Parrolabs

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of development and teacher support for the World English Institute. Our organization uses the Bible to teach English in every country around the world. We advertise free English courses on Google to help people learn and improve their English.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Parrolabs?

We needed to update our website. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Parrolabs familiarized themselves with our website, its functions, and its code. Their team then broke down and upgraded the code.

They also added several features and functionalities to the website. Their team enhanced our reporting tools to move information faster. While they continued to use Ruby on Rails, they upgraded our site to DOT4 with the intention of moving into DOT5.

Overall, the design stayed the same. However, they improved some applications.

What is the team composition?

I interact with about five people. We collaborate with a project manager, developers, and designers from Parrolabs.

How did you come to work with Parrolabs?

We found them through a recommendation. Parrolabs revamped a website for the World Bible School, which highly recommended them. 

How much have you invested with them?

In total, we’ve spent about $30,000. We pay a fee of $2,500 per month as we continue the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together around April 2019, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Parrolabs stands behind their work. Their team’s reliable, knowledgeable, and works to rid the platform of bugs. As we closely work together, we built a rapport. We work together to solve any challenges that arise.

How did Parrolabs perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Trello and Slack. For the most part, communication’s smooth. Our biggest challenge is working in different time zones. However, they go the extra mile for us. When necessary, their team will work long hours to fix critical issues.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Parrolabs focuses on important issues. Their team listens to our priorities and then works hard to keep us satisfied. When we bring issues to their attention, they quickly fix them. They aim to please and want success.

Are there any areas they could improve?

At times, communication could’ve been better such as when they rolled out a new feature. We gave them feedback and asked for more thorough documentation to help us remain on the same page.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They have a great leader who hired great people. Their team has a lot of knowledge and experience.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a flower company that ships bouquets in British Columbia. Our team also works on high-end design and luxury gifts. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Parrolabs?

On our Drupal site was having trouble with SEO scoring due to its page speeds. We found that we needed to move to a decoupled platform, but I didn’t have the expertise to do that myself. They were brought on to handle that.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team built out a new React frontend for our website. We didn’t finish the project, but I’m planning to handle the remaining work in the next 2–3 weeks.  

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with one of their senior developers. There was also one gentleman overseeing the development. That team structure was by our request because we are a smaller company with a small budget.

How did you come to work with Parrolabs?

I have my own development company that handles large-budget projects. We needed an outsourced team that could take on some of the smaller-scale projects. They seemed to understand my expectations, which wasn’t the case with companies that we’d tried in the past. I spoke with 3–4 companies, and they seemed the ablest to deliver to our needs. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent a total of $20,000 on their services. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started this project in November 2019, and the project is ongoing. It will be launched soon. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their React work was pretty stellar. They kept a good pace throughout the entire development cycle. Considering we were taking on an advanced site, we covered a remarkable amount of ground, allowing me to finish the rest of the project out. 

The page load times are now a third of what they were previously. That’s really going to allow us to compete with well-established companies. They also made sure that everything was testable. That gives more confidence in the product that we created together than the solution we had beforehand. We have a means to rapidly deploy to the new servers, and this is really going to drive the expansion of our market share over the next year.  

How did Parrolabs perform from a project management standpoint?

They adapted well to our budget and team size. This is a mature project, and I have nothing but great things to say about their team performance. They worked within our restraints well. Communication was generally very solid. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ll be hiring them again without a doubt. I have a lot of experience with this industry, and they’ve made my life easy.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their biggest challenges came from our end in terms of budget and team size.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of technology and digital strategy for World Bible School. We provide bible correspondence courses in four different languages all over the world, in both online and postal formats.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Parrolabs?

We needed better consistency and support maintaining our Ruby on Rails system. Previously we had one-off contractors, and we were looking for the stability and scalability that comes with having a long-term technology partner.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Parrolabs has worked on multiple projects with us. They initially took over the maintenance for our online correspondence service, migrating it to AWS to improve its performance and responsiveness around the world.

They also went into the backend and improved a lot of legacy coding issues. Finally, they’re developing from scratch a new phone app called Spoken. The app helps people learn English.

What is the team composition?

Between the different projects, we’ve worked with at least 5–6 people actively. Niels (Founder & CEO, Parrolabs) coordinates everyone and is there to communicate with us and make sure things are moving in the right direction.

For developing the Spoken mobile app, we have a project manager, a frontend designer, a developer, and a DevOps person. For site maintenance, we work with a senior developer and the junior developer and DevOps person who both work for him.

How did you come to work with Parrolabs?

I found Parrolabs on Clutch and was impressed with their reviews. We also wanted a company in the same time zone—we wanted to nearshore. General communication was easy, they can respond much quicker than if they were asleep on the other side of the world.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began work in October 2018, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Watching them create the Spoken app from scratch has been a spectacular experience. Everything they build is both very high-quality and stable. The design is amazing, and their work has made my life much easier.

They pay great attention to detail which has served them well working in our legacy system. They quickly find and resolve all issues.

How did Parrolabs perform from a project management standpoint?

They use Trello to track what is upcoming, what needs review, and what needs QA. They’re very organized and their work has made our lives incredibly easy.

For the app build, they use Jira. They methodically divided development out into three six-week-long sprints. They cover all requirements, and their organization has kept everything moving forward without issue.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They care a lot about getting to know the business and bringing in suggestions. I appreciate how they come to us with new ideas because it means that they’re thinking about our mission and what we want to accomplish.

I also appreciate how they go out of their way to do extra work for us. It speaks to the level of the partnership that we have, and how much they value our relationship.

This all became evident during the RFP process. They understood our competitors and came back with ideas that rose to a new level above everyone else. They did all this, and still charged us competitive pricing—no higher or lower than the industry average. Their thoughtfulness and care stood out to me then and have continued to stand out to me throughout this partnership.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’re great. Whenever there’s an issue, it’s because of the old code that they’re fixing. It's never due to their work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You need to have clearly defined requirements. Know your expectations.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a consultant at a recruitment agency for global software engineering teams.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Parrolabs?

I represented a client who needed a team of Ruby developers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Parrolabs provided us with developers who are skilled in Ruby. Their team brought forward really good candidates. They use other technologies but have strength in Ruby, especially Ruby on Rails.

What is the team composition?

Ultimately, they assigned one team member.

How did you come to work with Parrolabs?

We found them on the web. I didn’t just see their website and then decide that they were a good fit. I talked with Niels (CEO, Parrolabs) and engaged with their team. One consideration was how many good candidates they brought forward. Parrolabs provided highly qualified candidates.

How much have you invested with them?

Their services cost about $6,000–$8,000 a month.

What is the status of this engagement?

The collaboration began in September 2019. The assigned developer had to leave, so we’re looking for another one to support the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Parrolabs brought forward good candidates. The quality of the developer’s work was high. He engaged and communicated effectively. His engineering work was also of a high caliber.

How did Parrolabs perform from a project management standpoint?

The developer was under the management of my client, so Parrolabs didn’t bring in their own project manager.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Niels was active in the engagement and conscientious about overseeing the relationship between my client and his developers. Parrolabs made sure that the project was headed in the right direction. They ensured that the collaboration was strong and that processes were followed. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t have anything for them to improve.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of a couple of IT and marketing companies. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Parrolabs?

I was looking for development resources that could work within my budget parameters on various client projects. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Parrolabs provides ongoing development support for client projects. We recently worked with them on a specific scope of work for a client that involved developing an e-commerce platform and mobile app. 

What is the team composition? 

I work with Niels (CEO, Parrolabs), as well as a frontend developer, a backend developer, two project managers, and two QA leads. 

How did you come to work with Parrolabs?

We found them on Clutch and decided to work with them based on their great reviews and price point. 

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested in the range of $100,000–$250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We continue to work with them on multiple projects since our conversations began in December 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our clients are all very happy with Parrolabs' response time and professionalism. Their work has helped improved overall efficiencies internally. We're so happy with their work that we've decided to add a couple more resources from their team to our account.

How did Parrolabs perform from a project management standpoint?

They've been flexible in adapting to our needs as I've made suggestions for different software and processes to follow. As projects became more complex, I requested we use Jira, for example, to start managing projects, which has been a great tool for us. I've also gotten to know Niels very well, and it's added a lot of value being able to work closely with their CEO. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their client-centric, highly collaborative approach sets them apart. Where other tech companies can be less humble in problem-solving scenarios, Parrolabs is much more collaborative and receptive to client feedback. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing, in particular, comes to mind, but whenever I request changes to the way we manage projects, they're very openminded to it. We have a strong and evolving partnership in that way. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Success with working with an offshore company depends a lot on collaboration and your company's own willingness to devote enough time to develop the relationship. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a digital content manager at a news media company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Parrolabs?

Our previous developer didn't do an outstanding job in regard to the code, so our website wasn't ranking high in Google searches and a few of the functions were not working as expected. We were looking for a new vendor to do complete refactoring of the code.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have an informational website that was originally built in React. Parrolabs helped us change the code and ensure the website is functioning properly. They also arranged for more ad space we could sell.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three members of their team.

How did you come to work with Parrolabs?

We found them on Clutch. Our website is in Spanish and serves the Spanish-speaking population, so we were looking for a team that could speak Spanish. Also, their rates were affordable, so we chose them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in December 2017, and our first launch was in April 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The loading speed on the website is significantly faster and the videos play seamlessly.

How did Parrolabs perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very good at meeting deadlines and following up with us. We used Slack to stay in touch and they were always clear about what they needed from us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their expertise is outstanding. They're very aware of the current technologies, so their recommendations were right on point.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything. We were happy with their work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m with Eureka Seminars. We provide seminar courses primarily for physical therapists, but also chiropractors, massage therapists, and other professionals.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Parrolabs?

We operate a number of websites, but found our SEO traffic was lagging.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve really helped develop ways to improve our websites and increase traffic. They’ve made our digital presence more user-friendly and identified ways to manage incoming queries more efficiently.

Students take our courses, in part, to help maintain their licenses. This involves pre- and post-course tests that we used to administer manually. We plan to build these tests into our website, which will make things easier for students and allow us to analyze data more readily. We’re also considering different payment processing systems.

Because we specialize in multiple areas, we had created a separate company name with its own website to avoid confusion. This strategy backfired, however, so Parrolabs is helping us combine the sites. Our goal is to drive traffic through our primary website and redirect users to course listings on our second site.

What is the team composition?

We’ve had various individuals working on both the back- and frontend.

How did you come to work with Parrolabs?

While we knew the owner in another capacity, we decided to hire them after reading their reviews on Clutch. We felt it was a good idea to hire a vendor we knew and trusted.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ll end up spending between $15,000–$25,000 by project’s end.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2017 and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The wireframes they’ve presented are beautiful. Their design team really knows what they’re doing. They’ve already made substantial improvements, so we’re really excited about the project.

How did Parrolabs perform from a project management standpoint?

I’ve been happy with their communications. We meet regularly and arrange times to speak whenever I have questions or concerns. After a call, they send me a summary so I can review the details with my partner. We also communicate via Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I love that they took time to get to know our company. They interviewed our internal staff and a number of people who have gone through our registration process, which helped them identify our business’s strengths. We’ve worked with a number of web developers, but none have conducted that kind of in-depth research. This showed that Parrolabs took our project seriously.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had to work out our respective communications styles. They’re used to working with younger startup companies that prefer email, while I prefer speaking over the phone. Still, this wasn’t an issue after I expressed my needs.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CFO of a new project here in Colombia. We are building a MailChimp-like service for the Latin American market called ConvertLoop.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Parrolab?

We were in the process of building the MVP [minimum viable product]. While I am one of the most senior developers in Colombia, I didn’t have the margin to work on this project full-time. So, we decided to outsource part of the development process.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We looked into the requirements for the MVP and reached a common understanding. We involved their resources to assist us in developing it. They helped us launch the project, and we are currently in the process of making improvements.

What is the team dynamic?

We worked with 2 junior developers with less than 1 year of experience.

How did you come to work with Parrolabs?

We knew Parrolabs through a personal connection. When we were short on developers, going with them saved us the time and hassle of a selection process. We considered others within our network, including Koombea and Globant, but they gave us the impression that we were too small for them.

How much have you invested with them?

$50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

They worked with us for a total of 6 months, between October 2016–March 2017. Now that the project is launched, we’re able to handle a lot of it ourselves now.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

This was not a defined project, so it’s difficult to share metrics. Given that the developers who worked with us were junior, their work was good.

How did Parrolabs perform from a project management standpoint?

While there wasn’t project management in an absolute sense, we appreciated the way that Parrolabs managed the engagement.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They delivered as promised. We really appreciated the engagement calls.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Every startup can look back and find something they could’ve improved, but this isn’t a reflection on the performance of Parrolabs.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are the largest online retailer of quality knives in the Benelux [Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg] Union. Our flagship store is called Messenshop, where we sell Victorinox Swiss Army knives, cooking knives, and accessories.

I am one of the founders and the general manager of the business. We are a lean company in the sense that we use outsourced providers for warehousing, shipping, marketing, and technology. Our internal team is based in Harderwijk.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Parrolabs?

Parrolabs was invited to take on several challenges, including SEO [search engine optimization]. At that time, we were forced by one of our suppliers to give up our original domain and transfer to a new one. Our original domain already had a 7-year history, and we feared that it would take years to be ranked by Google again.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Within 6 months, they helped us transition to the new domain while ensuring that the impact on our business was minimal. They helped us restructure the pages and optimize them for SEO. They also contributed to our internal CMS [content management system], which was built years ago by another party using PHP and JavaScript. Parrolabs worked well with this non-standard technology, and they were able to use this with our multiple URLs and domains.

How did you come to work with Parrolabs?

We had a personal connection with them, so we were sure they would deliver. As they were able to offer the same services at a better rate, the choice was easy.

How much have you invested with them?

The initial phase cost us $50,000–$100,000, but we will soon exceed that amount.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started connecting with them in early January as that is traditionally an easier season for e-commerce. The project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The impact of the domain change on our sales was minimal. For the period of April–July 2017, our sales were down by about 15% compared to last year. However, the numbers have improved since then because of Parrolabs’ optimization work. Sales were up by as much as 28% in August. September is not done yet, but things are looking good. We are expecting an excellent performance in the fall.

How did Parrolabs perform from a project management standpoint?

They are excellent. We have weekly calls with them, and we use Asana for project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We love working with Herman [Frontend Developer, Parrolabs].

Are there any areas they could improve?

We sometimes find it difficult that they are not in the same time zone. While we suggested that they get an office in Europe, it seems that they are now working exclusively with U.S. clients, making us their only client from the EU [European Union].

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and VP of a full-service business development concierge with an emphasis on business development advising/coaching and associated deliverables. We created the Fulcrum Peak Performance Model and guide our clients through that process for building and growing their business so they can change their lives and ultimately impact the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Parrolabs?

We needed an e-commerce solution for a client project. Move from dream up to start up through a multi-phase strategic launch for https://shop.alarmtransfer.com

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had four developers from Parrolabs and they built our solution using Ruby on Rails, which they helped determine. They also assisted with user stories and with scaling down the vision to an MVP [minimum viable product] that would allow us to add additional features as desired.

How did you come to work with Parrolabs?

We interviewed several development houses and based on their competitive price and a recommendation from a business colleague, we chose them.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in the spring of 2016 and ended in 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have a completed custom e-commerce app.

How did Parrolabs perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication was good but the scope was sacrificed near the end due to some development complications prior to launch. It was a mutual decision to reduce the scope.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were always available.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their budget reporting could’ve been better throughout the process so that we could’ve made our scope decisions sooner rather than later. Overall, though, it all fell within budget.