GoSaaS

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company makes laser lighting products. I’m the quality manager and I help implement our product lifecycle management (PLM) system.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with GoSaaS?

GoSaas supported us in implementing the Oracle PLM system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We worked with GoSaas to lay out how we should implement our PLM system. It was a huge project where they did a lot of background configuration in order for the system to fit our company and our needs. 

We went over how we wanted our documents to look like in the system and how we wanted to route these for approval, how we wanted to do our billing, and how we would run an ECO or a DCO. GoSaas uploaded data from our own document control system. They helped with all aspects of our PLM system and provided training for people in our company. 

The team also configured our whole quality management system, which included corrective actions for quality issues. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with Andy (Partner) who was like a salesperson and a project manager. Zeeshan (Partner) coordinated with the offshore team and did a lot of IT work. For the ongoing support, we’re working with two people from the Pakistan team. 

How did you come to work with GoSaaS?

Since they don’t do the implementation themselves, Oracle provided us with a list of their implementation partners. GoSaas was one of those recommended companies. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in February 2019 and we completed the implementation by August 2019. They’re currently providing ongoing support.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The implementation went very smoothly and was mostly done on time. There was a slight delay, but GoSaas did a really excellent job. For the ongoing maintenance, the team remains to be responsive when it comes to resolving issues. 

How did GoSaaS perform from a project management standpoint?

They had a whole timeline in place and were very organized. The team met with us frequently and gave us tasks to complete before getting back with them. 

We used email and Zoom to communicate. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

One of the best things about GoSaas is their responsiveness; we never had to wait a long time to hear back from them. They were also very knowledgeable about the Oracle PLM system.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there were only minor issues during the project.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust GoSaaS’s suggestions and their judgment because they know the best practices for Oracle PLM implementation. Also, be cautious about adding a lot of steps or features to the system because it’s really complicated and detailed. It could make things worse when you’re actually using the implementation.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a quality assurance manager for an inflight telecommunications company. We primarily focus on inflight connectivity and entertainment options.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with GoSaaS?

Our engagement with GoSaaS was mainly focused on implementing the Oracle Agile product lifecycle management (PLM) application into our system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

GoSaaS helped us with the scripting automation needs for our system. They implemented Oracle Agile PLM and helped us add 10 new attributes to the tool. They also provided answers to our questions and insight into the background functionality.

Now, the Oracle Agile PLM application allows us to automatically assign and process workflow tasks through the system. This helps us eliminate the manual redundancies and resource constraints that are part of the system’s administration.

What is the team composition?

We worked with four people from GoSaaS on this project. One was an account manager who handled our account. This person was our main point of contact for whatever we needed to work on. The other three people were our support for programming, and they helped us with architectural and design development.

How did you come to work with GoSaaS?

I took over this role almost 12 months ago. Before that, GoSaaS had been working for our company on other projects. My predecessor worked with them in the past and had a good experience.

Additionally, as the Oracle Agile PLM is a relatively unique system, it doesn’t have a lot of users, and it isn’t hugely deployed. Other people within the industry that use the tool recommended GoSaaS for the project. They were also recommended to us by a third-party provider.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $15,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

This project began in September 2020, and it was completed in December 2020. Currently, we’re standing at a new Oracle Agile PLM environment, and GoSaaS is being subcontracted through our third-party supplier to do data extraction and to clean and populate the new database.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The two greatest goals were accomplished: the time and the budget. GoSaaS hit the project timelines and the budgetary estimates that we agreed on in the beginning — that was good.

We had a cross-functional team that tested and reviewed the end product. We didn’t have any issues with the work that GoSaaS provided — everything was perfect.

The attributes they added have helped us meet regulatory requirements. As we work in the aerospace industry, we work under the guise of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). GoSaaS was able to set up, within the Oracle Agile PLM, some additional attributes that allowed us to identify which software needed to be certified through the FAA and which one didn’t.

How did GoSaaS perform from a project management standpoint?

When the project kicked off, we were provided with a resource that worked with us on a weekly basis. They provided us with updates and helped us move along — they were considered a subject matter expert. In a lot of the project’s areas, we didn’t have the skill set within our company to think about the big questions. I was impressed with GoSaaS' capacity of facilitating and anticipating the questions that we needed to ask and the items that we needed to consider to make sure that the end product met our expectations.

What did you find most impressive about them?

GoSaaS stands behind their work. When I stepped into the role, I was trying to bring myself up to speed with the development work and the customization that had been done to the tool, and there was a lot of internal research within the company that could provide that information. However, I reached out to GoSaaS to see if they could explain to me some of the implementations, help me understand what had been done and what hadn’t, and told me what was in the pipeline. They were really open and took me in to explain some of the activities and customizations they’d done — I was really grateful for that. They helped me understand the system and bring myself up to speed a lot faster than if it would have been just me trying to figure out the information I had available.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If GoSaaS was based in the Midwest, it would be a lot easier to work with them because the time difference sometimes complicated our work. However, I don’t think that’s a realistic request. Other than that, there’s nothing they could improve on — they fully met and exceeded our expectations.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

When you go through the project, a lot of the internal stakeholders change some of the requirements. Even though GoSaaS was very accommodating with that, I recommend taking the time to make sure you have internal alignment and be clear about the requirements before engaging with them.