Unleashed Technologies

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world’s largest scientific society. Its focuses range from hosting major annual events to publishing a science magazine. Their background is primarily in the promotion and support of science and science-related research. My role was to rebuild their web presence. I am the former web manager of the organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Unleashed Technologies?

The challenge was implementing Drupal in an environment like AAAS, which has requirements for collaboration and the editorial overview of content. One of the biggest issues was that WordPress couldn’t fit the platform; we needed custom workflows for various groups within the organization and WordPress didn’t have the strength for it. We found Drupal to be a good fit. We needed a provider that knew a lot about the platform and that could help us make the transition happen. I had previous experiences with web presence modernizations, but this was the first one with Drupal. I needed a go-to company for this kind of work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our team spent quite a bit of time on the look and feel, creating our own prototypes, mockups, and wireframes. Unleashed Technologies took those mockups, workflow requirements, and an existing temporary migration database we built in WordPress and merged those three together. They translated the graphic mockup to an actual web page.

I was specific in terms of requirements. I wanted a low latency web experience meaning that the page would present quickly and users could see what they needed to see easily. I wanted a fast, user-friendly website for use from mobile phones or desktops.

Search was also important for us. Prior to moving to Drupal, everything on our web presence was fragmented—we didn’t have a single source of truth for search results. Unleashed Technologies brought a good search solution to us, which we used.

Unleashed Technologies supported us through the initial rounds of staff training on how to use the site. This was a bonus for us and I don’t know if it was included in the contract. The team walked the administrators through technical questions they had about Drupal.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Michael [CEO, Unleashed Technologies], Scott [Creative Director, Unleashed Technologies] and two developers. They were all good to work with.

How did you come to work with Unleashed Technologies?

The CIO of our organization recommended them to me.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost of the project was around $80,000. We had an initial estimate of $50,000–$60,000, but some adjustments had to be made because of scope changes.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Unleashed Technologies in March or April 2013. We released the site in April or May 2014. The contract ended well.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We received the 2014 Drupal award for nonprofit look and feel.

Unleashed Technologies met our requirements for all three challenges: implementing the look and feel of the site, taking the content from the existing site, and moving it into Drupal. Unleashed Technologies did all the mappings and took care of the task well. We didn’t have a lot of work to do after the work was complete. They helped us get the most out of the Drupal environment from day one, which was what we were looking for.

How did Unleashed Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

They surprised me with their approach; Unleashed Technologies is very adaptive to whatever the client’s needs are. They came in with a traditional project management approach when we first met, but, as we continued to collaborate on how the project should be executed, they switched to more of an Agile approach. It felt great and they did a good job juggling these two, which is not easy to do.

We had weekly check-ins along with in-person meetings once per month. The contact was good. Michael, the CEO, was very accessible. If I left a message for him, he followed up within the next 20 minutes to an hour.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was surprised at how good Unleashed Technologies was at translating my team’s design elements into the actual web product. I’ve done this in my previous work and found it to be one of the more challenging, painful experiences. They made it look easy.

They were passionate about the project and wanted it to succeed. While I was developing Drupal expertise, they backed me all the way. I never felt that I would fall short for AAAS and miss out on details that they needed to know.

Unleashed Technologies brought a good skill set and thought critically about how they wanted to utilize low-latency techniques within the Drupal-hosted web presence. Their willingness to make it work is unique. Many firms give us specifications for what they can do and are not willing to move away from those specs because they don’t feel safe taking chances. Unleashed Technologies wanted to try new things and learn.

Are there any areas they could improve?

In terms of their learning approach, prototyping their technology and concepts earlier on might be useful. They may be doing this now since it’s been a while since I’ve talked to them. I believe they currently use Scrum to manage the work in order to get feedback sooner on prototypes.

BACKGROUND

I’m the vice president and a project manager at Sandy Spring Bank, which is the largest community bank the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Unleashed Technologies?

Our company is growing, and we needed a website that reflected that. Our old website was unscalable and stale.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They completely redesigned all of our core web pages on Drupal CMS, slimming them down from 500 pages to about 300. They came up with the design entirely on their own — the only thing we provided them with was our logo and branding colors. 

We had another vendor handle our content writing, but Unleashed worked in partnership with them to get the content onto the website. They made it easier for our administrators to manage and reuse content across the site on the backend. They also set up and managed our site’s SEO.

What is the team composition? 

We worked with a project manager, two designers, an account manager, a client manager, and Michael [CEO, Unleashed Technologies].

How did you come to work with Unleashed Technologies?

We found them through our RFP process: We send out an RFP and selected our top vendors who present their portfolios and ideas to us. Our internal team then scores the vendors’ presentations and we come to a consensus on who’s the best fit. When I joined the project team, they had already selected the vendors, so I can’t speak to what distinguishes them from the other vendors.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $175,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the partnership in March 2016 and launched the new website in May 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of marketing and communications for RCM&D, an independent insurance broker. We were founded in 1885, and we specialize in providing true strategic solutions and consulting for risk management, employee benefits, and a variety of insurance solutions. We work with various industries, including healthcare, education, professional services, and nonprofits.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Unleashed?

Marketing and communication is relatively new in many independent insurance broker companies, and that evolution meant we needed to really enter the digital age. We had an old and static site, and we wanted to update it to become more dynamic as well as integrate with our CRM and marketing automation systems.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

At first, Unleashed did a lot of temporary fixes on the old site, but we eventually decided it was time to develop a brand new site. We built it on the latest Drupal platform because we wanted to enhance the user experience and set the stage for seamless future growth. We don’t have developers on staff, so no one knew how to administer these programs and help us with the technical information. Unleashed does all of that and makes the website user friendly.

They not only managed the Drupal upgrade, but they got to know our team and business, so they were able to advise and guide us on the dev, design, and best practices to create a modern and responsive site with excellent user interface and customer experience. Now, we’re moving and rebuilding all of our landing pages and forms in Drupal instead of Pardot, which we used before. We had to input and connect all the data manually, but this new site integrates and configures all that into one. Specific information was incredibly hard to find on the old site, but Unleashed improved our filtered search feature and streamlined the interface design and layout, making data much easier to locate. The biggest advantage of the new site is the featurette style, which is truly dynamic and anyone on my team can create a featurette to reflect marketing campaigns, news, or trending items happening in our industry.

What is the team dynamic?

Our main point of contact is the project manager, which is critical because it ensures nothing gets overlooked. The rest of their team consists of 1-2 developers, a designer, and an SEO expert.

How did you come to work with Unleashed?

They were a referral, but we were looking at a few other vendors. During the discovery and selection process, we felt Unleashed had the most robust tools and resources to both accomplish our goals and establish a partnership for future growth.

How much have you invested in them?

We've spent over six figures with them. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2010, and our partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We just launched the site and are still making changes, so we don’t have any quantitative data.

How did Unleashed perform from a project management standpoint?

They provide a project management system that houses all our communications and that can be accessed via email or right through the platform. They use it to store documents, post trainings, and keep a complete history, which is extremely important to us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Our firm believes in collaboration and that the client comes first, and Unleashed truly fits into that model and culture. With them, we’re not just a client but a partner, which you don’t always get with other vendors. My whole team feels comfortable going to Unleashed with questions about technical aspects, best practices, or just wanting to engage in a conversation about marketing and digital technologies. They're always willing to provide feedback and information that we need.

Unleashed doesn’t just give us access to manuals or Drupal training, but they listen to how we want to implement something, and then they give us training tailored to those needs. We’re confident in their work because they take the time to know us as a firm and team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’re great to work with.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the manager of IT of EVAPCO, a global manufacturer of industrial refrigeration and commercial HVAC [heating, ventilation, and air conditioning] equipment. We have 22 plants in 10 countries, and the Taneytown, Maryland facility is our world headquarters. We manufacture cooling equipment such as cooling towers and closed-circuit coolers used in large buildings like hotels, schools, and data centers. Our products include industrial refrigeration equipment like evaporators and condensers used in cold storage food warehouses.

We don’t have salespeople who work specifically for the company. Instead, we have independent sales representatives around the globe who have a contract agreement to sell EVAPCO products. They would also represent other companies that are in the same industry but are not competitors of EVAPCO. They might put a package of our equipment and some other vendors’ equipment and sell them together.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Unleashed Technologies?

When I first started here, we had a small mom-and-pop shop that did the development of our website. I think it was a friend of a person who worked here. As we grew, they began having a hard time supporting us, so we moved on to another company. The second vendor handled both web development and security, and they did a fairly decent job. For one thing, they developed a Drupal site for us. However, that company was acquired by a larger company whose focus was security. That meant we needed to find someone to assume responsibility for our Drupal site from our original vendor.

The primary purpose of our site is to help users find a sales representative who was responsible for their geographical territory. That’s critical since our customers would be working directly with the representative instead of the factory. One of our issues was how to do the lookup and how to present the information. Ideally, you’d enter a zip code to find your local representative, but there were holes within the zip codes. Sometimes, you’d put in a zip code, and the site wouldn’t give you an answer.

Another challenge was our branding strategy for our main corporate website. Our corporate culture has been a challenge because we started out as a small company, and it’s grown like crazy.  EVAPCO.com is the US website, but we have spin-offs for each of our 20 world regions. To date, they’ve all done their own thing. From an IT perspective, the individual branches had to understand the importance of having consistent branding. Our clients needed to see that EVAPCO was a corporation that manufactures from all over the world, instead of being just a local manufacturer down the street.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Drupal site is one of the things that Unleashed Technologies worked on. We went back and forth with different implementations. They set up the “find a rep” mechanism that mapped out all of our sales territories. These geographical polygons are associated with different representatives. You can enter a zip code, and the system finds the polygon you’re in. If it can’t find your zip code within a polygon, then it finds the closest one.  

Unleashed revamped EVAPCO.com so that it became a parent website. Our “children” websites from other regions are tagged as publishers/subscribers of that parent website. We could have content produced on EVAPCO.com and share that to these subsidiary sites. Unleashed is also doing ad hoc consulting on user experience design. We don’t have a lot of user interface people or designers in-house. I’ve reached out a number of times to Unleashed’s staff to give guidance from a UI perspective. They’ve helped jazz up a screen and created some images.

They’ve done other projects for us as well, including an e-commerce site. Sales representatives and customers used it to order time-released water treatment pellets. It started out as a separate Drupal microsite but Unleashed developed a Symphony application to take its place. That’s gone pretty well. We worked with the same project lead, but another lead developer who specializes in Symphony did the actual coding. The new site has been in production for 1 1/2 years. We’re in the midst of phase 2, which includes more reporting functionality and other features.

We have a fair amount of applications that are developed on a Microsoft stack. Previously, another company hosted all of our applications and the website. As a result, things were challenging during deployment day because of this whole migration towards DevOps. Unleashed really didn’t have the tools they needed to add caching layers and optimize the site’s performance. Their productivity in deploying updates was also affected. We’ve since made the decision to ask Unleashed to host the site. That has streamlined things quite a bit. We’re migrating to their services when we launch this new site. They are going to be responsible for the development, hosting of the production environment, and patching and maintenance of the production environment.  

Right now, we’re developing a software that will be used by our representatives to select equipment. We want to make this selection software more attractive visually. The reps want to use the software as a sales tool, so we need to include more pictures that show what our unit looks like as well as its features and benefits. With Unleashed, we’re working towards putting that content into our centralized database. They would also develop a web API so that we can pull that content into the website.

How did you come to work with Unleashed Technologies?

We reached out to a handful of vendors who worked with Drupal. Unleashed was recommended to us by the previous company that developed our Drupal site. Unleashed did a presentation and talked about how they work. Their portfolio showed that they were the ones who were most familiar with Drupal. We liked them, so we brought them on to do support and maintenance on our existing Drupal site.

What is the status of this engagement?

We first started working with them around 5 or 6 years ago. Since our first project, we started going back to them with more things. For example, they’ve revamped our site. It is now on a staging server, and it’s about ready to go live.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We’ve been quite happy with Unleashed. We’ve dealt with a number of companies for web and application development, and Unleashed is at the top of the heap. They have proven themselves.

Unleashed’s work on the “find a rep” feature helped us identify some issues in our contracts. Sales representatives are paid a commission for sales in their territory, so it’s important that their contracts specify that. Obviously, they don’t want somebody else selling out of their territory and getting the credit. Now, we could clean up the territories because you could see everything plain as day on the polygon mechanism. We were able to treat special cases, like Baltimore City, and edit our contracts to make that right.

Our sites now have a consistent branding and messaging. Unleashed came up with a much more efficient system, which we’re using now. For example, our European company has a tradeshow. If they want to do their own thing and publish that event on their site, they can do that. Then, they can send it to us, and we would consider posting it on our main corporate EVAPCO.com site.

Unleashed’s attitude is, “If we did the work for you, then you own it; use it how you’d like.” For example, we have a lot of overlap between our website and some of the applications that we’re developing internally. When I had scenarios like that in the past, the developer would say, “We developed that digital aspect for the website. That’s where it belongs.” However, Unleashed provided us with an element sheet for the website. They were very open to sharing their resources and allowing us to use that for internal applications. This has helped us with branding and consistency.

We had a couple of issues with the host provider we were using before Unleashed. Unfortunately, whenever you have a situation like that, there’s a lot of finger-pointing. That’s when I’d phone Michael [CEO, Unleashed Technologies] or Ryan [Project Manager, Unleashed Technologies] and say, “I’m looking for some creative thinking on how to fix it, even if the solution might not be in the scope of your responsibility.” Unleashed stepped up to those challenges.

For example, we had an email problem. We were getting pushback from our host company that it was because of the way the site was developed. We had some technical issues updating that site because it was in maintenance mode, and we were about to come out with a new site to replace it. We didn’t want to do a whole lot of work to bring it up to speed, knowing that it was going to go away. Unleashed had very good suggestions and helped implement the solution.

How did Unleashed Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

Our communication is solid, and we have had no issues with Unleashed. We deal with a project manager as well as a couple of lead developers. After that point, I’m not sure if they’re spreading the work out to a team internally.

When we first started, there was another project manager on the job. I’m not sure what happened to her, but Ryan McGrath is now our project manager. We’re extremely happy with him. He is on top of everything and makes great suggestions. He is knowledgeable about search engine optimization, tracking, and analytics. He will oftentimes interject and say, “I know that’s what you guys think what you want, but you need to take this into consideration.” That has helped us quite a bit.  

They use Zendesk for bug tracking and Teamwork for project and task management. That’s been quite effective. We’re really happy with the project management. The times when it warrants a phone call are few and far between.

What did you find most impressive about Unleashed Technologies?

One of the things I like about Unleashed is they’re not so big that you feel like you’re just another ticket in their system. At the same time, they’re not so small that you feel like you’re reaching out to this one guy who’s overwhelmed with everything else. Unleashed is just a great fit for us.

In the few cases where we have had issues, it takes 1 phone call to fix things. Their president, Michael Spinosa, and project manager, Ryan, have been great about that. We could just reach out to one of those 2 guys. They’ll own the issue, take care of the problem, and get things back on track.

Are there any areas Unleashed Technologies could improve?

No, I don’t think so. We’ve been very happy.

BACKGROUND

Since 1950, the Association of the United States Army [AUSA] has worked to support all aspects of national security while advancing the interests of America's Army and the men and women who serve.

AUSA is a private, non-profit educational organization that supports America's Army - regular army, National Guard, reserve, civilians, retired soldiers, government civilians, wounded warriors, veterans, and family members. AUSA provides numerous professional development opportunities at a variety of events both local and national.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

AUSA wanted to engage with a web development vendor to build, test, launch, and host the AUSA responsive website.

SOLUTION

Unleashed Technologies was selected as the vendor of choice after a request for proposal process. Having a completed design done by another vendor, Unleashed was tasked with styling the design and the development and launch of the site. Working as a partner, Unleashed Technologies' technical team came up with various solutions to integrate our Association Management Software with the Drupal front-end site, including a new member join process and single sign on. The site is mobile friendly and entirely HTTPS.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Overall, the project was a success, and the website was well received. With every project, there are challenges but Unleashed Technologies always found a way to make us happy. They are very flexible and truly care about their customer.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We're a retail furniture operation. I am the vice president and general manager of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Unleashed Technologies?

We were 3 thirds done with redoing our website when our company at the time decided to exit the business. It was a challenge to find someone that could take over work which had been already started, especially on the Drupal platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Unleashed Technologies took over the design and development of our Drupal website. 

How did you come to work with Unleashed Technologies?

Unleashed Technologies was recommended to us by the company which started the work on the site.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The cost of Unleashed Technologies' work was below $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Unleashed Technologies 2 and a half years ago. We've worked on a few enhancements since the website was completed. Unleashed Technologies is hosting our website and oversees maintenance. We're using their smallest package, of 10 hours per month.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

I've been in the furniture business for 40 years. When I started working with Unleashed Technologies, I didn't want a company that was going to ask me what I needed, but rather one which could tell me what I should want. Unleashed Technologies has done a good job in this sense. 

How did Unleashed Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

We've had no issues. Our social media person is in charge of the daily interactions with Unleashed Technologies.

What did you find most impressive about Unleashed Technologies?

I don't necessarily know what I should want from a website, but Unleashed Technologies has done a fine job for me.

Are there any areas Unleashed Technologies could improve?

No, I may have gotten more work from a 20-30-hour service contract, but I get what I'm paying for.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Supernus Pharmaceuticals is based in Rockville, Maryland. I am the manager of database administration for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Unleashed Technologies?

Our initial challenge was a complete reworking of the company website. It had not been updated in 5 or more years. We needed to rework functionalities, user flows, the general experience, content, and look of the site.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Unleashed Technologies developed and designed our Drupal 8 website.

How did you come to work with Unleashed Technologies?

Unleashed Technologies is our in-house web hosting and maintenance vendor, so the website redevelopment project was an extension of our relationship.

How much have you invested with Unleashed Technologies?

The cost of our project with Unleashed Technologies was between $50,000 and $100,000. It's hard to place an exact figure because the work was done as part of our maintenance contract, along with other initiatives.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began our project in early 2015. It was completed in March 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

My company is very happy with the finished product. Unleashed Technologies did a tremendous job of bringing us into the now, and creating a cutting-edge site using Drupal 8. In order to optimize performance, we split the front-end from the backend. We have the ability to host a variety of documentation without impacting performance time. This was an amazing feat on behalf of our site's users.

Unleashed Technologies received a W3 Silver Award for their user experience work on supernus.com. It was important for us to allow users to freely navigate the site, but we also built in a subliminal path, which is evident in the story arch presented by navigating different sections on our site. A person looking for a job can run through our career story arch, while an investor will end up in the dedicated section. Clinicians have access to information about our trials and drugs. The feedback is that we've accomplished our goal, and the information is easier to find and keep current with the fast pace of our clinical trials. The implementation was excellent, and it gave us full control over the website. We have the power to control how we look from a public-facing perspective.

How did Unleashed Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

Unleashed Technologies had a professional approach. We were assigned a wonderful project manager who managed to fit a lot of work within a small period of time, and juggle tasks. We had 2 competing initiatives at the time: the public-facing website and our intranet. Unleashed Technologies managed to get both of those tasks done on time, within our hourly maintenance contract. Unleashed Technologies delivered exactly the scope of work and a bit more. From a project management and timeliness perspective, Unleashed Technologies did an amazing job.

What did you find most impressive about Unleashed Technologies?

I appreciate Unleashed Technologies' ability to problem-solve in a unique way. They have no boundaries in terms of ability. If a client needs a certain piece of functionality or flow, Unleashed Technologies will put time and effort into learning what it will take to complete that task. Unleashed Technologies clearly communicates the benefits as well as the caveats of a requirement, and they know the line between needing to push cutting-edge technologies and what the client's request is, rarely stepping over the line.

Are there any areas Unleashed Technologies could improve?

Outside of Unleashed Technologies' inserting our content for us, I can't think of anything. Their ability to understand our perspective as a client was more than expected. Whenever we went back-and-forth about functionality aspects, Unleashed Technologies understood the problem, was agile, and moved accordingly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The Washington DC Chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMADC) is the leading network of marketing professionals driving innovation, professional development, and career advancement throughout the region.

I am on the board of directors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Unleashed Technologies?

We were in the process of redesigning our website in order to update our brand. Accompanying the project, was a new look-and-feel and logo. In addition to this, we wanted to have some user experience improvements which were part of the redesign, using Drupal 8.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Unleashed Technologies was responsible for the technical design, not the visual elements. We came to the table with a visual package finalized by another member of our board, including a homepage design and a general look-and-feel wireframe. The navigation elements were pretty much nailed down when we initially engaged them.

Unleashed Technologies handled the coding, development, and implementation of Drupal 8. They also handled the automated migration of our previous site's content. Anything that required manual porting was done by another agency.

How did you come to work with Unleashed Technologies?

A person from our board was acquainted with the head of Unleashed Technologies. They had worked together on projects in another professional setting. She was aware of Unleashed Technologies' Drupal skillsets, and recommended them to our board.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Unleashed Technologies in October 2015. We're hoping to make some further improvements to our site in 2016 using Unleashed Technologies.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

While there are some outstanding concerns, we are overall happy with the quality of delivery. The internal feedback was very positive. The site looks great and it's high-quality. As a team, we had a bit of a misstep on some migration elements, which was through no fault of Unleashed Technologies. The board needed to write some content, which was not done on time. We had some coordination issues which colored the general opinion over the finalized site. This in no way had a bearing on Unleashed Technologies' management or completion of the project. They did a good job of managing the project in general, but there were times when we didn't have full visibility of where we stood in terms of schedule. I would definitely work with Unleashed Technologies again, though.

How did Unleashed Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

Even though we weren't a high-paying client, Unleashed Technologies treated us as though we were. They were always accessible to us and we liked their method of communication. Unleashed Technologies setup a Teamspace account for us, which we used every day. We had weekly calls and had access to the Unleashed Technologies’ team on a consistent basis.

What did you find most impressive about Unleashed Technologies?

Unleashed Technologies brought great Drupal expertise to the table, which is somewhat hard to find in the marketplace. They're experts with the technology. For a small-to-medium agency working with smaller clients, Unleashed Technologies brought the professionalism of a larger agency, which impressed me. I've worked for a much larger organization, and didn't see a significant difference in terms of the level of service or communication style. Unleashed Technologies was buttoned-up and professional.

Are there any areas Unleashed Technologies could improve?

Unleashed Technologies could offer more visibility in terms of schedule, and have more of an emphasis on testing. A tighter round of user experience testing, with an opportunity for the client to enter defects, would be an advantage. In all fairness, we pinched Unleashed Technologies for time. Any opportunities for longer tests were consumed by the migration effort. In retrospect, we could have worked together more closely in order to formulate a more workable schedule. These are things which happen in larger projects, even for people with 20 years of experience.

A bit more clarity in terms of who is assigned with what, from Unleashed Technologies, would also be appreciated. It would have also been good to have a greater emphasis on risks, with Unleashed Technologies disciplining us in this regard.

We have identified some defects in the platform, which we're fixing with the help of Unleashed Technologies. We've found them to be cooperative in the process, so this isn't something outside of my expectations.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Women in Aviation International is a non-profit organization providing networking, education, mentoring, and scholarship opportunities for women looking for careers in the aviation and airspace fields.

I am the Director of Communication for the organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Unleashed Technologies?

Our website was fairly out of date. It had been around for a long time and was never updated to newer technologies. From a design standpoint, we hadn't done much to it either. We set out to completely redesign it, updating the backend technology, making it more adaptable and user-friendly for the staff, allowing them to make updates. We also wanted a better experience for members, giving them more access to the information and resources that we provide. Having a responsive design was also a goal. With ever-evolving technologies, this was an important factor.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Unleashed Technologies built our website using the Drupal platform. We used Unleashed Technologies for all of our needs in this project.

How did you come to work with Unleashed Technologies?

We sent out a request for proposal in 2014 to companies we'd done business with in the past, or had heard of. I had worked with Unleashed Technologies in a former position. They ended up being the best fit for our project.

How much have you invested with Unleashed Technologies?

This is confidential.

What is the status of this engagement?

We launched our site at the beginning of July 2016. We continue to work with Unleashed Technologies for fixing small bugs and kinks which were found along the way. We also plan on using Unleashed Technologies for a phase-two of our project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We've received very positive feedback from members and users in general for our website. Its launch was meant to coincide with our 2017 scholarships, so the traffic and interest for the site were large right off the bat. It handled the load well and we've gotten a ton of feedback from people looking for something new, who have enjoyed the ease and feasibility of our platform.

How did Unleashed Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

Unleashed Technologies was very helpful to us and good at meeting deadlines. There were no set-backs in the project from their side. Our own team took longer to complete certain tasks, partly due to the nature of our business. Unleashed Technologies was accommodating in keeping us updated on whether or not our issues would set the work back or not.

What did you find most impressive about Unleashed Technologies?

I enjoyed working with Unleashed Technologies and felt that they had a good understanding of their industry, as well as our needs. We don't come from a technical field, but Unleashed Technologies did a great job at explaining things to us. I appreciated the quick and simple responses that I received. Unleashed Technologies sent me videos showing me how to use different functionalities. We had a very hands-on training process.

Are there any areas Unleashed Technologies could improve?

This was my first time working on a project like this, so I don't have a base for comparison. Unleashed Technologies performed well, even though there were some communication issues. For the most part, we were happy and worked through everything.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

800razors.com is an online seller of men's and women's personal care items, predominantly razors. Our products are made in the USA.

What is your position?

I am the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Unleashed Technologies?

We had an internal person in charge of building our site and interfacing with hosting services. It became inefficient to do this, given our size. Tasks weren't handled correctly or timely, and it seemed that we were missing part of the equation when it came to technology. We could build a nice webpage, but that is only one part of managing a transactional business. We had to be able to make changes, perform A/B testing, and understand user experience. We didn't seem to be apt for this.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

Initially, Unleashed Technologies was in charge of maintaining our website in terms of user experience and upgrades. I wasn't happy with the hosting service which we were using at the time. There were constant security issues with them, even though we were using one of the largest hosting services in the world. I spoke with Unleashed Technologies' team, who told me that they could host my site. I haven't had any problems since then.

We work on tasks every month, depending on what needs to be done. Right now, they're working on a task for the subscription functionality for the site. I have a monthly contract with Unleashed Technologies through which I am allocated a certain number of hours each month. I can expand and contract those hours, depending on what I need.

How did you come to work with Unleashed Technologies?

I approached a couple of friends working in the marketplace. They recommended Unleashed Technologies because of the company's understanding of the platform which we were using. I sat down with them, explained what I wanted at the current time, as well as 3 months to a year later. They put together a proposal for me and we started rolling.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

Over the course of the last year, the total cost of Unleashed Technologies' services has been close to $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together one year ago. We have an ongoing relationship with Unleashed Technologies.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any feedback from this engagement?

I come up with what needs to be done in terms of homepage changes and so on. I send requests to Unleashed Technologies either through a call or through an email. They generally regroup and come back with what they consider to be the best approach to my issue, according to their experts. We then engage in A/B tests, and 9 times out of 10, Unleashed Technologies will be correct. They're very smart and efficient people.

How did Unleashed Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

Unleashed Technologies communicates very well with me. I receive a report every Friday giving me an overlook of our site's status.

I prefer running businesses efficiently and rapidly. I don't like meetings or phone calls for the sake of having phone calls. If the communication cannot be summarized in an email, then we have a problem, in my opinion. If too much time is spent on conference calls, then not enough time is spent doing the actual job. I've been very clear with Unleashed Technologies in this regard, and they've been responsive to my request. I receive a report detailing the hours which had been used in that week and the tasks which were handled.

Unleashed Technologies has always hit the expected finish dates and never delayed projects. The only times when we have calls are when something requires my approval or something needs to be explained in more detail, either by Unleashed Technologies or by myself. They're flexible in terms of what the customer's needs are.

What distinguishes Unleashed Technologies from other providers?

I have a manager working exclusively on my site. He gives good follow-ups and has been generally great. I've had issues with many vendors, but not with Unleashed Technologies. They're unique in this respect.

One of my suppliers is a Fortune 100 company. I don't know how they got to that level, considering the disastrous way in which they operate. I spend more time with that company than I do with Unleashed Technologies. With Unleashed, as I said, I will literally receive an email on Fridays telling me where we stand. I respond to that email, and either follow-up with questions or approve the work. Considering the way in which I like to operate, I have a very good relationship with Unleashed Technologies. I trust them almost as if they were my internal team.

Is there anything Unleashed Technologies could have improved or done differently?

They could drop their prices, but I do understand that there are costs involved, like quality control.