GCD

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Business Development Officer of NIACRO

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

NIACRO works to reduce crime and its impact on people and communities across Northern Ireland.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire GCD to accomplish?

• Demonstrating our impact
• Enable teams to manage their caseloads
• Facilitate easier recording and reporting

SOLUTION

How did you find GCD?

Tender process

Why did you select GCD over others?

Company values aligned

How many teammates from GCD were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Our bespoke database is used by all projects, with modifications to reflect each service’s input and reporting needs.  Each person is referred onto a project, on which we record contacts, interventions, signposts, outcomes, closure details and bespoke custom fields on each case.  We generate reports using reporting templates to show performance against targets; emerging trends; and outcomes data.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

A database that works for both project staff and managers.  We have a monthly quota of time to make improvements as it has been in place since 2018 and there are some elements that could be improved now.

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

Conor Owens checks in really regularly and makes sure that the GCD team are prioritising what we need done and makes sure it is done for when we need it.

What was your primary form of communication with GCD?

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

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

The team and Conor are good at communicating and figuring out a solution that works best for both us and them.

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

Our database was created such a long time ago in technology terms, I would love to update the UI, but we're on the right track!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the digital content creator at Linden Hall Library in Belfast, Northern Ireland. We are a library, archive, and museum. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with GCD?

After looking at our offerings, we realized we needed a development partner. So, we hired GCD to replace our outdated website. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

GCD developed our WordPress website and created a digital platform for us to showcase digital copies of our collection. They used the spec documentation generated using requests from our management and staff. The digital platform was developed in PHP and used an API from our CollectionsIndex+ system. The platform and website are integrated. 

On the website, users can go in and browse a range of media files, PDFs, and audio and visual files. Those are pulled from our archival system and presented on the site’s frontend. Users can sort and filter materials based on categories and date ranges to view the thousands of materials held by our library. 

They’ve continued to follow up on both projects with technical support. I serve as a liaison between our in-house staff and GCD. 

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with two developers, a client services liaison, and the director, who is responsible for the frontend designs. 

How did you come to work with GCD?

My director put out a tender and chose GCD from a pool of three companies. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $100,000–$250,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership began in January 2020. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve already noticed an increase in the number of event and membership registrants coming through the site. The site acts as intended and makes it easier for customers and members to find information. 

We haven’t had any feedback on the digital platform yet, but we also haven’t had any complaints about it. Our internal team is very happy with GCD’s output. 

How did GCD perform from a project management standpoint?

During the initial project, there were some timeline delays, but the overall was delivered on time. Their on-time delivery ensured that everything went live when it was supposed to. 

GCD is very responsive; they’re quick to respond to our emails. We’ve had weekly meetings with them on Wednesdays to check in. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

GCD is approachable and easy to work with. Their team doesn’t overcomplicate projects or speak in technical terms because they know that not all of our team can understand those terms. I’ve been very happy with GCD’s services. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have nothing for them to improve. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d give anyone working with a development company the same advice: as long as you have a clear understanding and documentation of your project, GCD will be easy to work with. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Director of publishing products for Mediahuis Ireland. Mediahiuis is a multinational media organisation, operating in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Ireland and the UK,.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired GCD when we decided to outsource the development of our news apps on iOS and Android.

SOLUTION

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

We had an existing relationship with them, having worked on some smaller web and app projects in the past.

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

All development and testing of iOS and Android apps, including integration with a host of third party services such as identity management, push notifcations, payments, etc.

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

C.10 to 20, from MD to project managers, designers and developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have a strong and committed user base which has grown consistently while we've been working with GCD. In 2021 we launched a subscription service on our sites and apps. GCD was a key partner and the apps proved a strong driver of subscription revenue.

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

Collaborative. Willing to use any tool we used.

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

True partners. GCD regularly offered us counsel and feedback on what was happening in the wider app ecosystem that we should recognise and which we could benefit from

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

No,.