Railwaymen

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

‎HomeAhead creates real estate technology solutions. Our products include a wish list and a concierge service for realtors. I am the head of products for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Railwaymen?

We were having a challenge finding talented and affordable developers in our area.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Railwaymen started out with web development for HomeAhead, my present company. They also built native iOS and Android apps, primarily using Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL, and JavaScript. We have regular standup meetings with Railwaymen's team. Initially, we presented a general product spec sheet that shows the requirements from a high-level perspective. Then, we worked through the details week by week. Railwaymen acted as our local development team, staying up until 2 or 3 AM on Poland time in order to take part in our meetings. We also had meetings at 9 AM US time, providing plans for the next day.

They also built an iOS app for my previous company. It needed to replicate all functionalities on our site, which was quite challenging. It featured custom interactions, video elements, and so on. That project had a 2-month completion time.

How did you come to work with Railwaymen?

I originally found Railwaymen by chance at the SXSW Conference. I had a project which required some work, received a fixed-rate quote, and started the work.

How much have you invested with Railwaymen?

For Railwaymen's work with ‎HomeAhead, the cost of our Android and iOS apps was $30,000. The cost of Railwaymen's work on an iOS app for my previous company was $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We are currently working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

I appreciate is that the staff turnover is very low. We are still working with the same people that started out with us 4 years ago. Typically, when working with outsourced development, we will be working with different people from week to week which leads to a lot of wasted time. Railwaymen provided consistent and fantastic talent, superior even to our local developers.

We design our own products and then Railwaymen takes care of the development. In that respect, they've done a fantastic job of matching our designs. Everything built by Railwaymen has been responsive and persistent from a maintenance point of view. We are still using code written by Railwaymen 4 years ago.

How did Railwaymen perform from a project management standpoint?

With all custom development, there will always be another feature to be added, a bug discovered, and so on. Railwaymen stayed within budget and schedule. They are also extremely responsive, considering that the company is based in Poland.

What did you find most impressive about Railwaymen?

Railwaymen assigns product managers who keep meticulous records of every single story or topic we've worked on, the hours spent on it. There has never been a moment of confusion around the billing we receive. Things have become better and better. Before, the work used to be broken down by the hour, which meant that there could be a little fluff. Considering Railwaymen's rates, that didn't really matter. But now, we are doing billing on a 15-minute basis. They are also up to date with the newest tech which is great.

I have been personally working with Railwaymen since 2012. I’ve brought them multiple projects and have had multiple companies using them. I love the company and I bring projects to them whenever I can.

Are there any areas Railwaymen could improve?

I have nothing but glowing reviews for Railwaymen. There will always be small issues here and there, but nothing that would be a deal-breaker. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a recruitment company working with teachers and training professionals who wish to work abroad.

What is your position?

I am the founder and General Recruitment Manager of the business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Railwaymen?

We wanted to develop a web portal on which teachers could advertise their services. It was meant as a separate arm for bringing in more candidates, without advertising on different platforms.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

We worked with Railwaymen for the development of an outlet related to one of our websites. They developed it from the ground up. I was involved in keeping track of the vision of what we wanted done.

How did you come to work with Railwaymen?

We wanted to use a company that could develop our site using Ruby on Rails. Cost-wise, it wasn't feasible for us to use a local company. We started looking at a number of shops in Europe, contacting 20 different developers in The Netherlands, Poland, and Portugal. We were most impressed with the speed at which Railwaymen got back to us. Their owner was professional from the very beginning. One of the metrics by which we gauged our original screening was how responsive they would be to the request and how comfortable we were with the initial conversation.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The total cost of our development with Railwaymen was between $15,000 and $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our website was completed 3 years ago. We have a monthly relationship with Railwaymen for additions or bug fixes.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Everything went well and I'm happy with the results from Railwaymen. We could have used a bit of guidance on the SEO [search engine optimization] part, but that wasn't an initial part of the project. It was an area which we overlooked when doing the build. Railwaymen did everything we asked them to do and did it well.

Around 33% of the users who land on our homepage will create an account. It's a very niche market, so they have a specific purpose for coming on to our website, but the figure does show that people trust the site and like the way in which it functions enough to go through the basic process of creating an account.

How did Railwaymen perform from a project management standpoint?

We've dealt with their principal from day-one. He has been very professional and always available. This has made Railwaymen stand out and be trustworthy.

What distinguishes Railwaymen from other providers?

Railwaymen's customer service is very good. They're also very good hosts. I went out to visit Railwaymen's headquarters and we had a couple of very good nights in Cracow.

Is there anything Railwaymen could have improved or done differently?

The oversight was on our part, in terms of SEO. If there was someone on Railwaymen's staff that could provide more input in terms of the site's structure and SSL elements that could affect SEO, that would be an improvement.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My company is called MySoberRoommate. It's a new online platform for sober people to meet potential roommates.

What is your position?

I am one of the co-founders.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Railwaymen?

We needed to build a website.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

I believe it was Ruby on Rails. They built an entire website with search features and messaging functions. They're in the process of building an app on iOS.

How did you come to work with Railwaymen?

We found them by referral from a friend of a friend who had used them. We had a phone consultation with Lukasz [Mlynek, co-founder and CEO of Railwaymen]. He was so patient and knowledgeable. They sent us designs and did such a great job.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The whole project was $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Railwaymen is currently working on a mobile app.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Everyone says the site looks sleek and modern, and it works great. The site has only been up one week, but the beta testing returned some impressive feedback. We feel lucky that we found them.

How did Railwaymen perform from a project management standpoint?

They did a good job. We were a little concerned about the time difference and how that might affect communication, but they were great. Their communication was fantastic. They were very accommodating and responsive via email.

What distinguishes Railwaymen from other providers?

Railwaymen was very patient with us, which I appreciated. We're not tech savvy people, so they would take the time to explain in terms we could understand. We changed our minds as we went, and they were always very accommodating.

Is there anything Railwaymen could have improved or done differently?

I don't think so. We had a great experience working with them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My company is Apple Seeds, an indoor play space for kids who are ages 0 to 5. Our playspace features unique indoor playgrounds designed by well-known children's museum designers. We also host weekday and weekend birthday parties, play dates, and corporate events.

What is your position?

I'm an accountant, but I'm also responsible for technological issues.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Railwaymen?

They built features for our website including an internal CRM [customer relationship management], an internal POS [point of sale], and an internal scheduling system. 

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

We had a certain platform that Railwaymen built for us. They were responsible for end-to-end development of that.

How did you come to work with Railwaymen?

I'm not able to answer that because Railwaymen was selected, and the project began before I joined.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The size of the project is confidential.

What is the status of this engagement?

It's been five or six years since we first started working with Railwaymen. We always have projects going on. They also provide support if there are issues with our existing platform. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any feedback from this engagement?

Railwaymen met the deadline. They were definitely able to deliver what was expected. Railwaymen's delivery encompassed everything. We ended up using our own platform instead of using a third party – it was a ready-to-use shelf product. It was nice that Railwaymen was able to facilitate that for us.

What distinguishes Railwaymen from other providers?

Their approach is very thorough. They are dedicated to trying to solve the client's issue.

Is there anything Railwaymen could have improved or done differently?

I don't have any complaints. All of our issues have been addressed in a timely manner properly.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I run a digital marketing agency. We do online marketing and assist with Web development for our clients who tend to be small- to medium-sized businesses.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I am the owner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Railwaymen?

I outsourced our Web development for that project. We were building a Ruby on Rails Web application as well as an iOS and Android mobile application.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

They have done all the development on that project including iOS and Android. They also did some consulting in the beginning. We had the design taken care of ahead of time.

What was your process for selecting Railwaymen with which to work?

We interviewed quite a few developers. We were looking for someone who was incredibly knowledgeable in the technology that we needed for this project. We didn’t want to work with a couple different developers. We were also looking for someone who worked on a time and materials basis, who was skilled in Ruby, and who had great communication skills. We wanted someone who would work as a partner. I talked with some of their references before hiring them.

Can you give a sense of the size of the initiative in dollar terms or a personnel work-hour figure?

It was $50,000 to $200,000

When was the work completed?

The Web application is unofficially launched already, and we’re finishing up the mobile apps. We don’t have a launch date.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

I don’t have any metrics yet because it hasn’t launched yet.

Are you satisfied with their performance?

If I could use them on all of our projects I would because they’re that good.

Is there anything unique or special about Railwaymen that really makes them stand out compared to other online marketing companies?

Their technical knowledge is really great. Their service and communication is by far superior to most firms that I’ve worked with. Their transparency and collaborative approach is also unique. They’re great in understanding the business and strategic side of things. They provide really accurate estimates.

What advice would you give to future clients of theirs?

I think you need to be clear about your objective and the scope of the work. I would give the same advice for any work that is outsourced.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you might do differently?

We did have a couple project manager changes, but they handled all of that really smoothly on their end. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Project Manager in Restaurant Branches in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We intend to develop a food delivery app, and our main goal is to make it friendly to use.

SOLUTION

How did you select Railwaymen and what were the deciding factors?

We searched online for a high-rank company that can fulfill our requirements, and we hired a Railway company because we were sure that it is what we are looking for.

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

After a couple of meetings and providing a wireframe design by using Figma, the hired vendor has got our main target, and we got what we are looking for after doing some testing for the deliverables.

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

We deal with almost 6 developers and one project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We did too many tests for the final product, and we notice it's stable and solid.

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

The project manager was very cooperative, and we used different channels for quick response we had Slack, and for giving feedback we had meetings, with emails to give a summary for the current status.

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

I found the most important note, their patience and hard work to make our project work very well are impressive.

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

NO

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

When I started this engagement with Railwaymen, I was testing an idea in the events space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Railwaymen?

I hired Railwaymen for web development during this project.

What were your goals for this project?

The primary goal was to create a minimum viable product for my concept.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I found and selected Railwaymen after doing online research and holding interviews.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Railwaymen developed a website based on detailed specs that I provided.

What was the team composition?

I don't remember. It was several years ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When we tested the product in the market, it failed. This outcome had more to do with business issues than the work Railwaymen did.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We used a combination of Pivotal, online communication, and some phone check-ins. This strategy seemed to work pretty well.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Railwaymen was very communicative. They did a fine job of making changes whenever something they developed was not quite right initially.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

No. I was happy with the work Railwaymen did. It was in line with what one would expect when working with a consulting partner.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the founder of APM Help & Bookkeeping. We’re a consulting, audit, compliance, and bookkeeping services firm that focuses on the property management industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Railwaymen?

We needed to build an MVP version of our software offering.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to develop proof of concept for a web app.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We’d worked with Railwaymen before and had always had great experiences.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

They developed an MVP version of our web app.

What was the team composition?

We worked with one main developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve been able to turn the MVP into an entire division. It’s now one of our fastest growing divisions/products.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We primarily used Asana to communicate and had occasional standups via Google Hangouts.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their ability to quickly pull together resources to execute on deadlines, features, and bug fixes was outstanding.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

Our progress slowed for a week when they transitioned in a new resource who had to familiarize himself with our codebase.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We're building a place for people to find, discuss, and file away online content related to product development best practices.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Railwaymen?

We hired Railwaymen to help us get through a backlog of new features.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Railwaymen was referred to me by a partner while I was working at another company.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

They developed pages where users could view a preview of an article before they opened it. This provided users with metadata on the article, including title, author, table of contents, publication, publication date, and community ratings. They also implemented bookmarking functionality for articles.

What was the team composition?

We worked with one backend and one frontend engineer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

This development got us closer to a minimum viable product.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

I personally managed the backlog of tickets and communicated stories to the developers. I received responsive feedback on tickets from their developers. The CEO of Railwaymen was also great about checking in on the overall status of the project.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were flexible when it came to feature work and their availability. We definitely felt like we had a true partner in this collaboration.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

No. We had a really solid experience.