Shockoe

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the knowledge transfer manager of a university. I work with a veterinary medicine research group that was looking into a cow disease called bovine mastitis.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Shockoe?

We wanted to create a mobile application to facilitate the sharing of our findings to users, dairy producers, and veterinarians.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Shockoe provided the additional expertise necessary to organize the project and help with its development. Their team created the structure of the app, then defined the steps needed to complete each element. They used Appcelerator to produce an iOS and Android version. The platform’s main functionality is a tool that allows users to enter data to be stored in a larger database shared with third-party partners. Shockoe also developed comprehensive and accessible graphs to be featured in the app. Users can access this information via multiple screens and use it to diagnose their cows and decide the best path for treatment.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager, graphic designer, programmer, and three initial developers.

How did you come to work with Shockoe?

Following a referral, we considered their bid along with a few from other companies. Shockoe’s proposal included using the Appcelerator platform to develop the app, which we found very impressive. We brought them on based on their innovative approach to the project.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $330,000 on this product.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from January 2016—March 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our partners and stakeholders found the app revolutionary, accessible, and expertly developed. We hope its user base continues to grow amongst the community of dairy producers.

Shockoe’s organized approach to the project was key to our success. They were not very familiar with cows’ health conditions, but were still able to quickly develop an understanding of our needs and efficiently conceive the necessary functionalities. The team consistently provided valuable suggestions to optimize the app’s user experience and graphic design elements.

How did Shockoe perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management approach was orderly, yet driven. We discussed progress and updates at scheduled weekly meetings, but if we needed to reach them in the meantime, they were always responsive to phone calls and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was most impressed by their ability to quickly and thoroughly understand our needs. This allowed us to swiftly move through the projects initial phases.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could be more consistent with their billing methods. The gaps in between each bill varied for unclear reasons.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Our company is in agriculture, in the dairy industry specifically. We service about 75 percent of the dairy farms in Canada.

What is your position?

My position is IT [information technology] manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Shockoe?

We were looking for someone to help us in the development of our first mobile application.

For what platforms were you looking to develop the app?

We wanted to choose a platform for development that would allow us to deploy to Android, iOS, and Windows phone environments. We actually went out and chose a platform for development called Appcelerator, and that was our first phase in our development plan.

SOLUTION

How did you come to work with Shockoe?

We first spoke with Appcelerator to find out what firms they have dealt with in the past. They gave us names of a few firms that they were aware of and had worked with. We actually spoke to a few of those firms, and we chose Shockoe because we were very impressed with how quickly they grasped what we were looking for as far as an application goes, and their commitment.

Shockoe seemed to be very interested in working with us, and they were very professional in the way they conducted themselves when we were going through the process. We asked for references, and the references that we got were very high. Those were our main reasons for choosing Shockoe.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

It was a $50,000 to $200,000 partnership. I should add that we have continued to work on other phases of that application with Shockoe, so they're still with us. We're using a hybrid approach. We have our own developers here working alongside Shockoe on the work we're doing. We're also looking at other major projects, and Shockoe is being seriously considered to be the consulting firm that we work with.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The results have been excellent. In the dairy industry in Canada, there are hardly any mobile applications available. We're one of the first companies, with the help of Shockoe, to make an app available to our clients. In Canada, there are roughly 11,000 total dairy clients, of which around 9,000 are with us. From those 9,000 clients, we have 1,600 clients that are using the application. If we compare that to other services that we offer, that's pretty high.

The results, the comments, and the remarks that we got back from our clients have been very positive. I should add that when I mentioned we have 9,000 clients, not all those clients actually are in possession of a smartphone, so they don't even all have the possibility of using the application. If you consider which clients really have the ability to use the application, you're looking at somewhere around 60 percent of our total clientele. So, the percentage of clients that are using our app is pretty high.

What distinguishes Shockoe from other providers?

Shockoe is very easy to work with, and they're very committed. They get back to you right away. They provide a very good service. They meet their commitments as far as the estimations that they give. They've been right on with what they've given us, and there haven't been any surprises in what they've done for us.

Shockoe has gone beyond what we had asked for in the development of the application. They added in features that we didn't even think of, or ask for. They're also very good on the design side. We were coming from a Web central C-#, .NET environment with no mobile expertise at all. Shockoe really helped and guided us in the design process for our application, and I think it's been a success. Our clients are very satisfied with the application.

In hindsight, are there areas in which they could improve, or things you might do differently?

I don't think so. They could probably take more advantage of some of the tools that are offered directly from Appcelerator, but that may be because they know better than to do that, I don't know. The other thing – and this could fall with them and us – I would probably like to have a better process as far as testing goes.

Everything else has been excellent. We haven't had any problems with the app. It works very well, but there have been some minor modifications that have been necessary to make. That's due to testing, and that could be from both the Shockoe side and our side, but I'm really grasping at straws to find some things that they need to improve on.