Sidebench

Please describe your company and your position there.

Peer Health Exchange's (PHE) mission is to build healthier communities with young people. Together, we create education opportunities for peers to share the tools and resources young people need to make healthy decisions. I am the VP, Growth Hacker at PHE overseeing the Digital Products team. My team is responsible for overseeing the development of selfsea, a mobile app Sidebench has been developing for us focused on providing mental health support and resources to young people.

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

Sidebench was hired to help us complete development of a MVP version of selfsea, a mobile app for iOS and Android that was to be launch in April 2022.

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

Sidebench was among a list of vendors that we identified that were minority owned/led and had experience working with young people. We selected Sidebench after an exhausted RFP process where we felt they were most aligned mission-wise to what we were trying to accomplish with our app.

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

Sidebench took on an already developed prototype from a previous development partner and began a discovery phase with PHE to see if this prototype was what we still wanted to develop. It was after this discovery phase we decided to redo the app with an explicit focus on the communities feature. Then we commenced on the development phase.

The app is developed in React Native for both iOS and Android. The MVP version of the app includes SSO (Apple/Google), ability for users to interact with one another in pre-moderated communities (Sidebench also built a web portal to support moderation and admin of the app by PHE), and a built in browser to view resources and videos curated by PHE.

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

We were staffed with a Director of Product, Product Manager, UX Designer, UI Designer and a Sr Technical Manager along with a senior account manager and a host of development engineers.

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

Young people who have used the app so far have been impressed by it. We have a steadily growing user base and Sidebench has been great in ensuring updates to the app are pushed out in a timely manner so users have the best experience possible.

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

Sidebench has great attention to detail. Everything is documented and tracked in Asana, Zepplin, Slack and Jira. Overall, Sidebench was on time until COVID impacted the development team. It was only then did the project fall a month behind. Sidebench worked closely with PHE to mitigate delay as much as possible.

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

Once development was impacted by COVID, Sidebench took on the additional cost to ensure the delay would be minimal and even took on the cost of the development post MVP for a month or two to ensure the project stayed on track.

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

Initial makeup of the development team left it vulnerable once members of the team began to be impacted by COVID. Sidebench has since remade the team with a better a mix of onshore and offshore and more senior folks onboard make the team less vulnerable to disruptions.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of a custom software development company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sidebench?

We needed to transform and build a product for our company quickly, and we wanted a trusted partner to execute.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sidebench is doing web-based development for us; the product has an admin portal for coaches to access messaging, calendaring, scheduling, and document uploading functionalities. It also has interactive elements where members can fill out a will evaluating their health in different parts of their lives. In terms of technologies, the system is built through AWS and React.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with product managers, directors, product leads, and a designer.

How did you come to work with Sidebench?

We researched a dozen different agencies, and we chose them because we thought they had impressive consumer apps. In addition to that, they were likable people, and we felt like they would fit into our working culture.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent around $1 million with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

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

They’ve been excellent partners and are essential to our processes. Overall, I’ve been impressed with their professionalism and ability to teach our team many project management skills and best practices.

How did Sidebench perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management has been very positive; they communicate with us and are flexible to make things work.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team adapts to our systems and norms very well, including our project management tools, and sitting in our Monday meetings — they feel like a part of our team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything they can improve on — their work has been overall positive throughout the engagement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Evaluate your options, but they provide what they offer from the beginning of the process.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO and chief product officer at Diathrive, a chronic disease management company focused on diabetes. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Sidebench?

We brought on Sidebench for several reasons. We needed to redo our enterprise infrastructure in the wake of switching to a complete B2B application from a B2C. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sidebench is developing the backend of our B2B platform, helping us configure our CRM, and developing a React Native application for us. They’re building out a more robust enterprise infrastructure. Their team covers everything from website and app development to backend infrastructure creation. We’ve provided Sidebench with the technical and architectural considerations they need to utilize to keep our platform secure. 

What is the team composition?

I primarily interface with Austin (Product Manager) and Haley (Senior Product Manager), who run 4–5 of our workstreams. I also work with Brandon (Head of Strategy and Partnerships) biweekly. 

How did you come to work with Sidebench?

I went through several different channels before I found Sidebench — we needed to be careful about picking the right partner because our company was so new. I narrowed down our potential partners to two vendors after interviewing six firms. We flew out to meet Sidebench and were impressed with their understanding of our business and their experiences with healthcare startups. We thought they’d be great partners, so we hired them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $500,000 with Sidebench, although that will increase by the end of the year as we continue to give them additional projects. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with Sidebench began in October 2021, and it’s ongoing. 

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

Sidebench is absolutely fantastic to work and collaborate with. Their team has taken the time to understand our business in-depth and our development constraints. We’ve collaborated closely with them to work through our project constraints — they use their experience to ensure we achieve our project goals. 

Overall, the development process has been very good. Our communication is very clear, and Sidebench is very open to taking on new projects. Not only that, but Sidebench has provided us with excellent feedback on what directions to take the project, the app structure, and how to increase engagement. Their suggestions have been wonderful.  

How did Sidebench perform from a project management standpoint?

Sidebench hits all of our deadlines — we’re actually ahead of schedule right now, which is virtually unheard of in the development industry. They identify project blockers early on and detail project plans so we’re aware of approaching project-dependent deliverable deadlines. We use several collaborative tools to communicate, which is great. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The way Sidebench collaborates is amazing, and so is how they can translate project concepts into reality is amazing. Our industry is complicated, and chronic disease management is even more nuanced. It takes a partner like Sidebench to collaborate with us and execute our business idea within our timeline and budget constraints. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’re pleased with Sidebench’s services, so there is nothing for them to improve. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My team is incredibly happy with Sidebench’s service, and I’d advise customers to be straightforward with them about their projects. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a large app and digital platform that connects consumers to black-owned business through technology. I’m the founder and CEO.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sidebench?

We were working with another technology company, but they did a horrible job building and launching our site. Sidebench came in to fix those issues and create a new app for us.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The app will be a black-owned business discovery app that will be available on iOS and Android devices. We’ve gone through the discovery and design phases and are now in development.

What is the team composition?

We have a main point of contact and have interacted with 5–10 people in total.

How did you come to work with Sidebench

We found them on Clutch after a Google Search. After contacting a few options, we went with Sidebench.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $550,000 on the app development specifically.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since May 2021.

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

For one, they fixed our site. Our payment system was down for a few months while the previous team was troubleshooting it. They came in and cleaned up everything on a quick timeline, allowing us to continue operating as were before the issue arose.

The app development has been a great process. It’s clear that they are a competent team. We trust them a lot. The product that they’re in the process of creating is well beyond what we thought we were signing up for.

How did Sidebench perform from a project management standpoint?

There are weekly meetings where Sidebench goes through the different deliverables and any questions that we have.

Project management was our number one request from them because of our previous experience, and we haven’t run into any delays. They’ve been very communicative since the beginning of the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We interviewed a couple of companies at first, and what stood out about Sidebench was that they were very passionate about what they were doing and what they could do for our platform. They came with specific ideas about how to improve our platform.

Additionally, their team is very easy to relate to. With other companies, it’s clear that you’re speaking to an engineer without a lot of interpersonal skills, but with Sidebench, it’s clear that they have both the technical skill and the ability to communicate well with others.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I hate not having an answer for this question, but I really can’t think of anything they could improve. They’re certainly the best of the 3–4 technology companies that we’ve worked with over the last few years.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You get what you pay for. They’re a bit pricey, but they’re worth it. Additionally, keep an open mind. We had designs that another company had done when we first approached Sidebench, but after the discovery process, they came up with another idea that made much more sense. You may come out with something more in-line with what your audience wants than what you came in with.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of a non-fungible (NFT) marketplace.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sidebench?

We hired Sidebench to create our NFT marketplace.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We recently finished the discovery process with Sidebench, which allowed us to read the market and figure out exactly what approach we should take. For several weeks, we sat down with their project manager to map out all of the features we wanted to see on our MVP.

Then, their designer and technical architect did all of the planning that would be handed over to the development team. At the end of the discovery phase, we had a navigable prototype. We’re now moving to the development phase, and the team will build our NFT marketplace, which will be available in both a mobile app and a website. The next goal is to create a product that will be essentially used by the public.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with 4–5 people from Sidebench, including a project manager, designer, and technical architect. We’re also working with Kyle (Growth Strategy Manager) who acts as a liaison between our two teams. We don’t talk to him on a daily basis, but we can reach out to him if we have any issues.

How did you come to work with Sidebench?

My business partner and I did a lot of research into finding a good firm to help us. We also knew that hiring five random developers wouldn’t work in the type of project we were envisioning. Once we reached out to a couple of companies, we chose Sidebench because they offered a valuable process to us and they executed larger projects than what we were going to assign to them.

In addition, we were in the NFT space, which was super new, but with a massive number of platforms popping every single day. As a result, we wanted to go with somebody who could help us turn our project into something unique — a company that could separate us from our competition. In the end, we didn’t want to go with anybody else.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $80,000 during the discovery phase, and we’re about to spend another $400,000–$450,000 for the development phase.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing collaboration started in May 2021.

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

They’ve been amazing the whole time, and we don’t regret hiring them. The prototype they've created has allowed us to present something to our investors. Based on what we’ve seen so far, we’re very confident about our project’s outcome.

On top of that, they know how to pick people that can manage our project, hand-selecting them based on their prior experience and level of interest. They also have an internal assessment in order to decide who’s going to work on each project. In pairing us with qualified people, they really ensure our project’s success.

How did Sidebench perform from a project management standpoint?

Sidebench’s process is so in-depth — they definitely know what they’re doing. Our communication is great; we have virtual check-ins almost every day, and we‘ve been able to visit their office once. They reach out to us whenever they have questions, which allows them to create exactly what we’re asking for. Furthermore, they always meet our deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Everybody on Sidebench is similar to a piece of the puzzle because they have diverse talents capable of building things for some of the best companies in the world. They make things happen because they know what their employees can bring to the table. In addition, they don’t hesitate in doing things because they already know how they’re going to accomplish things, and they're capable of supporting clients without a technical background.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, everything we pay them is worth it. They get things done the right way; they explain things and think through how they’re going to build something.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know exactly what you want to do, but be open to suggestions from their team. In the end, they’ll make your project come to life.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of a cannabis distributor in California, the largest cannabis market in the world.  

What challenge were you trying to address with Sidebench?

We rolled out many different Salesforce functionalities and received various Salesforce web screens and templates. While they were usable, they weren’t intuitive. We wanted a better experience for our users and customers, so we were looking for someone to help us improve our Salesforce platform’s UI/UX.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sidebech used our team’s designs in developing, coding, and integrating improvements in our Salesforce platform. They worked on our brand portal, among other areas.

After that, Sidebench has taken over the maintenance of our Salesforce platform; they’ve become our sole Salesforce partner. They develop integrations and handle configurations for Salesforce’s features, forms, and reports. 

What is the team composition?

I work with a project manager, a developer, an executive, and one other resource.

How did you come to work with Sidebench?

Initially, we had been using another vendor for our Salesforce platform. They didn’t have UI/UX expertise, and they recommended Sidebench to us. We met Sidebench’s team and were impressed with their work, so we hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $250,000–$500,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2021, and it’s ongoing. 

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

Sidebench has scoped the project very meticulously and gave us detailed estimates — they’ve hit their deliverables right on track.  

We’ve received positive feedback from our internal teams and external brand partners about the platform’s new UI/UX; our dashboards are a lot better now.

How did Sidebench perform from a project management standpoint?

Sidebench is outstanding at communication and proactive at project management. Whenever they ask us to do something, they follow up very quickly if we don’t react right away. 

If there have been delays, it’s because we needed time to get the required details. They’ve been very patient with us, but they are also aggressive with their follow-ups.

Sidebench also produces regular status updates, and they’ve hit every deadline we’ve asked of them. We mostly communicate through emails. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Sidebench offers a complete Salesforce package. They’re good at administering the different solutions that we’re using, such as sales, service, and employee portals. On top of that, they have UI/UX expertise, which isn’t typical among Salesforce providers. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Align on what you are looking to do. Make sure that you have a well-defined scope and documentation around that. Sidebench can help you explore different options, but it helps if you do some homework upfront to accelerate the process. 

Please describe your company and your position there.

I serve as an integral part of Microsoft TSI which uses Tech for Social Impact. We’ve engaged Sidebench on a number of occasions with the Animal Shelter project being the one referenced here.

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

Our goal was to leverage Sidebench’s expertise with custom system integrations. Our goal was to help making the remote shelters easier to communicate internally and with volunteers.

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

Sidebench stood out as a certified diverse supplier with the capabilities and proficiency to build what’s most necessary.

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

Sidebench leveraged Kaizala and Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations to help optimize inventory management and receive data populated by Kaizala

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

We were in contact with the c-suite leadership team, the development team, and the business development team.

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

Due to confidentiality the most I can say is that Sidebench was able to deliver exactly what was expected and needed to move forward.

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

Their communication and project management style in our project was one of the main reasons why we chose Sidebench. Very timely responses and even displayed some over communication skills that made the engagement very easy to maintain

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

The way that Sidebench was able to manage communication and solve the problems that we hired them for with such a lean and scrappy team was the impressive and unique trait.

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

The team was actually very proficient and was very capable in completing what was necessary on time and within budget

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Covis Inc., a company empowering health decisions using powerful AI and big data.

We have developed an algorithm that calculates the individual risk from COVID-19 using public data, machine learning, and knowledge from medical literature. Covis Inc. is a DESY spin-off and a two-time MIT hackathon winner. I am also a Physicist at DESY, Hamburg, and Senior Scientist at the Humboldt University in Berlin.

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

We wanted to create proprietary algorithms used to assess the risk of COVID-19 infections and display that data to CoVis mobile app users, and we worked with Sidebench to build and launch both an Android and iOS app to be launched in Germany and the USA.

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

After an extensive search for a technology partner, we chose Sidebench for their ability to add innovative value, their expertise in healthcare, and their communication commitments.

We were very impressed by their previous projects, in particular the NOCD app. Their communications were quick and efficient and they were willing to work on a very innovative project on a very tight timeline to leave a social impact.

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

We completed a discovery engagement that gave way to a robust development plan, ultimately working to release mobile apps for iOS and Android. Being an app backed by scientific knowledge and innovative scientific methods, the Sidebench team worked closely with the Scientists on the CoVis team.

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

So far, our team has worked with a User Experience Designer, Design Manager, Technical Architect, Developers, Product Manager, and Quality Assurance Engineers.

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

The CoVis app is the end-product of a solution developed by the CoVis team and scientific research conducted at DESY, Hamburg. The work done by Sidebench brought this solution to life in the form of an app for both iOS and Android.

The quality of work is impressive and the app has proved to be very effective in the testing phase. As an example, the app requires a quite complex algorithm for location tracking which has been implemented flawlessly and is a key part of the proprietary algorithm that we use to assess the individual risk from COVID-19.

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

Through weekly stakeholder status calls and touchpoints with Product Managers, the engineering team, and Design Leads, we have been able to get our concerns addressed in a timely manner. Both the Project Manager and Technical Architect have been available for discussions at any time and spent a lot of time with the CoVis team trying to understand the concept and the science behind the app. Communication has been very open and quick.

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

Their ability to remain agile and provide solutions as conditions change has been enjoyable to witness and be a part of. When a problem arises the team goes above and beyond to provide solutions and preventative measures in place to mitigate the chance for problems to continue to arise.

Being a very innovative solution that was built during an ongoing pandemic to address an unforeseen problem a lot of flexibility was necessary for the project to be successful. Sidebench was extremely flexible with schedules and implementation timelines, being able to easily incorporate changes that were made necessary due to changing regulations surrounding COVID-19.

In addition, with their experience in developing mobile solutions, they have been instrumental in foreseeing possible hurdles early in the project roadmap so that these can be addressed in due time.

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

The CoVis team is very satisfied with Sidebench. They have the right expertise and the right work culture that helped us build the CoVis app.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My organization is all about health, wellness, and preventative medicine. Our goal is to empower people to make better and more informed choices so that they can live healthier and more conscious lives.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sidebench?

We had a contract with a different organization that we’d been working with for quite some time, but they just couldn’t get the project done.

We were looking for someone who could pick up the pieces, put them all together, and create the dream that we all envisioned.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sidebench has been instrumental in taking a web app that wasn’t very well programmed or organized and putting it together. It’s a Laravel web app with HTML5 and Vue.js.

The product should go live at the end of March 2021. We have a backlog of additional features, so we’re committed to using Sidebench for the long haul.

What is the team composition?

We have a whole team assigned to this project. We’ve worked with a project manager, a design consultant, and Henry (Manager, Strategy & Business Development). 

How did you come to work with Sidebench?

It took a lot of work. We interviewed at least 15 companies and looked at each candidate’s website, reputation, and previous projects. We also considered what types of apps they’d done and what areas their skills were in.

Once we reached out and talked to Sidebench, we were very impressed. After our third meeting with them, we signed the contract. We looked at a lot of really good groups and different options, but Sidebench really rose to the top.

What is the status of this engagement?

We reached out to them in November 2020, and the project is still evolving. We have about 6–7 weeks before we complete this phase.

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

We are looking for ease of flow of data capturing and UX. We work closely with Sidebench and, through a range of different ideas, they have made it very seamless.

We haven’t launched the product to the public yet, so we don’t have any metrics beside our own satisfaction with what we’ve seen in comparison to previous development teams that we’ve hired. 

How did Sidebench perform from a project management standpoint?

We meet with them either once or twice a week through Zoom. They have excellent communication skills, and they deliver on time. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve very collaborative. We bring certain ideas to the table, and then they tweak them a bit to make the ideas work even better. They continue to do that until we’re 100% satisfied. Working with Sidebench has been the best experience we’ve had with any developer thus far, and we’ve worked with several.

I am so eternally grateful to Sidebench for taking an idea that my team had and creating something that we’re really excited about. They are very creative and thoughtful.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They have far exceeded my expectations, so I couldn’t ask them to do any better — they already do an outstanding job.

Any advice for potential customers?

Listen to their ideas, and be open.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the product manager of GIBLIB. We stream online medical education content, including surgical videos and lectures.

What challenge were you trying to address with Sidebench?

We wanted to revamp and refresh our current web application layer. No one internally was a UX/UI resource or graphic designer, we decided to hire a third-party to create the next version of the company site.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We requested their help with the design; we're handling the implementation. The application isn’t running yet. They provided their expertise as a UX/UI firm.

When we approached Sidebench, we already knew all the new features we wanted to add, so we solicited their input on how those things ought to be portrayed. There were numerous meetings initially about how to lay things out. It was very collaborative. After developing an initial schema, they provided a more detailed UI and design.

What is the team composition?

We worked with at least three core people: Max (Project Manager), Dana (UX Designer), and Jeff (UI and Graphic Designer).

How did you come to work with Sidebench?

They were a recommendation. One of our previous product managers used to work with Sidebench. We trusted that internal referral.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent a little bit over $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from July until November 2020.

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

My general feedback is positive. The three main employees were all very professional; they knew what they were doing. We’ve unanimously agreed that we couldn’t have accomplished what we have without working with Sidebench. They definitely brought the value we needed.

How did Sidebench perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication was clear. We used a combination of Slack and Zoom meetings. There was an official meeting on Monday and a semi-official meeting mid-week. This system was effective. Their project manager always provided agendas and previewed what we were going to talk about the next week. The project management was really well executed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The word for me is ownership. From the beginning, they did a lot of research about us and our users. It felt like they knew the product as well as we did. They cared a lot about the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were a couple of times at the end of the project when things were delivered a few days later than the initial date. Everyone softens up at the end, but it wasn’t to a point where it was detrimental to our roadmap. If I had to share something to improve on, that’s what I would say. There’s nothing else negative to say about them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

First, the client has to be ready and know what they want. They need to have a gameplan in-line so they’re not relying entirely on Sidebench. Working collaboratively with them is the best way to go. Second, make sure to over-communicate. We try to be sensitive about others’ time, which is needed, but not communicating when you need to can deter the overall project.