Andigo

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

Andigo consistently meets the specs of a project and does so on time, as long as the scope doesn’t change. They always meet my and my client’s expectations. As far as them enabling other business goals, that would be a bit unrelated, given that business goals may or may not be well-informed or well-strategized. Meeting a poorly assembled business goal isn't going to have a great result. What would be more relevant is that, especially compared to other developers, they’re extremely consistent.

How did Andigo perform from a project management standpoint?

Compared to other developers, their management is very good. We use a project management tool internally, but Andigo isn’t checking in on Slack or updating a Trello board. The correspondence and management is done over email. Their client services contact consistently responds to emails within 24 hours and is highly agreeable. We worked through that person and then corresponded with the development team on a limited basis.

They do a respectable job of not overpromising, which is a good thing. The most common response to a functionality inquiry is that they’ll get back to you after conferring with their team. They never overreach.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Compared to other developers, Andigo is much more willing to work out an unconventional solution to a problem, which I really appreciate. I prefer developers to assist in coming up with solutions rather than just executing a solution that's provided to them. Andigo is willing to get their hands dirty and push into unexplored territory to find unconventional solutions. In my experience, many are very hesitant to do anything that's not explicitly defined in scope, which I can understand. They're more about getting the project done and making the client happy than following a scope to that letter. They just have that small business, “get it done,” attitude.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Given that they have a small team, you can definitely feel pinches in progress in projects over time. There’s a difference in productivity whether or not the project is a priority issue for them – just because of their limited staff. When you know that your product is the priority, it's great. But, you can also obviously tell when it's not a priority. The constructive criticism would be to scale their operation to have more capacity.

Any advice for potential customers?

If you're solving your own problems, check with them. Make sure that your solution is good and don't assume that your solution is going to work. If you're solving your own problems and trying to think on behalf of your developers, check with them. My number two thing is to give as much notice as possible if the scope might change, even if you're not sure. If there's a chance that it's going to change, you need to inform the developers immediately. They're able to monitor and work efficiently if they have that warning. If they don't, you increase the chances of their time and your time and your money being wasted.

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

Andigo's efforts have helped us improve our online presence overall. The modern upgrades they made to the site have received a lot of positive feedback from users and allowed us to more efficiently post content on our end.

How did Andigo New Media perform from a project management standpoint?

I've met Andrew several times in person, but he's always easy to get ahold of through email and phone as well. He goes over our priorities for each project in-depth and is great about managing it all from there.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Andrew responds to any issues we have with a great sense of urgency. I know I can completely trust that the site is in good hands with their team.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It's important to go into any engagement with a vendor knowing what you want, who your audience is, and how visitors are going to use your site. Andigo is very good at interpreting that information, but it helps to do as much homework as possible in the beginning.

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

All of our clients’ site launches have been successful and they’ve been satisfied with the work Andigo has done. Their team usually goes above and beyond in terms of meeting the specifications that our clients ask for. They make a bid when we start working with a client, but sometimes we’ll discover that an existing website is a total mismatch from the client’s aspirations. Whenever that happens, Andigo makes an effort to accommodate those needs even if we didn’t factor them into the cost at the start of the project. They’re very conscious about delivering a highly functional site that will add value to an organization, especially when it comes to ensuring that the backend is easily comprehensible to people who aren’t tech-savvy. That’s critical for us since our clients are nonprofits and they’ll need to be able to update their own content even when they don’t have the budget or expertise to do complicated edits.

How did Andigo perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve used a variety of tools over the years, including Teamwork and Basecamp. Typically, we’d set it up in our system and give them a login so they can track projects. I’d also touch base with them by phone and email. Their owner has been pretty accessible and responsive throughout the process.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their owner is smart and he’s been around a long time, so he has a good sense of perspective. Instead of focusing narrowly on a specific aspect of development or pushing a particular kind of website, he’s great at asking questions and understanding where the client needs to go. This helps make our discovery process more effective because then he’s able to think through the specifications and determine how all the features will work together. He’s a genuine partner, rather than a contractor who just takes our orders and carries them out.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They have a relatively small staff, which hasn’t really hindered us so far, but expanding would help with flexibility when we have multiple projects going simultaneously.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

See them as a genuine partner. Engage in good dialogue, ask a lot of questions, and work together. Your projects will come out better if you’re focused on collaborating rather than telling them what to do.