Contic

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a home support business offering dedicated support to the elderly assisting them to live independtly. Operating in Cambridgeshire we are looking to expand nationally, increasing our customer and staffing numbers significantly. The company was set up 6 years ago, my role within the business is company director.

For what projects/services did your company hire Contic, and what were your goals?

As a growing business many of our processes were manual and labour intensive. Working with Contic they looked at out areas of pain, loss of efficiency and how we achieve our growth goals. They put together a plan to help us streamline the business with a CRM system linking into a website for the staff and team leaders to access remotely. Our main issues were related to rota management on a daily basis, communication with the team about rota changes, customers, locations, work completed and flagging issues to supervisors. In addition, we looked at linking this system to payroll and invoicing software to reduce time spent.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Contic took the time to listen and really understand how we operated as a business and where are pain points were whilst considering our long term business goals. They also took into account our non-technical staff when making their proposal to us. Reducing the impact on our staff with new technologies but also maintaining our business vison was key in the decision making process.

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

Contic were asked to create a product that integrated a rota, CRM, invoicing and payroll systems and communication channel (slack) They first took the time to understand how we worked with our current systems and what challenges we encountered, once they had a clear vision of our working systems and areas of pain they put together weekly sprints over a period of 5 weeks to work through each area. We had daily updates and weekly meeting to talk through progress and areas of concern from either side.

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

There were 4 people in the Contic team, a project manager, an agility coach and 2 technical staff.

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

we are now working with a new rota system, CRM and have integrated all areas to link into our invoicing and payroll systems. Contic also made some helpful suggestions with regards to Bots for company notifications, announcements. They worked with a pilot team within the business and were incredibly helpful understanding the staffs lack of technical knowledge. Responding quickly to concerns, creating how to videos to share with out team.

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

The project team were great, we have several meetings a week to discuss progress, we also had daily communication regarding progress and goals achieved. Any challenges we encountered were addressed and given deadlines to complete. Communication was excellent, clear and regular.

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

The transparency of they way they work - if a goal took slightly longer or was more challenging to resolve they were very open about this. We were particularly impressed with their ability to change how they worked to suit different areas of the business allowing them to achieve goals in time. After working with Contic for 2 weeks we and concerns about a particular system they were introducing and felt it was not correct for us. We outlined our concerns, within the hour we had spoken with Adam, had a new solutions and system. They thrived on feedback and new direction without issues and found solutions quickly. It was a breath of fresh air to work with a company with this ethos.

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

The only thing I would suggest is instead of using email and slack for updates to use one method to save doubling of efforts.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the VP of R&D at Vault. We develop software that enables people to speak up regarding misconduct in the workplace. Our vision at is to create a world in which every workplace is inclusive, diverse, productive and safe.

For what projects/services did your company hire Contic, and what were your goals?

We needed support on our technology platform and we couldn't hire a team fast enough. Contic came in to the company and hit the ground running delivering value very early enabling us to hit release deadlines. They have also help us with suggestions on process and changes to speed up aspects of our development lifecycle.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

A great team that is agile and dynamic to their approach.

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

Contic joined us as an in house team and they soon settle into the culture of the organisation. Working within our agile process they picked up work from the backlog and continue to do so with effective detail.

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

One lead full stack engineer, two full stack engineers and an agile coach.

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

Our velocity has increased with the Contic team often performing at the top.

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

Very clear and insightful meetings with the lead engineer. Often he would make great suggestions relying on his technical expertise. These suggestion often made it through to production. Their team as a whole is very uplifting and a joy to work with.

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

They ability to onboard quickly, add value and embed within the culture of the teams. They also very keen to knowledge share with is paramount for us working with any contracting company.

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

Nope, they've been a great pleasure to work with.