Savas Labs

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and CEO of a boutique management consulting and coaching company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Savas Labs?

We had a residential face-to-face role-playing business simulator that we run for customers, and we wanted to create that experience virtually.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided Savas Labs with a lot of documentation related to the project because they really needed to wrap their heads around understanding what the residential experience entailed. Then, we went through the entire design process with them — from concept all the way through to various sprints and developing an MVP. As part of that, they determined all the UI/UX details and figured out what functions our system really needed to perform.

The team used Heroku to build the custom features that we wanted. One of the functionalities they developed was taking a manufacturing plant and developing it into an intuitive and real operation that could function within the software where it looked like a real manufacturing company was performing. It took a great deal of effort and analyst to complete that, but that allowed us to see where things were going wrong and what the outputs were.

At one point, they also asked me about doing my website. However, it didn’t really go anywhere because I hadn’t solidified my brand yet. They now continue to enhance the MVP they’ve developed. 

What is the team composition?

We’re working with Chris (Founder & CEO) who serves as our relationship manager and ensures that our agreement is followed through. We also have a project manager who’s managing day-to-day tasks and helps us connect with their engineers.

How did you come to work with Savas Labs?

Clutch helped me find Savas Labs. They seemed like a good fit because they were a small boutique, but what convinced us the most was what they could do in a very short timeframe. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in April 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve performed exactly what they’ve promised and even exceeded expectations. Most developers only want to take something that’s already been created and build on that. However, Savas Labs is really involved in the creative process  — it’s important to them that everything is working well. Additionally,  they’re very quick to adjust whenever we’re faced with problems.

How did Savas Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Savas Labs has a great project management process, which allows us to be on track. They’re very good communicators, and they’re always on top of things. In fact, they’re good at utilizing Teamwork and Airtable — two pieces of software that have really allowed them to complete things in a timely manner. Above all, they’re very agile.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed by their ability to take our ideas and create something unique and develop something truly amazing. They also know exactly what we need. More importantly, they have a huge amount of integrity which a lot of developers take for granted these days. Their trustworthiness is something that’s good for our business considering that COVID-19 really hit us hard.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They changed a couple of individuals that were on our project and switched them out. However, they didn’t really communicate that to me so I was unsure of who was taking over and that disrupted our project a little bit. They did that a few times during the MVP development phase and now a few times as we’re enhancing. However, I do understand that there’s always going to be a turnover rate.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re doing something within a very short timeframe, you have to be committed because they’re going to be waiting. If they’re constantly waiting on you, then that’s going to throw off their rhythm or performance.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Chief Marketing Officer of a healthcare technology company that offers a platform to improve access to appropriate health care for patients with advanced illnesses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Savas Labs, and what were your goals?

Our company was founded in 2017 and developed a scaled-back version of a website to ensure we had a web presence. Our company has grown significantly since that time and we are working with Savas to help us manage and develop new pages and functionality until we can budget to do complete a revamp of the entire site.

SOLUTION

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

We received a recommendation from a previous vendor that we had worked with in the past.

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

We have calls to discuss the work needed with the Savas team. We receive a project plan and hours needed to complete the work. If any design work needs to conducted, we receive mock ups to review.

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

We have a project manager and depending on the work needed we get two to three people to handle the work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don't have any measurable results at this time.

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

We are very happy with the overall communication, project management and work of the Savas team. They look at all options for us and provide us with the best and most cost-effective options for us to consider.

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

They are very professional, organized, and responsive to our needs.

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

I don't have any areas at this time that I've noticed needs improvement. We've been very happy with their service.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of product at a machine learning analytics startup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Savas Labs?

We needed help redesigning our website and updating our internal client portal.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Savas Labs redid two of our websites using Webflow for one and WordPress for another. The sites already existed prior to the project, but we asked for a complete overhaul. The team created an entirely new design while incorporating parts of the existing design. Alongside that, they delivered some graphic designs.

What is the team composition?

We worked with around 4–5 people, including a project manager, a developer, and two web designers.

How did you come to work with Savas Labs?

Our CEO found them on a review platform.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from May–July 2021. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We measured the project’s success by looking at its effectiveness in our demonstrations and how well it portrayed our software platform. They grasped what we were looking for and developed it in a unique way rather than building it like a traditional website.

Additionally, although we didn’t hire them for rebranding, we were able to use their website redesign to conduct a rebranding on our own. Savas Labs went above and beyond and built a cohesive design that we could leverage in other parts of the business.

How did Savas Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Savas Labs had excellent project management. It was a complex project that required a lot of development, so they did have to extend the timeline. However, we felt confident that they had our best interest and the overall outcome in mind whenever they asked for extensions. 

They were also very communicative and on top of the project. We used Zoom for our check-ins and Teamwork to interface. Additionally, we had occasional phone calls if there was an issue we needed to iron out.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Savas Labs truly absorbed and understood our audience — they had never met our users, but they cared about our customer’s experience. The team dug deep to understand how the platform would be used and factored that into their designs. As such, they gave us excellent recommendations. Another thing that impressed us was how thoughtfully they approached the website redesign.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they did a fantastic job.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take the time to do your discovery phase so you know what you’re trying to achieve. Once you present that to Savas Labs, they’ll take it to the next level.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the application analyst of a grant-funded program that does HIV/AIDS research and prevention in mother-to-child transmission.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Savas Labs?

Our Adobe Dreamweaver website was built in 2013. It was thrown together using an existing site template. We wanted a completely new CMS and a refresh of our site.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Savas Labs built our new website in Drupal 9. They handled front-and backend development. We went through extensive design iterations. They connected the site to a SQL server database that we manage ourselves.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two frontend designers, two backend developers, and one project manager.

How did you come to work with Savas Labs?

We sent out an RFP and received a lot of proposals that we narrowed down based on technical prowess. Savas Labs had already done another project for our department successfully. Their project management skills and technical team also led us to select them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent a little under $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2019, and we launched in January 2021. We still have an active contract with them for small enhancements and updates.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our internal team and external collaborators all love the website so far. Their design team was very responsive to our suggestions and changes.

How did Savas Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They used Teamwork for project management. We communicated mostly through their project manager, who was fantastic. They were always very responsive and quick to get things moving.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We looked at a lot of proposals for this project. Our SQL server database isn’t a normal part of the Drupal stack. Savas Labs was one of the few vendors that was able to clearly explain how they’d connect to our database.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind. Their project management capabilities have improved night and day since the first time engaging with them five years ago.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to prepare to spend time with Savas Labs and be engaged. Give them real feedback to work off of.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of sales and marketing at a SaaS platform for product developers and designers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Savas Labs?

As a product company, we spend a lot of time focusing on our own products. It became challenging to find time to work on our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired a contractor to revamp our website but they weren’t able to finish. We hired Savas Labs to finish our site where the other contractor left off.

They migrated our React and Gatsby website to a WordPress platform. We provided the design but they built out the frontend and hooked it up to a CMS for us to use. They also provided project management over the developer that was doing the build.

It’s a standard marketing site with links supporting documentation, products, and legal terms. Visitors are directed to our sales team when they enter our site.

What is the team composition?

We worked with one engineer and one product manager.

How did you come to work with Savas Labs?

One of their founders worked at an agency with a friend of mine. My friend referred me to Savas Labs. We had a quick chat and it seemed like a good fit.  

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2020, and we wrapped up in March 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Savas Labs was able to deliver what we asked on time and on budget. We’ve gotten good feedback from the design and developer communities we’re a part of. Our customers were also happy with what they saw, too.

How did Savas Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

We used Teamwork for project management to share documents and tasks. They were good communicators. The team was always clear, timely, and easy to work with. We also had a shared Slack channel.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re an easy-going team that understood what we were asking for.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they did everything we asked them to do. They did a good job executing the project.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to have a defined brief so that both parties can be clear on expectations.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I direct digital communications for a university’s office of alumni engagement and development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Savas Labs?

The university had a project concerning a new initiative. We needed a microsite that creatively presented information about our science and technology initiative. We needed independent support for my internal web development team, helping to build a starting point for learning about the topic. We wanted to start by building something simple but also supporting scalability. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Savas Labs helped our team build the website from scratch. However, we did use technology and tools throughout the project. At the base, we wanted to work against the WordPress platform. In collaboration with us, they created the concept and design. It was a comprehensive project, involving frontend and backend development.

What is the team composition?

At least 6–8 people from Savas Labs worked on this project.

How did you come to work with Savas Labs?

I was familiar with their founders and their previous work for the university. When looking for solution providers, I was able to connect with Ben (CEO).

What is the status of this engagement?

We began the initiative in late October 2020 and finished on schedule at the end of January 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They efficiently and creatively executed the project against a tight timeline. The site is new, having only been live for about a month and a half. At the moment, we’re just establishing a site launch baseline.

However, our numbers jumped from zero to substantial four-digit numbers within a few weeks. I expect that those to continue climbing upward.

How did Savas Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

We used Basecamp-type tools while their team used tools like Teamwork. There was a whole suite of communication apps in play. The collaborative tools allowed us to efficiently work remotely during COVID-19. We ran this project like a normal engagement though.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Agility distinguishes Savas Labs from other providers. Their team was flexible and creative. They cohesively and capability put all of a project’s pieces together. Their team took a 30,000-foot view with us and saw the project’s nuances and put those pieces together.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really. Although we rely on internal resources and haven’t worked with too many vendors, Savas Labs was one of the top groups I’ve worked with.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

When you work with any creative agency, it’s helpful to give them the latitude to run with their ideas. It’s also important to give them the most information about content, style, and goals upfront. That gives them the ability to run ahead and come up with ideas relatively unfettered.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a program director for a higher education institution in North Carolina.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Savas Labs?

We were tasked with creating an interactive research roadmap. We wanted to bring content from 30–35 offices, each having their own website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They designed and developed a Drupal website from scratch. The goal was to create one central website that would bring together information from all these different offices and be very interactive and engaging for users.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Chris (CEO), one program manager, one designer, and two different developers.

How did you come to work with Savas Labs?

We reached out to our procurement office, and they had previously done some work with other offices. They were highly recommended with the ADA compliance with the websites they’d done before. We reached out to them, as well as two other local companies, and got bids from all of them. We decided to go with Savas because we felt a lot more comfortable with the pitch that they gave us, we liked their aesthetic design style and a variety of other factors.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2020, and we wrapped up development in September 2020. They’re still involved in maintenance and upkeep.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve done a couple of demos of this site for our higher-level leadership, and we’ve gotten very positive feedback. People are very excited about how it meets our goals, it’s very user friendly, interactive, and easy to use.

How did Savas Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great with project management. Maddy (Full-Stack Developer) was our project manager and we met weekly. We got updates from her every week on the timeline and the budget. and they were flexible throughout our project, too.  They totally stayed within our budget and finished slightly ahead of time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team seemed very genuine and they were all good people. They were really fun, professional, and enjoyable to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not necessarily. We did have to do some tweaks afterward, but that could be because we didn’t explain it correctly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

 I’m the VP of client services at a strategy, design, and development agency. I oversee our project management and account management teams, along with project delivery.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Savas Labs?

We have a long-standing relationship with the University of Virginia, and their Darden School of Business. For many years, they used Drupal as their platform, which isn’t a platform we develop in.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We brought Savas on as our partner to execute a re-design project. We did the content work and information architecture, and they took on the backend development work in Drupal. They were the CMS implementors on the project. Their work ranged from technical consulting, to integrating our frontend development files as templates in Drupal, and project management.

What is the team composition?

The core team was 3–4 people.

How did you come to work with Savas Labs?

Our offices are actually right across the street from each other. The COO at Savas was formerly a project manager at our company, too. We knew that they specialized in Drupal and that they’d done similar higher education work with Duke, so that’s how we vetted their work and brought them on as a partner.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We kicked off in October 2018, and we launched in August 2019. They provided support until October 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The feedback that we got from the client is that the CMS hit all of the goals we were looking for. It was flexible, easy to use, intuitive, and they’ve also been able to take over ownership in-house.

How did Savas Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Since this was a multi-vendor dynamic, we ran into the most challenges with project management. The team was incredibly collaborative, and we both ended up being flexible on our timelines and budgets to come to an ultimate solution. This was probably the area of the project where we had the most amount of overhead, too. We used BaseCamp, Slack, and Redmine for project management and communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We have a trusted partnership with them and we know they can jump in and collaborate easily with our teams. They also give us recommendations and push back for the best technical approach, especially since they know the ins and outs of Drupal. They came through on that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The main thing that we both discussed was investing more time in technical discovery and feature definition. That way, we could’ve set the client’s expectations around how things would work in the CMS and what was possible.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re incredibly collaborative, open, and honest in their communication. Embracing them as part of your team and going all-in on that collaboration will yield the best result. The team is very solutions-focused and will get to an end result that’ll work for everyone.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Vintoux is a startup for myself and a few other entrepreneurs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Savas Labs?

We had the concept and some of the basic user flows, but we needed a company to build the app for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We needed backend database development and API integration. They worked with React Native.

What is the team composition?

Their team had a team of two developers. We had a project manager as our point person and a lead developer.

How did you come to work with Savas Labs?

We researched companies to work with. That involved a search in the Raleigh-Durhan area. I had a conversation with them and it was clear that we shared values in common. The local partnership and its transparency made it easy to connect.

How much have you invested with them?

It was between $50,000 and $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work went from November 2019 to April 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of the development work that we got was very good. They embraced the idea of collaboration and partnership. The collaboration was ultimately successful in launching the app. Any issues that we encountered, which were typically on our side, they jumped on the phone to help us.

How did Savas Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management involved a strong tool that they shared with us. The project manager kept everything well-organized. They were able to follow through and execute on deadlines. It wasn’t a problem at all.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed with their strategic abilities. Their thoughtfulness about user flows and presentation was great.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I was very happy.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We asked them to share their expertise and recommendations. We listened to it—I’d say we followed most of their recommendations. You should approach the situation with flexibility. We had some healthy debates on what made the right sense for our business. Let their expertise guide the path forward.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director of Marketing & Communications for a unit of Duke University that provides educational programs to gifted students in grades 4-12. Our student base is located across the U.S. and the kids we serve go on to enroll in a wide variety of universities.

Our goal is to help them reach their full academic potential in the years heading up to college while supporting their emotional and social needs. In addition to program staff, we have a large research department that specializes in giftedness.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Savas Labs?

We hired SAVAS to conduct a usability study of our main website. This was with the understanding that the usability study would be the first step in a re-design of our main website.

What were your goals for this project?

To see if our 4-year old website design still satisfied our needs and delivered our stakeholders the info they needed in a an intuitive, seamless way. In addition, because there were so many conflicting opinions within our organization as to how the website should be improved for the future, we felt bringing in outside experts might help settle some internal debates.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We asked for proposals from a number of companies, outlining our goals and needs. Three companies submitted proposals that put them in the final round, but SAVAS won out on the strength of their proposal. 

They had really listened to what we needed, created a proposal that addressed our concerns, provided a great deal of helpful background information as part of their proposal, outlined a specific approach upfront and really seemed to be listening to us.

In addition, their price for a usability study was very competitive. They were upfront about what we would get for our money, what might be needed in the future, and what could be cut if our budget needed trimming. Not once have they ever pressured us into contracting for more then we needed. In fact, their entire communication style is to be upfront, frank, and transparent. It is very much appreciated.

Describe the project in detail.

We had a website originally designed by an in-house university-wide team that served us to four years but nonetheless had created confusion among our stakeholders because of its architecture, design style (non typical treatment of links), and complexity.

We brought SAVAS in to conduct in-person and online usability studies and focus groups with our parent, educator, student, and alumni stakeholder groups. After conducting this research for us, SAVAS presented recommendations on what our actual users felt about the website along with recommendations for how we could prove it.

Their recommendations included things we could do internally at no extra cost, short-term strategies for improving the existing website, and a longer term plan for redesigning it.

What was the team composition?

On my end, my content manager served as point person for the project. i was heavily involved, and other team members rotated in and out as needed. Our Executive Director wanted to be a hands-on member of the project team toward the end and SAVAS accommodated her nicely.

From a SAVAS standpoint, I was aware of two SAVAS principals plus various developers, focus group and survey leaders, and support staff on the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They created a recommendations presentations that was incredibly helpful. They provided background and context, educated a lot of people on our end on the issues involved plus the terminology, then presented their findings in a very clean, prioritized way that addressed our budget concerns and manpower constraints.

They really got that we needed to work within certain parameters and respected that. I found their recommendations to be right on the money, presented in a way that made them palatable to leadership.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They were great! They set up a special instant messaging channel for us, had an account manager, kept us updated daily, and responded to our questions in a very timely fashion.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

1. They way they really listened to us.
2. Their ability to put our best interests over their desire to land more projects from us.
3. The way they stuck to their deadlines and made every single one. When is the last time that has ever happened in any project?
4. The way senior SAVAS staff stayed involved in the project from start to finish.
5. The way they delivered exactly what they had promised they would.
6. The way they communicated with us in a very transparent,  non-B.S. way.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Honestly, I see no areas where they could improve. We considered tiny one man shops, huge ad agencies,and then SAVAS which turned out to be the perfect middle ground. We got personalized service with real, specialized expertise.  Their account service was great and their advice right on the money.  We will be using them again.