TechNeed

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a senior manager of training and community engagement at the American Bible Society, a nonprofit based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Our vision is to have people engage with scripture in many different ways. 

I work on a team called the Trauma Healing Enterprise; our mission is to help people overcome pain, grief, and loss by equipping churches and communities with the resources they need to respond to people's needs. I oversee program development and the technology ecosystem that supports our programs. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TechNeed?

We had a technology ecosystem and didn’t know much about it. The ecosystem included a database of records and a web application, and we needed to figure out how these two worked well together. Therefore, we hired TechNeed. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

TechNeed provides web and mobile app development for us. Initially, we had a discovery phase that lasted 6–9 months, where TechNeed learned about us and us about them. The team took that time to figure out what was in our ecosystem. We had ideas of what we wanted to do, but TechNeed recommended some critical issues they found within the ecosystem first.

Since then, TechNeed has fixed the ecosystem and the relationship between its different aspects. They’ve done automation work within our ecosystem. The team has also developed an Android and iOS mobile app from scratch. Currently, TechNeed helps us with our entire ecosystem. The team uses technologies like Flutter and Firebase. We plan to hire them for other projects in the future. 

What is the team composition?

We regularly interact with Brendan, Craig (Founding Partners), and Roman (Partner). A team of subcontractors also works on the project, including developers, engineers, and designers. 

How did you come to work with TechNeed?

A former colleague found them on Clutch. We chose TechNeed because they were among the best listeners, most caring, and most professional vendors I had ever interacted with. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $875,000 with TechNeed.

What is the status of this engagement?

We hired them in August 2021, started working with them in May 2022, and the engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We measure TechNeed’s success by looking at how we used our ecosystem before compared to what we’re accomplishing now. Previously, many of our processes were manual, tedious, and time-consuming. TechNeed has created an automated, user-friendly system for us. 

Additionally, we can receive more reporting from our end users and have higher engagement in our ecosystem thanks to TechNeed’s work. Moreover, we now have a mobile app in the app stores market available globally. The app increases our scale and scalability.

TechNeed has helped us learn what’s at our fingertips and how to utilize it best. They’re now experts in our entire ecosystem; they’ve taken the time to fully understand our needs, respond thoughtfully, and create a strategic plan. Moreover, TechNeed’s team is easy to work with and highly knowledgeable in their field. I hope to continue working with them for as long as I can. 

How did TechNeed perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re always on time. As for communication, we use email, meet through Zoom often, and also use Slack. TechNeed is responsive and professional. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

TechNeed is brilliant and has helped solve many of our issues. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’ve never had any significant issues with them. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Highly consider TechNeed, take the time to enjoy the discovery process, and get to know them. The team genuinely wants to be invested in what you’re doing and will help you achieve your goals. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder/CEO of (a/an) Real estate

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We're an investment real estate company and broker real estate deals throughout NYC.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Discovery
• Market Research

SOLUTION

How did you find TechNeed?

Referral

Why did you select TechNeed over others?

• Great culture fit
• Other

What was the size of TechNeed’s team?

2-5 Employees

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

We invested money with TechNeed to understand if there was a further need for a real estate platform in the current market that they were contemplating creating. TechNeed was an incredible partner in understanding the intricacies of creating a tech platform and researching the market to see if there was a need for what we were creating. The discovery phase was critical to achieving with a partner like TechNeed, and at the end of the discovery, we received our answer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Full report on how we can build the platform we were looking into
• Partnership with TechNeed
• Strategy to move forward successfully

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

They were fantastic! They delivered everything on time and provided more work and input than I thought I was getting. They were a true partnership for me and were very clear and concise in explaining everything.

What was your primary form of communication with TechNeed?

Virtual Meeting

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

Their honesty. Right from the start, they explained to me why they couldn't just give me a cost to create an app because each concept was so different. They were open to discussing details in their contracts, they made sure that I understood everything they presented to me, and were there every step of the way. They were incredibly kind, honest, and fun people, and that's all I could have asked for in a partner, especially because building an app is VERY new for me.

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

Nothing.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a professor of family medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. In my role, I’m also a practice-based researcher.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TechNeed?

We needed to develop a solution to collect real-time data from dozens to hundreds of practices around patient care. Thus, we hired TechNeed to help us with the project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

TechNeed helped us create a mobile application used by individual clinicians in primary care practices for real-time data collection. Initially, we provided them with information and a thorough review of a real-time point-of-care survey data methodology called the card study methodology, an observational methodology. Their entire team was involved during that process so that they could learn about it and understand what we were looking for.

After that, TechNeed walked us through the process as they translated that research tool into a mobile app that could be deployed in medical practices. During this process, their team was also an integral part of the design work; they collaborated with us during brainstorming sessions on defining the look and feel of the app. Throughout a six-month process, we met regularly to review, practice, and rebuild the app until it was ready. Ultimately, they delivered an app available for iOS and Android devices.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three people from TechNeed: two founding partners and a lead technician.

How did you come to work with TechNeed?

They had done some work for one of my partners; that was how we knew about them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $72,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from September 2021–March 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In June 2022, TechNeed co-presented with us a workshop on card studies and the mobile app at the National Research Conference. After that, we had 5–10 early adopters eager to utilize the tool. We’ve started working with those people on some consulting; at some point, I’m hoping to get positive testimonials from them.

The purpose of this project was to bring a historical methodology into the 21st century through this app, and TechNeed helped us preserve and include some of the design elements that were reminiscent of the way this was done 50 years ago. I was more than satisfied with their work, and they exceeded our expectations.

Overall, working with TechNeed was delightful. They were enjoyable to work with, both professionally and personally, as we got to know them. Throughout the development process, their team was eager to learn the language of the card study methodology, and they were great and patient at translating software development terms for us, helping us understand our options. TechNeed helped bridge the gap between technical aspects and our goal of a user-friendly interface to complete satisfaction.

My partner and I are both clinicians, so we didn’t have the skills or the language necessary to make this project happen. Thus, I really appreciated that TechNeed could communicate with me about what they did in a way I could understand. I didn’t have to learn about the technologies; I just had conversations with them about what was working and what wasn’t. Ultimately, they delivered the product we needed.

How did TechNeed perform from a project management standpoint?

We worked in sprint cycles, and TechNeed delivered everything on budget and within the timelines. We communicated via various video conferencing platforms, depending on who set the meetings. I set them up in WebEx, one of our partners set them up in Zoom, and TechNeed used a different platform from those. During those meetings, they shared their screens and helped us beta-test the product as we progressed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

TechNeed’s attention to learning what we wanted and how we thought about things was outstanding. They paid great attention to detail regarding survey collection at the point of care, translating what we described into a software product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything they could improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Learn from them and know that they want to learn from you so that the end product is a combination of what you want and what software development can do to achieve it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the director of marketing at a medical device manufacturer when I worked with TechNeed.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TechNeed?

We needed to upgrade our existing website to market our new product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially relayed our brand guidelines to TechNeed’s through a discovery phase, and they worked with us in finalizing the brand elements to incorporate into our new website. Their team also set up meetings with our stakeholders to learn more about our products and the industry that we operated in.

We specifically wanted a landing page that thoroughly explained the ins and outs of our new medical product, so their team came up with tailored solutions to emphasize that. Additionally, TechNeed integrated UX/UI features that streamlined the navigation experience of our users and made the information more accessible to them.

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact was Craig (Founding Partner).

How did you come to work with TechNeed?

One of my colleagues who worked with TechNeed in the past recommended their team to me. They also pitched their services to our team, and we liked what we heard and found their price points reasonable.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from January–June 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Unfortunately, I never got to see the website come to fruition as I exited the organization early on — however, I could confirm that TechNeed’s expertise was apparent in their work. Everyone was excited for our go-live date because TechNeed’s initial deliverables were creatively accomplished.

How did TechNeed perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly communicated via email. I couldn’t say enough great things about TechNeed’s project management skills — their services and communication channels remained accessible, and they kept us in the loop at all times. Any minor delays were relayed transparently to our team, so we never had to chase them for anything.

What did you find most impressive about them?

TechNeed was a talented and respectful partner that established a smooth and harmonious working relationship with our team. They took a great deal of their time and energy to understand what we wanted to accomplish and used their expertise to deliver that. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they were a great partner from the beginning.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be transparent in identifying your goals, and they’ll work with you to achieve those.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was Head of Bioinformatics & Data Science at Genosity. We were a biotechnology startup focused on providing tools and services for clinical research applications of genomics. We got acquired shortly after our engagement with TechNeed concluded.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TechNeed?

We engaged TechNeed help to evaluate our cloud infrastructure and platform to attain deep insights on what are the low hanging fruits for short term gains and long term efficiencies to be derived from process improvements. Lastly, knowing the infrastructure complexity, we wanted them to help us onboard a DevOps personnel that best aligned with the company needs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

TechNeed provided IT services. In the first phase, they helped us deep dive through our infrastructure. We worked with their resources to walk them through our business scope and workflow. Continuous engagement and problem-solving discussions naturally evolved into concrete deliverables from the discovery phase.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Craig and Brendan (Founding Partners). Craig is the business guru meanwhile Brenden was the software guru and project manager. They engaged a Senior DevOps Engineer to spearhead the project.

How did you come to work with TechNeed?

I met Craig in a social setting, and we struck up a friendly conversation around technology. Shortly after, I visited their new space, and they pitched their consulting services. It resonated with me very deeply, so we engaged with them.

TechNeed was the right fit — they were small, and their level of commitment was personalized. They kept us engaged and broke up the project into baby steps. Brenden and Craig sold me on the idea of doing a mini-project, so this was our first mini-project together.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $45,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from October 2020–March 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within a short span of time TechNeed educated us on the shortcoming of the infrastructure and how we can best evolve it going forward as the business scales. Given the vastness of our cloud footprint, an immediate outcome was providing methods to help us swiftly navigate around our various AWS accounts and how services were interconnected between the accounts. Having this visibility saved us 2–3 hours a day in process flows and operations. Their recommendation on CI/CD improvements also helped us streamline dev cycles via connecting version control analytics.

Craig and Brendan have a unique combination of business and software outlook. They helped us rethink and reevaluate few aspects of our workflows in a refreshing way where it became evident that our startup model was evolving from innovation-based company into a more sales-driven and all-in-one marketplace for genomic needs.

How did TechNeed perform from a project management standpoint?

They orchestrated the project, and it was wonderful. We talked twice a week — early in the week to set the goals and later to see the progress. They used Trello and Google Meetings to run the project and touch base.

On the other hand, we onboarded them to Microsoft Teams, so they were part of our company during the engagement. If we needed something, we also had their phone numbers.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Clarity is the word that best described them. Their innate understanding of technology and how it fits with real-world in various ways depending on utility really sets them apart from an execution point of view. They are domain experts to rely on for any tech-related needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There is nothing in particular that would have impacted the outcome of our engagement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear idea of the deliverables when engaging TechNeed. It will help reduce the time to get the necessary resources, onboard the project, and execute it in general.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and co-founder of MyBundle.TV. We help consumers and streaming services meet. Our main tool is helping people get rid of their cable or satellite and then assisting them in finding personalized streaming services that are right for them. Our second major tool is our streaming marketplace which brings over 130 streaming services to each consumer as well as building tools to help find the ones that are most interesting to them.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TechNeed?

We had built a prototype of our site done by my co-founder Danny with the help of one outsourced developer. Essentially, we had a lot of big plans related to where we wanted to take this and needed to bring in a professional development team to build it the right way. That’s when we started working with TechNeed.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The initial intent was to rebuild our site on a more stable foundation. Danny built the site and it worked; however, we knew it wasn’t going to scale as we built more features. It was sort of a duct tape version of the site. TechNeed rebuilt everything so we can scale both vertically and horizontally. We’ve been happy with that service so we kept going. We’re continuing to add features and utilize them as our full development team. They use React.

They rebuilt the algorithm, which is core to what we are, as well as the streaming marketplace. Their team also built a blog, using WordPress, that’s fully integrated into our site. They’re building show pages that integrate into our main database and data warehouse.

The TechNeed team is also helping us with strategy. They’re consulting us on the process of development and roadmaps. It’s more than just hiring a couple of engineers to execute our vision. They’re almost like a partner in this.

What is the team composition?

Brendan (Founding Partner) manages a team of 4–5 developers.

How did you come to work with TechNeed?

Our accounting and growth consulting firm recommended TechNeed to us. We went with TechNeed because their pricing was right in the middle. It was a nice setup that Brendan would run the project and Danny would work with them. As the technical founder, Danny is almost a part of that team, but he doesn’t have the experience to hire three developers and have them sit there and code. It was a happy medium where they gave a little bit of everything.

How much have you invested with them?

We’re in the $200,000 range right now.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started in February 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They work in weekly springs and keep to it. Their team executes what they say they’ll do on a weekly basis. We’re very happy with the website. It works as it should. As we build it, we ask them to come up with something, they do it, and it’s often better than we expect. That’s why we’ve kept going.

How did TechNeed perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate through Slack and email. Our teams hold two weekly calls with the management team. The development team has a daily standup that Danny joins in to listen to. They use Trello, and we’re able to see what they’re developing. They’re transparent, and we have a very open-book partnership and two-way communication path.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Brendan has done a great job guiding the process. I can’t really imagine how the engagement could be better, because it’s going so well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything. Obviously, like everyone else, I want more done quicker. However, they’re working as hard as they can without breaking things. I view them as a partner.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you don’t want the same collaborative nature as our engagement with them, they could definitely leave out the strategy and the fact that they bring opinions. They’ll meet your needs.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-director of The Larry A. Green Center. We conduct research related to primary care in the US and globally in an effort to advance primary care for the public good.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire TechNeed?

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, our team began surveying primary care to determine the response and capacity of primary care in the US to the pandemic. We lacked the ability to send 10,000+ surveys out in any effective and efficient manner.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed a rapid way of fielding surveys to an audience of 10,000+ with the expectation of that audience size exponentially increasing. To assist with the need for us to rapidly analyze the data from each week's surveys, we needed the ability to track location of respondents, automatically add audience members when they requested to subscribe, determine if we had week over week responses from the same respondent, and determine how new respondents were finding the survey

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

The Green Center is currently working with TechNeed on another project. During a phone call related to the other project, we mentioned our issues and the response was immediately "we can help". A basic solution was provided in time for our next fielding just 36 hours after that conversation and a comprehensive solution was complete 4 days later.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

TechNeed designed and developed a platform allowing us to rapidly deploy surveys and assist with analysis on the backend. They provided a basic version to us within 36 hours of our request. During the next 5 days they went back to add more functionality to provide richer analysis options. At each stage, we were asked for feedback.

What was the team composition?

The TechNeed project team we interacted with for this was really small - just 2 - which was precisely what we needed since it allowed the project to be nimble and quick.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The first survey on March 13, 2020 took 2 staff members 14 hours to send and then clean bounced emails. Due to the time commitment, no followup reminder was able to be sent. There was also no ability to track responses from people who found the survey link on social media or were given it by colleagues/friends. The second survey on March 20, 2020 took 1 staff member a total of 5 minutes to send and the platform cleaned bounced emails automatically. A reminder was sent 48 hours later and took about 30 seconds to complete. Due to the customizations built into the platform by TechNeed, our analysis of the impact of COVID-19 was specific down to zip code. That level of analysis is invaluable to our research.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management was very effective. The project manager was in contact multiple times a day - usually via Slack for simple questions and through Google Hangouts when we needed more detailed conversations.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

TechNeed was able to understand what we're asking even when we didn't have the language to convey it. Often we asked for one thing and their response was "sure we can do that but we if we did this instead, it would be more powerful and provide you with A-Z rather than simply A and B."

Are there any areas for improvement?

None. Their team is a fantastic partner with excellent communication at all stages of the process.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Executive Director of the Sourland Conservancy - a nonprofit environmental organization with 4 employees and 1200 members.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire TechNeed?

Technology adoption/digital transformation/business strategy services. Our 30-year-old grassroots organization is working to move to a more professional, sustainable model. In order to modernize and improve efficiency, we needed help developing new methods of communicating internally between volunteer committee chairs and staff.

What were your goals for this project?

We hoped to bring together volunteers working remotely at all times of day and staff working in our office during business hours. Finding and creating a centralized hub for project details and documents proved challenging. We had tried various solutions - none of which met all of our needs.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Through personal recommendation and proven success of their previous projects from other businesses in the area, we contacted TechNeed to ask for help. Brendan Elliott met with our team, assessed our situation, and was able to work with us to envision a clear direction for our organization.

Describe the project in detail.

Brendan helped us move our entire email server to G-suite, which made a huge difference in our ability to not only communicate with people outside of our organization but also to coordinate documents and files within the organization. He helped us integrate two new-to-us technologies, Slack and Trello, to streamline our project management, help us meet deadlines and stay organized. Brendan's ongoing support has been critical to our project's success.

What was the team composition?

Brendan led the project from strategy and execution to support with support from Craig. Our worked very closely with both Craig and Brendan. We felt very comfortable asking questions and seeking guidance - and they were both very responsive and supportive.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

TechNeed has been invaluable to the Sourland Conservancy in the amount of time, strategic vision, and resources they have provided. They have enabled our small organization to work toward our mission by increasing our efficiency and organization in project management, communications and data storage.

We would not have been able to accomplish these tasks without the guidance and expertise from Brendan. This has benefitted our organization in unexpected ways. We have been able to reduce our fixed costs (office space, overhead), optimize user interfaces and experiences, and improve company culture by offering the ability to work remotely.

This has been instrumental to our successful transition to remote work during the COVID-19 crisis.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We really felt like Brendan was a true partner on this project. It has been really reassuring to work with someone who knows all about this space - an expert who can guide us without us expending staff time researching and educating ourselves on the best tools and facilitate the transition.

Brendan even met with a team of volunteers who were reluctant at first, but have learned the systems well and are utilizing them with little help from our staff - again resulting in savings increased volunteer support.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were very impressed with our experience overall. I think TechNeed's ability to identify our needs, predict blockages and potential trouble spots and offer solutions to ease our transition and made process run more smoothly than I could have imagined.

It has resulted in increased accessibility to our diverse group of tech-savvy and less familiar individuals alike.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Upon reflection, our organization faced a very formidable challenge (daunting, in fact, now that I look back). Thanks to TechNeed, we were able to make fundamental changes that are critical for our future success.

Their patient guidance enabled us to maintain our momentum in moving forward. If I knew then what I know now, I would have embraced this project with more confidence. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the executive VP of three subsidiaries; Meadows Office Interiors, Meadows Service Group, and Meadows Technology Group. We provide integrations for existing platforms and create proprietary platforms as well.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TechNeed?

We had a couple of different tasks that we were trying to undertake and tackle. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have a customer portal as a web platform where our clients can browse all the furniture that they’ve purchased from us, look at the warranty documentation, and see the finishes they selected. They can also request our service or tell us if they need to order more of a specific item.

The customer portal was built on our ERP platform, NetSuite. It was cumbersome, ugly, and super limited. We wanted to migrate it off of the NetSuite platform and add some functionality so that our customers would love it even more. That was one part of our engagement. 

We really did a lot of brainstorming with the TechNeed team to figure out the best way to tackle it and create the roadmap to launch it. We also wanted to add some other features that would be big selling points for our clients, making their lives easier and adding stickiness to our brand. They really helped us look at that in a really holistic way. 

We ended up with a more beautiful platform, and the look and feel of the UI are lightyears ahead of where we were. We also baked in some efficiencies for our team, loading content and automating a lot of previously manual steps. Not only was it cooler for our clients who use the platform, but it also saved us a lot of time in the backend when we load the information to make sure that it’s accurate. TechNeed also created some import features and other functionality that lets the system parse the data by itself. 

After everyone saw what the platform could do, we had a lot more ideas of where it could go. We are continuing to brainstorm about the next steps, and it is an ongoing progression.

We also have a project management app that we created internally and launched to market as a SaaS product. TechNeed has helped us take that to the next level where I feel it is really marketable. When we’ve worked with other programmers in the past, the app always lacked a few features or didn’t quite capture everything we wanted. With TechNeed, we’ve started talking about the portal and the app like it’s an entire ecosystem that could work together. I definitely think that we can enhance these platforms with further interaction with each other. We’re still working on that. 

We’ve gone to market with our project management app, and TechNeed started to help us work on that last year. We’ve added some features for our current subscribers that have been on our roadmap for a very long time. We have a longer roadmap of features that we continue to work on and develop, but they really helped us really get the app to a place and people are signing up so it is really exciting.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three people who we had weekly calls with and were really managing the project day-to-day. A lot of other people worked behind the scenes, but these three were our main points of contact. 

How did you come to work with TechNeed?

I had known members of their organization through other initiatives we have done in the past. When they created TechNeed, I reached out to them with some questions, and we went from there. I always looked to those members as a sounding board for ideas we had. It was nice when they had a company that I could then actually engage in a service agreement so that we could do some of our projects with them.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve invested $250,000–$500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in May 2019, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve rolled the portal out to a significantly larger number of clients since we made the enhancements. Previously, we’d only set up a portal for a client very rarely if there was a specific requirement that they needed. We’ve probably increased our use of the portal by 75% since we have switched over, and we continue to expand it. 

We are now thinking about selling this service and private label for other companies to let them utilize it as well. It could be a revenue-generating platform instead of just a tool for our clients. That’s an exciting transformation that wasn’t an option previously.

How did TechNeed perform from a project management standpoint?

We have weekly calls unless there is something more urgent where we need to schedule something in between. Slack lets us stay in constant communication with the project team and see what is on deck and where we are at. We also have a Trello board, which is something we’ve never used with other vendors.

From a collaboration perspective, having the ability to see each task, add cards to the board, and prioritize has been super helpful in keeping everyone on task. In the past, we were always the bottleneck. Having those tools has really helped us in collaborating with TechNeed. They’re really proactive in reaching out and making sure that we’re all on the same page. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I definitely feel like the level of talent is better than what I have experienced in the past. Their people are very knowledgeable, engaged in our projects, and quick to deploy things. I do feel like the level of transparency and the hours that it takes have been better than previous people I have worked with. 

Lastly, their out-of-the-box approach in brainstorming ways to improve our product has resulted in a great partnership with TechNeed. Other people I have worked with haven’t been so interested in our success and the value we’re getting for our investment. At TechNeed, that’s a big focus, which has been really nice and refreshing. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I always think that things can be faster, as a consumer and as a stakeholder reporting to executive management. However, we have a realistic timeframe, so I don’t necessarily think it is a bad thing, but maybe the only thing that can be improved.

TechNeed is also helpful in telling me what they can do within my timeframe and budget. They make sure that we are prioritizing the most important things and using their hours towards tasks that will benefit us the most.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Schedule regular calls. Make sure that whoever is on the project team has the time and bandwidth to really collaborate with them and be responsive. Have someone who will be accountable and a champion for the project will help keep the cadence. At times, we’ve stalled because TechNeed was waiting on feedback from us.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a non-profit advocating for a healthy and positive environment for the children in our community to participate in recreational activities. I am the co-president of the foundation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire TechNeed?

Our organization has a new board and changed our focus from fundraising/field building to advocating for a healthier environment within youth recreation activities. The foundations website was outdated, not visually appealing, nor user friendly or mobile compatible. We needed to create an entirely new site with new capabilities to interact with today's parents so we can share our message.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to create a new website that was immediately functional for our current activities while also having the ability to adjust it's functionality as we expand our services to the community. We needed a site that was visually appealing, easy to use for visitors and mobile friendly. As a non-profit, we had a limited budget. None of our board members are IT specialists so we also needed to create a website that we could easily manage information updating without the need to hire someone.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We heard of TechNeed via contacts in our local community. When we initially reached out them, they were very responsive and incredibly patient as we explained our organization, background, etc. We talked through our evolving ideas of what we wanted to do with a new website. Before we agreed to hire them, they provided detailed insight into what they thought might work/might not work from our ideas. We appreciated their honesty in regards to not just agreeing to do things because we thought it was a good idea. They likely could have made more money by simply agreeing to do everything we wanted. However, they helped walk us through what made sense for the short term and how to design the site so that it could evolve based on our long term goals.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They designed a completely new site for us. In addition, because of our board's lack of experience in website construction & design, they assisted us with quite a bit of background work we needed to complete. The walked us through how to purchase the new site name, cancel our current vendor while getting needed info from them, plus guiding us on various behind the scenes information we needed to get from prior board members who were involved in the outdated site.

What was the team composition?

Besides working with the project engineer, we had several conversations with the founders of the company. They worked with us like we were part of their team and they were part of our board.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Due to the transition of our board and an upcoming Foundation sponsored event in our community, we were on a very tight timeline. We needed to roll out quickly for the event that we needed to publicize through the site in order to maximize interest and attendance. We received great feedback from our attendees about the new site. As noted earlier, TechNeed guided us through all of the other web logistics, including having the domain transferred and handling DNS setup. All of this was work that we had no idea how to tackle and would have never been able to accomplish it on our own in the timeline we needed.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

They arranged a kickoff call and routine followup meetings, all around our schedule. They were flexible with scheduling and responsive before, during, and after meetings. They used good collaborative tools that allowed us to keep all of our thoughts in one place, making sure we were all on the same page.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They delivered a great solution on time and on budget. They were consistently personable and responsive. They made us feel like they were part of our organization rather than just a business to business relationship.

Are there any areas for improvement?

It's hard to find areas for improvement. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.