New Target, Inc. - The Digital Agency

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Department Director of SAIC

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

SAIC is a premier Fortune 500® technology integrator driving our nation's digital transformation. Our robust portfolio of offerings across the defense, space, civilian and intelligence markets includes secure high-end solutions in engineering, IT modernization and mission solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire new target, inc. - the digital agency to accomplish?

• Site Maintenance Support and Development

SOLUTION

How did you find new target, inc. - the digital agency?

Referral

Why did you select new target, inc. - the digital agency over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from new target, inc. - the digital agency were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

New Target offers a comprehensive range of digital services to support SAIC in refining and adapting their digital presence. This includes conducting a thorough Drupal Web Audit to assess performance, security, and optimization of the SAIC website. New Target's specialists review the code, infrastructure, front-end performance, and custom modules to identify any issues and provide detailed recommendations for resolution. 

Additionally, New Target provides ad hoc Drupal development and design support, ensuring SAIC can adapt to changing needs and target new goals effectively. Overall, New Target's services help to optimize SAIC's website performance, security, and functionality, enabling them to maintain a robust digital presence that aligns with their evolving goals and priorities.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

SAIC has experienced increased website performance, enhanced our security, improved our user experience, and had an increase in web traffic and visibility through our partnership with New Target.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

New Target's project management demonstrated a commitment to delivering items on time, ensuring timely completion of tasks and milestones. They were responsive to our needs, addressing any concerns or requests promptly and effectively.

What was your primary form of communication with new target, inc. - the digital agency?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

What I found most impressive and unique about New Target was their ability to provide a comprehensive range of digital services, from Drupal web support to design, development, integration, and training. Their expertise spans multiple areas of digital strategy and technology, allowing them to deliver integrated solutions that meet the SAIC's evolving needs. Additionally, their long-term partnership approach and dedication to understanding the big picture sets them apart, ensuring sustained success and a personalized experience for their clients.

Are there any areas for improvement or something new target, inc. - the digital agency could have done differently?

Nothing notable at this time.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Communications Manager of Daughters of the American Revolution

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

DAR is a non-profit women's service organization. In addition to being a membership org, we are also a genealogy library, museum and a concert hall.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire new target, inc. - the digital agency to accomplish?

• Redesign our website look and feel
• Improve the website functionality and clunky processes

SOLUTION

How did you find new target, inc. - the digital agency?

• Online Search
• Other

Why did you select new target, inc. - the digital agency over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from new target, inc. - the digital agency were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Updating our 2016 website to bring it more current in terms of look and feel. Updating a lot of back end functionality to improve usability. Upgrading front end functionality to better user experience. Making the website ADA accessible. The DAR website is incredibly large, improving navigation to improve usability.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Launching an attractive, well-received website.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Incredibly responsive, listened to needs and came up with great solution, always on time and helpful.

What was your primary form of communication with new target, inc. - the digital agency?

Virtual Meeting

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

DAR is incredibly unique, and new target, inc. is helpful, patient, and listens to all our needs. Always willing to go at our sometimes slower speed.

Are there any areas for improvement or something new target, inc. - the digital agency could have done differently?

There's nothing they need to improve on.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director Web Strategy & Digital Marketing at a connectivity solutions company.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Our company is a provider of technology-driven connectivity solutions to primarily maritime customers globally.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire new target, inc. to accomplish?

• Redesign website
• Improve customer journey
• Improve user experience

SOLUTION

How did you find new target, inc.?

Referral

Why did you select new target, inc. over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Referred to me

How many teammates from new target, inc. were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

New Target was hired to migrate our company's website from an outdated CMS to WordPress. Our company was looking for a new website that would be easy to update and make changes internally. The website contained extensive product and service information as well as a document library, hosted in Salesforce. 

The deliverables included a new website design encompassing a scalable design system, 10-12 page templates, and a Salesforce integration to create a searchable document library within WordPress.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Our site speed increased by 100%, the site search and document library accurately returns search results, there are fewer clicks involved to get visitors to product information. Overall, the user experience has improved, and engagement has increased across the site.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

New Target's project plan included an extensive strategic planning and discovery period. This included site map designs, requirements gathering and style tile creation and feedback. There was clear communication regarding deliverable dates and feedback expectations. New Target responded promptly to all questions and if there was any confusion regarding anything, they were quick to jump on a call to make sure we were on the same page and that they had a thorough grasp of our requirements. 

We had a firm launch date deadline so we were quick to provide necessary client feedback. New Target, in turn, was quick to turn around their next deliverable and we were able to launch on time.

What was your primary form of communication with new target, inc.?

Virtual Meeting

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

We were very impressed by new target, inc.'s thorough and extensive requirements-gathering phase and the project manager and developer's constant questions, which demonstrated how carefully they were listening in our meetings. The solutions architect assigned to our project was outstanding. He went out of his way to accommodate our requests and customizations and proactively communicated if a request was not realistic or practical.

Are there any areas for improvement or something new target, inc. could have done differently?

We had a project manager change during the project which was not ideal. However, I don't think it could have been avoided and did not impact the outcome of the project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am part of the digital marketing team in my travel company. We work with New Target to supplement our workforce in Drupal support and webs projects.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire new target, inc., and what were your goals?

We've hired New Target as our digital support team, focusing on Drupal and strategy in web projects.

SOLUTION

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

I inherited the agency when I joined the company in March 2021. After a few months, I worked internally to make sure we created long-term engagements w/ New Target. For me, the agency is working at a senior level in digital strategy and Drupal web development. We benefit from their accrued knowledge from other clients and are the gold standard for me in digtial best practices.

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

We depend on the agency during our 2week software sprints and releases. They have tickets, we handle tickets. However, I look to them for the definitive answers. If they say go w/ Option C, we go w/ Option C.

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

We work heavily w/ 2 people (project manager, lead developer) and a host of people we don't see (additional developers, research, analytics, and QA). We are especially impressed w/ the level of detail from the QA team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've had two large successes in 2022:

1. Google Data Studio. NT set us up - w/ our own Google Analytics feeds - so Marketers can run their own analytics, using GDS. It's been a bonus for staff to get their analytics Just In Time. On our staff, we don't have the expertise to implement GDS.
2. Home page makeover. In December, we brought to NT the combined work of web designers, writers, creatives, - and me. We had a pretty good 2do list of requirements for a responsive design that needed to do a lot of things in a short amount of time. NT met the challenge , we launched on time, and the project looks great - especially on the back end.

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

We hold two weekly meetings and a joint sprint release every 2 weeks. The first is a meeting of the two teams (our digital team and NT's project manager and lead developer). We review open tickets and discuss next actions and roadmaps for projects. It's a good exchange of information.

The second meeting is for the project manger/I to discuss budget, available hours, high-level strategy, and planning.

The third meeting is the sprint release. Over 45 minutes, we push code and - together - test updates and new modules on the PROD server. It's a breeze, because we find all the errors during testing in the lower servers. Our sprint releases are nearly relaxing :)

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

The can-do attitude from the back-end developers was most impressive. We're asking for a lot of reporting and database synchronization w/ other proprietary servers on our end. Sometimes we're creating new solutions. Most often, we're reaching into their deep knowledge to make a project work based on work they've done before.

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

According to our monthly support contract, we would run out of hours. We'd either have to stop work on the 25th of each month, or pay overage fees. I worked it w/ OUR accounting team to expand our support hours by 50% so we could make much better use of the agency.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of an autism research organization. We operate a job board for autistic jobseekers and employers across the United States.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with new target, inc.?

We were looking for a vendor that would understand our community and help us revamp our website, which we were rolling out on a localized level. Obviously, as we grew, the needs of and demands on our website would change, so the site had to be flexible and scalable as well.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We began by having numerous conversations with new target, as we’d already provided a document outline of what we were looking for and what needed to be on the site. Through our conversations, we tweaked and worked down what we had.

What is the team composition?

They took a team-based approach with us. We met with their people early on, right as we were compiling our requirements, including a solutions architect, a project manager, a design resource, and a marketing specialist. It was a very collaborative engagement; we even worked with someone in their leadership. Moving forward, into the technical and nitty-gritty details, we worked a lot with the project manager and the solutions architect.

There were probably a dozen or so people in total, a lot of them helping us with testing and revamping the website.

How did you come to work with new target, inc.?

When we began soliciting vendors, we reached out to people who had been with different development companies. My supervisor had worked with new target and spoke very highly of them, as did one other person who wasn’t related to our company. We were very intrigued, and therefore had a couple of calls with them to make sure they fully understood what we were looking for and that they would be a good fit for us.

We were considering other vendors as well, but when push came to shove, new target was leaps and bounds ahead of all of them. We spoke to several of new target’s former clients, and everything they’ve said has been true. I’m so glad we went with them, and I can’t sing their praises enough.  

How much have you invested with them?

The initial estimate was $86,000, and we ended up spending a bit more on a few changes that weren’t in the original scope. The total was around $87,000–$88,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since July 2021. The website has been completed, but we continue to work with new target for hosting and other things. They do testing on our site at certain intervals as well.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s a bit hard for me to document metrics, as our site doesn’t operate in a way that’s conducive to gathering them, but on the anecdotal front, job seekers say that the site is much easier to use and much more aesthetically pleasing than it was. I’ve received a lot of positive feedback from job seekers and employers about how amazed they are. This is unsolicited praise; we’ve had clients contact us out of the blue and say that they love our site.

We had very specific needs, and new target did a lot of research, including into our clients, to address them. They were able to understand our clients, and that has resulted in a large increase in the number of job seekers building out their profiles.

How did new target, inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

They were extremely efficient, accommodating, and understanding throughout the process. They didn’t miss deadlines, and they even kept us on track. Availability was a given and ongoing, with them keeping us updated through both meetings and emails.

The project lead has done a fantastic job throughout the duration of the project, always responding to our questions, which not a lot of companies do. They don’t take the time to explain how certain components interact on the backend of the site or with different plugins.

They were able to deal with any changes we requested as well. For example, we put in the requirements that we wanted to launch the site in January, but as we approached that date we realized that we wanted to a soft-launch to our current employer partner so they could get signed up. This didn’t require a whole lot from new target, but they made it happen within our scope for the project. They made it so the required emails that were triggered would be different from the emails that would go out during the actual launch.

What did you find most impressive about them?

new target has had a lot of positive energy throughout the project, which they insert to help us find ways of doing things that we weren’t aware of.  Their receptiveness to feedback stands out from that of other web developers that my organization has used in the past as well. Most firms aren’t as flexible and adaptive to what we need, and new target absolutely rolled with us and makes everything happen for us.

They were frequent in their communication and made us feel like we were a part of the development process. Both of these characteristics also stood out to us, because they both take time and energy.

I can’t speak highly enough of new target and have thoroughly enjoyed working with them. They’re certainly recommended to anyone I meet that’s looking for any sort of website development work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

This is very tough. There’s not much that they need to do differently, but providing more documentation about the mechanics of the backend would be helpful. This is a minimal point at best because they did cover this topic during our training session. It’s hard to say anything truly negative about my experience.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear as to what you’re looking for in your requirements. Being clear on that and then taking time to read through it will allow them to fully understand what the site is going to become and evolve into.

I’m not a web developer, so I didn’t understand everything in the requirement document regarding the terminology, so take advantage of their knowledge.

Giving feedback to new target is also very important throughout the process to ensure that you receive a functional and usable end product. You’ll be able to tell them if you don’t like an aspect of the design.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of earned and owned media relations at the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC). We’re a national nonprofit working in the identity theft and identity crime space to empower and guide consumers, victims, businesses, and governments and mitigate identity compromises in crime.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with new target, inc.?

We hired them for a website audit.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve had a few projects with new target. First, they did a website audit and gave us a review. From there, they redeveloped our website from scratch using WordPress. We also had a separate site that was Salesforce integrated, and for our latest project, new target moved that site to the new WordPress site. 

This project involved migrating all the data from the Salesforce site over to our new website and a complete rebrand of its pieces. They had to migrate over 16,000 records from Salesforce into WordPress. The team also redesigned our logo to give it a cleaner, more modern look while still holding our bookmarked identity. They’ve also updated our reports’ design, letterhead, and PowerPoint presentations to be consistent with our new website. 

We have a contact center to help victims of identity crime, so the biggest part of our website involves giving people access to a chat where people can talk to our advisors. For this, the team integrated a chat bubble. new target also added a toll-free clickable phone number and many educational resources. We have scam alerts, blogs, analyses, and reports on the site to help people prevent or recover from identity theft and protect their businesses. Currently, new target still provides monthly maintenance for our website. 

What is the team composition?

I work with around 4–5 people from new target regularly. Along with a project manager, there’s a solutions architect, head of design, and someone higher up. They also have teams within the company doing work for us that I don’t interact with.

How did you come to work with new target, inc.?

At the time we hired them, I wasn’t managing the website. However, I believe that we put out an RFP for an audit, and new target came in with a proposal. We had an onboarding call with them that went well, and we brought them on. 

How much have you invested with them?

The website project was $100,000, and the migration project cost $30,000. So far, we’ve invested at least $150,000, including the audit and the maintenance contract. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around April 2020, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since new target revamped our website, we’ve had close to 260,000 new users and 300,000 sessions with an average duration of 61 seconds, which is good. The improved session time is partly due to the redesign and some recommendations new target gave us about keeping users more engaged in our content. 

We’re also very happy with our time-on-page. Our page views are over 430,000, and page sessions have a duration of 1.46 seconds. The number of sessions per user is 1.14 since new target took over. Additionally, we’ve seen a lot of engagement with the chat function on our site, which is one of the things new target helped redesign. The chat had over 700 clicks in both January and February, 1,400 in March, and 1,000 in April. 

We’ve seen an initial dip in our traffic that we expected with a new website. However, we’re on an upward trajectory that we’re happy about, getting closer to our previous numbers. Overall, all of us are happy with new target’s work, starting from the audit through our latest project. 

With the audit, they provided some great information that led us to rethink the material we were putting on our website. We changed our writing style to be more effective and digestible, and these changes have been successful for us. The website's revamping has been a huge success, too. They had great ideas, did a great job in the execution, and met the deadline. 

Everyone is thrilled with the new site and the way it looks. The site looks better, and we get great comments from others outside the organization that see our content and our branding. Additionally, they have great people that really care about us and our success. We’ve built friendships with them beyond work, and that’s part of the reason why we work so well with them. I can’t say enough good things about new target and the work they’ve done for us. 

How did new target, inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

new target does a tremendous job with project management; they communicate really well, meet all their deadlines, and are flexible. We use Zoho, where we manage all the tickets and projects. We also email frequently and have Zoom and Microsoft Teams calls, especially during projects. They’re always open to communicating with us; if I ever email them with a question, they’ll jump on a call with me. 

When we were doing the website, we had weekly meetings. Close to the end of the project, we switched to daily meetings to go over everything and make sure we were all on the same page. For the migration project, we gave them a tight deadline because we had to get it done within three months, even though it should have been a five-month project. new target found a way to make it work and met this aggressive timeline, working 24/7. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m most impressed by new target’s design skills. The functionality of our website is way better and more user-friendly, as are the design and the look and feel. This all came from their recommendations; they’re the experts, so we give them the range to do what they think will be best. Their expertise is noticeable in our logo, design, and website — they’ve excelled and exceeded our expectations.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of any major constructive feedback for them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communicate what you want effectively. The more you can tell them, the better their idea and the more likely you will get what you want. I’m on the side that overcommunicating is better than under-communicating. This works for us with new target because we always get exactly what we want. Don’t be afraid to reach out because they want to help you and hear what you have to say.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there. 

I’m the VP of sales and marketing at a startup called Higher Education Skincare. We’re an emerging skincare brand that targets consumers between the ages of 17–29, which is when a person’s skin starts to see a lot of changes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with new target, inc.?

We were looking for resources to develop a robust e-commerce website with additional bells and whistles.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

new target, inc. developed a secure e-commerce platform in Magento, integrating reporting tools such as QuickBooks to help us manage our operation. The site features product pages, video content, an Instagram feed, and a blog, all of which we’re able to easily edit ourselves.

In addition to the standard shop components, the team built several modules to make the check-out process as smooth as possible. They designed a BI-compliant (business intelligence) backend, which allows customers to place an order through our site, even if we sell the item through a separate retailer. 

One of our unique features is a youth advisory board that showcases popular products among our users. People can then share these items by linking their social media accounts. Registered members can also participate in a rewards program, track purchases, and view order logs.

What is the team composition? 

I mostly interacted with about four key resources, including a phenomenal project manager. But, in total, there are approximately 13 resources assigned to our account.

How did you come to work with new target, inc.?

I had worked with one of their partners before while we were both at different companies, so it made sense to reach out to them for this project. They were technically well-versed with Magento, and we knew they could build a highly secure platform. 

How much have you invested with them? 

We spent about $275,000.

What is the status of this engagement? 

They started working on the site in November 2017 and completed it in time for our launch in November 2018.
 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our executive board and the internal team have given a lot of positive feedback on the site’s aesthetics. From a functionality standpoint, it’s easy to click through to our Instagram page or read a blog post, and the reward points are refreshing, too. We’re confident that the site’s easy-to-use function will keep our customers coming back.

How did new target, inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

Despite being on opposite ends of the country, we never had an issue communicating with them. They were organized and efficient, keeping us up to date with weekly meetings and project management tools. We used GoToMeeting during development to share screens, which allowed us to see what they were doing and provide feedback.

Once we launched the site, we used Zoho Desk to report bugs or request enhancements. We would create a ticket, and the project manager would assign it to a resource. From there, we could monitor the task progress in real time, which was extremely efficient. Overall, their level of professionalism and communication was outstanding. 

What did you find most impressive about them? 

I was impressed that new target, inc. had worked with numerous government agencies in the past because it meant that they had a good eye for detail. When working for a branch of the government, it’s important to produce thorough, quality work that’s also highly secure. This was a critical priority for us, and new target, inc. definitely delivered on that front.

Are there any areas they could improve? 

The details on their monthly invoices can be somewhat confusing. While I understand why they organize it that way, it would be nice if they could refine the details on the bills to be clearer.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?
 
You should know exactly what your requirements are before starting development and understand that you’ll likely have changes or additions as you go along. For us, we spent three hours going back and forth on our requirements, and new target, inc. worked with us to go over the cost of each item.

We ended up dividing the project into two phases, accomplishing as much of the core functions as we could in the first implementation to launch the site, then going back in to build additional features. Even during development, we would have ongoing conversations on ways to improve the site and the logistics behind them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the communications director for an independent government commission. Our organization keeps historical records regarding human rights as well as documents about economic and environmental cooperation within the international community.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with new target, inc.?

When I started, our website hadn’t been updated from either a technical or design perspective for about seven years, so we needed resources to redevelop our site and migrate our files. We had over 40 years’ worth of content that, in most cases, didn’t exist anywhere else, including primary documents and historical reports. As a result, our biggest challenge was finding a way to manage that level of diverse content and engage first-time visitors while still being useful to our existing user base.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They redeveloped the whole site from scratch and updated the overall look and feel. Our previous bespoke CMS was terrible, so they switched us to a Drupal framework. They kept some of the original site’s functionality, but the majority of the features they added was new. After developing the new platform, they migrated all of our content.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two project managers. We also met with 4–5 other people over the course of the project who provided technical or marketing strategy support.

How did you come to work with new target, inc.?

One of my colleagues had worked with them before, so I reached out to new target when we issued the RFP. Of all the proposals we received, theirs was the most comprehensive and realistic in terms of both the budget and time line. Not only did they provide a strong work sample, our initial conversations with them were excellent. It can be difficult for people to comprehend our organization, but new target did a great job of understanding our mission and approach.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $70,000 for the redesign and maintenance.

What is the status of this engagement?

Their work on the site lasted from August 2017–February 2018. However, we still work with them to maintain our site.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Internally, the people who work on the administrative end of the site have been extraordinarily happy because they don’t have to understand more than basic HTML to manage the site. We’ve also received universally positive feedback from our end-users. Several government organizations have called us to ask about our redevelopment process because they liked the site’s look and feel.

How did new target, inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

We didn’t have any issues with their management at all. Working with them has just been fantastic.

What did you find most impressive about them?

As I mentioned, we’re a complicated organization that sits at an interesting nexus between the legislative and executive branches. As a result, our foreign policy work can be hard to understand. Their team was able to quickly grasp all of our project goals and guided us appropriately. This included what we wanted to accomplish, how we wanted to get there, and what changes we needed to make to our web presence to further our mission.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Aside from being open to the process, make sure to provide them with as much information as possible. During our RFP process, it was challenging because our commissioners had their own political agendas, and it was essential that we took them into account. By articulating these types of concerns from the client side, new target will be able to address them appropriately.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The American Council for Technology-Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) is a nonprofit educational organization established to improve government through the effective and innovative application of technology. We provide an objective, trusted, and ethical forum where government and industry executives can communicate, collaborate, and learn.  We’re the premiere public-private partnership in the government technology community. I’m the IT Chief, and I’m responsible for the technology that supports our members and staff, including our website project.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with new target?

Several vendors built ACT-IAC’s user interface and website in Drupal with integration to netFORUM. In 2015, we began a major netFORUM upgrade, and decided to take the opportunity to modernize our website simultaneously. We’d had problems with past vendors, and we wanted to do a lot of the development in house, but needed someone to do the more complex work for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

new target’s mission was to redesign our website, including developing integration solutions as necessary. They were responsible for all aspects, including design, development, integration, testing, migration, hosting, and support. They worked with our netFORUM support contractor when required on changes to related components.

In 2015, our website was having strange issues, and we’d changed our architecture completely because netFORUM could support some features the older system couldn’t. new target worked with the existing system and migrated parts, depending on whether they worked or not, to netFORUM. We had to move everything in a single day, and we didn’t have anything we could do slowly.

We were replicating data in the old Drupal system because the APIs were not very good. In the new system, we could do much less of that. We now use netFORUM as our system of records, and our Drupal site accesses it to get the information it needs. The site is embedded within our new site, so users can go between them, but they look and feel the same. We had to redo the architecture of a lot of these interfaces, which is probably the hardest thing new target had to do. Much of what’s in the website is a combination of items we developed separately.

They also redesigned our user interface, and it’s completely different than it was before. We moved from focusing on development to enhancement, which is where we implemented new features into our basic system. We did as many things as we could during the first year, and we now have about 6 new features we want to implement every year.

We currently contract them for hosting, hosting support, Drupal patching, operations, and maintenance. They help us if netFORUM changes anything, and they’re also assisting with ongoing development.

What is the team dynamic?

There were 4 main people, including a project manager, lead architect, senior developer, designer, and about 3 more people who came in as needed. When we had to switch project managers, the process went very smoothly.

How did you come to work with new target?

We did a competitive bid where we gave descriptions of what companies needed to accomplish, and then had them come in and do presentations. We’re a member of a netFORUM user group, so we talked to a couple of the companies there who had Drupal environments integrated with netFORUM, and they gave us some recommendations for vendors.

We talked to 4 companies, including new target. It was about a 2-month bid process, and we tried to describe what we wanted to do in a concise manner. Timelines were critical since we had to do 2 projects simultaneously, and communication was also essential to ensure the integration would work properly. Two other companies had recommended new target, and we ultimately decided to bring them on board.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2015, and the initial development was a 9-month project. Since then, we’ve continued contracting new target for hosting, operational support, and enhancements. We plan on keeping them around for quite a while.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As a result of working with new target, we’ve decreased our operational costs, including hosting and hosting support, by approximately 15%, and our annual enhancement costs have decreased as well. We were in an AWS [Amazon Web Services] environment, but new target moved us over and currently manages it as part of their overall portfolio. They’ve been managing it very well, and according to usage, our sites are becoming more popular. We’ve had only 1 minor outage at the hosting level, so overall, it’s very reliable.

Our annual costs are much lower than they were 3–4 years ago. We now have about 10,000 members, and they all comment on how much cleaner, easier to use, quick, and friendly the new website is. We’ve completely changed that user interface and modernized it, and it’s now a lot more mobile friendly. Our executive director is very happy with the progress.

Other companies have quoted projects at 2–3 times the amount that new target offers. As we move forward, the process that new target has put in place allows us to manage our costs more effectively. They’re very good about estimating costs, and they’ve met every single budget estimate. We only went over budget once, and it was because netFORUM’s documentation was wrong.

How did new target perform from a project management standpoint?

new target has worked closely with us to ensure we plan according to our budgets and schedule constraints. They set up a ticket management system, Zoho, that works extremely well to manage our requests and responses in a transparent fashion. I’m always able to see what’s going on, and if there’s an issue or bug, they explain what they have to do to fix it. Their communication skills are second to none. We’re not a big customer for them, but we get attention when we need it.

Joe [Digital Project Manager, new target] is our project manager. We have regular phone meetings, and in-person meetings when necessary.

What did you find most impressive about them?

One of the reason we started working with new target is because they’re located near us in Alexandria. When we have something major going on, we’re able to drive to their office and talk to them in person. They’re also willing to come to our office, so the entire collaborative atmosphere has made a gigantic difference. Since we do much of the interface development with internal staff, it’s necessary to coordinate our effort to avoid major issues. new target established guidelines to enable us to do our development without impacting their own.

new target is very knowledgeable about what they’re doing, and they understand our problems since they focus on associations. They’ve demonstrated their ability to not only understand our business, but also manage our work on a relatively small budget. Communication has been excellent, as well as the quality of their deliverables.

We’ve run out of funding a couple of times, but we were able to talk about it and figure out solutions as we went through development. They’re very good about working with us on everything and making sure our needs are met. They listen to us instead of lecturing us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. They’re a part of our company, so if I have an issue, I can talk to Joe anytime.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

The Mathematical Association of America is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is considered the largest society focused on mathematics at an undergraduate level. It has around 15,000 members, 13 special interest groups, and 29 geographical sections. The primary purpose is to provide a membership to university professors, high school teachers, and undergraduate and graduate students. The association also prints books, publishes five journals, and organizes national and regional conferences. MAA runs the American Mathematics Competitions, in which around 400,000 high school and middle school students participate annually. The winners of these competitions then participate in the International Math Olympiad.

What is your position?

I held two positions at the MAA. I was hired as a web developer and user experience architect for the organization. I was responsible for managing all aspects of the website development, from maintaining and adding content to enhancing the website with new features. My biggest responsibility in this position was to manage the web redesign project with the goal of creating a professional website that would combine three different websites that that the association owned and managed into a single solution. Later on, I became an IT [information technology] manager. I was still responsible for web management but, in addition to that, I oversaw the entire IT operation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with New Target?

The organization had never engaged a professional web design firm to work on the website – New Target was the first professional agency hired for this purpose. The previous version of the website was essentially a collection of HTML files built with the help of volunteers. I was only the second professional webmaster that the association had.

Another challenge was the sheer amount of content. The site featured tons of pages – more than 45,000 – on three different domains that needed to be combined into a single site. Two of the domains had no content management system while the third one was built in a proprietary CMS that was very unstable and eventually came to a halt.

In 2012, the organization made a decision that the website needs to be redesigned. We put out two requests for proposal and tried to look for a suitable candidate. We want to work with an agency that would deliver the new site on time and on budget.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

As mentioned before, we had three different domains that we were trying to combine into a single all-encompassing website. New Target helped us clean up the content, getting rid of elements we didn't need, and implement new design and information architecture. Up to that point, the association had no self-service portal for the members. There were a few dynamic pages for the members built in DNN, but the members always struggle with being able to log in. The information on member-only pages was very limited. The potential members could not apply for a new membership online, and the members could not renew their membership online. Making donations online was also not possible.

How did you come to work with New Target?

Our first request for proposal was for an assessment and discovery of what we had, what we needed to do, and what the result would look like. We posted an announcement on the ASEA forum. The community recommended several agencies, New Target being one of them. New Target won the bid for this first step and delivered a written assessment of where we were and made recommendations for next steps. Within six months of the initial discovery, we moved toward the implementation of these recommendations. We posted a second request for proposal. New Target bid on the project and emerged as the clear winner. Compared to the other agencies, New Target truly took an interest in getting to know our organization and the goals we set out to achieve. Working with New Target never felt like working with an outside agency. It felt like working with our own team. Additionally, we liked the work and designs New Target had implemented for other organizations.

What is the status of this engagement?

The final website was handed over in July 2013. New Target continued to provide support and helped us with a number of web-enhancing projects and requests even after the web redesign project was finished. New Target truly had had a huge impact on our organization, and we were extremely pleased with the team and their work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

One of the biggest achievements of the web presence project was the ability to provide our members with a self-service portal as a one-stop shop. They can renew and auto-renew their membership, update their personal and credit card information, make a donation online, access their e-books, and so on.

The new look and feel of the website is light years ahead of where we were with the previous site. On New Target's recommendation, we implemented Drupal, an open-source content management system, which allowed staff to create and modify pages without relying and waiting on the webmaster. Page properties and design elements were pre-set, so users did not have to worry about the final visual result and, at the same time, they could get their content to the website without any major hurdle.

How did New Target perform from a project management standpoint?

I sat down with their director of technology [David Morrison] periodically to discuss solutions that we wanted to implement. I was always treated as part of the team. After the website was deployed initially, we continue working with New Target on individual web requests. Many times, we ended up deploying and working through Saturday and Sunday nights. Their developer was always available for us, making sure everything was working properly.

What distinguishes New Target from other providers?

I always felt that I could talk to their team as colleagues. I never felt that New Target didn't have time for me or that they were nonresponsive. They are very personable. They care about their clients and stand behind their results. Our voice was always heard, and they've delivered exactly what we needed – a great website that received a lot of positive feedback.

Is there anything New Target could have improved or done differently?

I can't think of anything. I very much enjoyed working with New Target. I work for another association now. New Target provides web hosting to my new employer. For me, New Target will always remain the top agency that I would want to work with if I were to work on another web presence project.