Kew Consulting

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a senior insport officer for a charity that strives to make sports more inclusive for people with disabilities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Kew Consulting?

Our insport program needed its own custom software solution, so we hired Kew Consulting to build a new portal for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We first had a couple of meetings with Kew Consulting to go through our vision of what we wanted to build. What we needed was essentially a portal where our client could store documents and data and where we could track their progress through our project.

The team went on to develop the custom solution. The end-product is a portal where each user has a personal login that’s linked to their account. Each club can have its own account and a set number of aims and standards, and they can upload supporting documentation as evidence of how they’re achieving those aims. A case officer, who’s usually someone who works with our organization, can also access, review, and leave comments on those documents through the portal. 

On top of that core feature, Kew Consulting also developed functionalities so we can use the portal to manage our course bookings. Individuals can request courses and tutors can confirm their availability within the software.  

What is the team composition?

Our key contact is Daniel (Director and COO). We’ve also interacted a bit with the developers. 

How did you come to work with Kew Consulting?

We went out to tender, and they approached us. Their package had more to offer, and they were competitive than the other providers. When we met them, we felt that they would be capable of building what we envisioned. They are based in Wales as well, and we felt that was an added value.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around £30,000 (approximately $40,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in January 2021, and the portal is now live. We still have regular catch-ups with Kew Consulting since they’re actively hosting our portal.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We now have a user-friendly portal that passes our GDPR policy and security standards. 

How did Kew Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management and communications was good. Our deadlines shifted from time to time due to different circumstances, but these changes were reasonable and explained well by the team.

Most of our communication was done through Trello, Zoom, and email. We also had monthly meetings to manage outstanding comments on Trello and to see whether our site was progressing properly in line with the launch.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Kew Consulting was able to get our vision. We like that they understood our goals, stuck to a plan, took up on our suggestions, and ultimately achieved what we wanted.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they were really good overall. If I was being picky, we did have some occasions where we requested changes to be implemented in one area, but as after that change was implemented, some other needed change would follow. This could’ve been avoided if certain things were checked beforehand. 

That being said, I think it would be good for them to make sure that everything is consistent and to allow more time for testing. Granted, it was our first time doing this as well, so it was difficult to allocate time.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a good plan and project structure. Also make sure that everyone is keeping consistent with the deadline so that you have enough time for testing.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the product manager for a software development company that does policy configuration and product customization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Kew Consulting?

We needed someone to provide us with custom software development, as well as the experience required to accomplish specific projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The process normally starts with the client providing us with their requirements, which we will then analyze with Kew Consulting. After clarifying what’s needed, we would write user stories, collect information, and negotiate the timeframes and development work. Once we reach an agreement with the client, we’ll discuss the potential delivery timelines based on the available resources.

We would then start the development process and establish 14-day sprints, which include end-to-end integration tests to identify defects to remedy before delivering the final product for deployment.

Apart from that, they also provide us with technical consultation, and some of the technologies we implement are JavaScript, JavaServer Faces, and HTML.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with about 2–3 people, and our main point of contact is the project manager.

How did you come to work with Kew Consulting?

The founder of Kew Consulting was a former employee of our company, so the relationship has already been established.

How much have you invested with them?

The total amount that we’ve invested is somewhere between €1 million–€5 million (approximately $1.1 million–$5.6 million USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in December 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I would say that we’ve established trust and reliability during the ongoing engagement. We also like their flexibility and team dynamic, as they’re able to successfully deliver their task within a 14-day cycle.

How did Kew Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management is actually on our side, because we’re the ones who handle the customers and implement the agreements.

We mainly communicate through email and Rocket.Chat., but we also use Teams and talk through phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

One aspect that distinguishes them from the competition is their reliability.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve on is building more resources.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would tell them to just do it and start working with Kew Consulting.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a recruitment company providing data science employees to companies around the world. I’m a manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Kew Consulting?

We were initially using a whiteboard to log the client interviews each day, which was messy and time-consuming. We had an existing CRM, and we wanted to implement a leaderboard for interviews into it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Kew Consulting developed the leaderboard functionality of our CRM. I believe they used a mix of .NET and JavaScript.

What is the team composition?

I worked with one of their directors. He specked out the platform and assigned it to one of their developers, and we looped back throughout the project.

How did you come to work with Kew Consulting?

Their director is a friend of mine.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent £10,000 (approximately $13,360 USD) on the project.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Kew Consulting in November 2019, and the rollout was in December of that year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The module they’ve built has led to greater adoption of our CRM platform. Well over 90% of our members are using the CRM now, as opposed to maybe 20% before.

Beyond that, there’s a backend portal built into it, which allows us to forecast results in terms of placing candidates with clients. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 wasn’t an ideal year, but the software has allowed us to make some forecasts and better understand activities throughout the business.  

Nobody’s complained about the functionalities of the platform. It’s being used in two offices, and the login is simple and straightforward. We’ve used it for almost a year, and we’ve had 2–3 issues with it, but they were simple bugs. It’s good in terms of reliability.

How did Kew Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

They delivered on time and on budget, and the platform is a great value for our money. They responded in a timely manner whenever we needed something. I had a couple of questions during development, and we jumped straight into a Microsoft Teams meeting and talked through those. We haven’t used any tools beyond Teams.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were building a bespoke platform, and Kew Consulting was open to trying out new ideas. We gave them a brief, they built it, and there were very few changes we needed to do. They were very good at gathering our requirements and building what we wanted.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Any improvements were in terms of how we could make the platform even better than it already was. It’s working perfectly, so there’s no need to change it.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I have no advice in particular. The good thing about Kew Consulting is that they’re still a small company, so they’re lean and straightforward. If the client is open with what they need, Kew Consulting will be expedient with what they can provide.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are Germanys leader for real estate valuations. I'm the responsible product manager for all automated valuations based product

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Kew Consulting, and what were your goals?

We wanted to create a map based webapplication to display valuations

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Personal Contact

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Multiple projects, from stat to finish

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

2 senior devs, 1 junior dev

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

All project were to delivered on time

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Project management was done by us

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They were fast, reliable, and smart. most important: could be relied upon to add smart feedback

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No.