iSpectra

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

General Authority for military industries (GAMI) is a Saudi Government organization act as the regulator, enabler and licensor of the Kingdom’s military industries sector.

We are entrusted to build a sustainable domestic defense sector that delivers significant social and economic benefits, while reinforcing the Kingdom’s autonomy, military readiness and national security, and I work as a Lead Application Development in Information Technology Department

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire iSpectra?

We were tasked to totally revamp GAMI public Web Portal to keep pace with our strategic objectives mainly to enhance the user experience, information architecture. Also the new portal should follow and apply the latest security updates and recommendations approved on the portal. In addition. We require that the new web portal must be built using latest version of Drupal CMS.

SOLUTION

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

As a government entity we have our own procurement process. Where we evaluate vendors proposal based on 70% for the technical part & 30% for the financial proposal. iSpectra proposal was the best fit for our scope of work from technical perspective they have a certified team (Drupal certified, Scrum mater certificate) their previous experience and track record.

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

The scope of work was to redesign GAMI main portal, enhance the user experience, information architecture. Develop the new design based on the latest version on Drupal CMS. Also, ongoing support and regular Drupal update.

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

There have been around 8-10 people involved in the project from iSpectra team. There’s a Business Development supervisor, Project Manager, Drupal technical team lead , UI/UX specialist. My main point of contact is the project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

iSpectra team have help us built our public facing website from scratch in best way possible

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

workflow and coordination were perfect and appreciated

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

iSpectra has demonstrated unlimited support and commitment to deliver the project on time within the agreed scope.

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

no comment

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

at TBWA, We develop business-changing, culture-defining and award-winning ideas for brands. And we’ve got the hardware to prove it. Named Adweek's 2018 Global Agency of the Year, we have been recognized with top honors from every major creative award show, including Cannes Lions, Clios, D&AD, Effies, Webbys and the Emmy awards. I am creative director and I was the focal point of contact with iSpectra to make sure that the project is align with our client requirements.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired iSpectra to design and develop 3 websites for GIZ project that we awarded. We were looking for best company in terms of UI/UX design capabilities combined with technical expertises to carry out the scope of work.

SOLUTION

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

Their track record and the certified Drupal developers they have

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

The scope of work is to carry out the design and development of three websites for local national councils they project funded from GIZ to enhance the level of expertise for the fresh graduate and subject matter expert where they can find any information they need about their specialty deliverable:

1. UI/ UX design for three websites
2. Drupal CMS Web development
3. ongoing support and regular update (annual contract)

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

6 members Business development Manager Project Manager UI/UX designer 3 Senior Drupal Developers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The deliverables were amazing & well done.

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

iSpectra delivered the project based on Agile approach, the communication was through face to face meetings, emails, Jira software tool for project management

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

Their level of expertise in UI/ UX and Drupal development. Also, they are very flexible and their availability was amazing.

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

N/A

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

IT Manager and SILA IT Advisor at Partners for Good, where processes and lead IT studio from start to finish.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

The objective of this project is to develop a mobile app and web-platfrom to allow the users to submit their complains through the app. The main proposes of the system is to track and manage the complains were received from the users to be controlled and maintained by the responsible department in the municipality through the web-platfrom.

SOLUTION

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

We've our methodology to select the vendors by sending the RFP, also they have to pass the validation process by through financial and technical evaluation process.

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

Scope of Work.

1. The mobile application (IOS and Android) will include all the Baladeytkom Mobile App features and add new requested features stated as the following:
2. Add the Set location feature (Google map) to be integrated to the App which allows users to set location automatically or manually
3. Add Services, which allows the admin to add list of ASEZA services from back-end which will then be reflected to ASEZA App (front-end)
4. New users’ authentication: a new user should receive SMS message to verify and confirm the account
5. Add the Push notification system: the system will able to send messages (alerts, notices) to all users for cases of emergency
6. Add multiple users to the back-end function and the ability to edit a user’s individual authority and roles
7. Add multiple authority based on departments, sections, and managers
8. Add drop-down list to the back-end function which contains standard decision
9. Link each complaint/ticket to the department which is responsible to solve the problem/ issue
10. Add customized ASEZA forms and reports to the back-end
11. Change the logo and App design to fit ASEZA’s theme
12. Change the back-end theme and design
13. Mail feature which allows the system to send the complaints/ ticket to the responsible department and manager to follow-up on the necessary action(s)
14. Provide training session for platform administrators
15. Amazon will be hosting the server for 12 months starting from May 1, 2020 until April 31, 2021
16. Maintenance and support package for 5 hours every month for 12 months starting from May 1, 2020 until April 31, 2021

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

- (1) Project Manager: He is the key person we communicate with - (1) Designer - (3) Developers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within the SOW and deliverables the project has been launched as scheduled.

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

The communications and meetings were arranged smoothly by emails and phone calls and Zoom most of the time.

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

Their teamwork and partnership were outstanding.

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

Follow-up with analysis report of the completed projects.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Senior Marketing Officer of a CX management solutions provider.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Our company provides Customer Experience Management solutions including mobile booking, queue management system, and self service solutions to various sectors like banks, telecom, governments, healthcare, and others.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Website speed optimization
• Passing core web vitals

SOLUTION

How did you find iSpectra?

Online Search

Why did you select iSpectra over others?

High ratings

How many teammates from iSpectra were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We hired iSpectra to maintain and optimize our existing website and help us increase the website speed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our website speed was very low. After working with iSpectra, the speed noticeably increased both on Desktop and Mobile.

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

They are very responsive to our requests and deliver items on time.

What was your primary form of communication with iSpectra?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

• High responsiveness
• Quality service

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

They can focus more on SEO services as it's an important aspect of the website ads well as run a regular checkup for technical fixes.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Senior Project Manager of Polaris.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Software company

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• A Multi-Domain Architecture
• A Centralized Drupal CMS that allows the client to Manage 12 bilingual, secure, and dynamic website
• Each website has an isolated admin dashboard
• Optimized Site Structure
• Defined Content Structure
• QA CMS flexible to integrate with all critical technologies and tools
• Content Moderation
• Seamless content publishing workflow
• Enhanced on-page SEO features to boost content

SOLUTION

How did you find iSpectra?

• Referral
• Direct contact

Why did you select iSpectra over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fits our budget
• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from iSpectra were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Revamp the Ministry of municipalities affairs and agriculture website (10 Portals) integrated with AD and national eKey. Summary of key deliverables: Deliver 10 different portals under the main portal maintaining the same theme but different looks.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• 99% Error Rate Reduced 
• They met the customer's requirements and brought innovative ideas.
• always meeting the deadline
• 5000 Content Types Migrated
• 3X Page loading Fast

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

They delivered ahead of schedule.

What was your primary form of communication with iSpectra?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

• very responsive
• very supportive
• available when you need them the most

Their support is limited to the contract to satisfy the Ministry and their public users.

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

Could not think of something now since they're very creative.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I used to be the Programs Implementation Manager and the Technical Advisor at a project which was impended by another organization. A foundation, doing business as the organization, has been selected by the parent organization to serve as the Prime Recipient for the project.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We would like to hire a firm to develop a mobile app for five municipalities under the Municipal Pilot Project as a tool of the feedback mechanism. This project aims at dealing with the suggestions and complaints from citizens with the goal of achieving a higher level of satisfaction about the services they receive, and to solve the problems that employees may face, administratively or technically, while on the job, justly and with transparency.

It also aims to benefit from citizen’s ideas and suggestions about the constant improvement and development of municipal services and performance.

The project suggests a number of activities and interventions that aim at institutionalizing the process of receiving complaints and requests for community services in these target municipalities, as well as developing a number of communications channels between municipalities and the community, in a way that would guarantee accessibility to citizens.

Through this, municipalities will reach community engagement that is active in the planning process of municipal projects and services.

SOLUTION

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

We have our own procurements and Vendor proposal are evaluated based on 70% on the technical proposal and 30% on the financial proposal, iSpectra score was the highest among other vendors.

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

Native mobile application design & Development and Drupal CMS to make the Mobile application will target Android and iPhone platforms as follows:

• Apple devices running iOS version 8.0 and later Android devices running Android version 4.4 Kitkat and later
• The implementation of user-interface design will take into consideration screen sizes
• resolutions and scaling factors of the targeted devices for both IOS and Android
• A Content Management System “CMS” will be designed and implemented by the Web Development team, showing stored records of orders history.
• A suitable web-service will be implemented to integrate with existing Municipality database, API endpoints will be developed to support the Android and iOS versions of the mobile app.
• The Mobile application will support Arabic language users, based on device localization settings. The process will be performed as the final development step before application releases, implemented in accordance with the appropriate localization guidelines for both iOS and Android platforms.
• The Mobile Development team will handle process of releasing the mobile application to the public, taking the appropriate steps of app submission for both Apple App Store and Google Play Store
• App Manual as a guide for the municipal staff in Arabic.
• A training should be conducted after developing the App for the targeted municipalities.
• The implementation firm shall provide maintenance support for the application for at least two years.

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

The project team include a multiple people with different . Business Development manager, project Manager, UI/UX Designer, 2 senior mobile engineer & 2 senior web engineer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project is implemented as per the scope of work that was mentioned in the RFP and the final results are amazing.

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

The project was implemented based on PMP best practices. Also, we used basecamp for all project communication.

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

Their ability to address our needs in specular manner. They are very flexible and reliable.

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

I believe they have amazing staff who were our true technical partner in this project.