Olio Apps

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a Managing Partner at The data Guild, a mission-driven venture studio that creates products that solve global challenges.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Olio Apps?

We hired Olio to help us execute on a new, mobile-first patient engagement platform to be deployed inside large clinical trials. Our design challenge was multilayered: Our target patient population was underserved and poor, distrustful of medical professionals, and suffered from multiple chronic diseases. On the other side, we had a small number of community health workers each of whom had a case load of 200-400 families.

What were your goals for this project?

With these stakeholder populations in mind, we needed to create a more efficient way for CHW's to effectively manage their caseloads, while providing better quality health and social services to a high-risk population. Our solution had to be easily accessible, intuitive to use, and had to simplify or automate basic tasks on behalf of users.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We'd worked with the Olio principals previously and knew they could deliver.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

For our project, Olio owner the full software development lifecycle, taking on technical design, architecture, full stack engineering build, QA, and deployment. We worked closely with Olio to transition product design direction and requirements, Olio owned the rest.

What was the team composition?

The Olio project team consisted of full time engineer, a project manager, a designer, a frontend engineer. They interfaced with a Product Manager, UX researcher and a UX designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

This project resulted in multiple follow-on customer opportunities, and provided a template on which we built a series of patient facing applications.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We followed an agile sprint-based methodology and it worked great. One key Olio point of contact managed the whole thing. It probably helped that we'd worked together before.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We found Olio's humility, humor, and desire to create value truly outstanding. They were able to adjust quickly to shifting requirements and tight deadlines with grace. Olio is outstanding value for what and how they deliver.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a boutique consulting firm, delivering solutions to Fortune 500 companies and major organizations/non-profits. We are focused on AI and Machine Learning solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Olio Apps?

We had a "core technology" offering but lacked a means of web delivery.

What were your goals for this project?

The requirements were state-of-the-art: multiple cloud based scalable services to deliver our highly technical products, requiring knowledge of new cloud tech just coming out of beta by cloud service providers.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We had exposure to Olio through prior projects where were collaborated. The team at Olio: specifically Scott and Aron were able to quickly come up to speed and listened carefully and consistently "managed up" to keep the project on schedule and below budget.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Developed:

1. technical specifications, project scope
2. full budget for review/discussion
3. project management services
4. back end development
5. scalable cloud compute components from scratch
6. full integration
7. full documentation
8. full deployment/integration

What was the team composition?

1 POC, 1 technical lead, 1 full stack dev, various design/usability review/support from their broader team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Achieved digital transformation: from custom, bespoke AI model development to fully automated, scalable, cost-effective cloud-based solutions.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

A++ communication from day one and throughout project.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They're humble, smart, and cost-effective: a triple-threat of goodness!

Are there any areas for improvement?

None specifically, but there is probably an opportunity for them to deploy resources directly into projects (staffing) vs. on-deliverable for their larger customers, or where requirements are less clear.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a large healthcare not-for-profit company. A couple years ago, a new division was created to provide a consumer-oriented, highly personalized healthcare offering, and I came on as the VP of engineering.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Olio Apps?

My engineering team was created to develop the new solution for the company, but we didn’t have any resources who were particularly experienced on the mobile side of development. We were looking to build a cross-platform, user-friendly solution, so we brought in Olio as a partner to really get the mobile app off the ground.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Olio started out helping us to plan, wireframe, and execute the early stages of the mobile application as our primary development team for that part of the project. Over time, we brought on in-house mobile resources to take over the process, and they transitioned to serving more of a support role to augment the staff on the team.

In their work with us, they helped us build out a wide array of features that health care consumers can use to manage their medical records, share lab and billing data, and coordinate on health care provision for children or aging parents. They focused on making sure the mobile app was still user friendly and functioned seamlessly despite all those moving parts.

What was the team composition?

The size of their team varied over time. At peak capacity, we had three engineers from their team working with us, but we also interacted with their principles a lot in the early stages of the project. As we transitioned to the staff augmentation model, they had one engineer working with us to provide expertise for the most part.

How did you come to work with Olio Apps?

Before I worked at my current position, I had been with a security pipeline startup. Our dev team was all backend engineers there as well, and I worked with one of the Olio principles to develop a frontend for our web app. They were reasonably priced and provided impressive quality and speed of engineering, so I went to them when we had similar needs in my current position.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost was just over $1 million for the two and a half years we worked with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We first hired them in October 2017 and finally wrapped up in February 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our contracts were typically about a quarter at a time, and we continually extended them for almost three years, so the quality of work they were completing was obviously more than up to our standards. After working with them for so long, we feel that they have been a key part of our success and we are grateful to them for the dedication they showed to us as well.

I don’t have any exact success metrics, but they were always quick and successful at building what we asked them for, and they did a great job of both providing deliverables and then training and giving expertise as our success metrics change.

How did Olio Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication was excellent, especially in how flexible they were through our growth and transition in staffing models. After moving to more of a staff augmentation relationship, they had one mobile engineer working closely with us, attending our daily scrums and receiving JIRA tasks just like our in-house team members, which worked great.

Any time we had questions or issues with specific systems or functions we wanted to implement, such as the ability to dynamically update the app without using the app store, they were able to provide the knowledge we lacked so that we could successfully integrate that capability.

What did you find most impressive about them?

If I had to pick out a single quality as the most impressive, it would be their ability to get things done. No matter what challenge we needed help with, they always jumped in headfirst and found a solution.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Whatever little things came up over the course of our contract, we were able to address in conversation and they were more than happy to adjust. Whether that was the style of documentation or frequency of reporting, they always reacted immediately to any requests we had. By the end, we had a good feel for each other and were working pretty much seamlessly, so there wasn’t anything I wish they would have changed.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

This isn’t the kind of group that you should write a detailed spec for and then have them robotically execute it. You will get way more out of your work with them if you bring them in early on your discussions and design sessions so that they can talk with you about the best ways to solve your challenges and structure the final product.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and CEO of Cardsmith.co, an online collaboration tool.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Olio Apps?

We had a limited number of developers on our team and needed to go faster with a particular piece of work. We’d built our software on a JavaScript platform and wanted to transition to a React platform. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

It was a short project. My co-founder is a designer and created wireframes and mockups of the screens we wanted Olio Apps to build. The team looked at the designs and gave an estimate based on time and materials. They then achieved our goals within two months, per their promised timeline. It was an easy, collaborative process. 

What is the team composition?

I usually work with Aron and Scott (Senior Devs & Partners). I’ve also worked with Todd (Consultant), Frank (Software Engineer Technical Leader), and Ameliah (Software Engineer) on various projects. They’d often pair a senior person with a junior person and were very good at getting work done.

How did you come to work with Olio Apps?

I’d worked with them before. They were subcontractors at another company that I consulted with. I managed their team for a couple of bigger projects and liked working with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project went from November 2019 until January 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They delivered on time and on budget.

How did Olio Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very good at communicating. Olio Apps brought us into their Slack team, gave us updates weekly, and reached out when they needed help. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were experts at UI and React. Olio Apps was really good at integrations. Their senior people are extremely good, and the junior people aren’t too inexperienced. They’ll always make sure they get things done on time no matter what it takes, and they don’t sacrifice quality. Olio Apps is all around an excellent firm. I’d definitely hire them again if I had the budget.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I only wish they were less expensive.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the product manager for Safety in Motion. We run safety seminars for other businesses. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Olio Apps?

We wanted to develop a mobile app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed the app using React Native. They developed a version of the app that is available offline and allows users to record information while they lack internet access. 

What is the team composition?

I have two main points of contact. There’s a larger team of developers that worked on the app as well. 

How did you come to work with Olio Apps?

We received a referral from a friend. We interviewed several other vendors, but they seemed like the best fit. 

How much have you invested with them?

I would estimate that we’ve invested about $300,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August or September 2016, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They have excellent communication and met all deadlines. They’re able to meet us where we ask them to. We’ve always been completely satisfied with their work. 

How did Olio Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

I don’t know specifics about their project management tactics, but they meet all the goals we set forth. I can’t say enough good things about them. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re incredibly capable. They can make complex ideas clear to us since my team doesn’t have a lot of technical expertise. They’re also great listeners. 

Are there any areas they could improve? 

No. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

Be ambitious, and they’ll meet you where you are.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Chief Technology Officer of a software company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Virtual reality video game development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• API architecture and implementation
• API complexity and security improvements
• API cross-platform authorization

SOLUTION

How did you find Olio Apps?

Referral

Why did you select Olio Apps over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• 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.

Architected and implemented a REST API via Google Cloud and Firebase to handle scalable and reliable live services for a VR video game with 300,000+ players.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• API service reliability to 300,000+ users, 
• hardly any service downtime 
• and continual upgrades to handle more users and service endpoints

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

Olio Apps is incredible, they're consistently on time for deliverables and go above and beyond to provide additional service

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?

Their deep knowledge and rapid development within cloud service providers (GCP) are impressive

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

A little more communication about how specific team members are contributing to certain code repos, and their code review process for it