Techtonic

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We provide marketing automation software for health and wellness professionals. I'm the CEO and founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Techtonic?

We wanted to build a social media automation platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired Techtonic in August 2018, and when we started working with them we found their model very intriguing. They said that we would be given one senior lead developer that would take the lead on a project and do most of the work, as well as a few of their junior developers who would be doing a lot of the minor work on the project.

They ended up giving our project to people still in their coding school who had only 0-6 months of experience in development. They also brought on a project manager who absolutely zero experience in software development. The ended up hiring two junior level engineers in addition to everyone else, who they fired a few weeks later. We gave them guidelines in how the product was used and how we wanted the product to work, and made it clear that we wanted a relational database structure.

They didn't listen to any of our input, feedback, or guidance. They chose to build it in a NoSQL environment because that's what their CTO at the time had a passion for. Every step of the way, deliverables were missed or nonfunctional. It was an absolute disaster.

The first major deliverable was the client dashboard and it showed social media posts that you could edit, customize, and change the image of, and add to a series of campaigns to publish to social media. Again, it was a disaster. What they showed us did not function and we came close to firing them then and thereafter spending $50,000 with them. Their CTO assured us they would deliver this project on time and on budget and after numerous discussions, we decided to let them continue on the product. They were then able to deliver the dashboard about two weeks later.

From there, they were supposed to have a Beta version compete by early January. we spoke with them numerous times and they assured everything would be on track and on schedule. They completely refused to give us access to things along the way. Finally, in early January 2019, we received a quote-on-quote working version that was supposed to be our Beta; nothing worked whatsoever. Even the most basic things such as connecting your account to Facebook didn't work.  At this point, we'd spent $100,000 and had absolutely nothing to show for it. It was the largest professional embarrassment that I'd ever witnessed in my career.

At that point, everyone in their entire company tried to get the Beta to work. There was no quality assurance this entire time, and they made the excuse that their head of QA had left the company as soon as we started to work together. They hired more and more engineers who seemed more competent in what they were delivering. Next, we re-negotiated our contract with them, stating that we wouldn't spend more than $200,000 unless we received what was in the contract.

 It took them till early May to deliver a working app to us. The codebase was an absolute disaster, it was clearly written by people who did not know what they were doing. There were functions that were two thousand lines of code long, with "if-then" statements the entire way. We then hired someone internally to take over the project with them once we terminated with Techtonic.

We spent May 2019 – November 2019, ripping apart everything they did and rebuilding it entirely. There was no salvageable code from what they did. It was riddled with bugs, riddled with errors, and impossible to understand how things were functioning.As we dug in more, we found that their integration on key elements was disastrous. Things were stored in logs that should never hit a log.

In April 2019, their CEO got involved and claimed that they needed to stop work because we wouldn't pay our bills. This was not true as we had re-negotiated our contract and would not pay until they delivered on their contractual obligations. Once those obligations were complete, we paid our bills in full. Overall, their work was garbage and this company should not exist.

How did you come to work with Techtonic?

We interviewed a number of firms I found online and we ended up going with Techtonic to develop the software. I spoke to a reference of theirs that had nothing but glowing reviews to say about them. I ended up going with them because money was tight on our end and I figured this wouldn't be that hard of a project to complete.

How much have you invested with them?    

We spent $200,000 total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in August 2018, and terminated in May 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We experienced a huge loss of revenue, loss of time, opportunity cost that we lost. All-in-all, from a pure salary perspective, we lost about $400,000 rebuilding the app. The app is functioning well now, just because there is zero code left from what they wrote for us. Again, what they delivered for us was absolute garbage.

We got lies from their salesperson, from their Chief product officer to their project manager, from their CEO. They lied about how the company was structured, they lied about how the code is reviewed, how it's written. They lied about everything. They are scammers.

How did Techtonic perform from a project management standpoint?

We had weekly meetings with their chief product officer and a product lead. We had emails and calls with them. None of our feedback was ever written down, and we'd have to repeat the same things over and over again.

What did you find most impressive about them?

In January 2019, they hired Ashish (Director of Quality Assurance). Once they put him in charge of QA, things actually started moving forward in a somewhat positive direction. I would hire him at my organization.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They should shut down the company. It's a complete and utter joke. They should not be a software development firm.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to find a real firm. There are a lot of really good firms out there. Do not hire Techtonic, whatever you do.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work for the Boulder Chamber, which is the region’s flagship business advocacy and support organization. With more than 110 years of dedicated service to our members and the Boulder community, the Boulder Chamber’s innovative programs help local businesses succeed while sustaining an economy that preserves Boulder’s high quality of life, including its environmental and cultural assets. Together with its member businesses, the Boulder Chamber is building a smarter, more vibrant economy – sustaining Boulder’s position as a global capital of innovation and a thriving center of economic vitality. We convene the local industry-led sector partnerships to support workforce development efforts. I am the Economic Development Director and lead all workforce development programs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Techtonic?

Update the current TechTalent Boulder website that is not branded to our organization or needs and update the design, functionality, layout, pictures, and content

What were your goals for this project?

Update the current TechTalent website, updating the design, functionality, layout, pictures, and content

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We wanted a partner who had the expertise to do the project, who could scale up and down as the needs of the project demanded, and who was invested in the local community. We also value the innovative approach Techtonic has taken in developing talent through its apprenticeship program. We wanted to support the work.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

As part of the TechTalent initiative, which spans all the major metropolitan areas in Colorado, Boulder’s TechTalent Web site needed to be updated and relaunched in a relatively short time frame. The project includes UI/UX design, content refresh and technology modernization. We took a user-centric approach to ensure that the rebuild met the needs of our customers.

What was the team composition?

The team consists of one product manager, one senior developer, one apprentice developer and one QA engineer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The TechTalent Boulder / Broomfield website will be modernized from both a user interface perspective as well as the underlying technology. It will provide the groundwork for the support we need to provide tech companies in the area.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

I was assigned a project team, and since then, things have worked smoothly–Techtonic communicates frequently and clearly, and they were able to adapt to the way we do business.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Techtonic’s flexibility and their ability to jump right in and take charge of the project impressed me the most.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I have been very impressed with Techtonic and its project management. No improvements suggested.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Beatport is responsible for the digital accessibility of electronic music having built the largest electronic music store in the world. I work as a Technical Project Manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Techtonic?

Techtonic was brought in to accelerate the building out of a QA team and then assisting with auditing and testing new products to meet or improve our standard of quality during the launch.

What were your goals for this project?

Create baselines service level objectives for a new product being brought to market and then act on work identified as necessary to meet those SLOs.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Techtonic is a known staffing provider in the Denver technology market; their staffing model and QA solution process fit our needs.

Describe the project in detail.

Phase 1: Audit Feature Parity between APIs Produce comprehensive load testing for new API Deliver a comprehensive suite of manual and automatic QA testing

Phase 2: Assist Team Actioning on optimizations and bugs Assist Team completing Feature Parity on Internal CMS Assist Product Launch PDT Assist Integration of Automated Testing

Phase 3: Assist Team Actioning on optimizations and bugs post-launch Assist Team completing Feature Parity on Post MVP

What was the team composition?

We retained between 2 and 5 engineers with a vendor-provided Project Manager or Team Lead. Staffing was increased and decreased based on the product support needs as we launched and provided post-launch support. The vendor team was assisted with 1-4 Beatport Engineers who all scrummed together under a Beatport Scrum Master.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The product was launched on time, thanks in part to a robust QA process that Techtonic helped us get in place. This was due in large part to the shortened feedback loop between the identification and the correction of bugs or issues that would have otherwise been customer impacting.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

As the team scrummed together with daily standups and traditional Scrum ceremonies, communication was effective. Teams were then collocated in the second half of the engagement when we were working more closely with software engineers which helped to shorten feedback and improve collaboration. Techtonic Managers were available and helpful in tailoring the staffing to fit our needs.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The ability to easily spin up or down resources to tailor the staffing needs to match our Product launch schedule.

Are there any areas for improvement?

It would be useful to have a better understanding of staff strengths and weaknesses to better plan for onboarding and reduce ramp-up times.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am an HR professional at a commercial health information company headquartered in Boulder. Our company has about 200 employees with a sizeable software development and technology team. I partner with our technology teams and oversee staffing vendor relationships.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Techtonic?

Our company engaged Techtonic in 2018 to outsource some development projects. We also wanted to acquire their apprentice developers to grow our software teams.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to find new sources for hiring developers who were passionate about software development motivated to learn, and self-driven.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Our paths crossed at a panel focused on hiring and building diversity within teams. We met with the leadership at Techtonic and learned more about their great apprenticeship program and the relationship continued to grow.

Describe the project in detail.

Once we started using the services of Techtonic, we had a series of discovery meetings to discuss objectives and plan how to accomplish. The staff at Techtonic did great to offer expertise, organize projects, and supply apprentices with appropriate skill sets who hit the ground running right away.

What was the team composition?

Initially, we tried to carve out some development projects, but quickly realized the barrier Techtonic would have overcoming our internal domain knowledge. Techtonic was a great flexible partner, setting up engineers at our site to work side-by-side with our own staff. After the success of one apprentice, we have engaged Techtonic for several more and have found their developers to be an excellent addition to our staff.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Our project teams have been hitting deadlines and our productivity has increased significantly thanks to the onsite help of a project manager and developers.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our project manager has been terrific to communicate with and has provided us with frequent updates, foresight about impediments, knowledge gaps on our teams, and improved workflow ideas.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We are greatly impressed by the knowledge the apprentices are gaining in Techtonic’s program. Our project manager has been patient and found excellent ways to enhance our own processes rather than advising us to throw everything out and start over. This relationship has been a particularly collaborative and positive experience.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Everything can always be done better, but we are very satisfied with the relationship and look forward to it continuing and growing.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Misty Robotics. We make personal robots targeted to software developers who’re easily able to program the robots using JavaScript or Python to perform jobs that may require an autonomous entity that can see, speak, and hear.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Techtonic?

We were looking to diversify our workforce with entry-level talent.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Techtonic built a mobile application compatible with our product. Since our customers are mostly software developers, the app isn’t a functional tool rather an onboarding one. Techtonic assigned us one master and two apprentices, who first helped us create a project proposal and worked with us on pricing. Their team then developed the app from scratch. They used our cross-platform tool to build the platform for iOS and Android. Their team integrated the app, creating features that allow our robot to connect to Bluetooth then transfer network credentials to function on WiFi. They developed a simple information interface with the robot’s IP address and battery level as well as a drive screen, which allows users to control the robot using a joystick-like interface. After successfully delivering the app, the two apprentices joined our team.

What is the team composition?

We collaborated with one master and two apprentices who worked on-site. Our head of engineering communicated directly with the master, but also had insight into the two apprentices’ efforts, which is how we grew comfortable enough to invite them onto our team as level-one software engineers.

How did you come to work with Techtonic?

I’ve known Heather (CEO & Founder, Techtonic) for several years. We wanted a richly diverse workforce as well as entry-level software engineers. We partnered with Techtonic because it’s the only company that brings individuals without technical degrees into the industry.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $125,000 throughout our engagement.

What is the status of this engagement?

We collaborated between October 2017–July 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The outcome wasn’t based on the app and its success in the marketplace. Although we continue to refine and improve the platform, it was just a vehicle for us to expand our labor force. Techtonic helped bring big contributors to our engineering team. We hired the two software developers who were assigned to the project; they’re fastidious, motivated, and fast learners. As teammates, they’ve both been outstanding and grown tremendously. We’ve continued to have a relationship with Techtonic.

How did Techtonic perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication was outstanding as their team worked in our offices. Techtonic performed well and delivered the app on-time. Looking at new projects, we’ll continue to collaborate with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Enabling companies to engage entry-level software developers at an affordable price, Techtonic provides an invaluable service. The idea that really motivated, talented people without financial wherewithal can enter the technology industry is an amazing concept; in terms of earning potential, Techtonic fundamentally alters their lives.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Techtonic could diversify their masters’ toolsets. Working on middleware operating systems such as ours requires a deeper level of talent than web or mobile app development. If some teammates knew Ruby on Rails while others knew Python, JavaScript or C#, their team would be able to tackle different projects. That may not be a market they want to target, which I respect.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s vital to have some ability to evaluate apprentices independently so have a defined project. The more access to their team, the better.