ImageX

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Marketing and Communications of Ashland University

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Ashland University is a private higher education institution.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Design a new university website that would provide a visually-engaging, mobile-friendly, user-centered experience primarily for prospective students
• Improve site functionality, including search

SOLUTION

How did you find ImageX?

Referral

Why did you select ImageX over others?

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

What was the size of ImageX’s team?

6-10 Employees

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

This project was a total redesign of Ashland University's primary website. It included discovery, content strategy, design concepts, style guide, development, user research and testing, integration with external applications, quality assurance testing and ambient video development and production.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• The site was consolidated from thousands of pages to approximately 600 pages. Comparing Dec. 13 - Jan. 10 from the previous year to the same timeframe after site launch:
  • Organic search traffic - up 230%
  • Referral traffic - up 282%
  • Average engagement time per session - up 8%
  • Number of engaged sessions per user - up 16%

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

ImageX had excellent project management. They provided weekly status updates; most items were completed on time and they highlighted any deliverables that were in jeopardy.

What was your primary form of communication with ImageX?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Everyone at ImageX was warm, friendly and accommodating. They were a delight to work with and were truly an extension of our in-house team. We valued their website and Drupal expertise and they were an ideal partner that helped us manage our website redesign project successfully.

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

I can't think of any areas for improvement. They did a great job and we had fun too!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Canada’s leading property and casualty insurance technology association: bringing brokers, insurers and software providers together.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ImageX?

Our website was in need of redesign, with improved UX, security capabilities and interactivity. We looked to ImageX to modernize our website and produce a product that is capable of development through an agile approach.

SOLUTION

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

After an extensive RFI and RFP approach, we selected ImageX based on their experience, competitive pricing model and ability to deliver on our organizational needs.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

After an in-depth discovery, well-defined design phase, agile development, extensive UAT, refinement of content we had a successful launch.

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

In total, we worked with seven ImageX team members, their positions included project managers, developers, digital strategists and designers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our website is a visually-engaging, mobile-friendly, user-centered experience that engages both current and prospective members. The site is a welcoming, universally accessible experience that complies with accessibility standards, and overall reflects the inclusive culture of CSIO.

We can easily track analytics and KPIs and have implemented a content strategy that engages with key audiences and increases engagement and user satisfaction.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The team was accessible and responsive during the project.

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

We carried out this project virtually and the ImageX team was able to deliver despite our organizations not being able to collaborate in person.

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

The outset of any project of this magnitude can present unique challenges for both parties. There was an adjustment period for ImageX and CSIO at the very beginning, that said ImageX learned our brand and requirements very quickly to ensure the project plan was successfully executed.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

The Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA is a nonprofit organization. I am currently the VP of Marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Image X helped us with the transition to Open Y. Image X continues to provide us with monthly service around our website.

SOLUTION

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

We met with a number of vendors but they were the best suited for us to move to the Open Y platform.

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

The scope of work included moving the Tampa YMCA website to the Open Y website platform. It was a multi-month process with many meetings and key deliverables along the way.

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

There was a project lead and possibly 10 other account people and developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have a very functional website and have doubled our online sales.

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

It was a very comprehensive plan and we enjoy having continued bi-weekly calls with the Image X team.

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

The team is very attentive to our needs and we appreciate knowing they are there if something goes wrong.

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

They are very helpful. There were times when we had numerous account execs but we have now had the same person and are very happy with her. We believe we have been working with Purnima for 2 years. One area of improvement for the developers would be to help us implement activity finder.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a senior marketing manager at Onset Data Loggers. We sell data loggers and monitoring solutions, which are sensor products that help people measure all types of metrics related to different applications, from water temperature and flow to relative humidity.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ImageX?

We hired them for web development; we wanted a new website that was easy to navigate and would provide good UX for our customers. Additionally, we wanted to have an additional resource to support our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Over the past year and a half, ImageX has helped us with web design and development. They’ve helped us design our new website using InVision and built the e-commerce site using Drupal 9. We had an existing website, and the team brought content from the old site to the new one. 

We make a lot of our sales online, so the site serves to sell products, engage with the customers, and inform them. The site provides customers with the materials to educate themselves if they need to learn more about our products and their use in different applications. 

Currently, ImageX is helping us with maintenance. They’ll provide support for our internal developer, acting as a backup. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with 10–12 teammates from ImageX. Our main points of contact are Travis (Portfolio Director, Commercial), who is our project manager; Diana (Senior Project Manager), who manages the day-to-day; and a developer. 

How did you come to work with ImageX?

Although I wasn’t the one who found them, I believe we found ImageX online. We interviewed about 10 service providers and checked their capabilities and rates, and from there, we selected ImageX.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $300,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

ImageX has been fantastic and highly professional in working through different items and challenges. They’re very easy to work with and understand our goals. They’ve created a great team environment that makes us comfortable giving feedback because they encourage open dialogue without judgment. The team has been flexible with things that have come up along the way. 

Moreover, we can count on them to get stuff done, which is important because trust is a big deal with an investment like this. I project managed the website development, and my trust in the ImageX team meant one less thing to worry about. We’ve just launched the site, so we don’t have metrics yet. 

How did ImageX perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re really good about communicating and providing status updates. They’ve been very open about any changes and tasks, always ensuring we understand what’s happening. For example, we had to extend our timeline for development, which is normal with these kinds of projects. We kept in touch and discussed the adjustments, so everything went well. 

We had a very specific budget, and I requested ImageX to be upfront about any budget changes. The team is always willing to provide updates and inform me whether they need additional funds, outlining the quote for my approval. 

We use Jira and Basecamp for project management. Our emails go through Basecamp, and we also use phone calls and Google Meet for communication. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

ImageX’s communication is their biggest strength. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything they need to improve. Whenever we need something to change, they adjust well. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Capitalize on ImageX’s strength, which is communication. You should be comfortable providing input on how you feel about things, which will open the door to new possibilities. The team provides a lot of feedback, so keeping that relationship open will help you better the working relationship and get more out of ideas and productivity.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our organization represents Canada's municipalities in their interactions with other levels of government, and also manages a federally-funding infrastructure investment fund that helps municipalities build resilient and sustainable infrastructure, with over 1 billion dollars of projects approved to date. I am a project manager and was the technical lead on this new website development project.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired ImageX to take over the development of a new website we were launching, which had been left in a disastrous state by a previous vendor and was in danger of missing its target launch date. We needed ImageX to both fix the errors and bugs left over by the previous vendor while also developing new features and functionality, all within a short timeline, as the project had already been significantly delayed. They vastly exceeded our expectations and helped us launch on time.

SOLUTION

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

We distributed an RFQ to several preselected vendors and then proceeded to interview four of them. ImageX's rates were the most affordable while also demonstrating the greatest capacity to take on this project in terms of available staff and prior experience.

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

This project involved building a new website using Drupal 9, and ImageX came on to the project at a late date after it had already been delivered in substandard shape by a previous firm. We needed ImageX to first fix the many remaining bugs with the existing product and then develop some additional features deemed essential to launch. We were successful in meeting our target launch date and the project has been deemed very successful by both internal and external stakeholders.

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

We primarily worked with four different staff from ImageX, a project lead, two senior developers and their SEO and Analytics specialist.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website was able to launch on time and both our internal and external shareholders are thrilled with it. We are continuing to work with ImageX for ongoing support and to continue developing new features, as well as some KPI dashboards to measure site performance.

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

We meet with our project lead and the senior developers assigned to the project weekly until launch, while also tracking individual tasks and issues using Basecamp. Their staff was extremely responsive, often replying to messages within minutes. Ultimately we probably achieved more in 2 and half months of working with them than we had in the six months before that working with the previous vendor.

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

ImageX' communication is phenomenal, and they are clearly dedicated to this project's success. Their focus is on retaining clients long-term and it shows, as we're thrilled to continue working with them on any other Drupal website development in the future.

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

They excelled in every way on this project, I honestly can't think of anything that was less than excellent in our work with them to date.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a marketing manager at a forensic sequencing company or human identification company. We offer DNA sequencing machines, kits, and workflows to crime labs worldwide that use our technology to analyze forensic samples and generate DNA profiles for various databases to identify unknown individuals. I lead digital marketing initiatives, including our company website and two additional websites we own.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ImageX?

One of our websites is a genetic genealogy site for consumers who have taken a DNA test through services like Ancestry. Users can upload their DNA data and find people they’re genetically related to. An amateur genealogist started the site in 2010, and then it grew to the point where it had over a million users. 

In 2018, law enforcement started using the site to identify violent crime perpetrators when they couldn’t identify a the DNA sample through federal databases. Through the site, they built family trees and identified potential suspects in various cases. Our company acquired the website at the end of 2019. We realized that regular consumers didn’t want to see anything related law enforcement on the website and the types of cases uploaded when this new methodology for solving crimes started taking off. 

We needed to create a professional website specifically for law enforcement with tools, processes, and account management that the regular site didn’t have. We engaged ImageX to build this portal for law enforcement and genealogists working with law enforcement.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

ImageX designed the UI/UX and developed our professional website using Drupal. Although they built the site from scratch, we had some pre-developed tools the team connected to. They also developed custom APIs and integrated Chargebee as a subscription and payment platform. 

The team migrated and replicated tools from the regular site. They went through different scenarios of business use cases and the types of users the site would have. Currently, ImageX provides continuous development for the site; they make improvements, add features as needed, and maintain it. 

How did you come to work with this vendor?

We knew we wanted to work with a vendor who had experience building enterprise level websites using modern development frameworks based on PHP. After vetting several agencies that had excellent reviews on sites like Clutch, we settled on using ImageX based on their experience and their project estimate costs.

What is the team composition?

To scope the project, we worked with the VP of business development manager and a business developer. For the website development, we had a team of 4–5 people, including an architecture specialist, a UI/UX designer, a project manager, a business analyst, and one more person. 

Once the project launched, we transitioned to an account management team. We currently work with an account manager and 1–2 developers, depending on our needs. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $220,000–$240,000. The initial project cost around $130,000–$140,000, and the ongoing maintenance costs about $30,000–$35,000 a year. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2020, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The site has been very successful; it works as intended and meets our expectations. When we launched, we had a baseline of law enforcement users from the regular site. Since then, the number of users and profiles uploaded to the site have grown significantly. 

How did ImageX perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management has been excellent. During the development phase, we did face some challenges connecting APIs built by ImageX to our existing servers. But that was more due to our in-house development team's method of coding the API connection points. ImageX was able to devote additional resources needed to launch the site in December 2020, with more feature launches in 2021 and 2022.

Currently, they stay on top of our requests quite well. We met weekly when developing the site and now meet bi-weekly as a part of the support work ImageX does for us. We use Basecamp as our primary tool and Google Sheets to track various items. We also used our internal Jira instance in the past to track other aspects of the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciate that ImageX understands our needs. Their design is really well done and thoughtful, and the technology they chose for it worked with our needs. Moreover, the team is pretty easy to work with, which has been great. Initially, we looked at other offshore companies, but ImageX is in our time zone. We’ve liked benign able to communicate with them without dealing with time zone differences. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

None to report.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

InsMark, Inc. develops software for life insurance agents and financial planners. I am Sr. VP Operations, R&D - I basically handle all aspects of running the company with the exception of the sales department.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We had a Drupal 6 to 7 site. It was time to go to 8. The conversion was almost done but it had a lot of bugs and was not ready to launch. I hired a team of Drupal programmers that I heard of at Bad Camp. I was blown away at how poorly that went. I spent two months working with a programmer assigned to my project (complete the upgrade) and the project went nowhere. It was pathetic.

I reached out the Acquia thinking that the connection with Dries would help. It wasn't really the server I needed, but the best part about moving to Acquia was finding ImageX. I now love Drupal again! My goals were to finish the upgrade and get the project working properly. As a software company, it's crucial that our website is perfect since it is also a reflection of our own software products.

SOLUTION

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

I looked online for Drupal strength. I had a great website but felt the programmers out there were unable to do the upgrade. I'm sure it was hard for them to be proficient in Drupal 7 and then start over with Drupal 8. My decision was easy, Ian Whelehan of ImageX was easy to communicate with, understood the situation, and was confident ImageX could help.

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

The main projects were re-wiring some of the custom work that was done by the prior programmer. We needed to get our site up and running on the new server. As well, we added PayPal to access and a custom user account interface along with critical updates needed to pass PCI Compliance.

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

Ian has been the project manager. Daniel, Drupal developer. Andre, Drupal developer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to release the Drupal 8 upgrade quickly after switching to ImageX, and then updgraded to Drupal 9 just as fast! We then had new projects and have had no trouble at all getting the work done. I am very impressed with the entire team I have worked with. They ask great questions and ensure that the work is going to be done accurately.

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

Project management was above and beyond outstanding. This is the situation I have had that truly has someone managing the projects. Ian has been superior in my experience. He is always a pleasure to talk to, he asks great questions about projects I submit, he is a great coordinator, that is just what comes to mind quickly.

I love that no matter what I might need, graphics, Drupal work, server changes, etc. I can count on Ian not only to get someone to help me, but someone good who WILL help me and get the job done right. I have a lot of respect for ImageX and it stems from having Ian in the position that represents the company. Clearly, I appreciate the Drupal programmers too. 

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

Having a project manager that really knows how to satisfy clients.

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

Not one thing.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a former web communications specialist at The Carter Center, a nonprofit organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ImageX?

We needed support for our Drupal online community system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

ImageX provides maintenance and CMS support services for a Drupal platform. Their tasks include backend design and coding. They’ve also helped upgrade the platform from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8. 

What is the team composition?

The team has four teammates from ImageX, including Purnima (Service Account Manager) and two coders. 

How did you come to work with ImageX?

We found them through a Google search. We put out an RFP, several companies responded, and ImageX was the best fit for us. 

How much have you invested with them?

The price is $1,200–$1,300 a month, so the organization has spent $15,000–$20,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them around September 2021. Although I left the organization, the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

While I worked with them, ImageX played a critical part in my work – I couldn’t have done my job without their support. Moreover, they completed every project I assigned them. 

How did ImageX perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is great; they’re very communicative and make everything easy to understand. During my involvement, they brought in the right people when I needed to talk to someone. I had a weekly meeting with Purnima, and we corresponded through Basecamp. ImageX is very organized around a project task list on Basecamp, which made me confident that we could address each of the issues we had there. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

ImageX makes an effort to listen to their client’s requests and figure things out. Their communication, responsiveness, and listening skills are outstanding. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was some confusion around billing and invoicing due to the bank transfers between the US and Canada, which they could have handled better. However, this wasn’t a terrible issue; there just was an opportunity to communicate better. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Keep a task list going because that’s where everybody starts.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Samuel Merritt University (SMU) is a private university in Oakland, CA focused on health sciences offering programs such as Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Physician Assistant, Podiatric Medicine and much more. It is the only provider of physical therapists, occupational therapists, and physician assistants and is the largest source of nurses in the greater East Bay. I work in the IT department as the Enterprise Apps Manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Due to staff changes, we needed additional help to support our website. We didn't have the in-house expertise required to maintain our website that is built on Drupal. We had to upgrade Drupal from version 8 to 9 and it involved a lot of technicalities. ImageX was hired for these services.

SOLUTION

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

From a search online on the Drupal site and from internal employee recommendation. We checked with some institutions that had worked with ImageX and got great feedback.

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

The Drupal 9 upgrade involved having to upgrade our database system MariaDB to version 10.3. ImageX went way and beyond to accomodate this request in a very professional manner when this was not included in the original scope of work or SLA. They had to configure a dev environment of Drupal 9 and with great coordination, they helped us launch this to production.

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

There were 3 or more from ImageX. Scott -Service Account Manager, Eric - Software Developer, Taras -Sr.Software developer. Excellent team of fine professionals. Scott - super friendly and great in project management. Eric- Technically super strong.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven't had a chance to measure the outcomes since there isn't a whole lot of visual differences after the upgrade. However, we are looking forward to implementing the new features of Drupal 9 such as the Layout Builder.

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

Top class project management style. We had weekly status meetings. They always kept their timelines and were very accomodative of our requests. They have well-versed Drupal software developers. We used BaseCamp for our communications.

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

They were willing to take up challenges and accomodate requests such as Database upgrades which are not usually offered as a service. They went way and beyond. They have an excellent team and a great service.

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

The only areas for improvement I could think of could be elaboration of steps taken in the processes to accomplish the tasks.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a project manager at a company that has 3 locations across British Columbia

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We had a request from a client to develop a new platform integrating several services. We needed to think outside of the box to find the best solutions for this project. Due to the high profile of this project and the tight timelines we decided to hire ImageX for their high caliber knowledge and professionalism.

SOLUTION

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

I heard of ImageX before and their work is parallel to none. This project was the highest profile project for us and I needed to be confident that the project will be managed properly with the best outcome.

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

The design was done in house while the development was done in Drupal. ImageX did a thorough discovery with their business analyst which was very valuable as this is a new platform that we were inventing. They then continued with a mock app that the client could see and share with their stakeholders to get more fundings. ImageX took the project and completely managed the phases with consultation with us and the client to meet the tight deadlines and MVPs.

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

There were a lead developer, business analyst, project manager and QA that were dedicated to the project. Other resources depending on the phase that we were in were put on the project. We met the entire management team at the beginning of the project who helped us map the deliverables and resources needed to meet the requirements on time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to meet the timeline which was challenging. ImageX had weekly meeting with us and the client to resolve any outstanding items on time as well shift focus based on client needs.

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

The project management style was inspiring to us all. They met with us weekly to show progress as well weekly reports on budget vs outstanding items.

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

The whole team that worked with us was available to us for inquiries as well as giving us suggestions for our clients demands. The team was friendly and did not say no to anything we asked. They explained what can be done based on the request considering the budget and the timelines very professionally.

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

The quality and deliverables were above and beyond my expectations.