Raccoon Gang

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Owner of Viamericas Corporation

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

International money transfers

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Raccoon Gang to accomplish?

• Development of a Loyalty system
• Development of an operational management system
• Development of a Treasury Management System

SOLUTION

How did you find Raccoon Gang?

Referral

Why did you select Raccoon Gang over others?

• High ratings
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Raccoon Gang were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

• The team developed the accounting ledger for loyalty points earning and spending - which included the requirement to manage the maintance of loyalty card stock at our agencies and ship when additional cards were required.
• The team developed a commercial pricing platform to simplify digital pricing and manage the funding of our payout networks across the world.
• The team developed a risk mitigaetion engine that allows us to identify potential ACH risk and to identify oppportunitites to put high risk transactions on hold until they are verified for fraud
• The team implemented a debit card processing system to implement an additional funds collection mechanism.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• The loyalty program has been implemented and has over 1M participants
• Usage of the system in production for our digital remittance partners.

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

Project management was excellent.  We had a rather fluid project definition style from our side.  The team was very good about capturing the information and integrating the stories into sprints.

What was your primary form of communication with Raccoon Gang?

Virtual Meeting

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

We can have a very transparent relationship with the company and the engineers working on the projects.  The engineers push for the necessary detail to understand the corner-cases of the projects which minimizes the turn-around-time for getting things done.

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

I feel like our internal IT team is gaining from the experience and interactions with the Raccoon Gang team.  

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the project manager for KKUx’s mobile application, an online learning platform with over 150,000 students from more than 16 countries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Raccoon Gang?

We wanted to expand our customer base by giving people a chance to use our platform through a mobile application. Our system is built using edX, and we were looking for a partner who could use that technology for our mobile application.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, Raccoon Gang developed our mobile application and linked it to our backend system. We started by giving them the requirements. They delivered a prototype and then built the app for Android and iOS. The team communicated with the provider managing our website and backend at the time. 

The app is a version of our website for mobile, with all the same functionalities. Our users can register, log in, enroll in a course, pay the fee, and watch all the content. The app contains quizzes, exams, and material attached to the courses. When users finish a course and pass the final exam, the app generates their certificate. 

Later, we engaged Raccoon Gang to take over our website, server, and backend system management, replacing our previous service provider. Currently, the team provides ongoing development for our backend, website, and mobile app. Our backend system is based on edX, and the team uses Python and Django. For the mobile app, they use Swift for iOS and Java for Android.

What is the team composition?

We’ve had two project managers; the first one worked with us for a year and a half, and the second has been with us for the past six months and is our main point of contact. I also talk directly to the developers when needed.

How did you come to work with Raccoon Gang?

We found them through the edX website; they recommended them. We hired Raccoon Gang because we found out they were one of the best companies in the business for edX-based projects. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $50,000–$100,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them around November 2020, and our engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In Raccoon Gang, we’ve found a really good partner that understands our requirements and our country’s regulations. When developing the mobile app, we gave them an abstract idea, and they helped us transform it into a real project and form the system itself. 

Moreover, the team is flexible when we work with government agency protocols and paperwork; finding a partner that understands those things has been really helpful. We’ve liked working with them on the mobile app so much that we’ve given them our entire backend and website projects. 

How did Raccoon Gang perform from a project management standpoint?

They deliver within the budget and always on time. Our holidays are aligned with theirs, so we haven’t had any issues with commitment or delays. As for communication, they’re very responsive, and I appreciate that I can talk to the developers directly so that information doesn’t get lost. We use Google Meet for meetings and Slack to talk to the project manager. The team uses YouTrack for internal project management. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

What we’ve liked most about working with Raccoon Gang is that we’re in the same time zone, so it’s easy to arrange meetings. Our previous partner was offshore, and it was a nightmare to communicate, so finding a partner in our same time zone has proven efficient. Additionally, I appreciate how involved the team is; they make us feel like this is their project, too. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Since both of our teams are non-native English speakers, communicating can be challenging. However, I haven’t found it to be an issue because we have the same level of fluency, and if we lack a certain word, we work through it. Still, if we each had a more fluent English speaker as a point of contact, it would make our communication easier. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend them; they understand our requirements and are flexible and committed.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Chief Operating Officer of LaQuest Philippines Inc which is an Independent Software Vendor and an IT Consulting company in the country. We cater to government, education and healthcare industries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Raccoon Gang?

Our client is a government entity who specifically need an e-learning using the Open Edx platform. At that time, our web and software developers are engaged with other on-premise ERP projects and since we are beating the time for this client, we have contacted Raccoon Gang to assist us in the Implementation of the Open EdX platform in less than 60 days. The expertise of Raccoon Gang is very helpful to deliver the technical specifications we need for Open EdX.

SOLUTION

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

We contacted Open EdX and they recommended us the best service provider of their platform. Raccoon Gang was not just fast to respond but very accommodating and accomplishes our request on documentation in a timely manner.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

They are already an expert in Open EdX so everything we asked, they we very much prepared to respond.

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

The Co-founder, was our point of contact at first and then their expert technical sales officer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Integrating our business processes into a scalable work order management system with Raccoon Gang has helped increase our business efficiency.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Everything was completed on time and with complete support. The communication between 3 parties was a full solution itself.

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

They took time in understanding our client and the Philippine market. They are very flexible and accommodating with responses that best fit our situation.

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

Maybe improve on the voice over of their How-to videos and create a document format of knowledgebase as many clients prefers to read than watching videos.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a non-profit corporation focusing on assessment and learning. I was a Senior Assessment Designer who worked on the proof of concept stage of the project that Raccoon Gang then developed into a full-blown Phase 1 prototype. I am currently a Lead Content Specialist in Science.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Raccoon Gang, and what were your goals?

We needed a developer to create code for delivering a learning tool in the OpenEdX platform complete with scaffolding, scoring, and integration with computer simulation labs. Raccoon Gang also created backend interfaces for teachers and researchers that would allow the management of students, classes, and data.

SOLUTION

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

The vendor came recommended by Alina Von Davier, the VP in charge of ACT Next, an R&D division within ACT. The bid for the work was competitive and after meeting with the Raccoon Gang, they were selected as the external vendor for this work.

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

There were 4 phases: flow control; lesson page; maskot; and a LMS (learning management system) that were completed in that order. They created a log in system that was accessible to students, teachers, and researchers. They integrated PhEt simulations within the OpenEdX system as well as used Django to create the back end software for scoring and reporting. They created lesson entry templates that allowed for the integration with PhET or other simulations. They created content within WCAG 2.0 accessibility guidelines. They tested and completed bug fixing as well.

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

Approximately 6 including project managers and leads.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project was successful. The prototype worked and we were able to collect data using the system. We have published preliminary findings in journal articles and as conference presentations as AERA/NCME. The work was completed and ready for large-scale release in the spring of 2020 when the pandemic caused the pilot to be scaled back and eventually for the project to be put on indefinite hold.

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

The team was very responsive to our needs and was able to adapt to changes that occurred. They were professional and extremely helpful. They even provided additional information and feedback when we submitted HERA to a learning tools competition. We communicated via Skype, GoToMeeting, TEAMS, email, Sharepoint, and some Google docs.

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

They were able to help us convert an earlier prototype into a much more user friendly version based on code that could be adapted by our development team later, if needed. They were knowledgeable and able to adapt to changes in the project's scope.

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

The only issue was the common problem with scheduling people across multiple time zones with more than 5 hour differences between groups.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of programs of Asociatia Techsoup; we’re a nonprofit global organization that focuses on providing educators with access to the right professional development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Raccoon Gang?

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of our professional development work migrated to online platforms. During this time, the scope and scale of our work grew exponentially, so we needed an e-learning solution that could help us accommodate more people in it with new functionalities with a faster and better method.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Raccoon Gang is working on custom software development for us from scratch, which involves an open-source e-learning platform in Open edX, which will help us grow from 20,000 to 50,000 teachers. The system aims to provide access to courses and other learning functionalities, serving as our reporting and impact analysis platform.

Also, one of the most important parts of this project is how Raccoon Gang provides business analysis for us; we’re grateful for that part of the process because they’re great at helping us understand exactly what we need to build to push forward our MVP.

Regarding technologies, we also use Python and Django.

What is the team composition?

We work directly with their project management and business analysis staff, but I know there’s a complex team working behind the scenes.

How did you come to work with Raccoon Gang?

We found them through a networking organization. After that, we found out they were working on a similar project with the technology we were keen on using, so we asked reached out to them.

How much money have you invested in this partnership?

So far, we’ve spent around $150,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2022, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve met all of our requirements, and our testing has shown that they delivered a great product without bugs — not many companies can make truly tested and functional products, which is valuable for us. Also, they think about many things that don’t come across our heads and are always looking for use cases and potential problems that can arise, which is helpful because we feel like there’s another mind committed to our project. 

How did Raccoon Gang perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been great with project management regarding meeting deadlines and staying within budget. Also, they’re based in Ukraine and quickly adapted to the Russian Invasion — we only had a two-week delay when we started, which is amazing for me, and it speaks volumes about their work ethics.

Regarding tools, we’ve used Slack and another internal reporting system we have access to.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a young and talented team — we couldn’t have better partners to build this product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

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

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust them and their analysis process as much as possible. It’d also be helpful to get involved in the planning and conceptualization phase of the project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CTO of the online-courses platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Raccoon Gang?

We hired Raccoon Gang to do the stress testing of our Open edX-based platform and advise us how to optimize its performance.

SOLUTION

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

We chose Raccoon Gang based on their experience in Open edX development.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

We were predicting huge growth of number users of our platform due to the start of new online-course, that was going to be extremely popular. We had a meeting with Raccoon Gang, where we discussed our problems and they gave us several options on how we can optimize the performance of our platform.

After that they gave us written instructions and examples of the optimizations that we could apply. Once we applied the optimizations, they helped us to do the stress testing, which showed us few more things, that can be improved.

After making changes to our servers configurations, they made another stress testing, that showed improved results.

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

There were 3 IT specialists working with us to help us optimize our servers configuration. One of them helped us with stress testing before and after optimizations.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

After doing the stress tests, verifiyng the slow parts and apllying optimizations to our platform we could see, that the performance increased by 65%.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Everything was on time. We communicated via Zoom and a messenger. Whenever we had a question, they replied us within maximum a half an hour.

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

They are one of the biggest companies, who work with Open edX platforms. Their huge experience in implementing Open edX with different server infrastructures and scalability options allowed them to help us with our problem.

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

Raccoon Gang executed all of their tasks excellently.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a technical assistance advisor for Opportunity EduFinance, a small NGO based in Chicago and operating in 27 countries. Our focus is on linking education with finances, so we try to engage with a broader sector to convince them to lend to schools and improve the education quality of developing countries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Raccoon Gang?

One of our programs includes staff training. Before COVID-19, we did in-person staff training, but with the mobility restrictions and the quarantine that the pandemic brought, we had to think of a way to digitalize our training. Thus, we needed to create a platform that allowed us to track metrics, measure participation, create different training dynamics, and integrate the financial institution we would be onboarding.

In my role, I act as project manager of these initiatives. However, given that I didn’t have technical experience developing these types of platforms, I decided to look for a partner.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Raccoon Gang helped us design and build an LMS for our staff training program. We used an open-source framework to build our platform called Open edX, which they customized for us according to our needs. Additionally, they used Azure as the database system. As per our requirement, they also helped us translate the platform into six languages, including Bahasa and Hindi.

Along the way, we realized that a lot of people in remote areas also needed our platform, so Raccoon Gang built an offline resource within it. Additionally, they developed a mobile app version of the platform for iOS and Android devices.

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with a project manager from Raccoon Gang. Still, there were IT, mobile app development, and content development teams working behind this person.

How did you come to work with Raccoon Gang?

When we were scoping the project, we were undecided between two different frameworks to build the platform — Moodle and Open edX. Ultimately, we decided to go with Open edX to lower the cost, but we needed someone to help us customize our platform using that framework. Looking into Open edX’s website, we found Raccoon Gang.

Still, I interviewed 2–3 other Open edX partners, but I was impressed by Raccoon Gang’s level of experience and the simplicity with which they explained everything to me. When I was discussing my idea with their CEO, he asked me very crucial questions regarding aspects I hadn’t considered, which made me realize that they had great knowledge of what they were offering. Thus, we got on this journey together.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $10,000 on developing the platform. Now, we pay Raccoon Gang a $3,000 yearly agreement for ongoing assistance.

What is the status of this engagement?

We hired Raccoon Gang in March 2020, and they finished the web platform in August 2020. After that, we started the mobile app development project in January 2021, and we finished it in April 2021. However, they still provide ongoing support.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The platform that Raccoon Gang developed is very easy to use, and people without connectivity can still use it, although they need wifi to download the content first. Given that this platform has helped us deliver our training more efficiently, we’ve ended up reducing our delivery cost.

How did Raccoon Gang perform from a project management standpoint?

During development, we requested a lot of changes, and Raccoon Gang was very accommodating — we really liked their flexibility. They sent us monthly reports on the progress, and we always knew what they were doing. Whenever we had problems, we could reach out to them, and they sorted them quickly.

The project manager coordinated with her team and managed the entire communication, which was great because nothing got lost in translation. For example, if we needed to talk about something we found during testing, we would hop on a call with the communication manager, and she would invite the person that had designed that part of the platform. This way, we could ask any question directly to this person, and the project manager would still be aware of what was going on.

The feedback process that Raccoon Gang implemented throughout the project was excellent; they truly cared about our needs. We had a shared Slack channel where we would check in on the project’s status, get reports, and provide feedback. Still, whenever we needed a more formal way to communicate, we used email.

Up until now, Raccoon Gang’s response time has been impressive. We’re in their most basic support contract, but they still answer in less than 24 hours. Whenever they can’t solve a problem within those 24 hours, they still communicate very quickly and let us know how much it will take.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Raccoon Gang went above and beyond the line of duty to provide us with an excellent product. For example, we wanted to have the database in AWS, but we then made the strategic decision to use Azure instead. The change wasn’t part of the scope, but they were more than happy to do it. Additionally, I really liked their promptness in solving problems. If I ever need to coordinate another technology project like this one, I would definitely hire them again.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t have any constructive feedback for them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Senior Sales Engineer for Flybits and oversee our training academy program.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Raccoon Gang?

Our company required a solution for an online training program. Raccoon Gang provided a hosted openEDX solution and provided detailed and attentive consulting and customer service continuously

SOLUTION

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

Through a recommendation of a consulting group we were working with to build out our training academy

Describe the project in detail and walk through their service package.

Raccoon Gang full manages our openEDX solution in the cloud. They provide stellar customer service and have great response times to our questions about openEDX. They have helpful videos that help explain aspects of how to use the openEDX solution. They helped us understand best practices of using the framework and were always positive and quick with there support.

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

IT team and he customer / client success team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Clear communication, quick response, helpful videos and detailed instructions, RG not only helped implement the solution we need, but were very helpful with training us on how to use the solution.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective, we primarily communicated over email, we had a time zone difference as we are located in Canada, but I always had a response waiting for me the next morning if not within the same working day

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

Their customer service was stellar, and they were always friendly. always had a solution or a fix, and were often willing to implement a fix or solution on our behalf in quick order. Highly recommend working with RG just for there customer service alone

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

No they are great!