Valtech

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your company?

It’s the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation. We are basically an extension of the governments Newfoundland and Labrador, so managing their retail liquor stores for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

What is your position?

I’m a project lead with the IT department.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you initiated the projects?

Back in 2011, we initiated a project to implement a CMS. The CMS that was selected was Sitecore. We did the actual implementation of the content management solution along with a redesign of the website with a local company here in Saint John’s. It was the first time that they had ever deployed or worked with Sitecore. We wanted a company with a little more experience to take us to the next level.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of the project? For instance, did it include custom design, development, training, and support?

We actually have a Sitecore developer on staff. Nonlinear came in and not only conducted specialized trainings, they were also heavily involved in each aspect of the Sitecore implementation and rollout. There was custom visual design for the website, backend development, UI/UX testing, systems integration, and ongoing support.

How did you select nonlinear digital as your service provider?

We initially engaged nonlinear on a number of smaller and unrelated projects, which didn’t require a formal hiring process. However, by the time we were preparing for the Sitecore implementation, we did distribute several RFPs to potential solution partners. nonlinear was selected based on their preexisting relationship with us, not to mention their demonstrated expertise.

How much did this initiative cost?

Our initial work was approximately $50,000, but in total, we’ve moved well into the $100,000-plus range.

When was the initial project completed?

It was completed in December of 2012.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any metrics or statistics that would demonstrate the effectiveness of their work?

We have seen a considerable increase in the amount of traffic in our website. The capability we now have is actually seeing how our traffic translates into people purchasing in our stores. The conversion rates have greatly improved. We’ve also received very positive feedback from our internal and external users, which isn’t always the case when you transition to a new platform.

In retrospect, do you still believe that Sitecore was the correct platform for your business needs?

Yes, It’s easy to use. I mean, there’s always going to be issues with any system, but the capabilities that it’s given us have been impressive. The one thing that we did do that we might would do differently would be implementing a content management system, and redesigning our website at different times, rather than simultaneously. I only say this because both tasks require significant attention to detail and process oversight. We spent a lot of time on our Sitecore development and configuration, which resulted in partial neglect of our website. In the end, we’re very happy with our products, but our redesign might have been more valuable to us had it been accomplished independently of the Sitecore implementation.

When working with nonlinear digital, is there anything you would consider unique or special about them compared to other service provided you’ve worked with?

For one thing, there are a lot of project members that work in different time zones, and in different locations. We never had difficulties interfacing with them during our normal operating hours. They were also willing to accommodate and work around our schedule. In terms of support, they’re very responsive. We’ve been quite pleased with all of the team members that we’ve been dealing with. There was some initial friction when we transitioned from requirements gathering to actual execution and management, but nothing out of the ordinary. There were some changes in staff, which concerned me at first, but never amounted to anything detrimental. I must say we never had any issues at all. Projects were successful in many cases. They went above and beyond the statement of work, and they always met our demands. Sometimes, they’re more experienced than us, too. They understand our business. We were leaning on them to give us guidance in terms of recommendations on, for example, mobile site and website and so on. They were definitely able to lead us in the right direction. They have been great to work with in comparison to a lot of other vendors.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm IT Services Lead for an energy provider company at Eurasia region. The total number of employees in our company is about 11,000 and in Eurasia region are about 1,000.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Melon?

We have a very old on-premise version of MS SharePoint 2010 used for Document Management System and the Project was to migrate the entire structure, documents and Workflows to the SharePoint online.

What were your goals for this project?

The main goals were to make the migration smoothly, without disturbing the end-users.

SOLUTION

How did you select Melon?

Melon was our 3-rd party support of the existing SharePoint 2010 and they have been developed most of the existing Workflows already.

Describe the project in detail.

The Project has been split into 3 phases:

• Phase 1 - Analysis, Environment Setup, and Migration Planning
• Phase 2 - Migration, Quality Control, and Quality Assurance, UAT
• Phase 3 - Rebuild Workflows and Configure Search

What was the team composition?

We were assigned Project Manager, but there were two SharePoint Architectures/developers, that we have been in touch with all the time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

No compliance from the End-users.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The communication channels were very good and their response to our requests was perfect. We had weekly status meetings between our teams and a monthly meeting to align the status of the Project with the High Management Team.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I have been impressed by the knowledge that they shared with us. Also by their commitment to the Project itself.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, we were satisfy by their work

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

AI Consultant in our prof services org

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Kin + Carta, and what were your goals?

ML Projects for virtual agents (chatbots)

SOLUTION

How did you select Kin + Carta and what were the deciding factors?

Expertise with Dialogflow

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

Build a virtual agent in a mobile app to handle food ordering. Build on Dialogflow

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

~10 - cross functional (research, UX, proj manager, engagement manager, developers. etc)

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Exceptional delivery

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

Experienced in agile methodologies

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

x-functional skills, not just developers but had strong UX and consumer research people

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

not really

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am project manager and responsible for recruiting outsourcing partners that provides dedicated team to collaborate with our internal resources.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Melon?

Melon was hired to work with us on specific critical new features and help grow technically our team in Macedonia.

What were your goals for this project?

the goals of the project have been to release the swap feature inside the mobile app and the debit card management in the near feature

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We selected the vendor based on different criteria:

• Location of the company (Macedonia)
• Skills
• Price
• Possibility to have a dedicated team

Describe the project in detail.

Dedicated developers works on our main features following the kanban and 2-weeks iteration coordiante by our internal CTO.

What was the team composition?

2 dedicated frontend

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

features have been release in production

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

top level, complete integration

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They have great availability and flexibility. Very good prices. Organic growth

Are there any areas for improvement?

we are absolutely satisfied. Also a specific skill development program has been developed following our instructions.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a digital specialist for the America for Bulgaria Foundation. We promote economic development and democratic values in Bulgaria.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Melon?

We engaged Melon to build a website for a new education program called Education Leadership Academy (ELA).

What were your goals for this project?

The website needed to share information about our program, schools, and useful resources for interested users.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Melon worked with us before to develop our main site. We were pleased with their results and their maintenance services, so we engaged their services again for this project.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Melon developed, configured, and launched the site. The team responded quickly to questions and feedback throughout the process.

What was the team composition?

We worked primarily with a project manager. They communicate our needs to their team of frontend developers, backend developers, QA testers, and DevOps people.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The site met all requirements, but we have yet to measure its impact on our program.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project ran smoothly from start to finish. Melon consistently met deadlines and communicated their few delays in advance.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The team responded to any inquiry in less than an hour and adopted our preferred channels of communication with ease.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

Some tasks could use better time estimates, but overall, we’re highly satisfied with their work.