AIVIA Inc.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Communications Officer at the Upper Nicola Band and I am one of 980+ members of our community. We have roughly 30% of our members living on reserve and we have at least 80 employees.

My job is to send communications to everyone so everyone is informed on what's going on in our community.

For what projects/services did your company hire AIVIA Inc.?

To get out name out there for members to have important information in a timely manner. We had an app developed and it is getting more and more used so eventually everyone in our area will have our app.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal is to have all members to download this app on their phones, tablets, etc. We are getting more and more by the week.

How did you select AIVIA Inc.?

Based on research and word of mouth we chose AIVIA and I am quite happy and satisfied with the work. Kique is very attentive and educated.

Describe the project in detail.

We wanted to get information out to the members and we chose to get an app developed. We chose AIVIA to assist us and they did an amazing job with our app.

What was the team composition?

I jumped into the team late so I only know Kique.

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

We have been getting more members to download the app so it is a successful project.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Kique and I work together well. They are very efficient and polite.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I really like how quickly my stuff goes on to the app.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not at this time.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re the largest homebuilder in Alberta. I’m the marketing manager of the construction company.

What challenge were you trying to address with AIVIA Inc.?

We worked with them on our customer-facing touchscreen interface for two of our multi-family projects.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They designed the customer-facing side of our touchscreen, showcasing the project site plan, the floor plans within each building, a photo gallery, and amenities about each site. The platform displayed all this information on a touchscreen for our representatives to use when working with a customer. The most important part of the platform is that it’s integrated with our CRM system. They’re able to register prospects into our Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

What is the team composition?

I worked with two people: a technical writer and a senior management team member. The technical write was our main point of contact. 

How did you come to work with AIVIA Inc.?

They were recommended to me by my boss at the time. When my boss transitioned out of their role, I picked up the relationship. They did such a good job with the touchscreen project, there were no hesitations about hiring them for the second touchscreen project. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $36,000 on both interfaces.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together on these projects from April 2018–August 2020.

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

The product they created works well and functions how we wanted it to. Our CRM collects data from the touchscreen, so it’s working exactly as anticipated. It has a beautifully designed UI. We’re happy with their work. 

How did AIVIA Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re fantastic. I would communicate my requirements, they would send an initial invoice, and they would communicate when they needed additional documentation or assets from me. They’re great with follow-up and were always able to meet our timeline and budget. If there were any delays, it was because of me rather than them. I was impressed with their project management and self-sufficiency. We communicated over email. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The process felt simple because they understood the ask and how to handle an integration like this. They only needed a small bit of code from us to complete the integration. The same can be said with their visuals. We provided them with general ideas that they were able to shape into a beautiful interface. They were able to take our established brand and build within those parameters. That was very impressive. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any improvements for what I’ve used them for. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Understand and clearly communicate your expectations and outcome. Provide necessary materials, but they’re great to work with and will tell you exactly what they need.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the membership lands and estates clerk for the Driftpile Cree Nation.

What challenge were you trying to address with AIVIA Inc.?

Our website was down for a few years. We needed it to be up and running again.

What was the scope of their involvement?

AIVIA originally built our website. After the platform was down, their team got it running again.

They also created a Driftpile Cree Nation application. AIVIA built push notifications features for our administrators, staff, and social profiles. They maintain our website, app, and emails. Their team pulls from our social media to post events and updates on the platform.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with five people from AIVIA. However, I regularly interact with the owner and two developers.

How did you come to work with AIVIA Inc.?

Our company engaged AIVIA before I came on board. We actually switched companies for a couple of years. However, I re-established our connection when we decided to reinvent the website.

How much have you invested with them?

Our cost was small because they received grants. For maintenance, we have them on retainer for $2,500­–$3,000 CAD (approximately $1,900–$2,200 USD) per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked on the website and app between January–June 2017. They maintain our website, app, and emails.

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

They built a beautiful and easily accessible app. While we can log in to make changes, most of the information can be accessed through guest accounts. They do good work, so I’m pleased.

How did AIVIA Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate via email and phone. Their team’s available 24/7 for maintenance. They’re organized and awesome.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re friendly and approachable. Their team’s not overly formal.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t have any issues with their performance.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be patient. It’s easy to work with AIVIA. They’re diligent about ensuring you understand their process.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I was the assistant sales and marketing manager with a new home builder.

For what projects/services did your company hire AIVIA Inc.?

Design & development of a web app that allows customers to track the construction progress of their home. It gives customers access to the house details and location, a checklist of which parts of the build process have been completed, informative resources and videos about their home’s features, and contact info for their sales representative.

What were your goals for this project?

Provide a convenient easy to access place for our customers to track the build of their new home and to share information with them.

How did you select this vendor?

We already used them for our main company website and were very impressed with the service they provided us and wanted to have the customer portal be a seamless integration with our existing site.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Design & development of the ReidBuilt Homes website that has full details of all of their floor plans, including galleries for each. The site also has all the communities that they build in, and a “quick close” page that has properties that are listed at very attractive prices.

What was the team composition?

Stable contacts who understood our vision and would ensure our site never got stale.

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

Purchasers start their search on the web. Ensuring you have an updated relevant website is important in the new home industry.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Everything was done online so it was easy to see what they were working on and to add notes.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were so accessible at every stage and easy to work with.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a co-founder/owner and head of R & D (research and development) of a smart home device manufacturer. We design and manufacture devices that advance new construction, allowing residential home builders to improve their bottom line. Today our team consists of eight people doing cloud backend development, electronics hardware design, firmware development, and wireless protocol development.

What challenge were you trying to address with AIVIA Inc.?

We were looking to outsource our mobile app development with a local developer competent in iOS and Android, and our timeline for MVP was very aggressive. I wanted the apps to be in the native languages of Swift and Kotlin, respectively.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created the MVP from scratch including all graphics, screens, and code. It was a challenge integrating an existing crypto code base that I provided, and implementing a communication protocol spec that wasn't fully baked at the start of the project. We also didn't have hardware for them to test against, so we provided simulators in the early days and then later transitioned to testing against real hardware. They hosted the code in GitHub where we could see daily edits and collaborate on code reviews. They coached us through the process, ensuring a good experience for users. Now, they provide ongoing support, looking at the code base monthly. They monitor real-time crashes through Sentry.io, fix them, and submit a monthly report.

What is the team composition?

There was a project manager, someone on UX, someone on the business side, and several developers.

How did you come to work with AIVIA Inc.?

I reached out to many local companies. One of the founders from AIVIA came to our office to discuss the project and demonstrate some of the things they had developed. They presented their idea of wanting to do new, cool things, which was appealing to me.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent roughly $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in February 2019, and it is ongoing.

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

It’s been ad-hoc. We tend to do internal evaluations of new builds. Our developers look for edge cases.

How did AIVIA Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

Early on, it was more difficult, as we weren’t speaking the same language, but it’s become clearer as we have developed a rhythm. It took a bit of adjustment on their part to integrate with what we were providing, as it was different from their usual relationships. We used an older version of Basecamp for a while, but it didn’t work well. We now communicate through email, Github, and specification drafts.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They try to understand how users are going to interact with our brand through the app, even if it means sacrificing some functionality and reducing features. They realize the importance of not confusing users, keeping the app easy to use. They take requirements given to them and return with intelligent questions, troubleshooting how to proceed considering the effects those requirements will have on the overall app.

Are there any areas they could improve?

User acceptance testing and automated regression testing were not used in this project. Most of the testing was done manually with physical devices. Implementing unit testing, continuous integration, and test-engineering practices from the start of the project would be beneficial for them in the future.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear idea of what you want to achieve overall and through timelines and segmented work. Think through how it will affect the different stakeholders: users, developers, etc. And know ahead of time how the product will be tested.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a construction company within the Quanta Services Utilities Group, which is a large company based in Houston.

Our company builds utility solutions, mostly transmission lines, but also distribution, solar, and a number of other activities. I'm the digital transformation manager for the company.

What challenge were you trying to address with AIVIA Inc?

Our company at one point had an inhouse team of developers that I ran, but due to a variety of factors that was cut down to a maintenance level, and I needed to hire a company that was capable of providing some development services to create new applications for our company.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their first project for us was more of a get-to-know-you application, so it was purely iOS and was simply a connectivity electronic report and replaced a paper form that we had for requesting, returning, and transferring our equipment to job sites.

That was phase one, and since that went well, they are currently working on phase two of the development, which is going to be the desktop website administration panel. That will encompass the processing of the request or the return from the selection of available products, request shipping and logistics, and confirmation of delivery.

What is the team composition?

Throughout the project, I worked with their business manager and project manager, but I’m not sure how many developers they had working on the project.

How did you come to work with AIVIA Inc?

I did some research on the web for local companies, read some reviews about them, and just decided to give it a shot.

How much have you invested with them?

The first phase of the project was limited to $25,000, and the second phase is currently budgeted for $65,000 with the expectation to continue working together.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the process in September 2019 and our work together is ongoing.

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

Their team uses a dashboard that allows me to monitor key milestones and where their progress is towards those, and I’ve really appreciated that visibility. It allows me to know what’s going on without having to delve into the weeds directly, which is exactly what I needed.

How did AIVIA Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

I think they do a good job of keeping everyone on the same page. They’ve kept me informed all along and haven’t caused any delays for the projects from their end. Their level of transparency around timelines is pretty impressive.

One aspect I appreciate about them is that unlike a lot of bigger development houses, they are not trying to build out their customer base just for the sake of having more customers. It’s clear that they are focused on their clients and building their business in terms of the quality of the service they provide, and as long as they’re doing that I don’t think there’s any way they’ll go wrong.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve dealt with a lot of development companies in a variety of industries, and my experience tells me that they are a fairly young company still working through their processes. That said, they’re also not rushing things, and really seem to be on the right path in terms of customer handling and prioritizations, so I’m pleased with what they’ve completed for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I really haven’t been disappointed with anything that they’ve done.