Rubyroid Labs

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder of Vicente Services

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

I am Product-minded Engineer with an entrepreneurial bent. I am available for hire as a consultant or a contractor.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Rubyroid Labs to accomplish?

• Release first marketable version of the product

SOLUTION

How did you find Rubyroid Labs?

Online Search

Why did you select Rubyroid Labs over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Rubyroid Labs were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

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

I am leading the development of Scout Fuel, a Fuel Optimizer tool for trucking companies in the US. A carrier grossing $250k per truck will often lose $200k in expenses. Second largest expense is actually fuel. Scout Fuel enables them with on-demand access to the best shipping routes in the US so they can optimize and track their fuel expense.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Rubyroid Labs turned out to be a reliable partner to deliver the marketable version of our first digital product. A well-rounded and pragmatic enginering team who communicates effectively, caring about building strong personal relationships even in a remote-first setting.

• Delivered on application designs and user stories.
• Contributed on a weekly basis to requirements grooming and demos to stakeholders.
• Automated testing the customer journey leveraging browser end-to-end tests.

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

I took on the Tech Lead and Project Management role guiding the engineering team to deliver the project in weekly increments. Feedback was consistent and communications well structured, which is the environment where high-performing team thrive in.

What was your primary form of communication with Rubyroid Labs?

Virtual Meeting

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

• Positive, can-do attitude, while being pragmatic.
• Willingness to build a strong personal relationship eventhough we are all remote working in different countries.
• The high quality of the code and user experiences delivered were impressive

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

None I can think of. They proactively look for feedback during the engagement and incorporate it quickly into their daily rituals and ways of working. 10 out of 10.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Chief Digital Officer of Macadamia Sales Market

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We deliver services, and consultation, and act as a vehicle for collaboration for the macadamia industry. We aim to increase industry transparency and stability with our market reviews and trading platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Rubyroid Labs to accomplish?

• Continue development of bespoke trading platform for physical agri derivatives.
• Maintenance of that platform

SOLUTION

How did you find Rubyroid Labs?

• Referral
• Clutch Site

Why did you select Rubyroid Labs over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Rubyroid Labs were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Took over a partially developed web-based trading/ecommerce platform from another software developer, finished it, repaired errors, and added a host of enhancements. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The work was divided into tasks. Each task was delivered on time and within budget. The demonstration of success was not only the functionality of the features that they implemented but also the amazing speed and attention to detail that they did it with.

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

They delivered on time, and above expectation. They were flexible, did regular check-ins and didn't mind scaling the team size up and down as our business needs changed.

What was your primary form of communication with Rubyroid Labs?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their speed, attention to detail, and understanding of the business case and how it extends to the features and applications.

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

We've worked with another company for an extended period before, and we've met with about 6 different companies for price and time estimates. Rubyroid Labs has been the best value-for-cost option based on comparing estimates.

It is hard enough to keep the price and quality of work as you start scaling up a business. There are no improvements to suggest at this moment, but please, keep it up - don't change a thing.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Senior Manager (IT division) of Path

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Our company provides e-commerce product photo editing services for our clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Rubyroid Labs to accomplish?

• To develop our Rails applications that we use to run our business.
• To provide us with highly experienced Rails developers.
• To manage the developers so that we don't have to.

SOLUTION

How did you find Rubyroid Labs?

Online Search

Why did you select Rubyroid Labs over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Rubyroid Labs were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We have an app called Customer Dashboard that our customers use. It needed some improvements and new things added. So, we asked Rubyroid Labs for help and got a really good Ruby on Rails developer from them. This developer started working with us part-time in June 2023, adding new features and fixing bugs.

Because they did such a great job, we recently hired them to work full-time. Now, they're also working on another important app we use for managing how we make things, which is also made with Ruby on Rails.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Writing code used to take up a lot of our time, and we needed someone trustworthy to handle it so we could focus on growing our business. Rubyroid Labs did exactly that for us. Now, we don't write code ourselves anymore. We just give the coding tasks to Rubyroid Labs, and they get it done quickly for us.

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

Rubyroid Labs set up our project in a tool called Redmine. Here, we can list tasks for the developer and set deadlines. The developer knows exactly what we need and finishes tasks on time. We sometimes talk through email and other times we have video calls on Zoom. They always get back to us when we have questions.

What was your primary form of communication with Rubyroid Labs?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They were able to provide us with a highly skilled developer at a very competitive rate.

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

They've met our expectations in all areas that we can think of.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an agile team member of an information technology company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We offer a calculation software

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Rubyroid Labs to accomplish?

• Join our development team, at an affordable price and with the required expertise

SOLUTION

How did you find Rubyroid Labs?

• Online Search
• Referral

Why did you select Rubyroid Labs over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Rubyroid Labs were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Rubyroid Labs assist us with software development in our current software platforms

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since we assign tickets for specific work items, the smaller outcomes are too numerous to list. This is also an ongoing project, so success can only be rated ticket by ticket. The team from Rubyroids have worked on many tickets and have gone beyond the normal call of duty in situations where urgent assistance was needed or an issue had to be resolved in a short amount of time.

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

Projects were all delivered well within the expected time frames and when pushed upon, the team has addressed the business needs effectively, even in situations were it was outside of normal business hours.

What was your primary form of communication with Rubyroid Labs?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their ability to adjust to changes in our environment - more/fewer hours due to budget, more/fewer developers due to budget, the short 'implementation" process to get them started and the way that they just clicked in with the existing team (from another organisation).

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

Nothing comes to mind.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm in the process of developing a website to publish a range of media such as books, videos, and articles.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Various technical aspects of the website I was developing were proving exceptionally challenging. This became a massive time sink, and was drawing me away from my core work of developing content for the website. I engaged with Rubyroid Labs to solve specific technical problems, freeing me to focus on other work.

SOLUTION

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

I was looking for a firm that specialised in Ruby on Rails, and would be willing to take on specific tasks, rather than a whole project. Robyroid Labs were flexible in their approach and were happy to develop a package that suited my needs.

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

We had an initial discussion where I outlined the technical challenges I would like solved. Rubyroid Labs then went to work an reached out via Slack, and answered any questions in a timely manner.

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

I had two full stack Ruby on Rails developers, plus a product manager to liaise with if necessary.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

All the technical challenges I was facing were resolved, allowing me to continue with other work. It saved me many hours attempting to solve challenges that were not arguably the best use of time.

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

Given the narrow scope of this work, we used Slack as a communication medium and it felt like the right tool for the job. People responded to questions and queries promptly.

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

I liked their can-do attitude and willingness to listen to my situation and needs and put forward a tailored plan that would work for both of us.

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

Generally very happy, not sure there's much I could flag for improvement.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm working as a Key Account Manager for a software consultancy, with clients from all verticals.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We have an EdTech client who demands Ruby expertise while scaling its business. To meet the client's expectations in terms of quality, culture, and budget, we teamed up with Rubyriod Labs. As a result, we're currently providing a strong Ruby team, consisting of our internal consultants composed with one expert from Rubyroid Labs to the client.

SOLUTION

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

We follow a very fine granular process, while choosing our partners and Rubyroid Labs ticked all our boxes regarding expertise, processes, and pricing.

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

The scope includes to assist the client in developing and implementing new features to its service offering based on the Ruby Tech Stack.

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

We're working with one strong mid-level Ruby developer, who exceeds our and the client's expectation.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Customer quote about the Rubyroid Labs consultant: "The consultant has absolutely blown me away with the level of professionalism and results, and how fast he onboarded himself into our team."

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

From the client's side the projects are driven with agile scrum methodology which works perfectly fine. Rubyroid Labs support its resources with valuable knowledge transfer and does continuous project health checks together with us. The communication with account management is always smooth and very service orientated.

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

Rubyroid Labs is looking beyond the agreed scope and sometimes knows what we need before we even know it ourselves.

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

I just wish there were more partners like them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm Lead program manager at Altoros. We are an experienced IT services provider that helps enterprises to increase operational efficiency and accelerate the delivery of innovative products by shortening time to market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We partnered with Rubyroid Labs to develop several e-commerce projects, CRMs, and mobile solutions for EU and Scandinavian markets. We requested additional Ruby on Rails, React, and React-Native resources in order to complete these projects on time.

SOLUTION

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

We have been partnering with Rubyroid Labs for a long time (4 years), and they have an excellent reputation. For some projects, we mix our expertise and teams.

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

Rubyroid Labs has collaborated with us on several projects. We asked for the CVs of other developers depending on project requirements, interviewed them (at the initial stage, after we fully trusted their hiring process), and introduced them to our projects. From our side, always be a project manager who controls all operations and communications at every stage of development. One of the projects necessitates complex gamification, such as interactions and animations, voice recording and playback, and so on. Rubyroid Labs React Native developers worked on large portions of the application logic. The Rubyroid Labs team also contributed to CRM development and implemented a portion of the clothing store chain's sales workflow automation. Gathering real data for the statistics report, logistics optimization, filtering, and generating interactive statistics were among the features.

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

Depending on the project, we had up to 6 developers at one moment.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Rubyroid Labs team is a dedicated Ruby on Rails agency, so we're more than satisfied with their development skills and quality. They delivered everything we asked for, and they excelled at communication, Ruby on Rails, React, and React-Native mobile development.

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

We have daily meetings with their developers, where they fill us in on the progress and ask questions. We typically communicate via Slack and email and use Atlassian and Jira to track our sprints.

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

They are very open, communicate well, and deliver quality work on time which is critical for any business. Additionally, their team is super motivated, engaged, and interested in how the product will contribute to the company.

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

No, not particularly

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder of an automotive based B2B company that assists in inventory management and acquisition.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

As a startup entering a new market, we needed a ground-up build to an MVP. Having no previous foundation to build upon, we needed a developer that was patient and capable enough to produce a new product with quality.

SOLUTION

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

We found Rubyroid after thorough research through multiple online reviewers. We had three other companies that we interviewed for the project and Rubyroid provided the most promising interview we conducted. We needed a capable partner that was also budget conscious for our project.

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

We started with a two-week interview process that provided a full scope and flow of what the project would be and what costs would be incurred. This proved to be essential as we were largely able to root out what was absolutely necessary up front and what could be left for future versions so as to stay within the startup budget. Once approved, their team went immediately to work on building the structure of the site while concurrently working on design and flow so as to expedite the project. Crucial throughout the process was their ability to adjust, add, and modify on the fly. As there wasn't anything to go off of at the start, multiple changes were made throughout, such as adding in notification functions and providing additional product details from inventory feeds. The team was phenomenal at setting reasonable expectations at each step for both time and cost.

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

There were four team members that we worked consistently with on the project, including a project manager, designer, senior developer, and QA specialist.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've only just begun to be able to utilize the project as the ongoing shortage of inventory following the COVID shutdown as limited our pool of potential clients. This said, we've been able to at least have the ability to further test and verify the business model thanks to the quality of the project we've been given.

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

The project management was excellent. Using Google Meet and Slack, we were always able to achieve excellent communication through video and audio calls, and they did so with respect to the time differences between us. Perhaps most important of all, they set clear expectations at every point of communication. They never set a deadline they couldn't keep and were very consistent at keeping to their cost estimations.

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

We came in with concerns about getting the project done in a timely manner and being able to have effective communication to express what we needed done, especially with a seven-hour time difference between us. Their team was expertly patient with us to make sure they understood our needs, never overpromised what could be done, and they worked around our schedule through every step so that we could have effective communication throughout.

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

N/A

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the digital director for i-Motor, and we provide web development services to the automotive industry. We manage about 2,000 websites, and our business is based in Melbourne and Sydney in Australia, with about 45 staff members.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rubyroid Labs?

We had a headless CMS that was part of our core website architecture, and we needed help in app development. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We engaged Rubyroid Labs to help us with Ruby on Rails development, their core expertise. First, they audited our code, and we briefed them about the required tasks. They then suggested a team structure to address the project. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with the company’s principal, an account manager, a project manager, some developers, and some testers. 

How did you come to work with Rubyroid Labs?

I researched for available service providers, and we met with each of them to discuss technical approaches and engagement models. After going through the same discovery process with three other vendors, we chose Rubyroid Labs. 

How much have you invested in them?

We spent around $200,000–$250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from July 2021–March 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Rubyroid Labs completed the project very satisfactorily. They didn’t just deliver the work that we asked them to do, they also refactored and remediated a lot of the existing codebase. Their efforts were extremely successful — we had a completed and improved app. We were delighted with their work. 

How did Rubyroid Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Rubyroid Labs’ communication was excellent, and their scheduling was fine. We operated on weekly sprints and had weekly stand-up meetings and 1–2 additional conferences. Their availability and communication were good. 

Rubyroid Labs was flexible to our time zone, which was important for us — the start of their day was our day’s end, but that was managed quite well. They did all of their communication and transactions in English, which was important to us because we were in Australia. We collaborated using Zoom, Basecamp, GitHub, and Slack, but we didn’t use email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

There was a scarcity of Ruby on Rails talents in Australia, and I was impressed that Rubyroid Labs had precisely the people we needed. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They are experts on Ruby on Rails, and they work efficiently using that tool. However, our team becomes more efficient if we go out of that lane and work on JavaScript or API tasks.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The quality of the work you get is proportional to your brief and communication quality. You need to have a regular cadence of communication and be clear with what you ask. Otherwise, you might face challenges.