KDG

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the IT Manager of North America Nicotine Chemular

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Chemular Inc. is a highly focused regulatory consulting group dedicated to the tobacco space and brings a world class team of tobacco-specific toxicologists, chemists, clinical trial experts in addition to project managers and other various subject matter experts to assist companies with their FDA and other regulatory needs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• migrating our business systems to the Zoho platform
• Automate tasks and processes when possible
• Increase visibility in reporting

SOLUTION

How did you find KDG?

Referral

Why did you select KDG over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from KDG were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Phase I – Initial Assessment & Planning  1:1 User Interviews with KDG’s UI/UX Team to assess what and how current applications are being used.  Identify areas of improvement in both efficiency and error control.  Develop workflow diagrams for how operations are currently functioning as well as how they may change in the future.  Design and implement a change management plan and RACI so that communication helps support user adoption. Phase II - Pilot Implementation  (Current Effort) Continue migrating users to Zoho Projects for time logging.  Use Zoho Projects to generate invoices.  Migrate and phase out Harvest as an application.  Build a connection from Zoho CRM to Zoho Projects with basic automations. Phase III - Expansion and Integration  Create automations inside of Zoho CRM and Zoho Projects to automate project setup and creation.  Use Zoho Writer to automate the creation of agreements and send for digital signature.  Convert Smartsheets and WIMI data to Zoho Workdrive/Projects.  Move payment processing over to Authorize.net and integrate with Zoho Books. Phase IV - Optimization and Automation  Integrate Teams with Zoho using Power Automate so that the Zoho and Microsoft ecosystems are connected.  Connect to Gusto API for accurate W2 and 1099 payroll.  Align marketing and touchpoint efforts with Zoho Campaigns so that there is consistent and trackable outreach to customers. Phase V - Continuous Improvement, Support, & Training  Refinement of workflow and process documentation.  Development of training documentation/videos for onboarding new employees/contractors using Zoho Learn.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our company is now using one application, instead of 6. We have better visibility into our user actions, better reporting and tracking, and our processes are streamlined. We can also now track vendor payments and hours.

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

KDG has steller project management. They report weekly, and are very transparent with their tasks and hours. They have always delivered in a timely fashion. They are quick to respond to any issues or queries.

What was your primary form of communication with KDG?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

KDG has their processes and communications streamlined and optimized. We never felt like we were "in the dark" about what KDG was working on. The weekly reports make sure that everyone is on the same page.

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

No. I was very impressed with KDG's systems.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Accounts manager of Luxe Watches

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

luxury watch retailer

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Development of existing CRM system

SOLUTION

How did you find KDG?

Online Search

Why did you select KDG over others?

Company values aligned

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

Development of CRM system on the Zoho platform.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Updates to current system and deliver a fully functional "Returns"process

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

Very poorly

What was your primary form of communication with KDG?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They claimed to be Zoho specialists

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

Better communication and deliver on promises

Company Responses

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a small advisory firm within a larger financial institution; I am the office manager. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with KDG?

We’ve hired KDG for managed IT services. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team handles our compliance, computer monitoring, and troubleshooting. KDG is not responsible for purchasing anything, but they give guidance on technologies or hardware they think will be most successful for us. When we receive any new equipment, KDG is responsible for reinstalling programs and ensuring everything is running properly. KDG provides off-site services. 

What is the team composition?

We normally work with a team of three individuals from KDG. 

How did you come to work with KDG?

Our umbrella company was responsible for hiring KDG. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested less than $10,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

KDG was working for our company when we first started in December 2020, and the engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They have been absolutely wonderful. Without KDG’s assistance, our onboarding process would not be as successful, and our ability to set up new equipment would decrease. We have been very satisfied with KDG’s quality of work. 

How did KDG perform from a project management standpoint?

They meet deadlines and work within the budget. We typically communicate via phone calls. 

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

We’d like to shout out Adam (Technical Support Lead) and Daniel (Senior Technology Consultant); they are lovely to work with and extremely knowledgeable. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They bring a lot of experience to the engagement and are incredibly professional. We’ve also been highly impressed by how well they know our system and company requirements. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing that we can come up with at this point. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Ensure you communicate with KDG because their team usually has the IT answers you need. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Cloud Support Manager of Trusted Tech Team

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Microsoft CSP

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Overhaul & Improve Zoho Analytics Dashboard

SOLUTION

How did you find KDG?

Other

Why did you select KDG over others?

Referred to me

How many teammates from KDG were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Overhaul and improve Zoho Analytics implementation in our Support Department, to include: 

• Developing new queries and reports to display on our department dashboard 
• Reviwing existing queries and reports 
• Designing and implementing a composite performance index for our agents

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Project is still ongoing, but KDG provides weekly or bimonthly updates. So far, KDG has completed our composite performance index, as well as several workflows/blueprints in Zoho

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

KDG is very responsive and communicates well.

What was your primary form of communication with KDG?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Very good communication and organization; the assigned KDG agents are a pleasure to work with.

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

Not that I've seen so far