Integral Vision Ltd.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the HR Manager for IP Systems, a software development company for the energy market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Integral Vision?

We wanted to develop a new software solution for performance management. Before we hired Integral Vision, we didn’t have any software support for our internal processes.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our project centered on working together to build an appraiser system. Using Java, Integral Vision developed our web-based platform that helps human resources professionals collect reviews. They built the system to cover all the requirements of our performance management system.

We started off by defining the specification of our needs. We held several meetings to introduce Integral Vision to our current process. Together, we worked to figure out a cohesive software solution. We conducted multiple testing phases before we went live with the platform.

What is the team composition? 

A project manager worked as the bridge between our company and the developer from Integral Vision.

How did you come to work with Integral Vision?

We found Integral Vision via a recommendation.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $10,000-$15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from October 2016–January 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our project was successful. Integral Vision implemented our platform as intended, and the company is currently using it. The performance management system is now entirely handled by the platform they built for us. Everyone who has seen it is happy with how it works. 

How did Integral Vision perform from a project management standpoint?

Integral Vision’s project management style was very flexible and efficient. We communicated via Skype, phone call, or in-person. I was satisfied with the frequency of communication. The team asked good questions and were very fast to implement our requests. They always followed the plan. Whenever something went wrong, they quickly modified the scope accordingly.

We worked together using the Agile methodology. Integral Vision developed specific parts of the process during each two-week sprint. After each one ended, we’d hold a meeting for the team to demonstrate what they developed so we could discuss it. Based on the performance, we would then fine-tune the system and our requirements moving forward. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Integral Vision was very professional and flexible. They were always available for our project and learned very fast. They quickly understood our needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve the design. During this project, we focused more on the content.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I was the online marketing manager of the Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest. We research, collect, and present contemporary art. I was responsible for our online strategy, social media, website, and online campaign management.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Integral Vision?

We needed to redesign and rebuild our official website to be more user-friendly.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted an interface through which people could search both our permanent and stored collections online.  

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We invited them and other vendors to send us a proposal. Their attitude and IT and UX background came through clearly in their proposal. We were very impressed with their attention to detail.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We required a long-term solution that didn’t depend on a licensed product. Integral Vision suggested we use Drupal, as it’s a robust, open-source framework. We ran two-week iterations capped by them delivering demos. They were transparent and consistent in helping us clarify our expectations throughout the process.

What was the team composition?

They used a medium-sized scrum team comprised of a product owner, a scrum master, and two developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Users have told us they like how functional and well-designed the new site is.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Because of our multiple stakeholders and roughly detailed RFP, hitting our deadline was going to be challenging. Nevertheless, Integral Vision brought extensive agile/scrum experience, as well as valuable solutions we hadn’t thought of. We developed a trusting, productive cooperation that concluded on time.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their adaptability stood out to us.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Clients would benefit from Integral Vision redefining initial requests to uncover core needs. Integral Vision’s experience is particularly well suited to doing this in the UX field.  

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of a Hungarian NGO focusing on social services provided to immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. We mainly work in Hungary, but also have projects across Europe. There was a huge increase in immigration to European countries a couple of years back, where hundreds of thousands of refugees reached the region, including Hungary.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Integral Vision?

We provide services to people who’ve recently moved to Hungary, and also work with professionals from other organizations that are active in the field. We needed assistance with our communication activities on the website, along with general maintenance. They also engaged in IT or web communication activities related to some of our services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our engagement has been for web development. We went through a huge restructuring of our static website two years ago, and Integral Vision has also been hosting it for the last 10 years. They address any issues or glitches, and for more complicated things like new development requests, we plan the work with them.

Integral Vision was also in charge of creating an online training platform for our organization. We also created a coordination and communication platform for organizations similar to ours. These projects had many phases and elements—we went through an ordinary procurement process, describing what we wanted and what we were dreaming about, and we had planning meetings with their colleagues. We discussed our possibilities, they had some recommendations, and we finalized the agreement. We worked in sprints during the implementation and had meetings every fortnight, during which they reported on the tasks achieved and discussed our next steps.

What is the team composition? 

Each project had a project manager assigned, with whom we liaised. We involved the rest of the team for more important matters, including myself and their executive director. There were usually three or more people from each side present during meetings. My impression was that Integral Vision always worked in teams, and there was no single person fully in charge of all details. There were people in charge of the content, the graphic layout, and the platform and programming side.

We didn’t have daily communication; instead, it depended on the stage. With the website, it was usually once a week or fortnight, but, during the more intensive parts of the learning tool project, it was several times per week. We also have meetings at either the beginning or the end of the year in which we review the work and make plans. 

How did you come to work with Integral Vision?

We were working with a provider that made our Drupal website, but they couldn’t handle all our requests. They recommended Integral Vision as a competent partner that could take over the job. We made a formal request based on that recommendation.

How much have you invested with them?

I estimate the total at $50,000–$60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

They began work on the web maintenance part at least eight years ago. The two platform projects ran from May 2015–September 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The learning tool was quite a success. It’s something we hadn’t used in our previous work, and it was very much appreciated by its participants, that number hundreds per year. I’m usually skeptical when it comes to these tools, as they can take more energy than they give in return, but this particular one is pretty handy and user-friendly. It was even used by participants to communicate between themselves, so it seems that they liked it.

How did Integral Vision perform from a project management standpoint?

I liked the continuous contact we had with them. They had a human face; we knew our project manager by name, and we had personal encounters, so communicating was easy in this respect. It wasn’t a matter of filing requests and waiting for a reply. Instead, Integral seemed to be a professional organization.

As an NGO, we organize communication and awareness-raising events, many of them charitable, rather than market-oriented. Whenever we asked Integral for help making presentations about e-learning and development, they always came around. Very often, their director handled this, and did so pro bono, on top of our relationship. It was something we very much appreciated.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their flexibility is impressive. They’re attentive and have a solid framework for what they provide. When it came to the details and the design, Integral was open and flexible in implementing what we were thinking of. The communication platform, in particular, involved a long, deliberative process with multiple partners. They were extremely patient, and we could always go back with our issues to discuss them further.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wouldn’t point at anything in particular. They are growing and should strive to maintain their attentive, human approach. I have seen companies that became more formal and rigid as they grew.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I would absolutely recommend Integral in general. It’s important for clients to be open and bold. We often expect these companies only to be able to talk about their work, but Integral is absolutely not this kind of team.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the communications manager for Honismerit, a nonprofit civil organization with member organizations throughout Hungary. Our goal is to improve the knowledge of Hungarian citizens about their traditions and homeland.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Integral Vision?

We hired Integral Vision to build a new and professional home page.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Integral Vision built our website from scratch. We wanted to have a website for all of our member groups and create a platform for those member organizations without any online presence. Member organizations can add news and programs to the site to inform other organizations and the general public. Our nonprofit also has a journal that deals with historical topics. We wanted an online version where people can get acquainted with our service and articles.

When we discussed our association with Integral Vision, we brainstormed on how to communicate what we do and ways to address a younger audience. Most of our members are over 50. The site needed to suit our traditional ways of thinking and activities, but at the same time, target younger people.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project leader, designer, and developer.

How did you come to work with Integral Vision?

I had met Integral Vision in my previous position when their team developed a website for us. When the opportunity came to create a site at my current job, I felt that Integral Vision was the best fit because of their way of thinking. They are dynamic and flexible.

What is the status of this engagement?

We engaged with Integral Vision between December 2016–June 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Integral Vision is a youthful and friendly team that knows how to address people and how the online world operates. The site is beautiful and user-friendly. External feedback has been excellent and more people know about our organization. Our journal is fully online now.

How did Integral Vision perform from a project management standpoint?

Integral Vision managed the project well. Everything was delivered on time. We sat down with their team every two weeks to see their progress. They helped us figure out what we needed in a platform.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Integral Vision’s team is friendly, creative, and professional. I deal with historical topics and have little knowledge about the computing world. I appreciated that their team helped me understand how certain areas worked and knew what I wanted to communicate to the public.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m satisfied with the website and its design. Everything works perfectly. In the beginning, it was difficult to translate what I needed in IT language. They could’ve assisted more with that at the start, but later on, everything worked out perfectly.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Customers need to specify their goals in the beginning. Trust in Integral Vision’s thinking because they are a partner.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a database developer at the Hungarian Institute for Educational Research and Development. We provide support services to the public education sector. Recently, we’ve been focused on developing textbooks.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Integral Vision?

Our institute had a long history with different names and structures. Because of this, our website was large and unorganized. Integral vision helped us redesign and redevelop it, implementing a new CMS and changing our entire workflow.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Integral Vision interviewed our decision-makers and stakeholders and used the information they gathered to create design plans for the technical migration. Following that, they made a clickable wireframe with mock content and started development after we approved the work. They built the site on Drupal with some custom modules, and we met every other week to review demos of the work. They implemented the changes we requested. Now that the site is done, they provide support and help with any problems that come up.

What is the team composition?

We had a product owner, but we also communicated with the company owner and the developers themselves. I think we interacted with 4–5 people from Integral Vision.

How did you come to work with Integral Vision?

I’m not sure how they were introduced to us, but it may have been through a referral. They were great from the first time we met. They were very professional, asked the right questions, and told us what could and couldn’t be done.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Integral Vision from 2014–2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

According to Google Analytics, traffic went up tenfold compared to the old site. The new one is very user-friendly and easy for us to edit.

How did Integral Vision perform from a project management standpoint?

It was really good working with them. We met in-person every 1–2 weeks and communicated via phone and email on a daily basis.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We didn’t always know what we wanted to achieve and only had a big-picture plan, but Integral Vision asked the right questions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that I saw. I’m disappointed we couldn’t continue working with them, given some financial issues on our side, because they were really great to work with.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Clients should meet Integral Vision's team. If there’s a strong commitment on the client side, Integral Vision will make a great product. If both sides aren’t on the same wavelength, they may not be the best vendor. Integral Vision worked well for us, and I recommend them, but we met with them regularly.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a product manager at Elegran, a modern New York City real estate firm. My job focuses on building a bridge between the business and software engineering teams.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Integral Vision?

We hired Integral Vision to upgrade and improve our website from Drupal 6 to Drupal 7. We also wanted them to develop an API integration for our internal database.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to have an improved platform with more usability on the front- and backend.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We looked for Drupal experts at an affordable price and knew Integral Vision was a reputable company in Eastern Europe. The main reason we chose them was their qualified, ambitious team.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

To start, Integral Vision helped us finalize our specifications. From there, they developed the front- and backend of our website based on the designs and business requirements we provided. Their team migrated our content from our old Drupal platform.

They built key features, including an API for our database. Their team also supplied SEO services for the upgraded site and created new listing pages.

What was the team composition?

They provided between 4–5 people for the work and had a dedicated project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The optimization of our new site is significantly improved. We’ve gained many more visitors due to the increased usability. Aside from traffic, the new database integration has eased the everyday process for our agents and administrators.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Integral Vision primarily used Jira to manage the project. We communicated through Skype for our standup meetings, demos, and reviews. Although there were time differences, we were consistently kept informed about their progress and updates.

As a team, they were prompt and communicative. We could ask for their insight on an array of web-related issues because of our open-ended framework agreement. Their developers were helpful and offered guidance on how to improve our web presence.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The productive, motivated environment and culture within the Integral Vision team is remarkable. One of our main principles within the software team is ROWE (results-only work environment), and we gleaned that from their team. Their unique, humanistic approach to the development field makes them special. They have limited fluctuations within their company, which is amazing.

Are there any areas for improvement?

It’d be great if they found more projects and clients based in the US.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Aliz (formerly Doctusoft) is a big data and machine learning-specialized Google partner with offices in Budapest and Singapore. Our team builds and provides solutions to help companies gain valuable insights into their business, predict the future, and optimize processes. We help our customers around the world to save costs and fuel growth. In my role, I’m responsible for business development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Integral Vision?

Our brand had become outdated, so we wanted a new look that would create a more intense digital footprint. It was important for us to show a higher level of competency and presence in the market, so we approached Integral Vision to help us renew our brand.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed the renewal to be widely accepted internally before we could start building our inbound lead generation machine. We would base the latter on content marketing.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

A peer recommended them to me.

Describe the project in detail.

They guided us throughout the entire rebranding process, from digital assets to web development. The lead designer created a new logo, revamped our email signatures, and created Word and PowerPoint templates. Afterward, he coordinated with an interior decorator to update the look and feel of our office.

In terms of our website, they assisted with UX/UI planning and web development. Our new site pages were optimized for SEO and highlighted our references, clients, career opportunities, contact information, and services and products. To promote our position, they bolstered our content across blogs/articles and social media.

What was the team composition?

They assigned a project manager, lead designer, and a back- and frontend developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Our employees and clients have given amazing feedback on the new designs.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Because we shared a strong agile background, we understood each other very well. They kept in touch with all stakeholders to ensure that everyone was aligned, and the site development was fluid. The lead developer gave biweekly demos where we could give feedback on each function.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Integral Vision is truly an agile development company. It’s an advantage that their in-house design and development capabilities are equally strong. Their designers’ UI/UX competency is far better than any company I’ve worked with. 

Are there any areas for improvement?

They should continue to grow more.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Farmit is a Finnish company with an agriculture website. It’s a service platform for farmers and forest owners in the area. Our main job is updating them with the information they need to fulfill their work: news, market-price data, and advertising for machinery. 

We also have an agriculture portal in Hungary, and we used to have a Russian version as well. I’ve been working for the company for the last 11 years.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Integral Vision?

We were migrating to a new Drupal version, and our old service team hadn’t performed as well as we hoped. We started looking for a dedicated team that could provide the level of quality we were looking for.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had three portals that needed updating to the latest version of Drupal at the time. The work involved migrating the data from another database and conducting a brand renewal for the Finnish service. We had a different brand on the market in Hungary, so we wanted to unify it. 

The project involved the branding process, then a development process for the new site. They then migrated the user data and website content and redeveloped all our services based on Drupal. The aim was to redo the whole site, while keeping all user data and the content that we’d published over the years.

When we wanted to develop something new, we let Integral Vision get into it, understand our needs, and come up with ideas. The results they came up with were really exceptional.

What is the team composition? 

We’ve worked with quite a few of their resources over the years, but we always had one Drupal team at our disposal. Their managing director was our primary contact, but they also had an account manager for us and 4–5 professionals under her, depending on the task. They also had a graphic designer during the branding process, and UI/UX designers for small interface components on the site. It was extremely handy that the same developers are still working in the company, and we’ve had only two account managers over the last six years.

How did you come to work with Integral Vision?

I’d been working for them for some time, so when I raised the idea that we should move away from our old system, they were an option. We also looked at many other companies, including a large international firm that we found had too many different clients.

In the end, Integral Vision had the most diverse client structure, with both international and Hungarian customers, none of which were too large. It seemed safe to move to them because of that. They also had really interesting projects in their international lane.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost over the years has been at least $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them on the site from August 2013–April 2014. They’ve updated our site regularly since then, and we’ve developed some smaller items with them. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The whole user experience is completely different now. Our approach to the website had been more-or-less technical, but Integral Vision brought in a new point of view; a user experience that hadn’t been considered previously.

Their biggest contribution was in determining how our services should be accessed, and how we approached this whole question. It was a completely new field for us, and it changed our organization as well. We became mobile-first, adopting the notion that information should be easily-accessible for users. This is something that they’re really an expert in.

How did Integral Vision perform from a project management standpoint?

We had constant communication with their team, mainly through their account manager. They used an online platform to follow tickets and tasks, whether those were one-off items, site updates, or new developments. We also had a demo—usually a videoconference—every second week, where they showed us everything they’d done, and where we could also discuss our plans. It’s a nice way of working together, and it’s quite fluid, with the developers always accessible. We communicate via email between those demos.

They’re always punctual with their estimates and delivered what we wanted; it was never difficult for them to handle anything more than we asked for. All in all, I’ve been really satisfied with them and I always enjoyed working with them—they were the first company where I encountered a two-week agile method. It’s great to have an account manager who knows the technical details, and through whom we can approach the whole company through them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re able to retain team members because of their company culture. We’ve spoken with their managing director a lot and on occasion, the Finnish team flew over. We had a chance to really talk, not only about the work itself, but about business. They have real trust between their management and employees, and everybody delivers as a result. Their whole operating culture works brilliantly, including the account managers; the projects we bring to them feel like their own.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They have to break through in international work, and I believe they deserve to. Their developers are in their element working on interesting projects, and they can tackle bigger things than what the average Hungarian client can bring them. They speak English and they have the desire to work on international projects. They’re really good at finding solutions for things that haven’t been done before. Opening up more would bring advantages to their existing clients as well.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Integral Vision isn’t really a company to use for isolated tasks. Their results get better when they’re able to become more involved with the customer’s mindset and projects.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of library and museum digitalization for Petőfi Literary Museum, an organization that aims to collect and explore the Hungarian literary heritage.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Integral Vision?

We needed a partner to integrate our databases and develop a website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our organization has lots of digitalized books and other content, so Integral Vision integrated all of those databases together. They also built a new portal for our users to access our database, using a new CMS. Currently, they provide support and maintenance.

What is the team composition?

The team size depended on the project phase. During development, we had about ten people, but we have about four people in the support phase.

How did you come to work with Integral Vision?

We put the project out to tender and narrowed it down to six companies. Integral Vision was the best, so we hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $40,000–$50,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked on the first version of our product from 2014–2015, and now they provide support.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They built exactly what we wanted. The number of visitors to our website has increased because Integral Vision made our databases easier to access. The UX is great, and the database migration was highly successful.

How did Integral Vision perform from a project management standpoint?

We ran agile sprints with two weeks intervals. They gave presentations every other week, reviewing what they did and what they were planning to do. They’re flexible, and we can call them whenever needed. We’ve worked with many other companies, and Integral Vision was the most prompt, professional, and proactive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They make strong efforts to solve our problems, and they challenge us to make the best product possible.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they always ask for feedback in order to improve.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Listen to them because they’ll come up with their own ideas to solve your problems.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the co-founder of an online training service provider called Eutraining.eu.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Integral Vision?

We hired Integral Vision to revamp our complex education platform.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a flexible, cost-effective and future-proof development structure that was easy to adapt to.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Integral Vision was recommended to us.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Integral Vision built a CMS using Drupal. The testing platforms were created with Vue.js, Node.js, and MongoDB.

What was the team composition?

We work with around 4–5 people depending on what skills were needed. Our main point of contact is a project manager that has been there since the beginning.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The new platform is a definite upgrade from our previous. The system is useful and easy-to-use, making future changes and improvements easier to manage.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Our project manager is dedicated and motivated. Their team uses an agile approach, working in two-week sprints where goals are set, and outcomes are reviewed.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Integral Vision works smoothly together. Their management emphasizes the well-being of their employees. They regularly ask their internal members how they’re feeling and give feedback to improve communication and stressful situations. This ensures their development team works in a stress-free environment where they can reach their full potential.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Their team could work on their planning and time management.