Mentor Digital

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Assistant Director Business Development of Research in Practice

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Research in Practice promotes and enables evidence-informed practice, leadership and policy across the social care workforce in England through live learning, multi-media learning resources and bespoke projects.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Mentor Digital to accomplish?

• Develop a new website for the company
• Host and maintain the website
• Continue to support the development of the website

SOLUTION

How did you find Mentor Digital?

Other

Why did you select Mentor Digital over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned
• Other

What was the size of Mentor Digital’s team?

32

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

• Build new website based on Umbraco CMS to meet client needs, including payment integration
• Transfer content from old website to new website
• Provide ongoing maintenance and hosting services over 4 years
• Undertake ongoing programmed bespoke development of the website for Umbraco in response to user need
• Contribute to identifying design and development priorities
• Established CMS integration with CRM
• Working with the CRM supplier to ensure continuity of service and quality
• Currently upgrading site to Umbraco 10

Deliverables:

• CMS website with bespoke integration to CRM to provide content access control
• Ongoing maintenance and hosting with high availability, low downtime SLA level quality measures with monthly reporting
• Bespoke development and testing managed using AGILE and Jira

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Initial project completed within agreed timescale
• Ongoing development activities completed to satisfactory standard and within budget
• Positive user response
• Ongoing excellent customer relationships over a period of time
• Very limited number of bugs and downtime, all quickly resolved
• Meeting SLA requirements each year
• Realistic and accurate time planning and effective project management

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

• Effective project management, excellent planning and engagement, regular reporting with all the detail we need in a dashboard format
• Proactive in project management, anticipating activities and potential developments, with a solution focus
• Support in scoping, accurate in cost and time estimation
• Projects delivered on time
• Competitive pricing
• Mentor are always very responsive and proactive, keen to anticipate and meet our needs
• Mentor invest in a partnership approach, being responsive and keen to engage with us in ways that work for our organisation
• Consistent account managers, developers, project managers, so we can build and sustain relationships ensures that this works well

What was your primary form of communication with Mentor Digital?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email 
• Messaging App

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

The effort they make to invest in their relationship with us - being continually responsive, intuitive, proactive, accommodating. They deal with changes quickly, produce accurate codes, and provide good test plans.

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

No, we're really happy with the quality of service we get from Mentor Digital.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at a membership organization for planners based in the UK.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Mentor Digital?

We’ve worked with Mentor Digital for many years on various website development and UI/UX design projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Mentor Digital has helped us rebuild our website and integrate it into Microsoft Dynamics. They’ve also done various upgrades to its UX and more. Moreover, they’ve helped us with cybersecurity.

What was the team composition?

We work directly with a project manager that Mentor Digital has assigned to our account. Still, we’re able to speak with others, including their design and technical teams.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent around £25,000 (approximately $31,000 USD) on the website.

What is the status of this engagement?

When I joined my company, the original contract with Mentor Digital was already in place. Thus, I estimate that we started working together in 2012, and our engagement is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve seen a steady increase in our website traffic since Mentor Digital redeveloped it, which has been a great improvement for our company. At the time, we were desperate to have a fully integrated website, but we weren’t exactly sure of what we wanted. Still, Mentor Digital helped us figure out how to track the user journey and get information from our members.

How did Mentor Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve worked with a couple of project managers from Mentor Digital who have always ensured to stick to the timelines. A delay would imply a financial cost for us, so they’re great at ensuring that doesn’t happen.

We communicate in various ways, depending on the situation. For example, for new feature requests, I send them a formal email. Whenever I have a question, I pick up the phone and call them. Finally, if there’s an incident with the website, O can message them and get a quick response.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Mentor Digital is a very good team that coordinates very well with each other and always brings the right people to the meetings. For technical discussions, they bring the technical director; for UX design inquiries, they bring the design team. Moreover, they always think about the best ways to help us with the project’s progress, which is very helpful and makes our engagement efficient. They’re always forward-thinking.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Everyone has room for improvement. In Mentor Digital’s case, it would be great if they were faster at dealing with support tickets and small projects. Still, they’re great at dedicating time and effort to bigger projects.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a very detailed project scope and ensure everything is well-documented. If you don’t, you may experience delays and start working over in some areas. If you do, Mentor Digital will give you their best opinion and help you get your user stories correct.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Ocean property services group, residential sales, lettings. Also, mortgage can conveyancing services. Marketing Director

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Mentor Digital?

Front-end web design / UX / SEO

SOLUTION

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

Tender + reputation

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

Group & individual company goals and aspirations were determined. Customer profiles & journeys reviewed/confirmed. Brand values and Brand Standards confirmed. UX standards within the current CMS confirmed UX, conversion, and SEO goals sets and action plans constructed. The account Manager & key contributors determined WIPs established Ongoing project management, site maintenance, and future planning inc. new website build underway.

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

The whole team is at our disposal inc. Client Development Director, Creative Director, and Projects Director, effectively managed via our Senior Account manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

All WIP summaries and future planning meetings are consistent and effective. Front end design inc. new brand implementation, UX improvements inc. redesign & build of primary high-traffic pages, conversion strategy inc. CTA review and SEO development have all proven effective in meeting performance measures inc. conversion rates.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication is consistent, responsive, and fluid. Essentially an 'always available' approach has proven highly efficient and effective. Guidance and site development (works advised/required) suggestions and advice are transparent, critical, and understandable. Project plans, WIPs, and deadlines are effectively communicated, followed up, and reported.

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

Openness in all communications and dealings, a genuine partnership has been developed to ensure common goals are achieved whilst maintaining a productive, enjoyable work experience.

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

Perhaps advised us to let them build our new website soon! we're looking forward to the next level of our working relationship.