ImageX

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for PABCO Gypsum, which is a division of Pacific Coast Companies. We make drywall and advanced soundproofing materials for buildings. I’m the head of the marketing department.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ImageX?

I had a team of developers working on some upgrades to our Drupal CMS sites, and I wasn’t happy with the level of attention and quality they had. I was struggling with them a bit. The ImageX guys came highly recommended, so I gave them a shot. They were on-point to pick up where the previous development team had left off.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had an existing Drupal site, and it lacked a little bit of style and pizazz on the frontend. More importantly, we have an advanced dealer locator, which uses the Google API. The previous developers were trying to get that all to work, and it was just littered with bugs and wasn’t working right. We couldn’t get our database to load. We couldn’t get the GEO coordinates accurate. It was just a whole slurry of things.

The guys from ImageX came in and cleaned everything up. They gave the site a bit of a shakedown because I wasn’t very confident with the level of work the previous team had done. They kicked some of the gremlins out of the basement, if you will, and addressed potential security problems, and proposed some updates to it. Now it’s pretty polished and solid. It still needs a little bit of TLC, but it’s all fine-tuning from here. Before, it was just breaking.

We don’t have an e-commerce module built on the site. We have a dealer and distributor channel to which we refer all our customers. There are three sites I control; pabcogypsum.com, quietrock.com – which is the site I really wanted some focus on – and pabcobuildingproducts.com. All three of those domains are under my control.

ImageX worked with all three, with more focus put onto quietrock.com because of my sensitivity about that site. It had come a long way, and we left that site hanging when we were in phase two of development. So, most of their focus had been on quietrock.com. Some of the security updates and proposed fixes did get applied to the other domains as well. A lot of the bling, the stylizing, and the work done to that locator module was all on quiestrock.com. It didn’t affect the other sites.

I didn’t ask to select their developers. I was told they had a fine group, and they were already primed by the person who recommendation them. They already knew a bit about my projects before they started. They were on-point to do all the heavy lifting for the development work. The site was already built, so they didn’t work on the design.

How did you come to work with ImageX?

They were a referral from another company I’d worked with in the past.

How much have you invested with ImageX?

We’ve invested around $20,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January of 2017, and our relationship is ongoing. I was so pleased with their work that I decided to hopefully enter a service agreement with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

More people are using the dealer locator, and I’m not getting any errors coming through on the backend, so that’s good. It’s been a combined effort, through marketing and stuff, where people are going to that dealer locator now. I’ve been marketing it a lot lately, and luckily for me, people are actually getting into contact with dealers and buying the product, so that’s pretty substantial. I would say it’s improved by about 20%.

How did ImageX perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re excellent. There was a guy I was working with specifically over there, Leslie Cordell [Web Developer], and he’s been a rock star. He’s been a pleasure to work with so far. We mainly use email and phone to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about ImageX?

I’m a bit of a geek, so I could actually look at the code itself. I can say that the code is really clean. There’s not a whole lot of junk or residual copies of style sheets referencing a new entry somewhere. Sometimes developers make a copy of it somewhere and rename something, just to keep the ball rolling. The quality of the code is really spot-on. The level of detail is really spot-on. They’ve met every single requirement I’ve had. They’re very punctual. When they say something will only take about an hour or two, they mean it. There were no surprises. When they said it would take an hour, it never took four. Their estimations were spot-on. I’m very pleased with their dev team all around. It was awesome.

Are there any areas ImageX could improve?

No. I can’t think of anything. I’ve been really stoked with the work they’ve done.

Do you have any advice for potential clients of theirs?

When selecting a development team, you should get your head around your project before you start talking with them. It’ll speed things along and make the whole process a lot easier. People often don’t know what they want. ImageX is pretty good at talking through some of that stuff. They’re good at communicating with their clients, but the more the client knows out of the gate, the better. I think that goes without saying for any development group. It’s kind of a ‘No duh!’ but a lot of people don’t get that.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a management consultancy business where we work with clients to help them with their management processes. I’m the operations manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ImageX?

We were unhappy with our previous developer and the hosting setup we had. We’re a Drupal based shop and we moved to Acquia, which is the primary Drupal host.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The first Drupal website ImageX built for us was a hackathon site which was a public website. It was a social collaboration website where people could come to the site and post challenges and people would respond to the challenges and post reviews and ratings. The last couple of years we’ve moved to doing systems that live inside client networks. They’ve been our ongoing development partner ever since. Every time we go in with a client, we develop new software for the client based on Drupal and that’s the work ImageX does. They serve as our development team and we’re the link between our client and ImageX. We’ve been extremely happy with the work they’ve done. The largest team that we’ve had work on a project has been five or six. I have a very good relationship with the lead developer.

How did you come to work with ImageX?

We asked Acquia for suggestions of developers and ImageX was one of the suggestions they gave us. We interviewed three companies that Acquia recommended and gave them each a proposal. ImageX had the most in-depth responses and the most reasonable rates to the proposal.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them six years ago, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re very pleased with how the public site turned out. The bigger successes are the projects we’ve done in recent years where they’re for internal clients. We’ll work with a large company and get several thousand people participating on this platform to move new ideas forward and creating new processes. One of the clients had 5,000 active engaged users on the platform. The platform we’re currently working on will have upwards of 65,000 users when it’s done. Our previous developer did not provide deliverables in a timely manner and didn’t have a good grasp of the technology. When we switched to ImageX, things went much smoother and much faster. They are more reasonably priced and much more responsive.

How did ImageX perform from a project management standpoint?

I have access to the software inside their system.

What did you find most impressive about ImageX?

In my world, we work with high-level executives and deadlines can be really crazy and the clients don’t want to accept delays. Sometimes the situation seems impossible to get done in time, but ImageX has always pulled it off. They’ve been incredibly responsive in really demanding deadline situations. I know many other developers would not be as responsive.

Are there any areas ImageX could improve?

No. I’m a super happy customer.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the project manager at a technology company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ImageX?

For our own internal projects, we generally have a program manager, who in this case is me, and then also a technical architect. We then hire partners to come in and help with the day-to-day activities and the development. That is true of all of our larger projects, and that was the case with this particular one as well. ImageX got involved with a project for an end-customer of ours. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

ImageX was part of our initial kick-off meeting, and that’s where we gathered a lot of the requirements. ImageX was involved from the initial client meeting to the end of the project.The site has been in Ektron and the client wanted to move to a new CMS. ImageX built the site in Drupal 8 and they were specifically working on the frontend and backend development. They weren’t just working on basic pages and press releases, but also helped with important functionalities like translation, and if somebody was coming in from a certain region, for example, being able to figure out kind of what language the site should show up in. ImageX worked with our team and also the client. They provided one project manager, two developers and one person for QA. It took a week or two to put the team together.

How did you come to work with ImageX?

Our director of professional services was the one that suggested ImageX. She knows of their work and speaks of them very highly. Generally, we go to the partner firm and say this is who we’re looking for and then they’ll put together some resumes and we actually go through and interview them as well. Our company had worked with them in the past but this was the first time I personally had worked with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in January 2017 and was completed in three months

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did ImageX perform from a project management standpoint?

We talked to their management team about their work ethic and from a project management perspective, their project manager was extremely thorough. I never had to worry about anything. There are times, honestly, where we kind of have to look over somebody’s shoulder to make sure that they’re doing what they need to do but she’s very self-motivated and self-starting and I would say that same feedback for their development team and for their QA. They don’t just take requirements and do exactly what you say. They really think through the process. They throw back ideas of things that could make the project better. They’re willing to get involved with the client and help them along with what they need and really motivated to do the best job that they can. I feel like they went above and beyond my expectations. We did not experience any turnover in the team. We use JIRA as our bug tracking software. The project was remote.

What did you find most impressive about ImageX?

I have worked with several different firms throughout my career and I see ImageX has a willingness to learn. For example, we have a brand-new system of doing work technologically at our company. They were able to dive right in and figure out exactly what they needed. This is the fastest ramp-up for a project that I’ve had.

Are there any areas ImageX could improve?

Even when we talk to their management team, some of it was just getting used to our process, but that’s true of anybody. If I was thinking about constructive criticism, I don’t think there’s anything that I would say ImageX, in general, needs to improve on. I think they’re a really strong company and we were extremely happy with the work that they did for us.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with ImageX?

I would say ask for references to see if they can find anybody experienced with auditing code. I think sometimes you can see a website someone has built that might look great from the outside but it’s not really built well on the inside. Asking for those examples to get that information would be helpful.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

RESolutionsTECH is a consulting firm specializing in Raiser's Edge. It's one of the more popular fundraising databases that many colleges, universities, and not-for-profits are using. I’m the senior account manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ImageX?

We focus specifically on the Raiser's Edge side, a fundraising database, but there are other tools and products that relate to Raiser's Edge on the website. If an organization is looking to do fundraising, one option is to purchase one of these products that allows donors to go online, complete a donation form, and go through that whole process. Their contact information, their amount of donation, and what kind of campaign it came through, then goes into Raiser's Edge. We were searching for a partner who could assist on the more advanced technical aspects of the web design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The way our system works is that myself and another technical person on my side have a weekly call with them to discuss the projects taking place, how they're progressing, the amount of time spent, and where we are in terms of what was originally laid out in the project plan. We're just making sure that there aren't any changes from that perspective. The ImageX team is working directly with our clients on a daily basis on particular projects. If there is a question, clients will post it to an online ticket system portal, and then ImageX has that communication with the clients on an ongoing basis.

This is a steady format that we have. For any new client that comes on, we assess their needs, share that with ImageX, and they'll give us their thoughts on the scope of the project. Once we're up and running, it's a collaborative effort of us and ImageX communicating with the clients.

There are three to four staff members with different roles from ImageX working with us. We are assigned one account manager. Depending on the type of request that comes in, it’s divided out to those other staff members.

How did you come to work with ImageX?

Our specialty is the Raiser's Edge, but we're lacking expertise on the web development side of things. That's where we started reaching out to potential organizations that specialize in web development. We came across ImageX and were happy with their reviews. They sent us references, and we reached out to them. We had a few preliminary calls, and those discussions went well. That’s when we decided to ultimately partner with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We finalized our agreement with them in early February 2017 and started rolling things out from there. The work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our experience with ImageX has been nothing but positive. We had an email from one of our clients saying they were extremely happy with the interaction, expertise, and responsiveness so far with ImageX. That email was a big thank you letter for introducing us to them and getting the project up and running. We look forward to a long-term and successful partnership.

How did ImageX perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Basecamp for managing projects between ourselves and ImageX. We also have an online portal system through Salesforce. All of our communication with clients is through the platform. We get updates on a daily basis and an overall recap of what's taken place on a weekly basis. They’re on top of their documentation.

What did you find most impressive about ImageX?

The thing that stands out to me the most is their responsiveness. We've had partnerships with other clients or organizations where we sometimes don't hear back for a couple of days, but ImageX is always very quick to respond. Within a couple of hours, they're responding to emails or requests. Another thing is their level of expertise. We've been blown away not only by their expertise, but also their willingness to share it with us. No other partner has gone to that level in terms of sharing their knowledge.

Are there any areas ImageX could improve?

There isn't anything that comes to mind yet about any issues we’ve had with them. We've been really happy with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We're a web development shop based in Dallas, Texas. I’m the chief financial officer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ImageX?

We became busy with some large projects, so we were looking for additional resources in order to scale up quickly. The idea was to partner with someone to help with overflow, but they had to be experienced with Drupal.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

ImageX has provided third-party work for one of our clients. We have worked exclusively with two backend developers from ImageX's team. We weren't sure how they would mesh with our own team but came to find that they were very well-trained, knowledgeable individuals. They were also very good communicators.

We've used ImageX for a second, smaller engagement, with only 1 resource. They exceeded our expectations there as well.

We have used ImageX's developers on two projects. Because they were capable, we've shifted them to more urgent work.

How did you come to work with ImageX?

Our owner knows ImageX's team well, given that we work in the same business space. When we needed additional resources, we reached out to ImageX in order to see if we could leverage some of their people. We did consider other North-American companies, but in the case of 2 of them, it became clear that their knowledge and workflow practices were not on-par with our requirements. We had very specific processes using Git repositories, development, and testing environments, and so on.

How much have you invested with ImageX?

This is confidential.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with ImageX a year and a half ago. The project ran for longer, but their involvement lasted for 6-8 months when the client was looking to speed up the level of output. I would have loved to use ImageX's resources more, but they were expensive. That said, this works fine for high-level work which can support additional billing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Even though I can't provide solid numbers, a general indicator of ImageX's performance is that we were able to not only reduce our timeline backlog and get back on track but to also exceed the client's expectations.

How did ImageX perform from a project management standpoint?

We use a combination of tools for project management, including Basecamp for client communication and repositories, Harvest for time-logging, and Pivotal Tracker, which is used for user stories and backlogs. We also use Git for versioning control.

What did you find most impressive about ImageX?

Some developers, even though they may be technically competent, shouldn't be brought to a client meeting. ImageX's team can communicate well, even at the client level, taking complex ideas and translating them into everyday terms during conference calls. ImageX's resources were very capable of being team players and didn't try to stick to their own way of doing things.

Are there any areas ImageX could improve?

The cost was a little high, but there were no issues with ImageX's work. They did a good job for us.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Rail Digital is a web design and animation company. I am a project manager for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ImageX?

We have been dealing with web development for a few years and have recently outsourced our team elsewhere. When that group started slacking on their end, we needed the help of a stronger dev team. We prefer this approach to using single developers because we know that, if someone becomes unavailable, someone else can pick up the pace.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We picked up a client who came to us with Drupal development needs. ImageX worked as an alternative to our regular team. They're competent in JavaScript injection and picked up the task along the way.

The client didn't provide a full list of requests, so we approached ImageX about this. One of their lead developers stepped in, took control, and came up with solutions quickly. There were also other resources in the background on ImageX's side. The client ended up working with ImageX directly, which saved the project.

How did you come to work with ImageX?

We found ImageX through Clutch. There were a few other considerations, some with very low Drupal development costs, but they didn't seem very knowledgeable about what they were doing. Especially since we'd had a poor interaction with the former offshore team, we didn't view many of them as trustworthy. Having a Canadian-based developer who could actually speak with us was very helpful. We could communicate within our timeframe.

How much have you invested with ImageX?

The initial quote for ImageX's services was around $2,000, but it extended into the $4,000 to $5,000 range. The cost was on the smaller end of what we were expecting.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in June 2016. We interacted with ImageX for around a week, showing them what problems we were facing, and the whole project took a month to complete. The timeframe was extended by the client dragging their feet and coming up with more tasks.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The client had a new landing page with a search function for their database of companies. The system started working immediately after ImageX checked in, but they've had to impose their own approach in order to make the design functional.

How did ImageX perform from a project management standpoint?

There was a lot of middle management in the beginning, but we eventually put ImageX in direct contact with our client in order to exchange requirements and have discussions.

What did you find most impressive about ImageX?

I appreciated how knowledgeable ImageX's staff was and how professionally the team was handled, in comparison to other teams we've worked with. The project management was great.

Are there any areas ImageX could improve?

No. ImageX knocked it out of the part.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a food policy research institute working as a non-profit. I am the web communications manager of the organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ImageX?

We needed to redesign our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially worked with ImageX 4 years ago on a WordPress template design and development project, and have since engaged them for various other tasks. We also have a Drupal platform and ImageX has helped us perform usability studies for it. 

The size of our team will vary depending on the work. There are usually 4–5 people from ImageX involved on any specific project, including a creative director, a project manager, a designer, and a developer. I make sure that a project lead from ImageX's side is directly involved, but I also interact with designers and developers directly. When I need to, I will also contact the COO [chief operating officer] and president of ImageX, who have responded well. If for any reason, we don't receive a quick answer from a resource, we have additional channels available.

How did you come to work with ImageX?

We were looking for vendors willing to work on smaller projects. Our institute has several Drupal and WordPress platforms, but we don't have a full-fledged development shop. We looked for a stable partner for a long time. My former boss came across ImageX's name while we were approaching other companies. We gave ImageX a small project and they delivered. It was a smooth ride afterward.

How much have you invested with ImageX?

The total cost of our company-wide work with ImageX has been in the six-figure range.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have been working with ImageX for 4–5 years.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We started our work 4-5 years ago, with one website. By the time we had 3–4 pages, ImageX was brought in to redesign one of the templates we were using extensively. We now have over 40 microsites on it, which proves its impact. Some of the work I've done with ImageX early on has helped make our platform what it is now.

How did ImageX perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Basecamp for all of our communication and document-sharing with ImageX. We have used version-control systems and collaborative platforms in the past, but we now exchange code directly.

What did you find most impressive about ImageX?

ImageX is very responsive and accessible. I can always reach their president, COO, program leader, and developers over Skype. ImageX is a smaller company, and I've appreciated being able to reach out to anyone on their team.

Are there any areas ImageX could improve?

ImageX is a fairly good company, and I only wish I had more money for keeping their team more involved. Being a non-governmental organization, we don't have a large budget.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Massachusetts Maritime Academy offers undergraduate degrees in: Emergency Management, Energy Systems Engineering, Facilities Engineering, International Maritime Business, Marine Engineering, Marine Transportation, and Marine Safety & Environmental Protection. We also offer graduate programs in Emergency Management and Facilities Management. As the Director of Enterprise Systems, I oversee the campus systems and project manage many of the IT projects for our division.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ImageX?

We did not have the man-power to build a new website on our own. We needed to find a company that could help us with the development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We created the design and editor roles in house. ImageX handled the actual design of this plan in a timely manner. We were able to stay interactive with ImageX on each stage of the development through scrum meetings. After development was complete, the Academy completed all content migration. ImageX came out for an in-person training session, which was great for our editors across the campus.

How did you come to work with ImageX?

ImageX was referred to us from Acquia. We considered 5 other options. ImageX stood out to us through its specialty in higher education and their commitment to working within the decided budget. We really appreciated the open conversation about what we needed to compromise on throughout development to keep within our budget.

How much have you invested with ImageX?

The total cost of our project with ImageX was under $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The new website was launched in August 2015, while the actual development took less than a year. Now that the big development piece is complete, we still have a small yearly package with ImageX to work on smaller projects as they arise. I'm happy we're still able to work with the lead developer who was on our original project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The reaction to the site as a whole has been very positive. We did a usability study at the end of 2015 and it went very well. Participants included prospective students, current students, staff, alumni, prospective corporate partners, and prospective continuing maritime education learners.

How did ImageX perform from a project management standpoint?

Being included in scrum meetings was very helpful for us to stay interactive and engaged in the process. We always knew where the project stood.

What did you find most impressive about ImageX?

A small anecdote that expresses their professionalism and collaboration is our brief on-campus discovery session. We were able to confirm what the priorities were for the project, and they really instilled a lot of confidence for our staff that the project was in good hands. They listened to ideas and encouraged creativity in this planning process as well.

Are there any areas ImageX could improve?

Now that we work with ImageX on much smaller scaled projects as they arise, it's not always clear when these will be completed, because they are a lessor priority than a large scale project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We provide a free competitive intelligence platform which helps people uncover the latest news and alerts. Our clients gain insights which can help in terms of their competition. I am the head of marketing for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ImageX?

We needed help in remediating a Drupal development project. It had gone off the rails with our previous firm.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a fully-implemented design as well as a partial codebase. The integration with another technology wasn't functioning properly and ImageX was able to resolve this. We only had contact with one developer, but he may have had support in the background.

How did you come to work with ImageX?

The firm which wasn't able to take on the project referred us to ImageX.

How much have you invested with them?

We worked on an hourly contract.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work was completed in August 2016. The project was supposed to take only a few days but ended up taking one month to complete. It proved more complicated than ImageX anticipated. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

ImageX was able to get the integration working, which was a key part of our project. It had been completely derailed but ImageX got it to the finish line. Our homepage is currently live. Everything has gone according to plan in terms of quality and bug resolutions.

How did ImageX perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated with our developer using Slack.

What did you find most impressive about ImageX?

It seems difficult to get honest communication from some firms about Drupal development. They typically outsource the work after claiming to take it on themselves. In the case of ImageX, they were honest and true to their promise. Our developer was solid, which I appreciated.

Are there any areas ImageX could improve?

It would have been better to get a sense upfront of the total number of hours our project required. It ended up costing more than I thought. A part of this was on our end since we were trying to achieve something very complicated. Outside of this, I was happy with their work.

BACKGROUND

Please introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a private Christian university. I'm the IT [information technology] director of the organization. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with ImageX?

We had decided on the Drupal platform for our website after researching technologies, but our own technology department did not have the time or resources to handle our project in the timeframe we wanted and, as a result, we decided to bid the work to external suppliers. 

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

ImageX designed our new website, using the Drupal platform. One of our top priorities was meeting the needs of prospective students. When they came to our website, the experience needed to be intuitive and it was important that they found the right information, presented in a pleasing way. One of our strategic objectives is to increase enrollment. We needed a better way of managing and governing content, so the tools used by the people in charge of this needed to be easy to use. Not all of them are technical. The people who develop copy and take pictures won't know how to program a website, so they needed the right tools in place.

We also wanted the ability to test the design with respect to navigation and resource accessibility. I wanted to make sure that we had a way of making decisions based on data versus the opinions of the web services committee. In the past, we'd had trouble with getting a consensus. One person may think that a certain design or structure is good, while someone else may not like it. I wanted to leverage our user base for making decisions. ImageX provided a solution for capturing that kind of data. Whenever we had a decision to make, we could use data to show if the users agreed or disagreed with a certain approach.

Another requirement was making sure that the new website was mobile-friendly. Our data showed that many of our students were browsing the site using mobile devices.

There were probably more resources on ImageX's team behind the scenes, but the core people that I'm aware of included our project manager and another person who was involved in the proposal process as well as a graphic designer involved in the user-interface kit. She was incredible in providing the design for our new website. We also worked with a programmer who was involved in the more technical issues, helping us develop many of the back-end requirements we requested. My internal team was responsible for providing copy and images for the website.

How did you come to work with ImageX?

I went on to the Drupal marketplace and chose 12 different vendors, based on their profiles. I contacted them for proposals and received five to six interesting replies. We started talking with the remaining candidates. We had not had the time to flesh out a full request for proposal. ImageX proposed helping us with putting one together. I sent that proposal to all the vendors and received the best proposal from ImageX.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

Drafting our RFP [request for proposal] had a cost of $13,000. ImageX provided some work at that stage, which would have been done whether we chose to work with them or not. The actual project had a cost of around $110,000. We received an additional proposal at the end for enhancements that were not included in the beginning. It was for an additional $20,000. We haven't used up those additional resources.

What is the status of this engagement?

We're still working on additional enhancements with ImageX.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Using our testing and feedback processes, we engaged users at several points during the discovery phase. We created focus groups featuring both prospective and existing students. They had a big contribution in determining what our website would feature. It was no surprise that, once we implemented those specifications, we received a lot of positive feedback. We were giving them what they wanted. Furthermore, we received a lot of feedback which was strictly voluntary, and which was overwhelmingly positive. The new site was a big, positive change compared to what we'd had before.

How did ImageX perform from a project management standpoint?

With respect to the work process employed by ImageX, we started out with storyboarding and used different elements, which eventually turned into a RAID log of issues. As the project moved along, items disappeared out of that RAID log and were marked as complete. During the process, whenever we had questions, wanted changes or needed clarification, whether in terms of functionality or design, ImageX provided revisions, which showed that they listened to what we told them.

What distinguishes ImageX from other providers?

ImageX proved to have a good understanding of overall issues so that, even with our poor articulation of the requirements, the problems were executed beyond our requests. Throughout the process, ImageX has been very professional. Not every issue has been resolved to perfection or to our exact specifications. ImageX warned us at times that, even though they could implement something, it would be costly due to the work required. ImageX asked us to prioritize tasks and decide what was or wasn't worth doing. We sometimes went to the second-best alternative and used the additional resources on items that were truly important. There were certain realities that we had to deal with respect to cost, but we ultimately prioritized things to our satisfaction. The most important problems were resolved.

Is there anything ImageX could have improved or done differently?

ImageX could have done a better job at reporting how resources were being used. We were a bit surprised to find out that we had used up our resources toward the end. It would have been nice to get precise hourly reports, showing us how many hours had been used up and how many we had left. ImageX did do an audit of our project after the fact, and they refunded us for quite a number of hours, enabling us to do things for which we were trying to find the necessary budget. I was very pleased with how ImageX's principal [president and CEO Glenn Hilton] handled our contract after it was completed.