Rootstrap

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

They’ve been pivotal in architectural decisions and design review done by due diligence; that was really favorable. All of their hard work has paid off in that respect. It’s hard to say how much to attribute to engineering, but I’d say that they’ve been one of the key factors in helping us get investments.

How did Rootstrap perform from a project management standpoint?

That isn’t their role; they provide engineers, and project management is handled internally. We typically communicate via Slack, Zoom, and email. They’re great with communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their culture distinguishes them from other providers. They have a great group of people that integrate with our team amazingly well. 

The quality of their developers also stands out. I’ve never gotten a junior engineer from them. Everyone has been incredibly good. They’re always pushing their developers to become better at the frameworks they use. They’re great at hiring talented people.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’d say they could offer more product management. However, product management is a bit of a different concept to a Silicon Valley-based company than it is to a company in Uruguay and Argentina. They might be able to come around to that point of view of product management.

Any advice for potential customers?

View managing the people at Rootstrap as you would any other employee of yours.

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

The first version of our platform crashed often. We also didn't have metrics to measure our site's capacity. We wanted to know the amount of traffic that our product could handle especially for a busy shopping season. We tested the platform based on the prior year to make sure the new version could handle that amount of traffic. The product never crashes. By using Kubernetes, we’re able to deploy continuously without taking anything down, which is a huge plus. That saves us a huge amount of time. We don’t feel that we’ve lost any money from customers frustrated by the site.

How did Rootstrap perform from a project management standpoint?

We use JIRA to manage the flow and Slack to communicate daily. Their team also uses a tool that shows the project graphically. It wasn’t a fixed bid with contracts where we had to hit a certain timeframe, so we work together on timelines and trusted their estimates.

We carefully decided what features needed to be in the application to manage our schedule. Our project manager works closely with their project manager to make sure that we’re always on track and informed. We had daily check-ins and weekly progress reports. We felt informed and were never surprised. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their project manager realized that our schedule’s busy as we work with a whole other development team. The project manager started to create video updates for us to watch at any time and pass around to management. That made us feel comfortable. We understood that if they replaced our other team, they would give us that level of communication. It seems small but it showed our team that they understood and would be able to deliver. We could trust them to deliver. We're in the same time zone, allowing their team to work during our hours.

Are there any areas they could improve?

While we always work through it, there are times when we feel that products should be delivered faster. Their team wanted to follow two-week sprint cycles and a traditional path for deployment. A product could be delivered over a two-week sprint but more critical features need to be done faster. We had hiccups to pulling that off. When we asked to prioritize a feature, we meant that it needed to be done as soon as possible not in a two-week sprint.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear about the development model that your team will follow. Let them know if you need a flexible development schedule. Have a timeframe for when you expect products to be delivered.

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

It’s definitely early in the lifecycle of the product, but we’re already seeing 20%–25% user retention, which is beyond what we expected at this stage. That’s a testament to the work we did with Rootstrap on the brand side. It also shows that the site experience is friendly, intuitive, and well-done.

How did Rootstrap perform from a project management standpoint?

We don’t share an office or a time zone so collaboration has been a huge part of this process as we build this site from scratch. Rootstrap is made up of highly responsive and great collaborators. We’ve had no issues with communication and project management. That’s a huge part of the success we’ve seen. We use Slack for communication and Trello for ticketing as well as the development and design work. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

From both a development and design side, UI/UX is something we’re not strong at as a company. Rootstrap brought that to the site. They helped us define the site and product design. We continue to iterate. They’ve also been really helpful to us being adaptable and agile. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The engineering team has the ability to get the site up quickly, which is fantastic and what we needed. But now, as we’re more mature as a company, the speed takes away from the DevOps process. We’ve sacrificed some efficiency and best practices, leading to QA that could’ve been avoided. 

Any advice for potential customers?

Rootstrap is a very talented team. Try to establish a lot of things ahead of time. That will set up a process and structure that the entire team can follow from the beginning. 

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

We do all of our development and design in-house now, but we’ve kept a close relationship with the skilled team at Rootstrap. Our initial MVP, based on their design, received great feedback from our users. They set us up for success from a usability perspective, making sure the platform was intuitive.

Their work also iterated our early development practices and technologies, allowing us to create a sustainable development team and workflow. We took their best practices and implemented them within our organization.

How did Rootstrap perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team was wonderful. They were easy to work with, responsive, and accommodating throughout the process. We primarily communicated through phone and video calls. We also had a private Slack channel where we could ask or answer questions. All of our messages were responded to in 30 minutes. If they needed further clarification, we would hop on a quick call.

For the initial backlog, we used Trello, and they used their in-house tools to perform an audit of our existing codebase. Their team also recommended different technologies to leverage in our development process, which was helpful advice for a team that’s just starting.

Rootstrap focused on our company’s success. They dedicated their entire team to the project; no one was pulled in different directions.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team at Rootstrap offers services that cater to startups and robust companies with massive teams. They also work quickly and take strong consideration in each of their projects. Rootstrap invests their time in resources that ensure company success.

A lot of other development agencies want a quick check, but Rootstrap is considerate of their client’s budget and timeline. They also make sure any work will prepare their clients in the long run.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not really. Their work and team stood out significantly from other providers. They’re a top tier development firm.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Go in with an open mind. Their approach isn’t to make money. They’re a smart team that makes sure everything they’re doing fits for their clients. They appreciate honest feedback because it will benefit the project.

Listen to the different options because they strive to provide customized solutions within the breadth of services they offer. Across their entire team, they cover all of the required technical acumens.