Vault Innovation

How did your relationship with Vault Innovation evolve?

I stopped the project about a third of the way through because I didn’t believe it was on the right track. Up until that point, they had only assigned some product designers to work with the prototyping tool Axure.

About a year ago, I had become a software developer, and I engaged them to say that I wanted to take on the project and build out the rest on my own. I discovered that they had only used prototyping code generated by the tool. They had made no effort to produce code that was worthy of a testing or production environment.

Ultimately, I decided to engage what I thought would be the target clients, but I never had an actual prototype for them to test. The experience with Vault Innovation ended up being a waste of money.

How did Vault Innovation perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team as a whole lacked the core competencies to serve as a technical lead or project manager.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team at Vault Innovation is likable outside of a professional role. They’re much savvier on the social side, but I wouldn’t trust them with my technology project again.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Vault Innovation should re-examine what their value proposition is because it’s not working with entrepreneurs. They might be able to deliver for more mature companies, but I don’t think they are suited for anyone looking to bootstrap a project or a business.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If future clients have a more robust budget, they might be better off by hiring a full-time employee.

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

Our original interface was a simple, clean, and functional MVP, but our users were looking for a much more powerful marketplace regarding e-commerce functionalities. Vault, through a discovery phase, figured out the best way to move forward. We chose to revamp the platform with a powerful open-source, e-commerce platform.

There were a lot of design elements they were able to utilize, coordinate, and customize for our specific industry. We released the 2.0 version in January and the customers loved it. They think it’s a beautiful product compared to the simplicity in the first version. They love the aesthetics and the built-in functionality, as well as the power of the platform.

How did Vault Innovation perform from a project management standpoint?

I have an internal product/project manager, so it hasn’t been an issue. There have been periods where they’ve needed to take care of stuff during times of transition, but it’s been relatively painless. They’re great at self-management. They make sure that there’s good communication and a feedback loop so that nothing goes amiss.

They have two offices: one in Chicago and one in Springfield, Missouri. I work with people from both offices and they make themselves available for our daily scrum meetings. We use video to share screens during those meetings. They’re comfortable with using your internal tools as well, whether it’s Jira, Trello, or something similar. They have the capacity to adapt to your workflow, which I’ve always thought was pretty cool.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Another reason I chose them is because their developers are onshore. Many agencies utilize foreign resources because of cost, but I’ve personally had issues with language barriers and work dynamic in those situations. The price ultimately doesn’t justify the loss of communication. Vault sources their team in the U.S. and everyone has great communication skills. They use a comprehensive process to onboard people, sometimes requiring months of vetting. They want to ensure someone is a good fit for the team before hiring them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There have been periods of rapid growth within their company, so it may be beneficial to grow their internal team appropriately. They do a good job of that, but sometimes rapid growth puts a strain on their resources. However, it hasn’t negatively impacted our business.

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

We’ve gotten good feedback via email. I think that everyone we're talking to is really impressed with the functionality. I’ve been working with some developers on the organization in order to migrate the site to our servers. Even they told us it’s a beautiful site.

As far as the backend, Vault understood what we needed and built it in. It wasn't enough for us to have a site that looked really good. It needed to be very intuitive, and they delivered. The CMS is simple and well-crafted, with some variability that allows us to make tweaks as we go.

How did Vault Innovation perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was really sharp. I would hire the project manager for my own team in a second. We did a lot of Google Hangouts for face time, even though we were virtual and could communicate via phone and email.

They’re easy to get a hold of, quick to respond, open to our ideas, and diligent with the lists of outputs our meetings generated. They did a lot of follow-up in terms of next steps, even for mere conversations. They’d always incorporate a couple of bullet points into whatever deliverable they were pursuing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are great at thinking through their role within the broader context of our business goals, rather than just designing what we have on paper. They ask whether their design will truly lead to successful business outcomes, and then proactively translate them into the final product. That helps us work through things and prioritize.

For example, in our initial scoping of the project, we had expected that a lot of the content would be hard-coded. But they were right to move us toward the CMS because we had so much variable content.

Another reason they stand out is that they aren't solely a design company. They often act as partners in an equity capacity or look for ways that they themselves can drive entrepreneurial ventures.

Lastly, the turnaround on the frontend was pretty impressive, given the scope of content we were working through. They saved us a lot of time and headaches by delivering what they’d promised.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't have much to say as far as ways to improve, based on our relationship. We're really happy with what they provided, and I think they have a really strong framework for their business. Their resources are at the top of their game.

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

I was really happy with the way the site turned out. I think our users were really happy. Vault built out a really robust partner portal that was very user-friendly, so the businesses could add their own activity in there. I had unanimously positive interactions from our partners.

Ultimately, I ended up selling the business to a different company in the United States and they have since rebranded it, but the site is still in use. I think they were very happy with the way the site worked. Their developers have taken over the maintenance of the site, but they felt that everything was well-documented and well-designed.

How did Vault Innovation perform from a project management standpoint?

I think they did a great job. Jeff was very involved at all stages. We met in person once a week, and we would exchange emails throughout the week as well. We had two other project managers that were under Jeff, and both of them were great and very responsive. They did a good job of understanding what my vision was and bringing that into the tech.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I feel as though Jeff was really invested in the business, and wanted it to succeed. He went out of his way to introduce me to other entrepreneurs, and was willing to give his advice on all that he had seen throughout the project, not necessarily just on the tech aspect. Jeff and the team were a great partner to have, and they had a lot of insight for me. This was my first business, and I was just getting started; he did a great job of being a good advisor.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I was very happy with my experience with Vault, and I don’t have any complaints. The team was really strong, the tech came out great, the budget was on point, and things were on time. All in all, it was a very positive experience