Olio Apps

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Engineering Leader of Backrs

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We empower tomorrow’s leaders on the social platform for social mobility.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Olio Apps to accomplish?

• Solve complex engineering challenges for a hybrid app leveraging a cloud based API
• Mentor and help cultivate talent within the company's junior developers
• Advise on best practices

SOLUTION

How did you find Olio Apps?

Previous collaboration

Why did you select Olio Apps over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Olio Apps were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

• General software engineering consulting and design work on Hybrid App, API, and Database
• Hands-on development as senior developers in conjunction with other developer, junior developer, and QA resources
• Guidance on best practices as well as support on sprint planning, retros, and execution

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

1. Consistently ship new features to production on time and budget
2. Measured improvement in code quality and team throughput sprint to sprint

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

• Consistently available according to agreed-upon working schedule
• Followed and helped improve best practices related to estimation, reporting, and deliverables.
• Ensured development estimates were reliable
• Open to collaboration and joint design and development with the broader team

What was your primary form of communication with Olio Apps?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The ability of the Olio team to quickly understand a problem and bring in the best resource to solve said problem in a timely and cost-effective manner. They integrate well with our existing team and have been a key component in our successful journey as a business.

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

None that come time mind

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the VP of Delivery for an AI Strategy and Implementation firm. We help clients develop the tools and techniques required to successfully deploy modern AI.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Olio Apps, and what were your goals?

We had been helping a client develop a new data architecture for ingesting their customer data into a centralized data lake where they could interactively query and reconcile data about their customers coming from different sources. We needed Olio Apps' expertise in data engineering with Python to help us deliver.

SOLUTION

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

I've worked with Aron & Scott in the past, and know they are talented engineers who care deeply about ensuring a positive outcome for their clients. They take a no-nonsense approach to scoping and execution, and maintain close oversight throughout the project to ensure adequate communication is happening. I hadn't worked with the rest of their team before, but because I knew and trusted Aron and Scott, I was confident the Olio team could deliver.

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

We needed Olio Apps' help in helping our client implement business rules for identifying duplicate customer records in their database. We first set about documenting the rules in human language, then we experimented with an assortment of techniques to understand the scalability dynamics of the problem (there were 5 million customer records). Finally we implemented the most promising solution and tuned it for performance. The project was developed using Python notebooks running in the Databricks environment.

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

2 people from Olio Apps were involved day to day. One was a heads-down coder responsible for implementing the designs, and the other was a principal/tech lead who helped interpret the requirements and ensure communication was clear and deliverables were satisfactory.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Despite the engineer being relatively new to the Databricks platform and Spark, he was able to rapidly acquire the necessary skills and make an impact in a short amount of time. We were able to implement a routine which could identify pairs of potentially matching records in less than 5 min. The existing process before we got involved took multiple days.

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

Olio Apps had to integrate with our project management tools for this particular engagement, but they were very flexible and willing to adapt. We found the team very communicative and adept at identifying risks early.

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

We were primarily impressed with their adaptability, and speed ramping up on new processes and techniques.

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

I can't think of any - we were happy to work with Olio Apps and would welcome the opportunity to do so again.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing manager at Columbia/Okura LLC, a robotic palletizing company. We offer end-of-line solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Olio Apps?

Our app wasn't working, and we had a very short deadline; we needed the app to work for two big trade shows we were about to partake in. We had another contractor who had become ill and could not complete the app, so we hired Olio Apps to help us. 

The project's purpose was to enable us to interact with customers at the trade shows and show them videos, photos, and different applications. We needed to give users a tutorial with videos and cut sheets.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Olio Apps provides us with mobile app development using Firebase and Flamelink. Initially, we gave them access to the existing app so they could review where we were at. Since we had a short deadline, they first assessed the necessities to meet for the trade shows and defined what would happen in phase two after that. From there, they created a statement of work (SoW) based on their analysis to understand where we were and what we needed to accomplish.

They started by working on the iOS app for iPad. They got the app working and added more features, including a search function. The app works for three different divisions, so they’ve functionally delivered three apps. Currently, we’re in phase two, and Olio Apps is converting the app to work on iPhones and Android devices. The objective is to send lists to our customers through email with videos, photos, and document links. 

What is the team composition?

We work primarily with Aron and Scott (Partners & Principal Engineers). Additionally, a third teammate from Olio Apps works on implementation behind the scenes. 

How did you come to work with Olio Apps?

I did a lot of research online and found Olio Apps through a Clutch review. We were in a really tight spot and got little notice when our previous developer would be unavailable, so we needed to get going quickly. 

We partly went with Olio Apps because they’re local to us, and we like to support local businesses as much as possible. Additionally, they had used Flamelink before; since we’d already built out that platform, we didn’t want to start over completely. The other deciding factor was their positive reviews. Moreover, Olio Apps followed up with us the same day we reached out, so they were very prompt, and we had a great connection.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $35,000 in the initial build and will spend another $12,000–$15,000 in phase two. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in September 2012, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our primary metric for Olio Apps’ success is that the app works. We use the app as an educational tool for sales reps internally and externally, and it’s not available through the app stores; we use it to show our customers what we do and how. The app worked really well at the trade shows, and users love it — it’s easy to use and navigate. Now, we’re expanding on it and making it better.

How did Olio Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re thorough, fast, flexible, and business-smart. Before the trade show, they had a very precise team with key decision-makers without getting everyone involved due to the short window. For the same reason, we didn’t use any project management tools with them before the trade shows. Still, phase one was very well-organized. 

Our main communication channels are Zoom and email; we haven’t met them in person. They get back to us within an hour after we send an email and jump on a Zoom call if we have questions. For example, we’ve had discussions about phase two, where they went back and corrected a duplicated charge in the contract. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Olio Apps’ strength is their thoroughness and ability to make an app functional in a very short period. Before the trade show, the team got the app working within three and a half weeks. They’ve helped us go from an app that wasn’t working to three functioning apps. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing they need to improve on; we’ve had a great experience with them. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have open lines of communication and set your expectations upfront.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of a software platform that helps the real estate industry manage their footprint.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Olio Apps?

We needed to quickly build the first version of our product to launch, so we turned to Olio Apps to help us build it from scratch.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Olio Apps helped us build out a carbon activator that helps a building owner quickly and accurately estimate the amount of carbon that was admitted in constructing a building and then from ongoing operations of it. The team also helped us build a portfolio management tool that a building owner can use to understand how their whole portfolio is doing from a greenhouse gas emission standpoint and what the different financial applications are if they want to get their portfolio to carbon neutral. 

We started off with an idea and some high-level design, and Olio Apps did an initial week or two of discovering, scoping, and recommending what the tech specs should be throughout the system as well as the architecture. When that looked good, we moved on and started actually building the product. They brought more members onto their team and built the beta version of our product from scratch.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Aron (Partner & Principal Engineer), Scott (Partner & Principal Engineer), and 3–4 other people from Olio Apps.

How did you come to work with Olio Apps?

I had worked with Olio Apps at my previous company.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from December 2021–July 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Olio Apps successfully built a functioning product that people are using, which is a success in and of itself already. We’ve received positive feedback on the product’s quality, stability, ease of use, and lack of bugs. Overall, people seem to really like it.

How did Olio Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

Olio Apps did a fantastic job in terms of project management. They were always on budget. They set up weekly calls with us, and the way they ran their sprints worked really well.

We used Trello and GitHub for project management and Slack and video calls for communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were most impressed with Olio Apps’ flexibility and prototyping skills. They also demonstrated a keen understanding of what it’s like to build a new product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they were phenomenal.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It's helpful if you come in with a design and have somebody on your end who is going to play a product owner role. You need to have a product vision, be able to answer their questions, and be accessible when they run into questions that could block them. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of Product at a digital health app; we sell to employers who offer our services to their employees.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Olio Apps?

We wanted to rebuild our mobile app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Olio Apps has redeveloped our mobile app, starting from an existing product in React Native. We’re aiming for a refreshed look through a new release. They implemented the design that we created, but they have also provided recommendations for it.

What is the team composition?

We’ve been working with 2–4 members of their team, including Aron and Scott (Co-Founders).

How did you come to work with Olio Apps?

A colleague that worked with them in the past referred them to me. We chose them because they offered a good price for a great value.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since we started working with them, we went from having frequent app regression bugs twice a month to having only once a year.

How did Olio Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been awesome with project management. In terms of communication, we use Slack. 

What did you find most impressive about them? 

The senior engineering team’s work on collaboration and negotiating is outstanding; they can be more hands-off and make architectural decisions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only thing is that sometimes when we start a project, the backlog doesn’t reflect it because they don’t move the ticket status, so that doesn’t allow me to know that they started it. Other than that, I would change a thing; they’re an incredible team, and I’d recommend them to anybody because working with them is great and they’ve understood our business problem. 

Any advice for potential customers?

One of the things I like the most is that they developed our app and spent time with our engineering team teaching them how to build it on their own, so I’d recommend leveraging them as developers and trainers for your future team.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a solar sales marketplace.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Olio Apps?

I was trying to create an online platform to connect consumers to installers to arrange their solar installation needs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Olio Apps is currently helping me build that platform from scratch. We started by discussing with them our needs and what we were looking for. They listened to what I had to say and came back with a plan that addressed my needs. After that, they’ve been setting weekly follow-ups to check the project’s progress and touch base to ensure that they’re taking care of everything necessary.

In terms of technologies, we’ve been using Firebase and GitHub.

What is the team composition?

We’ve been working with four people from their team, including Scott (Founder), Aron (Principal), Michelle, and Laurie (Software Engineers).

How did you come to work with Olio Apps?

I pitched my idea to a friend, and he knew someone that used to do software development with Olio Apps. After speaking to him, we referred me to Scott and Aron, and I chose them because they could provide what I needed and had reasonable pricing. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $20,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The platform is not live yet, but I can say that my experience with them has been excellent, and they’ve delivered above and beyond my expectations. The platform turned out nice, and I like that they’re proactive in their creativity to develop a design that they think would be best.

How did Olio Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication is outstanding; we use email and online meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them? 

They’re committed to my project, and that motivates them to deliver good products. They also listen to what I’m looking for and ensure to make the changes I request.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything they can improve on — I’m pleased with their results so far.

Any advice for potential customers?

Know what you’re looking for and have a plan in your head to provide them with a template of what you’d like to see.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the co-founders of a software development company called Receipts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Olio Apps?

We needed someone to help us develop a prototype of our app and bring our original ideas to an actual product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The partnership started with the technical scoping of the mobile app we wanted to develop. We then implemented the rapid prototyping of the product, coming up with ideas for features, wireframing, and technical design. This helped us figure out the kind of costs to build it too.

After that, we scoped out the proof of concept that had a database and the functionalities we wanted to integrate. One of the main features of the app is the playback feature where users can essentially repeat someone’s message.

We’re developing this app using React Native for the iOS platform, but we’re going to add Android functionality later on.

What is the team composition?

We’re currently working with two of their founders who have senior-level engineering experience and they also have mid-level engineers that work under them on a flex basis. 

How did you come to work with Olio Apps?

We chose to work with them because of their agile development method.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $120,000 USD.

What is the status of this engagement?

The partnership started in May 2021. We’re on the last scope of our project and we don’t know if we’re looking to continue working with them after that.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As a startup, Olio Apps has helped us from a cost perspective. It would’ve cost us more to hire our own developers to do the same amount of work, so they saved us about $200,000 USD.

The issues that we’ve experienced have been fairly anticipated, and it’s not because of gross negligence. It’s just a result of having a lot of users, so I don’t have any complaints.

How did Olio Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management has been amazing, and one of the things we really appreciate is their responsiveness. We know they have a lot of clients and we’re not their number one priority, but it definitely feels like we are.

We mostly use GitHub and Google Suite to manage the project and Zoom to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re very impressed with their rapid prototyping and ability to build something with efficiency. We haven’t really created anything to scale yet, so everything has worked to the point that we’ve designed it for. I also like that they can determine the extent to which the prototype is limited to, and it’s been advantageous in the development process.

Are there any areas they could improve?

One thing that would’ve been helpful is letting us know how their work gets divvied up. I think because of their agile development method, it’s hard to keep up with what the engineers are working on. However, I usually trust them because they always deliver on time and on budget, so we’ve never had any problems.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would highly recommend them for rapid prototyping to people who are looking to get a mobile app developed. They’re a very good fit for people who want to get to a specific phase very quickly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior engineering manager of a computer software company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Olio Apps?

We needed someone to help us with web development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Olio Apps works directly with our UX designers and project managers to develop solutions for our development tasks and possible problems, like feeding back to the backend and influencing the overall design of our products to reach our end goal. We give them whitespace with an already existing infrastructure, some processes, procedures, and standard technologies for them to use, like React. In addition to that, they’ve developed the CI/CD pipeline and generalized templates that we can later use throughout the company for cost savings and bootstrap projects.

The product they helped us develop is for presenting data essentially. On the frontend, they made API calls to show the data and do the necessary workflows so users could go through them and configure data sources, for example. In terms of design, they were the cornerstone of it; we showed them what we wanted, and they came back to us to tell us if it was or if it wasn’t a good idea. We would typically agree with their opinions, and after that, they’d implement the task.

Our company is still in the engineering phase of our project and new product development. Still, whenever we had a concern, Olio Apps jumped right on it to address it immediately to have a proper bug-less product.

What is the team composition?

We had a lead developer, who was our main point of contact. We also worked with two full-time developers and a project manager who got involved as much as the process required.

How did you come to work with Olio Apps?

They’ve been working for our company for years, and they’re our go-to partner whenever we need additional resources.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $125,000 with them on this task.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together on this project from April–October 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Overall, they were really helpful, and I’m happy with the results — we’ll continue to use them on different projects. Our team is also delighted with what they’ve done.

How did Olio Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

They were independent and did an excellent job — we built a rapport of trust with them. I didn’t have to worry about anything because, although they self-managed, they were also very close with our team. They were also ahead of schedule the whole time and on budget. In terms of communication, their team joined all of our meetings, and we also used Jira, Slack, and Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their strong development team is great; I haven’t seen a team as good as theirs. If I could hire them full-time, I would!

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything they can improve.

Any advice for potential customers?

Give them work independence because they know what they’re doing and have done it a lot. Don’t waste their talents just by bringing them in and telling them exactly what to do; if you want just someone to do coding work, they’re too talented for that.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a digital health solutions provider that was founded in February 2020. As the product manager, I head the product team, acting as a liaison between the engineering side of our organization as well as the marketing and business sides.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Olio Apps?

We hired Olio Apps along with a few contractors to make up our startup’s engineering efforts.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Olio Apps acts as our frontend engineering team. They’re building an iOS/Android app in addition to a couple of responsive web apps. Both the mobile and web sides are different facets of our solution: the mobile side is a customer-facing app while the web app is more of a B2B customer admin portal. Technologies include React Native and Angular.js. 

What is the team composition? 

I only interface with Aron and Scott (Co-Founders & Principal Software Engineers). Aron heads the engineering team while Scott deals with the business aspects.

How did you come to work with Olio Apps?

One of our other contractors had worked with Olio Apps in the past and referred us to them. Out of the candidates that we’d considered for this project, Olio Apps was exceptional because they were willing to work without detailed specs telling them exactly what to build.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $150,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

It kicked off in late April 2020, and we’re still working with them. Our solution is at about 75% of where it needs to be before it can be shipped as an MVP. We hope to continue working iteratively with them as our scope continues to evolve.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Despite the uncertainty within our project, Aron has been able to handle an ever-evolving scope and, in some cases, help us tease out what we don’t know to gain clarity. He then directs his team around the functionalities that need to be synthesized to meet our business objectives.

We’re now on our 11th statement of work (SoW) with them. For each SoW, we define the deliverables as best we can along with the high-level features, and they provide an estimate. They’ve never gone beyond the quote nor timelines without permission, often coming in at or within budget. They’ve also met or exceeded all functional expectations.

How did Olio Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

Olio Apps is an exceptional partner, and we’re completely satisfied with their ability to meet our project needs. They use an agile framework to build our app, which keeps them on time and budget. We hope to continue working with them in the foreseeable future.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It comes down to their ability to handle an evolving scope and the occasional pivot in focus. That’s been invaluable to us and not very common compared to some of our previous partners.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind right now. I did ask them to improve on their invoices so that I could see how they correlated to the individual SoWs. However, that wasn’t a huge deal, and they’ve gotten better about it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of Warcraft Logs, a website that analyzes combat logs for “World of Warcraft.”

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Olio Apps?

We needed some staff augmentation. We have a small in-house development team. We give Olio Apps small, cordoned-off projects to speed up the work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our platform consists of a website and an uploader application that sits on the user’s computer. The uploader interprets the log a little bit and uploads it to our site and server for further processing. Olio Apps works on the uploader application, among other tasks. For example, one of our first projects was a port from one technology to another.

What is the team composition?

I work with the two founders, Aron and Scott (Senior Devs/Partners).

How did you come to work with Olio Apps?

They were a recommendation from another entrepreneur and friend of mine. I think they used to work with the two founders at another company.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve done a couple of different projects together. We started talking in October 2018 and finished our last engagement in March 2020, but it’s an ongoing thing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

What I appreciate about their work is that it’s thoughtfully done. The code we produce in-house is high-quality because we know the system and will have to work on it again. When we get an outside firm to write the code, we may end up with something that fits the requirements but isn’t extensible and requires rewriting. 

However, we can trust Olio Apps to refactor their past projects and make design decisions so that the code can go in new directions. They have the experience and history with us to do that, which makes them different from other firms.

How did Olio Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve done very well. They were very responsive and flexible enough to use our communication tools like our Slack channels. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Our ability to trust them with our code is what I’m most happy with. They fill in the need when we’re swamped and need something to happen quickly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Any hard engineering problems we gave them took a little longer, but that’s to be expected.

If I were to recommend them to others, they’re great developers for developers. We ask them to fulfill detailed engineering requirements. I don’t know if they can or can’t work novices because I haven’t worked with them like that.