Swordsweeper

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an executive of Challenger Center

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Emersive education technology for K-12 students.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Swordsweeper to accomplish?

• create a new interactive software platform with a streamlined UI and UX experience
• create an interactive simulation with complex graphics, videos, and real-time data collection
• link simulations to a central database for advanced data collection and reporting

SOLUTION

How did you find Swordsweeper?

Referral

Why did you select Swordsweeper over others?

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

How many teammates from Swordsweeper were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Swordsweeper was hired to create an entirely new proprietary software system that could handle complex media, interactive simulations, and that was capable of advanced data collection and reporting services. In addition, the system needed to have a robust user expereince and an admin experience that allowed super users to create content and interactive simulations through a sandbox without the need to use code. The system needed to have advanced features like read-aloud and translation to provide accessibility for end-users and admins alike. 

After creating this amazing system, we continued to contract with Swordsweeper to build several interactive simulations on the platform. These are complex multi-year projects that involve multiple contributorsand subject matter experts, review cycles, user-acceptance testing, and real-time iterative design.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The new software platform was able to be launched on time and on budget across multiple locations nationwide. New users were impressed with the functionality and ease of the UI/UX process. Swordsweeper was always willing to go above and beyond for our project and delivered simulations that exceeded our expectations.

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

Sworsweeper is very easy to work with. They are responsive, well informed, on-time, and on-budget. They were extremely invested in our project and managed both the project and expectations well.

What was your primary form of communication with Swordsweeper?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The entire team at Swordsweeper is fun to work with, and you can tell they enjoy their work. The are fast, efficient, and keep you well informed of the project every step of the way. We were very hands-on clients and they felt like part of our team from the very beginning.

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

Swordsweeper was a delight to work with. I would happily work with them again!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO and COO of Forge Consulting.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Swordsweeper?

We needed help developing a couple of custom software pieces we were building internally.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Swordsweeper provides us with custom software development. We initially met with Swordsweeper to scope out the project. We went through a statement of work and started building the software together. We’ve used Django and SQL for the database.

We initially built a CRM platform, and the bulk of its functionality has been up and running for a year and a half. We’re now developing individual business applications that meet specific needs and bolting them onto the CRM platform. Swordsweeper provides maintenance and support for the CRM and develops the business applications.

What is the team composition?

We regularly engage with 3–4 teammates from Swordsweeper. Ben, one of the partners, was initially very involved in the process and was one of our main points of contact. He did a lot of system architecture work based on the business requirements we pulled together. 

Currently, Cole is our main point of contact and does much project-related work. Allison is the project manager for our engagement. We also work regularly with a couple of developers. Around five teammates cycle in and out depending on what aspects of the platform we’re working on.

How did you come to work with Swordsweeper?

Swordsweeper was referred to us by a business partner. After the referral, we interviewed them and really liked the team we talked to. They seemed like a good fit.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2022, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve seen an increase in internal productivity. Although we don't have a baseline number of cases and can't provide exact numbers, we look at the headcount of the teams impacted by the project and the volume of casework they can process. 

How did Swordsweeper perform from a project management standpoint?

Swordsweeper is very good at communicating progress and issues that come up. They’re also good at talking through challenges that may slow things down. Additionally, Swordsweeper has done a really good job managing expectations internally and communicating with us about timelines. We use Jira internally to manage some of the communication flow. We also use email and Slack with Swordsweeper.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’ve been very pleasantly surprised with Swordsweeper’s ability to sit with us and understand the underlying business process we’re asking them to impact. Our space is a bit niche, and we’ve been impressed with their ability to understand our business and help translate that into business requirements and technology solutions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any glaring issues.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take the time to help Swordsweeper understand your business. It will pay dividends for you. The better they understand the environment you’re trying to fix, the better they’ll be equipped to build the fixes for you.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Chief Strategy Officer of Zipliens

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Zipliens partners with personal injury law firms to handle all of their lien resolution needs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Swordsweeper to accomplish?

• After years of working with Swordsweeper, we wanted to tackle specific R&D projects to prove viability and ultimately incorporate them into our existing platform.

SOLUTION

How did you find Swordsweeper?

Referral

Why did you select Swordsweeper over others?

Great culture fit

How many teammates from Swordsweeper were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Given that we had worked with Swordsweeper for many years, the scope of this project was to combine institutional knowledge of the existing product + business needs and co-develop a R&D/special projects roadmap. After prioritizing the roadmap, we began proving out feasibility & probability of success. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The work is ongoing, but the team has already delivered two successful projects that have *passed* R&D phase and are now being folded into the platform. 

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

Very attentive and timely. Exceeding my expectations.

What was your primary form of communication with Swordsweeper?

Virtual Meeting

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

Ability to truly understand our business needs.

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

None

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Executive of Social Rocketship

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We help small to midsize business create client acquistion systems

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Swordsweeper to accomplish?

• Assist with custom website functionality

SOLUTION

How did you find Swordsweeper?

Referral

Why did you select Swordsweeper over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Great culture fit
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Swordsweeper were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Swordsweeper assisted with custom functionality for a very specific website project. They hit every milestone on time with a job well done. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Project completed. 

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

Delivered on time. Responded quickly and efficiently.

What was your primary form of communication with Swordsweeper?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

We were impressed with their skill and ability to execute a specific vision.

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

No