Gluo

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of digital marketing at an access solutions company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Gluo?

We had a series of needs in customer service. Our number of executives wasn’t enough to respond to all of our clients, so we decided to begin a B2B interaction to allow our clients to do the order-to-cash process directly on our online store.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Gluo developed our platform from scratch using BigCommerce. They used JavaScript and HTML for the front and Figma for UI/UX design. We initially provided them with a brand book so they could consider our brand’s colors and images.

Our site worked as any popular e-commerce platform where clients can see our products, their attributes, videos, technical sheets, manuals, and more. Users can also buy them or add them to their online catalog.

What was the team composition?

We had a big team, although some teammates were only present for specific project stages. We worked with Daniela (Delivery Manager Leader), Pedro (Senior Delivery Manager), Jesus (JavaScript Developer), Arturo and Marco (Frontend Developers), Marissa (UX Lead), Ines (UX Researcher & Writer), Ruben (Software Engineer), and Cristina (UI/UX Designer), among others.

How did you come to work with the Gluo?

Our IT department led an online research process. After several interviews, we received proposals. We compared the different proposals considering quantitative and qualitative factors. In the end, we decided that Gluo was the best choice.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in June 2022, and the project lasted nine months in total.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t loaded our whole product portfolio yet, but the clients already using the platform have had a positive impression. They’re happy with the environment; the UI/UX team did an amazing job. Also, every order we’ve received since then has been through the platform, so now we can properly gather the information from every order.

How did Gluo perform from a project management standpoint?

They did a great follow-up; we were very impressed with their project management skills. Moreover, we learned a lot from Gluo. Their job was flawless; they used Jira to track the project’s evolution. We also had daily Microsoft Teams meetings to check for updates. On average, they invested 3,000 hours in this process, so communication was challenging. However, Gluo made sure to make it work. They delivered timely; all the delays were on our side.

Besides Jira, we also shared files on a drive and communicated via WhatsApp. We had the whole team’s phone number.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Gluo had an excellent service; they put their entire energy into it. They always had a smile on their faces, and the team was nice to work with. Everyone was fully dedicated to creating a good product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They had a series of practices. For example, when they have an intern or junior, they let them lead the project after they got a good grasp of it. However, those changes sometimes made us feel left alone.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust them completely and see them as a partner; Gluo will do everything you need.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there

I’m a UX/UI leader at an office supplies retailer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Gluo?

They helped us analyze the UX of our websites and apps.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Gluo provided us with a guide of observations and good practices to help us improve our client’s experience on our digital channels. They had their own methodology, which was a set of guidelines and benchmarks that allowed them to evaluate our e-commerce.

What was the team composition?

I worked directly with three people, but I don’t know if there were more involved.

How did you come to work with Gluo?

My boss found their company page on Linkedin. He liked their profile, so we contacted them and started our collaboration.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent between 20,000–30,000 Mexican pesos (approximately $900–$1,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in October 2021, and the project lasted about a month.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t implemented their suggestions, so we cannot evaluate the results yet. However, they identified things that we hadn’t, and they seem to be on the spot for the improvements we aim to implement.

How did Gluo perform from a project management standpoint?

We had a great experience working with them; they were a flexible and young team. They adapted well to our schedules, and their reports were very professional. We communicated mainly through video calls and had a great experience overall.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their working methodology was great. This was the first time I encountered it, and the results were fantastic — the insights they provided will be of great value to the company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They provided a lot of information in a short time, so having more time to digest all of the insights would’ve been better.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Get to know their vision and the other methodologies they propose to evaluate your business; they can bring innovative new approaches for your business.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there

I'm an executive at an educational institution.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Gluo?

We started using Adobe Campaign to manage all of our communication campaigns using our prospects database. That tool was different from what we used, so we needed the training to use it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Gluo mainly provided IT consulting services for my department to run our marketing campaigns using Adobe. They accelerated our learning curve for best practices.

What was the team composition?

We worked directly with two people from their team, including a project manager and a developer.

How did you come to work with Gluo?

They were recommended to us by Adobe.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from April–September 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their support was a vital part of the project. We needed to implement the tool correctly, but we had a low opening rate when we started because we didn’t know how to set up many of the tool’s functionalities; thanks to Gluo’s support, we increased the mail opening rate by at least 14%.

How did Gluo perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great; they committed to the project and took it as their own. They were also very diligent and professional. In terms of communication, it was mainly remote through Microsoft Teams.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They committed to the project to the point that it felt like it was theirs; I've worked with other agencies in the past, and we hadn’t been able to achieve that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could have a more structured follow-up for their projects and communication schemes.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It would help if you took some time to analyze tasks and needs. Our project was in a hurry from our side, so when we started, we encountered some bumps in the road because our goals were not very clear. We realized that taking some more time to define the goals and reach of the project was necessary for the project’s success.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there

I’m a systems developer at a telecom company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Gluo?

We needed someone to develop our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Gluo has helped us with a number of projects. We first hired them to build our old website using Java. Eventually, our company decided to rebrand, so we hired them again. The team has now developed our new website and worked on its architecture, UX design, and so on. We’ve given them the freedom to choose the technologies. The new site also runs on Java, but it also utilizes AWS services like Amazon CloudFront and Amazon CloudWatch. 

What was the team composition? 

We work with 10 teammates on average, including a project manager. The number of people we work with varies.

How did you come to work with Gluo?

They sent us a proposal based on an assessment they made of our website. We talked to other companies, but we liked the way Gluo presented the possible improvements we could make. Additionally, the team proposed updates that utilized the most modern technologies, so we decided to work with them.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent between $10 million–$12 million MXN (approximately $485,000–$582,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in December 2010, and it is an ongoing collaboration.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Gluo has met our expectations. Everyone we’ve worked with has been very skilled and proactive. The team is very professional and shows great dedication to the project — they’re always one step ahead of our needs.

How did Gluo perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re always available when anything comes up. We use Microsoft Teams to communicate and Jira to manage the project. We oversee most of the projects internally.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Gluo is always looking to innovate. They’ve been able to help us move past even the most challenging projects.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could assign a bigger team for certain projects. Their prices are also pretty high, but their services are worth it. Overall, we’ve had a great experience with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of design & UX of digital channels at Telcel, a telecommunications company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Gluo?

We needed someone to develop our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Gluo developed our main site using Magento and Adobe, which had all the descriptions for our device, process, catalogs, and promotions. Our platform was also linked to another service; we had products for sale that were connected to other sites. Users could also purchase cellphones, make a contract for a specific plan, and more.

On top of building our site, they did our UI/UX design. We worked together on the content, including the API part, too. Now, they continue to maintain our platform.

What is the team composition?

They have a team in India that works for us, which is composed of around 18 people.

How did you come to work with Gluo?

They reached out to us and presented their idea. After that, we decided to work with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership began in May 2008.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re able to improve our processes and work more efficiently thanks to the site they’ve developed. We’ve also appreciated that they provided us some ideas to work faster. More importantly, we now have more traffic to the website.

How did Gluo perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate through email, Skype, Microsoft Teams, and Jira.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve offered ideas and suggestions, and our communication is good. Above all, they always look for the best developers to tackle our projects.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They always look for tools to improve communication between our teams.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re always looking out for us.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there

I am an IT manager at a hotel chain company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Gluo?

We don’t have our own software development factory so when we have the need of developing any kind of software, we outsource that to other partners. One of the companies we work with for that purpose is Gluo.

We have worked with them for about 15 years now, and we’ve had many different projects together — the last one was the creation of a web platform for the members of our loyalty program.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

All of our developments are made using Java, and we also use livery for content management.

What was the team composition?

I honestly don’t know, I work directly with a project manager for the project and they get to decide how many people work on the project.

How did you come to work with Gluo?

We’ve been working with them for a long time and for this latest project, we invited them to participate in the selection process — they were evaluated along with two other companies and they made the best proposal so we assigned them the project.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent over $10 million USD.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since the end of 2005 and it is an ongoing collaboration.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They are a very good service provider, and they’re especially great in everything related to UX, design, e-commerce, and web platforms. They’re one of the best companies we work with using these technologies. Apart from that, they’re also very professional and we’ve never had any setbacks in any of the projects we’ve had with them — although we’ve had some delays every once in a while like with any other service provider.

I would say they still have their strengths which is why we continue working with them after so long.

How did Gluo perform from a project management standpoint?

We had some delays in our last project. I believe that when they made the initial proposal, they considered that the project would be less complex than it ended up being — but they were able to absorb the impact of this. Though despite the delays, they still delivered a project with great quality. We used Teams as a communications and project management tool.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are great at UI/UX design.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve their prices. Their prices are higher than their competitors’ so they should keep that in mind to remain competitive. They should also adjust to the market prices.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the digital transformation manager of Laureate Mexico, and I’m in charge of our commercial projects.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Gluo?

We were trying to create a new experience on our students’ platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Gluo helped us create a better website with a better UX for our current and future students. Aside from the website, they also created our blog and a platform called “Educando Juntos”.

What is the team composition?

Around 10–15 people from Gluo worked on our project.

How did you come to work with Gluo?

At the time, we were working with Adobe Experience Manager, a new technology, and Gluo was a recommended partner for it. They demonstrated their experience in working with different institutions like ours and made a proposal that was exactly what we were looking for, so we started working with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around March of 2020, and the project was completed by September 2020. We’ve assigned them more work on other projects, so our collaboration continues.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our website has an overall improved performance thanks to Gluo’s work.

How did Gluo perform from a project management standpoint?

When the project started, Gluo used an Agile methodology. We had daily follow-ups to check on the progress, and those follow-ups included a demo. We started having in-person meetings, but once the pandemic started, our entire collaboration became virtual, and we began communicating via e-mail.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Gluo is an experienced and professional team that knows how to handle the methodologies and tools required for their job. Their staff is prepared and knows what they’re doing. They also deliver on their promises, and their team is dynamic, versatile, and easy to work with. They’re a young company, and I really like working with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We don’t follow Agile methodologies within our company yet; we’re still very traditional. It would be good if Gluo could adapt to us so that we can provide feedback on their reports and follow-up internally in a better way. We work based on deadlines and deliverables, which is very different from what they do.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s very important to have your project's scope clearly established to get the best out of the collaboration. Additionally, assign an in-house team to follow on the project closely so that they can support Gluo in completing the project.