Digital Mettle

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Creative Operations of Brandwidth Solutions

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Brandwidth Solutions is a full-service B2B marketing firm specializing in the pharmaceuticals, diagnostic, life science, and technology industries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Digital Mettle to accomplish?

Partnership in web development providing web design and maintenance for Brandwidth Solutions and our clients

SOLUTION

How did you find Digital Mettle?

Referral

Why did you select Digital Mettle over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Digital Mettle were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Digital Mettle provided guidance and web development deliverables thoughout our partnership. This included, but not limited to, the following:

• 5 completely new websites
• Maintenance and edits for several websites
• Collaboration with designers for anything web related including pitches for new websites
• Worked seamlessly with Brandwidth Solutions and clients as an extension of the Brandwidth team

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Highly effective websites and client satisfaction 

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Project management was impeccable with Digital Mettle. Consistently delivered on time or early with fantastic communication. Digital Mettle worked with our Director of Creative Operations on developing a project management process for handling websites and consistently recommended software to aid in project management and more efficient ways to work with clients.

What was your primary form of communication with Digital Mettle?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Not only does Digital Mettle provide exceptional quaility work, they genuinely cared about Brandwidth's clients as if the clients were Digital Mettle's. I cannot stress enough how wonderfully we work together.

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

The only thing I can say here, is we wished Digital Mettel would continue to do their web development and recognize that they are moving into a different direction.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Chief Technology Officer of American Society of Echocardiography

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

ASE is the largest global organization for cardiovascular ultrasound imaging serving physicians, sonographers, nurses, veterinarians, and scientists and as such is the leader and advocate, setting practice standards and guidelines for the field. Since 1975, the Society has been committed to advancing cardiovascular ultrasound to improve lives.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Digital Mettle to accomplish?

• Creating a mobile application (EchoGuide) to provide calculators and diagrams based on ASE's published guidelines

SOLUTION

How did you find Digital Mettle?

• Referral
• RFP

Why did you select Digital Mettle over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Digital Mettle were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

DUTIES: The Contractor will develop and manage the public launch of the software described in the following documents:

1. ASE Guideline App Digital Mettle Proposal.docx 
2. ASE-UI-APP-Design-OCT2020.pdf 
3. ASE Guideline App Selection RFP(Q) - final.docx 
4. FORMULAS COMPLEMENTARY TO ALGORITHMS FOR ASE APP.docx 
5. RFP Answers to questions.docx 
6. echo algorithm proposals for new ASE app - EGS update 07-12.pptx 
7. FORMULAS COMPLEMENTARY TO ALGORITHMS FOR ASE APP.docx 
8. list of calculators and formulae v.EGS 082220.xlsx 

MILESTONES: 

1. Web version of the app with one calculator, one algorithm, and one reference values tables is available to review. 
2. Web version of the app with 10 calculators, 3 algorithms, and 3 reference values tables is available to review. 
3. Mobile app version of the app (Google Play Beta / Apple Testflight private beta) with 10 calculators, 3 algorithms, and 3 reference values tables is available to review.
4. Web and Mobile version of the app with 20 calculators, 5 algorithms, and 3 reference values tables is available to review. 
5. Web and Mobile version of the app with additional features (favorites, sponsor display, search) available to review. 
6. Web and Mobile version of the app with full functionality available to review. 
7. Web and Mobile version of the app is approved by the Company and launched for public use.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The ASE Guideline App will include:

• up to 28 calculators 
• up to 7 algorithms 
• up to 10 reference values tables 

The ASE Guideline App will be successfully built, tested, and deployed to the two major app stores (Apple and Google Play) and on the web within a reasonable timeframe.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Digital Mettle was great to work with. Deliverables were on time or ahead of schedule. Communication was easy and response time was fast.

What was your primary form of communication with Digital Mettle?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

I'm impressed with their level of expertise and adaptability. Finding creative solutions and building the application to account for future growth / expansion.

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

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Member Engagement of Women in Aviation International

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Women in Aviation International is a membership organization dedicated to the mission of helping more women get involved in Aviation and Aerospace.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Digital Mettle to accomplish?

• Database Integrations
• Custom Database Projects

SOLUTION

How did you find Digital Mettle?

• Referral

Why did you select Digital Mettle over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Digital Mettle were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Digital Mettle has been an amazing resource to WAI. They have assisted with development of several APIs, helped us integrate APIs, and have helped us improve the performance of our AMS. They continue to be a resource for us as we navigate continued improvement and new integrations.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Successful implementation of custom API was very easy to gauge - it worked seamlessly. For other projects, they are quick to respond, provide excellent customer service and are very, very fast to develop and implement creative solutions.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

The Digital Mettle team has been, since the beginning, very responsive. They are open, at every level, to all forms of communication and work quickly and collaborate well.

What was your primary form of communication with Digital Mettle?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their staff is fantastic - they communicate very complex technical concepts to people without those skills or knowledge base, in a way that allows easy collaboration and successful project planning and execution.

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

No...they are responsive, open and easy to work with. On top of that, they provide an excellent service for the price.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Education & Resources Director for non-profit trade association providing support to independent rental housing providers in the State of Washington.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our organization uses an Association Management System, similar to CMS, but specifically designed for associations. This system provides access to various levels of login access based on membership dues. We wanted to provide access to a separate learning management system through SSO, and based on membership level, assign users to different groups within the LMS.

SOLUTION

How did you select Digital Mettle and what were the deciding factors?

Digital Mettle was recommended as a third party developer who had worked with our AMS (Novi) in the past. They submitted a reasonable detailed proposal that we accepted.

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

I met with founder Jason Mac Entee virtually to review the scope of work and determine a course of action. I worked with him to provide access to the two web applications we were connecting (Novi and SAP-Litmos) and set up test profiles in each application.

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

I only worked with Digital Mettle founder and Lead Consultant, Jason.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Jason was able to set up the SSO and group assignment quickly with minimal input. After implementing the SSO, our users began seeing an intermittent, unexplained error on the SAP Litmos side. We were eventually able to set up an SAML Tracer that I could use to capture the error details as it was happening. Once he had this information, he was able to quickly correct the problem.

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

Casual, easy to work with. Good follow up on troubleshooting after implementation.

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

Willingness to put in extra time to troubleshoot problem after project was completed and implemented.

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

Only that it would have been nice to catch and fix the error before implementation, but working with the LMS company (SAP-Litmos) was challenging.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our software alerts recipients with the inbound management of packages delivered to apartment leasing offices, businesses, and others. As CEO, I have worked with many develop companies over the past decade.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Digital Mettle?

Complete SaaS application management, software development, maintenance, bug fixes, and new project development.

What were your goals for this project?

Maintain, limit bugs, operate efficiently, find an expert to support us for the long run.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We reached out to our technology network and scoured the internet for a multitude of options. We narrowed down our choices to three companies, and Digital Mettle was far superior.

Describe the project in detail.

Complete SaaS application management, software development, maintenance, bug fixes, and new project development.

What was the team composition?

Our team is comprised of a Division Director, Assistant Manager, Sales Member, and participation from company CEO. Division Director and Assistant Manager are primary contacts for clients.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had great success in learning about our software, poorly crafted patches (from other developers) and the need for some updates. We were very happy with the outcome and learning that occurred within such a short period.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Great work flow. Great communication. As long as our team provided enough detail, Digital Mettle was able to find and repair bug fixes as needed. Our legacy product previously had a lot of hands in it. Digital Mettle did a good job managing those difficulties.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Knowledge! Jason and the team were incredibly knowledgable and quick to understand our needs (from multiple angles). We were quite impressed from the moment we met them, to our in-person meeting, to all other communications.

Are there any areas for improvement?

A more robust ticketing tool. This was not a hinderance, but it would help for better communication. We did not have a communication problem (by email), but a ticketing system would allow for a consolidated location and to have an idea of hours used (for budgeting purposes). Again, no real concerns here, it would just be an improvement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of Sensible Data Solutions, and we keep networks running.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Mettle?

Our clients often want us to provide additional services that we don’t have the expertise on, so I brought Digital Mettle onboard to get involved in that.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We contract work to them that our clients need done. Sometimes that’s custom software or linking their website to an inventory or accounting system. They’re a Microsoft shop, so they generally work with .NET framework. They also use SQL if they’re designing a database application. However, they’ve also dipped their toes into other programs that they’re less familiar with. They also help us maintain the systems and go back and fix things when needed.

They recently created a reservation system for one of our clients. We’re the network provider for a restaurant, and they weren’t able to figure out why they couldn’t use an online reservation system. When we looked into it, we found that most restaurants have a fixed number of seats. Our customer, on the other hand, redesigned their layout based on the reservations they had each night. As a result, they had a lot of variation—some nights they could fit 650 people in, and other nights only 450.

We posed this challenge to Digital Mettle and they created an algorithm that could be used to adjust for big and small parties. Then, they connected it to a reservation service.

What is the team composition?

I work directly with Brian (Founder 7 Software Architect, Digital Mettle) and Jason (Founder, Lead Consultant). Though, we’ve worked with other programmers in the past. For small projects, they might do it on their own, but sometimes we have 6–7 people working on the project.

How did you come to work with Digital Mettle?

Years ago, we were looking for a partner to help us with a video projection project for one of our clients. Brian and Jason were working with another company and they gave us a quote. We decided to go with them. Then, they decided to start their own company and we continued to work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $650,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2001 and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We always go back to them because they make our clients happy. In the past, I never recommended programmers because their work reflected on my company. But when it comes to Digital Mettle, I trust they’re going to do a really good job. We don’t have to worry about being dragged down—if anything, they’ll bring us up.

How did Digital Mettle perform from a project management standpoint?

They always provide accurate timeframes, while other programmers I’ve worked with commit to a timeline and can’t deliver. I appreciate their honesty because I have a more accurate representation for the customer. We’ve had companies come back to us when the partner they chose can’t deliver results in the allotted time.

During a major project, I’ll visit their offices and we’ll go over things on a whiteboard. We also have a call every week and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re not afraid to go outside their comfort zone to deliver what’s needed for the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

This may be nit-picky, but they could improve their communication skills. I work around it by asking more specific questions and taking on that role in our partnership.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be involved and know your customers’ requirements. By knowing what our customers expect, you can manage communication easier.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I was managing a diversify set of businesses across the U.S.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Digital Mettle, LLC?

We hired Digital Mettle to advise us through making several software decisions and building a new platform for our businesses.

What were your goals for this project?

We ultimately wanted a new online platform that would support our marketing and sales efforts for a portfolio of businesses

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They came highly recommended by another consultant we were using and we saw that they had a great track record of performance.

Describe the project in detail.

I can't go into great detail but ultimately we hired them to advise on several key decisions that needed to be made regarding infrastructure, design, and integrations related to building software to support our U.S. based businesses. They would build the system as well.

What was the team composition?

We worked with a group of industry experts from DM and we had several key business leaders involved from our side too.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I can't imagine that we would have made the best decisions for the project and platform without the expertise of Digital Mettle. They understood not just the technical aspects of what needed to be done but also how this project was woven into our broader business and marketing strategy. They clearly saw the big picture and created a road map for us to get there.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was great and working with DM was seamless and effective. They always did what they said they would do.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

As mentioned before they understood the big picture and how this project could be used to accomplish our sales and marketing strategy. It wasn't just about building software but, rather, how they could help us accomplish our business goals.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No not really.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I worked in information systems at Youth for Change.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Mettle, LLC?

At the time, a division of Youth for Change called Strategies had a client scheduling system through which people could register for events conducted around the country. The company that had provided the database went out of business on short notice. We needed a partner to help build a new database on a short timeline.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Essentially, Digital Mettle, LLC developed a replacement for our client management system. Initially, we talked to them about two main routes for solving the problem. One route was to develop a new system from scratch. The second route was to open source a platform to modify based on our needs. Due to time constraints, we ended up going with the second solution. Their team adapted a system developed with PHP, bringing together pieces of our old product to build a new database. The system had to manage a complicated set of facilities around the country that we used for meetings. Their team integrated a scheduling component to ensure that events and calendars didn’t overlap. They also implemented a billing component because a lot of our clients paid for the session to run.  

What is the team composition?

We worked with Brian (Technology Consultant and Custom Software Architect, Digital Mettle, LLC) and Jason (Founder, Digital Mettle, LLC) for the most part. They collaborated with several subcontractors on the project, but we didn’t interact with them directly.

How did you come to work with Digital Mettle, LLC?

I’ve known of Digital Mettle, LLC since the late ’90s and had success working with them previously. Their team was available and able to help us on a short timeline, which was incredible because it’s often hard to get people to be that flexible.  

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $120,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We collaborated on this project between January 2014–March 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

There was minimal impact on the business. We only had a few months of an outage, which would’ve been much worse without them. Our team was happy with the feedback received from Digital Mettle, LLC. They were open to comments and responded to requests for changes quickly.

How did Digital Mettle, LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed really well. In the beginning, we had to decide on how to move forward with the system. Essentially, I gave them a pile of specs and a short time to analyze the content. Jason came back with good suggestions for ways to put existing tools into our environment and modify them. He presented really good options, laid them out nicely, and talked about the timelines that would be affected by following different routes. From the beginning, they were on top of things. Their team communicated throughout the process. We rarely went more than a week without interacting with them and providing feedback on the product.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The original database was not fully intact. We had pieces of a client database and previous bookings. This was a system that had to be substantially reverse engineered and Digital Mettle, LLC was able to bring almost all the data back into the new system. Their ability to retrieve a significant amount of data was impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I put this more on my team, but Digital Mettle, LLC could’ve coordinated with our specs more tightly or not move forward on aspects of the database without them. But my team was all over the place during the first few months.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know what you want when you come into the collaboration. If you can clearly define what you want, you’ll get the results you want. Digital Mettle, LLC will provide you with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We offer a SaaS product that specializes in the production and maintenance of USPS certified mail. I'm the founder, CEO, and a co-managing member of the business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Mettle, LLC?

We needed to create a front- and backend for our website for our new business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They've been a consistent partner for many years. They built the entire backend of our system from scratch, and we co-designed the user interface, which they developed. They serve as our IT team, and they handle all our technology needs, excepting our ongoing frontend development. Everything else is under their purview.

What is the team composition?

At the beginning, we worked directly with their two principals. They have a good understanding and knowledge of our system.

How did you come to work with Digital Mettle, LLC?

They came to us through a referral. A friend suggested them right after they started their business.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent over $320,000 for their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in summer 2005, and we continue to communicate on a daily basis. They still design, implement, and maintain services within the website.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Overall, the quality of their work is excellent. Like any ongoing IT project, transitions and implementations can be challenging, but we have nothing but praise for them. Over a fourteen-year relationship, they've become close business partners.

How did Digital Mettle, LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

They're excellent project managers. We're in constant contact by phone or email, and we're close enough geographically to meet face to face for planning. They have a useful development portal that we use, and we only meet in person on occasion.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I've had a long career, and I've watched programming change over time. Throughout our relationship, they've never failed to deliver on any of my requests. They have a great knowledge of web services, design, and functionality.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We would love to finish projects faster, but we understand that we're not their only client. They're very responsive, and they do a very good job. The length of our relationship is a testament to the quality of their work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They continue to grow and expand their resources and expertise. If you hope to build an IT solution from scratch, or if you want to change your existing products, take the time to thoroughly discuss your project and requirements with them. They have a high level of personal and professional integrity.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Tourism Economics provides policy direction, economic impact analysis, and market studies to clients in the travel and hospitality sectors around the world. This review is provided by Adam Sacks, President of Tourism Economics.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Digital Mettle, LLC?

We hired DM to manage the implementation of a complex online calculator that would be accesses by hundreds of cities around the world. It required an understanding of detailed data sets, development of a aesthetically professional BI platform, and integration with client CRM systems.

What were your goals for this project?

To develop an easy-to-use platform for our clients to access our models and run impact analyses on their own. The platform needed to reflect detailed economic relationships while being functionally efficient. Ideally, this would result wide adoption of the system across our industry, which it has.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We interviewed Jason at Digital Mettle as well as another vendor. Upon reviewing their past work and proposal, DM appeared to have the most experience and be the most able to devote significant resources to the project.

Describe the project in detail.

DM worked collaboratively with our economists to develop a platform that met each of our goals. This especially related to the integration with user CRM systems through an API. Adoption has been nearly universal.

What was the team composition?

Jason was the lead and has been supported by various team members at DI over the course of the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The system we developed now has nearly 300 clients using it around the world. Digital Mettle has been especially adept at applying the platform to international markets.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Outstanding communication and follow-through.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Problem-solving. This relates to anticipating potential problems as much as dealing with challenges that present themselves.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None.