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Software Built Better

4.9
21 reviews

Spire Digital is a Denver-based digital product development firm that transforms business through design and technology. For over 20 years, we've provided strategic consulting, user experience design, software development, DevOps, and staff augmentation to the world's top companies.

 

Whether web, mobile, IoT, wearables, AR/VR, AI, or blockchain, Spire helps startups and enterprises succeed at the art of innovation.

 

Spire's services are geared toward the product and innovation needs of our clients, resulting in business-critical applications that seize opportunities to increase revenues, operational efficiencies, market share, and customer satisfaction.

 

Strategy: Digital Transformation, Innovation Lab, Agile Process Consulting, Customer Experience Research, Lean Product Development Consulting

Design: Design Sprints and Workshops, User Experience Design, User Interface Design and Testing, Visual Design, User-Centered Design Consulting

Development: Responsive Web Development, Native and Cross-Platform Mobile Development, Microservices and API Design and Development, Emerging Technologies, IOT, Wearables, AR/VR, Blockchain, Automation, DevOps, and Agile Development Consulting

READ MORE...
 
Undisclosed
 
$100 - $149 / hr
 
50 - 249
 Founded
1998
Show all +
Denver, CO
headquarters
  • Spire Digital
    940 Lincoln Street
    Denver, CO 80203
    United States
    303-620-9974

Portfolio

Key clients: 

Lockheed Martin, United Launch Alliance, Vail Resorts, AT&T, Experian, Arrow Electronics, Hunter Douglas, CoBank, Cochlear, Coors, DaVita, Dish Network, Einstein’s Bagels, Newmont Mining, Land Title Guarantee Company, Inspirato, Intermountain Healthcare, MillerCoors, Rent-A-Center, Toys 'R' Us, USDA, US Navy, Western Union 

Inspirato

When Denver-based Inspirato, a private vacation club, contacted their members with trip proposals, the sales team had to do so by manually sending individual emails. This slow and tedious process, lacking in any real tracking capabilities, was ready to be overhauled, which is where Spire Digital stepped in with a custom solution. In five months, Spire developed a new email marketing tool for Inspirato that was efficient, consistent and measurable, and able to extend to prospects what had once been a sales tool used only for members. Read more >

SlimGenics

SlimGenics is a weight loss program provider that uses customized support and real grocery store food to help their clients achieve a healthy weight. The SlimGenics team needed to bridge the gap between customers searching online for physical locations and appointment making to encouraging visits to their local SlimGenics Center. The previous SlimGenics website did not allow for mobile viewing nor appointment setting, therefore their marketing team came to Spire Digital to build a beautiful, responsive website to drive visits to their local Weight Loss Centers. Read more >

Cochlear

Through our work, Clinic Finder has grown into a strategic tool for building the brand, generating and nurturing leads, driving conversion, and ultimately helping people hear. What’s more, this modern, single-page web application can be seamlessly dropped into any Cochlear website page or microsite.

USDA

Farmers and ranchers who voluntarily follow conservation practices can be awarded subsidies by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), a process typically heavy on the administrative side and full of complexities. In an effort to reduce time and waste in granting these subsidies, the USDA brought Spire Digital on board to lead a rapid agile UX design process that resulted in a beautiful enterprise web application as the solution. Working together with agriculture professionals and the USDA, Spire delivered an effective user interface for farmers, ranchers and regulators, and uncovered even more insights than they originally expected. Read more >

Swisslog

As the world’s leading manufacturer of logistics and delivery management equipment for hospitals, Swisslog deals with complexity every day. They tasked Spire Digital to define the user experience design and application for what became MedPortal® Inventory Management Software (IMS), their groundbreaking automated system that coordinates the daily flow of thousands of pharmacy products within a hospital. Together, Swisslog and Spire applied user-centered design and lean product development methodologies to launch this innovative pharmacy web application. Read more >

TomTom

Amsterdam-based GPS giant TomTom wanted to use its infrastructure to develop a fitness device. For its first foray into this market, TomTom approached Spire Digital with an idea for a smartwatch that could monitor a user’s physical activity and save and track the data via a complementary mobile-web interface. In less than six months, using both responsive web development and user experience design, Spire was able to build, refine and deliver the interface and dashboard in time for the global release of TomTom’s fitness watch. Read more >

Reviews

4.9
21 reviews
Sort by

Platform Dev & UI/UX for Outdoor Exploration Company

"Spire Digital doesn’t produce throwaway work—everything they build has a place in the long-term roadmap."

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5.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
5.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
Confidential
 
Feb. 2018 - Ongoing
Project summary: 

Spire Digital built out the UI/UX design of a web platform MVP and coordinated other frontend design tasks to display detailed information. Spire Digital currently provides small front-facing design updates.

The Reviewer
 
1-10 Employees
 
Boulder, Colorado
CEO, Outdoor Exploration Company
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

Using mature processes and leveraging a skilled creative team, Spire Digital delivered a visually impressive website, which received rave reviews from in-house staff and external users. Spire Digital is an enthusiastic and trustworthy partner, making communication easy and workflow efficient.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a company that provides a web platform that is focused on connecting the everyday person to the outdoors. We do that through technology that provides educational material and information that's necessary to help people plan and engage in outdoor experiences, such as hiking, camping, hunting, or fishing. We're leveraging technology and data analytics to help people get outside more often and leverage America's public land resources.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spire Digital?

We had initially developed an MVP of our site, but once we gained more financial traction, we wanted to make the investment in building out our UI/UX because of its importance to the overall platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our internal team manages the backend development. We rely on Spire Digital for the UI/UX design and other frontend design tasks to best present our rather large dataset.

What is the team composition?

Their team is led by Mikaela, our project manager who also acts as a tech lead and manages the agile board space, ticket creation, and workflow. In addition to Mikaela, our Spire team consists of a frontend developer, a designer, and ancillary support from QA engineers.

How did you come to work with Spire Digital?

We prioritized local firms so that we could meet in person. We interviewed several different companies and discussed our design, our prototype, and our goals. We tried to get a feel for the processes in each office. At Spire, we were able to observe a traditional sprint planning session and view their bullpen area to see how the developers worked together. It was clear that Spire had a mature environment. That experience, coupled with their examples of previous work, convinced us they would be valuable partners.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement began in February 2018 and is ongoing. We maintain a relationship with them for a small amount of frontend design work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are extremely pleased with the outcome. The feedback we have received internally and from external users of the platform has been overwhelmingly positive. We achieved the intuitive feel and nature of the platform that we hoped for.

How did Spire Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

We reached our scheduled milestones under cost, which is a huge achievement for us as a startup. Spire Digital doesn’t produce throwaway work—everything they build has a place in the long-term roadmap. We originally intended for our relationship to last about six months, but it was gone so well that we’ve extended it.

Mikaela has been fantastic at keeping the team operating efficiently. We have great communication with her and with the team, in general. We’re very involved in the processes. We talk every day, and we meet at their office once a week so they can demonstrate the updates to the technology. They’re very transparent, and they make good use of their resources.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We appreciate how well their team works with ours. It feels like they are an extension of our in-house group. They are excited about what they’re building with us. They’re just as passionate about being successful at this as we are. To have their team be that dedicated to us, that’s the biggest differentiator I could ask for.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I can’t name an instance when we have been unhappy. They have been responsive to all issues.

Any advice for potential customers?

The fact that we're so actively involved with them and we communicate so much with them and work so closely with them, I firmly believe that's one of the reasons why it's working so well. For any new client, I would recommend being the same way. Be involved and get to know everybody that's working on the project.

5.0
Overall Score
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
  • 5.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer

iOS/Android MVP App for Military Social Network

"One of their software developers been with them for 15 years. That’s unheard of. They’ve built a solid team."

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5.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
5.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
Confidential
 
Oct. 2017 - July 2018
Project summary: 

Spire Digital developed an MVP—based on some existing code—before producing Version 1.0 of a fully-functional app. They handled both front- and backend construction for the app, which is for iOS and Android.

The Reviewer
 
1-10 Employees
 
Oklahoma
CEO, Military Social Network
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

Initial users have praised the app’s aesthetics, and industry members are impressed with the app’s quality. Spire Digital provided excellent transparency regarding fees and were generous with their time. They deftly handled varying engagement intensities and fostered an approachable atmosphere.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a military social network. Our app provides military bases an arena to rate and review local business so that recently re-located active, reserve, guard members, or military spouses can find reputable services in that area. People move around so often in the military that it’s hard to move to a new area and know say, which plumber to hire. The military community is a small, tight-knit family, so this would provide a trusted source of recommendations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spire Digital?

They were three key functionalities we wanted Spire to develop for this first version. First, we needed to standardize our base directory system. Second, we needed to the app to be able to look up any phone number on the base to ensure that only active duty, guard, reserve members or military spouses could sign up. Third, we had to integrate local business profiles so that people could rate and review them.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We talked through what we currently had, to see if there was any code that we could salvage from some pre-development we’d done, and then discussed our vision and the possibility of an MVP. They provided all the frontend and backend work. They handled the entire development stack. They built a feedback feature into the app—which is for both iOS and Android—that allows users an easy to way to register their opinions.

What is the team composition?

We started off with just a project manager, and then they added a lead developer, a designer, and an administration team that would test software builds for bugs before we pushed them out. I had to scale down our hours to do more fundraising, so we went down to just the developer and myself, and we’d occasionally bring on the designer.

How did you come to work with Spire Digital?

We reached out to multiple software development companies and Spire responded to our email in just a few minutes. While other companies had us fill out an automated form and had us go through an entire process to sign up for a call, Spire personally reached out to us. They understood our concept right away, and they actually have people on their team with military connections. Having a little bit of understanding of the government and military was very helpful, but it was really their personal, human touch that won us over.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from October 2017 until July 2018. We’re currently in a paused period to gather feedback on the MVP, but we have about 50 more things to do.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Originally, they were able to put out an MVP in one month, which made us continue to work with them for the full Version 1.0 build out. Their quality is very high. I have family members in the software development space and they thought the app was top-notch. As soon as users downloaded it, their first reaction was that it looked good.

How did Spire Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

We’d have at least one meeting a week—on Fridays—to talk through any challenges and the sprints we were on. We’d also communicate on a Slack channel throughout the week. They were good about communicating billing and financials and working around my budget. They even through in a bug fix for free, which I thought was highly professional. I didn’t even have to ask for it; they just did the right thing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I got to know them as people and they’d even invite me to events. I flew out there because they invited me to an investor party and I felt like part of their family. I felt really welcome, like I could walk in any time. Whether it’s the CEO, the president, the owner, or whoever, I can call them whenever and don’t have to go through a chain of command. One of their software developers been with them for 15 years. That’s unheard of. They’ve built a solid team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’ve never done a project this big so I didn’t know to prepare for this, but I wish they’d talked me down from starting off with such a big contract. I wasn’t aware of how much funding I’d need to accomplish what I wanted, so I had to bring down our hours while I did more fundraising. I don’t know if they’ve had to deal with that before, but it would have been helpful to have my expectations gauged in terms of how big a chunk I could accomplish with the funds I originally had. I have to take responsibility for that though, because I was in charge. They handled it really well.

Any advice for potential customers?

Spire is a capable company and they’re well-connected in the software industry. They can make it happen, so my best advice is to go with them. If you have the budget, they’re reasonable with their prices, compared to other companies. Know what you want—I wanted an MVP in a month—when you come to them, and then give them a little test to see if they’re right for you.

5.0
Overall Score
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
    They met the sprints every time.
  • 5.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
    They were very fair and met what was estimated. They gave me a very good rate.
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer

UI/UX for Online Enterprise Platform

“They’re very competent at interface design and we really like the aesthetic they delivered.”

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4.5

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
4.0
Cost: 
n/a
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
Confidential
 
2015 - 2017
Project summary: 

Spire Digital provided UI/UX design for an operations management platform. They collaborated with an internal development team to establish a design strategy that was applicable through an existing tech stack.

The Reviewer
 
1-10 Employees
 
Colorado
CEO, Online Enterprise Platform
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

Spire Digital delivered an intuitive UI/UX design that’s on par with large software platforms. Users appreciate the appealing visuals and well-organized interface. While a singular instance of miscommunication impacted the project’s deadline, they performed well overall.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of an online enterprise. We provide an operations management platform for customers within a specific industry. The platform automates historically manual processes to save customers time and labor.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spire Digital?

I had an idea for a tech-enabled business, but personally lacked the knowledge or experience necessary. We initially approached them to help us build a system along the lines of our vision. However, we eventually decided to hire an in-house development team to create the platform. We then engaged Spire Digital to polish the frontend design and deliver the product’s final UI/UX.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our tech team collaborated with their designers to ensure the proposed wireframes would work with the system’s backend. Once both teams agreed on a general design approach, Spire Digital delivered a beautiful and efficient UI/UX.

What is the team composition?

We primarily worked with one designer. Other people from their team got involved when other skills were needed.

How did you come to work with Spire Digital?

Our attorneys recommended Spire Digital as a possible source to help us build the software. We reached out and the relationship grew from there.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2015 and the core deliverables were complete in 2017. We maintain a relationship with them and ask for their input on an ad hoc basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The primary metric we look at is customer feedback and that’s been very positive so far. Users feel like its modern software that’s easy to use. To be fair, there isn’t a high bar in our industry at this point, but no one’s complained about the interface so far. One of our objectives for the UI was for it be relatively unnoticeable like other modern software platforms. Spire Digital accomplished that.

How did Spire Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

Spire Digital is an easy company to work with and everyone did a really a good job. My only issue was a specific instance of poor communication. The employee that was supposed to help us implement the new designs left the company before the project was complete. This wasn’t communicated to us and we ended up wasting a lot of time waiting for that implementation.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very competent at interface design and we really like the aesthetic they delivered.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They should have told us the bad news regarding the implementation resource as soon as they knew it. I don’t know what happened to them internally, but that miscommunication set us back several weeks in our development cycle.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I don’t have any specific recommendations. Overall, Spire Digital is really good at collaborating with the companies that hire them.

4.5
Overall Score
  • 4.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
  • N/A Cost
    Value / within estimates
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer

WordPress Dev & Design for Title insurance Company

"They brought an incredible number of resources to bear on our project from the first day we got together."

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5.0

Quality: 
4.5
Schedule: 
4.0
Cost: 
3.5
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
Confidential
 
Sept. 2017 - Apr. 2018
Project summary: 

With a discovery phase, Spire Digital analyzed users and customers to blueprint optimal designs. They then programmed a customized backend using Wordpress and designed the UX/UI of the frontend. 

The Reviewer
 
501-1000 Employees
 
Denver, Colorado
Executive, Land Title Guarantee Company
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

The redesigned site is easier to use and cleaner design-wise. It has received very positive feedback. The team's creativity and flexibility to approach issues and find solutions enhanced the site's organization, but still retained its core message.  

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at Land Title Guarantee Company, a title insurance company based in Colorado.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spire Digital?

Our old site didn’t have mobile functionality and we needed something new and fresh to make our site competitive against other companies in our industry.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They met with our team and started a discovery phase. Their team presented a plan of action, tested our old website, and reached out to our clients/users. They analyzed our client’s feedback on our site and showed us the major functions our users wanted.

They designed mockup designs and conducted weekly meetings to show their progress and changes. Once we finalized the designs, they programmed a completely customized backend on WordPress.

Spire Digital also designed the customer frontend side. They designated the portfolios of our residential, lender, commercial, and builder professionals and enhanced the UX/UI of the site.

What is the team composition?

We initially worked with a large team of designers, programmers, and project managers. As the project progressed, the team was narrowed down to a couple of designers. One programmer was assigned to help near the end of the project.

How did you come to work with Spire Digital?

A friend and owner of a marketing company recommended Spire Digital. We considered other vendors, but we were very impressed with Adam (President, Spire Digital) and David’s (Vice President of Strategy, Spire Digital) background and their local client’s reviews. We decided on them because of their design and marketing perspective, and their extensive app development and programming experience.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2017 through April 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We received very positive internal and external feedback. People really liked that the site was clean and easy to use and we've only run into minor errors. Our team was excited about the updates and when the site went live, we had a few users call our office to tell us they enjoy using the site.

They met our expectations and figured out what we needed, which was probably hard because title insurance isn’t a common industry to design websites for. We had a lot of disorganized content and they cleaned it up and made it look great. They met our goals and made it mobile friendly and functionally smooth. They used what we had and put a new fresh twist on it.

How did Spire Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

They did a great job and were always on top of things. They provided new ideas for us in our weekly meetings and worked well with our team. Spire Digital was incredibly responsive and created very good solutions to our requests. Their team communicated through email and scheduled RingCentral meetings to share screens. They were easy to work with and now that the website is live, they’ve been very good about being available if something comes up.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was interested and impressed to see the way they did their initial research how they found out what we really needed.  They didn’t hesitate and started talking to our top clients to get live feedback. They took that to create designs that would be optimal for our clients. Their design process was impressive.

They brought an incredible number of resources to bear on our project from the first day we got together. They were very thorough on the frontend reaching out to clients, doing some market research and customer interviews. They provided some very creative ideas and directions. They developed ideas we probably wouldn’t have thought of on our own. They were very flexible and accommodating almost to a fault as we started to throw out different design ideas and functionalities. They moved quickly to deploy development and were responsive as we ran into bugs and needed help.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They worked well with us. At times, there was a little delay between designers and programmers to hear something back. Typically, our designer, Trey (UX Consultant, Spire Digital) would figure it out and give us an answer as quick as possible.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open with them and let them know what you’re looking for. Give them detailed feedback on the designs that they give you each week. Be open to tell them about the new items you want to see and the changes that you want. They are very receptive and will do a good job understanding what you need.

If they talk about different design elements or functionality, clients should ask them if the requests are is going to extend beyond the estimated programming and development hours. We ran into some issues where we continued to have design and functionality conversations without knowing that we were expanding the scope and taking up development hours.

5.0
Overall Score
  • 4.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
    The communication between the designer, programmer, and us usually worked well.
  • 3.5 Cost
    Value / within estimates
  • 4.5 Quality
    Service & deliverables
    The quality of the work and deliverables were great.
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer

Staff Augmentation for Nonprofit Drupal Project

“Their approach is relaxed and unhurried, but the results are still there.”

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5.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
4.5
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
Confidential
 
2012 - 2012
Project summary: 

Spire Digital supplemented a development team to create custom Drupal modules for a crowdfunding platform. They provided one senior developer to overcome the project’s challenges and deliver results.

The Reviewer
 
1-10 Employees
 
Switzerland
Antoine Valot
Former CTO, Beanstalk
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

Spire Digital’s developer quickly solved issues that plagued the project for months. They efficiently built out the custom designs and functionalities per project specifications. Communication was frequent and effective. They’re highly-skilled strategists and would make great long-term partners.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a former CTO of Beanstalk. It’s a nonprofit foundation that supports local nonprofit leaders in their philanthropy efforts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spire Digital?

I was responsible for developing a crowdfunding website where people could give donations to the select charities that Beanstalk supports. We were able to set up the fundamental aspects of the platform but needed help with advanced programming to facilitate each foundation’s compatibility. As a result, we reached out to Spire Digital to augment our development team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I approached them with my specific business challenge and had a conversation with their technical lead. Once we talked through the project’s scope, they assigned one senior developer to create the platform’s custom Drupal modules. The engagement included frontend work and some backend structuring.

What is the team composition?

We worked with the senior developer and a project manager.

How did you come to work with Spire Digital?

They’re a well-known firm in Beanstalk’s area because they’ve been around so long. However, I’ve personally known their founder for many years. He even approached me as a potential partner when he was starting Spire Digital. We’ve done some work together throughout the years, but I’ve never been his employee.

What is the status of this engagement?

This engagement took place in 2012 and lasted two months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Drupal is a strange beast where it’s easy to get 90% of what you want, but extremely difficult to manage the last 10% without a lot of experience. A junior developer and I agonized for months over how to build out the modules we needed. Spire Digital’s developer came in and rapidly worked through those issues. He had the major functionalities fully developed within a few weeks.

How did Spire Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re extremely professional. The senior developer did the work and directly communicated with us. The project manager kept track of development and often checked in to make sure we were satisfied with everything. This was the smoothest part of the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciate their relaxed but professional approach. They conduct themselves appropriately and achieve project goals while also being friendly and calm. They make it look easy. Working with them feels like a more human experience when compared to other vendors.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could’ve used the success of this project to springboard into another engagement with us. Asking about our other needs and providing a course of action could’ve enabled them to extract more business from us. However, they did we asked them too and made sure we were happy. Then, they left graciously.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you're approaching Spire Digital purely to execute and deal with technical issues, then you’ll get the results you want. However, there’s more value in approaching them as a partner and trying to formulate a strategy.

5.0
Overall Score Their approach is relaxed and unhurried, but the results are still there.
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
  • 4.5 Cost
    Value / within estimates
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer
    I’m a big fan.

Platform Development for Private Bank

“They were easy to do business with… They weren’t bureaucratic and there wasn’t any red tape.”

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5.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
5.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$50,000 to $199,999
 
Aug. 2017 - Ongoing
Project summary: 

Spire Digital rebuilt an existing proprietary application based on the original version using a PostgreSQL database and Bootstrap frontend template.  

The Reviewer
 
51-200 Employees
 
Denver, Colorado
COO, Private Bank
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

The new version of the tool is sustainable and scalable, adding business value. Spire Digital’s team was flexible, collaborative, and easy to work with. They worked within existing parameters providing in-depth suggestions for improvements.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a private bank based out of Denver, Colorado.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spire Digital?

We’re growing fast and trying to leverage technology to become a top-tier bank. We were using a product that we had cobbled together from Excel spreadsheets. It wasn’t sustainable or scalable so we needed a new solution.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Spire Digital worked with us to understand our existing tool, how we built it, what it did, and what wasn’t working. They were able to take that feedback, replicate certain elements, and offer value-add solutions for improvement.

We ended up using a PostgreSQL database and Bootstrap as the frontend template for the application. They provided us with a number of recommendations for possible options, with pros and cons for each.

What is the team composition?

We had a primary developer who would reach out to two or three other people as needed.

How did you come to work with Spire Digital?

We had a referral from an internal resource and one of our clients. We reached out to Spire to discuss our challenges and they thought they could solve them. We talked to three or four other agencies. Spire Digital was clearly the best in terms of our research and due diligence. They seemed like the right kind of partner for us.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2017. We’re currently 90%–95% complete and in the final stages of quality assurance testing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The solution that they’ve built us is more or less the same as the tool we already had—except that the new version has the ability to scale. Everyone’s happy with their work. We haven’t scaled yet because it’s not in production but we know there’s value there even if it hasn’t been realized yet. We’re currently mirroring our production system so, in theory, our teams are using the tool the way they would in the future. So far, it’s working well.

How did Spire Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

I appreciate that they took a light-touch approach to project management which meant, for example, that they didn’t demand several project meetings or force a project manager on us. They gave us two options—a more expensive, high touch full-service option with a project manager and with quality reviews and testing by them, and another option of just developers that we would pay by the hour and manage the project ourselves. They gave us the pros and cons of both options so that we knew exactly what we were getting. We chose the latter option because we knew we could manage it internally. A project manager and additional resources were available if we needed however that was not necessary as everything went smoothly.

They were great people to work with. The primary developer that we worked with was great—very intelligent, responsive, and collaborative. He would dig deep to really understand what we were looking for based on the specific business outcomes we needed. He provided a range of ideas and suggestions. My team really enjoyed working with him.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were easy to do business with. While the product itself may be great, many vendors make it hard to do business with them because they over complicate things. They were very flexible right from the start during the contract negotiations. They weren’t bureaucratic and there wasn’t any red tape.

They were also very flexible and collaborative in their approach to the solution. They didn’t come in as experts who wanted to tell us what we needed. They worked with what we had and helped us improve it. They gave us suggestions and we decided between them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, I don't think so. Everything was exactly as expected. We got what we asked for. I can’t think of anything that they could have done better.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Let their developer really understand your business needs because they may come up with a more creative solution than you've thought of.

5.0
Overall Score
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
  • 5.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer

Android UI & Backend Dev for IoT Company

“They acted quickly to assign a resource to us. We were in a crunch and they were responsive.”

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5.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
5.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
Confidential
 
Nov. 2017 - Ongoing
Project summary: 

Spire Digital provides Android development support for an IoT company. Using agile scrum methodology, they handle UI aspects, data tracking, and backend API.

The Reviewer
 
1-10 Employees
 
Colorado
Executive, IoT Company
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

They provided an appropriate resource that integrated well with very little notice. They are flexible and deliver high-quality products. The overall experience is positive.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the Co-founder and CTO of an IoT and data company. We focus on reducing waste through hardware/software solutions. Companies use our products to track data on their products as they move through the supply chain.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spire Digital?

We didn’t have a full-time Android developer on our team and wanted a resource that could accelerate our mobile development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They handled some of our UI work, including new screens and user interfaces we wanted to implement. Now, our users can track data, see what’s happening in our system, and communicate with our backend API. They also worked on our data offload from our device into the backend.

What is the team composition?

We worked with one developer on the project. We set all of our priorities directly with him and didn’t have to deal much with the rest of the company.

How did you come to work with Spire Digital?

A colleague referred them to us.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November or December 2017. They still provide part-time help for us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve had very few issues. Their developer got a lot done for us and helped us through a spike in work. They help us finish projects and meet deadlines. They’re flexible and the quality of their work is high.

How did Spire Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

Spire didn’t provide much project management, but we weren’t really looking for any. The resource they provided was great. He integrated into our team and we worked together on a day-to-day basis. We follow agile scrum methodology in our internal development system, with weekly progress evaluations. We assign new work, track what people are getting done, and review code.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They acted quickly to assign a resource to us. We were in a crunch and they were responsive. The developer fit into our dynamic. They snapped into our process and started delivering immediately.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, no. If not for the cost, we’d keep them on all the time. This has been a really good experience for us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We were moving so fast at the beginning, we really went on blind faith that they’d assign us the right person. We lucked out with someone we get along with, but it might be wise to talk to the resource first to make sure you’re getting a good fit.

5.0
Overall Score
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
  • 5.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer

Staff Augmentation & Dev for Crowdfunding Platform

“Spire Digital is deeply committed to solving our organization's challenges.”

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5.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
4.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$200,000 to $999,999
 
Dec. 2016 - Ongoing
Project summary: 

Spire Digital contributed custom UX/UI design and PHP programming expertise to create digital tools for fundraising and engagement. Project management supervised the entire in-house development team.

The Reviewer
 
11-50 Employees
 
Fort Collins, Colorado
McCabe Callahan
CEO, Community Funded
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

Outcome-focused strategic consulting expanded internal capability. Exceptional project management improved the client’s efficiency, organization, and workflow. The team had varied resources and proficiently served a wide range of needs. Spire Digital helped us foster significant business growth.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO and founder of Community Funded. We create digital engagement and online tools for professional fundraising organizations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spire Digital?

We needed a vendor to develop new processes and technology and provide leadership expertise.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Spire Digital managed our entire in-house development team. Their involvement focused heavily on process and workflow. They designed the UX/UI and customized our platform for a client implementation.

The team facilitated the entire build process and helped us mature as a growing technology company. Engineers coded our current application exclusively using PHP.

What is the team composition?

Spire Digital provided an expansive team of developers, engineers, designers, and scrum masters. Their collective proficiencies accounted for our whole spectrum of needs.

How did you come to work with Spire Digital?

One of our friends referred us to Spire Digital.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on their work.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement began in December 2016. We paused the project to regroup internally, but plan to work with them again soon.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Most of Spire Digital's contributions were process-oriented. This partnership has helped our team hit timelines and deliveries more efficiently. They improved our workflow, most notably for sales, support, and technology processes. Consulting services specifically targeted our business objectives. The team helped us forge a clear path towards improvement. Notably, the website deliverable included a notable "Giving Tuesday" donation function.

How did Spire Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

For the task at hand, they seamlessly took over the management of our entire department. This was a challenging transition, and they conducted it quite well. Their method was very well suited to our specific requirements.

Adam was my main point of contact. I occasionally interfaced with the CEO. We mostly communicated using email, phone, and project management tools. Since our offices are both located near Denver, CO, we held a few onsite meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Spire Digital is deeply committed to solving our organization's challenges.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything specific.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear about the outcomes and objectives you want to achieve. Our concept was initially underdeveloped, and it took an entire month to clarify the scope.

5.0
Overall Score
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
  • 4.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer

Digital Tools & UX/UI for Luxury Hospitality Company

"The team thinks outside the box to find innovative solutions."

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5.0

Quality: 
4.5
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
5.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$1,000,000 - $9,999,999
 
2012 - 2015
Project summary: 

Spire Digital conceptualized, designed, and implemented an end-to-end website build. The team developed two unique tools for internal use that propose product offerings tailored to individuals’ preferences.

The Reviewer
 
201-500 Employees
 
Denver, Colorado
Ashlee Collins
SVP of Product & Operations, Inspirato
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

Spire Digital prioritized client goals over increasing their own revenue. Indicating ineffective ideas was an unusual benefit of the extended, substantial partnership. The team exhibited integrity and dedication and reliable communication supplemented creative design and sophisticated programming.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the SVP of product operations at an internationally renowned travel and hospitality club. We serve high-end clientele at destinations throughout the world. Technology drives our business. Along with our website, we use an array of efficiency and scaling tools internally. I lead the product management team, which is the portion of our business that interfaced with Spire Digital.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spire Digital?

We needed a developer to create digital tools that help our clients and internal team select a vacation that suits their preferences.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Spire Digital helps us concretize and flesh out new concepts. They partnered with our CEO to calibrate on an ideal method of achieving our goals. The team has supported multiple ideation stages. On two occasions, they conducted delivery and implementation. They built one tool that suggests vacation ideas, and another for internal property knowledge.

What is the team composition?

Spire Digital assigned us a full team that included an account manager, project manager, designer, UX expert, and multiple developers with varied expertise. They specialized in .NET skills, as well as frontend and backend development. We used them for virtually every facet of our business.

How did you come to work with Spire Digital?

Our partnership was mostly based on referrals. Several internal team members had existing connections with Spire Digital. Our respective CEOs and project managers had worked together via multiple channels.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $2-3 million on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Spire Digital from 2012 to 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Spire Digital’s most unexpectedly valuable contribution was encouraging us to discard certain misinformed ideas. They partnered with our CEO to conduct substantial research. Extending the spec helped us determine which tasks made sense to pursue to yield long-term ROI. They gracefully delivered this candid advice.

I found it admirable that they prioritized our success over their income. Consultants usually try to sell the maximum amount of work regardless of its potential benefit. Their useful opinions guided us to the ideal strategy for our business. Our group uses their two deliverables to this day, two years later. The extended use of these tools, even two years later, speaks volumes about their skill level.

How did Spire Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

We had a great experience in this domain. They're virtually always on time and on budget. Those are the simplest metrics for a project manager's success. In the rare instances when they exceeded the cost or deadline, they maintained an open dialogue. Spire Digital excelled at communicating both early and often. I was never unpleasantly surprised in that respect.

Their resources usually worked in our office. We probably brought them onsite more than most clients. We generally used a combination of phone calls, email, and online tools. There were slight variations over the course of our three years working together.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Spire Digital took the challenge of understanding our brand and goals to heart. The team thinks outside the box to find innovative solutions. They're not just working for a paycheck. They seem truly invested in meeting our needs. That's not always easy to find.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Knowledge transfer is a major area they could improve. Our company might be partially responsible for this problem. It was hard to transfer some tools they built to our internal tech teams. Further instruction would have made it easier to sustain those solutions. We lacked the requisite information to maximize these products' utility.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Leverage their full end-to-end capabilities. Requesting a simple build for a large solution is just one part of their skill set. They're especially good at ideating designs through the execution. Let them guide you to the optimal solution. Most vendors can execute a build. The design side of the shop is where they really shine.

5.0
Overall Score
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
  • 5.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
  • 4.5 Quality
    Service & deliverables
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer

Web Development for Destination Marketing Organization

"Everything has run really smoothly since Spire took over."

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5.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
5.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$50,000 to $199,999
 
Jul. 2017 - Ongoing
Project summary: 

Spire is working on migrating a tourism website to their platform and taking over URL, website, and blog management. Previously, the team developed an interactive website featuring blended imagery and music.

The Reviewer
 
11-50 Employees
 
Breckenridge, Colorado
Brett Howard
Marketing Director, Breckenridge Tourism Office
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

Spire has developed a 10-year relationship through their cutting-edge development work, ability to stay at the vanguard of industry trends, and high-quality project management. Their personalized care for each project and quick response time continues to stand out.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of marketing for the Breckenridge Tourism Office. We are a destination marketing organization (DMO), focused on driving destination businesses to the town of Breckenridge, Colorado.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spire Digital?

Before joining the Breckenridge Tourism Office, I was the marketing director for the Breckenridge Ski Resort. In 2008, I worked with Spire to develop a cutting-edge interactive website, and in my current position, I am working with Spire to move our website to their platform. Once everything is transferred, they will take over URL management and do some site testing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

For the 2008 project, they fully developed a state of the art website for the resort’s terrain park, which included music and 360-degree views. At the time, this project was really challenging and out of the box for them to take on, but they did a really great job.

For the current project, Spire is managing all of our URLs, our website, and our blog. They have been super helpful getting everything off our current platform—which was a bit challenging to work on. Everything has run really smoothly since Spire took over.

What is the team composition?

I work directly with a project manager and a developer. We also have direct access to the other developers as well if we need it.

How did you come to work with Spire Digital?

We hired them based off of my previous work with them in 2008.

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent $80,000­–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Work is ongoing, but we began the project in July 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website they developed in 2008 won accolades in the industry, and they continue to be a great partner. Just recently, we had some issues on the site and Spire got developers working on the problem in under an hour. I have really come to trust them over the 10 years of our relationship, and have given them total control over our current project.

How did Spire Digital preform from a project management standpoint?

They have been excellent. We communicate over email, and I don’t think it ever goes more than 24 hours without getting a response from somebody when we reach out.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to stay at the forefront of trends and share that information with me has been really impressive. Even for a simple hosting project like this one, they are constantly checking-in and sending us articles and white papers. That is always appreciated for a smaller business like ours.

In general, they have really been a great group to work with. We are both based in Colorado, and I always see those guys being mentioned in the papers as “one of the best places to work,” etc.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, they have been a great partner for us. I don’t see any areas for improvement at this time.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They will definitely be different than other companies you work with. They seem to really care about your business, and they have that small shop mentality even though they’ve got a big digital background. That makes the project feel very personalized.

5.0
Overall Score
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
    Having two people to call for something as simple as website hosting is pretty much unprecedented for me.
  • 5.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
    They are easy to get a hold off, and they share great information.
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer