differently. They didn’t have some skill sets that eventually we moved some of our platform to. We produced some new modules, and we’ve done those from a different technical perspective. We’ve moved away from some of their resources, but I wouldn’t fault them for that. I would just say that for some things we’ve gone in a different technical direction.

BACKGROUND

Could you give a brief description of your company and your role?

I just left that company in December, but I was there for 14 years. The company is called ESS. It is a military eyewear provider, so sunglasses and goggles to the military primarily, and then law enforcement and firefighters as well. We were purchased by Oakley in 2007 and then I went on to do dual brand management for both brands. Montana Banana came on with us around 2004 or 2005, helping with projects for both brands as well. I worked with them for quite a while and had a great relationship. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

When you first approached them, what was the business challenge you were trying to address?

Initially, we had a website. It was pretty non-sophisticated, so we had some pretty basic needs there on getting a far more robust site to educate our customers and showcase our products, etc. About a year and a half or two years into that, we then added e-commerce to it. Then, through the years, we ended up having four different websites all built by Montana Banana.

SOLUTION

What was your process for selecting them to work with in the beginning?

We interviewed around 12 different companies. We really got after it and got companies from all around the U.S. and even a few in Canada. We spent a couple of months really vetting it out. It went from looking at the portfolio, looking at the price packages, extensive phone calls. We based a lot of it on how we felt we would be able to work with them on a personal level and just overall communication synergy. That was a lot of the process, and then we solidified the agreement after having an in-person meeting as well. They passed all the tests we threw at them in a way that we felt it would be a good relationship, and I feel we did a good job on that.

Can you give us a sense of the size of the cumulative project work that they’ve done for you in either a cost range or a work-hour estimate?

I usually budget around $80,000 to $85,000 a year. That may be low. Obviously, we had different spikes of demand. Launching a new site, for example, they were doing 45 hours a week for us. Between launches, it would be less. We kept them busy for approximately 10 years.

In terms of the websites they developed for you, did they also include training? Did they teach you how to edit the content yourself or was that something they controlled?

For us, it was very important that we were able to have a lot of management over it, in terms of being able to update content. With our previous Web designer, it was really hard to work with it because you would send a request for a simple text change, and it would take him three weeks. Coming out of that experience, we very much wanted to be able to have as much content control ourselves.

So, a lot of what they did for us, more than just building pretty front-ends, was making very manageable backends. The contact management systems were very much tailored to our needs that allowed us to do not all the work ourselves but, in terms of content, just about all of it ourselves. We’d rely on them for major coding, for anything that really required changes to the DNA of the site. The basic architecture, we had them do. Everything else, the stuff that you’d notice on the front end, [is something] that we had management over ourselves. That was one of the main benefits of our relationship, and the way we’d set that up is we could call on them for the heavy lifting, but we do the day to day stuff without ever having to reach out to them at all. That worked out quite well.

What type of content management system was used?

It was a proprietary CMS. They call it the MB CMS, the Montana Banana Content Management System. It was very much a custom CMS, and we spent a lot of time tweaking that so that we could have it exactly the way we wanted it. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, are there any metrics or qualitative feedback that you can share that indicate the effectiveness of their work?

In terms of metrics, you could look at our growth through the years. We were always extremely happy with the work they did. We’d give them some really hard timelines, and they never missed any timeline. We definitely were a very needy customer as was required by our market. It was a very competitive market. We had to be fast, nimble, and creative. They never let us down on that. From a job completion standpoint, they always came through.

Was there anything else unique or special about them compared to other companies with which you may have worked?

I consider Noah [Moss, Montana Banana Web Development’s president] a close friend. We’ve developed a great relationship through the years. We work very well with Jason, one of the other key coders over there. We have a great relationship with a lot of those guys that I felt would have been lacking with a different group because it is pretty special when you get that working relationship where we just enjoy hanging out.

In retrospect, are there any areas that you think they could improve upon or that you would do differently as a client of theirs?

Nothing’s really coming to mind. We’re very happy with the service they’re providing. Noah’s a great project manager and good with following up. The coding guys always do a great job.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am part of the business development team of Public Safety Testing

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Administer tests to folks looking to become Police Officers, Firefighters, Dispatchers, Corrections Officers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Montana Banana Web Development to accomplish?

• Build a New Website
• Maintain New Website
• Make Continuous Improvements and upgrade to new website

SOLUTION

How did you find Montana Banana Web Development?

• Online Search
• Referral

Why did you select Montana Banana Web Development over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

What was the size of Montana Banana Web Development’s team?

2-5 Employees

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

Constantly changing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Our staff determines if the outcomes matched the request.

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

Project management is great. Items are usually delivered on time, we send lots of small little projects and some larger ones. Rarely do they have deadlines but they are often completed promptly. Questions are answered very fast.

What was your primary form of communication with Montana Banana Web Development?

Virtual Meeting

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

We're impressed with their ability to customize their processes and resources to meet our unique needs and goals.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Montana Banana Web Development could have done differently?

Not that I can think of at this time.