Computan

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Team lead, Growth and Digital Marketing of Dialgoue

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a virtual and in-person well-being and healthcare provider

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Computan to accomplish?

• Website management (CMS)
• Webpage creation
• Support with everything front-end tech

SOLUTION

How did you find Computan?

Online Search

Why did you select Computan over others?

Pricing fit our budget

How many teammates from Computan were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We work with Computan for all our web development projects, not only 1 in particular. 

We used their services for task as

• Landing page and webpage devolpment
• SEO tech support
• Technical CRM support 
• Front-end support
• etc. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Rollout time of the project and respecting deadlines

Quality of the landing page delivered or other related projects

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

It depends on the projects! When it's easy to set up, they often respect the deadlines.

When projects are more complicated, it happens that they need more time. 

What was your primary form of communication with Computan?

Virtual Meeting

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They usually always find a way to create what we want, even if sometimes they need more time to figure this out. 

We've been working together for a lot time now and they are familiar with our expectations. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something Computan could have done differently?

I would say:

• Delivery projects on time and let me know if they won't be able to respect the deadline.
• Better QA process to make sure the webpages are responsive and reflect the design we provide them. 
• Use innovative "coding" or latest trend to optimize our site.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I lead the digital marketing team at a PR and marketing firm. My team works primarily with B2B technology clients, helping them to improve their online presence through SEO, branding, content creation, and website design.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Computan, and what were your goals?

We have worked with Computan for many years on a variety of website development projects for both WordPress and HubSpot. They have become our preferred development partners in delivering projects on time and within budget.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We originally chose Computan because of its proficiency in HubSpot development. Their capabilities across both WordPress and HubSpot were a great match for us, as our client base predominantly uses one if not both of these platforms. The Computan team has been timely, empathetic, and regularly goes above and beyond for our clients, factors that have brought us back to them time and time again.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

For each project we work on together, we provide an overview of what is needed and designs if applicable. The Computan team will come back to us with an estimate and any questions they may have. Once the project has been scoped out, the Computan team will work according to the timeline we've set, often coming back to us sooner than planned. From there we'll go through a few rounds of revision until we are satisfied, and share it with the client.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Depending on the project, we will work with a variety of folks from Computan. This is usually based on specialty. Overall we work directly with 5-10 different folks.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Computan has helped us to deliver websites that score well on common website performance metrics, especially loading times.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Generally, we have one individual who is the main point of contact for a project. We typically set the timeline from our end at the start. I have found them to be ahead of schedule for the variety of our projects, and willing to jump in quickly for urgent, unexpected needs.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Timeliness, accountability, and flexibility. Anyone who has been involved in a website project knows that they can be incredibly painful and usually take twice as long as planned. We are able to take the pain out of this process and a lot of that is thanks to our partners at Computan. They have been a true partner to us - often completing work ahead of schedule, always making amends for any mistakes or miscommunications, and willing to jump in if issues arise unexpectantly.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Nothing comes to mind! Whenever we had an issue, the Computan team always worked through it with us and resolved it quickly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’ve worked as a VP and a COO at a different dietary supplement and wellness company during my partnerships with Computan. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Computan?

I hired Computan for website development. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I’ve worked with Computan on two major projects. For both projects, their team migrated WordPress websites to Shopify. They consulted with our team on how to conduct the migration and provided a thorough scope of work. Computan’s team customized the website’s themes, integrated apps, and completed custom CSS and backend development. We also utilized Computan hosting services. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with about six teammates from Computan across both projects. 

How did you come to work with Computan?

We were referred to Computan’s services. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $100,000 with Computan. 

What is the status of this engagement?

My partnership with Computan began in December 2019, and it’s ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We measure Computan by the speed at which they accurately complete development tasks. Preferably, without a lot of back and forth with our team. Computan understands the tasks at hand, provides solutions, and executes them quickly — our partnership is a success. We’ve seen increases in our site speed and conversion rates since migrating to Shopify. 

How did Computan perform from a project management standpoint?

Computan manages projects well in Freedcamp and Jira and follows our schedule and budget. Computan is very communicative and easy to work with — they’re always available. Typically, we’ll have video conferences, schedule phone calls, or exchange Slacks and emails to discuss the project. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Computan is solution-oriented and executes projects efficiently. Also, their services are a great value for my investment.   

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have nothing for Computan to improve. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d advise customers to communicate clearly with Computan and provide clear instructions. Also, customers should be able to accommodate time zone differences.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of digital marketing for a SaaS company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Computan?

We needed someone to provide us with web development and maintenance.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Computan is helping us with web development and maintenance services focusing on UI/UX design, as well as other digital marketing tasks such as social media, email marketing, and SEO.

We mainly use WordPress as our main development platform and build everything that requires coding like landing pages, and email templates.

What is the team composition?

I mainly work with an account manager, customer success manager, and a product manager.

How did you come to work with Computan?

I came across Computan through Clutch.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve invested about $20,000–$30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in January 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They presented us with a fully optimized website that speeds up the entire web experience for our customers. We went from a failing grade to an A in terms of web performance.

How did Computan perform from a project management standpoint?

They do a great job of adhering to timelines, budgets, and keeping up with communication. The Computan team is also very responsive despite the fact that they’re from a different time zone, and they’re completely adaptable in any situation they’re in.

We primarily use Slack and Microsoft Teams to communicate and use a tool called Freedcamp to manage the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed with their ability to work with agility and flexibility to handle any situation in the development process.

Additionally, they bring a lot of knowledge, ideas, and recommendations to the partnership to improve certain processes and keep us from making mistakes.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could be a little more proactive when it comes to communicating the progress of the project but other than that, I’m very satisfied with their work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I advise you to get the right communication and project management tools in place at the beginning of the partnership, and I would also recommend scheduling regular meetings with their team.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior director of operations at CenterPoint Group, a consulting firm and a purchasing organization. We buy marketing contracts that we pre-negotiate with key suppliers — all driven to improve our service levels and save our members’ money and time. I work with our suppliers and in marketing to ensure that our client base is happy with what we put forward and in the relationships that we’ve established for them.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Computan?

We needed to update our website and improve its functionality. We also wanted to standardize our messaging to our existing and potential customers. The team then worked on everything from color schemes and the website’s look and feel to our marketing, emails, and blogs. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Computan initially ran through what our website looked like in relation to our goals per page. The homepage served as our key page, while other pages had their own purpose. That could be to drive visitors to certain pages or drive them to a sales representative, account manager, or the customer service team. 

From there, we asked Computan to create mock-ups of what they thought the updated website should look like in terms of being modernized. They provided those mock-ups. We did some tweaks to their design, but we went with the general direction that they wanted us to take. They then implemented their suggestion through our CMS, which allowed us to do our own internal tweaks without needing to go through them or someone else. 

In terms of website features, the site had calls to action that were designed to grab attention without being intrusive. There were also embedded videos and ROI calculators. The goal of these elements was to make the website more user-friendly and interactive. We wanted to reach a standard that most people were used to when it came to competent websites.

What is the team composition?

Based on our back-and-forth communications, various people were involved in the project. They ranged from project managers to specialists in different areas like graphic design and coding. People responsible for QC also worked on the project.

How did you come to work with Computan?

Our company moved our CRM to HubSpot, and Computan came recommended by them. They were in HubSpot’s ecosystem. We also talked to a couple of companies and thought that Computan was the right fit for us. Then, they helped us migrate our systems over to HubSpot; they also ensured that everything was functionally working on the platform and that we could update the site easily. As a result, they were the first team that we thought to go to when this particular project came up. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $5,000–$10,000 on this project. 

What is the status of this engagement?

This specific project lasted from October 2021–March 2022. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We previously had next to nothing in terms of website traffic. After Computan updated the website, we saw a whole lot more activity. It hadn’t been live for long, but we were getting more targeted responses. People were going to the pages that we wanted them to go to, and a lot of that could be attributed to Computan’s guidance and design work.  

Anecdotally, the team was highly communicative. They were upfront when telling us about costs, and their resources were reasonable when it came to staying within our allocated budget. Moreover, their members were good in terms of showing us their previous work, which allowed us to see what might be the best fit for us. In other words, they planned the direction of the project truly well. 

How did Computan perform from a project management standpoint?

Computan’s project management was great. We told them what we needed to do, and they outlined the steps. When we asked for budget estimates, they provided us with the work they could do within a specific timeframe along with its costs. They also stayed within their estimates. If we needed to do some tweaks, they didn’t nickel and dime us. Moreover, the team stayed on track; they made sure that our team stayed on point to meet the deadlines we were setting for the project. 

To communicate, we did conference calls and check-in meetings when we needed to discuss things that couldn’t be explained through emails or other messaging platforms. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Computan was highly flexible, and they could quickly adapt to our needs. We’d asked them for a standardized approach and a set theme across our channels. We also asked them for templates we could use internally to make our lives easier going forward — they did a fantastic job here while also upgrading our branding.  

Moreover, during our prior iteration, they were able to work within our bounds, especially as we were migrating and becoming comfortable with the new environment. It also helped that they were experts in HubSpot. Overall, their work was clean, replicable, and free of any errors that would pop up in weeks, months, or even years down the road.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could always improve the visibility of the work they were doing. That way, we’d know what was being done. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You should definitely work with Computan — you’ll be pleased with the end results. To get the most out of them, be as detailed and upfront as you can be. Come with examples of what you want your website to look like. Then, ask them about their best practices in terms of what they see in the market. Listen to what they say, and take their advice because they know what they’re doing in terms of finding the most efficient means to getting your message out there. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing and communications supervisor at an accounting firm that also has a wealth management division.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Computan?

We had some challenges using Drupal, so we engaged with Computan to move both our wealth management and accounting websites from Drupal to WordPress.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

When we met Computan, we already wanted to move to WordPress, but they still explained to us the benefits of doing so. Then, they walked us through how that process would look like, doing a great job communicating everything in a simple manner.

Once they completed the migration process, we continued working with Computan on both websites. Additionally, they gave us training on how to use the new CMS.

Besides answering our questions, they helped us with cybersecurity, maintenance, and updates, as well as with installing new plug-ins whenever we had a new need or wanted to showcase something different.

What is the team composition?

I communicated with Sajeel (VP of Operations) if I had a new project or request. Towards the end of our engagement, I was mainly working with Muhammad (Project Manager) and a few other people in the background.

How did you come to work with Computan?

We met Computan at INBOUND, the HubSpot conference. We did some due diligence, talked to a few of their clients, and liked what we heard. During this process, they stood out for their responsiveness. They were really helpful when I tried to get in touch with their clients to learn more about them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around March 2018, and our collaboration ended in June 2021. We ended our relationship because our company went through a rebranding process that included the redesign of our websites.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Computan was a helpful asset to us regarding web development and maintenance, and they helped us stay on top of our security.

How did Computan perform from a project management standpoint?

Computan performed well. We were very clear with them about deadlines and expectations, and they helped us make our collaboration easier. Additionally, they offered very quick turnaround times, and they were also very accommodating.

Sajeel was extremely helpful; I really enjoyed working with him. We communicated via email and phone calls, and I copied him on most emails to ensure that everyone was aware of our requests. Overall, they did a great job.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Computan was really helpful from a cybersecurity standpoint. One time, we had a crisis during a holiday, and I was very impressed with the fact that they helped us that day.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would be good if they had a direct account manager. However, we weren’t on a retainer, so it was understandable that our requests were never consistent or scheduled.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It is always important to set deadlines to ensure that both parties, client and vendor, are getting what they need. This will make the collaboration easier.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

President of Gate 39 Media, a financial and agriculture services marketing and technology agency providing marketing and advanced custom web and application development services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Computan, and what were your goals?

Needed a partner in development services primarily in the LAMP stack including WordPress, custom PHP development and HubSpot integration to supplement our in-house team and build from our technology base.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Met with them at HubSpot's Inbound conference and started with trial engagements which then moved into an ongoing engagement.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Regular meetings around a variety of website and custom application work around WordPress, PHP-based coding and custom HubSpot integrations.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We have worked with many members of the Computan team including many of its primary management team as well as Senior developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Computan allows us to reduce our development costs and supplement our team with multiple skill sets saving us over 50% in labor costs as well as countless hours in sourcing additional technical resources.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Due to the number of resources on both our team and the Computan team, they provided the flexibility to work within our preferred communication process and tools which includes: MS Teams, Asana, GitHub and Azure boards. They quickly adapted our tools to deliver timely solutions.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They are particularly responsive and have been able to adapt to a range of challenges including technical, unique industries, time and budget, and have met them head on.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

We are constantly working with Computan on ways to improve as part of an ongoing discussion between both of our technology teams. Computan is a great partner in creating solutions, improving processes, and delivering their primary tasks.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the senior manager of business improvements and strategic initiatives for the facilities and services department at an educational institution. We run all operations, electrical, mechanical, policing, caretaking, moving mail, grounds, and a number of other services such as property management for about 120 buildings on our campus.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Computan?
We had never had a communications expert on our team, and our website was out-of-date. The site was built more as a content management system. We hired an internal web designer who took a UI/UX approach to redesigning the website from the client's perspective.

We needed a very competent developer to help us build it in WordPress. Our team engaged Computan to handle this. We asked them to build the website from scratch based on the specifications and design we created. Our team also wanted them to help us test and refine it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?
After we designed the new website in Figma. Our team created the wireframes and content. We selected the photos and identified what interactions we wanted from links, animations, and pages. Computan’s scope of work was to build the website on WordPress. They did some custom development because some of the features needed to be coded in the backend. Their team also selected a number of plugins and brought the design to life within WordPress. 

We had a separate project that involved creating a page that was built outside of WordPress. We needed to take a report and create an interactive, engaging digital version of it. Computan was kind enough to support us very quickly. They brought another developer on board who developed everything from scratch. We gave them the design and requirements, and then they coded everything.

What is the team composition?
We have primary contact with our project manager. There’s also a main developer who worked on our website and another developer who handled the separate page project.

How did you come to work with Computan?
At our university, we go through a fair tendering process for major projects. Essentially, I did my research because we need an external consultant to support us. I identified the best-reviewed vendors online and connected with a number of them to describe the scope of work and request a quote.

Computan was able to demonstrate their ability to deliver and could start working quickly at the most competitive cost. What really stood out to me were the reviews they had online. I conducted a client reference call with one of their current clients, and the review was very glowing; it was reassuring to me. Additionally, Computan’s portfolio looks really good. We liked the examples of the other website they had built. 

How much have you invested with them?
We’ve invested approximately $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?
Our ongoing engagement started around November 2020. We’re very close to launching in the next couple of weeks.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 
Working with Computan has been an absolute pleasure. Their team is responsive to our needs and actively listens. They’re patient with us when we ask a lot of detailed questions. On the relationship front, it’s been very successful. They’ve met all of our requirements, which is an indication of success. Computan builds and develops everything we needed and wanted in a reasonable timeframe. They’ve provided us with some creative solutions and workarounds when we couldn’t get what we wanted in a straightforward way. 

Our project manager has been great. He’s always staying ahead and asking about what we need to plan for or consider. They’ve adapted very well to working with an institutional client because we have a lot of restrictions and internal policies around who can go into the backend or get access as well as what types of approvals we need for plugins. We needed to go through a number of steps, and they were very supportive. In general, we got what we wanted and it looks the way we want it to. Nothing’s broken and everything is working as it needs to.

How did Computan perform from a project management standpoint?
We have stand-up meetings every day. They’re efficient at going through their tasks. Their communication is great around clarifying as well as giving us updates. We primarily communicate through Microsoft Teams and Slack. In between meetings, we send each other files, recordings, photos, links, content, and feedback through Slack. As we got closer and closer to the final product, we started using BugHerd to leave comments on where things needed to be tweaked or fixed. Their developers were great at constantly checking BugHerd and completing or making the fixes.

What did you find most impressive about them?
They’re incredibly customer-centric. Computan is easy to talk to and jumps to action when we need them to. Their team really works to understand what our needs are — from the developer to the project manager to one of their co-founders.

Are there any areas they could improve?
More timely invoices would be great. That’s the only thing I’ve had to follow up with them on. Other than that, there’s nothing. Computan is great.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Have your design ironed out and your requirements very firm. That’ll help you work with a developer such as Computan because it’ll give you a really good sense of your expectations. Then, they’ll do what they’re best at and go on to ask you prompting and clarification questions. The more detailed you are, the better Computan will be able to work with and support you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of a video platform. We enable our customers to send personalized videos on their tablets to their prospects or customers from a web portal.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Computan?

We needed help with web and mobile development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Computan helped us build our web app and customer portal, as well as the mobile app for the tablets. We met with them a little over a year ago when we were a new business and hadn’t built what we needed on our platform’s backend. They came back with a plan and provided an estimate for all of our requirements and deliverables.

We provided Computan with some wireframes for the development, and they started working on it. They’ve effectively built our entire platform’s backend. They’ve used a wide range of technologies for this development. For the mobile app, they use React Native, and for the web development, they use PHP. However, I don’t know enough about other technologies and languages they’re using.

Computan has helped us a little bit with website development, but they’ve mostly supported us with backend web app development.

One of the features they’ve helped us develop is that, when a tablet is sent to one of our customers’ contacts, a video plays automatically. We can track every event from that mobile app and send it back to our customers’ dashboard. We’re tracking how many sends, deliveries, and views the videos have — we’re collecting responses directly from that tablet app.

We also enabled our customers’ prospects to book a meeting, so there’s a Calendly integration directly on our mobile app. After the prospect watches the video, they’re prompted to book a meeting in our customers’ calendar via Calendly, which is pretty unique. We also have a FedEx integration to the shipping carriers API.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with around five people from Computan. Rashed (Software Engineer) is our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Computan?

I worked with Computan at one of my previous companies, which was a sales and marketing agency. I was first introduced to them at a conference in Boston for HubSpot. We worked together on a few projects back then.

When I started this new business, I felt they were a good fit because of their experience with sales and marketing technology.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2020, and the engagement is ongoing. We’re now on phase two of development, and we’re actively selling our product at the moment.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have a working product, and it’s starting to generate revenue — we’re happy with it. It has been a long and challenging year for everybody. We’ve worked through so many unique challenges because it is a relatively new concept, and we’re learning in a lot of areas.

Computan’s communication and responsiveness have been very valuable. They’ve been very clear in what they’re building and how it’ll work. The support, time, and attention that we’ve received from them have been what led us to take this project through to completion.

How did Computan perform from a project management standpoint?

We use a tool called BugHerd to track any issues that we see through the platform, and it works really well. Computan is able to fix issues relatively quickly. Within a few days, they fix the tasks that we identify issues with.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Computan’s accountability, communication, and organization structure are impressive, and the team works really well together. If there’s a team member on their side that can’t show up, there’s someone else that carries the team forward.

Nothing gets missed or dropped, and the project is always moving forward. It has helped us, and it has been really good for their team as well. Quite a few members from their team are engaged in our project — that’s always nice to see.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Computan’s timeline estimates could be improved.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Provide them with good wireframes and a detailed list of requirements, and set clear expectations in terms of features and costs.