Railsware

I’m the co-founder and CTO of Knowa, a software platform for the pensions industry in the UK.

We brought them on to develop our platform.

We went through an extensive period of testing our users to understand the concept, so we had interactive prototypes and fairly extensive design beforehand. Railsware developed our web app using Ruby on Rails. Initially, we worked with them just to develop an MVP.

I worked with about seven teammates. Their managing director was our main point of contact, and I also interacted with the developers and a product manager.

They were recommended to us. We did a small proof of concept (POC) project with them to test the working relationship, and we were very happy with that so we launched into a big project.

We spent about £300,000 (approximately $392,000 USD).

We began working with them in March 2018, and we launched the MVP in May 2018. We’re still working with them.

We occasionally liaise with other developers to look at other things, so we know that the code that Railsware is producing is good. From a security standpoint, any time we have an external penetration test done, they speak to the quality and security of the code and the platform.

I went on paternity leave for two weeks at the beginning of September, and Railsware stepped up and took over my day-to-day management role, made sure that everything was being delivered on time, and continued to iterate and develop without me.

The quality of their engineers is high. Railsware tests pretty extensively before they take on a new hire, and they try to attract the best people from all over Europe. From what we’ve experienced and from third-party feedback, they have some of the best developers out there.

I also push them to use the knowledge that their whole company has. As individual developers, they can occasionally become a bit isolated, and they don’t leverage the full breadth of knowledge that the whole company has.

Come in with at least a clear idea of what you want to do. Because they can offer a lot, it’s tempting to offload a lot onto them. There’s a danger of offloading too much and losing control. If you come in with a clear idea, you can focus instead of leveraging every aspect of what they can do.

I’m the senior marketing director of a nonprofit organization spreading the gospel message of Jesus Christ throughout North America, Australia, Africa, and Germany. We’re a global ministry primarily based online, so we’re not a brick-and-mortar church.

The main challenge was reaching people more effectively in an ever-changing global landscape of how people absorb information and where they look for it. We identified that we had a weakness in our web portal and ability to share the information we’d already created in an effective manner.

We’re still in the very early stages with them, but we’ve gone through an extensive research and development phase, including a thorough initial analysis. Railsware has a process called ‘inception,’ which I think is unique to them. It’s a window of 3–4 full days of their team going through the entire scope of the project and breaking down the different epics and means in which we’re going to achieve things. They broke things down into a refined roadmap that’s guided our development process.

We’ve worked with 6–7 people from Railsware, from the beginning of the project until now. We have a three-person core development team consisting of two engineers and one project manager. We’ve had auxiliary team members come in to handle certain strategies regarding SEO and article writing.

We looked at a lot of development groups before landing on Railsware. The task fell on my plate exclusively, and I turned to Clutch, where I went through around 300 profiles. I conducted interviews with 50 companies from around the world, including from the US.

We started working with Railsware in May 2020, and we’re looking to have an ongoing relationship for the next couple of years. The initial version of the site is set to launch in early-September 2020.

Railsware’s UI/UX design has been a positive outcome in achieving what we wanted to, namely giving the best possible experience to the user. They’ve played a role in developing our frontend.

We used a custom agile organizational model that’s led to really productive two-week iterations. They implemented a daily sync, which we’d never heard of before. We’d worked with online specialists before, and there had never been daily accountability from the client-end. It seemed daunting at first, but it’s proven very valuable in retrospect. It consists of 15–45-minute morning syncs that allow us to understand where we are in the project and to give real-time feedback from the client’s and Railsware’s perspective. It’s been valuable in making sure the project didn’t hit a bottleneck. We never got inundated with unresolved issues.

From my experience, they’re extremely accountable to what they promise to do. They also do a very good job of keeping the client from getting too far off track from the original scope and goals. They push the project to stay on pace rather than flailing around. The web companies I’d worked with previously simply accommodated what the client wanted to do at the moment, which can be very dangerous because the client’s mind can change on a whim. Railsware stands out by knowing how the successful model works and how to keep on track. They incorporate what the client needs, but they don’t allow it to get off track.

If I had something to say, I’d mention it openly. We’re still early in our planned project with Railsware, but I have no negative feedback regarding their practices. I’ve been blown away by pretty much every aspect of their development process.

Specifically regarding Railsware, I recommend remaining open to approaches that may be different from what the client’s organization intended. They’re experts, and, looking at their past clients, they’re still working with almost all of them. To me, that’s an indication that Railsware is a valuable part of those teams.

I’m the CEO of a SaaS software company. We are in the enterprise application space.

My company needed to outsource development work for our web and mobile apps. We utilize React.js, and it is difficult to find qualified experts in this rapidly developing area of technology. Also, our mobile app is monolithic, meaning anyone who works on it can add tech and clutter. We were therefore very particular about who we brought on to develop the app.

Railsware has done full-stack development. They have developed our backend using Ruby on Rails and our frontend using React.js. The team has also developed our mobile iOS app using features from our existing web app.

We currently work with six full-stack developers and a project manager.

We considered several prominent agencies in the U.S. and abroad. My team ultimately chose Railsware based on their React.js expertise. We also did not want staff augmentation, and Railsware offered their own development personnel.

Costs will likely exceed $600,000 over the next year.

The project began in November 2017. Our work together is ongoing.

We initially engaged them to support our product’s functionalities, but they have become part of our core team. The mobile app has been very well received.

They do some aspects of project management exceptionally well. For instance, their team is very professional. The developers are self-sufficient, executing top-quality work without much oversight from us. In our case, we had engaged a sizable team of their developers so we could definitely have used more resources on the project management side.

Before Railsware committed to the project, they assessed our code repository and completed an independent evaluation. We appreciated that Railsware took this precaution to ensure they could meet our requirements. They did not overpromise.

Given the complexity of our project, we have often necessitated stronger project management.

I wouldn't hesitate to work with them. If you have a strong vision for what you want to build, you won't be disappointed.

I’m the co-founder of Knowa, a communication and collaboration tool built specifically for trusted and protected ports.

We wanted to move existing tools and technologies into a complex backend structure that mirrors the complexity of governance that boards face. In particular, we had complexities surrounding commissions, privileges, accessibility rights that required third-party expertise.

They’ve had to build a variety of functionalities for a minimum viable product (MVP) in short order. In addition to custom integrations, the team is creating pieces for communication, document storage, and task management. The backend runs mostly on Ruby on Rails and uses Turbolinks and HTML CSS. Currently, Railsware is almost 50% complete and about halfway through the initial budget. We have about four months of runway left.

The team includes a full-time backend engineer and frontend engineer, as well as a product manager that also serves as the UI designer. We scaled the team to build quickly because we wanted enough time for testing.

Another local company recommended them after testing several comparable firms. We then ran a proof of concept with Railsware to test our working relationship and got off to a good start with the team. We knew that group wouldn’t be the team for the engagement, but the experience was a good indicator of their project management skills.

We’ve spent about $200,000.

Work started in December 2017 and the partnership is ongoing.

They’re still building the MVP and should meet targets for that delivery in a few weeks. Likewise, they’ve always delivered the right functionality on time.

They’re very thorough in all aspects of the project and provide a full-up management package. Railsware knows how to pluck resources from the extended tea in an effective and efficient manner. They straighten out, roadmap, assess budgets, and track their time on a regular basis. The team is not only impressive, but also exceeds the performance of most other agencies.

Reassuringly, the engineers are full-stack developers that do everything well; we don’t have issues with them. They have a rare eagerness to problem solve, which helps them understand each functionality and ensure its future proof. The team is youthful and has great technological expertise; they had no fear using a variety of technologies for the proof of concept. Railsware is happy to tackle anything because they’re confident in their ability to allocate resources and work in agile effectively. That approach and reliability make them unique.

While they could lower their prices, we’re definitely getting our money’s worth. But otherwise, I can’t think of anything. Railsware does many things well, including demos, retrospectives, and daily check-ins and standups. The team prioritizes being as visible and clear as possible.

Although they do remote work in two locations, clients should visit Railsware’s office if only at the start, but preferably throughout the project. In-person meetings help them scope everything out as much as possible, which enhances the team’s ability to plan and implement. Although it’s tempting to be skeptical about a new partner’s performance, Railsware is fully capable in all aspects of development. Their process has many iterative steps and inceptions phases, so have faith that they will get the project where it needs to be.

I work for BoughtStuff, Inc., a company located in the mobile app space.

Our mobile app project, for iOS and Android, enables consumers to maintain products they’ve purchased from a retail store.

The engineering team designed the graphics and architecture for the entire app. Backend development for our online database included communicative ability with the frontend smartphone software. The database pushes content to the mobile app, including user account information, PDFs, and video links.

Anywhere from three to six developers worked on the project at a time. Specialists focused on the backend database, graphics, and QA testing, respectively.

Of the various companies in consideration, they had the best mix of capabilities. Rather than having an exclusive area of focus, their tech specialized in all our areas of need. We preferred for a team to work on it, rather than one person attempting to take on the entire project.

We spent around $200,000 for their services.

We started working together four years ago, and the project itself lasted 14 months.

The main utility of the app is functioning as a proof of concept to look for partnership arrangements. Since this has been up and running, I’ve moved forward with discussions in that regard. This is a side project and I often get busy with my fulltime career, so I haven’t kept abreast of specific metrics. I primarily needed a license, and delegated the tech development. Both objectives were met successfully.

While they’re fairly strong at communication, the time zone difference can be inconvenient. Daily phone calls gave us constant visibility, and helped monitor the project's status. We used online software tools to requests new features, and watch how they progressed along a project timeline. In particular, we used a tool called Pivotal Booster, which is based on Ruby on Rails.

An entire team focusing on your problem offers a richer diversity of opinions than one person, and a better-quality product as a result.

Having consistently strong people on the team with a cohesive level of seniority would be useful. I noticed that some employees were definitely more junior than others.

It’s crucial to allocate and certify the time you have available. Stay in regular contact with them. They'll work on the project every single day, and expect corresponding feedback, unless you say otherwise. Commit to being there, and to be responsive. If you're not available for conference calls, the project can get delayed or derailed.