Efficiencie

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an IT officer in charge of database and storage systems for the Uganda Electoral Commission. We’re a government agency that manages electoral activities in the country. Our decision-making is independent, but we are supported by the government.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Efficiencie?

We wanted a biometric time and attendance system that would handle close to 800 staff. The challenge we had at the time was time and attendance recording.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Efficiencie provided a turnkey solution that uses fingerprinting devices and software in a central system. 

We had them on site for three weeks. Efficiencie had to import the equipment we needed. In the meantime, they made a site survey, looking at where they would install the equipment at different access points. They then set up the machines and made configurations to the central system.
 
Throughout the process, we had project reviews to see how things were progressing. They submitted a full project management report.
 
What is the team composition?

Efficiencie had a project manager on board.
 
How did you come to work with Efficiencie?

We went through a government provisioning process for them to acquire the project. They had to submit bids, which we evaluated. 

Our initial meetings with them were to discuss the timeframes in the documents they supplied. We agreed on the deliverables and time schedules, and we had to understand the system architecture they would deploy. We also discussed the transfer plan and how they’d be training people. 

At the end of the day, we looked at what would be the cost of ownership of the whole project, and whether support costs would be too high.
 
How much have you invested with them?

The project cost was 15 million Ugandan shillings (approximately $4,100 USD).
 
What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from April until July 2019. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re entering into our general elections cycle in a year’s time. Efficiencie delivered the project in a timely fashion, and it’s helped us complete some tasks faster than before. With automatic reporting mechanisms in place, it’s no longer possible for people to clock in and out on behalf of others. 

We’ve become more efficient as an organization after we deployed the system at our central office. We have 133 offices across the country. While these centers have small staffs, we’re looking at installing systems like this across the board because of the success we’ve seen so far.
 
Efficiencie delivered on time and within budget. We haven’t had a single breakdown with the system. It works perfectly and promptly, and it helps us with decision-making.
 
How did Efficiencie perform from a project management standpoint?

They had a project manager on site who followed up with each and every deliverable. They had contractors doing all the work, and the project manager made sure everything was being delivered. They sent reports through email, and we also communicated over the phone and face-to-face meetings.
 
What did you find most impressive about them?

It was the project management skills they brought—those were evidently good. So was their level of responsiveness. Their skills also stood out to me, especially since this was a brand-new implementation we’d never had in place before.
 
Are there any areas they could improve?

Efficiencie could’ve given us access to the reporting on mobile devices for issues with the system and so on. Of course, we could see that there were some challenges with the infrastructure, and it was important to not overshoot the cost of the project.
 
Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I would give them a thumbs-up. We’ve used them for other hardware-based projects, and they always delivered on time. They’re fully compliant, and they’re categorized in the top 100 mid-sized companies in Uganda.