IM Republic, Inc

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief digital officer at an educational technology (edtech) company specializing in K–12 assessments for students in ability achievement and clinical diagnosis. Our assessments are research-backed and evidence-based.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with IMRepublic, Inc?

We were amidst a five-year digital transformation plan for our company. Throughout this process, we identified a variety of things that we needed to address. However, we needed to expand our capabilities to address those issues, so we engaged with IMRepublic to get support in two different areas of our digital transformation — UI/UX design and custom software development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

IMRepublic acts as an extension of our engineering teams and provides us with UI/UX design and custom software development services. We allocate their resources to different projects and work on specific initiatives, depending on our focus.

Currently, IMRepublic is working with us on developing our e-commerce capability. Their team has worked extensively on completely revamping our e-commerce experience. They’ve already designed our platform, so they’re now working on implementing those designs.

Moreover, IMRepublic has provided us with development services for a different area of our company. Their team has helped us develop a new assessment platform that will be used in our facilities across the country, and they’ve also played a key role in designing its UX.

For most projects, we develop new products for which we don’t have preexisting documentation. Thus, we typically bring IMRepublic from the start to make them part of the planning and design processes, allowing them to contribute to our products. This way, they’re involved in all of our activities and help us build new products.

For these projects, IMRepublic uses a variety of technologies, including cloud-based integration technologies, a variety of libraries in the React Framework for UI/UX development, and Adobe tools for prototyping. In addition to the design and development services, their team has helped us with software architecture and project management for a couple of our key initiatives.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with around 5–6 people from IMRepublic across our different projects. These resources have included project managers, UI/UX designers, and developers.

How did you come to work with IMRepublic, Inc?

I worked with IMRepublic before in two previous companies. In both cases, they helped us expand our engineering and design capabilities, so when this project arose, I contacted them again.

How much have you invested with them?

In 2022 alone, we spent over $500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with IMRepublic since July 2020. However, I originally started working with them around 2017 for another company.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ll release the assessment platform that IMRepublic has helped us develop in May 2023. Once we release it, it’ll help us accommodate around 2 million–3 million students simultaneously to take assessments across the country. This platform will help us reduce our internal infrastructure costs by over $10 million.

As for the e-commerce side of our business, IMRepublic has helped us more than triple our e-commerce traffic. In the past, under 10% of our total traffic volume came from our e-commerce site; in Q4 2022, we achieved over 30% of our total traffic volume through our e-commerce site. This result was possible due to the new design and development work done by IMRepublic, which has allowed us to offer an easy-to-use platform for our customers.

How did IMRepublic, Inc perform from a project management standpoint?

IMRepublic is very responsive. Although they’re in a different time zone than us, their offshore team is available during US business hours if needed. Additionally, their team has done what they’ve needed to do to help us meet our deadlines, oftentimes even working on weekends.

As for communication, we have daily stand-up calls with IMRepublic via Zoom, and they’re integrated into our Slack channels. Moreover, we communicate via email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

IMRepublic is very responsive and flexible. Other companies refuse to do work that’s not part of the contract. However, IMRepublic focuses on solving problems first, and we figure out the business part later, which is impressive. Additionally, the resources that they bring into the projects are top-notch. These individuals are excellent in what they do, and their leadership is open, clear, and transparent about the effort it would take to complete the project at hand, showing a willingness to stay until it gets done.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would be great if IMRepublic improved their communication regarding their resources’ vacations and leaves. They have a slightly different holiday calendar than us, and some of their resources go on vacation for a couple of weeks. Thus, it would be great if they let us know about those leaves well in advance, as opposed to the three-day notice they usually give us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

IMRepublic is very good at developing new products and starting new initiatives because they combine design and development skills. Thus, the best approach is to involve them early in the process. Additionally, set up a good communication structure, including weekly or daily check-ins. If you can implement both recommendations, IMRepublic will bring their best skills to the table in the best way possible.

Still, beware that IMRepublic is not for everyone. They might not be a good fit for a multi-million dollar company. However, they’re the perfect partner for mid-size companies and fast-growing startups that work on a lot of initiatives simultaneously.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.
I manage the website and eCommerce experience at our company. We are primarily B2B, and sell assessments used in educational and clinical settings.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with IMRepublic, Inc?
We had another technology vendor in place who was not delivering the service or guidance we needed.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?
IMR offers frontend and backend development resources for websites and technology solutions.

What is the team composition?
We have a team manager as well as several employees with specific skill sets.

How did you come to work with IMRepublic, Inc?
Our management team had previous experience with IMR and had a good experience with them, so we brought them in to replace our previous vendor.

How much have you invested with them?
I am not directly involved with our costs for IMR and cannot say for sure.

What is the status of this engagement?
Our work with IMR is productive and ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We have grown our eCommerce footprint from 0% in 2019 to 37% of all transactions today.

How did IMRepublic, Inc perform from a project management standpoint?
We had a few bumps in the road, primarily attributable to our company needing to grow and refocus in this area. It’s taken a while, but IMR has been patient with us as we work through these internal processes and issues.

What did you find most impressive about them?
They are committed to our success. The development team goes above and beyond when it comes to putting in their time to resolve an issue. I cannot count the number of times we’ve had the team project lead engaged beyond the working day to ensure we are able to continue operations.

Are there any areas they could improve?
We have had some miscommunications and misunderstandings along the way, but that happens in any business relationship. I do wish we had more user experience / user interface guidance along the way, but we have filled that gap on our end, now.