Centangle Interactive

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an electrical engineer at Sachal Energy Development Ltd., a renewable energy company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Centangle Interactive?

We wanted to develop our website and hired Centangle Interactive for the task.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We told Centangle Interactive what we wanted and they designed and developed our website for us. They designed banners, pictures, media galleries, etc. On the homepage, we have multiple things displayed, including our team, mission, success stories, compliance with strategies, galleries, news, and a subscription prompt. They used WordPress, CSS, and HTML.

What is the team composition?

Centangle Interactive worked remotely.

How did you come to work with Centangle Interactive?

I looked at different company reviews online. I went to Centangle Interactive’s website and saw that they were good, so I decided to take a chance with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent less than $10,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together from June until July 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Centangle Interactive designed the website just like we wanted it. The project took two weeks to complete, and we're satisfied with their work. They fixed issues and modified their designs in order to satisfy all our team's wishes.

How did Centangle Interactive perform from a project management standpoint?

They had good communication skills. We asked them to design our website in 2–3 weeks and changed what we wanted multiple times. They didn’t charge us extra for those modifications.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their designer is very good at structure and language designing. Centangle Interactive is also flexible, reasonably priced, and open to negotiation.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve by giving timely updates. I had to ask them again and again about the status of the project.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They produce quality work and their cooperation is good.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

In 1987, the Small Projects Office was established by Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), which was ably led first by Dr. Remelt C. R. Hummelen and then by Dr. Ralph McKim. In 1993, Dr. Ralph McKim sought help from three leading development practitioners of Pakistan, namely, Senator (r) Javed Jabbar, Dr. Tariq Banuri and Ms. Ferida Sherto transform the Small Projects Office into an indigenous Pakistani Non-Government Organization (NGO).

Responding affirmatively, these three eminent individuals formed a GB comprising other renowned Pakistanis, all of whom agreed to serve on a voluntary basis. With their support smooth transformation was conducted of the Small Projects Office into “Strengthening Participatory Organization” (SPO) on 15th January 1994.

Strengthening Participatory Organization is a nonprofit organization with a mission to strengthen and support community organizations and public interest institutions of Pakistan for the benefit of poor and disadvantaged sections of society for sustainable development through a participatory approach.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Centangle Interactive?

We hired Centangle Interactive to create a new website that would replace our existing and dated solution and put our organization on the map and help investors to be aware of our vision and a current project with ease.

What were your goals for this project?

Easy understanding of SPO’s thematic areas and projects.

• Developing a website with a modern look Displaying content in clever and engaging ways.
• Giving the organization total control over their website.
• Multilingual support for some pages in both English and Urdu languages.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

SPO published an RFP for the selection of vendors where more than a dozen firms applied for the project. Centangle Interactive Pvt. Ltd. was chosen after a competitive selection process.

Describe the project in detail.

SPO intended to develop an interactive, appealing, highly usable and responsive web design. The designs were very subjective and we expected to hire a company that could understand our organizational culture and comes up with a design that fits our needs.

The design and solution had to be easy to use for an average user and the average site load-time had to be reasonable, Search-engine friendly, able to render appropriately on a wide variety of browsers and mobile devices and be secure for common attacks.

The solution had to adhere to data security best practices, for example, passwords should not be stored in plain-text, all forms of data should be validated, user-interactions and activities should be logged, etc. Design and final solution had to adhere to accessibility and compliance requirements, as defined by our IT team.

The web-solution had to be designed to ensure that everyone, including users who have difficulty seeing, hearing, and making precise movements, can use them. The web solution had to be able to provide content/screen areas containing features like calendar, upcoming events, latest news/site news, trending topics, newsletter, secured and authenticated web-access, etc.

What was the team composition?

Centangle Interactive had 6 people actively working on the project including their CEO, project manager, graphics designer, front-end developer, back-end developer, and digital marketing specialist. Two other resources worked on a task basis including a WordPress developer and SEO Manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Centangle Interactive was able to develop and test all the intended features on a local server before launching it online on our official web address. The solution was in accordance with prevailing best practices that were communicated in the RFP document before the singing of contract.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Centangle Interactive made it easy to communicate about the progress using Trello software. The need to meet every week was not needed as we could see the progress right there on the Trello website and would give our comments. Our team met their team on a monthly basis to evaluate the progress and make any changes if required.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Centangle is a young team and during our project, they worked with dedication and honesty. They showed a great sense of professionalism, and their team was committed to delivering their best work. But the best thing that impressed us was the flexibility they showed during the duration of the project.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Since Centangle is a new company, there is a room for improvement in terms of human resource management and taking care of legal matters of a project, especially when they are working with an organization that gives legal requirements a great deal of preference.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

The Business Incubation Center at Bahria University formalizes the institution’s support for entrepreneurship by providing workplace training and HR support. We grow startups into sustainable companies. I'm the assistant manager of operations and technology. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Centangle Interactive?

We hired Centangle Interactive to develop and implement a virtual business incubation platform.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to manage incubates on a web platform and make the incubation process easier.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We selected them through a competitive process. We sent RFPs and RFQs to a pool of service providers, then evaluated their proposals based on technical and financial criteria.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Centangle Interactive developed various modules for our virtual business incubation platform. These included a startup application module, a grants and investment management module, and info panel, a reporting tool, a mentoring module. The platform also manages downloads and media, including photos, audio, and video. 

What was the team composition?

The team included three developers, one designer, and one project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our stakeholders were satisfied with the look and function of the platform. This year, we saw a 62% increase in student applications and shortened the incubee selection process from 25 days to just 7. Plus, we no longer need third-party software to manage the communication, which saves us thousands in licensing fees each year.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project manager gave everyone access to an online progress tracking platform. Thanks to an integrated chat feature, we never needed to send emails. Since they showed their progress in a transparent manner, we could easily ask for changes without rolling out an entirely new update.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Centangle Interactive has a young team, and their motivation to solve issues is exceptional.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Their hybrid project management process involves both print and digital communication. They could improve the whole cycle by moving all communication to digital channels.