EKI Digital

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a government organization. I work in the procurement department.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with EKI Digital?

They put a custom solution into place a number of years ago, and the technology behind it was reaching the end of its life. It wasn’t adapting to the changing needs of our end-users. EKI Digital embarked on a modernization project for this application.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our IT department engaged them, but my department is the main business user. EKI Digital’s main focus was to upgrade the backend software, and we took the opportunity to have them enhance and modernize the UI to make it mobile-friendly and easier to use. Their engagement with us went all the way from requirement gathering to testing, deployment, and documentation, in the form of a new user manual.

They included several features to address long-standing challenges. Previously, we had to address these issues through business process workarounds, and now the solutions are integrated directly into the application.

What is the team composition?

We had two major daily contacts, and our IT department had additional contacts. I primarily worked with Diego (CTO) and a gentleman who is no longer with the company. The latter acted as my project manager.

How did you come to work with EKI Digital?

They developed the original software for us, and we re-engaged them to upgrade the solution.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from September 2019–January 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We looked at several metrics including that the solution deployed on time and on budget. Feedback from end-users is very positive, saying that the new site is faster, easier to use, and simpler to navigate.

How did EKI Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

We had weekly project status meetings, and they used Microsoft Project. We just saw the end results, including the Gantt charts; I didn’t work inside the particular tools they used. The project stayed on track.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are always very considerate of any concerns that we bring up. They’re responsive to requests as well. When we requested features, they tried to accommodate them and would tell us if it was possible within our timeline and budget constraints. They were forthright. 75% of our additional requests were incorporated without additional costs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of any changes. The project went very well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Consider the size of the engagement. Our project was a relatively large engagement, but if it’s even larger, then consider matching the size of the engagement with the size of the vendor. EKI Digital was a great partner for our project, based on size.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a first deputy with the Department of Finance. I started with the city of Chicago in 1998, and I’ve taken on numerous responsibilities. I oversee revenue services and accounting.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with EKI Digital?

EKI Digital is a contractor for the city of Chicago, so we’ve worked on multiple projects with them over the span of five years. They’ve built several websites that manage payment processing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, EKI Digital built a utility payments website for us. It pulls up amounts due from external utility applications, and it processes payments through electronic checks or credit cards.

In 2019, we reformed our fines and fees platform to make payment plans more manageable for motorists and homeowners. EKI Digital created a website where people could provide us with their current city stickers in order to dismiss tickets. They built the website in less than 60 days.

They also built a website as part of a program that reduces water bills for homeowners below the poverty line. EKI built us a state-of-the-art website to capture personal and financial data. It has a superior process flow for applications. People upload documents and information that’s fed into our database. The site was built within three months, and all the work was done remotely.

What is the team composition?

We have one main point of contact. But we discuss the operational aspects of what we’re building with the developers.

How much have you invested with them?

They’re paid by another department, so I don’t have an exact figure. The total so far is $1 million–$5 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with EKI Digital in March 2016 and our partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We often have limits on what we can do because of a lack of resources or funding. But with EKI Digital’s help, we’ve been able to put up numerous websites and help our residents in a time of need.

Through the fines website, we were able to give debt relief to approximately 11,000 motorists, amounting to $11 million. It has had a huge impact, and it was just one of our projects with EKI Digital. We’ve had over 3,000 applications on the water bill website, and we plan on making enhancements to it within the next few months.

EKI Digital is our go-to vendor when it’s crunch time. In the time we’ve worked together, and we’ve never had complaints from users.

How did EKI Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

We have weekly touchpoints. They always deliver on time and never miss deadlines. We haven’t had in-person meetings lately, because of COVID-19. Instead, we’re using Zoom, Microsoft Teams, phone calls, and email for communication.

We’re going to have kinks with any website, and every once in a while, the site goes down for a few minutes. In those instances, EKI Digital is responsive. They’re a great team to work with, personally and professionally.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve been impressed by their ability to build projects on time and to the specifications we’re looking for.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s always room for improvement, with any vendor or staff person, but nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I’m a visual person, so my suggestion to anyone looking to work with them is to have EKI Digital show examples of websites and process flows they’ve built in the past. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the deputy finance director for utility billing and customer service for a city department of finance. I send out the water bills, including garbage charges and water-sewer tax, and I also work with customers on any payment issues.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with EKI Digital?

We needed to quickly build a website where people could apply for utility building relief. Due to the constraints of COVID-19, we needed a platform that processed everything online.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

EKI Digital created an online application for people to apply for utility building relief. The website was built from scratch. It provided the ability for customers to upload required documents, complete with step-by-step instructions. On an administrative function side, it allowed us to internally track the processing of the applications.

They continue to do maintenance and support other web-based applications that are already in place, like payment processing and other needs for the city.

What is the team composition?

I primarily worked with Diego (CTO), who was supported by Patrick (Principal). There were other people that I interacted with in meetings and emails.

How did you come to work with EKI Digital?

They were already an established city vendor, from as early as eight years ago. We’ve already worked with them on the processing of payments for water billing; they were the vendor to work with whenever I needed to make some changes to online payments for our customers.

How much have you invested with them?

Their contract is actually with a different department, so I'm only the business user, so if I had to take a guess I’d estimate we’ve spent around $80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from May—November 2020. We made minor tweaks afterward, but the majority of the work was done when we went live in November.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They delivered a website that was up and running in five months, so I would say it was a great project. The process was iterative because they needed to build it on the fly due to the pandemic — they did a great job under a lot of pressure and created an extremely detailed website.

How did EKI Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management was good. Diego ran a tight ship — he gathered requirements and provided feedback, and then started immediately. There was a city project manager that helped, but the lion's share of the workers was managed by Diego’s team.

In terms of communication, we primarily exchanged phone calls and emails. We didn’t really use project management tools; we were building it on the fly, having weekly meetings was the way to go.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was most impressed by how they got things done while being patient with us. This was a last-minute critical and high-visibility project and they jumped in with both feet and helped us get it done. They were really a valued partner.

Are there any areas they could improve?

As a business user that's worked with EKI Digital for many years, I would say there was nothing they could have improved upon. They were a great partner in getting work done.  

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise them to work with EKI Digital. I work for the local government and a city is not a very easy customer to work with, especially with all the different departments and the bureaucracy — it says a lot for a vendor to be able to work with us successfully.