Consultica

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The Winnipeg Free Press is a daily newspaper and digital publisher. We primarily serve the Winnipeg area, but also have market coverage throughout Manitoba. Our daily paper reaches about 100,000 people. On our digital platforms, we have about a million monthly readers, with about 12 million page views a month on our main news product. The daily paper is about 90% of our business, but we also have a couple of other verticals. I’m the vice president of digital. I look after digital and technology at the newspaper, which extends my reach over to our other titles.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Consultica?

We’ve been digital publishers for a long time and have a high level of competency in that area. However, we didn’t have a strong skillset in app development. We had three or four existing apps, one of which was developed internally, but they were very basic. We recently decided to go down the path of delivering a very highly focused and lean app for our readers. We recognized that we didn’t have the appropriate skills in-house.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Right now, we’ve developed the app in iOS only. As we evaluate its success over the next few months, we’ll probably engage with Consultica for an Android version. We handled the design in-house but also used their designers when we ran into barriers. They consulted with us to determine the design that looks best in an app environment. They were very good mentors to our design group. The data side of this comes from our main publishing systems, so we did all the end points as far as login systems, data delivery, and data management. Consultica then developed the app.

Our goal was to build internal competence in app development and work with someone who could give us best practices. We’ve worked collaboratively, and I expect they will be largely involved in the development of several upcoming versions of our app. Once we get to version 1.5 or 1.6, we will be doing more of it internally with their guidance. At a certain point, we’ll only use them for guidance and support.

How did you come to work with Consultica?

We researched the pricing we could get on working with an external developer within the Winnipeg market. We’re very community-focused, so we try to work with local companies. We found a number of vendors who were able to fill the bill as far as strong and capable app development, with a decent portfolio of work. Consultica was a successful company, and we felt confident they could work collaboratively with us. They were competitively priced, but I think their body of work differentiated them the most. They’ve done an extensive amount of app development for quite a few years. It’s really their core purpose. They are structured to build apps and that differentiated them.

How much have you invested with Consultica?

We’ve spent under $50,000 on their services. We had originally hoped to keep the project under $80,000, so we were happy with the final cost.

What is the status of this engagement?

We awarded the work to Consultica in October of 2016, and the app was just released in March of 2017. We will continue to work with them going forward in a support capacity.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Our app is a different concept in news delivery, so we don’t know yet how our readers will respond. We had originally thought we needed 500 subscribers to make the app cost-effective. However, Consultica kept the cost lower than expected, so now I only need about 250 subscribers to have the project pay for itself. If I get to 600 or 700, then it easily pays for itself as well as upgrades. It’s worth doing an Android version to double those numbers. We’ll have 10,000–15,000 users in the product on a daily basis, but those are current subscribers.

I think Consultica's quality of work was extremely high. There were 59 builds throughout the project. Out of those, we only had three or four crashes. Their products are rock-solid right off the bat. As we started to layer more functionality in, there weren’t any stability issues at all. They delivered to the vision that we wanted. When we encountered problems, they found solutions that didn’t degrade the experience or performance of the product. We wanted the app ready for final QA sometime in February, and we did that.

How did Consultica perform from a project management standpoint?

We spoke at least twice a week. In the earlier stages, we had one weekly meeting and then talked through Slack continuously. We identified the things that would be worked on the following week. Things moved along on schedule. The deliverables were exactly where we expected them to be each time. As we got further into the process and closer to the final stage, we advanced that to twice a week. There were times we had builds every day or multiple times a day so we could continue to evaluate and push the project forward. It was a very smooth project from start to finish, and there were no delays on either side.

What did you find most impressive about Consultica?

Their core competency is app development, and it shows. That’s where they shine the most. I’m most impressed with their knowledge with app development. There were no questions in their direction, no “I’ve never run into that before.” They know their trade, and they’re laser-focused on it. That expertise was evident in every stage of the project.

Are there any areas Consultica could improve?

We wanted to do more pair programming, but it never really happened. We plan to incorporate this approach into future work, but it just didn’t make sense at the time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We provide online sentiment-measuring tools and a discussion platform.

I am the president of the company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Consultica?

We needed help with developing our discussion mobile app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Consultica developed the discussion mobile app based on the existing desktop version. They were able to design diagrams and test cases, developing elements based on our business vision without us having to spell out every detail.

I have initially worked with Consultica for a previous company, where I was the chief operating officer. It’s one of the leading video ad networks that delivers in various formats, including mobile. We needed to develop a mobile set of components for rendering videos in ads. It was a sophisticated piece of specialized software. Consultica did a smashing job, tweaking the software for every platform.

I have also worked with Consultica for OysterLabs. I wasn't managing projects there, but I know that Consultica developed a few mobile apps for clients. The development was generally ongoing and I heard good things about Consultica.

For another company I used to work with, Consultica developed healthcare applications with full-cycle design and analytics for mobile devices.

How did you come to work with Consultica?

I had worked with them on various projects in the past.

How much have you invested with Consultica?

The cost of a typical project with Consultica is between $30,000 and $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with Consultica 5 to 6 years ago and we have an ongoing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

I was generally happy with the quality of the code, and I don't remember any major schedule lapses. There were a few bugs here and there, but nothing outrageous. Overall, my projects with Consultica have been successful.

How did Consultica perform from a project management standpoint?

Consultica's principal is generally communicative. He asked questions and became involved in the work. Consultica has done many projects like ours, so they can anticipate many of the issues that come up.

What did you find most impressive about Consultica?

Consultica's team can do a lot without much handholding. They can research requirements and technology themselves, which is fantastic for me.

Are there any areas Consultica could improve?

None. I hope that Consultica can get its sales up in the future, given their talent. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company provides educational products. I am the senior product manager of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Consultica?

We needed to develop a mobile app for one of our products, relating to fitness and health.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Consultica worked based off of our product requirements document, which outlined the general description of the app, its target audience, as well as specific features which we wanted. Consultica provided all of the app's design and development. They started with simple wireframes, which were shared during daily meetings. Consultica was very responsive to our needs, even outside of those meetings, answering any questions.

Once we passed the wireframe stage, Consultica created high-fidelity designs for us in Photoshop. We provided the general brand guidelines regarding colors and logo, but Consultica created the actual designs. After that, we moved to development. Consultica was able to provide us builds 2 times per week, which we could install on our phones and test. During the first week, the app was very basic, but it was nice to see it progress. 

How did you come to work with Consultica?

Our VP of engineering had worked with Consultica for a previous company. He referred them to my team.

How much have you invested with Consultica?

The total cost of our project with Consultica was under $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Consultica in June 2016. The app was recently finished, after a 4-month design and development phase.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

I'm very happy with the quality. The app isn't yet live in the store, but we have had 10-15 people around the company install and test it. I, as well as most of the people who have used it, found it to be very intuitive. It feels like a quality app.

How did Consultica perform from a project management standpoint?

Our contact from Consultica was great at 2 key areas: monitoring deadlines and keeping us on our toes in making sure that the project was moved forward. Our initial agreement was for a 4-month timeline, and Consultica delivered on schedule. They kept us within budget, making sure that scope creep was managed. Most importantly, Consultica's communication was great. They were responsive both on email and Slack. I'm overall impressed.

What did you find most impressive about Consultica?

Consultica felt like an extension of our team, instead of acting like an outside consulting company. Consultica was invested in the success of our app just as much as we were, and often came to the table with ideas. This contradicted some of our ideas, but the process was good.

Are there any areas Consultica could improve?

Nothing comes to mind. I'd be willing to work with Consultica on other projects since we've had a great experience. For this particular one, nothing jumped out as an improvement point.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The Paramedic Association of Manitoba is a non-profit volunteer membership professional association. I am the administrative director. I work half-time and report to a board of directors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Consultica?

Paramedic practice in our province is based on a series of EMS [Emergency Medical Services] protocols and treatment guidelines which regulators develop and host on a website. We knew that many of our members were trying to develop their homemade processes for carrying those treatment guidelines with them, on a day-to-day basis. They were downloading PDF files, taking existing generic applications and putting the information into them, making hardcopy cheat-sheets, and so on. We thought it would be beneficial for them to have access to the information on a smartphone mobile environment. We also knew that professionals were using different medical converters and calculators, and wanted to combine those resources into one app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Consultica developed our app and was heavily involved in the design aspects. We provided pages and pages of guidelines and treatment protocols in a flowchart format, which would not have been very user-friendly on a smartphone. Consultica worked extensively on helping us come up with a design that would allow paramedics to see the data in a card system. Turning the device to the landscape view would allow looking at the conventional algorithm style.

We gave Consultica information with regards to what types of medical conversions we wanted to make, and they came up with a design for our calculators. As we went along, we also added a mapping feature with addressing for all hospitals in the region. It was an afterthought, but we were able to add it to the project.

How did you come to work with Consultica?

We knew little about mobile app development at the time. We made some informal inquiries with other healthcare colleges, as well as with colleagues and friends, trying to find someone in the business. We have also worked with an IT company in Winnipeg, which developed and hosts our membership information system. We asked that company if they would be able to develop the project we were looking at, but we also approached 3 other options, including Consultica. Based on informal user feedback, as well as high-level investigations, we requested proposals from both Consultica and our other IT company. I had also heard a local radio interview about Consultica. The conversation on their strategies and way of doing business impressed me. This helped us make the decision.

How much have you invested with Consultica?

The cost was considerably less than we initially assumed, based on Consultica's original pricing, and what we'd seen from the other bidder. The project had a market value of well over $50,000, but our partnership with Consultica allowed us to do it for less than that.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our research process at the end of 2015 and started working with Consultica 8-9 months ago. We originally hoped to launch the application in May 2016 but realized that as we got into it, we didn't have a clear idea of what its presentation should be. We had a long back-and-forth process around the design, which extended the total timeline. It was through no fault of Consultica's. We are a volunteer-based association, which made coordinating our efforts more difficult.

We're currently talking with Consultica about a second version of the app. We want to make some improvements to it, extending functionalities into data collection, and using that information on behalf of healthcare facilities.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The app was launched only 4 weeks ago. Our organization numbers around 1,600 people, and the app has been downloaded by around 300 members. We are soliciting feedback from them at this time, but the informal comments we've heard state that it's a terrific initiative. Users have liked the design and found it easy to use.

The app has a private distribution and isn't available on app stores. Installing it requires changing permissions, which wouldn't be necessary for public apps. The process has been more difficult for people who prefer to install apps from the stores. It caused some minor headaches, but we're working our way through them.

How did Consultica perform from a project management standpoint?

Consultica was excellent in this regard. The app wasn't launched within our initial timeframe, but we take a fair amount of responsibility for this ourselves. We didn't do a good job internally of making an efficient feedback loop for beta testers. The feedback we did give to Consultica wasn't very clear, because of the jargon used in our procedures. If we wanted something from Consultica, we received immediate responses. They did a great job of responding to our information.

What did you find most impressive about Consultica?

We haven't dealt with anyone else on similar projects, so I don't know how Consultica would differ from other developers, but they were immediately responsive to our initial requests, and throughout the development of the project. After launching the app, Consultica remained interested in our feedback, and in helping us make a new version of it.

Are there any areas Consultica could improve?

Not from my perspective. We want to improve our internal structures to test the new version more rigorously. I have no issues with how Consultica dealt with us.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Fusion Communications Group is an advertising agency with a focus on technology. We handle a lot of app and solution development. I am the chief executive officer of the company, and also maintain an active role in our projects.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Consultica?

We wanted to create an MVP [minimum viable product] version of a multipurpose user interface which allowed us to create content interacting with large screens. The project needed to be very flexible in terms of budget because it was being developed for a startup.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The scope of work was to create an Android interface which could lock-out the operating system's interface to people interacting with it. It was meant to be used on 42-inch kiosk screens present in various locations, like car dealerships, hotels, and tourism offices. Consultica developed a dashboard which allowed us to get into the directory, put in URLs, software, or other elements which could be triggered by touching an icon. We could fully customize the screens.

Consultica's team went out of their way in order to make modifications to our original scope, in order to customize the solution for a potential client. Consultica was upfront about scope creep, and managed it well, but was still willing to provide additional work.

How did you come to work with Consultica?

Consultica's owner reached out to multiple individuals locally through the Chamber of Commerce. We had a chance to talk on a few occasions, and I thought of Consultica when the project came up. I considered other options, but I wanted to give Consultica a try.

How much have you invested with Consultica?

Our original project with Consultica had a cost of $15,000. The second phase will have a $35,000 cost.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Consultica in the fall of 2015, and began another project recently on enhancing our platform, and making it more suitable for the market in Abu Dhabi, where we have a business opportunity.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

I've worked with a number of programming and web development firms in the past. Consultica stood out in terms of communication, which was always upfront. Consultica delivered on time every time, if not earlier.

How did Consultica perform from a project management standpoint?

Our project wasn't very complex, but I was impressed with the emphasis Consultica put on keeping us up-to-date. Other companies I've worked with have been more internally-focused. This is what I've most often mentioned in regards to Consultica.

Consultica's office is close to ours, and they come over all the time, almost becoming a part of our team. We have a very personable relationship.

What did you find most impressive about Consultica?

I appreciate Consultica's ability to find solutions inside of the various criteria we've thrown at them and talking through every single part. Consultica can think outside the box and surprise us with their suggestions. 

Are there any areas Consultica could improve?

Consultica is buttoned-down when it comes to contracts and scope, and they spend a lot of time mapping things out in great detail. This is necessary because of the fixed-price nature of the work, but I'm not very used to this approach. It leads to a lot of additional paperwork.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a maintenance software management company. Our software-as-a-service product is offered to organizations looking to track the maintenance of their equipment. We have been around since 2002 and are based in Winnipeg, Canada. Most of our clients come from the US, and the rest are from Canada and the rest of the world. I am the general manager of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Consultica?

We're currently releasing a new version of our software and decided that we wanted to give it a flashy, new look, making the user experience better. We have a very intuitive software within the CMS [content management system] world, which has a lot of complicated solutions. UI [user interface] is extremely important, but we don't have any in-house specialists for this. We struggled between hiring an outside company or an internal resource.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Consultica has designed the user interface for our desktop and mobile apps. Our in-house team will be in charge of back-end coding based on Consultica's UI and CSS work.

How did you come to work with Consultica?

We were referred to Consultica by a local associate.

How much have you invested with Consultica?

The initial cost of our project with Consultica was $25,000, but the final cost will be closer to $35,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Consultica in June 2016, and have an ongoing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We've heard some great user feedback during beta tests, and customers have also liked the updated design. Qualitatively, Consultica did its job, and I'm happy with the deliverables.

How did Consultica perform from a project management standpoint?

Consultica was prompt, responsive, delivered what was promised, and kept us in the loop.

What did you find most impressive about Consultica?

Consultica has been very responsive, compared to other developers I've worked with in the past. Consultica has great customer service, and the quality of the work was also excellent.

Are there any areas Consultica could improve?

I have no complaints. Consultica more than met our expectations. I couldn't speak for their performance on a larger project, but I've been happy with Consultica.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Lootsie is a user retention company. Our loyalty engine helps clients create and optimize their retention strategy, while also engaging users. I was the chief technology officer of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Consultica?

We needed to quickly build a mobile solution.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Consultica worked on a software development kit for iOS and Android. It was eventually built for Unity, as well. We had a previous implementation of the solution done by another team and needed Consultica to come in, quickly make an assessment of the shape of our code and technical gaps, and take ownership for additional changes.

How did you come to work with Consultica?

I found Consultica through my network. I have many LinkedIn connections and talked to a few agencies, some more friendly than others. In the case of Consultica, I knew some of their team from years past and knew that they provided excellent quality work. It was an easy decision.

How much have you invested with Consultica?

We spent around $35,000 per month on Consultica's services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Consultica in January 2016. They continue to work with Lootsie, but I left the company around May.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

It was important that Consultica's team produce results on a weekly basis, in an Agile way. Our company was building an innovative solution which wasn't fully fleshed-out. We needed to work incrementally, and spend additional time thinking about the design, when necessary. Working through weekly sprints was one of the key things that Consultica facilitated for us. We had weekly demos, and Consultica did an excellent job of being agile and providing good quality.

How did Consultica perform from a project management standpoint?

We used Jira for articulating the stories of what we expected our users to experience, as well as allowing Consultica's team to respond to our requirements with actual engineering designs and proposals. They articulated subtasks of the stories in Jira, and we were able to come to understandings of what would be accomplished in the following weeks. We established a development philosophy, staffed the team accordingly, and had clear forecasts of how much could be done both in a single sprint and over the course of several months.

What did you find most impressive about Consultica?

Consultica has a long-standing involvement in mobile development. Their team has a good understanding of the software stack, from top to bottom. Consultica is not a traditional outsourcing shop, but is able to take on use cases and consider elements like competition, monetization, and a minimally viable way of entering the market, and so on. As we built the solution, Consultica worked at the same level as me, or another product owner, providing great suggestions for what we should build, not just how and when.

Are there any areas Consultica could improve?

Consultica did a good job in terms of relationship management, consulting us on scheduling needs and how many people we'd need over time. They could go even deeper into that, establishing a stronger connection to the customer.

Their work is done overseas, and I've managed teams from all over the world, including India, Latin America, the UK, and so on. I have a strong preference for Eastern Europe because providers there have good communication and aren't shy about what they need to say. However, there is still a language barrier that can be improved on by Consultica.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a small engineering services company formed in 2010 by 3 founding partners, all geotechnical engineering professionals. We provide services for the government and private sector, to clients looking for foundation systems design for major structures like interchanges, flood protectors, dams, and so on. Our company has grown to 30 staff members, and we have a significant market share in Manitoba, but we also focus on clients from Saskatoon, Alberta, and Ontario. I am a Founder and the Chief Executive Officer of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Consultica?

The other founders and I are relatively young and tech-savvy, so we've brought in a staff with the same capabilities and spirit for innovation. Being a small company, we need people who can get things done on their own. Documentation is very important in engineering, in case there is ever a dispute or an issue with a project. When designing a major civil infrastructure, public safety is at the heart of design. Many of the people we were hiring were not used to writing things down in little books, and they tended to conduct many of their personal and academic affairs on their phones. We realized that there was a disconnect between the traditional way of practicing engineering, versus what young professionals do for managing the workflow. We decided to embark on something which was, at least to our knowledge, unique, and transform the traditional workflow practices of professional consulting engineers into a mobile app. We looked at off-the-shelf apps, and couldn't find something that was tailored enough to what we needed, without having a bunch of other features that would unnecessarily complicate the process.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Consultica was approached not only to build an app for us, but also to evaluate our workflow, and how younger staff expects to interact with technology, finding a solution that would not only conform to regulation and professional practice standards but also make users enthusiastic about what they're doing.

Consultica developed our minimum viable product. The application would allow us access to a set of local depth maps for foundation design. They're indispensable for our work and are no longer available in print, so we needed to have them in electronic form, allowing employees to synchronize them on-site with GPS coordinates. My team and I were ecstatic with the results. We no longer had to depend on the printed versions, and the data became available in every location.

Because the app was so successful, we made enhancements for it, adding workflow applications like site reconnaissance using photos and GPS coordinates. The feature allows us to evaluate sites for risks and conditions, making economic analyses of what the construction costs will be. The process used to be done through a camera and field book, which was completely disconnected. All of this is now done automatically, and the data is immediately uploaded to a backend server. It allows us to have a proprietary understanding of the conditions of the city.

How did you come to work with Consultica?

We're a Manitoba-based company and first looked in our backyard. We wanted to create a minimum viable product first and had a fair bit of knowledge about how we wanted to map out the app, by having worked in local incubators. A small, local provider would be the best fit for us, given that the scale of our product and the steps that we wanted to take would not get a lot of attention from a large firm. We had referrals for several small companies, interviewed them, and ended up choosing Consultica.

How much have you invested with Consultica?

This information is confidential as per our contract with Consultica.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Consultica at the beginning of 2016. We're now reaching completion for the last piece of development and will move on to a completely new workflow for a calculations feature.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We didn't keep any performance indicators for the project, except for the level of usage. The current generation uses mobile devices as their main information tools for everything regarding the social environment and so forth. When we were bringing in engineers to our environment and asking them to take on workflow tasks based on what was being done 30 years ago, they struggled. We have noticed that our workflow app is consistent with the tools that they're used to and are comfortable with. Our staff immediately grasps what needs to be done, and the quality of the information gathered is exceptional, compared to what was being done by hand. They're enthusiastic about using the tools and willing to go through a far greater depth of detail using them. They're faster, more comprehensive and more rigorous, so the quality of information for the same task, using a mobile app, is exceptionally better than that of a traditional recording format.

As engineers, we know our workflow very well, and how it needs to be recorded, but I did not want to bias how the interface would look. I told Consultica that one of the primary reasons for hiring them is that, if civil engineers are put to the task of making the design, everything will end up square, and looking as if it was designed by a civil engineer. I wanted Consultica to bring in UI expertise on how the app should work, and I was shocked with the quality of the application. It has a professional look regarding graphics employed and the user interface. I bragged about it relentlessly to other people in our field, and they've started to recognize the need to provide new professionals a working environment consistent with the tools that they want.

How did Consultica perform from a project management standpoint?

We didn't have a large timeline for development but took a risk because we liked Consultica's attitude and approach. We were thrilled with the service that we received, in part because we were a sophisticated client and knew what we wanted regarding workflow. Consultica was responsive in recognizing that and worked carefully in meeting those timelines.

What did you find most impressive about Consultica?

I appreciated Consultica's attention to client needs. They relentlessly made sure that we were getting what we needed, instead of simply getting some information and running off. It was a continual interaction, ensuring that what was being delivered was what we expected, and made sense. Consultica never assumed that they knew better than us, and stuck to building a wrapper around what we needed, ensuring that it wouldn't distract from the core needs and requirements that we had.

Are there any areas Consultica could improve?

Working faster would always be appreciated, but Consultica always stuck to their timelines. Being that we're a relatively sophisticated customer in the field, it's hard to state what Consultica could have done better. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for Solvera, an IT services and consulting company based in Western Canada. Techapalooza is a charitable event raising money for cancer care within the IT community. The event is a battle of the bands, with competitors coming from the IT sector.

I am the Managing Director and a partner for the Manitoba office for Solvera and a founding member and co-chair of the board of the organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Consultica?

We wanted to generate more excitement, interest, and engagement from our target audience by introducing some technology.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We approached Consultica, asking them to become a technology sponsor for the event, and developing a mobile app for iOS and Android. Its scope included the ability to purchase tickets through a ticketing facility, as well as delivering news and push notifications for the event. It also offered users the ability to donate money to the charitable foundation. Consultica also developed an online voting app for us, to be used by the audience on the night of the event.

How did you come to work with Consultica?

I met Consultica several months previous to our current project while exploring several business opportunities. Consultica was referred to me by a senior consultant who happened to know their owner.

How much have you invested with Consultica?

Consultica worked through a value-in-kind sponsorship. It gave Consultica a great opportunity for exposure to many people in IT leadership positions. They were credited for a $5,000 sponsorship, but I'm sure that it cost Consultica considerably more to develop the app, closer to $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I first met Consultica a year and a half ago, when we discussed a partnership between our 2 firms. This particular project, for the charitable event, began one year ago. Consultica is continuing to support us into 2017, with additional development.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The app was well-received by the people in our committee, as well as audience members. We tried to promote it, and have people engage with the app, but I don't have exact statistics. The app's quality and functionality were excellent.

How did Consultica perform from a project management standpoint?

We mostly dealt with Consultica's principals, who were very good in responding to us and working through requirements. Consultica helped us think through what we could and couldn't do, offering different approaches to solving problems. We realized that certain things didn't work perfectly, and needed some tweaking. Consultica showed flexibility as we progressed and started to launch initial versions of the app.

What did you find most impressive about Consultica?

Consultica was very easy to work with and provided excellent technical quality.

Are there any areas Consultica could improve?

We have identified some enhancements and improvements for the app, and have discussed them with Consultica. This isn't a failing, but rather a way to further improve and drive higher levels of audience engagement.