RoleModel Software

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior technical program manager at a university.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with RoleModel Software?

We hired RoleModel Software for a research project that we were working on last year at our laboratory.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

RoleModel has helped us develop the UI for our data labeling project as well as the backend work for the system. It’s full stack software development. The main deliverable has been the software code.

What is the team composition? 

I’ve worked with 8–9 people, which includes the company leadership, contracted people, and software developers.

How did you come to work with RoleModel Software?

My program had already identified RoleModel Software as our vendor before I came to work on the project.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent approximately $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in June 2020, and we’re continuing to work with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve had great success incorporating their software in the UI, and it’s been in use as a product for quite a bit, now. There haven’t been any problems with it.

How did RoleModel Software perform from a project management standpoint?

They were always on time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that I can think of. They were really good to work with.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you have any concerns or questions, just through them their way. RoleModel Software is very eager to communicate, respond, and work with you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My organization develops medical software, and I’m a product manager for a group that creates a platform for creating clinical decision supports. My role also covers content development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with RoleModel Software?

One of the issues we had was a lack of availability in our market of excellent developers to work on the product. Our product was a fairly advanced design and we were having trouble filling the roles that we needed. I had worked with RoleModel in the past, and they consistently provided me with highly-trained developers. We went to them again to try and get the project staffed.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

RoleModel provides us with web-based app development. We first provided the conceptual design and the functionalities that needed to be implemented, and they recommended a front- and backend stack that can be used to develop the product in a reasonable amount of time.

As of right now, we’re still in development. They’re building the website and designing the UI in addition to the app that runs on it.

What is the team composition?

The partnership has been running for two years and we’ve had a little bit of rotation — the maximum we’ve had are three developers. One is a tech lead for the team, and the others are mid-level developers.

How did you come to work with RoleModel Software?

The initial contact we had with RoleModel was through my boss. He worked with them on and off for more than 10 years.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve probably invested more than $1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

My ongoing engagement with them started in June 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’ve worked with a lot of software development teams and the tech lead from RoleModel is exceptional — one of the best I’ve ever worked with. Their knowledge is very broad, as we’ve had several changes of direction they’ve accommodate quite readily.

How did RoleModel Software perform from a project management standpoint?

The tech lead understands the concepts and is very good at transmitting that down to the rest of the team. They also understand the implications of changes to the direction. We’re communicating through Microsoft Teams now.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve worked with other contracting companies who’ve been quite good, but I think RoleModel Software’s depth of expertise is quite impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

To be perfectly honest, they’ve done everything I expected and more. I really don’t have any suggestions as to what they can improve. Without a minimal amount of direction, they accomplish the task at hand.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise you to include them at all levels of your project because, in addition to being able to execute tasks very well, they’re also good at making suggestions to enhance your project. They have a depth of expertise you can utilize to get to your goals faster, and actually improve your development process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and owner of FieldX Inc. In 2002, we started as part of a different company, and then we spun off as FieldX in 2014.

Our software is a record-keeping platform that agricultural consultants use. Growers hire these consultants to manage their field, check for nutrient and irrigation problems, and find any insect or disease in the crops. The consultants record their observations in the field, and then they’ll generate an output report for their customers. Our software helps them record all of the information and generate the report.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with RoleModel Software?

When we started, the first version of the software was desktop-only with an access database in the backend. Over the years, we’ve developed a loyal customer base, but people wanted to exchange info back and forth as the years went on. They also had more people working for them.

We needed to set up a cloud system for that syncing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

RoleModel Software developed the cloud-based repository and software for us. With our current customers, they had collected years of data, which we didn’t want to lose. While converting to the cloud system, we needed a path to migrate that data.

RoleModel Software took our desktop program, spending time figuring out how it worked. We have hundreds of different data properties, so they had to understand what we needed in a system. After that, they created the cloud-based system to match that and encapsulate that in APIs that would exchange the same information we were collecting before.

After a year, we had a beta version for our customers. When we made that transition, all information now syncs through the cloud, and all of the information is available.

Before launching to the public, the team added additional features and created an iPad app.

What is the team composition?

Over the years, we worked with about six people.

How did you come to work with RoleModel Software?

We approached them because of their reputation. I’ve heard of the owner, and they’re also a local company. I wanted to work with someone close by that we could work through things together. I did check around with some other companies, but they seemed to be the right fit for us.

How much have you invested with them?

Over the three-year period, we spent between $500,000–$1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

The entire project took about three years. We worked together from spring 2012 to spring 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

RoleModel Software helped us grow our company. We’ve continued to develop the system and app. Every month, we’re requesting new enhancements and updates. We wanted to make sure that we retained all of our customers, which was our main criteria for RoleModel Software.

The new app put us in the position to gain new customers. It gave us an advantage over the competitions since a lot of people in the agriculture industry weren’t switching over to apps yet. It was very robust and collected the exact same data as our web version.

How did RoleModel Software perform from a project management standpoint?

All of the work items were captured in project management software. All of our communication and enhancements were tracked through Trello. They did have another software internally, but that wasn’t for our side.

What did you find most impressive about them?

RoleModel Software wanted to meet our needs. They looked out for our best interests, constantly thinking out solutions and working on our product. They asked questions, posing different scenarios to ensure they could meet our needs and understand our customers. Their team isn’t coding blindly – which is the difference between certain programmers.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything here. They’ve always been very responsive. If something work-related came up, they worked well with us. They continue being a supportive partner.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear understanding of what your needs are. Walkthrough what you need to accomplish, and they will take it from there.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m part owner of a manufacturing company. We do plastic profile tubing and specialty pipe extrusion. I’ve been in business for about 35 years.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with RoleModel Software?

We had an old antiquated quoting system that wasn’t accessible to the salespeople on the road. We really wanted to update the system and put it in the cloud so it can be accessed anywhere that anyone had an internet connection.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed our custom software and have continued to make improvements since then. The system is now on the cloud so it's accessible to our remote team.

The bulk of the project took 6-7 months to get something up and working. If the budget allowed, we went back and made enhancements and improvements, including additional functionality.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project coordinator and lead developer.  Then we spoke with different specialists depending on what we were working on. We spoke to someone about design and layout, programming, and security. I felt we always had a point person who was overall in charge of the project and go to work with lots of different team members. 

How did you come to work with RoleModel Software?

We tried different local companies that did web development or custom software but they weren't a good fit. I then did a Google search and looked for companies that were domestic. I reached out to six custom software companies via their website.

RoleModel Software was the most responsive. One of their principals actually flew out to our plant to meet with us personally. We decided to work with them at that point.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $50,000–$199,999.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2017 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They really came through for us, They’ve been a great partner. Every time we ask for a quote on an enhancement or idea we have, they take their part very seriously and ensure quality work.

Anytime we noticed a bug in the system, they usually fix it the same day. If they didn’t think they can fix it the same day, they communicated very clearly how long they think it’s going to take to fix it. At a minimum, they keep us up and running.

At a few points throughout the project, they presented some observations and ideas that were even better than our ideas. Their perspective really made the software better than we could have imagined. They’re very bright folks.

How did RoleModel Software perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very good and very organized. They set up an online hub where we could log in to see how the project was progressing. They delivered on time and were transparent. We never felt in the dark.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We contacted a lot of different companies and tried to communicate what we were looking for, which was difficult because we aren't programmers. RoleModel Software understood what we were trying to do and were the most responsive. They really took the time to listen to what we wanted and figured out a way to make it happen.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Overall, I’ve been very satisfied. Sometimes the billing is a little confusing, but it's easy to straighten it out when we call accounting. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them. They’re honest, have a lot of integrity, and they genuinely want to make sure they have a satisfied customer. 

If you know what you want and are able to take the time to communicate that accurately and get it documented, they can make it happen.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the COO of a dental market company which provides digital based solutions and services, to oral surgeons and specialized dentists.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with RoleModel Software?

We needed a way to digitally design and create our surgical guide devices and appliances.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created a unique customized software program from scratch. We utilize the software to digitally design our surgical guides and appliances, which we then 3D print.

What is the team composition?

Phil (Project Management Director) and John (Software Craftsman) are the two primary contacts, but there were about seven people working with us throughout the project.

How did you come to work with RoleModel Software?

After a lot of online research, we narrowed the consideration to four companies. We chose RoleModel Software based on their iteration approach, location, and initial budgeting estimates. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $500,000–$750,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together around September 2019, and the project is being wrapped up currently, with an expected end date of October 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve seen a significant improvement in efficiency and productivity. There has been an approximately 50–75% improvement in the labor productivity for the designing of the various guides and appliances, therefore significantly lowering our cost while greatly improving our overall capacity limit.

We also wanted it to be scalable as a commercial product that we can license to other organizations in need of similar software. That has also been accomplished.

How did RoleModel Software perform from a project management standpoint?

Going into it with realistic expectations, everything has been on par with what they said they could and would do. They've exceeded my expectations in several areas, even though there have been the usual software development project setbacks. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re more than just a software company – they understand business, and work well within this realm. They excel in translating technical conversations into layperson’s terms. They also helped us figure out our cost-benefit ratio as we decided which path to go down throughout the process. They’re customer-goal focused.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, no.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Do your research about software development because it’s a huge undertaking. Communication is imperative; be clear and precise regarding the goals you wish to achieve. Make sure that the decisions you make along the way align with your ultimate business goals, and your ROI goals. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company is a Contract Development and Manufacturing biotechnology company that produces Active Pharmacuetical Ingredients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire RoleModel Software?

To convert a business process from manual utilization of multiple excel spreadsheets to a one source of truth software application.

What were your goals for this project?

To eliminate waste, reduce timeline of process, and eliminate the use of multiple spreadsheets.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Vendor came highly receommended. Also conducted an interview with the company.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

RoleModel engaged the company's scientists throughout the software development process, encouraging them to trial the software using data from their actual projects. This engagement led to a highly collaborative and iterative development process, during which the scientists identified many refinements to make the software more valuable and during which RoleModel’s developers became knowledgeable enough of the scientific processes to be fluent in much of the scientists’ terminology, thereby improving all communications.

What was the team composition?

The project team had 3 people from RoleModel and a PM. We had a PM and a group of subject matter experts of about 7 people.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We needed to replace its use of spreadsheets with an application that better supported collaboration, version control, and its complex process definition and manufacturing processes. Lead time for identifying materials was reduced by 12 weeks.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management was very good. It assured full engagement by the overall team. There were daily standups along with iteration reviews. Role Model also assigned a Project Manager that worked clsoely with our Project Manager with routine touchpoints to assure the project was being executed to our needs.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were able to take a complex scientific process and learn very quickly how to enable it to develop a solution that not only met our requirements but exceeded them.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not really

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a program manager for NC State University, working in a unit that supports technology research, development, and transition to our partner organizations. The opinions expressed here are mine personally, and should not be taken to represent the position of my employer or any of our partners.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire RoleModel Software?

We brought on RoleModel to develop a more production-ready version of an initial in-house software prototype. This was a web application for data labeling for supervised machine learning applications, with a focus on ease of deployment and use, and addressing some specific compliance requirements.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to have software that could be used quickly and easily, either locally by a data scientist, or after being deployed to a server by a sysadmin. And we wanted to have a framework for the application built according to best practices, so that a new developer could if necessary extend the application to support additional use cases without having to wrestle with much existing technical debt.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

RoleModel stood out in our selection process because of their development methodology. They come out of the XP (extreme programming) tradition, and we very much appreciated their depth of experience and the ways in which they've evolved this approach over the years.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

RoleModel developed a clean software implementation with functionality based on an initial prototype application that we provided.

What was the team composition?

We worked primarily with two developers, with smaller contributions from others at RoleModel as well. It's worth highlighting the additional contributions from a third, trainee developer in RoleModel's apprenticeship program - this program seems like a great way to develop a future workforce, and was extremely cost-effective for us as the customer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The solution developed by RoleModel is now in use at one of our partner organizations, and is being adopted and extended at a second. One of our main goals as a unit of NC State is to help enable successful technology transitions such as this one.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management was handled through a brief daily standup conference call, along with a shared Slack channel. We benefited greatly from frequent interactions and heavy engagement with the RoleModel team.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We have been impressed with their thoughtfulness and dedication to software craftsmanship as a profession. We are ourselves a fairly technical organization, and we recognize and appreciate the standards to which RoleModel holds themselves, along with their clear communication and flexibility to change course when necessary.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Few, if any.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a software company that provides a takeoff tool for landscaping irrigation contractors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with RoleModel Software?

We needed help to develop our platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

RoleModel Software consulted us on the business challenge that we wanted to solve with our platform. Their team helped to refine my idea and create a business model. Then, their team developed our cloud-based software. They built the product from design to development and implementation. 

After our kickoff meeting, their team generated a prototype. From there, they made wireframes to give us an idea of the product. Then, their team started the development process. We released a beta version and spent that year refining an MVP based on customer feedback. Their team continues to maintain and support the software. We’re planning another round of development to execute our first major set of revisions.

Their team also provided market research and planned marketing efforts for our business in our early stages. I gathered customer research previously and provided those artifacts to them. They did additional research into the effectiveness of digital paid ads and identifying our ideal customer. From there, we formulated a marketing plan for the first phases of the business. We created an ideal funnel and decided where our time and money would be best spent for our particular industry.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 4–5 people from RoleModel Software. On the development side, their team includes three individuals. On the marketing side, we work with two people.

How did you come to work with RoleModel Software?

I found them via a Google search. I read their website where I noted that we aligned in our core values both in business and personally. I reached out to them and that’s how the engagement started.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the exploration in July 2017 and released a beta version in 2018. Our engagement's ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our system works better than other software programs in the market. Their team tested the product thoroughly to deliver a product with only a few bugs. They’re about more than returning a codebase. Their team thinks through the steps and processes to make sure that we solve any problems properly and sustainably.

How did RoleModel Software perform from a project management standpoint?

We meet every morning during active development to make sure that everyone’s on the same page. Their team considers schedules seriously and places communication at the forefront of our engagement. They do a great job managing projects.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m a big fan of RoleModel Software. Their team cares about the individual and the idea behind a product. They care about a project’s goals and want to achieve a high level of success. Unlike other companies that write the code asked of them whether it’s correct or not, RoleModel Software gives feedback across the board. Their team thinks through how to best solve a problem. They care about the project—not just building what’s asked of them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, but as a business owner, the hardest part of any project’s managing the budget. It can be hard to get clarity on costs when there are factors that need exploration. Their team’s conservative with costs and stayed under budget for most of the initiatives. They continue to improve their communication and budget management. That’s always a challenge with a dynamic project such as building software but there are never any surprises with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t be afraid to be involved in the process. RoleModel Software’s happy to include you in the process. Spend the time to be involved in the project and connected with their team.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Sayfa’s intimate understanding of workplace safety and compliance has established the organisation as the leader of height safety and fall protection solutions across commercial, industrial and domestic markets.

Australian owned and customer focused, Sayfa’s success lies in its ability to proactively respond to the evolving needs of the industries to which it provides products and services. Through insight and innovation, Sayfa continuously develops market leading, trusted systems and solutions that ensure the safety of workers throughout Australia.

At the heart of access, fall protection and height safety product development, is the concept of modular systems. I am the Drafting Team Leader here at Sayfa

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire RoleModel Software?

In engaging RoleModel Software we were wanting to provide our Clients the ability to be able to configure their own stair and platform designs and speed up our internal drawing and quoting times.

We engaged RoleModel to build us a web based custom 3d Product Configurator that allowed us to generate a PDF Drawing, Bill of Materials and a Recommended Retail Price

What were your goals for this project?

The goal for this project was to be able to take a long and tedious process of hand sketching, manual quoting for each of our systems and reduce this touch time allowing greater throughput and quicker drawing/quoting turnaround.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

This vendor was a recommendation from one of their previous customers. We had considered at least 5 other companies in the review process but RoleModel was the only company that was able to clearly demonstrate they had experience in this field and were able to produce a working prototype before we formally engaged them. They were also willing to work

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They designed a web based 3d Product Configuration and quoting system. This project started with a 1 week discovery session and a walking skeleton which allowed us to develop a project plan and clearly agree on the initial scope of works as well as future iterations.

What was the team composition?

the project team had approximately 10 people however the team size did fluctuate depending on our project and the skills required. The core team consisted of 2 Developers and a Project Manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

With the implementation of the Kombi Builda we have been able to reduce our quoting time from about 4hrs to approx 30mins. This has provided a ROI of approx 80% This has also reduced the load on the companies Drafting team allowing them to concentrate on new innovation and more more complex product design

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project management was very impressive with RoleModel providing a dedicated project manager for the duration of the iterations. This allowed for the seamless management of the Rolemodel team ensuring the right people were drawn into the project at the right time.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They have a vast range of skill sets that can be drawn on through the project. And their ability to be able to work with us over such a vast time difference (almost 15hrs behind us) They also have an ability to be able to innovate and come up with complex solutions that suit both the user and our budget

Are there any areas for improvement?

there is very little that i would improve and they have been very responsive on taking on any suggestions. As always hindsight is a great teacher however this is the same across any project and isn't a reflection on RoleModel.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the IT manager for a higher education company. We provide coaching and academic counseling services and help students achieve their undergraduate degrees through alternative options such as online courses and prior credits.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with RoleModel Software?

We were onboarding a large corporate client and we needed to be able to handle the volume of work they will bring us in the future. We needed to determine the process company employees would go through  to submit vouchers, how credits would be transferred, and how it would be reported back to corporate clients and associated partners.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

 They used a Ruby on Rails stack to develop two new web applications and enhance a third preexisting app. The first app presents college options to the students and allows employees to select from a number of different options. The second app collects vouchers that students can apply to their tuition benefit providers. Finally, the third app is the billing aggregator that pulls reports from several different systems and compiles the information into a report that could be sent to the corporate client and associated partners.

What is the team composition?

Their project leads, called software craftsmen, were responsible for reporting on the project’s status. We started with two people on the team, but that number grew to six when needed.

How did you come to work with RoleModel Software?

Our company had partnered with RoleModel Software even before I joined, and we developed a really close working relationship. When we needed additional developers and didn’t have the in-house support for this project, we decided to work with them again.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $90,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted May–July 2019. We now have a support agreement that will end at the end of September 2019.  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The biggest metric was enabling new functions. Without this collaboration, we would still be working in spreadsheets. Our old process was very time consuming and labor-intensive process. We had to email lots of documents back and forth to students. Implementation of the new apps really eliminated all of that. As we take on larger corporate clients, the apps’ functionality and processing speed will be essential.

How did RoleModel Software perform from a project management standpoint?

Everything met or exceeded our expectations. From the person leading the project down to the individual developers, communication overall was very good. We have a daily 15-minute update call in which the project lead and developers let us know what they worked on the day before, what they’re currently working on, and the challenges they’re facing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The biggest thing that distinguishes RoleModel Software from other providers is their commitment to excellence.

Are there any areas they could improve?

 I can’t think of anything they need to improve. They’re committed to learning and improving, so they’re willing to make adjustments and move forward.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

To get the most bang for your buck, have a specific set of business problems you’re trying to solve. An idea that takes a lot of time to research will require a lot of time and resources.