Cooperative Computing

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a company that is designing photo apps for the consumer market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

I wanted to develop an app that allows people to see their photos in a chronological order. The challenge was how to help a mobile user:

• automatically find and display pictures taken on a specific day; and
• quickly jump to pictures taken on a specific day, especially when the user has a large photo album.

The photo app in iOS opens up on the last pic taken by default and can be clunky to scroll through. I was not sure if it was possible to automatically post pics on a specific day or jump to pics taken on a specific day, but the team found solutions for both!

SOLUTION

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

I had the concept but did not know where to turn for help. I used reference to find different options. CC seemed to be the best organized and also had a focus on the client experience.

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

The CC team took my design concept away for a couple of weeks to determine if they could build it to the specs that I outlined. After the initial proof of concept, they began development work. Along the way, the CC team highlighted additional gaps and steps that I had not thought of but needed to address to build a compelling app.

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

I worked with a lead project manager. He was great at bringing together the developers and designers for regular touch points. I also was keep updated via Basecamp. The team did a great job at keeping me updated along the way and the work actually finished a little ahead of schedule.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

TBD. I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly the team build the app after the initial PoC.

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

The team used Basecamp for regular communication. Much of the work did not need input from me, so I was able to stay updated automatically and with ease via Basecamp.

During the development, the team would regularly reach out for calls when we needed to discuss some features or design elements needing my input. The CC team also build a beta app that I was able to interact with for testing and additional feedback.

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

They took my initial idea and developed a beautiful app around it. The team was also very knowledgeable and provided feedback and ideas along the way to enhance the initial concept.

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'm a graphic designer and also in charge of organizing the web related content at Sigma Marketing, a company that primarily sells calendars and promotional materials to our clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our websites were created over 15 years ago and running an obsolete cart program. For the first couple of years we have worked with Cooperative Computing they helped us patch the sites and get by. After a few years had passed we came to be aware that ecommerce was obsolete. We took council with Cooperative Computing who showed us Opencart, a cart they expressed a lot of knowledge and expertise in. The challenge was creating a site template, with all of the customization each project needed that we could use moving forward into the future.

SOLUTION

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

We were originally looking for help in ecommerce related web assistance, and I did many searches online before coming across Cooperative Computing. What impressed me right away was the timely reply, respect to my requests, the fast turnaround, the expertise and the very fair pricing.

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

Cooperative Computing organized the project and listed everything to be done on Basecamp, which kept things very easy to find throughout the project. Every day they would post what changes had been made and what was next on the agenda. We always knew the timeline and they stayed very close to it at all times.

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

We would work with approximately two sales reps, usually just our main rep, and then we had one dedicated technician, occasionally a second. Our primary tech is Bilal and there aren't enough words to express the professionalism he offers Sigma.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Once we made the switch to Opencart, again, Cooperative Computing's request, we saw a much more efficient and secure way of handling business online. We are able to offer our clients an ordering tool that now feels as good as it looks.

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

Cooperative Computing primarily uses Basecamp to discuss large scale projects while small requests are usually handled over email. They keep everyone updated with the entire process for the duration of the project.

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

The most impressive thing about Cooperative Computing is the respect they offer their clients. Sigma and myself always felt like Cooperative Computing genuinely cared about our issues.

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

There are none that come to mind.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a digital transformation company. We work with large clients to do digital transformation, which can entail from internal technologies to external, customer-facing technologies, like applications, mobile apps, websites, and service systems.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Cooperative Computing?

We were working with one of the largest offline newspaper companies. Cooperative Computing has been helping us for the last few months to turn their business into a digital one.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Cooperative Computing has helped us do a complete rebuild of the newspaper’s applications as well as completing an internal technology review for the business’s systems and application products. We’re currently working on customer-facing mobile and web applications for a social platform.

Cooperative Computing scoped the solution in advance. They defined what the key deliverables are, which, in this case, are features in the application and specific technology stack. They created a 13-point Sprint plan to work over the next 28 weeks. The deliverables are placed on a weekly basis, and they're defined based on the features and functionalities within the app. We’re about halfway through this development.

Within six weeks of starting the engagement, they developed a functional app that we could demo and begin to feedback on. They started with a reference application that did not function correctly. They took it, reviewed it, and then they built the brand new application from scratch. Ever since, they've been adding new features to it and expanding the existing ones.

We give them some requirements from our end, such as specific integrations that they need to do. There's obviously a lot of archaic systems within the business already that are mission-critical, and they have to integrate them within the applications. We require them to develop on AWS, and we give them the specific requirements when other assets need to be built within PHP. With this assessment, they're building the solution.

What is the team composition?

We’ve been working with 18 people on this project. This includes project managers, Scrum masters, front- and backend developers, mobile developers, and a single UX/UI designer. QA and testing people are part of that, too.

How did you come to work with Cooperative Computing?

I’ve been working in this field for several years, so I’ve worked with a lot of various agencies and hired internal staff as well. I was looking for vendors and did a personal assessment of them, including the interviews. I looked at cost-versus-experience reviews so we could get good value for our money.

I saw Cooperative Computing references and noticed that they’d worked with some big multinationals and other regional big companies in the fast-moving consumer goods sector. The proposal they gave us seemed to cover all the bases compared to the other proposals I saw.

Initially, we asked them to scope out all the features required before any formal engagement was made on the actual development. They did that and blew us away. They were able to hit all the marks that we needed. For that reason, we hired them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around the beginning of January 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The functionality that they develop within the applications has been great. There are clear targets that they’ve hit. However, there are no metrics to share for this development.

The technical development has been very good. They’ve been able to move at our pace. We’ve been forced to throw a few curveballs at them regarding integrations, and they’ve been able to do them successfully.

How did Cooperative Computing perform from a project management standpoint?

Cooperative Computing gives me full transparency. We communicate via Slack, and I get daily reports on the tasks completed. At the end of the sprints, I get a pretty good sprint review document delivered to me. That shows me what we miss, complete, and what it’s to be completed.

They're very good at highlighting where potential issues might be coming up. For example, recently, we were asking for some technical details on one of the integrations within a business, and the business didn’t have the documentation. Cooperative Computing highlighted this pretty early on, and one of the project managers stepped in to try and assist with the solution. When they saw that was going to be an issue coming up, they alerted us to it. It was easier to manage the issue that way.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Cooperative Computing has been the best company I’ve come across in the last two years in terms of cost and value. I reviewed several agencies around the globe, and they were way above the rest. Their work is really good quality-wise.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Some of the UX/UI designs haven’t been impressive. However, I know they are able to take the feedback in and clean up their work.

Any advice for potential customers?

There needs to be an open channel of communication. Make sure you get to talk with the whole team and not just the project managers. I have direct contact with the whole development team, not only the project managers and the account directors. I'm able to ask questions of the technical team, which for me, has been invaluable to be able to get technical answers to questions.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a COO of muv, inc. - a transportation management company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Full cycle of transportation management starting with accepting the order all the way to invoicing.

SOLUTION

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

Knew the founder from prior experience.

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

The requirement was to build an online platform that is fully integrated with the legacy system and sales force. Modules included: customer management, vendor management, ride management, event management, rate management, accounting, and sales.

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

4 to 10 at a time. full stack team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It's been 5 years and we're still using the platform.

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

Professional, accountable, committed.

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

Their dedication and willingness to learn the business side to deliver the system we needed was good.

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

At that time the company was still fairly young and pulled through with force and dedication. I know they have grown since and are a lot more mature as a development company.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am an external consultant to the company in question.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We had a custom build of a major piece of software that needed to be rebuilt.

SOLUTION

How did you select Cooperative Computing and what were the deciding factors?

I was lucky enough to be introduced to them in the past. We used them for major projects delivering complicated software solutions for publicly listed companies and they have excelled at delivery.

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

PHP, Laravel, AWS.

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

We had a dedicated team of 19 team members.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had a strict delivery schedule with moving parts. In order to achieve this the team were able to accommodate items and adjust the sprints accordingly to deliver the results.

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

Everything was transparent, both the sprints and the demo days. The team used basecamp for regular updates and we then engaged on regular calls to align on any items that needed a deeper dive

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

Their ability to turn complicated software projects into efficient deliveries is impressive. Also, the ability to navigate large organisations and their needs and wants and be able to adapt to these requirements.

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

I am very happy with their work.