ISH Technologies

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

YOUR MOB is the first of its kind in the national market. An Indigenous organisation commitited to facilitating reconciliation on a micro and macro scale between Indigenous individuals and the wider national community. An online business, based in Brisbane. I am the Founder of YOUR MOB.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ISH Technologies?

Hired ISH Tech for the full scope creation, software development, monitoring and review. We did not have the current capabilties in house to execute such a project. We knew what direction we needed to go in, but needed to be guided by someone we could trust, had vision, could commuicate effectively and would not negotiate on quality

What were your goals for this project?

The primary goal for this project was to be the first in the market to create a 2 sided market platform that was accessible to all users, and it the software needed to be and feel culturally safe.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

After industry research and reviewing serveral proposals we went with ISH TECH based on the following things:

1. Easy access to top level management
2. Commuication was swift and concise
3. They had several quality projects under their belt
4. Quality of service was clearly demostrated

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

ISH TECH had several meetings with me to scope out the project. They built the software from scratch, added new technology as it was best identified for the project. Weekly contact and monthly reports. Face-to-face meetings were on demand and was always a great addition. Test software, monitored it functionality and made improvmements when needed.

What was the team composition?

I had direct access to senior management, and most of the other time I would commuicate with the project manager who managed several staff members. Commuication on the leadership level and the project management level worked really well, as it gave me vision on the big picture but I still had a handle on what was happening operationally.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Completion of project was a great representation of what we were trying to create from an idea to acutal embodiment. The finish product looked better then what I intially thought. We have had many organsiations acknowlege our first-mover move in this space.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management was very impressive, especially compared to other vendors we have had in the past. ISH Tech was regularly compliant with our requests and always communicated. Unexpected delays from our side did not stop critical progress.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The direct access to leadership and project manager. This was critical because technical things can be easily lost in translation. But they were able to stay true to our initial concept and “feel” of what we wanted to create. Their communications lines were always open.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I would assume that they will need more staff as the demand for the services will only naturally increase, as part of their 5 star service.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a senior communications officer at NQ Dry Topics, a national natural resource management group that helps reduce and prevent erosion and nutrient runoff from the land in some of the major catchment areas of the Great Barrier Reef.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ISH Technologies?

We needed to develop a company-wide cataloging system for imagery. For background, we have more than 40 projects running concurrently.

For each project, there are project officers and communication officers who collect imagery, including video.

That imagery details work done on the ground as well as educational work done in the community. Those files need to be retrieved for communication and for reporting purposes.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed a purpose-built library system. It started out as a web-based application, and it evolved as we developed it.

We think it’s probably better to change it to a desktop app, because we have to overcome hurdles in the efficiency of our network connection in remote North Queensland.

We physically store the software and data on our intranet. We’ve made information outward-facing so our remote officers can access it. They used JavaScript and PHP to write the programming. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with about six people. All of the work was filtered through Ganga’s (Solutions Consultant, ISH Technologies) direct reporting and my interaction with him. Occasionally, I had direct contact with other people.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $3,000 with the team.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November of 2018, and the engagement ended in July of 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t rolled it out within our organization yet because it’s a fairly big upheaval. We want to ensure it’s all complete and the framework is there. We’re still assessing that part of it, but the work that they did was good. Even a couple of months after the work was completed, it was no problem for them to add some small items to create an external home system.

How did ISH Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

They were really keen to help and eager to deliver a product that would make the customer happy. 

We had an issue with communication, which was expected as there nearly always is with this kind of project. However, the fault was probably 90% on our side. We needed our imagery to have certain important markers in the metadata for our internal use. That part wasn’t clearly understood or transmitted to them in the first place. 

So, we had to do some backtracking when we first started and redesign the database. However, the fault was probably 90% on our side. It was very well handled. It was a delay caused by us because of our other commitments and lack of time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were willing to deliver what we wanted. Ganga has a very strong diplomatic streak running through him, and he’s able to very quickly understand problems. He avoids prefabricated solutions. Rather, he turns out a tailored solution.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they did a very good job.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Potential customers should build a rapport with Ganga. He’s very personable, very open to getting to know somebody and open to allowing them to get to know him. It helps enormously when you have a good personal relationship.