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Web App & Custom Software Dev for Luxury Holiday Rental Firm
Web Development
Custom Software Development
Oct 26, 2022
the project
"CoreBlue is receptive to feedback and worked with me to ensure we hold the platform to the highest standard."
Web Development
Custom Software Development
$200,000 to $999,999
Mar. 2021 - Ongoing
see more
5.0
Quality:
5.0
Schedule:
5.0
Cost:
5.0
Willing to refer:
5.0
The Project
$200,000 to $999,999
Mar 2021 - Ongoing
Project summary:
CoreBlue creates a scalable web app for a luxury holiday rental firm by making its core system a web API. They also use React.js and Next.js to build the interface as a server-side rendered single-page app.
The Reviewer
1-10 Employees
France
Founder, Luxury Holiday Rental Firm
Verified
the review
"CoreBlue is receptive to feedback and worked with me to ensure we hold the platform to the highest standard."
Oct 26, 2022
5.0
Quality:
5.0
Schedule:
5.0
Cost:
5.0
Willing to refer:
5.0
The Review
Feedback summary:
The project is still ongoing, and CoreBlue continues to deploy regular updates. Despite undergoing development, the platform is live and currently used by the client's team. This enables the client to offer feedback, which the vendor reacts to swiftly. CoreBlue also provides bi-weekly updates.
the reviewer
Founder, Luxury Holiday Rental Firm
Hospitality & leisure
1-10 Employees
France
Online Review
The client submitted this review online.
Verified
the review
Background
Challenge
Solution
Results
Ratings
The client submitted this review online.
BACKGROUND
Please describe your company and your position there.
We have mastered the art of making luxury holiday rentals beautifully personal. From exclusive properties to world class services, we tailor memorable holidays for our guests. Launched in 2014, our company has established itself at the forefront of the luxury villa rental industry. I founded the company at the age of 25, after having identified an opportunity in the market.
OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE
For what projects/services did your company hire CoreBlue, and what were your goals?
Prior to CoreBlue, our company was operating and managing bookings via a custom Wordpress website. This worked well for us however, as the company grew we came across limitations in our current systems and knew we had to invest in a more sophisticated platform. CoreBlue was recommended to us by our original software suppliers, highlighting them as the consultative digital partner that we needed.
Following a change in operating model and expansion throughout Europe, it was important to develop our own technology with a fully custom solution in order to avoid the limitations of off-the shelf options currently out there. We had a fixed budget to be used for the initial phase of development, with multiple stage of development to follow in the future.
It was important to us that our supplier would work with us and advise us; whilst we were clear on what we wanted to achieve, we knew we needed technical advice on the best way to achieve it with our investment. We needed a digital consultancy that would work with us to understand our constraints and identify technical opportunities.
SOLUTION
How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?
The introduction from our previous development made us feel comfortable in choosing CoreBlue and, following the initial review of the project proposal we knew we were in good hands. Before work began, CoreBlue recommended a brief investigation into the project to document their assumptions to validate their understanding of the project. In this investigation, CoreBlue worked through designs we had already prepared to pick out core functionality and document any uncertainties they had whilst making their way through the designed flows as if they were a real user.
The detail CoreBlue went into for this investigation pointed out a number of uncertainties that weren’t necessarily clear from the designs as well as slight suggestions on small changes to be made to make the user work flow even more efficient. Their understanding of the project and technological needs was very helpful in bringing to life things that could not necessarily be technically described.
Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.
The platform had been split up into three main areas:
the customer facing frontend that showcases villas and allows customers to inquire and initiate bookings
the backend customer portal that let our customers manage their bookings and communicate with our staff
the administration portal that would be used by our team to manage bookings
With these three main interfaces operating quite similarly and given our future aspirations to develop a mobile app, CoreBlue developed the core system as a web API. This allowed functionality to be built in one core place and other attaching systems like the frontend, admin portal and in future, the mobile app to all utilise functionality that had been previously built in the API. This had two main benefits of reducing the overall development time and reducing complexity in the 3 areas by maintaining them as simple interfaces to the platform.
Our platform needed to handle the full experience for our customers, from searching and finding properties through to payment, contracts and on-going communication with our concierges assigned to the booking. This meant we had to handle payment processing, chat systems, advanced search tools, administration, reporting and more.
Rather than developing the 3 systems independently, CoreBlue took a full-feature approach, ensuring that as features were prioritised, they were developed end-to-end for all involved stakeholders. That meant as CoreBlue were completing features, I was able to test them as both user types and give in-depth feedback.
There was a key focus on the SEO of the platform, primarily for the customer facing interface to ensure that the properties we were showcasing were listed in search engines. CoreBlue developed this interface as a server-side rendered single page app (SPA) in ReactJS & NextJS. This choice of technologies facilitate the complex nature of the platform, managing vast amounts of data whilst still maintaining the speed and accessibility we needed.
How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
Given the size of the platform, CoreBlue had 2-3 specialist developers assigned to the project at any given time. I have worked closely with their CTO throughout the project to ensure key deliverables are met and CoreBlue is able to adjust their approach accordingly. Given the high priority we had on design accuracy and excellence, I have also worked closely with their Head of Design. He has acted as an advisor to the team and has worked as a key developer at times for particularly complex design elements.
RESULTS & FEEDBACK
Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?
The platform is still going through development but CoreBlue has been regularly deploying updates for me to review and we have regular 2-week meetings to discuss deliverables and identify new priorities. Even still in development, the platform is now live and regularly used by our team. This has given me a great deal of confidence in the platform and the team has given great feedback that CoreBlue has been able to react to swiftly.
The quality of what has been delivered has been excellent - whilst I have remained heavily involved in the development of the platform, the work that has been showcased to me has given me the opportunity to put my designs to the test and iterate on them with minor feedback when necessary. CoreBlue is receptive to feedback and worked with me to ensure we hold the platform to the highest standard.
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.
I had made it clear that I wanted to remain heavily involved in the development process - so CoreBlue has on boarded me to their project management tool, Jira, and invited me to their instant messaging tool, Slack. I have had a great deal of communication with their developers, giving them an opportunity to clarify assumptions with me and for me to give them feedback that can be acted on immediately.
CoreBlue works in an agile fashion, following the SCRUM methodology. I have been invited to regular sprint reviews that they have used to showcase their work from the past 2-weeks and giving me an opportunity to give feedback and work with them to determine the next sprint’s priority. Being on their project management tool, I have been able to leave feedback or answer questions on specific requirements rather than in detached emails or messages. I have found this particularly useful, keeping me in control of what is signed off.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
CoreBlue’s ability to engulf themselves in how our business works has given them a clear advantage in developing the features and processes we have defined. The complexity of how the luxury travel industry works and the quality that must be upheld was something I was initially concerned with when engaging with CoreBlue. However, the effort they have put into understanding the industry and my business has been incredibly evident and they have gave me the confidence that this platform will be successful once deployed into production.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
During development, CoreBlue had originally planned to develop the platform using one technology stack but after completing some of the initial feature sets - it was clear the technology choice wasn’t suitable. CoreBlue identified this early and presented the case to me for change. Whilst it would have been preferred that the technology stack was correct the first time around, I appreciate CoreBlue’s transparency and swift action to reduce the impact of this change.
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
Focus
Service lines
50%
10%
10%
10%
10%
5%
5%
Custom Software Development
ERP Consulting and SI
IT Staff Augmentation
50% Custom Software Development
10% ERP Consulting and SI
10% IT Staff Augmentation
10% Mobile App Development
10% Web Development
5% Application Management & Support
5% Enterprise App Modernization
show all +
Client focus
60%
30%
10%
Midmarket ($10M - $1B)
Enterprise (>$1B)
Small Business ($1B)
10% Small Business (
