Ironbit

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Rheem is a global leader in water heating solutions and refrigeration. It is a global enterprise with presence in 75 countries. We provide solutions for residential and commercial levels. I am the Head of Marketing for Mexico and Central America.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ironbit?

We wanted to develop a smart services platform. We wanted an option that would be a platform that had already been tested in the market and having it customized for us. We found out that Ironbit had a very simple solution and looked very similar to what we were looking for, so we decided to select them to work with us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They customized a solution was basically an application and web-based platform. Basically, all of the content is generated from the app and sent to the web part of the platform. 

What is the team composition?

There was a product manager, who was in charge of the project coordination and internally. I don't know how many but I did see that there were other quality programmers and people from the team involved. We even received a visit from Ironbit's HR department to conduct a satisfaction and areas for improvement survey. There was also a commercial executive.

How did you come to work with Ironbit?

We were asking for references from people we knew on the marketing and platform development areas and they recommended Ironbit. We called them for an interview and we felt comfortable with all their credentials and with the fact they already have the platform that has bee used before, so we felt comfortable to start the project with them.

How much have you invested in them?

The app customization was around $47,000 dollars and we have also invested in maintaining and improving the platform while it was already in use.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in November 2016, that is when the project was approved and it has been 95% completed. The platform is operating since April and now we are working on the improvement and expansion of the platform.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Ironbit's team was very committed to the development of the platform. Even if there was an already existing solution, they have worked hard to make it ad hoc, as our process was very different. They worked hard to adapt it to our needs and there was an obvious commitment from their side to make it work and to create those variations we required.

They have also collaborated on making suggestions to widen the platform and make it more robust and better for us. They seem very excited to grow their platform and experience with us.

How did Ironibit perform from a project management standpoint?

There is a weekly follow-up on their side. We met twice or three times a week. There was a full availability, anytime, if needed. They have a very precise follow up for their projects and in our specific case, they were totally available to adapt to our company's processes and to look for the most suitable solutions as needed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The platform has been very well developed, but what I liked the most was their availability to adapt to our needs and the involvement of their personnel, from directors to operators, to make sure we had the project ready on time. Even if we did have some differences along the way, we would always solve them and manage to succeed in the project. What's great about Ironbit's team is their empathy towards the client and the project needs. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I see they are growing really fast. They have different accounts but I don't think they had experience working with a company like us or our sector, so it was also a learning process for them. I noticed was some rotation in the personnel, especially from the operations area. I think the objective of the platform was very clear but from the operations point-of-view, I did feel that the process would sometimes stop as the general goal of the project didn't seem to be clear for some of them.

Because of the personnel's rotation, I believe that if we had closed those gaps, we would have performed in a way more agile way. But besides that, I believe it all went very well.