Coral Technologies

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of education services and knowledge for a manufacturer of interconnect hardware and software for data-center and consumer computers. We specialized in networking hardware until our acquisition by a large graphics cards manufacturer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Coral Technologies?

We started building an academy for our clients and partners eight years ago. I was disappointed with the first company we used, and I started looking for another one.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Coral Technologies developed our learning management system based on our idea, and they’re maintaining it. The platform is based on WordPress and Moodle.

We migrated a year ago from our localhost to Microsoft Azure, and Coral managed that entire migration. It was a very complex project.

How did you come to work with Coral Technologies?

I found them online, and I discovered that I already knew one of their members. We compared them to different vendors in the market, and Coral was better in terms of cost and performance.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $50,000 with them throughout the years.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Coral around May 2012.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re world champions in WordPress and Magento development. They were still learning about Moodle when we started, but they’re experts in it now. Whenever they didn’t know the answer to something, they went and found it and got the job done. We’ve had issues from time to time, but they always fixed things at no extra cost. We’re really satisfied with the quality.

They’ve been involved in other development projects in my company, and everyone’s been satisfied with their work.

How did Coral Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re good but not excellent. They have a tracking system in place, where we can put everything, but they don’t always communicate in time. They get the job done, but, in terms of communicating during the project, they’re just regular. Not bad but not excellent.

We communicate on a weekly basis, and they’re available on WhatsApp, email, or whatever channel is required.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Coral is always available, they’re very flexible, they’re not afraid to go into new territories, and they have creative ideas that fit our needs. The big advantage to me is that I can go to their office, show them an overview of what I want, and we can solve the problem together.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve come a long way together, but, in the beginning, I found that, in order to get the best results, I needed to define everything down to the smallest details. We’ve made templates for working together over the years, but project management could be improved.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

They need to be accurate in defining what they need.